The NHL playoffs get underway on Wednesday night with a slate of five Game 1s to open up the first round of action. It seems fitting that the league's top team, the Tampa Bay Lightning, will get the party started as they host the Columbus Blue Jackets in the first game of the night.
Stay right here with CBS Sports as we follow all the action on Wednesday night.
Stanley Cup Playoffs schedule for Tuesday, April 10
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Patrik Laine gets on the board
The Jets and Blues got tangled up in a pretty tight battle during the first period in Winnipeg, but the big story was Patrik Laine getting on the board with a goal early. Laine, who is considered one of the Jets' most lethal offensive weapons, hadn't scored a goal since March 25 and hadn't recorded an even-strength tally since February 26th. He reset both of those counters with a nasty snipe during the first period of Game 1.
The Jets are going to need Laine to rediscover his scoring prowess and contribute consistently if they want to make another deep run this postseason, so this is a promising start for Winnipeg
Penguins' defense struggling against Islanders
You knew the Islanders would be geared up and ready to go in front of a raucous crowd at Nassau on Wednesday, but it appears the Penguins were not ready for it. Specifically, their defense was not ready for it.
The Islanders looked to get on the board with a very early snipe from Tom Kuhnackl after the winger skated right through all five Penguins defenders, but the Pens caught a break when that goal was wiped out due to an offside on the play.
However, the defensive issues persisted and the Isles officially got on the board shortly after when Jordan Eberle was left wide open (read: WIDE. OPEN.) in front of the Penguins' net following a defensive zone turnover.
Next it was Brock Nelson who was left on his own in front of the Pittsburgh net. Eberle managed to find him with a nice feed that he tapped in to reclaim the lead.
The Penguins are seriously going to need to clean things up in their own end of the ice if they want to stay in this game.
Tampa strikes first
The Blue Jackets will have their hands full trying to keep up with the Presidents' Trophy winners in Tampa, and Columbus didn't exactly get off to the start they wanted in Game 1. Immediately after getting an early power play opportunity in the first period, the Blue Jackets coughed up an ugly turnover and surrendered a breakaway shorted goal to Tampa's Alex Killorn.
That's an ugly giveaway at the blue line for CBJ's Seth Jones, and it might be a sign of things to come for the special teams mismatch in this series. Columbus finished the regular season with the league's 28th ranked power play, while Tampa finished the season with the league's top-ranked power play and penalty kill.
