The Stanley Cup playoffs are officially underway!
The first day saw a historic 5OT thriller between the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Tampa Bay Lightning. The dram of this game pushed the Carolina Hurricanes’ Game 1 meeting with rivals, the Boston Bruins, to be rescheduled for 11am on Wednesday, August 12.
Meanwhile in Edmonton the third-seeded Dallas Stars took on the Calgary Flames (which started two hours after the early Eastern game, and finished over an hour before), whilst the top-seeded Vegas Golden Knights played Game 1 of their best-of-seven series against the Chicago Blackhawks.
The events of Day 1 gave us 15 goals, 5 overtime periods, a 6hr 13min game, the record for the most saves by a goalie in an NHL game (88), the most ice time by any player in a single game (65:06), a rescheduled game and all the drama one could possibly ask for.
Eastern Conference
Columbus Blue Jackets v Tampa Bay Lightning
2-3 (OT
Brayden Point scored 10:27 in the fifth overtime to end the fourth-longest game in NHL history and give the Tampa Bay Lightning a 3-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets.
“I’ve never been in a game that long,” Point said. “I don’t know how many guys on the other side have ever been in a game that long. Definitely a battle – physical, mental – but we came out, though.”
His winner came on a long wrist shot over goalie Joonas Korpisalo to win Game 1 of their Eastern Conference First Round series, which started at 3:09pm (ET) and lasted 6hrs 13 minutes, ending at 9:22pm (ET).
“I see a rolling puck come to me and I just throw one on net, I’m not even really aiming,” Point said. “I just sling one there and lucky enough it finds a corner.”
The teams combined for a Stanley Cup playoff record 151 shots, including 88 by Tampa, also a playoff record since shots on goal became an official stat in 1959/60.
Korpisalo made 85 saves, 12 more than the previous NHL game record. His counterpart Andrei Vasilevskiy made 61 saves for the Lightning, a franchise record.
Meanwhile Columbus defenseman Seth Jones set the NHL record for most time on the ice (65:06) since it became an official statistic in 1997/98.
All the drama meant Game 1 of the First Round between the Carolina Hurricanes and Boston Bruins, which was scheduled to start at 8pm at the same arena, had to be rescheduled for Wednesday (Aug. 12) at 11am eastern.
It was the longest NHL game since May 4, 2000, when Keith Primeau of the Philadelphia Flyers scored at 12:01 of the fifth overtime for a 4-3 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference Second Round.
The longest game took place on March 26, 1936 when overtime lasted a total of 116:30. Mud Bruneteau of the Detroit Red Wings scored at 16:30 of the sixth overtime for a 1-0 win against the Montreal Maroons in the semifinals.
Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella‘s postgame message to his players was straightforward – “Get some rest and get ready to play the next game”.
Pierre-Luc Dubois gave Columbus a 1-0 lead with their first power-play goal in six postseason games at 2:39 of the first period. They were 0-for14 in their five-game Qualifier series win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Point extended his playoff point streak to four game at 6:27 when Nikita Kucherov‘s shot hit his leg and went between Korpisalo‘s legs to tie the game 1-1.
Oliver Bjorkstrand gave the Blue Jackets a 2-1 lead with his first goal of the postseason 48 seconds from the second intermission. His shot from the right wall went in off the crossbar.
Yanni Gourde then equalized with his first goal of the postseason 23 seconds into the third period, jamming at the puck at the left post causing it to slide under Korpisalo, who then knocked it over the goal line with his right pad.
It’s the first time since 2016 that a postseason game has gone into at least three overtimes.
This series is a rematch of their First Round meeting last season when Columbus swept the Bolts in the best-of-7 series.
Game 2 is in Toronto on Thursday 3pm ET (NBCSN, SN, TVAS, SUN, FS-O).
Teams that win Game 1 are 478-219 (68.6 percent) winning a best-of-7 NHL playoff series.
Up Next:
Blue Jackets v Lightning – Thursday, Aug. 13 (3pm ET – NBCSN, SUN, FS-0)
Western Conference
Calgary Flames v Dallas Stars
3-2
Dillon Dube‘s double helped the Calgary Flames defeat the Dallas Stars 3-2 in Game 1 of their Western Conference First Round series.
Rasmus Andersson scored the game-winner, and Cam Talbot made 24 saves for the Flames, who are the No.6 seed in the west after ousting the Winnipeg Jets in four games during the Qualifiers.
Denis Gurianov and Jamie Benn scored, and Anton Khudobin made 23 saves for the Stars, who are the No.3 seed in the West after going 1-2-0 in the round-robin portion of the Qualifiers.
The goals came just nine seconds apart for the fastest two postseason goals in Dallas/Minnesota North Stars history. Jon Sim and Kirk Muller scored 12 seconds apart for the Stars in Game 1 of the 2000 Stanley Cup Final against the New Jersey Devils.
Gurianov‘s goal ended Talbot‘s shutout streak at 122:42.
Milan Lucic, who had 4pts (1g, 3a) in the Qualifiers, is the first Flames player with at least one point in each of their first five games in a postseason since Jarome Iginla and Daymond Langkow in 2006.
Dallas defenseman Stephen Johns (unfit to play) left the game after the second period. As part of the NHL Return to Play Plan a team isn’t permitted to disclose a player’s injury or illness information.
Teams that win Game 1 are 478-219 (68.6 percent) winning a best-of-7 NHL playoff series.
Game 2 is in Edmonton, the West hub city, on Thursday (10:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, SN, FS-SW).
Up Next:
Flames v Stars – Thursday, Aug. 13 (10:30pm ET – NBCSN, FS-SW)
Chicago Blackhawks v Vegas Golden Knights
1-4
Reilly Smith scored two goals and had an assist for the Vegas Golden Knights lifting his team to a 4-1 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 1 of their Western Conference First Round.
Shea Theodore and William Carrier scored, and Jonathan Marchessault had two assists for the Knights, who are the No.1 seed in the West after going 3-0-0 in the round-robin.
Robin Lehner, who started the season with Chicago before being traded on Feb. 24 to the Toronto Maple Leafs and then Vegas, made 19 saves.
David Kampf scored, and Corey Crawford made 30 saves for the Blackhawks, who are the eighth seed in the West after defeating the Edmonton Oilers 3-1 in their best-of-5 Qualifier.
Vegas’ second goal, scored by Carrier, was challenged by Blackhawks coach Jermey Colliton for offside on Ryan Reaves, but the call on the ice was upheld by video review, and Chicago were assessed a minor penalty for delay of game for the unsuccessful challenge.
Knights forward Max Pacioretty was minus-1 with four shots on goal in 18:08 in his first game after missing all three round-robin games.
Teams that win Game 1 are 478-219 (68.6 percent) winning a best-of-7 Stanley Cup Playoff series.
Up Next:
Blackhawks v Knights – Thursday, Aug 13 (5:30pm – NBCSN, ATTSN-RM,
NBCSCH)
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