Finally, after sixteen days the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs begins!
The only game on the schedule was Montreal vs. Boston. Let's get to it.
Well...that was a bit unexpected, wasn't it?
Montreal took Game 1 in double-OT 4-3. P.K. Subban was the first star with two goals, including the game-winner. Carey Price saved 48 shots and earned the third star.
What happened to Tuukka Rask, though? The guy I've been bringing up in damn near every post recently while pointing to his play as what goaltenders ought to be doing...had a tough time of it, I suppose.
I don't think Montreal is that much better than Detroit. They're certainly healthier than the Red Wings, but I'm not sure that means much. Also, it wasn't their top-flight goal scorers Pacioretty and Vanek doing the damage; neither of them had a point last night.
And it's not like the Bruins were terrible, though they had to mount a furious comeback in the third to get their three goals. That's obviously not a strategy they want to consider leaning on.
In OT games, I generally like to give praise to each team. Both teams played well to get to OT and in this case double-OT, and I don't think there's a hell of a lot of blame to go around. I certainly won't overreact to one less-than-stellar game by Rask.
But people might pull something out of this related to Carey Price, he of the 48 saves. First off, that's a shit-ton of saves. His defense was letting the Bruins carve them up like hot knives and cold salami. Of course, in CBS' preview of the series that I read yesterday, it was made mention that Montreal's defense is not exactly the equal of the one that Team Canada trotted out in Sochi. Price anchored that team to the gold medal, but based on the one game I watched, it's not like a lot of shots were getting through.
In other words, let's all take this with a grain of salt. If Price starts throwing out shutouts left and right, then fine, he's great. Until that happens though, he's merely good.
48 saves, though. Goddamn. That's a lot of saves.
The buzzword around the NHL (based on what I read this season, at least) is "sustainable". 48 saves is decidedly not sustainable. I expect that to change; either Price is going to let more of those in, or Montreal's defense is going to shore up that nonsense and let fewer shots reach their goaltender.
Still, I have the Bruins in 5. No problem, right?
Later today, Game 1 in Pittsburgh and Chicago. I'm stoked. You should be too.
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