NHL Playoffs Taking Flight With Flurry of First-Round Action

The second day of the NHL playoffs got off to a bang last night – specifically the bang of the head of Boston Bruins center Tommy Wingels slamming into the boards courtesy of Nazem Kadri of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Full sequence on the Wingels-Kadri incident. Wingels catches Marner up high, but no excuse for the Kadri hit. Gotta be a suspension pic.twitter.com/EEKeUd6t2z

— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) April 13, 2018

Toronto went on to lose the game to the Bruins 5-1 and they’ll also probably lose Kadri for multiple games to suspension after the league reviews his dirty hit. The Bruins are also expected to be without Wingels as he almost surely suffered a concussion on the play.

Elsewhere in the NHL, the Washington Capitals became the first team to lose at home this postseason when they were bumped off by the underdog Columbus Blue Jackets 4-3.

In Tampa Bay, the top-seeded Lightning rolled to a 5-2 win over the New Jersey Devils despite getting a goal and an assist from Hart Trophy-candidate Taylor Hall.

Colorado led in Nashville after one period, but the Presidents’ Trophy winners didn’t let it faze them and the Predators came back to dispatch the Avalanche in a 5-2 final.

The Anaheim Ducks became the second team to lose their home-ice advantage on Thursday as they were shutout 3-0 by the San Jose Sharks and goaltender Martin Jones.

In Game 2s tonight, Philadelphia is at Pittsburgh,  Minnesota is at Winnipeg and Los Angeles is at Vegas.