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Four surprises from Round 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs
Captain John Tavares led the New York Islanders past Roberto Luongo and the favored Florida Panthers. Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

Four surprises from Round 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs

It wouldn’t be the playoffs without the unexpected popping up here and there. Sure, the first round hasn't quite concluded yet — at least, not in the Western Conference — but it’s still as good of a time as ever to reflect on some of the shockers coming out of games over the last week and a half.

Here are four surprising moments and trends to emerge from Round 1.

Surprising 60 Minutes: Game 5 between the Capitals and Flyers

Washington dropping a 2-1 decision in Game 4 wasn’t so much a shock as the following tilt result was. The odds were in the Capitals' favor with the fifth game of the series back at Verizon Center, but the Caps couldn’t find the back of the net. Washington outshot Philadelphia 44-11 but was shut out by Flyers netminder Michal Neuvirth, who had been put in to start in place of Steve Mason before Game 4. Mike G. Morreale of NHL.com expanded on Neuvirth’s performance:

Neuvirth's play is all the more remarkable considering he was recently out with a lower-body injury sustained against the Chicago Blackhawks on March 16. His first game back from injury was the Flyers' regular-season finale against the New York Islanders on April 10, when he made 15 saves in a 5-2 victory. At the time he replaced Mason in the playoffs, the Capitals were averaging 4.00 goals per game in taking a 3-0 series lead.

It took just one goal in Sunday’s Game 6 to boost the Caps over the Flyers.

Surprising Lineup Move: The Dallas Stars are still successfully rolling out the goalie tandem

The back and forth in the Stars’ crease that carried over from the regular season has continued to beg the question — how long can Dallas find success without an appointed starter? Dallas Morning News’ Brian Halverson discussed this in regard to Kari Lehtonen getting the series win after the Stars eliminated the Minnesota Wild:

Lehtonen and fellow goalie Antti Niemi combined to allow 16 Minnesota goals in six games with Lehtonen surrendering nine of them in four games (Niemi played two). But Dallas coach Lindy Ruff wasn't concerned about his team's goalie play, saying he liked how his goaltenders gave the Stars a chance to win. 
"There's a couple goals there [Lehtonen] couldn't do a lot about," Ruff said of Sunday's game. "Take away a couple of those goals, and his numbers would be good. The thing you've got to realize with him is this is his first [playoff series] win, too."

It has yet to be determined if the tandem will continue in Round 2, and Dallas’ second-round opponent has yet to be decided. As the Dallas Morning News breaks down, both the Blues and Blackhawks present challenges for the Stars and each of their goaltenders.

Surprising Series Ending: The Sharks-Kings series didn’t go seven games

No matter which California team you had taking this series, it was pretty widely expected — given the history between San Jose and L.A. — that this would be a six- or seven-game affair.

While the series was full of all the on-ice hits and off-ice trash talk that were expected, those outside of the Bay Area media base probably expected Los Angeles, with its past playoff prowess, to notch more than just a singular win, in overtime no less. While a beat-up Kings' defense and the Sharks’ Martin Jones being the better goaltender in the series over Jonathan Quick were pivotal, a big key to San Jose closing out the series in five games was coach Peter DeBoer staying a cool customer in making adjustments after San Jose’s loss in Game 3. Kevin Kurz of Comcast SportsNet California explained:

No one would have blamed Pete DeBoer if he had made a change or two, or rearranged some of his forward lines after Game 3. The fourth line especially was struggling, taking six minor penalties in games two and three combined. DeBoer kept everything status quo, though, and the Sharks managed to play much better throughout the lineup in the final two games of the series.

Surprising Underdog Story: The New York Islanders

The Florida Panthers’ unexpectedly dominant season made them a heavy favorite against first-round opponent New York, on top of the fact that the Isles entered postseason play with an injury-plagued roster. But the New York squad put up a tough fight — right up to captain John Tavares’ game-winning goal in double-overtime on Sunday evening to give his team a second-round bid.

New York had some key contributions over the series — Thomas Greiss filling in between the pipes for Jaroslav Halak cannot go unnoticed — but Brian Compton, deputy managing editor at NHL.com, explained that it was the team’s collective resiliency that led to the series victory:

Throughout the series players talked about how they had to build on what they experienced in 2015 when they lost a hard-fought series against the Washington Capitals that ended with a thud in Game 7 when the Islanders had 12 shots on goal. Their resiliency showed throughout against the Panthers, battling back in three of their four wins.

More must-reads:

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