Dale Weise?! The Canadiens forward came out of nowhere to net the game-winner in overtime for Montreal, highlighting a fantastic triple-header of games on Wednesday, the first night of the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
5 things to know
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Dale ... Weise?!
Not even Dale Weise would have picked Dale Weise to score.
So, naturally, he was the one that ended up scoring to give the Canadiens a 1-0 lead in their Eastern Conference playoff series. With less than two minutes to play in the first overtime period, and just moments after Max Pacioretty hit the post with an open net staring him right in the face, Weise found himself wide open in the slot and finished a beautiful feed from Danny Briere for his first ever postseason goal.
The best part, though? Marc Bergevin's dance. No doubt.
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Blue Jackets blow it
When Jack Johnson opened the scoring just seven minutes in, giving them their first real playoff lead in franchise history, it looked promising for the Blue Jackets. When they took a two-goal lead in the second period it looked like they might be on their way to winning their first playoff game ever.
Then they did the one thing you can't do against the Pittsburgh Penguins: started taking penalties. They proved to be costly. The Penguins converted on back to back power plays less than a minute apart in the second period before taking over in the third on their way to a 1-0 series lead, extending Columbus' playoff losing streak to five games. This was a game Columbus probably needed. It had it, and then it slipped away.
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Stamkos goes coast-to-coast
Having Steven Stamkos in the playoffs is fun.
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Ducks barely survive
Anaheim had a 1-0 lead less than two minutes into Game 1 against Dallas. By the end of the first period, it was 3-0 for the home team, and by the midway point of the second period, it was 4-0. There's no way the Stars are coming back from that, right?
Well, yeah. Okay. Right. But if hockey games were 65 minutes instead of 60 minutes, it probably would've been a different story. Dallas grabbed goals from Jamie Benn and Colton Sceviour 1:33 apart late in the second period, and Tyler Seguin scored with about six minutes left in regulation to make the Honda Center faithful squirm.
Dallas pressed for the final stretch, including this Seguin slapper that beaned Ryan Getzlaf in the mouth, but they couldn't get that fourth one by Frederik Andersen. Ducks lead, 1-0.
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See a fight? Take a selfie.
Let's set the scene: A grown man bought NHL playoff tickets. Those tickets probably cost him several hundred dollars. It's the playoffs. It's a big deal. So he gets to the game, it's going on without a hitch, exciting back and forth hockey between two pretty equal teams. The physical play picks up, and lucky him! There's a scrum right in front of his seats!
"I'm gonna watch this. But first, let me take a selfie."
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Adam Gretz contributed to this list.
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About the Author
Travis is the founder and editor of Broad Street Hockey, the manager of SB Nation's 30+ hockey blogs, and the editor of hockey coverage at SBNation.com. He worships at the First Church of Claude Giroux.
Originally from the South Jersey suburbs of Philadelphia, he lives in Washington D.C.