Habs     2

Isles      4

In what has to be 1 of the most even sims in recent memory Vasilevsky out dueled goalie Bob to give the Isles an early 1-0 lead in the series. Both teams struggled on the PP with no goals scored on a combined 8 attempts. GM Vardy was commenting prior to the start of the playoffs that he wasn't happy with the finish to the regular season and he most certainly can't be happy with his #1 line after this game going a combined -6. It is unclear whether any changes will be made following this disappointing loss but it is safe to say that the Habs are expecting more from the top group!

Jackets   2

Pens     4

Another fairly even game on this evening saw the hometown Pens defeat the visiting Jackets but they certainly made it more interesting then it needed to be. The Pens took a 3-0 lead into the third period but Columbus wouldn't go away and netted 2 goals from Nick Shore to cut the lead to just 1 with 3:20 left on the clock. Mark Giordano wasn't going to let this game slip away however and he potted his 2nd of the game into an empty net to secure the win. Pens up 1-0

Wings    2

Bruins    3 OT

The third close game of the evening required overtime to decide and featured strong goaltending from both netminders with each having over 30 saves. Shots at the end of regulation favored the visiting Wings 31-26 but once the puck dropped in overtime the Bruins were clearly the better team outshooting the visitors 10-3 and ending the game with a PP goal. With this game being so close I don't expect many changes for game 2. B's are up 1-0

TB     3

Sens  5

This game looked alot closer then it was as the Sens controlled this game throughout but goaltending was a huge factor. John Quick did his best trying to hold his team in the game while Martin Jones did his best to keep TB in it as well allowing 3 goals on just 22 shots. Quick apparently ran out of steam in the third however as he gave up 3 goals on just 12 shots in the frame which was unfortunate for TB as they were tied at 2 entering the third. Lets face it, the Sens are loaded up front and for TB to have any shot in this series team defense has to be great and Jones has to faulter. TB will look to bounce back with a 3 period effort in the next game as 2 periods like this evening won't get it done! Sens up 1-0