Tampa Bay starts well, Pittsburgh and Las Vegas surprised

Guillaume MARION, Media365, published on Monday, May 17, 2021 at 9:30 a.m.

At the start of the NHL playoffs, if Tampa Bay, the defending champion, assured against Florida (4-5), this is not the case for Pittsburgh and Las Vegas who were surprised at the start, against respectively the New York Islanders (3-4, ap) and Minnesota (0-1, ap).

The defending champion ideally launched his playoff campaign. During a short trip against the Florida Panthers (4-5), Tampa Bay pulled out to reverse a badly embarked situation and take the lead in this series. Indeed, if Blake Coleman opened the scoring for the Lightning (8th), Aleksander Barkov (10th) and Carter Verhaeghe (17th) then put the locals in front. Behind, after a double from Nikita Kucherov (25th and 35th) for the last winners of the Stanley Cup, Jonathan Huberdeau (42nd) and Owen Tippett (44th) allowed the Panthers to take back control on the scoreboard. But, a new double at the end of the game for Tampa Bay, signed Brayden Point (53rd and 59th), gave the victory to the players of Jon Cooper, who therefore take the advantage in this series. A little earlier, the Washington Capitals had signed the first success of these playoffs against the Boston Bruins (3-2, ap). After achievements by Tom Wilson (7th) and Brenden Dillon (29th) for the locals and Jake DeBrusk (14th) and Nick Ritchie (37th) for the visitors, it is Nic Dowd who released his family in overtime (65th) .

Response expected for Penguins and Golden Knights

Two other meetings went into overtime, but this time turned to the advantage of the visitors. In their ice rink, the Pittsburgh Penguins were beaten by the New York Islanders (3-4, ap). After a goal from Kyle Palmieri for the visitors (8th), Frederick Gaudreau (12th) and Sidney Crosby (24th) rectified the shot for the Pennsylvania franchise. But behind, Jean-Gabriel Pageau (44th) and Brock Nelson (56th) put the Islanders in front in the last third. While the Finnish Kasperi Kapanen (57th) allowed Pittsburgh to equalize and go into overtime, a new achievement from Palmieri gave the victory and the first point to the New Yorkers in this series. In another very close game, the Minnesota Wild won in Las Vegas (0-1, ap). With the Golden Knights and the visitors on a level playing field for a long time, the decision came in overtime. While neither of the two teams had managed to score during regulation time, the Swede Joel Eriksson ended up finding the fault (64th). Thus, visitors take the lead in this series.

NHL / PLAY-OFFS 2021
1st round

Central division
Florida Panthers (2) – Tampa Bay Lightning (3): 0-1
Match 1 – Florida Panthers – Tampa bay lightning : 4-5
Match 2: Florida Panthers – Tampa Bay Lightning May 19
Match 3: Tampa Bay Lightning – Florida Panthers
Match 4: Tampa Bay Lightning – Florida Panthers
Match 5 (if necessary): Florida Panthers – Tampa Bay Lightning
Match 6 (if necessary): Tampa Bay Lightning – Florida Panthers
Match 7 (if necessary): Florida Panthers – Tampa Bay Lightning

East division
Pittsburgh Penguins (1) – New York Islanders (4): 0-1
Match 1 – Pittsburgh Penguins – New York Islanders : 3-4 (ap)
Match 2: Pittsburgh Penguins – New York Islanders May 19
Match 3: New York Islanders – Pittsburgh Penguins
Match 4: New York Islanders – Pittsburgh Penguins
Match 5 (if necessary): Pittsburgh Penguins – New York Islanders
Match 6 (if necessary): New York Islanders – Pittsburgh Penguins
Match 7 (if necessary): Pittsburgh Penguins – New York Islanders

Washington Capitals (2) – Boston Bruins (3): 1-0
Match 1 – Washington Capitals – Boston Bruins: 3-2 (ap)
Match 2: Washington Capitals – Boston Bruins May 18
Match 3: Boston Bruins – Washington Capitals
Match 4: Boston Bruins – Washington Capitals
Match 5 (if necessary): Washington Capitals – Boston Bruins
Match 6 (if necessary): Boston Bruins – Washington Capitals
Match 7 (if necessary): Washington Capitals – Boston Bruins

West Division
Las Vegas Golden Knights (2) – Minnesota Wild (3): 0-1
Match 1 – Las Vegas Golden Knights – Minnesota Wild : 0-1 (ap)
Match 2: Las Vegas Golden Knights – Minnesota Wild May 19
Match 3: Minnesota Wild – Las Vegas Golden Knights
Match 4: Minnesota Wild – Las Vegas Golden Knights
Match 5 (if necessary): Las Vegas Golden Knights – Minnesota Wild
Match 6 (if necessary): Minnesota Wild – Las Vegas Golden Knights
Match 7 (if necessary): Las Vegas Golden Knights – Minnesota Wild