New York. The first two shocks of the Stanley Cup playoffs are real.
Winnipeg won last night’s opener against number one Vegas in the Western Conference on the road – and at the same time Seattle notched its historic first playoff win over the defending champions in Denver.
– We are very happy, but it’s just about winning. We have to go back and do the same in the next game, top scorer Alex Weinberg told Sportbladet
Already last night, the “Challengers” – that is, the lowest-placed teams – won the opening matches in the western half of the stadium, but then the equal second- and third-highest in the division they met.
Last night, the Wild Card teams went up against the hard-favoured #1 and defied the odds.
Notable, of course, is the Seattle Kraken’s victory at Ball Arena in Denver.
In their first ever playoff game, they went out and swept the defending champion Colorado Avalanche 3-1.
– Yes, we are very happy about this. Not only because we managed to win our first playoff game, but because of the way we played. I think it was a very good effort on our part, says Alex Weinberg when we got to him next.
– But it’s just about winning, we have to go back and do the same in the next game.
Alex himself was named the star of the match and there was definitely a reason for that. He hit a really hard shot and also helped Morgan Geekie cone 3-1.
I got into a good position on goal and received a pass from Jaden Schwartz. It’s really nice to push there when I have the chance,” says the 28-year-old from Stockholm.
In the loud and angry game on the Strip in Vegas, Winnipeg was the better team for most of the evening and they also won 5-1.
– It’s the playoffs now. Then you have to play with power that we didn’t have tonight, notes Cavalry coach Bruce Cassidy.
William Carlsson scored the home team’s consolation goal.
