Stanley Cup Playoffs Day 16: Draisaitl’s four-goal game not enough as Vegas takes Game 1

Scott Maxwell
Scott Maxwell
Stanley Cup Playoffs Day 16: Draisaitl’s four-goal game not enough as Vegas takes Game 1
Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

Canes dominate in 5-1 win over Devils in Game 1

Going into the playoffs, the big story for the Carolina Hurricanes was how far they could go without finishing talent. They took care of the New York Islanders easily in the first round, but they also didn’t have a ton of talent so it was an easy matchup for the Canes. But the New Jersey Devils were loaded with skill, so the lack of scorers may finally catch up with the Canes in this series.

They did get a bit of help to level the playing field, as Timo Meier missed the game after taking a big hit from New York Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba in Game 7 of their first round series. With that, the talent edge that the Devils had was reduced a fair amount, and likely played a role in what was a dominant win for the Canes.

When I say dominant, I mean they gave the Devils nothing to start the game. Goals from Brett Pesce and Seth Jarvis in the first, and one from Jesperi Kotkaniemi 1:55 into the second gave the Canes an explosive start, and by that point, not only was the scoreboard lopsided at 3-0, so was the shot clock at 11-1. That also saw the end of Akira Schmid’s night, as he was pulled to try and change the tide.

The Devils did respond a few minutes later though, with Nathan Bastian scoring his first career playoff goal, and the Devils started to gain some momentum and get some chances as the Canes played it a bit safer with the lead. But, the comeback attempt ended there, as Brady Skjei scored midway through the third to regain the Canes’ three-goal lead, and Jesper Fast ended the scoring with an empty netter to give the Canes the 5-1 win. Fast, Jordan Martinook, and Jordan Staal all had two points for the Canes, while Andersen was solid, stopping 17 of 18 in the win.

Golden Knights stave off Draisaitl’s 4-goal game in 6-4 win

If I had a nickel for every time a player scored four goals in a losing effort in Game 1 of a Western Conference second round series, I’d have two nickels! Which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice!

The biggest question for the Vegas Golden Knights in this series was whether or not they’d be able to contain Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and company to get some wins. So far, they haven’t had to contain them to get wins, they’ve just needed to outscore them.

Draisaitl opened the scoring on the power play just four minutes into the game to give the Oilers the lead, but Vegas responded 40 seconds later with a goal from Ivan Barbashev. The Golden Knights not only got the lead midway through the period from a Michael Amadio goal, but added to the lead with a Mark Stone power play goal with 1:37 left in the frame.

But it didn’t take long for the Oilers to put themselves back in the game, as Draisaitl scored again with 11 seconds left to make it a one goal lead. No one would score in the second, and the Golden Knights would do a good job of containing the Oilers offense with multiple 5-10 minute stretches without a shot for Edmonton throughout the first two periods, but it only took 1:35 into the third period for Draisaitl to get his hat trick goal and tie the game.

The Golden Knights responded quickly again though, as Barbashev got his second of the game only 1:01 later to regain the lead, and then Chandler Stephenson made it 5-3 50 seconds after that. Draisaitl managed to get his fourth goal of the game midway through the frame to make it a one-goal game again, but that was as close as they’d get, with Jack Eichel solidifying the win with an empty net goal, giving Vegas the 6-4 win. On top of Draisaitl’s four-goal game, McDavid, Zach Hyman, Evan Bouchard, and Mattias Ekholm all had two assists for the Oilers , while all of Eichel, Barbashev, Stone, and Zach Whitecloud had two points for the Golden Knights.

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