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PITTSBURGH -- Islanders coach Jack Capuano talked before the game about the need for his team to stay disciplined. Yet early in the first period, former Penguin Brian Strait took exception to a Matt Cooke hit on one of his teammates and gave Cooke a shot as Strait was coming onto the ice, drawing an interference penalty. The Pens’ Beau Bennett scored late in the power play to put the Isles behind the eight ball early on. The power-play goal was aided by the fact a clearing attempt by the Isles struck one of the on-ice officials in the neutral zone and allowed the Penguins to quickly return to the Islander zone.

***

Veteran netminder Evgeni Nabokov was yanked early in the second period after allowing four goals on 15 shots. Three of those goals came after he took a Jarome Iginla rocket off the top of his mask, a shot that left him momentarily dazed in the first period.

"I never had that. The chunk was out, and I think the mask is done," Nabokov said.

"It’s the first time I’ve actually felt it," Nabokov said, adding that he was lucky the puck hit the top of the mask as opposed to a more direct impact on the forehead or cage.

"Yeah. Good mask," he said ruefully.

***

Pittsburgh defenseman Mark Eaton, who was part of the Pens’ Cup-winning team in 2009 before departing for Long Island, where he played for two seasons, signed with the Penguins in February as a free agent when the Penguins were beset by injuries. He drew an assist on Pascal Dupuis’ second goal Wednesday night, his first point of the season. He led all players with eight blocked shots. When the Penguins are healthy along the blue line (Brooks Orpik missed Game 1 with an injury sustained late in the regular season), Eaton usually plays with Kris Letang his defense partner during the ’09 Cup run.

***

Marc-Andre Fleury’s sixth postseason shutout leaves him tied with Tom Barrasso for the most playoff shutouts in franchise history.

PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Penguins showed up for work Wednesday morning wearing T-shirts with the No. 4 on the back, a nod to the immediate task of winning four games to get out of the first round of the playoffs.

No word on whether those same shirts will be worn Thursday with the "4" crossed out and replaced by a "3" after the Penguins whipped the New York Islanders 5-0 in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series.

They’re just T-shirts, of course: some fabric and a little lettering, including the phrase, "Here We Go."

But the shirts speak to a mindset, a narrowing of the focus to the task at hand.

When you are a team as deep and talented as the Penguins -- and when there is as much discussion about a long playoff run, a possible trip to the Stanley Cup finals, another championship -- it might be easy to forget about first things first.

If you look at the big picture, if you look at what is needed to win a Cup, "It’s a bit overwhelming," Pittsburgh forward Craig Adams said after Wednesday’s game.

And if you start thinking about that, "you’ll never get there," he said.

"Everyone wanted to hand us the Cup last year, and we saw how that turned out," Adams added.

And there’s the rub.

In an interview before Wednesday’s game, Pittsburgh GM Ray Shero went to great pains to reinforce that his team was very mindful of the Islanders, even though the Pens were the top seed in the Eastern Conference and the Isles the eighth seed.

"I know this team has a great deal of respect for the Islanders," Shero said. "There’s no way we’ll be underestimating them."

Those are the kinds of sentiments that are on display when you’re coming off a 2012 playoff season that really ended before it began with the Penguins blowing a 3-0 lead against Philadelphia in Game 1 and quickly falling behind 3-0 in the series en route to a six-game loss. It was the second consecutive one-and-done playoff spring for the Penguins, and they have won just one playoff round since winning the Stanley Cup in 2009.

So you can understand if there is an emphasis on the details this time around.

"We’ve been preaching that all year," Adams said. "I think we’ve been humbled."

After one game, it would appear the message has sunk in, as the Penguins methodically took apart an inexperienced Islanders team that is playing in the postseason for the first time since 2007.

The Pens took advantage of an early power play to go up 1-0 after a terrific play by Beau Bennett, who cut in from the right side and roofed a shot over veteran netminder Evgeni Nabokov. Bennett wouldn’t be in the lineup if it weren’t for the fact that doctors declined to let captain Sidney Crosby suit up for Game 1.

Talk about taking advantage of your opportunities: Bennett scored in his first-ever playoff game.

The Penguins would add another power-play goal early in the second period by Kris Letang before Pascal Dupuis, the king of even-strength goals, added two while the teams were playing five aside. Tanner Glass rounded out the scoring with his first-ever postseason goal.

Defensively, the Pens killed off four Islander power plays and limited the Isles to 26 shots, providing netminder Marc-Andre Fleury with ample protection. Fleury, who endured a nightmare series last postseason against the Flyers, earned his sixth postseason shutout.

"Everything went great tonight," Dupuis said. "Yes, we did play the right way, but you have to keep saying to yourself it’s only 1-0."

If there was cause for concern for the Penguins, it was the loss of James Neal, who got tangled up with Travis Hamonic early in the second period and did not return. There was no information on his status for Game 2 Friday.

Also, Jussi Jokinen, who added two assists and continues to be a point machine since coming over from Carolina at the trade deadline, went off the ice gingerly after a collision with Islanders forward Marty Reasoner, who was assessed a kneeing major with 2:10 left in the game.

The Islanders, meanwhile, looked like a team whose most important players (outside Nabokov) were playing in their first playoff game. Reasoner, playing in his 24th career postseason game, was the player with the most playoff experience among Islander skaters, and he’d been a healthy scratch for the final 10 regular-season games.

John Tavares, who figures to be among the finalists for the Hart Trophy as the league’s MVP, was a nonfactor, finishing the night without a shot. Likewise, Brad Boyes and Matt Moulson weren’t the players who combined for 25 regular-season goals.

Head coach Jack Capuano said the team’s work ethic and determination weren’t what they had been during the final month of the regular season, when the Isles secured an unexpected playoff berth, and the execution was lacking.

Nabokov, a player Capuano referred to as an extension of the coaching staff given his experience, was given the hook just 1:51 into the second period after the Pens made it 4-0 with two goals in 32 seconds.

Although he was beaten twice by hard, high shots courtesy of Bennett and Letang on the power play, this loss wasn’t a function of poor goaltending. Instead, this was a loss that was, pure and simple, about one team being light years ahead of another in terms of getting the job done.

"Obviously, I think it was a little bit too easy for them, for the Penguins. All-around game has to be better. Better saves, more saves. I guess it’s got to start with me," Nabokov said.

"I’ve got to make key saves at the key times and give the guys a chance to battle. But the game was over basically at the beginning of the second period, it’s four-zip, and it’s really tough to come out of it against that type of team. So [I] have to find a way to tighten up and be better," he said.

Of course, as the Pens’ T-shirts remind us, this series is not the best of one.

The Islanders have a chance to regroup, and one imagines whatever nerves and butterflies might have invaded their bodies Wednesday will have dissipated by the time Game 2 rolls around Friday night.

"I don’t think anything is easy. You have to come out, and you have to work hard. It’s got to hurt to play; I heard somebody in the locker room actually say that: It’s got to hurt to play," Nabokov said.

"I think we have to come out next game, and we have to be ready, be more physical and just make it hard on them everywhere, every inch of the ice. We have to battle for every inch of the ice, everywhere. I think that’s the only way we can play with that team because, otherwise, they’re too skilled. They’re too good."

In best-of-seven series, the Game 1 winner has gone on to win the series 68.4% (405-187) of the time in NHL history. Here is a breakdown of how Game
1 winners have fared over the past five years.

2012: 11-4
2011: 10-5
2010: 7-8
2009: 9-6
2008: 12-3

ST. LOUIS -- Matt Greene’s absence was certainly felt in the Los Angeles Kings' opening loss to the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday night.

The big, physical defender, such an important part of last season’s Stanley Cup champion team, practiced again Wednesday, but at this point, his availability to play isn’t quite clear.

“I’m doing whatever they tell me here, that’s it,” Greene said after practice, not wanting to reveal much.

Greene is the type of warrior who would play on one leg if the team let him, so clearly whether or not he plays, or when, is not his call.

“No, it’s just the way it’s going right now,” Greene said. “That’s the way our lineup is. And that’s fine. … They’re going to put me in when I’m healthy to go and ready to go.”

Head coach Darryl Sutter shed a bit more light on the situation Wednesday, saying it’s not simply about Greene’s condition.

“It’s not just [being] healthy, but he’s got to be up to speed,” Sutter said. “He needed about 10 games, to be quite honest. You just don’t put him in the lineup because he’s Matt Greene. Matt Greene has to be able to play and perform. We were hoping to get more games from him before, [to be] quite honest, and he got banged up. So we’ll see. I’m quite happy playing those two kids because they’re quite capable, too.”

Greene missed two months recovering from back surgery before returning recently to play four games. Then, he got hurt again.

So for now, it’s Keaton Ellerby in for Greene on the third pairing along with Jake Muzzin, the two kids Sutter was referring to.

Those two kids looked a little overwhelmed at times in Game 1, as they were hammered by the Blues’ forecheck.

“As the game went on they both played better, but at the same time, it put pressure on the other four guys early, and it was a big reason why we spent so much time in our own zone, was those kids having trouble early in the game,” Sutter said.

Blues know what's coming

The Blues aren’t resting on their laurels. They know the Kings will come hard Thursday night.

But at the same time, they’d be lying if they didn’t say finally beating L.A. after eight straight losses dating back to last season didn’t feel good.

"There's a lot of areas we need to improve on,” veteran Blues forward Andy McDonald said after practice Wednesday. “Certainly, they've taken it to us in the regular season and in the playoffs last year. Hopefully, it builds confidence in our room that these guys are beatable -- and they're the defending Stanley Cup champions -- but if we play our game, we can play right there with them.

"But my point is it's Game 1, and I think we had the adrenaline going, being excited, home opener in the playoffs, a lot to prove, and we just [need] to be sure that we match that tomorrow night and maybe even bring it up a notch, because I know that they're going to come out a little harder."

Anaheim goalie Jonas Hiller talks with ESPN The Magazine's Craig Custance about the Ducks' 3-1 win over the Red Wings.

Here's a "Next Level" look inside the matchup that will likely determine the outcome of the New York Rangers-Washington Capitals series.


The image above shows Capitals star Alex Ovechkin's scoring strengths.

Ovechkin scored 18 of his 32 goals to the stick side of the goaltender this season. Of those 18 stick side goals, 13 were below the blocker.

But keep this in mind: Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist was tough to beat low to the stick side, allowing only 9 goals low stick this season, his fewest in any zone.

Lundqvist's weakness was glove-side, high shots, which interestingly is an area in which Ovechkin does not score a lot.

The image below shows the areas in which Lundqvist allows the most/least goals.

ST. LOUIS -- The architect of last year’s Stanley Cup championship squad watched attentively as his troops went through their drills during an optional practice Wednesday.

The military analogy is appropriate in this case, because Los Angeles Kings GM Dean Lombardi is an avid history buff who adores the comparisons between war and sport and the kind of self-sacrifice, leadership and guts it takes to achieve goals in both.

And so as The General watched practice Wednesday, you could just see the wheels spinning in his mind, his thoughts no doubt knee-deep in the test his team now suddenly faces just one game into the playoffs.

You want a history lesson? His Kings were never once behind in a series last spring, going up 3-0 in all four rounds en route to a well-earned championship.

The script has already changed just one game into the playoffs a year later. And that’s OK, Lombardi said. Standing back and looking at the big picture, it’s not such a bad thing, he figures, for his team to learn how to win in a different fashion.

“We’re going to have to deal with that eventually -- you’re going to have to learn how to win a long series,” Lombardi told ESPN.com outside his team’s dressing room. “Not that you want one, but it’s part of the growth process to learn how to deal with another level of pressure. We really only experienced that once in Game 6 last year [of the Stanley Cup finals]. So here you go. Here it is.”

Not that he’s surprised at what the St. Louis Blues pulled off in Game 1 on Tuesday night, a dominant performance if not on the scoreboard certainly in terms of physical play and puck possession.

Now, normally you’d say that’s a typical reaction from the losing team after dropping Game 1, saying they knew they were in for a tough series. But in this case I can vouch that even before Game 1 was ever played, a conversation with Lombardi during practice Monday revealed his utmost respect for the Blues and the huge test that he believed awaited his team.

And so on Wednesday, in the wake of the Game 1 loss, it is with absolute honesty that the Kings GM talked about the respect his team had for his first-round foe.

“This series last year was probably our toughest,” Lombardi said. “That was not a 4-0 series. Even in the regular season this year, these games are always hard. From top down, both teams are similar, both coaches believe in the same things. I don’t think there’s any question that our players respected this team.

“And so, I don’t know that it’s a wake-up call, per se, but I think it’s a clear reminder what it takes to win in the playoffs. Nobody, to a man, thought this would be easy.”

If there’s a wake-up call here for the players, coach Darryl Sutter said Wednesday, it’s not as much in losing a game but rather in the manner in which they lost.

“What grabs their attention is that they know several of our players can play better,” he said. “We got to overtime with really two lines and four defensemen. You’re not going to win very many games doing that.”

But if you’re looking for any signs of a frantic group after just one loss, even despite never being down in a series last spring, you came to the wrong dressing room.

This was a relaxed looking bunch, Mike Richards informing yours truly on the way out that a group of players was headed to the afternoon Cardinals baseball game to relax.

“The mood’s good,” said star defenseman Drew Doughty. “We’re down 1-0, but it’s all right. If we can get this win and go 1-1 back to L.A., that would be huge for us.”

And of course, that’s very true. A win Thursday night here at Scottrade Center, and the Kings go home confident and in good shape.

But for that to happen, they need to spend a lot less time in their own zone.

There wasn’t a single game last spring when L.A. was bottled up in their own end like it was Tuesday night by a ferocious Blues forecheck.

“We have to be quicker,” Doughty said. “They’re coming hard on their forecheck, they’re banging bodies, they’re creating those little turnovers. I think a lot of times when they created those turnovers we kind of went into panic mode and tried to make up for that mistake quickly.

"I think that’s the wrong thing to do; you have to sit back and find where your guy is and try to create your own turnover. That was the one area they really dominated us in. We didn’t get on our forecheck, which is one of the keys to our game. We need to do that in order to win the next one.”

Wave after wave, all four Blues’ lines hammered the Kings in their own zone. In particular, the fourth line of Chris Porter, Adam Cracknell and Ryan Reaves created pure chaos in the Kings’ zone with a relentless forecheck that left the Kings’ defense dizzy.

“They were coming in hard, and they can make plays, too. I don’t think many of us expected that from them,” Doughty said. “That could have been another downfall of ours. But now we know what they can do. We know they’re going to bend bodies.”

If you’re looking at that comment and thinking you’ve heard that before, it’s because you did -- a year ago. That’s when opposing teams were commenting on how the Kings’ fourth line was creating havoc with their physical play and forecheck, led by unheralded players such as Dwight King and Jordan Nolan.

“It’s the strength of our team, too, being able to play four lines,” Sutter said. “Our fourth line has been interchangeable quite honestly because some of the kids haven’t played very well. Those kids we brought up last year have not played very well this year. So we were hoping for them to play better now and better in a hurry.”

That’s about as blunt as it gets from the Kings' coach.

The Blues beat the Kings playing the same brand of game that won L.A. a championship last year. Now the Kings have to turn the tables Thursday night and find a way to get their forecheck going, impose their physicality on the Blues in the offensive zone.

“We need our guys doing the same thing to their defensemen,” Doughty said rather honestly. “Guys like [Jay] Bouwmeester and [Alex] Pietrangelo aren’t very physical guys. We need to bang their bodies and kind of take them out of the game so they can’t make their plays and rush up the ice.”

And that’s what will make Game 2 so compelling. The defending champs are determined to impose their game. They’ve been awoken. We will find out more about this Blues squad on Thursday night and how they handle that pushback from the Kings.

Buckle up, this series is just starting to get good.

GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- Since being acquired by the Rangers in a blockbuster trade with Columbus last summer, Rick Nash has performed as advertised.

A dynamic forward who possesses that rare combination of size, speed and skill. One who can change the nature of a team’s lineup or change the complexion of an entire game. A player who creates a nightmare matchup for an opposing team.

But even though Nash has an impressive list of individual accomplishments -- an Olympic gold medal, numerous All-Star nods and an incredible run of nine straight 20-goal seasons -- Nash is missing one critical element that could define his legacy as a top player in the league: playoff success.

The former first overall pick in 2002, who spent the previous nine seasons with the Columbus Blue Jackets, has made only one appearance in the playoffs. He has yet to win a single game.

His only taste of postseason action to date? A first-round series against the Detroit Red Wings in 2009, in which his Blue Jackets were swept and easily dispatched.

With four years since his last chance at making a postseason impact, consider Nash ready to rise to the challenge.

"We’ll find out," Nash said of embracing the pressure of the 2013 Stanley Cup playoffs. "It’s something all the great athletes have done. It’s time to step up now."

His postseason experience has been so limited that it took Nash a long time to answer when asked what he could draw from that disappointing initiation in 2009.

"Um, I don’t know," Nash said before a long pause. "It wasn’t the way we wanted it to go. It was a quick series, but getting a little taste of the energy, the excitement and what to expect, it’s nice to have that stuff under my belt."

Nash isn’t a stranger to the big stage, though. A member of the gold-medal-winning Canadian team in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, Nash has donned the Maple Leaf on his sweater enough in international competition to understand the type of pressure that comes with it.

"Any time you suit up for Hockey Canada, it’s on a huge stage, which is the same kind of feeling here," he said. "There’s a lot of pressure here to win; it’s a good feeling. It’s fun. This is when hockey counts, and it’s the same thing as when you play at the Olympics and stuff like that."

If Nash’s transition from a small-market locale like Columbus to the bright lights of Broadway is any indication, he is well-equipped to handle the scrutiny that comes with his star billing.

The 28-year-old led the team with 21 goals and finished second in scoring with 42 points in his debut season for the Rangers, and coach John Tortorella has never wasted an opportunity to extol his talents.

"He’s a game-breaker," Tortorella said. "It’s not just one particular thing. The way he handles himself in the room, handles himself off the ice, all the situations he’s been put in and has succeeded in. It’s a deal you do 10 times over, because you just don’t get that type of player that often."

Derek Dorsett, acquired in another Rangers trade with the Blue Jackets at the deadline this April, has played with Nash since 2008. Given what he’s seen him do on a nightly basis, Dorsett is confident he’ll be an important contributor come playoff time.

"Any time you play with a player like that, you sit back and kind of just watch and try to just learn," said Dorsett, who’s recovering from a fractured collarbone. "He’s a humble guy, [he] just goes about his business, but [after] playing with him for four or five years, it’s [still] amazing how big he is, how well he can move off the walls and how quick and explosive and powerful he can be."

Nash seems to grasp that this is an important series, not just for the team but himself as a player.

Nervous?

Not quite.

"Excitement’s a better word for it," he said. "Just looking forward to getting started and being a part of this."

An Island Away: The Islanders haven’t won a playoff series since 1993 and visit the Penguins tonight. According to Elias, the 18 seasons without a playoff series win for the Islanders is the third-longest in NHL history among teams with at least two series wins. The Coyotes franchise went 23 seasons from 1988-2011, and the Rangers went 20 seasons from 1951-70.

Conference Quarterfinals
5 Maple Leafs at 4 Bruins – Game 1 – 7 ET
* Bruins: 3-1-0 vs Maple Leafs during regular season
* Bruins: went 2-5-2 in final 9 games of regular season
* Bruins: 5-8 in previous 13 playoff series vs Maple Leafs (won last postseason meeting in 1974)
* Jaromir Jagr (BOS): active career leader in playoff goals (78), assists (111) & points (189)
* Maple Leafs: 1st playoff appearance since 2004 postseason
* Maple Leafs: winless in last 5 regular season games at Bruins (last road win vs BOS: Mar. 31, 2011)
* Maple Leafs: have not won Stanley Cup since 1966-67 season (longest active Cup drought)

8 Islanders at 1 Penguins – Game 1 – 7:30 ET
* Penguins: 4-1-0 vs Islanders during regular season
* Penguins: led NHL in goals during regular season (165)
* Sidney Crosby (PIT): has not played since suffering broken jaw in March 30 game vs Islanders (tied for 3rd in NHL in scoring during regular season with 56 points)
* Islanders: 1st playoff appearance since 2007 postseason, have not won a playoff series since 1993 postseason (Divisional Finals series win over Penguins)
* Islanders: have won all 3 previous playoff series vs Penguins (all series went full distance [2 best-of-7’s & 1 best-of-5])
* Islanders: 14-6-4 on road during regular season (vs 10-11-3 at home)

6 Sharks at 3 Canucks – Game 1 – 10:30 ET
* Sharks: won all 3 regular season meetings vs Canucks (1 win in shootout)
* Sharks: 9th straight playoff appearance (2nd-longest active streak in NHL)
* Sharks: went 1-3-0 in final 4 games of regular season
* Canucks: won only previous playoff series meeting vs Sharks in 2011
* Canucks: went 3-4-1 in final 7 games of regular season
* Canucks: 5th straight postseason appearance; longest streak for team since making 6 straight playoff appearances from 1990-91 through 1995-96

GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- Pre-empting the crowd of reporters surrounding his dressing room stall, Marc Staal assured them he had no new information about his injured right eye.

And although Staal did not definitively rule himself out, he said he will "probably" not play in Game 1 of the team's first-round series against the Capitals in D.C. on Thursday.

"I'm not going to ... I'm probably not going to play tomorrow," said Staal, who has been sidelined since being struck in the eye with a puck March 5.

Staal continues to practice with the team in hopes of returning soon. The 26-year-old defenseman missed almost half of last season with a concussion.

"There are good and bad days," he said. "So, [I] keep taking it day by day and hope it keeps getting better."

• • • Ryane Clowe, whose undisclosed injury is believed to be a concussion, and Brian Boyle (lower body) did not practice with the team Wednesday

Derek Dorsett (shoulder) practiced in a yellow noncontact jersey.

• • •

With four days to rest, recover and prepare in between their regular-season finale against the Devils on Saturday and Game 1 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals Thursday, the Rangers have had their most significant amount of practice time thus far during the lockout-shortened season.

A good thing in some ways, though coach John Tortorella senses his team is getting restless.

"They're sick of practicing," Tortorella said. "We're not used to it, especially this year. You're playing every other day. Even the coaches ... we're just used to playing. This is the time of year you should be playing. Again, I'm not complaining, it's just a lot of time."

So much time, in fact, that Tortorella decided to wrap things up early Wednesday. Both Monday and Tuesday the team practiced for double sessions, with the second session devoted to special teams.

PITTSBURGH -- Although the Penguins have been involved in two previous outdoor games -- playing in Buffalo in the inaugural Winter Classic in Buffalo in 2008 and hosting the Winter Classic at Heinz Field in 2011 -- there was still excitement voiced about the opportunity to take part in another outdoor game, this one March 1 in Chicago against the Blackhawks.

Defenseman Paul Martin grew up in Minnesota and playing outdoors was part of his childhood.

"It takes you back. For me, I grew up skating on the pond," he said.

Martin took part in the 2011 Winter Classic as a member of the Penguins and is looking forward to the Chicago event.

"Definitely, we all enjoyed it," he said.

Penguins president David Morehouse told ESPN.com these events are important especially after the lockout.

There has to be a greater emphasis on marketing the league "and how we project the game," Morehouse said.

"We have to be less of a tribal sport and more of a broader sport, where people watch games just to watch the games, not just their teams, and I think these kinds of things help that," he said.

Because the Olympic tournament is dominated by NHL players, Morehouse also likes that the Chicago game will follow the end of the Olympic tournament, and perhaps act as a catalyst toward keeping the casual fan who might have been following the Olympics to stick with the NHL game.

"I think as we're trying to broaden and expand the brand and get more and more casual hockey fans to be deeper and more energetic hockey fans, these are the kinds of things we're going to have to do," Morehouse said.

"I think we're enthusiastic about these types of events and we’ll always say 'yes' when we're asked," he added.

Experience issues

One of the key storylines of the Islanders-Penguins series will be the lack of playoff experience in New York's lineup. Sixteen Islanders available to play in this series have never played in an NHL playoff game, including key personnel John Tavares, Matt Moulson and Josh Bailey.

But one player who has been down this road a few times is netminder Evgeni Nabokov, who leads the team with 80 postseason appearances.

His importance to the club and the Isles ability to stay close against the heavily favored Penguins cannot be overstated.

"I think with Nabby, he's an extension of your coaching staff," head coach Jack Capuano said Wednesday.

"He's a guy that can settle the room down. I know over the last couple of days we've had some real good meetings with our hockey club and he's been pretty vocal about his experience, along with a few others," the coach said.

Nabokov played in 41 of 48 games for the Isles this season.

"It's a long series, and the one thing I think that Nabby will tell you there's no panic no matter what happens. There's going to be surges, there's going to be momentum throughout the course of the game and throughout the series," Capuano said.

Blues 2, Kings 1 F/OT (Blues lead 1-0)
* Alexander Steen (STL): 4th player since 1990 with postseason short-handed goal in OT (Source: Elias Sports Bureau)
* Alexander Steen (STL): 2nd career OT goal (1st in postseason)
* Alexander Steen (STL): scored both goals in game (didn't have a multi-goal game this season)
* STL: snap 8-game losing streak vs LA dating back to last season (reg. season and postseason)
* Justin Williams (LA): scored game-tying goal with 32 seconds left in game
* LA: was 4-0 in OT in last year's postseason
* LA: 1st defending champ to lose 1st postseason game in OT since Red Wings on April 10, 2003
FROM ELIAS:
Shorthanded Goals In Overtime
Stanley Cup Playoffs Since 1990
Team
Tue. Alexander Steen Blues
2006 Fernando Pisani Oilers
2006 Jason Pominville Sabres
1990 Tony Granato Kings

Ducks 3, Red Wings 1 (Ducks lead series 1-0)
* Teemu Selanne (ANA): 42nd career playoff goal (7th among active players); 11th career GW playoff goal (T-6th most among active players)
* Ducks: 2-4 on power play (led Western Conference in power-play pct during regular season)
* Jonas Hiller (ANA): 21 saves on 22 shots (fewest shots faced, fewest saves in a playoff game in his career)
* Red Wings: lost playoff opener for 2nd straight year (lost in 5 games in 1st round last year)
FROM THE ELIAS SPORTS BUREAU: Teemu Selanne broke a 1-1 tie with a power play goal early in the third period and the Ducks went on to take a 3-1 victory over the Red Wings in Game One. The 42-year-old Selanne became the second-oldest player ever to score a game-winning goal in the NHL playoffs; Mark Recchi was 43 when he was credited with the game-winning goal in the Bruins’ 8-1 victory over the Canucks in the Stanley Cup Final two years ago. (Recchi scored early in the second period of that game, making the score 2-0, and was credited with the game-winning goal in a game in which Boston had a 5-0 lead at the time that Vancouver scored in the third period.)

Blackhawks 2, Wild 1 (Blackhawks lead series 1-0)
* Bryan Bickell (CHI): game-winning goal in OT (2nd career OT goal in postseason, has 0 career in regular season)
* Marian Hossa (CHI): 37th career playoff goal (tied for 100th most all-time with Wendel Clark, Simon Gagne and Larry Murphy)
* Blackhawks: 1st series lead since winning Stanley Cup in 2010
* Cal Clutterbuck (MIN): 1st career playoff goal
FROM THE ELIAS SPORTS BUREAU: The Blackhawks defeated the Wild, 2-1, in their playoff opener, when Bryan Bickell scored 16:35 into overtime. Chicago head coach Joel Quenneville was behind the bench in a Stanley Cup game for the 140th time in his career, while Minnesota’s Mike Yeo was coaching in his first NHL postseason game. The 139-game difference in playoff experience between the two head coaches is the largest in an NHL postseason series since the 2002 Stanley Cup Final, when Detroit’s Scotty Bowman (348 games of playoff experience entering the series) faced Carolina’s Paul Maurice (30 games); Bowman and the Red Wings won that series in five games.

We're not privy to the NHL's marketing slogan for the 2013-14 season, but it might be something like "Go Big or Go Home, but Definitely Go Outdoors."

Of course, if you read much of the negative commentary surrounding the NHL's decision to multiply its successful outdoor game model like so many bunnies next season -- with six in-the-elements events on the docket -- you'd think the league was determined to bring back the glowing puck and make all its players wear uniforms with blinking lights.

The NHL announced Wednesday the first plank in its ambitious stadium series of outdoor games for the 2013-14 season, a March 1 date at Soldier Field in Chicago between the Blackhawks and the Pittsburgh Penguins, set for 8 p.m. ET.

Over the next week or so, the league will unveil its plans for two outdoor games during Super Bowl at Yankee Stadium involving all three New York-area teams; one at Dodger Stadium between the Anaheim Ducks and the Los Angeles Kings on Jan. 25; and another installment of the Heritage Classic in Vancouver between the Canucks and the Ottawa Senators to be held the same weekend as the Soldier Field event.

These games are in addition to the previously announced Winter Classic to be held Jan. 1, 2014, in Ann Arbor, Mich., between Original Six rivals, the Detroit Red Wings and the Toronto Maple Leafs.

When news first broke last month that the NHL was going to take its product outdoors for a total of six games next season, it was interesting to note the instant boo-hooing that arose, mostly from the media.

Oh, too many outdoor games.

Oh, it'll turn the Winter Classic into a cheap dime-store version of its former self.

Oh, it'll rain.

Oh, it'll be too hot.

Oh, the league just wants to make money.

Funny how it works, but the NHL has long been criticized -- and rightly so -- for being too timid, too parochial, too unwilling to seize the moment and work at becoming more than just a niche sport in the United States.

Outdoor games aren't a panacea for all that ails the NHL, but when the league does think outside the box, it is flayed in some quarters.

Yes, these outdoor games are financially successful. Is that a reason not to do more of them?

Funny how much of the criticism of the league has come from the media, and yet we haven't heard much carping from the fans themselves.

Are people in California upset with the opportunity to take in an evening of hockey at Dodger Stadium? Don't think so. And unless we are completely off base (get it, a baseball reference for this game?) the tickets to the first regular-season outdoor game on the West Coast will go in a heartbeat.

Assuming the event is well-received, it will also open the door to more outdoor opportunities in nontraditional markets.

Are the fans in the New York area -- where the NHL estimates there will be 1,000 accredited media members for the Super Bowl festivities leading up to the game in New Jersey on Feb. 2 -- barking at the fact that the New York Rangers will play the New York Islanders and New Jersey Devils in twin games at Yankee Stadium?

Uh, no.

Think fans in Chicago will turn away from a chance to see their beloved Blackhawks and the Penguins at Soldier Field because they already hosted a Winter Classic in 2009?

That game between the Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings, the second Winter Classic ever, is considered by Chicago officials to be a seminal event in that team's renaissance after years of being the butt of jokes throughout the sporting world.

The 2013-14 season provides an interesting opportunity for the NHL to try to write itself back into the good news department after another potentially catastrophic labor stoppage scuttled almost half the 2012-13 season.

In a matter of weeks, the NHL will formalize its relationship with the Olympics and agree to take part in the Sochi Games in February.

Two of the outdoor games, including the Soldier Field game, will take place the first weekend after the end of the Olympics and should provide a terrific lead-in to the stretch run of the regular season and be a nice reminder that the NHL is back in business after being shut down for the Olympic break (something that not all owners agree is a good thing).

As for the notion that introducing other outdoor events to the NHL landscape somehow cheapens the Winter Classic, which has evolved into the NHL's most important regular-season date, the schedule of events surrounding the Winter Classic in Michigan promises to make it the most successful iteration yet.

Each year the Winter Classic has grown in scope, and the net it has cast around the hockey community has grown. The event next year involving the Red Wings, postponed this season because of the lockout, calls for multiple alumni games to be played at Comerica Park in downtown Detroit, along with games at various levels, including the major junior and college ranks.

NHL COO John Collins suggested in an interview that the Detroit Winter Classic will be the “granddaddy” of Winter Classics given the surrounding events, including those at Comerica Park, and the game itself at the Big House in Ann Arbor.

Whether it's been Boston or Philadelphia or Chicago, the Winter Classic games have captured the imagination of the local markets and become a touchstone for the casual fan, an elusive group the NHL has been courting for decades.

The fact that more fans than ever will be able to take part in these kinds of events next season can hardly diminish that dynamic.

"It's not just one lens you're looking at this through,” Collins told ESPN.com on the eve of the Soldier Field announcement. "You have to be at these events to understand how the game becomes a gathering point for a community, the way a community lights up around hockey."

"That local impact is incredibly powerful," Collins said.

Would the fans in California likely have a chance to take in a Winter Classic if the league stayed within some self-imposed limit of having one or two outdoor games a season? Not likely.

Is it important to return to big markets like Chicago, where the game continues to grow in importance? Absolutely.

But next season allows the NHL to broaden its appeal while still promoting its biggest markets, and its biggest stars, on the outdoor stage.

Are there risks with taking the NHL into the elements six times next season? Of course.

The league will purchase a new portable ice-making unit that will be used for the Dodger Stadium game, then transported up the coast to Vancouver for the Heritage Classic. But even as technology has evolved and given the league more opportunity to create pristine ice surfaces outdoors in different locales, there will always be concerns about the integrity of the game when you expose it to the natural elements.

Any time the league puts on one of these events, it courts disaster as it relates to how Mother Nature will react. It rained in Pittsburgh in 2011 and the Winter Classic had to be postponed a day.

There have been issues with sun and snow, and the potential for precipitation in Vancouver or in New York next season will always be there. But the league has contingency plans, and what might happen with the weather has become part of the fabric of the events themselves.

What happens moving forward will depend largely on how next season’s outdoor experiment works out.

"I think it’s fluid but we are working on a three-year plan," Collins said.

Added deputy commissioner Bill Daly, "Next year represents opportunities that aren't going to be there every year."

There is nothing to suggest the NHL will go outside five or six times every year, but if these events unfold as planned, you can bet the number of teams clamoring to host an outdoor game will only increase.

In the end, is that such a bad thing?

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- It was the most valuable hockey card in 9-year-old Ben Lovejoy’s collection, so he remembers it well. A 1991-92 Upper Deck Teemu Selanne rookie card, worth $4.

“Through having that card, I became a fan of his,” Lovejoy told ESPN The Magazine following the Anaheim Ducks' 3-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings in Game 1 of their first-round series.

So, yeah, it was pretty cool to be the guy setting up Selanne on a power-play goal early in the third period that ended up being the game-winner.

Lovejoy’s job on the power play is fairly simple: shoot the puck and make sure the Ducks don’t get scored on. Moments before setting up Selanne, he had a shot blocked by Red Wings defenseman Danny DeKeyser.

When he got the puck again at the point, he now had a little more space to operate.

“I think that I got a little respect that second play. I looked [Sheldon Souray] off and passed it to the legend,” Lovejoy, who came over from the Penguins in a February trade, said. “I’ve played with some good players so far in my career. I’ve learned that you pass to people who are better than you.”

It’s a pretty solid strategy, and a moment later the Ducks had the lead. One they wouldn’t surrender.

It was playoff goal No. 42 for the 42-year-old Selanne, and those goals never get old. Not for those witnessing or for the legend himself.

“Absolutely,” he said. “When you have a passion for [scoring] goals it doesn’t matter how old you are. Maybe the celebrations go down a little, but inside it’s [the] same feeling.”

The Ducks had one of the best power plays in the league this season, finishing No. 4 overall at 21.5 percent, and scored twice with an advantage against the Red Wings; this might signal a matchup Anaheim can expose in this series. Detroit’s penalty kill struggled early on this season and dramatically improved as the season progressed, finishing at No. 12 in the league during the regular season. But the Anaheim power play was the reason the Ducks have jumped out to a 1-0 lead in this series and has the talent to continue that success moving forward.

Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau has all kinds of skill at his disposal on the two units, including a mix of talent at the point in guys like Cam Fowler and Souray, along with high-end offensive producers like Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf. Nick Bonino and his puck-retrieving prowess make it all work.

And, of course, there’s the legend Selanne, who can change a game with one shot like he did when he beat Jimmy Howard short side. Like he’s been doing for years, going all the way back to that kid on the hockey card.

“This is the best time for the hockey player -- every shift, every shot, every goal matters,” Selanne said. “That’s why it’s so special.”