The Stanley Cup has started in the National Hockey League. Due to the pandemic, the NHL leadership had to change the format of the event and expand it to 24 teams. The eight best of the Eastern and Western conferences guaranteed themselves a performance in the first round of the tournament, while the remaining 16 teams will have to qualify and determine the holders of the remaining tickets.
In the preliminary round, two teams clashed, in which Russian hockey players are one of the leaders. At the end of the regular season, Carolina was in sixth place in the Eastern Conference, and the Rangers - in 11th, with the gap between opponents being only two points.
The meeting ended with a score of 3: 2 in favor of Rob Brindamore's charges, and one of the leaders of Carolina, Andrey Svechnikov, scored an assist. He took part in the majority drawing and helped to distinguish Sebastian Aho. The Russian made a one-touch pass on a nickle, and the Finn shot freely. It is worth noting that veteran Hendrik Lundqvist defended the guests' gates. Initially, Igor Shesterkin was supposed to be in the starting lineup, but he was injured and gave way to the legendary Swede.
The main hero of the meeting was the Hurricanes defender Jacob Slavin. Already in the 61st second of the match, he effectively hit the gate of Lundqvist, and nine minutes before the final siren he chalked up the pass. The American assisted Martin Nechas.
For the Rangers, Mika Zibanejad took on the role of leader, scoring two points (1 + 1) on the goal + pass system. At the same time, Artemy Panarin also managed to be noted for effective actions. Less than two minutes before the end of the final period, the forward helped bring Mark Staal to the shot, and he left Petr Mrazek out of business. The Blueshirts reduced the gap to a minimum, but they weren't enough for more.
Russian hockey players became one of the main characters in the confrontation between the Islanders and Florida. Semyon Varlamov and Sergei Bobrovsky took their places at the gate and made 27 and 26 rescues, respectively. In the end, this was precisely the key factor. The goalkeeper of the New York team played the first playoff game since 2014 and won on the fly. It is noteworthy that for him she became the 14th in the Stanley Cup. According to this indicator, he ranks fifth among domestic goalkeepers. Only Andrey Vasilevsky (15), Ilya Bryzgalov (20), Nikolai Khabibulin (39) and Evgeny Nabokov (42) are superior to him.
Thus, the favorites took the lead in the series to three wins. The Islanders featured Jean-Gabriel Pajot and Anthony Beauvillier, while the Panthers featured Jonathan Huberdeau. Russian forward Yevgeny Dadonov played a little over 18 minutes and was on the ice when the goal was scored. He also made two throws, received two minutes of a penalty and performed three power tricks.
A sensation broke out in the match between the fifth and 12th teams of the East. Pittsburgh, which had been among the contenders for first place in the conference for most of the championship, were defeated by Montreal. The meeting ended in overtime and was the first NHL playoff game since 1923 to have two shootouts.
None of them have ever been implemented. Three minutes before the end of regular time, Conor Sheree could not cope with Carey Price, and almost ten minutes later, Jonathan Drouen did not score against Matt Murray. As a result, the teams had to spend an extra 14 minutes on the ice, and Jeff Petrie became the author of the winning throw. The American is only the eighth defender in Canadiens history to have his name on the scoreboard in overtime playoffs. Esperi Kotkaniemi and Nick Suzuki also scored among the winners.
At the Penguins, Sidney Crosby and Brian Rust took over the sniper roles, with the second puck scored in unequal compositions. Evgeni Malkin spent 25 minutes 15 seconds on the ice, during which he managed to bother Price eight times. But the owner of "Vezina Trophy" clearly caught the courage and chalked up 39 saves.
In the West, there were also sensations, and also in the match between the fifth and 12th teams. Failure befell "Edmonton", unable to cope with "Chicago". Connor McDavid, Leon Draiseitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins each scored three points (1 + 2) and helped organize four goals, but that was not enough. The Blackhawks responded with six and Dominik Kubalik became the first rookie in club history with five playoff points. In the first period, he assisted partners three times, and in the second, he scored twice himself.
Calgary was the most confident, leaving no chance for Winnipeg. Jeff Ward's squad upset the enemy four times, allowing him only once to light a red light outside his own gates. In the entire game, the Jets only harassed Cam Talbot 18 times. Perhaps the reason for this was the injury of the leaders. Already in the course of the first period, Mark Scheifli was forced to leave the site, and in the third, Patrick Laine joined the infirmary. The author of the only scored puck was Andrew Kopp, and the pass was given by Dmitry Kulikov.