Off-Day Open Thread: April 23rd
It's important to remember at times like these that 15 out of 16 playoff teams end the year on a negative note.
Boo.
Let's see what else happened yesterday:
Carolina Hurricanes 3 - New Jersey Devils 1
CAR leads 2-0
Despite trailing early in Game 2, the Hurricanes scored 3 unanswered goals courtesy of Shayne Gostisbehere, Jordan Martinook, and Seth Jarvis to double their series lead over the Devils, who on top of missing Jack Hughes, also lost Luke Hughes and Brenden Dillon after Game 1. The Devils closed out the regular season losing 4 of their last 5, including a 7-2 blowout against the shriveled husk of the Boston Bruins, so they're desperate to return home for Game 3 and right the ship.
Florida Panthers 6 - Tampa Bay Lightning 2
FLA leads 1-0
Matthew Tkachuk, who was definitely injured on Game 82 of the regular season, returned from LTIR to lift the Panthers over the Lightning, in an eerily similar game to the Battle of Ontario, in which the winning team scored 6 goals on well under 30 shots. Shooting percentage is, and has always been, the only stat that matters. Matthew had a pair of goals and an assist, all on the power-play, while Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 20 of 22 shots. Andrei Vasilevskiy? 10 saves on 16 shots. Ouch.
Minnesota Wild 5 - Vegas Golden Knights 2
Series tied 1-1
Don't let the Wild's late-season struggles fool you. With a healthy Kirill Kaprizov, they're better than a wildcard team. He also had a three-point night as the Wild took a 4-0 lead after just 24 minutes of play. And like Florida and Toronto, they had incredibly high-percentage shooting, as in spite of trailing in shots 32-17, they got 4 pucks past Adin Hill.
Today's Games:
- Game 2: MTL @ WSH (WSH leads 1-0) - 7:00 pm EST (CBC, Sportsnet)
Fun stat: Alex Ovechkin has more career playoff goals (74) than the whole Canadiens roster (65).
- Game 3: DAL @ COL (Series tied 1-1) - 9:30 pm EST (Sportsnet 360)
Much like New Jersey, Dallas is a top forward and a top defenceman. Unlike New Jersey, they won Game 2. Colorado gets home ice advantage tonight though.
- Game 2: EDM @ LAK (LAK leads 1-0) - 10:00 pm EST (CBC, Sportsnet)
The theme of Game 1 was "no lead is safe", as Edmonton (really, Connor McDavid) came roaring back from 4-0 down to tie it, even though they still lost 6-5 in the end. Based on the offensive talent in this series, don't expect the scoring to drop off tonight.
