Islanders-Hurricanes Game 1
The buildup to Stefan Noesen’s (CAR 23) GWG was an apt reflection of Carolina’s high-volume, point shot-heavy approach to offense.
Following a Jaccob Slavin (CAR 74) one-timer that sails wide, Brady Skjei (CAR 76) pinches down and causes enough of a stir for Jack Drury (CAR 18) to retrieve the puck. The second-year forward then passes to Evgeny Kuznetsov (CAR 92) at the blue line:
The center’s top priority is simply to filter his long-distance attempt past the first shot-blocker (NYI 17). He does—and the wrister bounces off a pair of bodies before Noesen tucks his backhand past Semyon Varlamov (NYI 40):
Watch how Noesen jostles with Ryan Pulock (NYI 6) here, shoving him to create breathing room and then filling that gap to give himself a better chance of reaching the loose change first.
By refusing to accept his station at the side of the net, he earned his bounce.
Leafs-Bruins Game 1
Brandon Carlo’s (BOS 25) 2-0 goal highlighted a Leafs weakness that Boston will hope to exploit throughout the series: DZ board play. The Bruins repeatedly emerged from the pile with the puck.
Jake DeBrusk (BOS 74) provided a great example on this second-period sequence:
After offering Hampus Lindholm (BOS 27) quality puck support in the corner, he tanks Morgan Rielly’s (TOR 44) check and senses that he has the leverage required to just…skate away with possession. He also swivels to fence the defender off for good measure.
With that daylight, he proceeds to set up Carlo for a seeing-eye blast from the top of the right circle. This angle reveals how much Pontus Holmberg (TOR 29) hindered his own goaltender’s efforts:
Either block the shot or clear the sight line. He settled for no man’s land.
The Bruins may not have won the expected goals battle (38.3 xGF% at 5-on-5) in Game 1, but they were consistently stronger at the point of attack.