One-goal games got you anxious? Take it from Ian Cole, nothing's changing

LAS VEGAS -- Was your heart in your throat during the Wild's 1-0 overtime thriller against the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 1 of its First Round playoff series?
Better get used to it, because it probably isn't changing.
Beyond Minnesota's one-goal win, look at how the Stanley Cup Playoffs have started already.

Boston and Washington went to overtime in their Game 1. So did Pittsburgh and the New York Islanders. The only game of the first four that didn't go to bonus time might have been the most thrilling and unpredictable of them all, as Tampa Bay scored twice in the final seven minutes of regulation, including the game-winner with just over a minute left, turning a one-goal deficit into a 5-4 victory against in-state rival Florida.
Just luck, you say? It's a long playoff and the sample size is too short?
Minnesota and Vegas played eight times during the regular season. Six of those games were decided by one goal, and a seventh finished 2-0 in favor of Minnesota, a game where Jonas Brodin scored into an empty net with six seconds left.
Even the one "blowout," a 5-1 win by Vegas at T-Mobile Arena on March 3, was a 2-1 game more than halfway through the third period.
So yes, these clubs play tight hockey games. Add in the fact that most playoff games tend to be decided by one goal either way ... and you've got a recipe for heart palpitations.
"It's just one of those things. You've never out of a game, a game is never over until the final buzzer sounds. You can always score and get back," said Wild defenseman Ian Cole, a two-time Stanley Cup champion who has been through his fair share of playoff hockey. "They're always gonna be tight in the sense of checking, in the sense of defense."

But that doesn't mean that every game will shake out the same way. Because for every 1-0 overtime game is a 5-4, up-and-down game like the Lightning and Panthers played in.
Just because the Wild and Golden Knights played a game with one total goal on Sunday doesn't mean that Game 2 on Tuesday is going to be low-scoring as well.
"With the way that we have guys that can score on this team and the way their team can score, it could very well be 5-4 tomorrow night," Cole said. "We're gonna need to find a way to win all kinds of games and games of all shapes and sorts and outcomes, to find a way to battle through it and get the job done regardless of what the path is that each game takes."
No matter which path a game takes, whether a high-scoring, back-and-forth thriller or a low-scoring nail-biter, players this time of year know exactly what to expect.
"Everything tightens up and just the emotion of the game, everyone knows how much each play means," said Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon. "That's playoff hockey."
For players, navigating the emotions of a game like Sunday's in Las Vegas can be very similar as for fans watching on TV at home.
Of course there is anxiety and excitement, perhaps even fear. That especially for young players who haven't played much playoff hockey or are in their first go-round in these kinds of situations on this stage.
Between the third period and overtime, Cole said he saw one teammate pacing and clearly anxious about the upcoming period and was quick to provide some calming, reassuring words.
"I think you've just gotta expect it to be that way, expect it's going to be tight and they're gonna be emotional swings," Cole said. "And it's about trying to level those the best you can. The old 'never too high, never too low.'
"There's always going to be those nerves and that excitement. But I would say [for me], it's more excitement than nerves to me at this point. I'm pretty fortunate, guys like [Nick Bonino] and me, we haven't seen every situation ... but we've seen a lot of them, and we can say, 'OK, we've been in this situation before, we'll just work our way through it."
It's a perspective and advice that can only come with experience and having gone through it in big spots before.
"I think so," said Cole, who admitted he was one to get more anxious early in his own career. "You got guys who are nervous, so you go to them and say, 'hey, it's the same game, everything just matters more, every play, every puck touch. Don't be nervous, use that excitement and let it feed your energy, don't let it be a weight on your shoulders. Don't let it beat you down, embrace it and be excited, get the legs going and get hyped up and go.' Then with whatever happens, just try and stay even-keeled and see what happens."
That advice tends to stick with teammates too.
At tense points during Sunday's game, both Cole and Bonino were vocal in their positive reinforcement on the bench.
"When things get a little washy and those guys are on the ice or those guys are talking on the bench, I don't know, you just believe in them. You believe in the words that are being said," said Wild forward Marcus Foligno. "It's great to hear that and it's so nice having those guys on your team. It's a mental game in the playoffs, and when you can rely on guys like that who have been through the grind and have played in late June, that's what we want. We're so lucky to have those guys on our team."
In two Cup runs with Pittsburgh, Cole said guys like Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Matt Cullen and Chris Kunitz were similar calming presences for him.
Now 32 years old himself, he said it's critical for him to play a similar role for the Wild's younger players that those experienced veterans did for him.
"As an older guy you just try and impart that same wisdom that was imparted on you by some world-class, fantastic players," Cole said. "Everyone here wants to be successful, we just gotta navigate it as best we can."