The first night of the NHL playoffs

#8 New York Rangers vs #1 Washington Capitals Game 1: Capitals win 2-1 in OT
I will say this, compared to what happened earlier this season between these two teams, the Capitals came to play. They shut down the Rangers and held them to 25 shots over 78 minutes and change which is really good considering most teams get 25 shots in an entire game. In addition the Rangers blocked 28 shots and the Capitals blocked 32 shots. The Caps also missed 19 shots on net. That's a lot of shots for the Caps during the course of the game. Surprisingly, Lundqvist only let in two goals during the course of the game and Neuvirth showed why Boudreau went with him over Varly by only allowing one goal on a defensive breakdown.


#5 Tampa Bay Lightning vs #4 Pittsburgh Penguins Game 1: Penguins win 3-0
Marc-Andre Fleury stood on his head last night, although the Lightning didn't help their cause with Dominic Moore celebrating early on a shot that wasn't a goal and not sticking in the rebound. The Lightning kept composed until Kovalev scored in the 3rd. But the problem was the Bolts couldn't stay outta the penalty box. They had six penalties and in any playoff game, you can't have that many penalties and expect to win. Expect them to be better next time.

#8 Chicago Blackhawks vs #1 Vancouver Canucks Game 1: Canucks win 2-0
The Canucks beat the Blackhawks in a very close game. The Canucks got two goals early and held on for the lead. The surprising part was that the Chicago defense broke down early which allowed Higgins and Hansen to score. The Blackhawks will try to fix their mistakes next time, but they'll need to play defense better against all four lines.

#6 Phoenix Coyotes vs #3 Detroit Red Wings Game 1: Red Wings win 4-2
Kyle Turris got the first goal of the game for the Coyotes, but it went all downhill from there as the Red Wings put up 4 straight goals including one on the power play. If the Coyotes want to win game 2, they'll need to play better defense and stay outta the sin bin

#5 Nashville Predators vs #4 Anaheim Ducks Game 1: Predators 4-1
This series is going to get nasty. Pekka Rinne robbed the Ducks of any chance of winning with some amazing saves. But you know this is going to get nasty with 18 penalties called in this game. Mike Fisher, who was acquired at the trade deadline provided most of the goals in this game. He is they wanted to get at the trade deadline, and this is why.

#5 Nashville Predators vs #4 Anaheim Ducks: Predators win 4-1