The 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs opened last night, unfortunately without our Florida Panthers, and it was all about the road teams. Well, almost…
The Pittsburgh Penguins were the only home team to pick up a win, beating the Columbus Blue Jackets by a 3-1 count. Bryan Rust, Phil Kessel and Nick Bonino scored the goals for the Pens.
The Boston Bruins dropped all of their regular season meetings with the Ottawa Senators, but reversed that trend with a 2-1 win in Canada’s capital on third period goals from Frank Vatrano and Brad Marchand.
Henrik Lundqvist posted a 31-save shutout to lead the New York Rangers to a 2-0 win over the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre. Former Panthers Tanner Glass and Michael Grabner lit the lamp for the Blueshirts.
Despite getting heavily out-played, the St. Louis Blues edged the Minnesota Wild 2-1 in overtime. Defenseman Joel Edmondson knocked in the winner with 2:12 left in the first overtime period. Jake Allen made 51 saves for the Blues.
The San Jose Sharks rallied from a two-goal deficit to beat Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers 3-2 in overtime. Melker Karlsson blew a shot by Cam Talbot 3:22 into the extra session to give the defending Western Conference champs the win. McDavid drew an assist in first playoff game.
In other NHL news, former Panthers coach Gerard Gallant will reportedly be the first-ever head coach of the Vegas Golden Knights.
Gerard Gallant will be the Vegas Golden Knights first NHL head coach. Quality hockey dept in Vegas.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) April 13, 2017
Congratulations to both parties, certainly seems like that’s a good fit. Just leave our expansion record for most points alone.
Let’s keep the hockey talk going in the comment section!