NHL Morning Skate: Stanley Cup Playoffs Edition

The top scorers on the Toronto Maple Leafs were shining on home ice Sunday during the first “Battle of Ontario” playoff matchup in 21 years as the quartet of Mitch Marner, William Nylander, John Tavares and Auston Matthews combined for three goals and nine points to clip the Ottawa Senators in the series opener. Overall, home teams went 3-0 on Sunday as the Carolina Hurricanes and Vegas Golden Knights also claimed Game 1 victories.

Star power will be on display tonight across four games on ESPN and ESPN2, including in two series that begin Monday. In Washington, the NHL’s all-time goals leader Alex Ovechkin will lead the No. 1-ranked Washington Capitals against the Montreal Canadiens, the youngest team in the playoffs which includes Lane Hutson, the highest-scoring rookie defenseman in the nearly 108-year history of the franchise. In Los Angeles, two of the highest-scoring players in Stanley Cup Playoffs history (by points-per-game) will hit the ice as Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl face off against two-time Stanley Cup champions Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty.

Ovechkin, Capitals aim for different fate against Canadiens

The Washington Capitals became the turnaround team of the 2024-25 season by securing the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference after clinching the 16th and final playoff spot in their 82nd game last year – the exact situation the Montreal Canadiens found themselves in by locking in the final postseason berth Wednesday. Montreal is the youngest team in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs but has six returnees from its run to the 2021 Stanley Cup Final – including now-captain Nick Suzuki, leading goal scorer Cole Caufield and veteran forward Brendan Gallagher – as they return to the postseason for the first time since that run.

Captained by Alex Ovechkin, the active leader in playoff goals (72), Washington will seek a different fate than the only other series between these clubs. Exactly 15 years ago today, the Capitals pulled ahead 3-1 in the 2010 Conference Quarterfinals but the eighth-ranked Canadiens reeled off three straight wins to stun Ovechkin, John Carlson and the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Capitals in seven games.

Fourth straight Kings-Oilers series starts in Los Angeles this time

This will mark their 11th all-time series and fourth year in a row in which the Los Angeles Kings and Edmonton Oilers meet, the seventh time in the expansion era (since 1967-68) that teams go head-to-head in four straight postseasons (and second involving these clubs after four straight from 1989 to 1992). It also is the fifth time in NHL history that two clubs meet in the opening round in four or more consecutive playoff years. Los Angeles has home ice in the opening round for the first time since 2016 as they seek to win a series against Edmonton for the first time since 1989.

Anze Kopitar and the Kings set a franchise record for home wins (31) and posted a home points percentage of .805 this season, tied for seventh in NHL history. They will have to contend with the high-scoring tandem of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl – both expected in the Oilers lineup for the first time since March 18 – as Edmonton looks to embark on another lengthy playoff run following a Game 7 defeat in the 2024 Stanley Cup Final. McDavid (1.58) and Draisaitl (1.46) rank third and fourth in Stanley Cup Playoffs history for career points-per-game (min. 50 GP).

Star performances and special teams power Maple Leafs to Game 1 win

The “Core Four” of Mitch Marner (1-2—3), William Nylander (1-1—2), John Tavares (1-1—2) and Auston Matthews (0-2—2) all had multiple points in a playoff contest for the third time as the Toronto Maple Leafs took a 1-0 series lead in their highly anticipated matchup with the Ottawa Senators. Marner recorded his fifth career three-point playoff game, which ranks third in the nearly 108-year history of the franchise behind Doug Gilmour (10) and Darryl Sittler (7).

Three players who won the Stanley Cup last year with the Florida Panthers are now teammates in Toronto: Anthony Stolarz, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Stephen Lorentz. Stolarz made 31 saves in his first career playoff start, Ekman-Larsson scored the opening goal and penalty-kill specialist Lorentz helped the Maple Leafs hold the Senators’ power play to zero goals on two opportunities.

Hurricanes, Golden Knights help home teams post perfect Sunday

Sunday’s ESPN tripleheader was book-ended by victories for the Carolina Hurricanes and Vegas Golden Knights, as two-goal efforts by Logan Stankoven and Brett Howden powered the respective offenses. Howden’s second goal of the night was scored into an empty net with one-tenth of a second left on the clock to guarantee the Golden Knights’ sixth consecutive win against the Wild dating to March 30, 2024.

Stankoven, a 22-year-old rookie acquired in March as part of a blockbuster trade that sent Mikko Rantanen to the Dallas Stars, matched the Hurricanes franchise rookie record for most goals in a playoff game. Stankoven still meets the NHL’s rookie criteria despite tallying 3-5—8 in 19 games during the Stanley Cup Playoffs last year to help the Stars reach the Western Conference Final.