The most exciting time of the year for the National Hockey League is underway as the puck dropped on the 2015 Stanley Cup playoffs Wednesday and eight teams opened things up on a fresh slate of ice for what is widely known as season No. 2.
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Three of four road teams won on Wednesday night as their respective quests for the Stanley Cup began and there was plenty of action around the league.
Here are our top 5 moments from Opening Night of the Stanley Cup playoffs:
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5) Isle Score First: Brock Nelson was the first person to find the back of the net in the 2015 playoffs when he eluded Washington Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby in the first period. Nelson would add an empty-net goal in the third period to ensure New York a 4-1 victory and take home-ice away from Washington. Nelson joined Ryan Strome (game-winner), who was playing in his first career playoff game, and Josh Bailey as Islanders who notched their first career postseason tallies.
4) P.K. Sub-Banned: The Montreal Canadiens lost a major part of their defensive corps when P.K. Subban viciously slashed the right hand of Ottawa Senators 22-year-old rookie Mark Stone midway through the second period of their Game 1 matchup. Subban was given a five-minute major and a game misconduct, which led to the Senators scoring two goals on the man-advantage, one by Kyle Turris and the other by Mika Zibanejad. Montreal, however, was also able to score a short-handed goal as Lars Eller found the twine during the major. The teams were engulfed in a 3-3 tie until fourth-liner Brian Flynn scored for the Canadiens late in the second period in what proved to be the game-winner. Montreal took a 1-0 series lead and was the only home team to win on Wednesday.
3) Flame On: The Calgary Flames were deadlocked in a 1-1 tie with the Canucks in Vancouver during Game 1 late in the third period in a contest that seemed like it was destined to head to overtime. Flames' defenseman Kris Russell, who set an NHL single-season record by blocking 283 shots in the regular season, showed his offensive prowess late in the game. Russell's shot from the point beat Canucks' goalie Eddie Lack, who was making his NHL playoffs debut, with 29 seconds left in the third period to propel the Flames to a 2-1 victory.
2) Chicago Fire: The Chicago Blackhawks looked all but doomed after the first 20 minutes of their Game 1 matchup with the Predators in Nashville as they fell behind 3-0 after the first period. Ever resilient, Chicago answered with three tallies of their own in the second, including two on the man-advantage. Patrick Kane, in his first game back from suffering a broken clavicle, had two helpers in the contest. Three periods wasn't enough to decide this one and neither was the first overtime as the two teams traded chances, but needed a second extra frame. Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith's wrister from the point beat world class goaltender Pekka Rinne, giving the visiting Blackhawks a 4-3 come-from-behind win and 1-0 series lead.
1) Darling of Chicago: Blackhawks netminder Corey Crawford was pulled after allowing three goals on 12 shots to the Predators in the first period and he was replaced by backup netminder Scott Darling. Darling stood on his head the rest of the way, stopping every chance he faced and denying golden opportunities by Nashville in overtime. Darling made 42 saves in the game, not allowing a single goal, and kept Chicago in it long enough for Keith to score the game-winner. It marked the first playoff action Darling ever faced.
It was a great Opening Night for the Stanley Cup playoffs, and things are sure to heat up when the lights come up on the Rangers-Penguins, Lightning-Red Wings, Ducks-Jets and Blues-Wild series' on Thursday.
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