Stanley Cup Playoffs Day 2: Road teams sweep the table on second day of Game 1s

Are you a lower seed on the road to start your series and looking to make a statement to your opponent? Look no further than the action from the second set of Game 1s in this intense first round.

Experience wins out as Rangers dominate Devils 5-1

Many thought this series would be one of the closest of the first round, but if Game 1 is any indication, that may not be the case, or at least on a game-to-game basis. Vladimir Tarasenko and Chris Kreider scored before the halfway mark of the first to give the New York Rangers a 2-0 lead, and the New Jersey Devils just couldn’t generate anything of substance to get themselves back in the game. Once Ryan Lindgren beat Vitek Vanecek with this shot to make it 3-0, the game seemed to be over.

Adam Fox sets up Ryan Lindgren and the Rangers take a 3-0 lead pic.twitter.com/GL00yDVtU4

— Shayna (@hayyyshayyy) April 19, 2023

As expected, Igor Shesterkin played a big role in the win, stopping 27 of 28 shots in the win with the lone goal coming on a penalty shot from Jack Hughes, so all around it was a solid night for the netminder. Adam Fox led the way on the scoresheet with four assists, while Kreider had two goals as the Rangers would take Game 1 with a 5-1 win.

Lightning blow out Leafs 7-3 in ugly series opener

If the Toronto Maple Leafs wanted to prove to the hockey world that this playoff run was going to be different, they’re going to need to do a lot more convincing. The Tampa Bay Lightning were all over the Leafs early on, needing only 1:18 to get their first goal from Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, and then took a 3-0 lead into the first intermission. The Leafs attempted to rally with goals from Ryan O’Reilly and William Nylander, but the game went to absolute mayhem once Michael Bunting unleashed this dirty hit on Erik Cernak and got five and a game – and possibly more depending on what the Department of Player Safety thinks of it.

That won’t be good news for the Lightning in the long-term, who were out three players with both Victor Hedman and Michael Eyssimont already out, but that didn’t slow them down in the game. They scored two more goals on that power play to take it into blowout territory, and they kept it that way in the third, ending with a 7-3 win. Corey Perry and Nikita Kucherov both had a goal and two assists, while Brayden Point had two goals of his own as the Lightning take Game 1 in dominant fashion.

Jets defense gives Golden Knights nothing to work with in 5-1 win

When trying to guess how the Winnipeg Jets would win this series against the Vegas Golden Knights as the wild card team, many expected that the big reason would be the play of Connor Hellebuyck. Well, the Jets didn’t even give Hellebuyck a chance to shine, as he only needed to stop 17 shots with the Jets limiting the Golden Knights to just 1.2 expected goals at even strength in the game.

The Jets were plotting and meticulous, as they also didn’t generate a ton of chances at just 1.9 5v5 expected goals themselves, but they slowed down the game and allowed nothing for the Golden Knights. Kyle Connor and Pierre-Luc Dubois got the Jets off to a 2-0 lead with two goals within 1:02 early in the second, and when a William Karlsson goal looked to make it close for Vegas, Blake Wheeler put the game out of reach again early in the third. Wheeler would add two assists on the night as well, Adam Lowry got two late goals for the Jets, and Winnipeg would take Game 1 by a score of 5-1. Oh, and another stat: Morgan Barron got at least 75 stitches after taking a skate to the face, and still finished the game.

Morgan Barron has gone down the tunnel after suffering a cut to his face from the skate of Laurent Brossoit during a scramble in front of the net. pic.twitter.com/MwXUMFMIbX

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) April 19, 2023

Kraken take first ever playoff game with 3-1 win over Avs

The Seattle Kraken have been a story all season with their depth-over-starpower style getting them to their first ever playoff spot, and they’ve shown they aren’t satisfied just yet, even against the defending Stanley Cup champions in the Colorado Avalanche. They came flying out of the gate with an early goal from Eeli Tolvanen, and while the Avs responded later in the period, that didn’t phase the team. Alex Wennberg got the Kraken back the lead in the second period, and Morgan Geekie gave them a bit of breathing room in the third to solidify the win.

The Avs ran into some injury trouble before the game started as has been tradition this season, with Jack Johnson and Erik Johnson, but the real problem would be a former Avalanche. Philipp Grubauer had a solid revenge game, stopping 34 of 35 shots and saving 2.25 goals above expected in the game in all situations. Wennberg would be the only Kraken player with a multi-point game as he also assisted on Geekie’s goal, and the Kraken would get their first playoff win in their first playoff game in franchise history with a 3-1 win.