Whether you were out celebrating Easter on Sunday or busy having a regular Sunday that may or may not have included watching any of the action Sunday afternoon and evening, the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs rolled along with three more Game 1s.
By now you probably already know the final results, but in case you were under a rock or emerged from a tomb yesterday, all of the home teams won on Sunday as the the Carolina Hurricanes beat the New Jersey Devils, 4-1, the Toronto Maple Leafs topped the Ottawa Senators, 6-2, and the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Minnesota Wild, 4-2, to open their respective series’.
This could be quick
Already without Jack Hughes, the Devils lost Brenden Dillon and Cody Glass to injuries in Game 1 Sunday as the former got tangled up with Hurricanes forward, William Carrier, and landed hard on the ice in front New Jersey’s own net while Dillon’s legs went all kinds of ways that they normally aren’t supposed to go.
Devils defender, Luke Hughes, also briefly missed time Sunday after colliding with Hurricanes forward, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, and sliding into New Jersey’s net before clutching his arm as he skated off the ice. The younger Hughes, however, returned to the action in the waning minutes of the final frame.
Glass, on the other hand, was self-inflicted casualty courtesy of his teammate, Jacob Markström, as the Devils goaltender appeared as though he meant to deliver a quick slash to Carolina forward, Andrei Svechnikov, and, well, he missed.
New Jersey head coach, Sheldon Keefe, provided a report on the injuries on Monday, telling reporters that– despite his eagerness to return to action– Dillon was held out for the remainder of Game 1 as a precaution by doctors and indicated there was no update on Glass.
The Devils were outshot 45-24 in Game 1, while Logan Stankoven notched a pair of goals for the Hurricanes in their, 4-1, victory.
Jalen Chatfield and Taylor Hall each had a goal for Carolina as well, while Nico Hischier recorded the lone goal for New Jersey.
Carolina went 2-2-0 in four games against New Jersey in the regular season, but outshot the Devils 125-93 in that span with 13 goals for and 12 goals against in their season series.
In the postseason, history is on the Canes’ side with the Hurricanes holding a 4-1 advantage in all-time best-of-seven series matchups.
New Jersey took their first meeting in six games in the 2001 Eastern Conference Quarterfinal, but Carolina’s been successful ever since. The Hurricanes beat the Devils in six games in their 2002 Eastern Conference Quarterfinal rematch, five games in the 2006 Eastern Conference Semifinal on their way to their first– and only– Stanley Cup ring thus far, seven games in the 2009 Eastern Conference Quarterfinal and five games in the 2023 Second Round.
If there’s one thing that’s for certain for either of these teams, it’s that a deep run can be expected when they meet in a playoff series.
The Devils beat the Hurricanes in 2001, then wound up losing to the Colorado Avalanche in the Stanley Cup Final that spring.
The Hurricanes beat the Devils in 2002, and lost to the Detroit Red Wings in the Stanley Cup Final that year. The Canes won again in 2006, then won the Cup that spring after beating the Edmonton Oilers in a Game 7 on home ice. They won again in 2009 and 2023, but both of those playoff runs came to an end in the Eastern Conference Final to the Pittsburgh Penguins and Florida Panthers, respectively.
With so many injuries hampering New Jersey’s lineup and Carolina looking like a team that’s logged over 1,100 career Stanley Cup Playoff games across the roster on top of a rowdy Lenovo Center crowd on their side for Game 2 Tuesday night (6p ET on ESPN, SN360, TVAS2, FDSNSO, MSGSN), this series really shouldn’t get past a Game 4.
Yikes, what was that
For the first time in 21 years, we have ourselves a Battle of Ontario, but unlike 2004, this Game 1 wasn’t exactly close.
The Ottawa Senators have the least playoff experience out of the 16 teams that qualified for the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs with 361 career postseason games among their roster before Sunday’s, 6-2, loss in Toronto.
The Maple Leafs have just over 1,000– 1,003, to be exact– career Stanley Cup Playoff games played entering the series and wasted no time capitalizing on their shots early– recording five shots on goal in the first period, but scoring on two of them to lead, 2-0, heading into the first intermission.
We knew goaltending would be one thing Toronto would have on its side with Anthony Stolarz having amassed a 21-8-3 record in 34 games played in the regular season to go along with a 2.14 goals-against average and a .926 save percentage and four shutouts in that span prior to starting in Game 1, while Senators goaltender, Linus Ullmark produced a 25-14-3 record in 44 games with a 2.72 GAA, a .910 SV% and four shutouts as well.
But what we didn’t know was how, exactly, would Game 1 pan out given Stolarz had only ever recorded one postseason appearance– just 35 minutes worth– before with a 5.17 GAA and an .842 SV% in that span, while Ullmark had a 3-6 record in 10 career Stanley Cup Playoff games (all with Boston) with a 3.59 GAA and an .887 SV% entering Sunday.
It was a little surprising, in all honesty, that Joseph Woll didn’t get the start in Game 1 given his 3-2 record in seven postseason games previously with a 1.78 GAA and a .933 SV% in that span despite his 2.73 GAA and a .909 SV% in 42 games in the regular season this year.
Perhaps Maple Leafs head coach, Craig Berube, has a tandem approach in mind as both Stolarz and Woll handled the season well working diligently behind Toronto’s defense to render the Leafs their first division title in a non-pandemic influenced season since 2000.
Then again, maybe they keep riding Stolarz until Ottawa finds a way to chase him from the net.
That’s where things get interesting for the Sens, since Ullmark struggled early and made 18 saves on 24 shots against for a .750 SV% in Game 1.
Toronto was on pace for about 15 shots if they hadn’t amassed 13 shots on goal in the second period alone and that would’ve made Ullmark’s numbers even worse.
Ullmark battled injuries in the regular season, but still managed to appear in 44 games while Anton Forsberg, Leevi Meriläinen and Mads Søgaard split the duties in relief and out of necessity.
Forsberg matched Ullmark’s 2.72 GAA, but had a .901 SV% and three shutouts in 30 games played with an 11-12-3 record. Meriläinen had a 1.99 GAA and a .925 SV% to go along with three shutouts and an 8-3-1 record in 12 games, while Søgaard appeared in two games and had a 5.24 GAA and an .800 SV% in the regular season.
Though the sample size might be small, Meriläinen is worthy of getting a look– if anything for the confidence boost that the Sens skaters in front of him might get.
Forsberg, Meriläinen and Søgaard have never appeared in a postseason game before, however.
Speaking of confidence, though, Ullmark is one of the most mentally-focused goaltenders in the league and goes on walks to clear his mind, so he probably won’t be shaken by a disappointing Game 1 effort heading into Game 2 Tuesday night (7:30p ET on ESPN2, SN, CBC, TVAS).
Focus is one of the things Ottawa is going to have to adjust to with a significant portion of their roster having made their Stanley Cup Playoffs debut on Sunday.
The Sens can’t let the small things get to them or allow the Leafs to egg them on and draw penalties– and, for the record, Ottawa captain, Brady Tkachuk, only had two penalty minutes for roughing late in the middle frame as he took Maple Leafs forward, Scott Laughton, to the box with him.
Nevertheless, however, Toronto scored three power-play goals in Game 1 and got top performances from three out of their four usual suspects in Mitch Marner, John Tavares and William Nylander.
Auston Matthews later had an assist on a goal from Matthew Knies.
Marner had 1-2–3 totals, while Tavares, Nylander and Knies recorded power-play goals for the Leafs.
Clutch playoff performer (did I read my notes right?) Oliver Ekman-Larsson kicked off the scoring in the series and Morgan Rielly added a fluke goal that deflected off of at least one Senators skater in Sunday night’s victory.
Drake Batherson and Ridly Greig had the only goals for Ottawa.
Entering Game 2 it’s more of the same for Toronto and, well, don’t do that again if you’re the Senators.
The house always wins, but this could be Wild
Look, growing up, the Colorado Avalanche were my second-favorite team, so I’m going to hold your hand when I tell you this, Vegas Golden Knights fans, but don’t let a Game 1 victory fool you when you face the Minnesota Wild in a playoff series.
The Avalanche, of course, were upset by the Wild in the 2003 Western Conference Quarterfinal and in the 2014 First Round– the latter of which the Avs won Game 1. Both times Colorado was the higher seed with the Avs ranked 3rd in 2003, and Minnesota 6th and Colorado atop the Central Division and the Wild as the first wild card in the Western Conference in 2014.
Both series’ resulted in a Game 7 overtime win for Minnesota.
I say all of this because– despite a, 4-2, victory for the Golden Knights in Game 1 on Sunday at T-Mobile Arena– Vegas and Minnesota have gone the distance in their only other playoff series meeting in 2021.
Though, at least then Vegas won, 6-2, in what was their first ever Game 7 appearance.
The scoreboard might not look it– in part because of Brett Howden’s last tenth-of-a-second empty-net goal to give him a two-goal effort and the Golden Knights a two-goal lead– but Sunday night was a grind.
There were only three penalties in Game 1 with the first call against the Wild in the second period before Vegas and Minnesota each had one more minor infraction in the final frame.
Tomáš Hertl tallied the first goal for Vegas at 15:22 of the first period, but Minnesota’s Matt Boldy evened things up, 1-1, at 17:42.
Pavel Dorofeyev rocketed a slap shot power-play goal past Filip Gustavsson to give the Golden Knights a, 2-1, lead at 13:33 of the second period while Marcus Foligno went to cover the shooting lane that Shea Theodore decided against pursuing– instead opting to pass the puck to Dorofeyev for the goal.
Howden gave Vegas a, 3-1, lead early in the final frame with a wrist shot goal at 2:28 before Boldy tied things up again on a wraparound goal midway through the third period.
Then, of course, with the Wild goaltender pulled and Boldy in the box for tripping, Howden capitalized on his less than a second remaining empt- net goal to reestablish a two-goal lead and margin of victory for the Golden Knights.
A lot of people favor Vegas in this series– what with another 50-win season from the Golden Knights and only two years removed from their 2023 Stanley Cup championship, as well as their 3-0-0 record against Minnesota in the regular season, in which the Golden Knights outshot the Wild 102-62 and outscored them, 12-4, in that span– but here’s the thing, Minnesota was built for moments like this.
The Wild like stealing the thunder from teams that were supposed to win Patrick Roy one last Cup in 2003, as a player or his first as a head coach in 2014– I mean, yeah…
Minnesota likes to play spoiler or at least make you face some adversity as they ramp up the intensity in the postseason.
Though I’ll admit, I have the Golden Knights moving on from this matchup, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that Adin Hill and Gustavsson are not that far off from each other in postseason performances.
Entering Game 1, Hill had a 12-6 record in 19 career Stanley Cup Playoff games with a 2.09 GAA, a .932 SV% and three shutouts in that span, while Gustavsson was 2-3 in five postseason games with a 2.33 GAA and a .921 SV% in that span.
These are two goaltenders that could keep the scoring in this series pretty low, so I fully expect we’ll get seven games of entertaining playoff hockey.
Game 2 is in Vegas on Tuesday (11p ET on ESPN, SN, SN360, TVAS, FDSNNO, SCRIPPS).
Down the Frozen River 
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