The Stanley Cup Playoffs are back, which means that for the next two months, we’ll get non-stop exciting action in the NHL as we witness history in another team looking to win a championship. Here at Daily Faceoff, we’ll be keeping you in the loop of everything that happened in the playoffs, every day until the Stanley Cup is hoisted in June.

Injury woes continue for Devils as Canes take over Game 1

Expectations were already low for the New Jersey Devils in their first round series against the Carolina Hurricanes, especially with the injuries to Jack Hughes and Jonas Siegenthaler, but somehow, it’s gotten worse. The Devils dealt with a few more injuries in Game 1 against the Canes, losing Brenden Dillon to a blocked shot, temporarily losing Luke Hughes for eight minutes of the third period, and Cody Glass also got hurt after Jacob Markstrom whacked him with his stick while trying to hit Andrei Svechnikov.

And then there’s the actual result of the game. The Hurricanes exploded to a 3-0 lead, and while Nico Hischier got one goal back for the Devils, Carolina didn’t give them too much room to get another goal, and Svechnikov secured the win with an empty netter. The Canes took Game 1 by a score of 4-1 and outshot the Devils 45-24, while Logan Stankoven scored two of their four goals.

Leafs make statement in Game 1 blowout over Sens

A series isn’t won in one game, but the Toronto Maple Leafs at least managed to start on the right foot. The Leafs got the game’s first two goals in the first 12 minutes, and even after the Ottawa Senators got one back off of a shaky play from Anthony Stolarz, the Leafs kept pulling away as the game got later. They made it 4-1 in the second period, and after Ridley Greig scored early in the third, they got two more to close out the 6-2 win. The core four combined for nine points in the game, including a goal and three points from Mitch Marner.

For more on the Leafs’ dominant win over the Sens, check out Matt Larkin’s story on the game here.

Howden scores twice in 4-2 Vegas win

While Zeev Buium’s NHL debut was making all the headlines going into Game 1 between the Vegas Golden Knights and the Minnesota Wild, it was the Golden Knights who made sure they got all the attention. After Tomas Hertl and Matt Boldy exchanged goals in the first period, Pavel Dorofeyev continued his goal-scoring ways in the second with a power play goal to give Vegas the 2-1 lead going into the third period.

But in the third period, it was the Brett Howden show for the Golden Knights. He gave Vegas the two-goal lead early in the third, and after Boldy’s second made it a one-goal game midway through the third, the Calgary, Alberta product put the game away with a buzzer-beating empty net goal, crossing the line in the final decisecond of the game to make it 4-2 for the Golden Knights. The two goals weren’t the only thing of note that happened to Howden in the game, as he also accidentally took out a referee on a play early in the second period.