PLAYOFFS? PLAYOFFS?! DAY 1

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Canucks 5 Stars 4 in four OTs (Vancouver leads 1-0): Well, Vancouver and Dallas have given Gary Bettman and his merry band of semi-holy reformers more ammo in their clandestine bid to bring shootouts to the playoffs. It was 3:31 a.m. in the East when Henrik Sedin, normally the playmaker, one-timed his twin Daniel's pass behind Marty Turco for the winner after 78 minutes of overtime. The game was draining to watch even from home, it was riveting, it seemed won and lost a dozen times, it will be talked about 20 years from now -- oh, but it didn't fit into a network programming-friendly three-hour time block, so screw it, we need the shootout in the playoffs. (How riveting was it? Some point during the overtime, it started snowing outside my window, but I never noticed until I looked out the window after the game.)

I have no idea how many of you stayed up that late, but it's mildly hilarious that there would be a game so semi-halfway surreal that began on the night the one, the only Kurt Vonnegut died. OK, so there's no literal connection there (or any connection, period). Also mildly amusing at this late hour is being so close yet so far off on the pick for the overtime hero. Here's what I wrote after the third overtime:

"Vancouver, who looked dead in the water toward the end of the second OT, found its 13th wind in the third, and it's been hold-your-breath time for Dallas when Henrik and Daniel Sedin line with Taylor Pyatt is out. It's Pyatt to score the winner for Van, Stu Barnes for Dallas -- he hit the crossbar 10 feet out in the final seconds of Overtime No. 2. "

Sure enough, Pyatt didn't even draw an assist on the winning goal. I suck. Anyway, it's a bit bastard-like to rip on a team that just won the sixth-longest game in NHL history, but it might be a Pyrrhic victory for Vancouver. Forwards Matt Cooke and Alex Burrows left the game with injuries, meaning Vancouver played the equivalent of a whole game (plus one period) two skaters short.

It's a credit to the fast faceoff rule that the game only went to 3:31 Eastern. If memory serves, the last time I stayed up past 3 a.m. for a playoff game was in 1990, Game 6 of the first round Kings-Flames series, and that was only two overtimes. In 90 more minutes, the Canucks and Stars played two more full periods and then some. Playoff games used to drag on forever with the line jockeying and the after-the-whistle extracurriculars. That doesn't happen anymore.

Sharks 5 Predators 4 in two OTs (San Jose leads 1-0): The injury to Jonathan Cheechoo will be the main off-day story. Scott Hartnell made contact with him that was borderline -- didn't see it live, so I'll reserve comment. The best thing to say here is that muscle memory is a funny thing. Players might not do something intentionally, but if they're conditioned to react in a certain way, the knee might go out, the elbow might go up... just sayin'.

Senators 6 Penguins 3 (Ottawa leads 1-0): That was awfully nice of Dany Heatley to step lightly through the crease to avoid colliding with a prostate Marc-Andre Fleury after banging home the fourth Ottawa goal nine seconds into the third period. Sens and Pens is getting prominent play at Yahoo! Sports and ESPN.com -- they do know the Sens are winning in five or six games, right?

The Jordan Staal-Evgeni Malkin-Mark Recchi line had its way a few times, especially when Pittsburgh got them out vs. Ottawa's often shaky defence pair of Wade Redden and Andrej Meszaros. This might help the Penguins a bit when the series shifts to Pittsburgh after Game 2 on Saturday afternoon.

Ducks 2 Wild 1 (Anaheim leads 1-0): Dustin Penner gets the winner in a game where Anaheim played distracted without Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who has a family medical issue with his infant son. Minnesota looks they will make this a series.

By the way, Gabe Desjardins' behindthenet.ca will have full playoff stats.

Note to readers: We'll be doing a nightly update throughout the playoffs, but will try to keep in succinct and to the point. That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.