After a long, grueling NHL regular season, the Stanley Cup playoffs got underway on Wednesday night to kick off one of the most thrilling two month stretches in all of sports.
But even with the postseason upon us, there are still things left to dissect and digest from the NHL's 82-game grind. This week, the NHL put together a compilation of some of the regular season's best mic'd up moments, giving fans a peak into what the game sounds like down on the ice and on the benches.
These kinds of videos are always entertaining, since hockey players can be a strange breed. That weirdness tends to get put on display when there's a microphone attached to them.
This compilation is rather tame compared to other chirp-heavy mic'd up videos we've seen in the past, but there's still a lot to enjoy and a lot to take away from this one. Let's run down some notes...
Drew Doughty is one of the goofiest players in the league and his laugh sounds like a squeeze toy
Connor McDavid doesn't take the All-Star Game seriously enough to wear a cup
Referees are very charismatic, but they will not put up with your crap
Robin Lehner is a (confirmed) crazy person
P.K. Subban has vast culinary interests
Pekka Rinne for sure keeps McDavid up at night
It's always fun to get a glimpse at some of the inner workings of a game and the interactions between various characters. You usually don't get that sort of stuff from game broadcasts, which is a shame because it helps inject a little additional life and entertainment into the product.
After the first night of action, we have the final results of the first three games of the NHL playoffs. The Penguins, Jets and Golden Knights all came out on top, with the Penguins definitely looking like the most dominant team. The Jets and Golden Knights had lulls in their victories, but they definitely had the aura of two teams feeling out their opponents.
There's a lot of hockey left to be played, and even more Game 1 action tomorrow.
NHL schedule, results for Wednesday, Apr. 11
Live updates
To relive all the action, check out all the highlights from Wednesday night's live blog.
Vegas wins its inaugural playoff game
It started out super weird, then it started really fast, then everything just cratered in this game. After the longest, surrealist pregame show the NHL has ever seen, Vegas immediately set off the red light, with Shea Theodore burying a wicked wrister from the blue line that might have gotten some help in front of the net.
Vegas quickly on the board with their first-ever playoff goal pic.twitter.com/1jF7xyjmNq — Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) April 12, 2018
After that ... well, the most exciting thing that happened was Marc-Andre Fleury juggling a puck.
Marc-Andre Fleury party tricks pic.twitter.com/TYpfFZWOkj — Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) April 12, 2018
We pretty much got what we expected. Two teams feeling each other out for what promises to be a long, physical series. Both of these teams were physical all game, with numerous scrums breaking out in front of the net, and the Kings' defense was stout while the Golden Knights' attack was relentless. Marc-Andre Fleury put up a 30-save shutout for the Golden Knights, while Jonathan Quick settled in for the Kings after that first goal.
The Golden Knights were clearly running on adrenaline early, but that appeared to fizzle out pretty quickly. Both of these teams are in for a really rough series if this pace keeps up.
Jets get first playoff victory in franchise history
Well, you know, the Jets 2.0.
Winnipeg edged out Minnesota 3-2 in their series opener, giving this particular franchise its first postseason victory dating back to their days as the Atlanta Thrashers. (They had been swept in their previous two playoff series.) The Jets got goals from Mark Scheifele, Patrik Laine and Joe Morrow -- all three scoring their first career playoff goals.
Patrik Laine’s first career playoff goal pic.twitter.com/odxA7hSUfC — Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) April 12, 2018
Winnipeg is an offensive force and had a great regular season, which is why a lot of people are picking them to take this series decisively. But, for what it's worth, Minnesota battled throughout this one and it was a pretty tight, physical game until the end. With that being said, the Jets doubled the Wild's shots on net (40-20) and it was a promising start to what they're hoping will be a deep playoff run.
Crosby nets hat trick, Penguins get off to hot start vs. Flyers
It appears Philadelphia wasn't quite ready for the back-to-back champs in the opening game of their series on Wednesday, as the Penguins came out of the gate hot and thumped the Flyers 7-0. The Pens scored three goals on their first 10 shots of the game, with the best of those three coming off the stick of Evgeni Malkin, who beat Brian Elliott with a backhander from inside the right faceoff circle.
Malkin goes backhand on Elliott pic.twitter.com/6ylZF2dpvy — Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) April 11, 2018
Flyers goalie Brian Elliott didn't get much help from his defense, but his showing in the opening period of the series certainly left a lot to be desired for Philly fans. He was replaced by Petr Mrazek in the second period after Sidney Crosby scored Pittsburgh's fifth goal. That goal came on a gorgeous mid-air swat by Crosby, who is just completely ridiculous when it comes to hand-eye coordination.
The ol’ Crosby mid-air special pic.twitter.com/qV1W68RMOt — Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) April 12, 2018
That was Crosby's first of three goals on the night, and he needed only four shots to complete the hat trick. The mid-air goal might not have even been his best on Wednesday, because ... well, look at this redirect.
Crosby caps the hat trick with a sick redirect in front pic.twitter.com/EhTQLQQj6U — Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) April 12, 2018
I have watched this replay numerous times and still can't really comprehend it. Crosby's tip so nonchalant and at such a weird angle, yet the velocity on the redirect is staggering and it's perfectly placed off the iron and in. Sometimes the dude is just a straight-up cheat code.
Obviously, this is only the first game of the playoffs but, man, there's not much to feel good about if you're a Philadelphia fan. Crosby is in God Mode already, the Flyers' defense was a mess, and Elliott looked atrocious. Not a great start for the guys in orange.
Everything you need to know to watch the playoffs
Not everyone follows all season, and we understand that. If you're wondering where you can find these games on TV, Pete Blackburn has everything you need to follow all of the Stanley Cup action. Just look here.
First thing's first: Who should you cheer for in this postseason?
Maybe you're a fan without a country as we enter the NHL playoffs. Don't worry, we have reasons that you should root for and reasons you should root against every team in this year's playoffs. There's a lot to unpack going in, so draw your own conclusions on whether you like or dislike the six teams playing tonight.
Who's going to win?
We don't know! That's kind of the point. We have educated guesses and predictions, but all of that flies out the window once the puck is dropped. Either way, the staff here has made our picks and our genuinely irresponsible bold predictions. You can find those here.
Odds for each series
The experts at SportsLine have run simulations and have your betting odds for the eventual Stanley Cup Champions. Both conferences have genuinely interesting sleepers and matchups. You can find all of those odds here.
