Running analysis of Round 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs

Our hockey writers share their observations and insights throughout Round 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Tuesday, April 21

Wedgewood's path to No. 1 job long, winding

Scott Wedgewood, who up until recently was the definition of a journeyman goalie, will likely finish in the top five in 2025-26 Vezina Trophy voting. He posted a league-leading .921 save percentage while saving 38.8 goals above expected in 45 games for the Presidents' Trophy-winning Avalanche.

Coach Jared Bednar tapped Wedgewood as Colorado's Game 1 starter against the Kings despite also having Mackenzie Blackwood to call upon. Wedgewood, 33, turned aside 24 of Los Angeles' 25 shots in Sunday's opener and is expected to return to the Avs' crease for Game 2 on Tuesday.

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Wedgewood, a 14-year veteran of pro hockey, is one of the best stories in the postseason. "What is it, eight different franchises I've played for now at this point?" he said with a chuckle during a late-March interview with theScore.

The 2010 Devils third-round draft pick started in the ECHL, then spent the better part of a decade playing for AHL affiliates of New Jersey, L.A., Buffalo, and Tampa Bay. He dressed for four NHL teams - the Devils (two stints), Coyotes (two stints), Stars, and Predators - prior to being traded to the Avs in fall 2024. Wedgewood's been signed to multiple two-way contracts, claimed off waivers once, and traded four times on the way to 199 regular-season games.

As Wedgewood explains, his big break came in 2022-23, when he started 21 contests for the Stars as the trusty No. 2 behind young star Jake Oettinger.

"It all comes with time and growth and understanding. You realize you just have to ride out the ups and downs," Wedgewood said of his journey.

"You're in the AHL battling for a chance. You quickly get a chance, then an injury, then setbacks the whole year. And then you get into a logjam on the depth chart, right? And then the roller coaster starts of trades and claims and all that stuff. On the way, I don't think I burned any bridges. I always worked. Managers, coaches, teammates - they always knew what they were going to get with me. That reputation kept my career going. Then I got my first real chance at significant playing time in Dallas. That's when I turned the corner."

Sabres' power play needs to wake up

Playoff teams have recorded 15 power-play goals on 75 power-play opportunities heading into Tuesday's slate of games. That's a 20% success rate, which more or less matches the league average from the regular season.

Another trend is continuing at the team level: The Sabres failed to capitalize on the man advantage in their final 22 opportunities of the regular season and then went scoreless in four chances in Sunday's come-from-behind win over the Bruins.

The vibes in Buffalo are immaculate following Game 1 - rightfully so, considering the first Sabres playoff game in 15 years ended up being an instant classic. But let's not gloss over the fact that Boston has the edge in net. It feels likely that starter Jeremy Swayman will steal at least one game.

One way to avoid that fate is to make power-play minutes count. The Bruins have been undisciplined all year, so those opportunities will come. And there's no reason why a top unit revolving around Tage Thompson's one-timer, Rasmus Dahlin's playmaking, and Jason Zucker's netfront presence can't be a net positive over a best-of-seven series. - John Matisz

What happened to Playoff Vasi?

The Tampa Bay Lightning wouldn't have won back-to-back Stanley Cups - or made a third straight final - without Andrei Vasilevskiy, but the star goaltender has struggled mightily in the postseason ever since. Vasilevskiy is 4-13 with a dreadful .878 save percentage since the start of the 2023 playoffs. The Lightning have lost in Round 1 in each of the past three years and find themselves in an 0-1 series hole after Vasilevskiy allowed four goals on 19 shots against the Montreal Canadiens.

There's an extraordinary amount of pressure on Vasilevskiy entering Tuesday's Game 2. Tampa Bay can ill afford to head to Montreal down 0-2, and Vasilevskiy versus the inexperienced Jakub Dobes in the opposite crease is supposed to be the Lightning's biggest matchup advantage in this series. If the goaltending is a wash, you can bet the Canadiens will come out on top. - Josh Wegman

Monday, April 20

Ducks keep McDavid off scoresheet but still lose

The Edmonton Oilers hadn't won a game all season (0-12-2) when Connor McDavid was held without a point until Tuesday's Game 1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks.

It's a massive missed opportunity for the Ducks, who let a 3-2 lead slip away in the third period. The silver lining is that Anaheim was able to keep McDavid off the scoresheet, led by the defensive pairing of Jackson LaCombe and Jacob Trouba. But there's a real chance this will be the only game that McDavid doesn't register a point in all series, and Edmonton still managed to come away with the win.

Kasperi Kapanen and Jason Dickinson each came through with two goals, a great start for Edmonton's secondary scoring. Leon Draisaitl returning from injury with two assists is a positive sign as well.

Anaheim had a chance to generate momentum with a win in Edmonton to begin the series. Instead, it's the Oilers who lead courtesy of a scenario that hadn't previously resulted in any success. - Kyle Cushman

Some wonky stats from Canes' 2OT triumph

Longtime Hurricanes glue guy Jordan Martinook played hero late Monday, ending a double-overtime Game 2 against the Senators with a high-slot snipe.

Martinook beat screened Ottawa goalie Linus Ullmark 14 minutes into the second overtime period to cap an epic 3-2 victory for Carolina. Martinook, a 33-year-old bottom-six winger, is now up to nine goals in 79 career playoff games. Fittingly, he had failed to convert on a rare playoff overtime penalty shot a period earlier.

Here are six crazy stats from a truly wild affair at Raleigh's Lenovo Center:

• 2: Number of OT goals scored by Carolina, with the initial winner getting called back due to a debatable offside in the first overtime period
• 5: Number of posts and crossbars officially hit by the Senators (though it feels like the total should be closer to 10)
• 7: Number of penalties assessed to Carolina through two games and also the number of penalties killed by the Canes
• 10: Number of scoring chances the Canes generated with Jordan Staal, Nikolaj Ehlers, and Martinook on the ice at five-on-five, versus five for the opposition, according to Natural Stat Trick
• 43: Number of saves credited to Ullmark in defeat
• 43: Number of minutes, including 40 at even strength, logged by Jake Sanderson, the leader of Ottawa's injury-plagued blue line

A bonus bit of trivia: Carolina is the first team in NHL history to earn a 2-0 lead in the opening best-of-seven series in six straight postseasons. - John Matisz

Road-warrior Flyers put on defensive clinic

The Battle of Pennsylvania has been a slog through two contests thanks to the Flyers executing coach Rick Tocchet's defensive game plan to a tee.

Much like the series opener, Philadelphia's skaters left no inch uncovered Monday in a decisive 3-0 Game 2 victory over Pittsburgh. Tocchet's guys tracked well in all three zones, rarely missing a defensive assignment. They laid the body on Penguins attackers, dominated the neutral-zone battle, and put sticks and bodies in seemingly every shooting lane in the defensive zone.

In Game 1, the Penguins attempted 46 shots, but only 17 of them (37%) actually made it to Flyers goalie Dan Vladar. In Game 2, the Pens attempted 75 shots but only 27 (36%) made it to Vladar. Pittsburgh's other attempts either missed the target completely or were blocked by a defender.

The Pens' power play has failed to capitalize on seven opportunities in the series. All-timer Sidney Crosby is without a point in 40 all-situation minutes.

Philly itself hasn't been a buzzsaw offensively. However, supremely impressive 19-year-old winger Porter Martone scored in both games and speedy veteran Owen Tippett has been the series' most dangerous player.

The Flyers, the underdogs based on regular season performance, have accomplished all this on the road. Game 3 goes Wednesday in Philly. - John Matisz

Oilers-Ducks primed to be series of chaos

If you like goals, Edmonton-Anaheim is the series for you.

Both teams are flawed - the Oilers' roster is poorly constructed and the Ducks' playing style is far too risky. Edmonton finished the regular season ranked 19th in expected goals against, 22nd in slot shots against, and 27th in team save percentage, according to Sportlogiq. Anaheim fared even worse defensively, ranking 30th in xG against, 28th in slot shots against, and 30th in team SV%.

Both teams are also extremely dangerous offensively.

Nobody generates more high-leverage looks for himself or his teammates than Connor McDavid. Running mate Leon Draisaitl, sidelined by injury since March 15, isn't far behind in individual player impact. The German center hasn't been officially cleared to return to the Oilers' lineup as of this writing. However, Draisaitl didn't participate in the team's optional morning skate Monday, which hints that he will indeed be in the lineup for Game 1.

Meanwhile, the Ducks are armed with 40-goal scorer Cutter Gauthier, two of the top 21-and-under forwards in the world in Leo Carlsson and Beckett Sennecke, and a mobile back end led by two-way stud Jackson LaCombe. - John Matisz

Golden Knights keep rolling under Tortorella

The Golden Knights trailed the Mammoth twice in Sunday's entertaining Game 1, but they ultimately improved to 8-0-1 since naming John Tortorella their head coach thanks to perfectly executing the hard-nosed brand of hockey he's demanded over the past two decades.

In the eight regular-season games Tortorella coached the Golden Knights, Vegas ranked second in expected goals against per 60 minutes at 1.98. They then effectively stifled Utah's dangerous offense from generating Grade-A looks in the series opener. The Mammoth's first goal was an impressive cross-seam play, but their second was a fluke bounce. The Golden Knights hardly gave up anything after that.

Add in a 52-30 hit advantage, a perfect penalty kill, a power-play tally from Mark Stone, and a game-winning goal from deadline acquisition Nic Dowd, and you have a dream start for a Golden Knights team that looks much more like a contender than it did a month ago. - Sean O'Leary

Sunday, April 19

Game 1 comeback reflects Sabres' evolution

When coach Lindy Ruff addressed the Sabres after Sunday night's exhilarating come-from-behind victory over the Bruins, he leaned into a popular narrative swirling around one of the youngest teams in the playoff field.

"You want experience?" Ruff told his players. "You got it now."

The Sabres got a crash course in playoff hockey in Game 1, the franchise's first postseason contest since 2011. There was the electricity in a deafeningly loud arena. The first-period jitters. The precision needed to execute plays. The physicality required to win puck battles. Momentum swings. Lead changes.

All-world sniper Tage Thompson scored twice over a three-minute span in the third period to tie the game, 2-2. Two-way defenseman Mattias Samuelsson buried the 3-2 marker a minute later. The two clubs then traded goals in the final two minutes to wrap a process-oriented 4-3 victory for Buffalo.

The Sabres dictated play for the vast majority of the game. However, they failed to break through the Bruins' defensive structure early. It didn't help that Boston goalie Jeremy Swayman was easily Game 1 MVP through 40 minutes.

Ruff's squad stuck to the script, won more puck battles deep in Boston's zone as the night wore on, and eventually all of the doggedness paid off.

"Those two goals," Thompson said of his own tallies, "are exactly what we wanted to do all night: Put pucks behind them, pound their (defensemen), make it a tough night on them, and just hit the 'repeat' button on that."

Ruff added: "Sometimes you just have to flat-out win more battles." Buffalo, of course, is best known for its rush attack, not a demanding forecheck.

One of the trademarks of this group is that, unlike previous versions of the Sabres, they have a spine. They push back midgame and after tough losses. They use a (now-former) 14-year playoff drought to fuel them, not haunt them.

"We've been in situations all season that have prepared us for games like this," Thompson said. - John Matisz

Bruins can't wallow in demoralizing loss

Boston suffered a demoralizing loss Sunday. There's no other way to sum up a game in which it got outscored 4-1 in the final eight minutes to lose 4-3.

It's the type of defeat that can send a team into a tailspin, then out of the playoffs. Rookie head coach Marco Sturm has his work cut out for himself ahead of Tuesday's Game 2. Priority No. 1: Figure out a way to tame Buffalo's top line of Tage Thompson, Peyton Krebs, and Alex Tuch.

If Sturm is grasping for positivity of any kind, Game 1 did offer some hope.

For one, it's abundantly clear that goalie Jeremy Swayman is the series' ultimate X-factor, and he played very well in the opener. Also, the Bruins' main offensive weapons - wingers David Pastrnak and Morgan Geekie - factored in on all three of the team's goals. Pastrnak, who logged 21:15, was especially dangerous, shaking loose in the neutral zone for two clear-cut breakaways.

Buffalo plays an uptempo style that tends to lead to odd-man rushes against. The chances of it continuing to happen are very high. Pastrnak and Geekie have the elite finishing ability to punish the Sabres on quick strikes. - John Matisz

Slafkovsky pads reputation as big-game player

Have yourself a game, Juraj Slafkovsky. The Montreal Canadiens forward scored three power-play goals, including the OT winner, to propel the Habs past the Tampa Bay Lightning in a legendary Game 1 performance.

Sunday was the latest example of Slafkovsky showing a remarkable ability to elevate his game when the stakes are highest. He played an integral role in Slovakia's surprising fourth-place finish at the 2026 Olympics, ranking tied for second in tournament goals (four) and fourth in points (eight). Slafkovsky was the Olympic MVP in 2022 when he scored seven goals in as many games as a 17-year-old, albeit against non-NHL competition.

But Sunday was the first time Slafkovsky delivered his big-game magic on the Stanley Cup Playoff stage, and he did so against a future Hall of Fame goalie in Andrei Vasilevskiy. It's clear the 22-year-old has a knack for shining when the lights are brightest. - Josh Wegman

Matchup to watch: Suzuki line vs. Gourde line

There are a ton of juicy storylines percolating ahead of Sunday evening's highly anticipated opening game between the Lightning and Canadiens.

Led by incredible top forward lines, both clubs recorded 106 points in the regular season. One is the longtime Atlantic Division titan; the other is attempting to become the next powerhouse. The head coaches have history, with Montreal's Martin St. Louis spending parts of two early-2010s seasons on the wing for Jon Cooper-led Lightning squads. Tampa Bay has a clear advantage between the pipes. Montreal's young core keeps leveling up.

What's really grabbing my attention: the Lightning's depth and how it will create matchup nightmares for the Canadiens, especially to start the series.

Tampa's armed with last change in Games 1 and 2, which will allow Cooper to sic a full defensive unit on Montreal's best forwards. Yanni Gourde, Pontus Holmberg, and Zemgus Girgensons form a stingy bottom-six trio, while JJ Moser and Darren Raddysh make up a mobile and responsible blue-line pairing. There aren't many better five-man shutdown options across the NHL.

If the Lightning can limit the damage caused by Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, and Juraj Slafkovsky in this manner, Cooper can try to exploit the Canadiens' inferior skater depth when his own offensive stars (Nikita Kucherov, Brandon Hagel, and Jake Guentzel) are on the ice at five-on-five. - John Matisz

Kings need a miracle against Avalanche

The Kings have managed to avoid Connor McDavid and the Oilers in Round 1 for the first time in five years. Their prize? A date with the NHL's best team.

Los Angeles versus Colorado is by far the most lopsided matchup of the first round. While the Avalanche finished atop the standings with 121 points, the Kings wouldn't have even sniffed a playoff spot without the existence of the loser point (20 losses in 33 overtime games). An incredible stat: L.A. earned only 22 regulation wins in 82 games to tie lowly Chicago for 31st in the league.

We're probably looking at a sweep here. Game 1 goes Sunday in Denver.

For L.A. to make the series merely competitive, a few things must happen.

Anze Kopitar, the future Hall of Famer retiring at season's end, needs to turn back the clock. The two-time Selke Trophy winner will most likely be tasked with shutting down the Avs' top line of Nathan MacKinnon, Martin Necas, and Artturi Lehkonen, and the Kings can't afford to get blown out in his minutes.

L.A. needs offensive contributions beyond catalysts Artemi Panarin, Adrian Kempe, and Brandt Clarke. Quinton Byfield, Andrei Kuzmenko (activated off injured reserve), and Alex Laferriere can't have quiet series. Coach D.J. Smith sure could use Kevin Fiala's dynamism right now, but the winger's season ended months ago after breaking his leg at the Olympics.

Lastly, Anton Forsberg, L.A.'s presumed starting goalie, must stand on his head. We're talking Dominik-Hasek-in-his-prime caliber of netminding. - John Matisz

Past analysis

Check out all our archived items from previous days here.

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