You know "crazy season" is underway in the NHL when coaches "really blur" the truth about injuries, veteran TV pun-dit Ron MacLean rolls out a "marathon" of Boston one-liners, and the Vancouver Canucks' best hockey broadcasters — John Shorthouse and John (Cheech) Garrett — are doing play-by-play of the Bruins and Florida Panthers' opening game in Beantown.
Welcome to the big show, in which the next few weeks will reveal answers to such key questions as: Will a Canadian team finally win the Stanley Cup? Can anyone stop the record-setting Boston Bruins? Will the Colorado Avalanche repeat? And can anyone outside of Tampa Bay spell netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy's name without a program?
Expect broadcasters to spin a wheel and guess who overtime heroes might be. Expect the odd referee to get an earful, a fan base (or two) to erupt on Twitter over a missed or controversial call. Expect teams, while waiting to find out if they'll win the Connor Bedard draft lottery, to make personnel changes and renew optimism ahead of season ticket pitches.
And expect wild rumours to make the rounds, including one we should stamp out before it spreads: The Vegas Golden Knights, who host the Winnipeg Jets tonight in Game 1 of their Western Conference series, will NOT be changing their name to the Vegas Hilary Knights to knock off a Canadian team. What, too soon?
Here are five things we need to know heading into today's action in the NHL playoffs:
FROM LA BAMBA TO LA BUMMER
The Edmonton Oilers, a.k.a. Western Canada's team for now, were 17 seconds away from playing La Bamba, baby, when the Los Angeles Kings reminded an excited crowd at Rogers Place that it ain't over til it's over.
Trailing 3-2 with their netminder on the bench for an extra attacker, the Kings' Anze Kopitar scored a power-play goal at 19:43 to make it 3-3. Then, at 9:19 of overtime, Alex Iafallo scored the winner to give the Kings the opening game of the best-of-seven series. Kopitar assisted on that goal and two others.
Connor McDavid, who topped the scoring race with 64 goals and 89 assists, was held off the scoresheet. Leon Draisaitl had two goals for the Oil.
LEAFS FOCUS ON BOLTS, NOT CRITICS
It didn't take long for the armchair critics to surface when playoff dates were finalized for the Maple Leafs-Tampa Bay Lightning first-round series, which opens Tuesday night in Toronto.
Leafs captain John Tavares said the message when it comes to the recent history and outside chatter is straightforward: "Don't let the pressure outweigh the pleasure of this opportunity."
Ryan O'Reilly, a Stanley Cup champion acquired from the St. Louis Blues in a February blockbuster trade, said the Leafs appear to have matured and learned from past failures.
"(Toronto) is the mecca of hockey and there's that pressure on them. But they're so mature in the way they've handled it. You can tell the mindset's right now. It's not easy to win, but I think we have a great chance to win. I'm excited to be a part of it."
BEARING DOWN ON BUGS
The Bruins' goal song by Kernkraft 400 worked overtime Monday as it welcomed former Boston all-star defenceman Zdeno Chara to the finish line at the Patriots' Day morning marathon in a respectable time of three hours, 38 minutes.
Then it played three more times at TD Garden, including once for Brad Marchand's 50th career playoff goal, as the Bruins pounced on the Florida Panthers 3-1 in Game 1 of a series matching this year's Presidents' Trophy winner versus last year's winner.
Patrice Bergeron sat out the game due to a "flu bug" working its way through the dressing room. Starting netminder Linus Ullmark wasn't feeling great, but he took his meds, made 31 saves, and felt much better.
It now looks like the Panthers will need to work out a few bugs and gift goals if they hope to upset the heavily favoured Bruins.
ANYONE HEAR STORM WARNING SIREN?
The Carolina Hurricanes had the second-best record in the NHL this season with 52 wins and 113 points. But the spotlight was usually focused on the record-setting Bruins, or on gifted goal scorers named Connor McDavid, David Pastrnak, Leon Draisaitl or Nathan MacKinnon.
The Hurricanes are in the playoffs for a fifth straight season. They won their last two regular-season games to clinch a division title for the third straight season. And they have the league's second-best penalty kill.
On Monday they quietly shut down the visiting New York Islanders and posted a 2-1 victory, thanks in part to Brent Burns — the defenceman with the wild playoff beard — who chipped in with two assists. Sebastian Aho, who had 36 goals this season, had a goal as did teammate Stefan Noesen. Martin Necas added two assists.
ALL IN ON BEATING VEGAS
Coach Rick Bowness didn't put on a poker face Monday when asked if underdog Winnipeg had a chance to upset the Vegas Golden Knights, considering his Jets went 0-for-3 in regular-season matchups this season.
"We’re capable of winning, there is no question," said the bench boss. "We’re here to win. We’re not here to give these guys a little workout (so they can) move on to the next round. We’re here to win."
The top-seeded Golden Knights (51-22-9) finished first overall in the Western Conference with a 111-point campaign. The Jets (46-33-3) had 95 points, good for the second wild-card spot in the West.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 18, 2023.
Gord Kurenoff, The Canadian Press
