The Stanley Cup Playoffs officially kicked off on Wednesday with a number of upsets setting the tone right out of the gate. But there are three more first-round series that will get underway on Thursday night, so are there more surprises in store?
In what may be the marquee matchup of the opening round, the Boston Bruins will play host to the Toronto Maple Leafs at TD Garden. The last two times these teams have met in the postseason -- including in the first round last year-- the series went a full seven games and brought plenty of drama along the way.
The reigning Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals will also kick of their title defense with Game 1 against the Carolina Hurricanes. The Canes had a very strong finish to the regular season and are making their first playoff appearance in 10 years.
In the final game of the night, the West's top seed, the Calgary Flames, will take on the Colorado Avalanche. The matchup to watch in this series is Colorado's explosive top line (led by Nathan MacKinnon) vs. Calgary's impressive defense (led by potential Norris-winner Mark Giordano). We saw in last year's playoffs that the Avs' top talent is capable of carrying them against tough teams and they gave Nashville a tougher series than most anticipated.
Stay right here with CBS Sports as we follow all the action on Thursday night.
Games on NBC, NBCSN and USA can be streamed via fuboTV (Try for free).
Stanley Cup Playoff schedule for Thursday, April 11
Game 1: Maple Leafs at Bruins, 7 p.m. (GameTracker) -- TV: NBCSNGame 1: Hurricanes at Capitals, 7:30 p.m. (GameTracker) -- TV: USAGame 1: Avalanche at Flames, 10 p.m. (Preview) -- TV: NBCSNBackstrom, Capitals surge against Canes
The Capitals still have Nicklas Backstrom and Alexander Ovechkin, which turns out is still a major plus in the postseason. Backstrom kicked off his playoff run in spectacular fashion on Thursday with two goals in the first period of Game 1. The first came on an absolute snipe.
The Caps followed up that goal with two power play tallies, the first coming from Backstrom on the doorstep. The second? Well, you can probably guess.
Marner puts in two against Rask
Toronto came out with a strong first period against Boston on the road, but it was the Bruins who drew first blood in Game 1. After William Nylander committed a high-sticking penalty, the Bruins' lethal power play converted their first opportunity of the postseason. it was Brad Marchand who found a huge passing seam and set up a wide open Patrice Bergeron on the door step.
Toronto found an equalizer in the latter half of the opening period when Mitch Marner scrambled to a rebound off the post and was able to put it past Tuukka Rask to even up the score at 1-1.
That was the score heading into intermission, but Marner once again struck on the other side of the break. The young Leafs winger was hauled down on a breakaway after the Bruins coughed up the puck in the attacking zone. Marner managed to get his second with a nasty triple-move that froze Rask on the penalty shot.
