Auston Matthews believes he and his Toronto Maple Leafs are more prepared to take on the Boston Bruins in the playoffs this time around.
The Maple Leafs were bounced by the Bruins in seven games last spring, and Matthews faced significant scrutiny after registering just two points in the series. But now, the face of Toronto's franchise feels the club is ready to erase last season's failure.
"Each year you just gain more and more experience and, from our first now to our third year, you just kind of know what to expect going into it," Matthews said. "It's a battle. I think for all of us, like I said the last couple days, we're extremely hungry and we all feel ready for this challenge."
Matthews is entering the playoffs following the most productive regular season of his three-year career. He registered 73 points in 68 games overall and posted a dominant 58 percent possession rate since the start of March.
Game 1 of the highly anticipated series begins at 7 p.m. ET on Thursday.
Goaltending has been the primary question mark for the top-seeded Flames all season as Smith has split starter's duties with David Rittich. Both netminders have posted nearly identical numbers since March 1.
Goalie
Games
Record
Sv %
Smith
9
4-5-0
.904
Rittich
9
5-4-0
.905
Smith presumably gets the nod due to experience; he has 19 career playoff starts while Rittich has none. The 37-year-old also owns an 11-1-4 record and .931 save percentage in 16 career appearances versus the Avalanche.
Don't be surprised if that classic "Dumb and Dumber" soundbite becomes the Columbus Blue Jackets' rallying cry following their dramatic, come-from-behind 4-3 victory in Game 1 against the mighty Tampa Bay Lightning.
The upset stopped everybody in their tracks during an action-packed opening night of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It turns out the Lightning, a historically great squad, is not perfect. Sure, they may end up running the table in Games 2-5, but at least this series has life.
With that in mind, let's take a look at what factored into the Jackets erasing a three-goal deficit - and then scoring a fourth goal - to beat the 62-win Lightning on Wednesday.
Bob's your difference
Sergei Bobrovsky played out of his mind in the second and third periods, turning aside all 16 shots he faced after allowing three goals on 13 shots in the first.
His brilliance was especially key in the middle frame, as he kept the Blue Jackets in the game before their offensive explosion in the third. Here's a sampling of the two-time Vezina Trophy winner's work.
A lunging pad save on Nikita Kucherov 30 seconds into the period:
A nifty glove stop on Mathieu Joseph 13 minutes later:
Consecutive point-blank pad saves with 40 seconds left in the period:
That's some fine work from Bobrovsky, a brand-name netminder who enjoyed a tremendous end to the regular season but came into Wednesday's contest with a career playoff save percentage of just .891.
It's safe to say his confidence will be high heading into Game 2 on Friday night.
Kucherov (relatively) quiet
The Lightning's forward group isn't just incredibly dangerous; it's relentless, too, as all four lines contain offensive punch.
Kucherov, the regular season's scoring champ and presumptive MVP, presents both of those qualities most nights. So, if you intend on stopping Tampa, you better put a muzzle on its top dog. Or at least try your hardest to limit his impact.
Columbus accomplished that feat in Game 1, holding Kucherov to two shots on goal in 22 minutes. Linemates Brayden Point and Yanni Gourde, two creative and energetic players in their own right, combined for just five shots.
Mike Carlson / Getty Images
Overall, the Lightning lost the shots battle 11-8 when Kucherov was on the ice at five-on-five - a rarity for the player and his line. With coach Jon Cooper holding the last change, Tampa's top trio faced a mixture of the David Savard-Markus Nutivaara pairing (eight minutes) and the Seth Jones-Zach Werenski duo (four and a half). Both Columbus tandems deserve a pat on the back.
Meanwhile, Steven Stamkos was another Tampa star who failed to mark the score sheet. The Lightning, almost to a man, were too cute with the puck in Game 1. It's an understandable symptom of dominating the competition for months, and not something that's unfixable.
PP wakes up
This series pits the NHL's best penalty-killing teams against each other. Power play success, on the other hand, is not shared.
Tampa converted on 28.2 percent of its power-play opportunities in the regular season, finishing first in the league. Columbus, at 15.4 percent, ranked a woeful 28th.
It's been a puzzling and frustrating reality for the Jackets. Why can't this boatload of talent - Matt Duchene, Artemi Panarin, Cam Atkinson, Jones, and Werenski, just to name a handful - capitalize with the man advantage?
Well, on Wednesday, the talent came through at the perfect moment. After some deft puck movement inside Tampa's zone, Jones buried a shot from the high slot with about six minutes left to take the lead.
With that, the Lightning, who won 39 of 43 games when leading after two periods in the regular season, fell to the Jackets, who won only two of 26 games when trailing after two. Incredible.
In the playoffs, there's always a chance.
John Matisz is theScore's National Hockey Writer. You can find him on Twitter @matiszjohn.
The first evening of the NHL postseason did not disappoint.
Among other surprising storylines, the unquestioned championship favorite coughed up a lead and lost in stunning fashion, and two rookies lifted their respective squads to victory.
Here's what we gleaned from each of the five matchups on the opening night of playoff action:
Lightning take feet off gas after hot start
Everything was going according to the plan for the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 1 against the Columbus Blue Jackets, but then the wheels completely fell off for the league's most dominant team.
After tying a franchise postseason record with three goals in the opening period, the Lightning surrendered four unanswered markers, including three in the third, en route to a shocking 4-3 defeat on home ice.
It's not uncommon for a team to ease up a bit with a lead, but to call this particular collapse unexpected would be an understatement.
Tampa Bay was 39-2-2 when leading after two periods in the regular season, while Columbus was 2-23-1 when trailing after 40 minutes, according to NHL.com's Tom Gulitti.
Islanders prove to be resilient
Bruce Bennett / Getty Images Sport / Getty
Buoyed by a predictably raucous Nassau Coliseum crowd, the New York Islanders persevered multiple times to earn their Game 1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Islanders thought they'd opened the scoring 33 seconds in, but Tom Kuhnhackl's goal was rightfully wiped out following an offside review, silencing the boisterous arena. However, Jordan Eberle tallied shortly thereafter, at the 1:40 mark, to whip the crowd into a frenzy again.
New York then rallied to win it after allowing Justin Schultz's late tying goal in the third. Josh Bailey buried the overtime winner after a great effort by Mathew Barzal less than five minutes into the extra frame.
The Islanders will need to show the same resiliency in hostile territory as well, but their ability to respond to adversity both early and late in Game 1 was the biggest reason they prevailed.
Binnington stays hot in playoff debut
Jason Halstead / Getty Images Sport / Getty
Jordan Binnington didn't appear phased at all in his first-ever postseason game.
The rookie St. Louis Blues goaltender outdueled the more experienced Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets and allowed only one goal on 25 shots to lift St. Louis to a 2-1 victory in Game 1.
Binnington won 20 of his final 24 contests in the regular season, including eight of his last nine.
On Wednesday night, the 25-year-old proved fully capable of continuing that success in pursuit of the Stanley Cup with a stellar performance in his playoff debut.
Don't tell Heiskanen he's only 19 years old
Frederick Breedon / Getty Images Sport / Getty
Much like Binnington, Miro Heiskanen looked like a seasoned veteran in his first NHL postseason contest.
The young defenseman scored twice in the Dallas Stars' 3-2 victory over the Nashville Predators, netting a power-play goal on a wrister in the second period and firing another one home in the third.
Heiskanen also logged more than 23 minutes of ice time. That was about on par with his regular-season workload, but only one teammate (Esa Lindell) and one opposing player (Roman Josi) played more than Heiskanen in Game 1.
The rookie blue-liner has been one of the best and most underappreciated first-year players in the NHL this season, but he won't be undervalued for long if he keeps this up in the playoffs.
Golden Knights come out flat
What a difference a year makes.
The Vegas Golden Knights put forth a lackluster effort until the final minutes of their 5-2 defeat to the San Jose Sharks. The Golden Knights certainly didn't look like the team that overwhelmed so many opponents en route to their run to the Stanley Cup Final last season.
Vegas managed only five shots on goal in each of the first two periods, and got completely outplayed by San Jose in the possession department as well.
Sure, it was only one game, and it was also on the road against a very deep Sharks club, but the Golden Knights obviously need a better effort in Game 2 if they want to avoid digging themselves into a deeper hole.
The Lightning took a 3-0 lead into the first intermission only to have the Blue Jackets storm back with four unanswered goals to steal the game. Despite the disappointment, Stamkos says the defeat was a learning experience that players can benefit from.
"We got a 3-0 lead at home in the playoffs, that should be done and over with. If anything we learned a lesson tonight. We’ll be a lot better," Stamkos said according to Lightning beat reporter Caley Chelios.
Tampa Bay scored a league-high 325 goals this season and looked well on its way to a blowout victory in front of an electric home crowd. Following the contest, head coach John Cooper admitted the Lightning veered away from their game plan after gaining the lead early on.
"Our mentality was we wanted to outscore them instead of build the lead and shut them down," Cooper said.
The Lightning boasted a 31-1-2 record during the regular season when leading after the first period.
Boston Bruins forward David Backes will not be in the lineup Thursday for Game 1 against the Toronto Maple Leafs as the veteran has been declared a healthy scratch for the first time in his postseason career, according to The Athletic's Joe McDonald.
Head coach Bruce Cassidy had a long conversation with Backes following Tuesday's practice to inform the 34-year-old of his decision, McDonald added. He understands that to get back into the lineup, the team will likely have to suffer an injury or go on a losing skid.
"The shitty part is for me to get back in there are three things that would need to happen potentially and none of them are really good," Backes said. 'You’re trying to be a good teammate and hoping that the team has success and wins games, but I want to win a Cup too and if that means I’m sitting some and other guys have a chance to produce then I’ll grab the pom-poms for when I need to."
Backes has seen his point total decrease in five consecutive campaigns and recorded a career-worst 20 points over 70 games this season.
After being listed as a healthy scratch earlier this year, he discussed his role on the club with his head coach. The 6-foot-3 Backes responded by using his size and toughness to remain in the lineup, dropping the gloves on several occasions.
"It gave us real common ground for the rest of the regular season," Backes said. "I thought we were at a place where I was very understanding of what was asked of me and going out there and doing it. I hope, and still hope, I can provide that in the playoffs as well. But, he’s going with a more speedy, faster type of lineup against the Leafs in Game 1 and he’s not finding me fitting that mold."
Backes has recorded 27 points over 49 career playoff contests but contributed just three points in 12 games last spring.
"I'm very excited and can't wait to get going," said Rantanen, who missed the last eight games of the regular season with an upper-body injury. "The medical team did a good job and got me back in shape."
Head coach Jared Bednar confirmed Rantanen will play Thursday.
"(Rantanen) looks good and he's been working hard," Bednar said. "... I think that he's been ramping up nicely. He looks better and quicker every day that he's on the ice. We'll see how he does tomorrow in the game and adjust his ice time from there. But I expect him to play a lot just like he normally does."
The Finnish forward tallied a career-high 87 points in 74 games this season.
