Hopefully everyone had a great weekend of hockey but hold on tight, this hockey train is just starting to pick up steam. Here is what is on tap for today. This will serve as the Open Thread for all of today’s action.
NY Rangers (11) at Carolina Hurricanes (6)
Scotiabank Arena, Toronto
Best of 5: Carolina leads 1-0
Time: 12:00pm ET
TV: NBCSN, NHL.TV, SN, SN360, TVAS, FS-CR, MSG
Team Sites: Blueshirt Banter, Canes Country
Jacob Slavin and Sebastian Aho each had a goal and assist as Carolina won the opener, but it was far from perfect as they gave the Rangers seven power plays. Carolina’s 200ft of pressure made things tough for New York all game long. Henrik Lundqvist got the nod in the first game, Igor Shesterkin was expected to start but was ruled out before the game, and played fairly well. Whomever is in goal today for the Rangers will not matter if the aggressive forecheck and play of the Hurricanes continue to stifle the Rangers players, especially Artemi Panarin who looks very rusty on the ice.
Winnipeg Jets (12) at Calgary Flames (8)
Rogers Place, Edmonton
Best of 5: Calgary leads 1-0
Time: 2:30pm ET
TV: NHL NETWORK, NHL.TV, SN
Team Sites: Arctic Ice Hockey, Matchsticks & Gasoline
Winnipeg needs to clean up their Special Teams after they allowed three special teams goals to Calgary that turned a 1-0 lead into a 3-1 deficit (two power play and one shorthanded). Not much else to really say about game one or today’s game.
Washington Capitals at Tampa Bay Lightning
Scotiabank Arena, Toronto
Time: 4:00pm ET
TV: , NBCSN, NHL.TV, SN360, TVAS, SUN, NBCSWA
Team Sites: Jasper’s Rink, Raw Charge
Both teams will look to start off strong and keep pace with Philadelphia in the Eastern Conference round robin. There is a ton of talent on both sides of the ice and it will be fun to watch this one. Can Alex Ovechkin and John Carlson continue their scoring pace from before the shutdown? Can the likes of Steven Stamkos, Brayden Point, Alex Killorn, etc step their game up to give Nikita Kucherov some help on the scoreboard? Will Brayden Holtby or Andrei Vasilevskiy steal one for their team? This one should be just plain fun to watch.
Dallas Stars at Vegas Golden Knights
Rogers Place, Edmonton
Time: 6:30pm ET
TV: , NHL NETWORK, NHL.TV, SN1, ATTSN-RM, FS-SW
Team Sites: Defending Big D, Kinghts on Ice
Another battle between two teams playing their first real game since the season started back up. Both teams have a lot of talent but also have some questions around them regarding some unrealized potential this season so far. The sleeper for both teams could be their goaltending. Between Ben Bishop/Anton Khudobin for Dallas and Marc-Andre Fleury/Robin Lehner for Vegas these may be the two best goaltending tandems in the Western Conference. With the goaltending on both sides as well as both teams issues with scoring consistently look for a low scoring game here.
Montreal Canadiens (12) at Pittsburgh Penguins (5)
Scotiabank Arena, Toronto
Best of 5: Montreal leads 1-0
Time: 8:00pm ET
TV: NBCSN, SN, TVAS, ATTSN-PT
Team Sites: Habs Eyes on the Prize, Pensburgh
In arguably one of the two shockers of the opening games, Montreal stole game one from Pittsburgh as Jeff Petry found the back of the net in overtime to win game one for the Canadiens. If any team has the playoff experience and wherewithal to overcome a game one loss in a best of five series it is the Pittsburgh Penguins though. Expect to see an even more focused then normal Sidney Crosby and company as the Penguins look to avoid falling into a 0-2 hole and possibly the highest ranked team (based on their season points percentage) to have a 12.5% shot at the top draft pick and Alexis Lafreniere.
Chicago Blackhawks (12) at Edmonton Oilers (5)
Rogers Place, Edmonton
Best of 5: Chicago leads 1-0
Time: 10:30pm ET
TV: NHL NETWORK, NHL.TV, SN, NBCSH
Team Sites: Second City Hockey, Copper & Blue
Game one was the other shocker of day one as the Connor McDavid lead Oilers got off to a quick 1-0 start before Chicago rattled off four straight first period goals and hanging on for a 6-4 win in the series opener. Can the Oilers recover or will the playoff experience of the Blackhawks just be too much for them?
