Oilers Open While Penguins, Hurricanes, And Wild Try To Answer Monday

The Philadelphia Flyers lead the Pittsburgh Penguins 1-0 in the Battle of Pennsylvania after a 3-2 Game 1 win on Saturday night. Travis Sanheim scored the game-winner at 10:00 of the third period, splitting Elmer Soderblom and Anthony Mantha before wristing a puck past a Porter Martone screen. Martone, the 19-year-old rookie and No. 6 overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, added his first career playoff goal at 17:23 to push the lead to 3-1. Dan Vladar stopped 15 shots for Philadelphia. Stuart Skinner, acquired by Pittsburgh in the December 2025 deal that sent Tristan Jarry to Edmonton, stopped 17 for the Penguins. Bryan Rust pulled Pittsburgh within one at 18:59 with Skinner on the bench for the extra attacker during a 4-on-4 sequence, but the Flyers closed it out.

Pittsburgh opens Game 2 as a -152 moneyline favorite with Philadelphia at +127. The Penguins are the Game 2 favorite despite the Game 1 loss because the underlying shot volume favored Pittsburgh across five-on-five play, and the Flyers' goaltending was the factor that kept the score close. Vladar's 15-save night was clean against quality looks, but Pittsburgh generated 17 shots on goal and a handful of high-danger chances that Vladar turned aside. Home-ice Game 2 environments historically favor the team that lost Game 1 at roughly a 56 percent rate when they were the regular-season favorite, which applies here.

Sidney Crosby's career numbers against Philadelphia are the most relevant historical footnote in a series that's been renewed for the first time since 2012. Crosby has 60 goals and 139 points in 93 career regular-season games against the Flyers, the most goals and points any opposing player has ever recorded against Philadelphia as a franchise. At 38 years old, he finished the regular season with 74 points in 68 games, still producing at a point-per-game clip. Game 1 was quieter for him than expected, and the Penguins need Crosby to be the offensive driver if they're going to even the series before heading to Philadelphia for Games 3 and 4.

The Flyers' path is to ride Vladar's net-front goaltending, absorb Pittsburgh's shot volume, and generate chances off the rush with Martone and Jamie Drysdale's transition offense. Drysdale scored in his playoff debut in Game 1 and looked comfortable running the top-pair power-play in the second half of the game. Philadelphia's ability to push the series to 2-0 on the road would essentially dictate the schedule of the series, with Games 3 and 4 back in Philadelphia where the home-crowd advantage would turn this into a 3-1 closeout scenario. Puck drop 7:00 PM ET on ESPN.

The Carolina Hurricanes lead the Ottawa Senators 1-0 after a 2-0 Game 1 shutout at Lenovo Center on Saturday. Frederik Andersen stopped 22 shots for his sixth career playoff shutout, and the Hurricanes became the fifth team in NHL history to win seven consecutive series-opening games dating back to the 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifiers. Logan Stankoven and Taylor Hall each had a goal and an assist. Jackson Blake added two assists. The Senators had a goal overturned early in the third period when video review determined Drake Batherson's jam attempt had not fully crossed the goal line.

Carolina opens Game 2 as -196 moneyline favorite with Ottawa at +158. The total sits at 5.5 with the over at -130 and the under at +106. The Hurricanes earned the East's top seed by finishing atop the conference with the league's most consistent five-on-five underlying metrics. Rod Brind'Amour's forecheck produces turnover-driven offense, and Andersen has been the best playoff goaltender in the league across the first weekend of the 2026 tournament. Ottawa's path to tying the series starts with Brady Tkachuk producing the kind of physical, net-front presence that generated Game 1 chances that didn't convert.

Tim Stutzle is the Senators' most important offensive engine. He was kept off the scoresheet in Game 1 and spent most of the night pressured by the Jordan Martinook line. Getting Stutzle into open-ice situations with space to handle the puck is the adjustment Travis Green has to make. The Senators' power play, which finished the regular season in the top ten of league efficiency, went 0-for-3 in Game 1 and is the other obvious lever for a Game 2 comeback.

Andersen at this level of playoff performance is the ceiling outcome for Carolina. At 36 years old, he's produced the kind of postseason goaltending that shortens series. If the under-5.5 total cashes at a similar rate through four or five games, the Hurricanes are in a 3-1 position heading back to Ottawa. The Senators need to push tempo, generate rush chances off the Martinook line's pressure, and force Andersen to make saves in broken defensive situations. Puck drop 7:30 PM ET on ESPN2.

The Minnesota Wild obliterated the Dallas Stars 6-1 in Game 1 of the Western Conference first round at American Airlines Center on Saturday night. Matt Boldy and Joel Eriksson Ek each had two goals and an assist. Kirill Kaprizov added a goal and two assists, pushing his career playoff goal total to 16 and tying Zach Parise for the most in Wild franchise history. Ryan Hartman had a goal and an assist. Rookie goaltender Jesper Wallstedt stopped 27 of 28 shots for a .964 save percentage in his playoff debut. Jason Robertson scored Dallas' lone goal late in the second period.

Dallas opens Game 2 as a -136 moneyline favorite with Minnesota at +114. The Stars' price as the favorite reflects both the regular-season record differential between the teams and the expected bounce-back effect that comes with a home team losing Game 1 by five goals. The Stars have historically had Game 1 issues across recent postseasons, and Peter DeBoer's adjustments between Games 1 and 2 have been among the most reliable response patterns in the NHL. The Wild now arrive at American Airlines Center with a chance to go up 2-0 and shift the series into Minnesota's hands with Games 3 and 4 at Xcel Energy Center.

Wallstedt's goaltending was the most important factor in the Game 1 margin. His 27 of 28 line against a Dallas team that finished top-five in the league in shot volume is the kind of single-game performance that changes series odds. If he can reproduce anywhere near that level in Game 2, Minnesota becomes a serious threat to take the series. The Stars' path is getting Wyatt Johnston, Jason Robertson, and Mikko Rantanen the kind of shot volume that generates Wallstedt-beating chances. Getting the power play going is equally important. Dallas went 0-for-4 on the man advantage in Game 1.

Kaprizov's 16 career playoff goals and three game-winning playoff goals are both Wild franchise records. His scoring gravity unlocks the Boldy-Eriksson Ek line that produced four of Minnesota's six goals in Game 1. Dallas' defensive zone has to collapse less toward Kaprizov and trust Rantanen's defensive responsibility on the weak side. The Stars are the higher-seeded team, the more experienced playoff roster, and the more talented top-six group. The Game 1 blowout was not an indication that Minnesota is the better team. It was an indication that when Wallstedt is on, the Wild are the more dangerous team. Puck drop 9:30 PM ET on ESPN.

The Edmonton Oilers open their 2026 Stanley Cup Playoff run as -210 home favorites against the Anaheim Ducks on Monday night. The puck line is Ducks +1.5 at -175 with Oilers -1.5 at +145. Implied probability pegs the Oilers at 67.7 percent with Anaheim at 36.4 percent for an outright upset. Series odds have Edmonton at -210 to advance with the Ducks at +175. This is Connor McDavid's latest attempt to run back the kind of playoff gauntlet that has ended in consecutive Stanley Cup Final losses for the Oilers, and the injury context shapes everything from the opening faceoff.

Leon Draisaitl's injury status hangs over the whole series. The Oilers' top-line center has been dealing with an issue that reports have clouded through the back stretch of the regular season, and his availability for Game 1 remains the single biggest variable in Edmonton's ability to match Anaheim's forward depth at five-on-five. If Draisaitl plays and plays close to full capability, the Oilers are significantly closer to the -350 series favorite their regular-season record warranted. If he's limited or out, the Ducks become a more interesting +175 series dog than the number suggests, and a road split at Rogers Place becomes a realistic outcome.

Anaheim's path is grounded in the goaltending of Lukas Dostal, who has been one of the league's most improved starters across the 2025-26 season. His ability to stop McDavid and Draisaitl on rush chances is the single most important individual matchup on the ice. The Ducks' rebuilding-into-contention trajectory has been the quiet Western Conference storyline of the year, with Mason McTavish and Leo Carlsson producing at levels that exceeded preseason projections, and Cutter Gauthier providing top-six wing scoring. Anaheim is not the typical 8-seed. They're a team that's closer to a potential second-round threat than the seeding suggests.

Edmonton's forecheck, power play, and McDavid's zone entries are the structural advantages that should decide Game 1 in favor of the home team. Tristan Jarry, acquired by Edmonton in the December 2025 Stuart Skinner swap with Pittsburgh, is the Oilers' starter. His bounce-back season has been a quiet stabilizer for a team that previously carried postseason goaltending as its largest single area of anxiety, and Dostal on the other end is likely to hold Edmonton to three or fewer goals in any single Game 1. A 3-2 or 4-2 Oilers win is the modal outcome. An Anaheim upset requires Dostal standing on his head and McDavid being held to a single point. Puck drop 10:00 PM ET on ESPN2.