National Hockey League (NHL)
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NHL playoff upsets coming? Plus, 3 questions about Team USA’s World Championship win

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Good morning! We’re two days into the playoffs, and five of the series have begun. Are you mad yet? You should probably be mad. Let’s see if we can make that happen.

While You Were Sleeping

Wait, you were sleeping? Unacceptable. It’s Round 1 of the NHL playoffs — there’s no time for sleeping. If you need some shut-eye, that’s what Monday afternoon meetings are for. Other than that, keep your eyes open and your head on a swivel.

Home teams hold serve 🏠

Yesterday’s story, in one sentence: Three games, three big wins by home teams.

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The day began with the Hurricanes hosting the Devils in an afternoon tilt. Carolina comes in as a big favorite, but with a recent history of falling short of expectations in the postseason and the sting of the Mikko Rantanen saga still on its mind. The Hurricanes looked good in the opener, pouring 45 shots on the Devils on the way to an impressive 4-1 win.

Speaking of playoff underachievement, we all know the history in Toronto. But for one night at least, it all came together for the Maple Leafs in a series-opening win over the Senators. The big stars scored, the power play clicked, their goaltending was better and it all added up to a 6-2 win. Now the young Senators have to shake off a tough start and figure out how to fight back without taking penalties.

The late game saw the Golden Knights hold on to win a close one over the Wild. It was essentially a one-goal win, although a buzzer-beating empty netter made it a 4-2 final. The Wild stayed in it against a heavy favorite, but moral victories only go so far in the playoffs.

Add it all up, and with the only road win coming from the stacked Avalanche over a decimated Stars team, you could argue we haven’t seen an upset yet. With four games tonight, it shouldn’t take us long to get there.

Women’s World Championship 🥇

Team USA captures gold in OT

One thing missing from the NHL playoffs so far: the drama of sudden-death overtime. Luckily, yesterday’s Women’s World Championship gold medal game was there to provide the OT magic we were missing. Although it’s fair to say American fans probably enjoyed it a lot more than Canadians did.

That’s Tessa Janecke burying the biggest goal of her life to give Team USA the gold. Our own Hailey Salvian was on the scene in Czechia to cover the tournament, and she took the time to answer a few questions for Red Light readers.

Was there any point in the game — or even the tournament — when you had any doubt Team Canada and Team USA would end up deciding gold in overtime?

💬 For the 52 seconds Team USA had a 2-0 lead in the second period, I thought, “Oh, this might be over” and “maybe I can start writing my postgame story.”

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That was very stupid of me. Because 52 seconds after Abbey Murphy gave the U.S. that lead, Danielle Serdachny cut it in half. Not even one minute later, Jennifer Gardiner tied it 2-2.

That’s typical of this rivalry, though. Any way you might think a game is going to go, you’re probably wrong!

As dramatic as the ending was, the goal also had a bit of a stench to it. What exactly happened in Canada’s end to lead to Janecke’s winner?

💬 For Canada, it started with a questionable line change, with Sarah Fillier heading off and Jocelyne Larocque holding the puck behind the crease. Janecke went hard on the forecheck against Larocque and disrupted her breakout pass, which was pretty easily intercepted by Taylor Heise. She made the shot-pass to find Janecke back door, and there you have it.

We nearly saw an upset in the semifinal, when Team USA needed a comeback to earn a 2-1 win over Czechia. How important is that for the Czechia program, and how close are they to disrupting the USA/Canada stranglehold on gold medals?

💬 They’re getting close. At least head coach Carla MacLeod said so in this incredible postgame speech after that semifinal loss.

Czechia has a lot of talent on the roster. Kristýna Kaltounková was a top-10 finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Award, given to the best player in women’s college hockey, this season. Tereza Vanišová is among the top scorers in the PWHL. Tereza Plosová, who scored the opening goal against the U.S., is headed to the University of Minnesota and will only get better in the NCAA.

But what makes the state of the women’s game so exciting is that while Czechia gave the eventual champions a scare, they didn’t even medal at this tournament. Finland beat them 4-3 in overtime earlier on Sunday, setting up a pretty solid top-four nations (and some rivalries) heading into the Milan Olympics, which are somehow only 10 months away.

I should also mention: Czechia was an unbelievable host nation and set a record for the most fans ever at a Women’s World Championship (122,331), passing the 2007 tournament hosted by Winnipeg.

Coast to Coast

🏒 “I was a die-hard Avalanche fan as a kid.” Pierre LeBrun sits down with Matt Duchene to discuss the emotions involved in facing his former team.

🥅 Uh oh, Andrei Vasilevskiy might be (very) good again.

❓ What kind of an NHL GM spends time thinking about robot submarines? A winning one, as it turns out. James Mirtle spent time with Ivy League outsider turned Hurricanes GM Eric Tulsky.

📢 The crew at “The Athletic Hockey Show” discussed how the Avs look like true Cup contenders and reacted to listener voicemails from the Playoff Crisis Line.

What to Watch

📺 Canadiens @ Capitals
7 p.m. ET on ESPN / SN
On paper, this is the biggest David vs. Goliath matchup of the first round. Now we find out if the Habs are just happy to be there or if they can shock the top seed. An upset win in the opener would go a long way to changing perceptions.

📺 Blues @ Jets
7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2 / CBC
The underdog Blues had the Jets on the ropes in Game 1, but a late Winnipeg comeback sealed a win. Now we wait to see if that was a case of the Jets taking the Blues’ best shot and shaking it off, or if St. Louis has shown it can hang with the Presidents’ Trophy winners.

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📺 Avalanche @ Stars
9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN / SN360
Is it too early to call this a must-win for Dallas? Maybe, but after the Avalanche rolled to a Game 1 win, the Stars are now on an eight-game losing streak counting back to the regular season. If they head to Colorado down 2-0 in the series, they may not even make it back to Dallas for a Game 5.

📺 Oilers @ Kings
10 p.m. ET on ESPN2 / SN
This is the fourth year in a row these teams have met in the first round, with the Oilers winning the previous three. But this time the Kings have home ice advantage to go with a league-best record on home ice. Will that matter? It should, but the Oilers can squash that narrative quickly with an early win.

The full NHL playoff schedule is here. Try streaming games like these for free on Fubo. 

We ❤️ the Old Guys

In celebration of the noble OGWAC

Ah, the OGWAC — or for you newbies, the Old Guy Without a Cup. That’s the beloved playoff archetype of the grizzled veteran who’s done it all over the course of a long career, except win a ring. With time running out, we watch and wait to see if they can finally break through and get their lap with the Cup.

When it happens, it’s the best.

  • The all-time king of the OGWAC story is Ray Bourque, who needed 22 seasons before finally winning the big one in his very last game with the Avalanche in 2001.
  • Other legendary OGWACs include Teemu Selanne with Anaheim in 2007, and (for you old-timers) Lanny McDonald with Calgary in 1989.
  • Last year, we saw Kyle Okposo win with Florida in what turned out to be the last game of a 17-year career.

Of course, sometimes the moment never comes. That was the case for Joe Pavelski, who retired last summer without ever getting his hands on the big trophy. His former Sharks teammate Joe Thornton played 24 seasons but never won it all. Neither did Jarome Iginla, or Marcel Dionne or Henrik Lundqvist.

This year, as always, the playoffs start with plenty of potential OGWAC stories. So who are the best?

You could go with the league’s oldest skater, 40-year-old Blues defenseman Ryan Suter. Maybe you prefer Carolina’s Brent Burns, the bearded 40-year-old who’s been in the league since before there was a salary cap. Claude Giroux, 37, is trying to write an OGWAC story for his hometown team in Ottawa. Stars captain Jamie Benn, 35, might be on his way out in Dallas, while Jeff Skinner, 33 next month, is the rare OGWAC who’s making his playoff debut.

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There are so many candidates that it’s impossible to rank them all. So of course I tried anyway, in my annual OGWAC rankings. With Pavelski retired, the top spot he’d held down for years is now up for grabs. It’s not quite the biggest prize these guys are chasing right now, but it’s probably a close second.

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(Top photo: John E. Sokolowski / Imagn Images)

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