Stanley Cup playoffs takeaways: Panthers deliver emphatic message in Game 1 win

That is an enormous goal, and win, for the Maple Leafs because if they had lost this game after letting a two-goal lead slip away it might have brought back a lot of bad playoff vibes for a roster that has only known losing and frustration in the playoffs. 

Ridly Greig is still not popular in Toronto

Greig is one of the Senators' most effective pests against Toronto , and he ruffled some feathers in Game 1 in a collision with Maple Leafs goalie Anthony Stolarz.

Stolarz did not forget that and took it upon himself to rough up Greig in front of the net when he had the opportunity.

Stolarz was not penalized for any of that, by the way. 

Senators, Devils are in trouble

The good news for the Senators and Devils is they still have their home games coming up in Games 3 and 4 to hold serve. 

The bad news is they are both facing two-game series deficits after their losses on Tuesday. New Jersey dropped a 3-1 decision to Carolina, while Ottawa lost a 3-2 overtime decision in Toronto after rallying from two goals down. 

The worst news is that both teams probably played as well as it possibly could have on Tuesday, and still did not win. 

Asking either of the squads to win four of the next five games in these matchups might be asking a lot. 

NHL's schedule makers not doing fans any favors

The NHL's Tuesday schedule was a brutal for fans. Both for ticket holders and fans at home trying to watch on TV.

The night ended with the Minnesota Wild and Vegas Golden Knights facing off for Game 2 of their series with a scheduled 11 p.m. ET puck drop. And then even that was pushed back to 11:15 p.m. ET. 

That is nonsensical, and an insult to fans all over the country. Especially fans in Minnesota who had to wait until after 10:15 ET to watch the Wild play. 

It was obviously done for TV purposes with all of the games being broadcast on ESPN, but who is benefitting from a puck drop that late for a playoff game? A large segment of the population is not going to have interest in staying awake to watch that game until 2 a.m. ET. It is an inconvenience for fans in the building having to wait for an 8:15 local time start. And the NHL's TV ratings are not good enough to begin with to try and squeeze out that many extra viewers. 

With the NHL starting Tuesday's Carolina-New Jersey game at 6 p.m. ET, they are obviously not afraid to start games earlier in local time. There is no reason why that could not have been a 9 p.m.ET/6 p.m. PT puck drop in Las Vegas. 

The Wild were able to provide some solace to fans in Minnesota, jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the first period and cruising to a 5-2 win behind two goals from Kirill Kaprizov. With the victory, Minnesota evened the series at one game apiece.