The Stanley Cup Playoffs got underway last night with three games and all three games had drama and intrigue. Something we have come to expect this time of year.
Today I'll take a look back at last night's games and what caught my attention. Let's start in the Steel City.
Philadelphia vs. Pittsburgh:
It didn't take long for the scoring to begin as Sidney Crosby (who else) got the first goal of the 2012 playoffs just under four minutes in to give Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead.
Tyler Kennedy scored nearly four minutes later and the Penguins were up 2-0 before the Flyers knew what hit them.
At that point as Philadelphia coach Peter Laviolette was calling a timeout two thoughts crossed my mind.
The first one was if Pittsburgh can keep playing like they are during the first eight minutes of this game then there is no team in the NHL that can touch them in the playoffs.
The second thought was the Penguins better not let up. Twice in the last month they had an early two goal lead on the Flyers and twice they ended up losing both those games.
Pascal DuPuis would add a goal with 37 seconds to play in the period, giving Pittsburgh a 3-0 lead going into the 1st intermission. At that point the question was would Flyers goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov come out to start the 2nd period in net or would he be pulled for Sergei Bobrovsky?
Bryzgalov did start the 2nd period and stopped all 10 shots that he faced in that period. He faced 15 total shots throughout the rest of the game, turning all of them away and giving Philadelphia a chance to get back in the game.
Danny Briere got the Flyers on the board with a wrist shot in the 2nd period and added another in the 3rd period to get Philly within one. Brayden Schenn would score three minutes later to tie the game 3-3 setting the stage for the first overtime of the 2012 playoffs.
In the overtime it didn't take long as Jakub Voracek scored 2:23 into overtime to give the Flyers a 4-3 win and a 1-0 lead in the best of seven series.
What I found interesting is how last summer the Flyers had to do a complete makeover of their roster so they could sign Bryzgalov to a nine year deal worth $51 million dollars. Too make room Philadelphia had to trade away forwards Mike Richards and Jeff Carter.
Last night Schenn, who was acquired in the Richards deal, had the game tying goal to force overtime while Voracek, who was acquired in the Carter deal scored the game winning goal.
There still is a lot of hockey to be played but for one night, Flyers GM Paul Holmgren can feel good about the deals he made this past summer.
Detroit vs. Nashville:
This series got underway in the Music City last night with the Predators winning 3-2 to take a 1-0 lead in this best of seven series.
Nashville got on the board first when Paul Gaustad threw a puck on net that deflected off of Brad Stuart and past Jimmy Howard. The first goal is huge for the Predators as they were 35-3-4 when scoring first this season. Only Vancouver had more wins (42) scoring first.
With the early lead Nashville was able to settle in and do what they do best, play good defensive hockey and limit the scoring of the opposition.
While Detroit was able to tie the game early in the second period I just never got the feeling watching this game that the Red Wings were going to win. They weren't getting the bounces a team usually gets if they are to steal a game on the road.
Pekka Rinne came up big in goal for the Predators stopping 35 of the 37 shots he faced. When you have a goalie like Rinne and two top notch defenseman in Shea Weber and Ryan Suter an early goal is all it takes for those three to set the tone of the game.
Speaking of Weber he was involved in what may be the most controversial incident so far in the playoffs.
With the game coming to the end Weber got tangled up along the boards with Henrik Zetterberg. Weber then ends up elbowing Zetterberg along side the head before grabbing his head and throwing him face first into the glass.
After seeing that my reaction was Weber needs to be suspended for his actions.
Granted it wasn't as bad as what Shawn Michaels did to Marty Jannetty but a fine is unacceptable. If the NHL is serious about cutting down on shots to the head then you can't let Weber off with a slap on the wrist.
Some people say I feel that way because I am a Red Wings fan. I won't deny that but I'll ask you this, if Weber did that to one of the best players on your team what would you think the punishment should be.
My guess is you wouldn't be OK with just a fine.
Los Angeles vs. Vancouver:
Going into this series the two players under the microscope were Dustin Penner for the Kings and Roberto Luongo for the Canucks.
Fittingly both figured in prominently in the Kings 4-2 win last night at Rogers Arena.
Tied 2-2 late in the 3rd period Penner scored when a puck deflected off of Jeff Carter's skate and onto his stick. All he had to do was shoot it into an open net past Luongo, which he did and Los Angeles had a 3-2 lead.
Yes the same player that injured himself earlier this year while eating pancakes scored the game winning goal giving the Kings a 4-2 win and a 1-0 lead in the series.
Speaking of Luongo, my first thought when seeing the final score this morning was how bad was he and would he be benched in game two with Cory Schneider taking over in net.
After watching the first three goals by the Kings I think the Canucks team defense is more to blame that the play of Luongo in net. Also giving up a power play goal during a five minute major doesn't help.
Overall I thought Luongo played well for Vancouver. He gave his team a chance to win which is the least you can ask of your goaltender.
The Kings did a great job limiting the Canucks shots on goal allowing Jonathan Quick to steal game one of the series which is what he needed to do for Los Angeles to have a chance to win this series.
There may be some paranoia in British Columbia after last night loss. To that I tell Vancouver fans to take a deep breath and settle down.
The Canucks were the best team in the NHL the last two seasons and finished one win short of winning the Stanley Cup last season. This is a veteran team and last night's loss shouldn't even phase them. Let's see how Vancouver responds in game two.
It's way too early to panic.
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