After a two-game opening night, the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs continue Sunday with a trio of Game 1s:

Which teams will earn the early edge in their series? Who are the key players to watch?

Read on for game previews, recaps of what went down last night, and the Three Stars of the Night from Arda Öcal.

Matchup notes

New Jersey Devils at Carolina Hurricanes
Game 1 | 3 p.m. ET, ESPN

These two teams split the regular-season series with two wins apiece; notably, all four of those games were played before Devils star Jack Hughes sustained a season-ending injury. The Hurricanes were led in scoring this season by Finland native Sebastian Aho (29 goals, 45 assists), while Sweden’s Jesper Bratt was the Devils’ leading scorer (21 goals, 67 assists). The two teams’ most recent postseason clash occurred in 2023, which the Canes won 4-1.

Ottawa Senators at Toronto Maple Leafs
Game 1 | 7 p.m. ET, ESPN2

The opening skirmish in the Battle of Ontario is the first postseason appearance for the Senators since 2017 — and the first ever for Ottawa captain Brady Tkachuk. On the other side, this will be the Maple Leafs’ ninth consecutive playoff appearance — with just one series win to show for it. Toronto has had its scoring prowess vanish in past postseasons, so leading scorer Mitch Marner (27 goals, 75 assists) & Co. will hope to reverse that trend. And while Toronto is the favorite in the series, Ottawa won all three regular-season games between the teams.

Minnesota Wild at Vegas Golden Knights
Game 1 | 10 p.m. ET, ESPN

Sunday’s nightcap sees the wild-card Wild face one of the more complete teams in the West. Newly signed Minnesota defenseman Zeev Buium — fresh off a run to the NCAA Frozen Four final with the University of Denver — didn’t see action in the regular-season finale; how much will he be deployed in this series? The Knights will come at the Wild in waves, led by center Jack Eichel, who earned some Hart Trophy votes in the final edition of ESPN’s NHL Awards Watch. Vegas won all three regular-season games between the two clubs, by an aggregate score of 12-4.

Arda’s Three Stars of Saturday

A goal and two assists for Connor, who kept the Jets’ offense soaring in a game that set the tone for Winnipeg in this series — including a third period comeback. This team is still motivated by a five-game first-round exit last postseason, and they also want to keep the Presidents’ Trophy vibes going.

One of the best players of the game, and he showed up Saturday. Three points in Game 1 (on the road, no less), including the eventual game-winning goal and an empty-netter to help the Avalanche take the early lead in the series.

The chemistry between Scheifele and Connor was on display. The center finished with three points in Game 1, including a great play to get Connor the puck late in the third period on the game-winning goal.

Saturday’s results

Winnipeg Jets 5, St. Louis Blues 3
Jets lead series 1-0

A furious first period included a pair of goals for both teams, as the clubs elected to throw haymakers at the start of the series instead of patiently reading their opponents. The Blues carried a 3-2 lead into the third after a second-period tally from Jordan Kyrou, but the Jets took over the third — first with the momentum in front of a “White Out” crowd, and then with a trio of goals. Alex Iafallo had the game-tying score at 9:18 of the third, followed by the game-winner by Kyle Connor with 1:36 left and an empty-net goal by Adam Lowry to put the game away.

play

Jets score 5 goals in a thrilling Game 1 win over the Blues

The Jets best the Blues 5-3 in Game 1 of their playoff series.

Colorado Avalanche 5, Dallas Stars 2
Avs lead series 1-0

Unlike Saturday’s earlier game, these two contenders started with a 0-0 first period. But from the second period onward, it was all Avalanche. Artturi Lehkonen opened the scoring with one of the most unique goals in memory, with the puck going in off of his skate and over Jake Oettinger‘s shoulder — the play was ruled a good goal upon review. Nathan MacKinnon added a power-play tally after Roope Hintz high-sticked him to push it to 2-0 and the Avs never looked back. Although Hintz scored a power-play goal of his own in the third, the Avs got goals from Devon Toews, an empty-netter from MacKinnon and a final tally from Charlie Coyle.

play

Avs make easy work of Stars in dominant Game 1 win

The Avalanche put five goals past the Stars to take a 1-0 series lead in dominant fashion.

DALLAS — Nathan MacKinnon had a part in both of Colorado’s strange goals in the second period before adding an empty-netter late as the Avalanche beat the Dallas Stars 5-1 in the opener of their first-round Western Conference playoff series Saturday night.

MacKinnon scored on a shot that deflected off Stars defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin, and knuckled past goalie Jake Oettinger late in the second period. That came during an extended power play, a double minor against the Stars after he took a high stick to the face.

That came after MacKinnon’s assist midway through the second period on a goal by Artturi Lehkonen, who was following his initial shot and falling down after a collision in front of the net when the puck ricocheted off his lower left leg into the top corner of the net. The play was reviewed and officials ruled that there was no kicking motion by Lehkonen while tumbling to the ice with Mavrik Bourque.

“He was really good tonight,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “You know, like, obviously they’re going to key on him — like we do on some of their players — but really strong defensive game from him. And obviously, his get-up-and-go on the offensive side of it, he’s making plays all night. I thought that line was dangerous.”

There wasn’t much Oettinger could do on either of those goals as the Stars lost Game 1 in their eighth consecutive series in the NHL playoffs since 2022. They are 0-7 in series openers under coach Pete DeBoer, six of those coming at home. DeBoer saw progress, however, calling the effort Saturday night “the best game we’ve played in 3-4 weeks.”

Devon Toews gave Colorado a 3-1 lead with 7:04 left. MacKinnon’s empty-net tally for his 50th career playoff goal came with 3:08 left, 11 seconds before Charlie Coyle scored.

This series-opening loss for the Stars came after they finished the regular season on an 0-5-2 stretch that included four losses at home after being 28-5-3 before that.

Game 2 is Monday night in Dallas, before the series shifts to Denver.

Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 23 shots in his first career playoff game.

It was pretty special,” Blackwood said. “I’ve been waiting to play in the playoffs for a long time and it was great to finally get my first one.”

Blackwood was one of 11 players who have seen action since being acquired through Colorado’s eight in-season trades. Those deals included the Avalanche trading Mikko Rantanen on Jan. 24 to Carolina in the East. He played only 13 games before a deadline deal March 7 sent him back to the Central Division with the Stars and included an eight-year, $96 million contract extension.

Rantanen, who had 101 points (34 goals, 67 assists) in 81 playoff games for the Avalanche, had three shots and one block over 18 minutes in his postseason debut with the Stars.

Oettinger had 19 saves, three when Colorado had a two-man advantage in the first period when Cale Makar drew two tripping penalties only 36 seconds apart from each other.

Roope Hintz, who had the penalty against MacKinnon, trimmed the Stars’ deficit to 2-1 on his goal with 13:15 left in the game, just before the end of a power play and about a minute after DeBoer called a timeout.

Bednar got his 50th playoff win with the Avs — in his 82nd postseason game, equal to a full regular season. That broke a tie with Bob Hartley for the most wins by a coach in franchise history. Both won Stanley Cups — Bednar in 2022 and Hartley in 2001.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

WINNIPEG, Manitoba — Kyle Connor‘s one-timer with 1:36 remaining in the third period snapped a 3-3 tie, and the No. 1 seed Winnipeg Jets survived a Game 1 scare — and some shaky goaltending from Connor Hellebuyck — to post a 5-3 victory over the St. Louis Blues in the opener of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Connor also contributed a pair of assists and captain Adam Lowry capped the victory with an empty-netter with 53 seconds left, much to the delight of the “whiteout” full house of 15,225 fans at the Canada Life Centre.

“There were some emotional swings. Obviously, we didn’t get off to the start we wanted,” Lowry said during his postgame bench interview, aired on the arena’s jumbotron. “But what an incredible third period, what an incredible atmosphere. And we’re real happy with the result.”

Game 2 in the best-of-seven series is Monday in Winnipeg, and the home team knows it will need a more complete effort in their own zone if it is to gain a 2-0 series lead. Hellebuyck made 14 saves en route to the win, but in allowing three goals in the first two periods, he finished with a concerning .824 save percentage.

But Mark Scheifele had a goal and two assists and Jaret Anderson-Dolan also scored for the Jets, who won the Presidents’ Trophy for the NHL’s best regular-season record (56-22-4). With his three points, Scheifele became the Jets’ all-time leader in playoff points with 41.

“It’s obviously really cool,” Scheifele said of the record. “To do it in front of the fans tonight was pretty special. That was a fun game to be a part of.”

Jordan Kyrou gave the Blues a 3-2 lead with a power-play goal early in the second period, but Winnipeg’s top-line winger Alex Iafallo tied it at 9:18 of the third.

Robert Thomas also scored on the power play for St. Louis. Oskar Sundqvist added one at even strength and Justin Faulk had two assists.

Jordan Binnington stopped 21 shots for St. Louis, which grabbed the Western Conference’s final wild-card spot with a final-game victory.

St. Louis outshot the Jets 9-7 in the opening period, and dished out 32 hits to Winnipeg’s 14, as the teams hit the locker room tied at 2-2.

The Blues came out of the first intermission and used the power play for Kyrou’s goal at 1:13 and a 3-2 lead. It extended his season-ending point streak to four goals and two assists in four games.

“Overall, I thought it was a really good hockey game, but we are going to grow and we are going to get better,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. “That’s what we’re going to have to do. … We’ve got a lot of young guys playing in their first game in the Stanley Cup playoffs. That’s why I know we will get better.”

Winnipeg couldn’t capitalize on its early third-period man advantage but came close when Binnington denied Connor on a one-timer.

After Lowry’s goal, players paired up for some fighting with 19 seconds left after a regular-season series that Winnipeg won 3-1.

“That’s playoff hockey,” Hellebuyck said. “You have to play ’till the last minute, the last second. You know, it was a lot of fun, the guys were buzzing out there. I didn’t get a whole lot of action in the third. But it was really fun to watch and be a part of it.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.