This is sure to leave a bitter taste in the mouths of some St. Louis Blues fans.
A shipping mix-up resulted in cups that read "Official coffee of the Chicago Blackhawks" being delivered to a St. Louis area Dunkin' Donuts location, according to KMOV, a local CBS affiliate.
The Kirkwood location sold coffee in the Blackhawks cups, which KMOV showed to Blues fans entering Game 1 of an opening-round series featuring the two rivals on Wednesday.
"That's disgusting. They can't do that here," said one fan.
The popular donut chain later released the following statement:
Due to an untimely shipping error from the regional distribution center. Being a local business owner and fan of the hometown team, the franchisee plans to switch out the cups as soon as they receive a new shipment.
Perhaps the cups were sent to St. Louis because they don't have one of their own quite yet.
Twenty-four points separated the wild-card Flyers and the Metropolitan Division champion Capitals, but everyone starts from scratch in the postseason, and this series could be closer than many have anticipated.
Here are three reasons why:
Momentum
As one of the hottest teams in the league from February onward, Philadelphia enters the first round on a high note, having earned the final spot in an intense three-team race that came down to the wire.
Washington, meanwhile, comes into the playoffs in what's considered a slump compared to the success of its season, having gone 4-3-3 in its final 10 games. Goaltender Braden Holtby looked somewhat pedestrian down the stretch, and the Caps suffered.
Embracing their underdog status, the Flyers don't have nearly as much pressure on them as the Capitals do. Washington captured the Presidents' Trophy and has a "Finals or bust" mentality.
Not to mention the additional motivation of winning for late Flyers owner Ed Snider, which has put extra pep in Philadelphia's already confident step.
History
The Flyers are no strangers to accomplishing the unthinkable in the playoffs; just ask the 2010 Bruins. The raucous Wells Fargo Center presents a tough road game for any opponent, and the Philly crowd loves getting under visitors' skin, which could become a huge problem if the Flyers come out of Washington with a split.
Meanwhile, Washington hasn't made it out of the second round since 1998, and is one early elimination from chaos. The Capitals' playoff futility during the Alex Ovechkin era has been brought up year after year, and disappointing loss after disappointing loss has failed to change the narrative.
Presidents' Trophy curse
The Presidents' Trophy is the ultimate regular-season prize, but nobody cares about it.
Sure, it's a nice piece for the mantel, but rarely has the regular-season points leader had the same success in the playoffs.
The Capitals know this well. As an 121-point team in the 2009-10 season, Washington's playoff presence was brief, falling in seven games to the eighth-seeded Montreal Canadiens.
Washington surely holds the advantage in firepower throughout the roster, but the playoffs are a different beast - one the Capitals have yet to figure out.
The Philadelphia Flyers will honor late founder Ed Snider with a commemorative patch on their playoff jerseys, beginning with Game 1 Thursday in Washington.
The New York Islanders are getting a key piece of their defense corps back in time for their playoff opener.
Travis Hamonic, who's been out since March 31 with a knee injury, will play Game 1 against the Florida Panthers, head coach Jack Capuano confirmed Thursday.
The 25-year-old logged almost 24 minutes a night through 72 games this season, complementing his solid defensive game with five goals and 16 assists.
Although he's almost ready to go, Tyler Seguin will be out of the lineup for Dallas' series opener versus Minnesota on Thursday night, Stars head coach Lindy Ruff confirmed.
Ruff said Seguin will likely be in the lineup for Game 2, and would probably play if it was a Game 7 situation.
Seguin is still recovering from an Achilles injury, and skated separately from the team on Thursday.
Although he's not ready for their playoff opener, it's huge for the Stars to have Seguin's return on the horizon. Not only is he the team's second-highest scorer, he boasts key playoff experience dating back to his Stanley Cup championship with the Boston Bruins in 2011.
The 24-year-old scored 33 goals and 40 assists this season, but hasn't played since March 17.
An air of uncertainty still surrounds the status of Henrik Lundqvist.
The New York Rangers goaltender, who was injured in Game 1 of the team's first-round series against Pittsburgh after taking an errant stick to the eye, is set to visit a specialist Thursday, with more information in terms of his availability coming later.
Head coach Alain Vigneault doesn't believe it's cause for too much concern.
#NYR Update: @hlundqvist30 is seeing eye doctor today but AV says "we don't feel it's anything too serious". No word on status for Game 2
With a goal and two assists in Game 1 of the Pittsburgh Penguins' first-round series against the New York Rangers, Sidney Crosby now sits sixth on the NHL's all-time playoff points per game list (minimum 50 games played):
With Henrik Lundqvist possibly out of action with an eye injury, Crosby could be in line to improve upon these numbers over the course of the next six games or less.
"What stings is we talked about doing a job on their top line and we didn't get the job done against them," Stepan said, according to Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News. "We can't give up five goals and expect to win a playoff game."
Hornqvist netted a hat trick and an assist, while Crosby had three points of his own.
Stepan, along with wingers Chris Kreider and Rick Nash, will need to regroup in time for Game 2 to avoid a massive deficit before heading back to New York.
After missing the last three regular-season games with injury, Backes wasn't a lock to make the lineup for Wednesday's Game 1. So, the Blues should feel especially fortunate after stealing Wednesday's opener - a game in which they were outshot nearly 2-1.
Important and improbable, geometry aside. Backes' banker was his first career overtime playoff goal, and he has just two in 727 career regular-season games.
Jeff Zatkoff
Penguins fans broke into a collective hyperventilation when Marc-Andre Fleury failed to emerge out of the tunnel for warmup in Game 1, and, after connecting the dots, it was determined that journeyman Zatkoff would be making his Stanley Cup playoff debut.
Alarmists quickly concluded that for the Penguins, several months worth of being one of, if not, the best team in the NHL had gone to waste. And even the team itself looked jumpy, having been on their heels for several shifts off the opening draw.
But then Zatkoff (who knew he was playing the night before) settled in, and the Penguins followed suit. Sidney Crosby and Patric Hornqvist led a five-goal surge in support of their emergency starter, who made 35 saves in the face of 37 shots for a comfortable Game 1 win.
Ben Lovejoy/Tom Kuhnhackl
Pittsburgh's win wasn't without nervy moments, of course.
After Derek Stepan cut Pittsburgh's lead to one on a 5-on-3 advantage, Zatkoff dropped down a pad to stop a point shot, in the process freeing up Dan Boyle for what appeared to be a tap-in into an empty net.
But Lovejoy was there, swinging around fast enough to chop the puck away from Boyle's blade. And when the Rangers failed to recoup possession, Kris Letang sent Nick Bonino and Kuhnhackl away on a 2-on-1.
There, it was Bonino to Kuhnhackl and into the back of the net shorthanded - a massive two-goal swing in favor of Pittsburgh.
Backes got the postgame interview, but the plaudits belong to Brian Elliott. The Blues netminder - who quietly finished with the league's best save rate - made 35 saves to register his first career playoff shutout.
He bailed out a Blues team that was being outshot 2-to-1 through 69 minutes before Backes' banker, and went more than 20 minutes without firing rubber on Corey Crawford for a stretch that spilled into overtime.
Any win, of course, is quite meaningful in a seven-game series, but this victory was particularly important. Duncan Keith will return from suspension in Game 2 and aid a blue line stretched thin in his absence.
