The Seattle Kraken celebrate after Yanni Gourde scored in overtime of Game 1 against the Dallas Stars on, May 2 in Dallas.The Associated Press
The Seattle Kraken and Florida Panthers both had to quickly go from Game 7 victories on the road to starting their second rounds as visitors again just two days later.
The supposed underdogs carried momentum from those series clinchers into Game 1 wins against teams that had some extra rest. The Kraken and Panthers have the opportunity Thursday night to to grab 2-0 series leads before finally going home.
“A quick turnaround, there’s a disadvantage in terms of the amount of energy, right. You don’t have the rest, you don’t have the luxury of a little bit of practice time, but you are in a rhythm,” said Kraken coach Dave Hakstol, whose team eliminated defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado in seven games.
The second-year Kraken opened the Western Conference semi-finals with a 5-4 overtime win in Dallas, even after blowing a two-goal lead in the third period while 38-year-old Joe Pavelski scored all four goals for the Stars in his first game back since going into concussion protocol two weeks earlier.
Dallas also dropped its first-round opener at home, in double overtime, but recovered to beat Minnesota in six games.
After overcoming a 3-1 series deficit and ending top-seeded Boston’s record-setting season with a Game 7 win, Florida, like Seattle, squandered a two-goal lead in the second-round opener before winning 4-2 in Toronto, which had not played since Saturday.
“It’s a really focused group. I think it is training,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “We played pretty damn hard and pretty well.”
Florida was 16-18-4 after a 5-3 loss to the New York Rangers on New Year’s Day and stood 13th in the 16-team Eastern Conference standings. The Panthers went 26-14-4 the rest of the way to finish one point ahead of Pittsburgh for the East’s final playoff spot before dispatching the 65-win Bruins.
Game 1 winners have gone on to win 68 per cent of best-of-seven series in the NHL playoffs, though that hasn’t applied to this post-season so far. Carolina and Seattle were the only teams among eight Game 1 winners in the first round to advance.
“Any win is big in the playoffs, especially on the road,” said Justin Schultz, one of five different Seattle goal scorers in Game 1 against Dallas. “It’s nice to get the 1-0 lead but there’s a lot of work left to do. We know they’re going to be better next game.”