Wedgewood’s 24 saves lift No. 1-seeded Avalanche past Kings in Stanley Cup opener
DENVER (AP) — Logan O’Connor scored for the first time in more than a year, Scott Wedgewood stopped 24 shots in his first Stanley Cup playoffs start and the top-seeded Colorado Avalanche beat the Los Angeles Kings 2-1 in Game 1 on Sunday. O’Connor’s third-period tally was his first since Game 4 of a playoff series against Dallas on April 26. He missed most of this season with a hip injury.
Artturi Lehkonen had a second-period goal for the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Avalanche. Wedgewood got the nod in net over Mackenzie Blackwood after leading the league in goals-against average and save percentage. Wedgewood made four career playoff appearances in relief before Sunday’s start.
Game 2 is Tuesday night in Denver. Artemi Panarin scored a power-play goal with 2:22 left to make it 2-1. Shortly after, forward Joel Armia was called for high-sticking and the Kings were unable to tie it up.
Anton Forsberg stopped 28 shots in his NHL postseason debut. CANADIENS 4, LIGHTNING 3, OT TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Juraj Slafkovsky scored his third power-play goal 1:22 into overtime and Montreal beat Tampa Bay in Game 1 of their first-round series.
Slafkovsky fired a slap shot from the left circle that beat Andrei Vasilevskiy to the far side for the hat trick. Game 2 is Tuesday night at Benchmark International Arena, where Tampa Bay has lost eight of its last nine home games in the postseason. Josh Anderson also had a goal for Montreal and rookie goalie Jakub Dobes made 20 saves.