It's been a wild Stanley run this year, and this is just the first round. All of the division leaders are out first round. Everyone left is wildcard. Columbus sweeping Tampa Bay is crazy, but equally crazy is the manner in which San Jose beat Vegas. Vegas was the new frontrunner to win the Stanley after Tampa got knocked off.
Pavelski (San Jose) scores the series' first goal off his mouth. He plays the rest of the series with missing teeth. San Jose wins Game 6 in OT on a short-handed goal to stay alive. Then in game 7 they go down 3-0 midway through the 3rd period. Pavelski gets injured in the head AGAIN and draws a 5:00 major penalty for his team. But unfortunately for San Jose, Pavelski is their leading power play scorer, and Pavelski is out. San Jose goes on to score FOUR power play goals in 5 minutes, without Pavelski, to go ahead. Vegas ties it on an empty net with less than a minute left. They go to OT--the first OT Game 7 since 2017. San Jose gets it.
The next day, Carolina beats Washington in triple OT Game 7.
It's nuts.
