All the teams that should win, did win last night....unfortunately. Special teams did their job for the winners and the losers are going to have to find a way to keep out of the penalty box.
Vegas Golden Knights 4 Minnesota Wild 2 (Vegas leads 1-0)
While the Wild came out hitting (2-1 ratio), the Golden Knights powerplay came through twice and got them the game 1 win.
Toronto Somethings 6 Ottawa Senators 2 (COTU leads 1-0)
Maple Laughs powerplay was far too much for a Sens team that took far too many penalties. The shennigans at the end of the game won't help the Sens deal with the skill and speed of the Laughs.
Carolina Hurricanes 4 New Jersey Devils 1 (Carolina leads 1-0)
The Canes jumped out to an early lead and then hit the boring button to shut down the neutral zone.
Today's games
Eastern Conference First Round, Game 1
7 p.m. ET; MNMT, ESPN, SN, TVAS
The team the dominated the East faces the last team in. Montreal and all of the Les Habitantes road the wave of love the last two weeks of the season and their reward.....a Russian guy who scores all the goals and a good Caps team
Canadiens projected lineup
Cole Caufield -- Nick Suzuki -- Juraj Slafkovsky
Josh Anderson -- Christian Dvorak -- Brendan Gallagher
Patrik Laine-- Alex Newhook -- Ivan Demidov
Emil Heineman -- Jake Evans -- Joel Armia
Mike Matheson -- Alexandre Carrier
Kaiden Guhle -- Lane Hutson
Jayden Struble -- David Savard
Sam Montembeault
Jakub Dobes
Scratched: Arber Xhekaj, Michael Pezzetta, Oliver Kapanen
Injured: None
Capitals projected lineup
Alex Ovechkin -- Dylan Strome -- Anthony Beauvillier
Connor McMichael -- Pierre-Luc Dubois -- Tom Wilson
Andrew Mangiapane -- Lars Eller -- Ryan Leonard
Brandon Duhaime -- Nic Dowd -- Taylor Raddysh
Jakob Chychrun -- John Carlson
Rasmus Sandin -- Matt Roy
Alex Alexeyev -- Trevor van Riemsdyk
Logan Thompson
Charlie Lindgren
Scratched: Ethen Frank, Dylan McIlrath, Ethan Bear, Clay Stevenson
Injured: Martin Fehervary (lower body), Aliaksei Protas (lower body), Sonny Milano (upper body)
Status report
The Canadiens did not hold a morning skate. … Thompson could return after missing the final seven games of the regular season because of an upper-body injury. … Protas, a forward who missed the final six games because of a skate cut on his left foot sustained against the Chicago Blackhawks on April 4, skated before the start of the morning skate. Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said he expects Protas to play at some point during the best-of-7 series.
Western Conference First Round, Game 2
7:30 p.m. ET; CBC, TVAS2, ESPN2, FDSNMW
Winnipeg leads best-of-7 series 1-0
I think the message for both teams is to be more disciplined as each team seems to have a pretty good powerplay. The Jets will need their fans to keep them pumped against a Blues team that was arguably one of the best teams over the past month. Game 1 was fast-paced, so I suspect the neutral zone might be a little harder to get through today.
Blues projected lineup
Jake Neighbours -- Robert Thomas -- Pavel Buchnevich
Jimmy Snuggerud -- Brayden Schenn -- Jordan Kyrou
Mathieu Joseph -- Oskar Sundqvist -- Zack Bolduc
Alexey Toropchenko -- Radek Faksa -- Nathan Walker
Cam Fowler -- Colton Parayko
Philip Broberg -- Justin Faulk
Ryan Suter -- Nick Leddy
Jordan Binnington
Joel Hofer
Scratched: Alexandre Texier, Tyler Tucker, Matthew Kessel
Injured: Dylan Holloway (lower body)
Jets projected lineup
Kyle Connor -- Mark Scheifele -- Alex Iafallo
Nino Niederreiter -- Vladislav Namestnikov -- Cole Perfetti
Brandon Tanev -- Adam Lowry -- Mason Appleton
David Gustafsson -- Morgan Barron -- Jaret Anderson-Dolan
Josh Morrissey -- Dylan DeMelo
Dylan Samberg -- Neal Pionk
Logan Stanley -- Luke Schenn
Connor Hellebuyck
Eric Comrie
Scratched: Dominic Toninato, Haydn Fleury, Colin Miller, Ville Heinola
Injured: Nikolaj Ehlers (lower body), Gabriel Vilardi (upper body), Rasmus Kupari (concussion)
Status report
Vilardi, a forward, wore a noncontact jersey during an optional practice Sunday, his first time skating with the Jets since his injury. He remains day to day.
Western Conference First Round, Game 2
9:30 p.m. ET; Victory+, ESPN, ALT2, TVAS-D, SN360
Colorado leads best-of-7 series 1-0
I am not sure what happened to Dallas over the past month (Hello Mikko) , but they haven't played well and the Avs are not a team you can play your "B" game against.
Avalanche projected lineup
Artturi Lehkonen -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Valeri Nichushkin
Jonathan Drouin -- Brock Nelson -- Martin Necas
Joel Kiviranta -- Charlie Coyle -- Miles Wood
Parker Kelly -- Jack Drury -- Logan O'Connor
Devon Toews -- Cale Makar
Samuel Girard -- Josh Manson
Ryan Lindgren -- Sam Malinski
Mackenzie Blackwood
Scott Wedgewood
Scratched: Erik Johnson, Keaton Middleton, Jimmy Vesey, Miles Wood
Injured: Gabriel Landeskog (knee), Ross Colton (lower body)
Stars projected lineup
Mikael Granlund -- Roope Hintz -- Evgenii Dadonov
Mason Marchment -- Matt Duchene -- Tyler Seguin
Jamie Benn -- Wyatt Johnston -- Mikko Rantanen
Oskar Back -- Sam Steel -- Colin Blackwell
Thomas Harley -- Ilya Lyubushkin
Esa Lindell -- Cody Ceci
Lian Bichsel -- Alexander Petrovic
Jake Oettinger
Casey DeSmith
Scratched: Mavrik Bourque, Mathew Dumba, Brendan Smith
Injured: Miro Heiskanen (knee), Nils Lundkvist (shoulder), Jason Robertson (lower body)
Status report
Colorado held an optional morning skate. … Coach Jared Bednar did not confirm any lineup changes or whether Landeskog would play in Game 2. The forward left early rather than staying on late to skate with the other healthy scratches. … Heiskanen took part in the morning skate for the second game in a row but the defenseman still is considered day-to-day.
Western Conference First Round, Game 1
10 p.m. ET; FDSNW, ESPN2, TVAS2, SN
Oilers defensive core will determine the outcome of this series. It's that simple.
Oilers projected lineup
Zach Hyman -- Connor McDavid -- Connor Brown
Vasily Podkolzin -- Leon Draisaitl -- Viktor Arvidsson
Jeff Skinner -- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins -- Kasperi Kapanen
Mattias Janmark -- Adam Henrique -- Corey Perry
Darnell Nurse -- Evan Bouchard
Brett Kulak -- Jake Walman
Ty Emberson -- Joshua Brown
Stuart Skinner
Calvin Pickard
Scratched: Derek Ryan, Max Jones, Cam Dineen
Injured: Mattias Ekholm (undisclosed), Trent Frederic (ankle), Evander Kane (hip, knee), John Klingberg (lower body), Alec Regula (knee), Troy Stecher (undisclosed)
Kings projected lineup
Andrei Kuzmenko -- Anze Kopitar -- Adrian Kempe
Warren Foegele -- Phillip Danault -- Trevor Moore
Kevin Fiala -- Quinton Byfield -- Alex Laferriere
Jeff Malott -- Samuel Helenius -- Alex Turcotte
Mikey Anderson -- Drew Doughty
Vladislav Gavrikov -- Jordan Spence
Joel Edmundson -- Brandt Clarke
Darcy Kuemper
David Rittich
Scratched: Kyle Burroughs, Akil Thomas, Pheonix Copley, Jacob Moverare, Trevor Lewis
Injured: Tanner Jeannot (undisclosed)
Status report
Kane, a forward, and defensemen Ekholm and Stecher have been ruled out for Game 1. … Frederic, a forward, is a game-time decision. … The Kings held an optional morning skate. … Copley, a goalie, was recalled on an emergency basis from Ontario of the American Hockey League on Monday. … Jeannot, a forward, remains week to week.
