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.

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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.

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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.

Japan, South Korea and Taiwan are considering investing in a massive natural gas project in Alaska in an attempt to reach trade deals that would both satisfy demands from President Donald Trump and avoid high U.S. tariffs on their exports.

Alaska has long sought to build an 800-mile pipeline crossing the state from the North Slope in the Arctic Circle to the Cook Inlet in the south, where gas would be cooled into liquid for export to Asia. The project, with a staggering price tag topping $40 billion, has been stuck on the drawing board for years.

Alaska LNG, as the project is known, is showing new signs of life — with Trump touting the project as a national priority. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said earlier this month that the liquified natural gas (LNG) project could play an important role in trade negotiations with South Korea, Japan and Taiwan.

“We are thinking about a big LNG project in Alaska that South Korea, Japan [and] Taiwan are interested in financing and taking a substantial portion of the offtake,” Bessent told reporters on April 9, saying such an agreement would help meet Trump’s goal of reducing the U.S. trade deficit.

Taiwan’s state oil and gas company CPC Corp. signed a letter of intent in March to purchase six million metric tons of gas from Alaska LNG, said Brendan Duval, CEO and founder of Glenfarne Group, the project’s lead developer.

“You can imagine the geopolitical enhancements whether it’s for tariff or military reasons — Taiwan is really, really focused on getting that signed up,” Duval told CNBC in an interview. CPC has also offered to invest directly in Alaska LNG and supply equipment, Duval said.

March trade mission

Duval and Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy traveled to South Korea and Japan on a trade mission in March, meeting with high-ranking officials in government and industry. Japanese and South Korean companies have asked whether their development banks can help finance Alaska LNG, Duval said.

“Lately, there has been quite a lot of inquiries from India, so there’s a fourth horse that’s entered the race,” Duval said. Thailand and other Asian countries have also shown interest, he said.

The Alaska LNG project has three major pieces: The pipeline, a gas processing plant on the North Slope and a plant to liquify the gas for export at Nikiski, Alaska. These facilities are estimated to cost roughly $12 billion, $10 billion, and $20 billion respectively, Dunleavy said at an energy conference in Houston in March.

The permits for Alaska LNG are already in place, the CEO said. Glenfarne expects to reach a final investment decision in the next six to 12 months on the first phase of the project, a pipeline from the North Slope to Anchorage that will supply gas for domestic consumption in Alaska, Duval said.

Construction on the LNG plant is expected to begin in late 2026, the CEO said. The goal is to complete construction on the entire Alaska LNG project in four and a half years with full commercial operations starting in 2031, he said.

Alaska LNG plans to produce 20 million metric tons of LNG per year, equal to about 23% of the 87 million tons of LNG that the U.S. exported last year, according to data from Kpler, a commodity researcher.

‘Unleashing’ Alaska’s resources

Alaska plays a central role in Trump’s goal to boost production and exports of U.S. oil and gas, part of the White House’s agenda for U.S. “energy dominance.” The president issued an executive order on his first day in office seeking to tap Alaska’s “extraordinary resource potential,” prioritizing the development of LNG in the state.

“We’ll have that framed on our walls in Alaska for decades,” Gov. Dunleavy said at the Houston conference last month, referring to the executive order.

Once a net importer, the U.S. has rapidly become the largest exporter of LNG in the world, playing an increasingly vital role in fueling power plants in Asia and Europe for allies with limited domestic energy resources. Japan and South Korea, for example, each took about 8% of U.S. LNG exports last year, according to Kpler data.

The Trump administration views Alaska LNG as “an important strategic project,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said at the Houston energy conference. LNG exports from Alaska would reach Japan in about eight days rather than having to pass through the congested Panama Canal from terminals on the Gulf Coast, Dunleavy said at the same conference.

“They can have the opportunity to get delivered to them the most efficient LNG from an allied partner,” while avoiding chokepoints, Duval said. “This is the only LNG the U.S. can supply that has a direct route, and they are very cognizant about that in today’s environment.”

North Pacific talks

Trump told reporters during a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in February that the two countries were discussing the pipeline and the possibility of a joint venture to exploit Alaska oil and gas. Trump said he discussed the “large scale purchase of U.S. LNG” in an April 8 phone call with South Korea’s acting President Han Duck-Soo, and Korea’s participation in a “joint venture in an Alaska pipeline.”

Japan wants to maintain its security agreement with the U.S. against a rising China and avoid tariffs, officials at the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority told the Alaska Senate finance committee during a February presentation. “We are now in a completely ‘transactional’ trade world,” the executives said. Tokyo must invest more in the U.S., buy more LNG and enter a joint venture linked to Alaska oil and gas, they said.

The project would likely be a structured as a loose joint venture, with Asian partners signing contracts for large volumes of LNG, Duval said, and won’t necessarily translate into Japan, Taiwan and South Korea holding direct equity stakes in Alaska LNG, though Glenfarne is open to the possibility, he said.

Glenfarne’s goal is to be the long-term owner and operator of Alaska LNG with partners, Duval said. Glenfarne is a privately-held developer, owner and operator of energy infrastructure based in New York City and Houston. The company assumed a 75% stake in Alaska LNG from the Alaska Gasline Development Corporation in March, with AGDC keeping 25%.

Roadblocks and commercial viability

The Trump administration is clearly pressuring Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan to invest in Alaska LNG, said Bob McNally, president of Rapidan Energy and former energy advisor to President George W. Bush. Although Japan wants to both placate Trump and diversify its LNG supplies, Tokyo may yet hesitate to invest in Alaska LNG due to the project’s cost, complexity and risk, McNally said.

Another roadblock is that Democrats could return to power in 2028 and try to stop the project from advancing, citing environmental effects, McNally said. President Joe Biden, after all, paused permits for new LNG exports to countries including Japan that don’t have free trade agreements with the U.S. But Trump reversed Biden’s suspension as part of a torrent of executive orders tied to energy on his first day in office in January.

In addition to political risk, Alaska LNG “doesn’t have a clear cut commercial logic,” said Alex Munton, head of global gas and LNG research at Rapidan. “If it did, it would have had a lot more support than it has thus far, and this project has been on the planning board for literally decades,” Munton said. There are more attractive, existing LNG options for Asian customers on the Gulf Coast, he said.

The project is expensive even by the standards of an LNG industry that builds some of the costliest infrastructure in the energy sector, Munton said. The price tag of more than $40 billion likely needs to be revised upwards given that it is two years old, the analyst said.

“You have to assume that the costs are going to be much higher than the publicly quoted figures,” Munton said. Alaska LNG will likely need “public policy or a public commitment of funds to bring it to life,” the analyst said.

Duval said Alaska LNG will be competitive with no government subsidy. “It is a naturally competitive source of LNG, independent of the geopolitical benefits, independent of the tariff discussions,” he said.

“We have the support of the president of the United States,” Dunleavy said in Houston. “We have Asian allies that need gas. Geopolitical alliances are changing. Tariff questions are coming up. When we really look at it in that context, it’s a very viable project.”

The Israeli military has said its investigation into the killing of aid workers in Gaza has found there were “several professional failures, breaches of orders, and a failure to fully report the incident”.

A commanding officer will be reprimanded and a deputy commander will be dismissed following the military investigation, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said.

Fifteen aid workers were shot dead by Israeli troops who opened fire on a convoy of vehicles, including ambulances, on 23 March.

They were then buried in a shallow grave where their bodies were found a week later by officials from the United Nations and the Palestinian Red Crescent.

The probe’s findings come after a Sky News investigation earlier this week revealed how the deadly attack unfolded, contradicting Israel’s official account of the killings.

At first, Israel claimed the medics’ vehicles did not have emergency signals on when troops fired their shots, but later backtracked.

Mobile phone footage which was recovered from one of the medics contradicted Israel’s initial account.

In a statement on Sunday, an IDF spokesperson said: “The Commanding Officer of the 14th Brigade will receive a reprimand, which will be recorded in his personal file, for his overall responsibility for the incident, including the procedure of combat and management of the scene afterward.

“The deputy commander of the Golani Reconnaissance Battalion will be dismissed from his position due to his responsibilities as the field commander in this incident and for providing an incomplete and inaccurate report during the debrief.”

‘Poor night visibility’

The investigation found that the deputy commander did not initially recognise the vehicles as ambulances “due to poor night visibility”, according to the spokesperson.

“Only later, after approaching the vehicles and scanning them, was it discovered that these were indeed rescue teams,” they added.

Probe looked at ‘three shooting incidents’

The IDF said that about an hour before the attack on the convoy, Israeli troops fired at what they “identified as a Hamas vehicle” and the forces “remained on high alert for further potential threats”.

In the convoy incident, the IDF said the soldiers “opened fire on suspects emerging from a fire truck and ambulances very close to the area in which the troops were operating, after perceiving an immediate and tangible threat”.

“Supporting surveillance” had reported five vehicles approaching rapidly and stopping near the troops, with passengers quickly disembarking, according to the IDF.

It said the deputy battalion commander “assessed the vehicles as employed by Hamas forces, who arrived to assist the first vehicle’s passengers”, adding that: “Under this impression and sense of threat, he ordered to open fire.”

According to the IDF, six of the 15 killed were “identified in a retrospective examination as Hamas terrorists”.

But the Sky News investigation found no evidence to support this claim.

The IDF also said there was a third incident about 15 minutes later where “the troops fired at a Palestinian UN vehicle due to operational errors in breach of regulations”.

“The troops’ commander initially reported the event, and additional details emerged later in the examination.”

Bodies were buried in mass grave

Eight Red Crescent personnel, six civil defence workers and a UN staff member were killed in the shooting on the convoy by troops carrying out operations in Tel al Sultan, a district of the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

Troops then bulldozed over the bodies along with their mangled vehicles, burying them in a mass grave.

‘Decision to crush vehicles was wrong’

The IDF statement said that at dawn it was decided to “gather and cover the bodies to prevent further harm and clear the vehicles from the route in preparation for civilian evacuation”.

The body removal and vehicle crushing were carried out by field commanders, according to the military.

Removing the bodies was reasonable under the circumstances, but the decision to crush the vehicles was wrong, the investigation concluded, and “in general there was no attempt to conceal the event”.

The probe also found that “the [gun]fire in the first two incidents resulted from an operational misunderstanding by the troops, who believed they faced a tangible threat from enemy forces. The third incident involved a breach of orders during a combat setting”.