The Carolina Hurricanes opened the playoffs in the NHL with a 2–1 victory over the New York Islanders. Sebastian Aho scored the fourth goal of the entire playoffs when he scored the game’s opening goal on the power play at the beginning of the opening period.
Carolina scored both of its goals on the power play, of which Aho scored the first after just 3.47. Carolina made it 2-0 in the second period through Stefan Noesen, which became the game-winning goal. Ryan Pulock scored another goal for the Islanders, but Carolina won 2–1.
Goalkeeper Antti Raanta made a top match for Carolina, and Valdes was the best player in the match. Raanta made 25 saves on 26 shots.
Carolina also succeeded well in box play and managed to kill all four expulsions without behind goals.
Jesse Puljujärvi, who was signed to Carolina from Edmonton in January, continues to have a hard time. Puljujärvi was poked from the lineup in the opening game of the series. The second game in the series is played on the night of Thursday.
Boston took expected victory over Florida
The Boston Bruins who were by far the best team in the regular season had no problem winning their opening game of the playoffs over the Florida Panthers. David Pastrnak, Brad Marchand and Jake DeBrusk were the scorers for Boston in the 3–1 victory.
Boston’s goalkeeper Linus Ullmark made 31 saves. Matthew Tkachuk scored Florida’s last goal. The Finnish trio Anton Lundell, Alexander Barkov and Eetu Luostarinen blev utan poeng.
Roope Hintz scorer for Dallas
Roope Hintz hit on the power play as the Dallas Stars opened the playoffs with a home game against the Minnesota Wild. Hintz scored the game’s opening goal on the power play in the opening period.
The match went to extra time when the numbers were 2-2 after three periods.
The game between the Edmonton Oilers and the Los Angeles Kings also went to overtime. During regular time, Edmonton’s German star forward Leon Draisaitl managed to score two goals for Edmonton, while Swede Adrian Kempe netted twice for the Kings.
The Kings tied the game at 3-3 on the power play just 17 seconds before the final buzzer. In goal, Joonas Korpisalo made 27 saves during regular time.
Stanley Cup, first round opening games:
Boston – Florida 3–1
Eetu Luostarinen FLA 0+0, 0, 16.12
Anton Lundell FLA 0+0, 0, 16.04
Alexander Barkov FLA 0+0, -1, 19.51
Carolina– NY Islanders 2–1
Antti Raanta CAR 25/26 räddningar 60.00
Sebastian Aho CAR 1+0, 0, 16.37
Teuvo Teräväinen CAR 0+0, 0, 15.16
Jesperi Kotkaniemi CAR 0+0, -1, 17.26
Dallas–Minnesota x–x
Edmonton – Los Angeles x-x
