Around the NHL: 4 Exciting Games Open 2nd Round

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

The second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs opened on Wednesday night with two of the four series getting underway. The remaining two started on Thursday.

In the first game of each thing, one thing was apparent from the get-go: these are going to be truly excellent series from start to finish.

With the exception of one empty-net goal in the Edmonton-Anaheim series, each series saw Game 1 decided by a goal, with scoring going back-and-forth and the game-winning goals coming late in each game.

Here is a rundown of Game 1 in each series.

The Nashville Predators continued their hot start to the playoffs, winning their fifth straight game and taking Game 1 from the St. Louis Blues, 4-3.

Nashville struck first in the game with a power-play goal by Colin Wilson midway through the first and carried that lead into the second where P.K. Subban scored to make it a 2-0 game. Subban’s goal came just seconds after a scary incident, as Kevin Fiala crashed hard into the endboards and was taken off the ice on a stretcher. His season is over after the Predators confirmed a successful surgery on a fractured femur.

The Blues started to push back in the middle part of the second. At 8:04, Colton Parayko took advantage of a defensive breakdown and walked in on goal, sliding the puck through the pads of Pekka Rinne to put St. Louis on the board. Filip Forsberg added a power-play goal just four minutes later to restore the two-goal lead going to the third.

In the third, the Blues again applied pressure and got two quick goals to tie the game. Jaden Schwartz scored at 6:48 and just under three minutes later, Vladimir Sobotka found the net with the equalizer.

But it was veteran forward Vern Fiddler who scored at 14:55 to put the Predators ahead and they would protect that lead until the end, claiming their fifth straight win in the playoffs and a 1-0 lead in the series.

A wild third period was the story of the Edmonton Oilers 5-3 win over the Anaheim Ducks.

After a scoreless first, the teams traded goals in the second — Ryan Getzlaf for the Ducks and Mark Letestu for the Oilers — to go into the second intermission tied at one.

Letestu added a second goal on the power play at 6:23 to put Edmonton ahead in the third and quickly Adam Larsson scored less than two minutes later to give the Oilers a 3-1 lead. Just over a minute after Larsson’s goal, Patrick Eaves scored to cut the lead to one and just over a minute later, Jakob Silfverberg tied the game.

Larsson would find the net again, however, with 4:40 to play in regulation. That would be the game-winner, as Leon Draisaitl iced the game with an empty-net goal with 1:05 to play, giving the Oilers a 1-0 lead in the series.

After two relatively high-scoring games on Wednesday, Thursday’s series opener between the Senators and Rangers was a goalie showdown. Henrik Lundqvist and Craig Anderson were both on their game as the teams struggled for goals.

The Rangers scored first, getting a power-play goal from Ryan McDonagh at 7:10 of the second period. With just 1:21 to play in the second, Ryan Dzingel scored on the power play to tie the game going to the third.

An evenly-played third period turned in Ottawa’s favor after a great shift by Erik Karlsson ended with a shot from an impossible angle beating Lundqvist with 4:11 to play. That was the game-winner in the 2-1 win for Ottawa.

The defending Stanley Cup champions also opened their series with a win. With Washington and Pittsburgh meeting again in the playoffs, the battle of Sidney Crosby vs. Alex Ovechkin was strong early.

There was no scoring in the first, but Crosby scored twice in the first 64 seconds of the second period, only to have one of the goals answered by Ovechkin to make it a 2-1 game going to the third.

At 8:05 of the third, Evgeny Kuznetsov was on the receiving end of a great pass from Matt Niskanen with a wide-open net. He scored to tie the game.

At 12:36, Nick Bonino would use a quick burst to get behind the defense and get a lead pass for a breakaway. He beat Braden Holtby on the blocker side to give Pittsburgh the lead and they would hold off a furious rally from Washington late to take a 1-0 series lead.

Game 2 of Nashville-St. Louis and Edmonton-Anaheim is on Friday night. The two series in the East — Rangers-Senators and Penguins-Capitals — will face off again on Saturday.