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A clean 2-0 sweep on Thursday improves us to 4-2 in Round 1, and we're steaming ahead into a busy weekend.
Here are another couple of winners for Friday, both at plus-money to boot.
Montreal Canadiens (+135) @ Philadelphia Flyers (-155)
Game 1 of this series was an absolute treat. It started slow, but things kicked into high gear midway through the first period and didn't sputter. Carter Hart and Carey Price impressed, and each team's offense showcased its strengths. A lot of bad puck luck and very strong goaltending combined to keep the game so low scoring, with the Flyers winning 2-1.
Artturi Lehkonen whiffed on about four quality scoring chances, while Brendan Gallagher and Paul Byron were also snakebitten in front of the net. Nick Suzuki hit the post, as did Claude Giroux. Price made a miracle save on Scott Laughton, and Nate Thompson missed an open net. Game 1 was a wildly entertaining affair with a rather deceiving low score. It just as easily could have ended 5-4.
Despite taking the loss, the Canadiens produced the most offense in Game 1, posting a 2.56 expected goals for mark at even strength while creating 15 high-danger chances. Montreal controlled a 57.81% share of the expected goals at five-on-five in Game 1, and that's not an outlier. The Habs were the league's second-best team in expected goals percentage at five-on-five during the regular season, while the Flyers finished 12th.
Montreal can control the balance of play if the Habs stay out of the box. As the playoffs intensify, refs tend to let things go a bit more, which will benefit the Canadiens. At this price, there's great value in them to even the series in what should be an exciting Game 2.
Pick: Canadiens (+135), Over 5 (-130)
New York Islanders (+110) @ Washington Capitals (-130)
The Islanders completely stifled the Capitals in Game 1. Washington was expected to score just 0.87 goals at five-on-five, compared to 1.68 for the Islanders, who owned a remarkable 69.93% share of the expected goals at even strength.
The Capitals struggled significantly in that regard during round-robin play, too, managing just 3.74 expected goals for at five-on-five while allowing 4.88. Both of their Game 1 goals came on the power play, and they were otherwise thoroughly outplayed.
And now they will be without one of their best offensive players in Nicklas Backstrom, who left Game 1 and didn't return following a hit from Anders Lee. If the Islanders can avoid penalties, it's hard to see a different outcome in Game 2.
Alex Moretto is a sports betting writer for theScore. A journalism graduate from Guelph-Humber University, he has worked in sports media for over a decade. He will bet on anything from the Super Bowl to amateur soccer, is too impatient for futures, and will never trust a kicker. Find him on Twitter @alexjmoretto.
The Canadiens head coach will travel to Montreal on Friday after undergoing the stenting of a coronary artery at Toronto's St. Michael's Hospital on Thursday afternoon, the team announced.
Doctors expect Julien to make a full recovery.
The 60-year-old was taken to hospital Wednesday night after experiencing chest pains, which Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin made clear had nothing to do with COVID-19.
Bergevin said Thursday that associate coach Kirk Muller would assume head coaching duties, and the club doesn't expect Julien back during its first-round playoff series against the Philadelphia Flyers.
Julien is in his second stint with the Canadiens, who rehired him in 2016-17.
Before rejoining Montreal, he spent parts of 10 seasons behind the Boston Bruins' bench, guiding them to a championship in 2011. Julien also served as the New Jersey Devils' bench boss in 2006-07 after leading the Canadiens during his first three seasons as an NHL head coach.
Dallas defeated Calgary 5-4andCarolina beat Boston 3-2 in late NHL playoff action Thursday, results that evened both series. Here's a major takeaway from each game.
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Flames flexed depth, but couldn't touch Miro
Devoid of bona fide superstars up front, the Flames have won more than they've lost in the Edmonton bubble by compensating with balance.
Eleven skaters scored as Calgary bounced the Jets from the qualifying round, and the pattern continued in Game 1 against Dallas. Third-line winger Dillon Dube bagged two lovely goals. Defenseman Rasmus Andersson contributed his second of the playoffs after scoring just five all season. Depth was reigning. That Cam Talbot entered Game 2 with a save percentage of .941 was gravy.
That offensive formula worked to a degree Thursday. Dube's latest goal made him the star of the first 19 seconds, and he, Sam Bennett, and Milan Lucic formed Calgary's most potent line. It was surprising that defenseman Derek Forbort scored his first career playoff goal; striking that Tobias Rieder broke free for his second breakaway shorty in as many series; and fitting that Bennett capped the Flames' late comeback with a tap-in on the power play.
Jeff Vinnick / Getty Images
That's about all that clicked for Calgary, given what transpired in the final minute a mere 2:09 after Bennett's equalizer. Corey Perry deserves kudos for setting up Jamie Oleksiak's winner with a wondrous cross-ice pass, as well as for scoring himself earlier. That level of production was somewhat unexpected, too: only in three games this season did Perry register a goal and an assist.
So kudos, Corey, for shoring up the Stars' forward ranks. Now, let's turn this reflection over to the Miro Heiskanen show.
Most every metric and highlight from Game 2 attests that Heiskanen was an utter force. The young defender was on the ice for four Dallas goals and none against, and he created and tallied two of them with some combination of sound positioning, impeccable stickhandling, spatial awareness, and a quick release. The Stars outshot Calgary 19-7 when he was on the ice across all situations, usually against the Flames' top lines, according to Natural Stat Trick. He played a game-high 25:20, and at the tender age of 21, the proceedings flowed through him.
Sometimes you're just in the right place at the right time.
This is one of those times from Miro Heiskanen. #StanleyCup
Heiskanen became the fourth-youngest defenseman to score twice in a playoff game, a distinction to which he's beaten Quinn Hughes and Cale Makar. If their status as Calder Trophy co-favorites hints that Norris Trophy races are on the horizon, it's clear Heiskanen has what it takes to hang with them for the better part of the next 15 years.
In the short term, this series segues quickly to Game 3 on Friday night and Game 4 on Sunday afternoon. Significant issues need resolving on either side. The Stars have allowed seven goals against Calgary and 17 across five games, belying their rank as the regular season's second-best defensive team. No member of the Flames' top two lines has an even-strength point in the series; power-play assists from Johnny Gaudreau, Elias Lindholm, and Mikael Backlund are all they have to show for Calgary's hot offensive start.
In other words, the Flames are fortunate to be able to rely on depth. And we're all fortunate to get to watch Heiskanen.
Hurricanes profited from pressure
Mark Blinch / NHL / Getty Images
Coming out of the postseason's first stage, the Hurricanes and Bruins were trending in opposite and oncoming directions, which is how they met smack in the middle of the East bracket.
Carolina's play-in sweep of the Rangers was impressive and taut. Three losses in as many games had Boston looking vulnerable. Dougie Hamilton was back to anchor the Canes' defense. Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak went pointless in the round robin. If the results of this admittedly small sample didn't prophesize an upset, the aura surrounding these clubs sure signaled that one was possible.
Elsewhere in the East, we've seen the Islanders blitz Braden Holtby to go up a win on Washington. The Blue Jackets have stayed in lockstep with mighty Tampa Bay for 11 periods, which in that series has amounted to only two taxing games. The Hurricanes are a stronger team than the Isles and Columbus. They have an extra year of seasoning on the folk hero "Bunch of Jerks" squad that streaked to last season's conference final, where Carolina was swept by these same Bruins.
There'll be no sweep this year. Through two games, the Hurricanes are very much in this series because of their offensive calling card: camping in the opponent's end for long stretches, zipping pinpoint passes about the zone, and exploiting openings whenever one arises. Carolina scored that way in the play-in win that eliminated the Rangers, and sustained pressure produced a couple of goals Thursday, letting the Canes negate the double-OT loss they suffered Wednesday afternoon.
Chase Agnello-Dean / NHL / Getty Images
Ever since Game 1 was delayed a day due to the Lightning and Blue Jackets' five-OT epic, the action has come fast and furious, much like the Canes on the sequences that got them going in this contest. Carolina didn't establish much prolonged O-zone pressure until late in the second period, at which point a 30-second cycle orchestrated by the fourth line led to an elbowing penalty, which led to Teuvo Teravainen's power-play goal.
The cycle - pun intended - repeated itself on Hamilton's winner. Thirty seconds of the Bruins scrambling to try to corral Carolina's second line - Andrei Svechnikov, Vincent Trocheck, and Martin Necas - culminated in Necas feeding Hamilton for a vicious slapper that beat Tuukka Rask top-shelf. The Canes were a top-three Corsi team in the regular season, and this was them near their puck-possessing peak.
To be sure, Boston's night was far from a write-off. Pastrnak was unfit to play - possibly because he hurt himself celebrating Patrice Bergeron's Game 1 winner, as the NESN telecast speculated - but Bergeron and Marchand didn't miss a beat with Anders Bjork on their wing, driving 65.38% of shot attempts as a line at five-on-five. Promisingly, Marchand and David Krejci got Boston's power play off the schneid, scoring the talented unit's first goals in the Toronto bubble.
Continuing to click with the man advantage will be vital. James Reimer's 33 saves - he denied all 30 shots he faced at even strength or shorthanded - rewarded Canes coach Rod Brind'Amour's call to bench incumbent starter Petr Mrazek after Game 1. Brind'Amour also decided to shift Svechnikov to Trocheck and Necas' line, and the young Russian responded by scoring - with a wicked release - at evens.
Essentially, Brind'Amour has options before him when the going gets tough, and he didn't wait to mix things up. Consider it another reason that Boston's fall to the No. 4 seed has the Presidents' Trophy winners in a fraught situation.
The first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs is well underway. Here are key takeaways from two of the four games on Thursday's schedule, which featured the Vegas Golden Knights' 4-3 overtime victory over the Chicago Blackhawks and the Columbus Blue Jackets' 3-1 triumph over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Vegas doesn't let it slip away
Dave Sandford / Getty Images
On paper, this is the biggest mismatch of the first round, and it's not particularly close. Vegas is one of the few true Stanley Cup contenders, and Chicago is a flawed team that is rather lucky to still be playing hockey in 2020 after finishing with a 32-30-8 regular-season record.
History tells us the Golden Knights are most dangerous when they're attacking in waves, and the Blackhawks are disorganized and porous on defense. Reilly Smith's overtime goal in Game 2 - which sealed a 4-3 victory for Vegas after it coughed up a 2-0 lead - exposed the extreme stylistic differences:
In the buildup to Smith's goal, Vegas' fourth line of Will Carrier, Tomas Nosek, and Nick Cousins applied pressure on Corey Crawford. Cousins stayed out as his linemates changed, chipping the puck deep into the Blackhawks' zone. From there, Golden Knights center Paul Stastny snatched the puck in the corner and immediately fired a pass to Smith. All alone at the foot of the crease (despite four defenders standing in close proximity), Smith redirected the pass through Crawford and into the net.
The Blackhawks got to overtime only because they managed two of the few things that need to happen for them to even compete with the Golden Knights. First, superstar winger Patrick Kane was the offensive catalyst with three assists. Second, Crawford stood on his head. It worked for a while but not long enough to overcome the superior squad.
"It's a very tight-knit group," said Vegas goalie Robin Lehner, who hasn't lost in seven games since being acquired from Chicago in late February.
"Everyone buys into the system and does the right things. In the long run, I think, you get rewarded," he added. "From a goalie's perspective, letting in a goal (doesn't induce) panic. Letting in two goals, you trust your team that we know that we can come back. It's a very well-structured team here and (we have) a lot of skill at the same time."
The Golden Knights are a perfect 5-0 in the restart. They've dined off the third period, outscoring opponents 10-1. (Ironically, Thursday's third period was scoreless, though the Golden Knights did pepper Crawford with 16 of their 39 total shots.)
More often than not in this series, Chicago will bleed scoring chances and Vegas will push the pace until it scores. This is a recipe for disaster for the Blackhawks, which is why Game 2 might ultimately stand as their lone opportunity to claim victory in a lopsided matchup. Sweep, anyone?
Jackets' train keeps rolling
Chase Agnello-Dean / Getty Images
The biggest question during this NHL postseason is when will the Blue Jackets hit a wall. For now, the appropriate answer might be ... never.
On Thursday, Columbus capped an eight-day stretch during which it went 3-2 in five hard-fought games that featured seven overtime periods for a total of 421 minutes of hockey. By beating the Lightning 3-1 to tie the Round of 16 series at 1-1, the Blue Jackets added yet another impressive chapter, refusing to buckle under the pressure of a ridiculous workload.
"I don't know how many overtimes we had the other day, I forget," star center Pierre-Luc Dubois said while laughing postgame.
"I don't think any of us are lacking (in regard to) timing and stuff like that," Dubois added. "We're feeling good, the team's playing great. (Goaltender Joonas Korpisalo) is playing really well for us, giving us confidence to try plays and we know he can repair our mistakes. On the back end, it's the same thing: blocking shots, making good plays. Defensively, the team's feeling really well right now."
Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella's squad was outplayed by the Toronto Maple Leafs and is getting outplayed so far by Tampa Bay, with shot attempts and prime looks (measured by high-danger attempts by Natural Stat Trick) favoring the Lightning 257-157 and 37-21, respectively.
But there's an argument to be made that the Blue Jackets have wholly deserved positive results during the restart because the team's defensive system has done such a fine job keeping its netminders - namely Korpisalo, who has an outrageous .961 save percentage on 239 shots - protected from the seemingly endless firepower on the other side.
Tampa Bay was noticeably annoyed on Thursday.
"That's kind of the way we want to play," Blue Jackets forward Alexander Wennberg said of the team's perimeter defense frustrating opponents. "We want to give them a hard time out there."
An unlikely source of offense, Wennberg scored an absurd goal midway through the third period to make it 3-1 - the 25-year-old Swede has bagged just 40 goals in 440 career regular-season games.
The Blue Jackets failed to register a shot during the first 13 minutes of action Thursday, but that's how things are going for them at the moment. Dubois may lead the team with four goals, and Cam Atkinson - who was "unfit to play" Thursday - and Oliver Bjorkstrand have a pair of markers each, but there are also nine other skaters who've pitched in a goal.
Columbus is not just surviving, it's thriving in a way few NHL teams can.
Tampa's 3rd line doing it all
Mark Blinch / Getty Images
The silver lining for the Lightning after Thursday's loss is that the trio of Yanni Gourde, Barclay Goodrow, and Blake Coleman continue to dominate.
Gourde and his third-line wingers have generated 28 scoring chances in 41 even-strength minutes, according to Natural Stat Trick. The Blue Jackets, on the other hand, have mustered just nine chances against the trio. From an expected goals perspective, the line made up of one free agent (Gourde) and a pair of trade-deadline pickups has racked up a 2.23-0.54 edge over the opposition - a gigantic gap thanks to feverish puck pressure and active sticks.
"They've neutralized all the lines they've played against," Lightning head coach Jon Cooper told reporters. "They give us energy. They kill penalties well. You can't ask much more than that from those guys."
With sniper Steven Stamkos missing the first five contests of the restart, Tampa Bay's forwards have been tasked with elevating their games. The third line and top producers Brayden Point (seven points) and Nikita Kucherov (six points) have led the charge at even strength. The second line - centered by Anthony Cirelli - has scored three goals, while the fourth - centered by Mitchell Stephens - has been OK if not unspectacular.
The special teams battle could ultimately determine this series, which pits a defensive giant against an offensive juggernaut, much like the Columbus-Toronto matchup. So far, the Lightning are 0-for-6 on the power play.
"We had some looks and they didn't go in for us," Cooper said of the two missed power-play opportunities in Game 3.
Boston Bruins netminder Tuukka Rask isn't feeling the typical intensity of postseason action without fans in the building.
"To be honest with you, it doesn't really feel like playoff hockey out there," Rask told reporters following Thursday's 3-2 loss.
"There's no fans so it feels like playing an exhibition game," he added.
The Vezina Trophy candidate said the traditional playoff format has helped build some excitement but that fans bring a crucial element to the competition.
"You play a best-of-seven series so there's going to be some battles going on and whatnot, but when you play at your home rink and you play at the away rink, and there's fans cheering for you and against you, and it creates a buzz around the series," he said. "So there's none of that, so it just feels dull at times."
Rask made 23 saves in the Game 2 defeat as the Carolina Hurricanes evened the series at one game apiece. Game 3 is scheduled for Saturday at 12 p.m. ET.
Dallas Stars netminder Ben Bishop will start Game 2 against the Calgary Flames on Thursday after being deemed unfit to play for the series opener Tuesday, per Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.
