Is it beginning to look a lot like 2023?
The Golden Knights rolled all four lines that year, overwhelming opponents with their depth in winning the Stanley Cup.
Vegas opened this year's playoffs Sunday night by doing much the same in its 4-2 victory over the Wild.
All four lines played more than 10 minutes at 5-on-5, according to Natural Stat Trick, and none more than Jack Eichel's top three going for 12:49. Minnesota relied heavily on its top line, which saw 17:22 of action at 5-on-5, while the other lines each played fewer than nine minutes.
The Golden Knights hope that will be the theme as well for Game 2 on Tuesday (11 p.m. ET, ESPN) in Las Vegas.
“Last night talking about the minutes, if (Eichel) doesn’t have to play 22 minutes every night for us to win, that’s going to keep him fresher as we go along here and give us a good opportunity to have better matchup situations,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said.
Eichel, who led the Golden Knights with a career-high 94 points this season, played 17:12.
The Wild's top line of Kirill Kaprizov, Joel Eriksson Ek and Matt Boldy each were on the ice for more than 20 minutes, though they were effective. Boldy scored both Minnesota goals and Kaprizov assisted on each.
Wild coach John Hynes pushed back on the notion he needed to more evenly distribute the minutes, noting that a lot of teams give that kind of time to the top line. But he acknowledged the Wild need more productivity from their bottom six forwards.
“As we move along going into Game 2, the 12 guys up front, I think we can be better in that area,” Hynes said.
New Jersey Devils at Carolina Hurricanes
When/Where to Watch: Game 2, 6 p.m. EDT (ESPN)
Series: Hurricanes lead 1-0
Carolina dominated Sunday’s series opener 4-1. To listen to New Jersey’s players and coach Sheldon Keefe, a better response in Game 2 doesn’t come through any complicated changes.
“We’re going to have to above all dig in more and be more competitive when the situation calls for it on these puck battles,” Keefe said Monday.
The Hurricanes scored the game’s first three goals and at one point late in the second period had a 4-to-1 shot advantage, with only Nico Hischier’s 4-on-4 score avoiding the shutout. The shot edge going to Carolina wasn’t a surprise for Keefe, though he pointed to the fact the Devils have to do a better job of getting the puck out of their end to start transition chances and negate the Hurricanes’ aggressive forecheck.
That was immediately evident after the Game 1 loss, with Keefe saying his team was “just overwhelmed” in the second period.
“We knew it was going to be hard to play against them,” forward Ondrej Palat said. “But that was on us, too. We didn’t execute well, we didn’t win enough battles.”
Making matters worse, the Devils had multiple players head to the tunnel early with injuries in defensemen Brenden Dillion and Luke Hughes and forward Cody Glass. Keefe didn’t update any of their statuses Monday for a team already down top center Jack Hughes to a season-ending injury and defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler not expected back this series from a lower-body injury in February.
Luke Hughes exited with an apparent shoulder injury in the third period, but returned late, while Dillion didn’t return after his second-period exit after going down in a tangle with William Carrier.
Then there was Glass, who was hurt on the same play as Hughes. But he was injured when goaltender Jacob Markstrom took a whack at Carolina’s Andrei Svechnikov at the top of the crease only to inadvertently pop Glass with his stick and send the forward crashing to the ice.
“It’s a heat-of-the- moment play unfortunately and I feel bad for Glasser," Markstrom said. "You don’t want to see or be the reason anyone goes down.”
As for Carolina, coach Rod Brind’Amour didn’t specify who would start in goal for Game 2. Frederik Andersen had 23 saves in the opener. The other option is 25-year-old Pyotr Kotchetkov.
Ottawa Senators at Toronto Maple Leafs
When/Where to Watch: Game 2, 7:30 p.m. EDT (ESPN2)
Series: Maple Leafs lead 1-0
The series between Ontario rivals was always going to be intense, and the Maple Leafs made sure to take advantage of that heat.
They scored three power-play goals in their 6-2 victory in the opener, and coach Craig Berube said it was crucial to remain disciplined.
“We've got to play hard between the whistles," Berube said. "We've got to keep being physical. We've got to make it difficult for them as best we can. Just stay composed.”
It's a similar message with the Senators, who found themselves facing six power plays while going on the man advantage just twice.
“I like to think we have a physical team,” Ottawa coach Travis Green said. “There's a fine line between crossing the line and taking penalties.”
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AP Sports Writer Aaron Beard in Raleigh, North Carolina, and freelance writer W.G. Ramirez in Las Vegas contributed to this report.
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AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Mark Anderson, The Associated Press
