Family and friends back home were keeping a close eye on No. 42.
"A couple of my buddies had to cancel tee times back home to watch the game," Lajoie said. "It was really exciting for them and me too. No playoffs in the AHL and being up here for the first time in a year playing in the NHL, it was really awesome and fun."
It was quite the shift in atmosphere, too, to go from playing AHL games in a practice rink to being tossed into Game 3 of the First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in front of more than 12,000 fans in Nashville.
"It's a huge difference," he said. "The atmosphere and everything. Everyone has to be at the top of their game. I think that's the biggest difference."
Playoff hockey is indeed a different animal - it's the best hockey, really - but Lajoie didn't look out of place in his first career NHL postseason contest. He played nearly 17 minutes in the double-overtime thriller and recorded three shots on goal, one additional shot attempt, a hit and a blocked shot. His first career postseason shot on goal was a high wrister that clanked off Juuse Saros' helmet and skied in the air. Lajoie had a decent look in the second overtime, too, when he stepped into a shot that Saros bodied down.
"The kid played really well. I thought he skated well and made the right decisions when he had the puck. He just played steady, and that's what you want," Jordan Staal said after the game. "He showed great poise and good skating ability."
Whether Lajoie dresses for Game 4 on Sunday afternoon might depend on the status of Slavin, who might as well be considered a game-time decision for the foreseeable future. But Lajoie, thrown into a powder keg of emotions and physicality and intensity, showed why he was
