The storylines are building already, just one weekend into the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Six of the eight series have started, and there are several trends, concerns and great stories that have surfaced in quick fashion.
Expect more of the same when the Vegas Golden Knights open defense of their Stanley Cup championship Monday as an underdog on the road against the Dallas Stars. And when Connor McDavid leads the Edmonton Oilers against the Los Angeles Kings for Game 1 of their series, the third straight first-round clash between these Pacific Division rivals.
Related: 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs: predictions for each 1st-round series
2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs early 1st-round impressions
Avalanche have an Alexandar Georgiev problem
The Colorado Avalanche scored six goals on the road against likely Vezina Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck on Sunday. And they lost to the Winnipeg Jets 7-6.
Ooofff!
It appears the Avalanche have a major Alexandar Georgiev problem on their hands. His poor play down the stretch was a storyline heading into this series and then he stopped only 16 of 23 shots in Game 1 against the Jets. It was just the 21st time over the past 30 years that a goalie surrendered that many goals in a Stanley Cup Playoff game. Georgiev’s 16 saves were the lowest among all of those instances.
“Unfortunately, all the mistakes that we made ended up in the back of our net,” Colorado defenseman Cale Makar said. “That’s just the way she goes sometimes.”
Avalanche coach Jared Bednar had this to say about his goalie: “[Georgiev’s game] probably needed to be better, right?” I thought we played well, we created some chances. He made some good saves, but we’re [going to] need like a couple more saves than that probably to win, you know?”
Yes, we know.
Georgiev allowed 32 goals in his final eight regular-season starts, stopping at least 90 percent of shots he faced just twice. The big worry has been that Georgiev, who started 62 games each of the past two seasons is overworked and exhausted.
The Avalanche could be a quick out in this postseason if Georgiev doesn’t find his game sooner rather than later.
Home sweet home
It’s a small sample size but, so far, it’s good to be the home team in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The victor in each of the first six playoff games has been the home team. That includes four wins by two goals or fewer, where, it can be argued, home-ice advantage can be a factor in close games. In the other two, the Boston Bruins easily skated past the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-1, and the New York Rangers outclassed the Washington Capitals 4-1.
Of course, since each home team has won the first game of its series, it can also be said that the “favorite,” or at least higher-seeded, team held serve and won the series opener.
There’s going to plenty of road wins in these playoffs, but home-team success is an intriguing early “trend” because it’s been said in many hockey circles that home ice is not necessarily a major advantage in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Matt Rempe’s cult status grows in New York with Rangers
The Hockey Gods continue to shine on Rangers rookie Matt Rempe, whose cult hero status on Broadway reached new heights when he scored the first goal in their best-of-7 series against the Capitals on Sunday.
Known more for his physical play and willingness to fight any NHL heavyweight, the 6-foot-8 forward instead sparked the Rangers with a tap-in goal 24 minutes into Game 1. With the Madison Square Garden crowd still on its feet celebrating the newfound hero’s goal, Artemi Panarin scored 33 seconds later and the Rangers were on their way. New York’s fourth-line added another goal to make it three goals in 2:06, when Rempe cleared a lane for Jimmy Vesey to score through after a Barclay Goodrow face-off win.
With the final seconds counting down, the 21-year-old was on the ice to dissuade the Capitals from doing anything silly, and The Garden Faithful chanted “Rem-pe! Rem-pe!” And after the game, a non-plussed Rempe stated, “I’m built for playoff hockey.”
Great stuff.
Related: NHL Power Rankings for 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs
Rare doughnut for Capitals superstar Alex Ovechkin
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Garden ice Sunday, Capitals superstar Alex Ovechkin was held without a shot on goal for the fourth time in 148 Stanley Cup Playoff games. He had seven attempts, five were blocked, and not one reached Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin.
The Capitals struggle enough to generate offense. But if Ovechkin continues to be shut down 5-on-5 and on the power play as he was in Game 1, the Capitals are toast in this series.
Canucks’ Dakota Joshua in pretty good company
Five players scored three points in their respective Game 1s this past weekend. Four of them are household NHL names. The fifth is Dakota Joshua.
Now, Joshua is not exactly an unknown. The 27-year-old had a breakout season of sorts with the Canucks this season, scoring 18 goals in 63 games. But he’s not exactly Cale Makar, Kyle Connor, Mark Scheifele nor Jake DeBrusk either. Those are the four other skaters with three points.
After assisting on Elias Lindholm’s second-period goal, Joshua went to the net to score the eventual game winner at 9:11 of the third. He then confidently shot the puck from his own end of the ice into an empty net with 1:28 to play, icing Vancouver’s 4-2 comeback win against the Nashville Predators.