NHL Rink Wrap: A blowout, upset, triple OT during busy playoff night

• In Game 1, the Penguins and Rangers didn’t just give us the first overtime of the NHL playoffs. They endured a triple OT marathon.

• The Capitals stunned the Panthers, Game 1 of Avalanche – Predators went as expected, and the Stars and Flames played skin-tight hockey.

• The NHL handed out a set of fines, with Jared Spurgeon avoiding a suspension despite an ugly, dangerous cross-check to Pavel Buchnevich‘s lower body. Doesn’t seem like the best message for the league to send, unless they want players to think, “We can get away with a lot.”

It remains to be seen if this First Round series between the Penguins and Rangers ends up being a classic. Frankly, one or both of these teams might end up being too exhausted.

Truly, Game 1 of the Penguins – Rangers was already full of drama and intrigue. There were controversial goal and penalty reviews. The Rangers started strong, then Sidney Crosby‘s line took over the second period.

Then the game just kept going, and going, and going. Read more about how the Penguins won Game 1 in triple overtime here.

For a while, it seemed like the story would be that the Capitals were able to keep up with the Panthers in Game 1, but Florida might still win. A Claude Giroux goal put the Panthers up 2-1 through the second period.

In the third, the Capitals scored two quick goals (one by Evgeny Kuznetsov, the other by T.J. Oshie) to build what would be a commanding lead over the Panthers. As often as these Comeback Cats have been able to rally this season, Washington ended it with an empty-netter.

It’s too early to say that the Panthers’ style can’t work in the playoffs. It’s possible that the Capitals might be able to hang with the Panthers, after all, though.

Well, for every upset — mild or big