NHL Playoffs: Game 1 upsets upend this year's first round

Playoff hockey is finally back and the first game of each series showed us again why you can’t expect anything to happen the way you want it to in postseason hockey. Let’s take a look at all the stunning upsets from each series. 

If you’re a Toronto fan then the 7-3 loss against the Lighting was a devastating blow reminiscent of their 5-1 Game 7 loss against the Boston Bruins. There’s definitely an art to the playoff collapse and Toronto seems to have mastered it. 

The biggest issue for Toronto seemed to have been with their penalty kill but the whole team shouldered a little blame. The big losers were Zach Aston-Reese, whose giveaway set the tone for the night, and Ilya Samsonov who let in 6 goals on 29 shots…

The Devils had just as difficult a time with the Rangers as the Maple Leafs had with the Lightning, losing 5-1 after a sloppy performance. "We're not gonna blow it up," Devils defenseman Ryan Graves said according to ESPN. "It's one game.

It might have been one game but it was an important one not to lose. New York looked like they were at the top of their game, a worrying sign for hopeful Devils fans.

The Seattle Kraken made their playoff debut with a 3-1 victory over last year's Stanley Cup winners. While not as impressive as the other Game 1 wins, it was still a big upset. 

Colorado was widely expected to dominate the Kraken but they fell apart under pressure from Seattle. Small and avoidable mistakes are what led to Colorado’s loss and it's likely Seattle will pull out another win in Game 2 if the Avalanche don't get it together. 

Another absolutely crushing upset was Winnipeg's 5-1 against the Golden Knights. Nobody was predicting the Jets to win but everything came together in this game for them. 

The big story in this series was always going to be the goaltending and it was Connor Hellebuyck who made 16 big saves for Winnipeg that won them the game. Laurent Brossoit stopped 26 shots from Winnipeg but it just wasn’t enough…

These two teams were relatively close in their abilities going into the playoffs. The Oilers had a scary offensive line but the Kings had the experience, and maybe that’s why the game was such a tight battle that had to be decided in overtime. 

Edmonton was always expected to win this series. But few people would have guessed that they’d have lost 4-3 in overtime. It was definitely one of the bigger upsets from all the first games in the first round. 

Minnesota’s win over Dallas was another major overtime upset that most fans weren’t expecting. The battle lasted more than four hours and each goalie had a spectacular game. 

“Their goalie was fantastic, our goalie was fantastic,” Minnesota coach Dean Evason said about the game that put Minnesota on the path to what could be one of the first rounds' biggest upsets. The Stars were expected to go deep this year…

One of the only first games of the beginning series to go the way fans thought it would go was Boston’s bout against Florida. No surprises were had when the Bruins beat the Panthers 3-1. 

The Bruins didn’t do everything right, though. Boston’s 5-on-5 game just wasn't there but Linus Ullmark rescued the game with 31 saves. “The intensity of the playoffs, it surprised us a little bit, and I think we had a little bit of nerves." said Bruins coach Jim Montgomery.

The Hurricanes were always expected to win their series against the Islanders but their Game 1 performance showed that they could be at risk, especially since Ilya Sorokin showed up to play making 35 saves for the Islanders. 

"I thought there were certainly some positives to the game," Islanders coach Lane Lambert said according to NHL.com. "Got better as the game went on. We just have to get ready for Game 2." Maybe Game 2 will be the next major upset in this year's playoffs?