So much happened on night 1 and all I can say is this:
"How great is it to be watching playoff hockey again?"
#1. The Blue Jackets will hit the Penguins and work harder against the Penguins than anyone the Pens faced last year en route to their Cup. But the Penguins are still the Penguins. Malkin is still Malkin and Kessel....Kessel is a playoff monster.
#2. The Wild are a VERY good team when they are working as hard as they worked last night...There is a reason they were running away with everything early on this season. They completely dominated the Blues last night..in almost every category except 1..goaltending...Jake Allen was the star of the night.
#3. The Sharks have more experience in the playoffs and it showed against Edmonton as the game wore on last night. The Oilers need to learn how hard you need to play for 60 minutes (or more) in the playoffs...If they can learn quickly they still have a shot in this series.
#4. Lundqvist and Price both looked phenomenal...as expected. If Henry is playing at this level though...the Rangers could find themselves in another Conference Final...at least.
#5. The Bruins/Senators series won't be nearly as boring as many were implying...The Bruins experience showed, but the Sens also dominated stretches...
more to come....
What't the Buzz?
What did you learn last night?? Would you change any of your picks after seeing some of the teams in action?
HockeyBuzzcast w/@Eklund, @sportsology & @MikeInBuffalo available on #iTunes https://t.co/yXakLaiyRy & TuneIn https://t.co/Yqbm5JmlvM #NHL
— Michael Augello (@MikeInBuffalo) December 12, 2016