May 2, 2022 (Opening Night) Playoff Recap
***Note: Odds listed below are series prices prior to the start of Game 1
Boston Bruins (-105) v. Carolina Hurricanes (-115)
Game 1: Carolina wins 5-1
After a 0-0 first period, Carolina busted things open with 2 quick goals from Seth Jarvis and Nino.
Raanta had 35 saves in his first career postseason start.
Carolina’s PK stole the show (ranked #1 in the NHL)
Boston’s PP went 0/3 and did not register a shot on the third PP in the third period with a chance to tie the game
Teuvo Teravainen sealed the deal with a beautiful snipe on a 2 on1 in the third period to put the Canes up 2, and then Ullmark let in an awful goal to Trocheck later in the third.
Toronto Maple Leafs (-120) v. Tampa Bay Lightning (+100)
Game 1: Leafs win 5-0
Perhaps the most perfect textbook hockey Toronto has played since 2004.
Jack Campbell SHUTOUT
The horses were running full steam ahead for TOR in this one:
Marner had a goal and 2 apples
Matthews had 2 goals and an apple
The Leafs PK killed off a 5 minute major (Kyle Clifford dirty hit on Ross Colton) and it got the momentum rolling
Tampa Bay PP went 0/5 in this one
Kucherov and Hedman looked BRUTAL
Hell in the cell broke out in the third period and Morgan Reilly bloodied up Jan Rutta
Edmonton Oilers (-245) v. LA Kings (+205)
Game 1: Kings win 4-3
Mike Smith did not look good in this one and turned the puck over on the winning goal scored by Phillip Danault
Stopped 31 of 35 shots, registering a .886 SV%
McDavid and Draisaitl both scored, but wasn’t enough to push the Oilers to victory
WEIRD STAT: The Oilers have lost 4 straight playoff games when McDavid and Draisaitl each score in the same game
Jonathan Quick played excellent stopping 36 of 39 shots
Trevor Moore, Phillip Danault, and Alex Iafallo led the way for the Kings with all them registering multi-point efforts
St. Louis Blues (+120) v. Minnesota Wild (-140)
Game 1: Blues win 4-0
David Perron scores a hat-trick and Ryan O’Reilly gets himself on the board
Torey Krug had 3 assists and was all over the ice all night
Special Teams was the difference:
The Blues PP (ranked #2 in NHL) scored twice against a struggling Wild PK (ranked #25 in NHL)
The Wild went 0/6 on the PP (ranked #18 in NHL) against the Blues PK (ranked #5 in NHL)
Ville Husso registered a 37 save shutout
First Blues goalie in franchise history to record a shutout in playoff debut
Jared Spurgeon had a nasty cross-check to the back of Pavel Buchnevich’s ankle and the DPOS is going to take a look