Carolina 4, New Jersey 1 (Hurricanes lead series 1-0)

GM Eric Tulsky looked like a genius on Sunday as two of his midseason acquisitions – Logan Stankoven and Taylor Hall – were integral in Carolina's Game 1 victory over the Devils. Stankoven scored two goals, while Hall added two assists. The two connected for a pretty power-play goal to put Carolina up 3-0 In the second period. Hall is looking rejuvenated in Carolina after a couple rough years in Chicago.

TWO GOALS FOR LOGAN STANKOVEN 🤩 pic.twitter.com/ILzXWD6w8t

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) April 20, 2025

I think Stankoven has a lot of skill and real-world upside, but I'm not sure when that'll translate to regular season fantasy value. He's currently skating beside Jordan Staal and Jordan Martinook on Carolina's third line, with only a secondary power-play role. That means he's usually skating less than 15 minutes a night, as we saw again Sunday, when he was on the ice for 14:53. There's a role that would be much better for Stankoven's fantasy value, but it's currently being occupied by another youngster…

On Sunday, 21-year-old Jackson Blake saw the third-highest ice time among Canes' forwards at 17:04. He played so much because he's riding shotgun beside Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis on Carolina's top line and top power play. Although Blake started the year with sheltered minutes as a rookie, he was trusted with much more opportunity down the stretch, and that's carrying into the postseason. Don't judge him based on overall point totals, because he played very different roles in the first few months vs. the last few months. For reference, he racked up 12 points in his final 14 regular season appearances, averaging 16:44 per game.

Luke Hughes left Game 1 after some heavy contact to his left shoulder, which he was holding in pain as he left the ice. Although he returned to the game, it seemed significant enough to be a concern as the series progresses.

Luke Hughes and Cody Glass both leave the game with apparent injuries pic.twitter.com/1aPwWKIuNN

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) April 20, 2025

Nico Hischier and Jesper Bratt – who have been the heartbeat of this Devils' offense while Jack Hughes is injured – combined for the team's only goal of the game. Although the duo started out on the same line, they were separated in the third period as New Jersey tried to mount a comeback. The Devils did a better job generating chances while Hischier and Bratt were on different lines, but it's fair to wonder whether that effect was driven by the score of the game as Carolina would have been happy to sit on their lead at that point. Overall, Carolina dominated this one, outshooting New Jersey 38-13 through two periods. New Jersey pushed back a bit in the third, but the Hurricanes weathered that storm – no pun intended.

Toronto 6, Ottawa 2 (Leafs lead series 1-0)

After some turbulence with the man advantage early in the regular season, Toronto started using a five-forward setup more often, swapping Morgan Rielly for Matthew Knies. The adjustment paid dividends as from February 1st to the end of the regular season (April 17th), Toronto had the league's second-best power play, clicking at an impressive 30.8%. Ottawa played with fire on Sunday, giving Toronto six opportunities with the man advantage. As you might imagine, the Sens got burned, with the Leafs converting on half of those opportunities in Game 1. 

It's hard to be too critical of Linus Ullmark's play in Game 1 considering the team was shorthanded for three of the six goals he gave up. Still, his play was well below the elite level we've seen for stretches of the regular season. Ullmark's career playoff numbers aren't good, but the sample is relatively small. We saw him have some really strong starts in 2023, against a Panthers team that went to the Cup Final that year. I think we'll see a better version of Ullmark going forward, but it would certainly help if the Sens could be more disciplined. 

Making his first career playoff start, Anthony Stolarz stood tall, stopping 31 of the 33 shots Ottawa threw his way. He's carried his regular season excellence into the playoffs and will be a major hurdle for the Sens to get over. 

Toronto's 'Core Four' stuffed the stat sheet on Sunday as Mitch Marner, Auston Matthews, John Tavares, and William Nylander were the only multipoint players in this game. Marner led the way with three points while each of the others had two. It's one small step towards dispelling perceptions that the team's star players can't perform in the playoffs. Let's see if they can build confidence off this strong start.

MITCH MARNER, THAT WAS DISGUSTING! 🤢 #StanleyCup

🇺🇸: @espn ➡️ https://t.co/ybuZDYvoTH
🇨🇦: @Sportsnet or stream on Sportsnet+ ➡️ https://t.co/4KjbdjVctF pic.twitter.com/jQ6PwU3Z1V

— NHL (@NHL) April 20, 2025

Someone told Tim Stutzle the playoffs are more physical, and he took that to heart. Playing in his first career postseason game, Stutzle racked up a game-leading nine hits. I imagine it's inspiring for the Sens to see their most skilled forward buying into the playoff mandate of physicality, but it's a narrow line to walk. You don't want him so focused on being gritty that he strays from the skill plays that make him so dangerous. Something to watch as the series progresses.

Another young Senator making his playoff debut was Dylan Cozens, who showed similar respect for the physicality mandate, racking up five hits and 10 penalty minutes (although those PIMs came from a game misconduct that showed a lack of discipline more than anything else). He also got an assist for taking the shot that led to Drake Batherson's rebound goal. 

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Vegas 4, Minnesota 2 (Golden Knights lead series 1-0)

10:48 PM EST. That's the last time my jaw was connected to the rest of my face. It dropped when Kirill Kaprizov made a beautiful fake-shot pass to Matt Boldy for Minnesota's first goal of the postseason. This is the top-tier, game-breaking talent Minnesota was missing for half the campaign. They're a much better team than their regular season results indicate because Kaprizov is now healthy and pulling out plays like this:

what a pass from Kaprizov to Boldy pic.twitter.com/DFgXRB14Tw

— Shayna (@shaynagoldman_) April 21, 2025

You know who else Minnesota didn't have for half the season? Joel Eriksson Ek, one of the league's best two-way centres, who helped the Wild secure possession frequently in Game 1, winning 21 of the 32 faceoffs he took.

Minnesota's top line was responsible for both goals Sunday, so it's no surprise that coach John Hynes leaned on them heavily, with Kaprizov, Eriksson Ek and Boldy skating over 21 minutes. In contrast, minutes were spread out much more evenly among Vegas' forwards, with the Golden Knights' top line hovering around 17 minutes.

Making his NHL debut, 19-year-old Zeev Buium had a relatively uneventful game, seeing just 13 and a half minutes of ice time. He was on PP1 for Minnesota's only power-play of the game and then again when the Wild were trying to tie things up late with the goalie pulled. He's being used in those situations because of his offensive ability, but will be sheltered in other circumstances because he hasn't proven his defensive responsibility at the NHL level just yet.

24-year-old Pavel Dorofeyev, who led Vegas with 35 goals during the regular season, scored his first career playoff goal in his second career playoff appearance. One of the reasons he's been able to score so much this year is because he's skating on Vegas' top power-play unit, which ranked second in the league during the regular season. Dorofeyev's shooting ability combined with Shea Theodore's passing prowess is a recipe for success, as we saw on Sunday:

1st career playoff goal for Pavel Dorofeyev 🔥 pic.twitter.com/6NVCscoLNW

— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) April 21, 2025

Tomas Hertl – who was quiet in Vegas' first-round exit last year but had been a strong playoff performer in San Jose prior – played well in Game 1 Sunday, racking up a goal, assist, team-leading four shots, and team-leading four hits.

Hertl and Brett Howden both scored their goals up high, blocker side on Filip Gustavsson. It'll be interesting to see if that's an area the Golden Knights look to exploit as the series progresses.

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Monday brings us our first taste of LA vs. Edmonton and the Canadiens-Capitals clash. We'll also get a couple of Game 2s as the Jets/Blues & Avalanche/Stars matchups continue. Some news for Monday's games:

If Ross Colton can't play tomorrow (no update on him), Bednar confirms Gabriel Landeskog is an option to replace him.

— Evan Rawal (@evanrawal) April 20, 2025

Per Kris Knoblauch:
– Ekholm, Kane and Stecher are all out for Game 1
– Frederic is day to day and is a possibility for Game 1
– Kulak is in Canmore, Alta., where his wife is due to give birth to their second child. He's expected to rejoin the team in time for Game 1.

— Daniel Nugent-Bowman (@DNBsports) April 20, 2025

Edmonton's health is a big storyline going into this series as Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Zach Hyman, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jake Walman all missed a significant stretch of games to close out the campaign. McDavid doesn't seem worried about that, but it may end up being a factor later in this series as the physicality of the postseason exacerbates pre-existing ailments.

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As we start thinking about next year's fantasy campaign, one player I'm keeping a close eye on is 19-year-old Ivan Demidov in Montreal. We know this is a game-breaking talent, but it'll be interesting to see how coach Martin St. Louis utilizes that talent. In his miniscule sample of two NHL regular season games, Demidov primarily skated beside Alex Newhook at even strength. In their short time together, Demidov created many scoring chances for Newhook, helping Newhook score his first goal in 10 games. Will that chemistry continue to build in the playoffs, allowing Newhook to be a more valuable fantasy asset next year?

On the power play, I can't help but feel like Demidov's high-end offensive creativity makes him better suited for PP1 than Juraj Slafkovsky. Unfortunately, coach St. Louis hasn't been one to gift players PP opportunity. Slafkovsky had to earn his spot on PP1 with consistent play over a sizeable sample, as did Lane Hutson. I think Demidov on PP1 will be an ace up St. Louis' sleeve in these playoffs rather than the primary plan, but I imagine we'll see that ace come out at some point this postseason, previewing an inevitable permanent promotion to PP1 for Demidov.

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Thanks for reading! Hope you have a great week ahead :)