Stanley Cup Playoffs Buzz: Capitals look to extend lead against Bruins

Welcome to the Stanley Cup Playoffs Buzz, a daily in-depth look at the 2021 NHL postseason. There are three playoff games scheduled for Monday and there were three Sunday.

#

On Tap

There are three games on the Stanley Cup Playoffs schedule Monday:
Boston Bruins at Washington Capitals (7:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS, NBCSWA, NESN): Capitals goalie Craig Anderson, who stopped 21 of 22 shots, including two in overtime, after relieving starter Vitek Vanecek at 13:10 of the first period in a 3-2 overtime win in Game 1 on Saturday, is expected to start Game 2. Vanecek sustained a lower-body injury when Boston's Jake DeBrusk scored to tie the game 1-1. The Bruins' top line of Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak was limited to one assist (by Pastrnak) and seven shots on goal (six by Pastrnak) in the loss. Washington is 8-17 after winning the first game in a best-of-7 playoff series; Boston is 15-34 when trailing 1-0 in a best-of-7 series. Teams with a 2-0 lead are 330-51 (86.6 percent) winning a best-of-7 NHL playoff series, including 4-0 in the first round last season.
Nashville Predators at Carolina Hurricanes (8 p.m. ET; CNBC, SNE, TVAS, BSSO): This is the first playoff series between the Predators and Hurricanes. Nashville lost its first six games to Carolina in the regular season but won the final two, outscoring it 8-1 after being outscored 23-9 in the first six. The Hurricanes had a 13-game point streak late in the regular season (9-0-4 from April 15-May 6) to hold off the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning for the No. 1 seed in the Discover Central Division. The Predators were 8-11-0 and tied for sixth in the division Feb. 26, but were 23-12-2 the rest of the way and qualified for the playoffs for the seventh straight season.
St. Louis Blues at Colorado Avalanche (10 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SN1, TVAS, ALT, BSMW): The Avalanche and Blues will play each other in the playoffs for the second time, the first since the 2001 Western Conference Final. Colorado won that best-of-7 series in five games on its way to its second championship; it also won the Cup in 1996. The Avalanche, who were 5-3-0 against the Blues this season, won their last five games and clinched the Presidents' Trophy, awarded to the team with the best record in the NHL regular season. The Blues, who won the Stanley Cup in 2019, will be without leading scorer David Perron, who was placed in the NHL COVID-19 protocol Saturday, joining teammates
Nathan Walker
and Jake Walman.

What we learned

Here are some takeaways from Day 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs:
Stamkos, Kucherov boost Lightning power play
Victor Hedman had enviable options to his left and right when the defenseman stood inside the blue line with the puck on his stick on the Lightning power play Sunday. There was Nikita Kucherov waiting in the right circle and Steven Stamkos in the left circle, on the ice together for the first time this season. The forwards are back and what a difference they made on the power play in the 5-4 win against the Panthers in Game 1 of the best-of-7 Stanley Cup First Round. Kucherov, who had not played all season after having hip surgery Dec. 29, scored two power-play goals on one-timers off passes from Hedman in the second period. Stamkos, who missed the last 16 games of the regular season with a lower-body injury, had an assist on each of Kucherov's goals. Kucherov used a one-timer pass, again with Hedman delivering him the puck, to assist on Brayden Point's game-tying power-play goal at 13:00 of the third period. The Lightning were 3-for-4 on the power play. Hedman's response to a question about having Kucherov and Stamkos back: "A lot of fun." No kidding. -- Dan Rosen, senior writer
Golden Knights need to find ways to finish
The Vegas Golden Knights dominated the Minnesota Wild in the first period in Game 1 of their best-of-7 series Sunday, outshooting them 20-5, but couldn't score. That affected them in the second and third, when they needed goalie Marc-Andre Fleury to make spectacular saves. "I think we were trying to cheat a little bit [for] offense because we were getting a little bit frustrated," Vegas forward Mark Stone said. Stone said he did not remember last season, but this looked familiar. The Golden Knights lost 1-0 in overtime despite outshooting the Wild 42-30. Last season, they went 2-6 while scoring 12 goals in their last eight playoff games despite outshooting the opposition 293-172. Stone and forward Reilly Smith each has talked about the need to make plays and not rely on shot volume and net crashing. It'd help if forward Max Pacioretty, who led Vegas with 24 goals in the regular season, could return from injury too. -- Nicholas J. Cotsonika, columnist
Penguins penalty kill can be effective
The Pittsburgh Penguins penalty kill struggled during the regular season and is ranked 27th in the NHL, but it was top-notch in Game 1 against the New York Islanders, when they allowed two shots on goal after center Jeff Carter received a four-minute penalty for high sticking at 12:25 of the second period. The two shots came in the first 27 seconds of the Islanders power play, and New York had extreme difficulty even setting up for the remainder of the man-advantage. "That was big, for sure," Penguins forward Frederick Gaudreau said. "I think we were all on the same page. Obviously you want to kill those penalties; it gives momentum to the team. For sure it was good to get that done." The Penguins did a solid job of shadowing Islanders forward Oliver Wahlstrom during the power play, something they'll need to continue to do moving forward. -- Brian Compton, deputy managing editor

About Last Night

There were three playoff games Sunday:
: Kyle Palmieri scored his second goal of the game and first in overtime in the Stanley Cup Playoffs with 3:30 remaining in the first overtime to give the Islanders a road win in Game 1 of the best-of-7 series. Rookie Ilya Sorokin earned his first NHL playoff win and made 39 saves starting in place of goalie Semyon Varlamov, who did not play for precautionary reasons after sustaining "a little strain" in New York's regular-season finale May 10. The Penguins, who have lost 10 of their past 11 playoff games, were without center Evgeni Malkin, who did not play for undisclosed reasons. Sidney Crosby scored a goal, had five shots on goal and was 16-for-28 (57.1 percent) on face-offs in 25:20 of ice time for the Penguins.
: Joel Eriksson Ek scored 3:20 into overtime for the Wild in Game 1. Cam Talbot made 42 saves for his fifth playoff shutout in the NHL and first with the Wild. Marc-Andre Fleury, competing in the playoffs for the 15th consecutive season, dating to 2007, to set an NHL record, made 29 saves for the Golden Knights.
Tampa Bay Lightning 5, Florida Panthers 4: In a game that featured four lead changes, Brayden Point's second goal, with 1:14 remaining, proved decisive for the defending Stanley Cup champions in Game 1. Nikita Kucherov scored two power-play goals and had an assist in his return for the Lightning after missing the entire regular season following hip surgery Dec. 29. It was Kucherov's first goal since Game 3 of the 2020 Stanley Cup Final on Sept. 23. Jonathan Huberdeau had a goal and two assists for the Panthers, who have lost six of their past seven playoff games.