Playoffs Day 1!

It was a crazy night one in the NHL race for the cup. Here’s a quick recap:

Philly takes Pittsburgh in OT

Flyers crawled back from a 3 goal deficit to beat the Penguins 4- 3 in overtime at the CONSOL Energy Center. Sidney Crosby opened the scoring valve for Pittsburgh early in the first, marking his 31st playoff goal. Philly stuck with “bear down” goalie Ilya Bryzgalov despite allowing three goals on 13 shots. The Pens were silenced after the first as Bryzgalov settled down with 25 saves in the win. “The come-back kids” Flyers flourished in the second and third and, thanks in part to some questionable calls, sent the game into OT. Jakub Voracek topped the rally with his game winning goal 2:23 in OT.

Music City over Motown

Nashville’s home win over Detroit gives them game 1 of the West quarterfinals. Pekka Rinne made 35 stops in the Pred’s 3-2 victory. In this back and forth game, Rinne was stellar as predicted through regular season play. The two teams meet again Friday.

Kings can Canucks

For the second time in three years, the Los Angeles Kings and the Vancouver Canucks are meeting in the first round of playoffs and last night’s game went to the Kings. Dustin Penner scored the game winner for LA who, with an added empty netter, defeated Vancouver 4-2 at the Rogers Arena. Jonathan Quick tallied 24 saves (majority near the end of the third) in LA’s win.