Throughout the Stanley Cup playoffs we’ll be keeping track of all the action around the league, and bringing you all of the results in one place.
No. 2 Carolina Hurricanes vs. No. 3 New York Islanders
The first round of the playoffs is finally upon us, and our very first game of the day saw the Hurricanes and Islanders kicking things off in a matchup that went somewhat as we might have expected. The Hurricanes jumped out to an early lead after a holding penalty on Anders Lee inside the first minute and a half of play put the Hurricanes on the power play, and Evgeny Kuznetsov, ever clutch in the playoffs, got them on the board just nine seconds into the attempt.
The Islanders didn’t go away quietly though, as they managed to tie things up before the end of the first period, care of a goal from Kyle MacLean. And from there, they did their best to do what they do best, slowing things down, limiting chances, and containing the Hurricanes’ offense. And this worked for a while, but the Hurricanes were ultimately able to break out of that and begin to pick up some momentum. They pulled ahead on a goal by Stefan Noesen in the early part of the third period, and from there, they really began to pull away.
The Islanders managed a bit more push through the tail end of the third period, looking for some chances with the goaltender pulled, but in the end, the Hurricanes maintained control of play on the whole. Martin Necas put away the empty net goal with just over a minute and a half left in the period, making it a two-goal game and putting the win well enough out of reach for the Islanders. Not the sharpest game we’ve seen the Hurricanes put together, but it was enough.
Final: 3-1 Hurricanes
Series: 1-0 Hurricanes
Highlights: NHL
No. 2 Boston Bruins vs. No. 3 Toronto Maple Leafs
The pace certainly picked up in the second game of the night, as the Leafs faced off against the Bruins for what feels like the thousandth time.
But the story of this one, by and large, was of the Leafs not being able to get out of their own way. The Bruins were able to open up the scoring early after Ryan Reaves took himself out of the play to make a hit and opened up a 2-on-1 for the Bruins, which Johnny Beecher scored on. The Leafs had a prime opportunity on an open net to tie things up early in the second, but Auston Matthews hit the post, and then 17 seconds later, Brandon Carlo scored to put the Bruins up by two. And the wheels continued to come off from here — the Leafs committed two careless penalties and handed the Bruins two power play opportunities, and Jake DeBrusk scored on both.
The Leafs came out with some life in the third period, and David Kampf got them on the board just over a minute and a half into the final frame, and with the Bruins back on their heels for a period of time, we began to wonder if a comeback might just be in play here. Ultimately, though, this was all the Leafs were able to manage. Despite an opportunity on the power play and an early goalie pull for additional time on the man-advantage, they couldn’t manage to convert on any of their chances. Trent Frederic scored the empty goal to make it a 5-1 game for the Bruins, and that was all she wrote.
Final: 5-1 Bruins
Series: 1-0 Bruins
Highlights: NHL
