The Stanley Cup Playoffs kicked off on Saturday with Game 1 of the East Division series between the Bruins and Capitals. It ended with Nic Dowd tipping a T.J. Oshie shot in overtime to give the Capitals a 3-2 win and a 1-0 series lead.

Nic Dowd gets the GWG in OT for the @Capitals! 👏 #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/2FjLulCi4s

— NHL (@NHL) May 16, 2021

Those who participated in the Bucci Overtime Challenge on Twitter were far more likely hoping that it was Oshie's goal rather than Dowd's. But to the team, it doesn't matter how they go in, just that they go in. Oshie playoff poolies should be happy with the fact that he recorded two assists in this game.

Tom Wilson opened the scoring for the Capitals, then assisted on the overtime goal for a two-point game of his own.

Vitek Vanecek appeared to pull his groin after allowing Boston's first goal in the first period, so the soon-to-be 40-year-old Craig Anderson took over in net. Even though Anderson played in just four games all season (and only two of them full games), he looked solid in stopping 21 of 22 shots in picking up the win. Anderson may not have a reputation as a playoff goalie, but he has a history of stepping up his game for the playoffs.

Craig Anderson stopped 21 of 22 shots faced in relief, earning his 24th career playoff win. Anderson's .929 career save percentage in the playoffs is the second-highest in NHL history among goaltenders with at least 40 games played.

— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) May 16, 2021

Ilya Samsonov is no longer on the COVID protocol list, but it appeared that he wasn't ready to suit up for this game. Samsonov could suit up for Game 2 should Vanecek be forced to miss time.

Even though Samsonov was removed from the COVID list, Evgeny Kuznetsov remained on the list on Saturday and was also unavailable for Game 1.

How many Dobber Hockey writers picked Washington to win this series? Find out what our Experts Panel thinks as they make their playoff picks.

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Earlier on Saturday, the Oilers and Canucks hooked up for a game that neither team had a huge incentive to win. The Oilers are obviously looking ahead to their playoff series with Winnipeg, while the Canucks are simply playing out their remaining games missed from their COVID shutdown. Since players themselves don't care about tanking for draft lottery seeding as much as fans do, the Canucks seemed like the more motivated team, coming out on top with a 4-1 win.

Matthew Highmore scored twice for the Canucks, giving him three goals in his past two games. The Canucks have been trying Highmore with J.T. Miller and Brock Boeser, likely to justify trading Adam Gaudette for him at the deadline. Highmore started off ice cold with the Canucks (no points in his first nine games), but he has heated up recently with five points in his last six games. With one more season at $725,000, Highmore seems like an ideal bottom-6 forward for the Canucks. If you're still trying to scrape something together in a regular-season fantasy league, Highmore is worth considering.

Miller assisted on both of Highmore's goals, while Boeser assisted on one of them.

Thatcher Demko stopped 31 of 32 shots in picking up the win, including this save. Even if you think this puck completely crossed the line, this was an incredible effort from Demko.

Thatcher Demko! 😱😱😱

What a save with the pad to keep it out! 🤯 #Canucks pic.twitter.com/IqKthVzPqS

— Sportsnet 650 (@Sportsnet650) May 15, 2021

Since the Oilers were playing their final regular-season game, this game marked the final entry of the Connor McDavid point watch. McDavid recorded an assist on Adam Larsson's first-period goal, giving him 105 points in just 56 games. That works out to be a 1.88 PTS/GP average. Here are a few stats that will give you an idea of how historic McDavid's season is.

An end of the season look at how Connor McDavid's 105 points and 5.08 point per 60 rate stacks up to the 100+ point scorers of the last 10 years. pic.twitter.com/ogYgh3ZfoF

— Shayna (@hayyyshayyy) May 15, 2021

It came down to the tiniest of margins, but Connor McDavid has established a new NHL record.

McDavid recorded 105 points on 183 EDM goals — 57.38%.

The previous record was held by Mario Lemieux during the 1988-89 season. Lemieux had a point on 57.35% of PIT's goals.

— Daniel Nugent-Bowman (@DNBsports) May 15, 2021

Connor McDavid will finish the season with 105 points to lead the NHL, 21 more than Oilers teammate Leon Draisaitl, who is second.

It will be the largest margin since Wayne Gretzky won the Art Ross Trophy in 1990-91 by 32 points over Brett Hull (163-131).

— David Satriano (@davidsatriano) May 15, 2021

Mikko Koskinen allowed four goals on 41 shots in a losing cause. He has not posted a quality start in any of his last four games and will likely start the playoffs on the bench behind Mike Smith. With one more season left at $4.5 million, Koskinen could very well be bought out this offseason while the Oilers try to sign… I dunno, Smith? There will be a few other goalies available, so it's quite possible the Oilers have a brand new starting goalie in 2021-22.

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For those of you in playoff pools, here's some injury news:

Well, well, well… Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov picked exactly the right time to return. Both will be in the Lightning lineup for Game 1 against the Panthers on Sunday. It will be interesting to see whether either player is rusty, especially Kucherov, who has missed the entire season. Stamkos himself has not played in just over a month. It will also be interesting to see how motivated the Lightning are to defend their Stanley Cup championship in the shortened season.

Even though he was pulled for the third period of the Islanders' final game, Semyon Varlamov is expected to start Game 1 against the Penguins on Sunday. Varlamov has had a career year (2.04 GAA, .929 SV%), but if he can't go, Ilya Sorokin isn't a bad option.

Evgeni Malkin will be a game-time decision for Game 1, however. Malkin returned from injury to play four games before the end of the regular season, recording four assists. If he's not fully healed from said injury, that could be problematic for Penguins fans and playoff poolies.

David Perron has been added to the COVID protocol list, putting his status for Game 1 against Colorado on Monday up in the air.

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The Top 100 Roto Rankings have been updated for May. Even though most teams are finished playing regular-season games, feel free to have a look and provide feedback. They will be updated monthly throughout the summer as trades, player signings, and other news happens.

Yesterday I discussed three major risers in the rankings – players who each advanced 30 spots. Today it'll be major fallers – two players who fell around 30 spots, and another who fell out of the rankings completely.

Patrik Laine

I'll get this one out of the way quickly. Laine was a no-doubt member of the all-bust team that I discussed on the Steve Laidlaw Podcast with Steve. Laine finished the season with just 12 goals and 24 points in 46 games, which would have him on pace for 43 points over a full 82-game season. That's a major dropoff for a player who scored 28 goals and 63 points in 68 games last season, which would have been 76 points over a full season. The minus-28 further devalued him in leagues that count plus/minus, while his seven power-play points marked the first time he had finished with single-digit power-play points over his five-year career.

New Episode of the SLP! https://t.co/DUF6sW2p58 on #Podbean

— Steve Laidlaw Podcast (@SteveLaidlawPod) May 10, 2021

We figured that John Tortorella wasn't the right type of coach to bring out the best in Laine. Yet with Torts now out of the picture, is Laine due for a bounceback season? A lot will depend on who the Blue Jackets hire as their next coach. Will it be a more offensive-minded coach who will let Laine focus on what he does best, which is scoring goals? Or was Jarmo Kekalainen so impressed with Torts that he has his sights set on Torts 2.0, which might further diminish Laine's offensive production? A third option would have Kekalainen trade RFA-to-be Laine if he's really not happy with the player. So many questions when it comes to Laine's fantasy value.

Jordan Binnington

Perhaps it should have been expected, but over the past two seasons Binnington hasn't been able to replicate his magical 2018-19 rookie season. Binnington is a good option if you need volume, as he tied for second with 42 GP in 2020-21 and was tied for sixth with 50 GP in 2019-20. However, he didn't provide as many wins as you'd want in 2020-21, finishing with an 18-14-8 record. In other words, he finished more games with some kind of L than a W.

Over those past two seasons, Binnington has been relatively consistent with around a 2.60 GAA and .911 SV%. Although the GAA is comparable to the likes of Connor Hellebuyck and Tristan Jarry, the SV% is comparable to Mikko Koskinen and James Reimer. The latter stat in particular is hardly elite, so moving Binnington down was done to reflect that.

Claude Giroux

Giroux finished the season with seven points over his last five games, as well as a similar point-per-game average (0.80) over last season. So why exactly am I dropping him this much? This is simply a case of Giroux being ranked too high until now. Giroux doesn't post a terrible scoring rate, but he's not a top-50 scorer any more. Add to that the fact that his peripherals aren't overly strong (2.2 SOG/GP, <1 HIT/GP, 11 PPP, minus-4). It's easy to get caught up in paying for the name you know and past production, so be careful not to overvalue Giroux. Especially considering that he is now 33 years of age.

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For more fantasy hockey discussion, or to reach out to me, you can follow me on Twitter @Ian_Gooding