Monday night was the kind of first-round playoff night that makes April in the NHL a glorious thing.
In the early games, the Jets and Blues tried to bludgeon each other through the glass — while somehow executing fine, pinpoint passing plays under the constant threat of getting trucked — as Winnipeg took a controlling 2-0 series lead. Meanwhile the Canadiens came back to force overtime, only to lose in D.C. to some guy who’s scored a record-breaking number of regular season goals but never in playoff overtime.
And in the late games, the Stars and Avalanche went toe to toe with Dallas avoiding the 0-2 series hole by tying the game in the third to set the stage for an unlikely overtime hero, while the Kings made a statement early in their Game 1.