The opening night of the Stanley Cup Playoffs was packed with tightly contested action, two low-scoring games and two that required at least one overtime period.
The story of night two was all about blowouts, breaking records, and road teams silencing boisterous crowds.
While fans of the Winnipeg Jets were left smiling, Maple Leafs supporters received another harsh reminder that fan enthusiasm does not equate to positive on-ice results.
The two all-American matchups on Tuesday featured several history-making performances both from individuals and teams.
The New York Rangers won more games on the road than they did at Madison Square Garden during the regular season and Gerard Gallant’s club looked calm, cool and collected as it rolled into the Prudential Center and earned a one-sided Game 1 victory over the New Jersey Devils.
Rangers' PK, PP, stingy D and shot blocking key to success
New Jersey outshot its Metropolitan Division rivals 28-23 overall and it would’ve been by an even wider margin were it not for the Rangers doing a terrific job clogging up shooting lanes and stifling a speedy Devils team.
The Rangers blocked 23 shots compared to New Jersey’s 12, and the Devils had 13 giveaways to New York’s three.
Even when the Rangers were a man down, the Devils couldn’t generate many quality scoring chances.
Coach Lindy Ruff’s group had the 13th-ranked power play in the regular season and had four opportunities with the man advantage in Game 1, yet it was completely shut down by the Rangers. In fact, the Devils didn’t record a single shot on net during those eight minutes with the man advantage.
Meanwhile, the Rangers were lethal when the Devils had a skater in the box, capitalizing on two of their three chances in the game.
The Rangers scored on their first power-play opportunity (more on that Chris Kreider goal below) and nearly went two for two when Alexis Lafreniere deflected a Jacob Trouba point shot into the net, except it was called back due to a high stick.
The New Jersey crowd roared when the goal was waved off, yet on the very next shift, Ryan Lindgren beat Vitek Vanecek in tight for his third career post-season goal.
New York made good on its third power-play attempt midway through the third period to make it 4-0, which essentially sealed the victory.
The Rangers were 33-0-0 in the regular season when they scored four or more goals, and that streak has now carried over into the post-season.
February trade acquisition Vladimir Tarasenko opened the scoring for the Rangers by netting his 42nd career playoff goal in just his 91st career playoff game. Tarasenko’s 42 post-season goals rank third in the NHL since 2014, behind only Nikita Kucherov and Ondrej Palat. Tarasenko’s first in a Rangers uniform saw him leapfrog Alex Ovechkin and Nathan MacKinnon, both of whom have 41 playoff goals since 2014.
The Rangers' other big pre-deadline move was adding three-time Cup winner Patrick Kane, who recorded his first post-season point with the Rangers on his team’s fourth goal.
Kreider’s superb hand-eye coordination leads to new franchise record
Rangers winger Kreider became the franchise’s all-time leader in playoff goals when he made it 2-0 midway through the opening period – a beautiful redirection off a slick Adam Fox pass.
It was Kreider’s 35th career post-season goal with the Rangers, breaking a franchise record initially set by Rod Gilbert in 1975.
Kreider later added to his total by scoring his second of the game on a near-identical deflection off another Fox shot.
Fox, the 2021 Norris Trophy winner, also finds himself in the history books as he became only the second defenceman in NHL history to record multiple four-assist playoff games. Fox had four assists in Game 6 against Pittsburgh in the opening round a year ago. Paul Coffey holds the record with four four-assist playoff games during his Hall of Fame career.
Shesterkin looked sharp yet again
The Devils, down 2-0 after 20 minutes, carried the play in the opening half of the second period but the Rangers blue-line held strong and netminder Igor Shesterkin remained composed between the pipes.
Shesterkin, the 2022 Vezina Trophy winner, frequently stood on his head during the Rangers’ run to the Eastern Conference Final one year ago and was less than three minutes from recording his first post-season shutout before the Devils finally got on the board.
Jack Hughes beat Shesterkin on a penalty shot to record his first playoff goal in his first playoff game.
Filip Chytil buried an empty-netter 48 seconds later and the final score ended up 5-1 for the Blue Shirts.
Game 2 goes down on Thursday.
Kraken start each period strong to stun Avs in first playoff game
The Seattle Kraken knew they needed a quick start to hold off the defending Stanley Cup-champion Colorado Avalanche, and the second-year team did exactly that – in all three periods no less – en route to earning the franchise’s first playoff win.
Seattle scored within the first five minutes of each period and it meant the Avs were playing from behind for the majority of the game, which is not beneficial against a tight-checking squad like Dave Hakstol’s team.
Eeli Tolvanen, a mid-season waiver pickup, made Kraken history by scoring the franchise's first post-season goal thanks to an uncharacteristic turnover from Devon Toews.
Alex Wennberg scored what ended up being the game winner 80 seconds into the second period and Morgan Geekie gave the Kraken a two-goal cushion when he scored his first playoff goal 4:03 into the final frame.
Seattle’s 40-point turnaround in the standings from its inaugural season was no fluke and neither was this Game 1 victory.
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