Abundance of goals on opening night of Stanley Cup playoffs

By FRED GOODALL
AP Sports Writer

So much for the notion that goals are hard to come by in the playoffs. The NHL is in for another wildly unpredictable postseason if the opening night of the chase for the Stanley Cup is an indication of what’s to come. It’s a small sample size. But Game 1 losers were outscored 18-4 on Monday night, with three teams losing by four or more goals while the Kings and Oilers combined to score seven times in the only opener decided by a single goal. Even reigning Conn Smythe Trophy winner Andrei Vasilevskiy posted ugly numbers after going 16-7 with a 1.90 goals against average and .937 save percentage in helping Tampa Bay win the second of back-to-back Stanley Cup titles a year ago.