Daily Nuggets: Big Golden Knights Win; Lopsided Playoff Matchups

Good morning, folks. The Vegas Golden Knights began their quest for the Stanley Cup on Sunday. They beat the Minnesota Wild in Game 1 and lead the series 1-0. However, they’ll need more from a few key players going forward.

Elsewhere in the Daily Nuggets, two Eastern Conference playoff matchups got off to an uncompetitive start. With their depth and a more-than-capable goaltender, the Colorado Avalanche look like a wagon. The Penguins could trade their best-scoring winger, and the USA beat Canada for gold. The trial for the accused members of the 2018 Canadian World Juniors team begins next week.

Golden Knights News

The Golden Knights kicked off their postseason on Sunday at home against the Minnesota Wild. Brett Howden scored twice, and Pavel Dorofeyev potted his first goal in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Golden Knights won 4-2 and took a 1-0 lead in the series. My analysis here:

Game 2 is scheduled for Tuesday at 8 p.m. PST.

On Sunday, the Golden Knights struggled to contain Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy. Bruce Cassidy had Jack Eichel’s line and William Karlsson’s line share the defensive responsibility, but both matchups had mixed results. It may be time to delegate that task to Eichel; he’s shown a strong body of work in the past. 

The Athletic ($): The trial for the five accused members of the 2018 Canadian World Juniors team is finally set to begin this week, and other players from the team– including Brett Howden– could be called to testify.

NHL News, Rumors, & National Hockey Now

The Athletic ($): I always enjoy reading postseason predictions, but this one was especially entertaining. I’m tired of the basic questions about which teams will win their respective Conferences; I’m more interested in the fun ones, like which favorite will be the biggest disappointment. Spoiler– nobody has much faith in the Dallas Stars.

Sportsnet: The USA met Canada on Sunday in the IIHF Women’s World Championship. Tessa Janecke ended it in overtime to win gold for the USA.

Sportsnet: The fourth consecutive first-round matchup between the Edmonton Oilers and the Los Angeles Kings begins Monday. If the Oilers want to continue batting a thousand, they’ll have to overcome injuries to key players.

Sportsnet: For the first time since 1967, is it finally the Toronto Maple Leafs’ year? That remains to be seen, but things certainly don’t look good for the Ottawa Senators. The Maple Leafs took them to task on Sunday and thrashed the undisciplined, inexperienced Senators.

Colorado Hockey Now: The Avalanche are a problem. They’ve got depth, two of the best players in the world, and a goaltender who is rising to the occasion.

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: It’s never too early to start thinking about trades. The rebuilding Penguins have some serious decisions to make over the summer regarding the fates of two high-profile wingers.

New Jersey Hockey Now: Without Jack Hughes, the Devils were a longshot to advance to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. However, in addition to losing Game 1, they lost key players to injury and looked wildly out of place.

NHL History: On April 21st, 1996, the Tampa Bay Lightning played their first home playoff game and drew an NHL-record crowd of 25,945.

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