NHL playoff upsets coming? Plus, 3 questions about Team USA's World Championship win
Good morning! We're two days into the playoffs, and five of the series have begun. Are you mad yet? You should probably be mad. Let's see if we can make that happen.
Wait, you were sleeping? Unacceptable. It's Round 1 of the NHL playoffs — there's no time for sleeping. If you need some shut-eye, that's what Monday afternoon meetings are for. Other than that, keep your eyes open and your head on a swivel.
Home teams hold serve 🏠
Yesterday's story, in one sentence: Three games, three big wins by home teams.
Advertisement
The day began with the Hurricanes hosting the Devils in an afternoon tilt. Carolina comes in as a big favorite, but with a recent history of falling short of expectations in the postseason and the sting of the Mikko Rantanen saga still on its mind. The Hurricanes looked good in the opener, pouring 45 shots on the Devils on the way to an impressive 4-1 win.
Speaking of playoff underachievement, we all know the history in Toronto. But for one night at least, it all came together for the Maple Leafs in a series-opening win over the Senators. The big stars scored, the power play clicked, their goaltending was better and it all added up to a 6-2 win. Now the young Senators have to shake off a tough start and figure out how to fight back without taking penalties.
MITCH MARNER, THAT WAS DISGUSTING! 🤢 #StanleyCup
🇺🇸: @espn ➡️ https://t.co/ybuZDYvoTH🇨🇦: @Sportsnet or stream on Sportsnet+ ➡️ https://t.co/4KjbdjVctF pic.twitter.com/jQ6PwU3Z1V
— NHL (@NHL) April 20, 2025
The late game saw the Golden Knights hold on to win a close one over the Wild. It was essentially a one-goal win, although a buzzer-beating empty netter made it a 4-2 final. The Wild stayed in it against a heavy favorite, but moral victories only go so far in the playoffs.
Add it all up, and with the only road win coming from the stacked Avalanche over a decimated Stars team, you could argue we haven't seen an upset yet. With four games tonight, it shouldn't take us long to get there.
Team USA captures gold in OT
One thing missing from the NHL playoffs so far: the drama of sudden-death overtime. Luckily, yesterday's Women's World Championship gold medal game was there to provide the OT magic we were missing. Although it's fair to say American fans probably enjoyed it a lot more than Canadians did.
The golden goal by Tessa Janecke! 🔥🇺🇸🥇 #WomensWorlds #IIHF @usahockey pic.twitter.com/13UmWr3yGX
— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) April 20, 2025
That's Tessa Janecke burying the biggest goal of her life to give Team USA the gold. Our own Hailey Salvian was on the scene in Czechia to cover the tournament, and she took the time to answer a few questions for Red Light readers.
Was there any point in the game — or even the tournament — when you had any doubt Team Canada and Team USA would end up deciding gold in overtime?
💬 For the 52 seconds Team USA had a 2-0 lead in the second period, I thought, 'Oh, this might be over' and 'maybe I can start writing my postgame story.'
Advertisement
That was very stupid of me. Because 52 seconds after Abbey Murphy gave the U.S. that lead, Danielle Serdachny cut it in half. Not even one minute later, Jennifer Gardiner tied it 2-2.
That's typical of this rivalry, though. Any way you might think a game is going to go, you're probably wrong!
As dramatic as the ending was, the goal also had a bit of a stench to it. What exactly happened in Canada's end to lead to Janecke's winner?
💬 For Canada, it started with a questionable line change, with Sarah Fillier heading off and Jocelyne Larocque holding the puck behind the crease. Janecke went hard on the forecheck against Larocque and disrupted her breakout pass, which was pretty easily intercepted by Taylor Heise. She made the shot-pass to find Janecke back door, and there you have it.
We nearly saw an upset in the semifinal, when Team USA needed a comeback to earn a 2-1 win over Czechia. How important is that for the Czechia program, and how close are they to disrupting the USA/Canada stranglehold on gold medals?
💬 They're getting close. At least head coach Carla MacLeod said so in this incredible postgame speech after that semifinal loss.
Czechia has a lot of talent on the roster. Kristýna Kaltounková was a top-10 finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Award, given to the best player in women's college hockey, this season. Tereza Vanišová is among the top scorers in the PWHL. Tereza Plosová, who scored the opening goal against the U.S., is headed to the University of Minnesota and will only get better in the NCAA.
But what makes the state of the women's game so exciting is that while Czechia gave the eventual champions a scare, they didn't even medal at this tournament. Finland beat them 4-3 in overtime earlier on Sunday, setting up a pretty solid top-four nations (and some rivalries) heading into the Milan Olympics, which are somehow only 10 months away.
I should also mention: Czechia was an unbelievable host nation and set a record for the most fans ever at a Women's World Championship (122,331), passing the 2007 tournament hosted by Winnipeg.
🏒 'I was a die-hard Avalanche fan as a kid.' Pierre LeBrun sits down with Matt Duchene to discuss the emotions involved in facing his former team.
🥅 Uh oh, Andrei Vasilevskiy might be (very) good again.
❓ What kind of an NHL GM spends time thinking about robot submarines? A winning one, as it turns out. James Mirtle spent time with Ivy League outsider turned Hurricanes GM Eric Tulsky.
📢 The crew at 'The Athletic Hockey Show' discussed how the Avs look like true Cup contenders and reacted to listener voicemails from the Playoff Crisis Line.
📺 Canadiens @ Capitals
7 p.m. ET on ESPN / SN
On paper, this is the biggest David vs. Goliath matchup of the first round. Now we find out if the Habs are just happy to be there or if they can shock the top seed. An upset win in the opener would go a long way to changing perceptions.
📺 Blues @ Jets
7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2 / CBC
The underdog Blues had the Jets on the ropes in Game 1, but a late Winnipeg comeback sealed a win. Now we wait to see if that was a case of the Jets taking the Blues' best shot and shaking it off, or if St. Louis has shown it can hang with the Presidents' Trophy winners.
Advertisement
📺 Avalanche @ Stars
9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN / SN360
Is it too early to call this a must-win for Dallas? Maybe, but after the Avalanche rolled to a Game 1 win, the Stars are now on an eight-game losing streak counting back to the regular season. If they head to Colorado down 2-0 in the series, they may not even make it back to Dallas for a Game 5.
📺 Oilers @ Kings
10 p.m. ET on ESPN2 / SN
This is the fourth year in a row these teams have met in the first round, with the Oilers winning the previous three. But this time the Kings have home ice advantage to go with a league-best record on home ice. Will that matter? It should, but the Oilers can squash that narrative quickly with an early win.
The full NHL playoff schedule is here. Try streaming games like these for free on Fubo.
In celebration of the noble OGWAC
Ah, the OGWAC — or for you newbies, the Old Guy Without a Cup. That's the beloved playoff archetype of the grizzled veteran who's done it all over the course of a long career, except win a ring. With time running out, we watch and wait to see if they can finally break through and get their lap with the Cup.
When it happens, it's the best.
Of course, sometimes the moment never comes. That was the case for Joe Pavelski, who retired last summer without ever getting his hands on the big trophy. His former Sharks teammate Joe Thornton played 24 seasons but never won it all. Neither did Jarome Iginla, or Marcel Dionne or Henrik Lundqvist.
This year, as always, the playoffs start with plenty of potential OGWAC stories. So who are the best?
You could go with the league's oldest skater, 40-year-old Blues defenseman Ryan Suter. Maybe you prefer Carolina's Brent Burns, the bearded 40-year-old who's been in the league since before there was a salary cap. Claude Giroux, 37, is trying to write an OGWAC story for his hometown team in Ottawa. Stars captain Jamie Benn, 35, might be on his way out in Dallas, while Jeff Skinner, 33 next month, is the rare OGWAC who's making his playoff debut.
Advertisement
There are so many candidates that it's impossible to rank them all. So of course I tried anyway, in my annual OGWAC rankings. With Pavelski retired, the top spot he'd held down for years is now up for grabs. It's not quite the biggest prize these guys are chasing right now, but it's probably a close second.
📫 Love Red Light? Check out The Athletic's other newsletters.
Streaming links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
14 minutes ago
- USA Today
PGA money list 2025: Top 10 golfers based on season prize money, earnings
Several professional golfers have achieved success throughout 2025, earning substantial prize money along the way. American Scottie Scheffler earned the top spot with five victories and nearly $24 million in earnings throughout his 73 rounds of play this year. Scheffler is currently ranked as the World's No. 1 golfer and won the PGA Championship and The Open Championship, among others, this year. Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland and J.J. Spaun of the United States were also among the top earners for the year. Here's who ranks among the top 10 earners this year. Golf season money list: Who are the top 10 golf earners? The full list of golf earners can be found on the PGA Tour website. Who is among the lowest golf earners? Jason Dufner earned the smallest amount of money for the year, at $7,800. Garrick Higgo has the lowest amount of earnings ($1,012,783) among those who have at least one tournament victory. He won the Corales Puntacana Championship in the Dominican Republic back in April.
New York Times
15 minutes ago
- New York Times
The biggest hockey player on Earth, plus Paige Bueckers' record night
The Pulse Newsletter 📣 | This is The Athletic's daily sports newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Pulse directly in your inbox. Good morning! Pull the rug out from under your rival today. When we think of big hockey players, we think of Zdeno Chara. The 6-foot-9 former defenseman was fearsome over 24 seasons in the NHL, earning the name 'Big Z,' which almost felt too simple for his game. And yet there is a 17-year-old kid, from a hockey desert, who dwarfs Chara. I felt like I was hearing a fairytale while reading our story today on young Alexander Karmanov, who stands 7 feet tall and weighs 277 pounds. He is the biggest hockey player in the world, no hyperbole. Two nuggets that struck me: Karmanov seems like a good kid who says all the right things, which is something after the journey he's voyaged to get here. Make time for this story today. It's well worth it, for both the journey and how hard it is to find him proper equipment. Let's keep moving: Bullet fired into Chiefs building in 2024 A bullet was fired into the Chiefs practice facility in May of last year, The Athletic confirmed yesterday following a report from the Kansas City Star. Chiefs coach Andy Reid was in the building at the time, and the bullet was found lodged 15 feet from his desk. Scary stuff. See more details in our full report. Last-minute NFL deals We are exactly two weeks away from the start of the NFL season, which means teams are making final tweaks to their rosters. It brought a minor spate of transactions yesterday: We could have some more trades this week, too. Eze's about-face In drama solely reserved for European soccer, Crystal Palace attacking midfielder Eberechi Eze is now headed to Arsenal on a transfer, just hours after a deal with Tottenham Hotspur seemed finished. Then Arsenal's Kai Havertz got hurt and the Gunners swooped in. It's a coup for Arsenal and a stunning loss for Spurs. See how it went down. Advertisement More news 📫 Love The Pulse? Check out our other newsletters. We have two highlights this morning, and we must first start with Paige Bueckers' record performance last night. Look at the nifty moves first: Got 99 problems but a defender ain't one 🙂 — Dallas Wings (@DallasWings) August 21, 2025 Bueckers scored 44 points in an 81-80 Wings loss to the Sparks, tying her with Cynthia Cooper for most points in a game by a rookie, although there's some nuance that might give Bueckers the edge there — Cooper's performance came in 1997, the WNBA's inaugural season, when she was 34 years old. Hardly a rookie! But we're splitting hairs. Bueckers' performance last night was also the most points scored by any WNBA player this season, and she did it on 81 percent shooting. What? She is a shoo-in for Rookie of the Year. We also saw Fernando Tatis Jr. do this last night: FERNANDO TATIS JR. ROBS A HOME RUN AT THE WALL 🔥 🎥 @ — The Athletic (@TheAthletic) August 21, 2025 It came in a critical 8-1 win for the Padres over the Giants, putting San Diego just one game back of the Dodgers in the NL West race. Just 35 games left. Almost done: 📺 MLB: Red Sox at Yankees 7:15 p.m. ET on Fox These teams are idling beside each other like two cars unable to separate in a race. Both are a ways back of the Blue Jays in the AL East, and both cling to AL wild-card spots at the moment. Boston's offense is in shambles. New York's is finally churning again. Add in the rivalry of it all, and this is a great watch. 📺 WNBA: Mercury at Aces 10 p.m. ET on Prime Video Two of the W's best teams — including a red-hot Las Vegas, winner of eight straight — play with just a handful of games left in the regular season. Throw it on. Get tickets to games like these here. A great one from earlier this week: The 25 best stops to make on a college sports road trip. I'm gonna convince my bosses to let me do this. For work purposes, of course. See the map here. The Rugby World Cup begins today, but 34 years ago, things were different. Peter Carline takes us inside an American triumph that featured the 'Locks of Hell' and KGB agents. Great read. Advertisement I thought James Boyd's dissection of the Anthony Richardson disaster in Indianapolis was smart. Has the team fully given up on him? Nick Baumgardner ranked the best NFL rookie QB seasons in history. Yes, Jayden Daniels was that good last year. The Yankees drafted a player who admitted to drawing a swastika on a Jewish student's door in college. Why? Mike Vorkunov has a great explainer on why the sale of the Connecticut Sun has gotten so complicated. Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: AFC win total projections. Most-read on the website yesterday: The above story on the Yankees prospect. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
Forbes
an hour ago
- Forbes
Mo Vaughn Plans To Show Renewed Love Of Baseball In His New Podcast
Mo Vaughn has started a podcast, and he finds that a little hard to believe on a couple of fronts. The retired three-time All-Star first baseman and 1995 American League MVP never dreamed he would someday work in the media. Furthermore, Vaughn disconnected from baseball for years after injuries prematurely ended his career in 2003. Yet the 57-year-old Vaughn is now a podcaster, MVP: The Mo Vaughn Podcast is a weekly show debuting Aug. 21 in conjunction with Perfect Game, the world's largest youth baseball and softball platform and scouting service. The first episode will debut at 5 a.m. ET on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, and all major podcast platforms, Vaughn's YouTube channel at noon ET, and on and on the PGTV app at 8 p.m. ET Episodes will be released each Thursday at the same time. "Baseball has given me so much, and this show is a way to give back," Vaughn said. "Sharing stories, opinions, and insight that fans can't get anywhere else. Whether you love the majors, the minors, or watching kids chase their dreams, there's something here for you." Mo Vaughn Fell Out Of Love With Baseball There was a time when Vaughn didn't want to talk about baseball or even watch it. He fell out of love with the game after injuring his knee and ankle, causing him to walk away early in the 2003 season. Vaughn signed a six-year, $ 80-million free agent contract – then the largest in baseball history - with the Anaheim Angels during the 1998-99 offseason, after spending the first eight seasons of his 12-year career with the Boston Red Sox. Vaughn was one of the game's premier hitters during his time with the Red Sox. He batted .304/.394/.542 with 230 home runs in 1,046 games and hit at least 35 homers in each of his last four seasons in Boston. Though he didn't perform to that level, he was productive in his first two seasons with the Angels, hitting .276/.362/.503 with 69 home runs in 300 games. A severe elbow injury caused Vaughn to miss the 2001 season, and he was traded to the New York Mets two days after Christmas. However, injuries had taken their toll on Vaughn. He showed flashes of his old form, but a knee injury ended his 2003 season after just 27 games, and he never played again. "I took the path of I want to get as far away from baseball as possible to move on because of my life and my mindset and all those things," Vaughn said. "It's real when you're retiring. There are a lot of big things. There is anxiety. There is depression. There are a whole lot of unknown factors that you just don't know about, and you're trying to clear those hurdles as a player, a man, and it's not easy." Mo Vaughn's Life Beyond Baseball Vaughn turned his attention to other interests, opening a trucking business and developing a clothing line for big and tall men. However, his most significant impact came in his community outreach work with OMNI New York, which acquires, builds, and rehabilitates affordable housing in the New York metropolitan area. Vaughn eventually moved to Boca Raton, Florida, so his daughter, Grace, could pursue a tennis career. Vaughn's son, Lee, began to show interest in baseball and started playing in a youth league. The elder Vaughn offered to help coach the team, and his passion for baseball quickly reignited. "I was having fun with the fact of being on the field," Vaughn said. "That was the inflection point for me where I thought I needed to start giving back to the game and start doing some things." Mo Vaughn Fully Invested In Youth Baseball That was six years ago. Today, Vaughn is immersed in youth baseball. He owns the Vaughn Baseball Academy, is an assistant coach at Olympic Heights High School in Boca Raton, and serves as a special assistant for Perfect Game. The VBA offers instruction from former major-leaguers such as Mike Easler and Omar Moreno, and sponsors nearly 100 youth-league teams that span to New Jersey. And Vaughn plans to carry his renewed love of baseball to his podcast. Some of his guests will include Hall of Famer David Ortiz, former MLB Commissioner Bud Selig, and former All-Stars Rafael Palmeiro and Nomar Garciaparra. South Florida radio personality Brendan Tobin will co-host the show. "I always want to be professional in everything I do," Vaughn said. "I never want anything ever to come out backwards. So, it's going to be a really good presentation, a lot of fun, and a lot of good conversations. I think people are going to like it."
