Vegas Golden Knights, Carolina Hurricanes Open Round 2 with Victories

The NHL’s second round of playoffs opened Tuesday night with the Panthers and Kraken winning on the road. On Wednesday, the home teams held serve in Game 1 as the Carolina Hurricanes and Vegas Golden Knights each won.

While Leon Draisaitl got our second four-goal performance in as many nights, it too was squandered as Vegas shut the Oilers down everywhere else in a 6-4 win on the Strip.

On Tuesday night, Joe Pavelski scored 4 for the Stars in an overtime loss to the Kraken.

Jordan Staal led the way for Carolina in a 5-1 win over the Devils.

Now, attention turns back to Toronto as the Panthers and Leafs get after it tonight in Game 2.

Florida certainly would like to come home tomorrow with a 2-0 series lead.

FLORIDA HOCKEY NOW

The breakout star of these playoffs is pretty obvious.

Anywhere you turn, if they are talking hockey, they are talking about Matthew Tkachuk and his Florida Panthers.

— Brandon Montour had one heck of a regular season — but he has topped that in these playoffs. Six goals in eight games? OK.

— The Panthers continued their road streak on Tuesday night as they have now won four straight away from Sunrise and four of five road games in the postseason.

— Sergei Bobrovsky stole one in Toronto for the Panthers with 34 saves.

— The Charlotte Checkers stave off elimination in Hershey with a huge 2-1 win in Game 3.

— The Leafs plan on making life a little tougher on Tkachuk moving forward.

— Is it time for the Maple Leafs to play the role of the villain in their series with the Panthers? Expect more hard hits tonight.

— It took a minute, but the NHL finally released the full schedule for the second round.

— The Panthers are back in Toronto, the place where this run to the playoffs all began.

— It has been a tough sophomore season for Anton Lundell, but he really looks like a different player in these playoffs. He was terrific in Games 6 and 7 against the Bruins.

— Hey, did you hear that the Panthers refused to sell tickets to anyone affiliated with Canada or the Maple Leafs? OK, this little ‘controversy’ has definitely been overblown. Matthew Caldwell tells us the Great Canadian Ticket Ban is now over.

— Carter Verhaeghe certainly has a knack for scoring overtime goals in the playoffs, doesn’t he?

— A lot of video from the past few days is up on the FHN YouTube Channel including Game 1 postgame reaction from Paul Maurice, Sergei Bobrovsky, Brandon Montour, Carter Verhaeghe and Nick Cousins.

There is also pre-game comments from Maurice and Matthew Tkachuk as well. More from this morning’s workout will be up around lunch.

To see all the videos, you can click the embedded videos below or head directly to the FHN YouTube Channel RIGHT HERE to see everything all in one place.

If you hit subscribe (it’s free), you will know when new content comes up.

NHL NEWS/NATIONAL HOCKEY NOW

If this is it for Patrice Bergeron, if he has played his final game for the Bruins, he will be remembered for so much more than what he did on the ice.

— The Calgary Flames dumped Darryl Sutter over Jonathan Huberdeau. Where do they go from here?

— Jeff Halpern assisted on Alex Ovechkin’s first goal and will interview for the Washington Capitals head coaching vacancy.

— The Buffalo Sabres have a Calder Trophy finalist in Owen Power.

— Where to the Chicago Blackhawks stand in the NHL Draft Lottery?

— Some Edmonton fans got hosed by the NHL moving Game 2 in Vegas from Friday to Saturday. The Panthers are taking a lot of the blame.

— The Oilers stayed in Los Angeles after beating the Kings — and looked like they had not left vacation mode on Wednesday night.

FLORIDA PANTHERS ON DECK

STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS

EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (ATL2) VS. FLORIDA PANTHERS (WC2)

GAME 2 (Panthers Lead 1-0)

• When: Thursday, 7 p.m.
• Where: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto 
• TV: TNT
• Radio: WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932
• First Round Schedule — Game 1: Florida 4, @Toronto 2; Game 2: Thursday at Toronto, 7 (TNT); Game 3: Sunday at Florida, 6:30 (TBS); Game 4: Wednesday at Florida, 7 (ESPN); Game 5*:Friday, May 12 at Toronto (TNT); Game 6*: Sunday, May 14 at Florida (TBA); Game 7*:May 16 at Toronto (TNT). (*) – If Necessary
• How They Got Here: Toronto d. Tampa Bay 4-2; Florida d. Boston 4-3
• Season Series (Toronto won 3-1): Maple Leafs 5, @Panthers 4 OT (Jan. 17); @Maple Leafs 6, Panthers 2 (Mar. 23); Panthers 3, @Maple Leafs 2 OT (March 29); Maple Leafs 2, @Panthers 1 OT (April 10)
• Last season: Florida won 2-1
  
• All-time Regular Season Series: Toronto leads 48-36-7, 7 ties
• Postseason History: First Meeting