May 3, 2022

* David Perron posted a hat trick and Ville Husso outdueled veteran Marc-Andre Fleury to become the only goaltender in Blues history with a shutout in his first career playoff appearance.

* Reigning Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy winner Auston Matthews continued his goal-scoring ways as the Maple Leafs blanked the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions in Game 1, while 2021-22 William M. Jennings Trophy recipient Antti Raanta made 35 saves in his first career playoff start to backstop the Hurricanes to a 1-0 series lead.

* Four more First Round series are set to open Tuesday, with another doubleheader on both ESPN and ESPN2 in the U.S. and on CBC, SN, TVAS and TVAS2 in Canada.
 

PERRON POTS HAT TRICK, HUSSO HAS SHUTOUT IN PLAYOFF DEBUT
David Perron (3-1—4) scored the first playoff hat trick of his NHL career and Ville Husso had 37 saves in his postseason debut as the Blues blanked the Wild on the road to take Game 1.

* Perron became the 14th different player in franchise history to record a playoff hat trick and the first to do so in St. Louis’ opening game of a postseason. The only other active players with a hat trick in a playoff opener are former Penguins teammates Patric Hornqvist (Game 1 of 2016 R1) and Sidney Crosby (Game 1 of 2018 R1).



* Husso became the first goaltender in franchise history to record a shutout in his playoff debut and the third to blank an opponent in his first career postseason appearance with St. Louis, joining Glenn Hall (Game 1 of 1968 QF) and Chris Osgood (Game 1 of 2003 CQF).

MATTHEWS, MARNER COMBINE FOR SIX POINTS IN 5-0 WIN AGAINST TAMPA BAY
Auston Matthews (2-1—3) and Mitchell Marner (1-2—3) had three points apiece while Jack Campbell made 24 saves as the Maple Leafs drubbed the defending Stanley Cup champions to take a 1-0 lead in their First Round series.

* Matthews and Marner became the first Toronto players with three points in a playoff opener since 2003, when Alexander Mogilny had a hat trick in Game 1 of the Conference Quarterfinals against Philadelphia.



* Matthews became the first reigning Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy winner in 15 years to score multiple goals in his team’s playoff opener – Tampa Bay’s Vincent Lecavalier was the last before him, in Game 1 of the 2007 Conference Quarterfinals against New Jersey. Marner, meanwhile, scored his first playoff tally since Game 1 of the 2019 First Round versus the Bruins, snapping an 18-game postseason goal drought.

* Campbell, the subject of “Soup!” chants from inside Scotiabank Arena and outside the venue in Maple Leaf Square, became the fourth different goaltender in franchise history and first in 21 years with a shutout in a playoff opener. He joined Turk Broda (1938 SF, 1939 QF, 1949 SF & 1950 SF), Curtis Joseph (2000 CQF & 2001 CQF) and Frank McCool (1945 SF) – Campbell was the second member of that cohort to blank a defending Stanley Cup champion, joining McCool against the Canadiens 77 years ago.
 


GOALTENDERS QUICK, RAANTA RECORD GAME 1 VICTORIES
Two-time Stanley Cup winner and veteran of 86 career playoff games Jonathan Quick backstopped Los Angeles past Edmonton at Rogers Place, while Hurricanes goaltender Antti Raanta made 35 saves – including 12 in the opening 10 minutes – to earn a win in his first career postseason start.

* Quick (36 saves) posted his 47th career playoff win and tied Ron Hextall for 24th place on the NHL’s all-time list. The Milford, Conn., native also earned his 24th career postseason road victory, moving within one of Tom Barrasso (Boston, Mass.; 25) for the most in League history by a U.S.-born goaltender.

* Raanta became the third goaltender in NHL history to make each of his first five career playoff appearances in relief before his first-ever start, joining Juuse Saros (7 GP) and Peter Budaj (5 GP).Raanta also joined Kevin Weekes as the second netminder in franchise history with 35-plus saves in their first career postseason start.



QUICK CLICKS

* #NHLStats: Live Updates for Monday, May 2

* Series Scenarios for Tuesday, May 3
* Hurricanes call on ‘Mr. Game 7’ Justin Williams to ring siren for Game 1
* Oilers anthem singer performs from crowd, fans finish ‘O Canada’
* Connor McDavid weaves his way through Kings’ defense for highlight-reel goal

FOUR MORE FIRST ROUND SERIES SET TO OPEN TUESDAY
Tuesday is set to feature four more Game 1s, with another doubleheader on both ESPN and ESPN2 in the U.S. and on CBC, SN, TVAS and TVAS2 in Canada.

* Sidney Crosby (69-122—191 in 174 GP) and Evgeni Malkin (64-110—174 in 170 GP) can continue their ascent of various playoff lists when the Penguins and Rangers open their eighth all-time head-to-head postseason series. Four of the previous seven series between Pittsburgh and New York have resulted in the winner going on to reach the Stanley Cup Final, including three of the past four (1992 DF, 2008 CSF, 2014 R2 & 2016 R1).

* Chris Kreider is set to appear in his eighth career postseason and first as a 50-goal scorer. He became the fourth player in franchise history to score 50 goals in a season with New York – that group includes Adam Graves in 1993-94 (52 in 84 GP), who added 10 more tallies during the ensuing playoffs to help the Rangers end a 54-year Stanley Cup drought. Graves’ 62 goals were the highest single-season total, including playoffs, in franchise history.



* After becoming the first 100-point player in franchise history, Jonathan Huberdeau will lead the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Panthers in their quest to end the franchise’s 26-year drought since its last playoff series victory, starting with a matchup against nine-time 50-goal scorer Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals at FLA Live Arena.

* Presidents’ Trophy winners are 24-11 in Game 1 of the First Round, Conference Quarterfinals or Division Semifinals (since 1986 when the award was introduced), including a 6-1 mark in the last seven such contests. The NHL’ s No. 1-ranked team from the regular season owns an all-time series record of 3-0 versus Washington, including a five-game triumph by the Rangers during the 1994 Conference Semifinals en route to winning the Stanley Cup (also BOS: 4-0 W in 1990 CF & NYR: 4-3 W in 2015 R2).



* Predators captain Roman Josi (23-73—96 in 80 GP) and Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar (28-58—86 in 77 GP), who ranked first and second place, respectively, in scoring among NHL blueliners this season, are set to battle at Ball Arena.

* The 2022 First Round between Nashville and Colorado will mark the third all-time playoff series to see defensemen go head-to-head after each recording 80+ points in the regular season. The other instances were during the 1977 Semifinals when Larry Robinson (MTL) and Denis Potvin (NYI) met and in the 1984 Stanley Cup Final when Potvin (NYI) clashed with Paul Coffey (EDM).



* The “C of Red” returns in Calgary as Flames forwards Johnny Gaudreau (40-75—115 in 82 GP), Matthew Tkachuk (42-62—104 in 82 GP) and Elias Lindholm (42-40—82 in 82 GP) welcome fellow 40-goal scorer Jason Robertson (41-38—79 in 74 GP) and the Stars to Scotiabank Saddledome.

* The 2022 First Round between Calgary and Dallas is set to mark the fourth series in the past 25 years to feature at least four 40-goal scorers, following the 2001 Conference Finals (PIT: Jaromir Jagr & Alex Kovalev; NJD: Alexander Mogilny & Patrik Elias), 2001 Stanley Cup Final (COL: Joe Sakic & Milan Hejduk; NJD: Mogilny & Elias) and 2019 First Round (TBL: Steven Stamkos, Brayden Point & Nikita Kucherov; CBJ: Cam Atkinson).

COURTESY NHLmedia.com