{"id":597963,"date":"2026-04-21T17:26:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T17:26:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/597963\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T17:26:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T17:26:10","slug":"explaining-what-happened-in-carolina-plus-which-teams-should-panic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/597963\/","title":{"rendered":"Explaining what happened in Carolina: Plus: Which teams should panic?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Red Light newsletter\u00a0\ud83c\udfd2\u00a0| This is\u00a0The Athletic\u2019s\u00a0hockey\u00a0newsletter.\u00a0Sign up here<\/a>\u00a0to receive Red Light directly in your inbox.<\/p>\n

Good morning to everyone except whoever let Ryan Nugent-Hopkins into this year\u2019s Old Guy Without a Cup rankings<\/a>. That guy is 14 years old and has been for the last decade and you can\u2019t tell me otherwise. Now get off my lawn.<\/p>\n

Controversy in Carolina<\/p>\n

Nobody sleeps in the playoffs. What if there\u2019s overtime somewhere and you\u2019re missing it? Pro tip: It\u2019s completely fine to just drink the coffee straight out of the pot, pouring it into cups just wastes valuable ref-cursing time.<\/p>\n

That said, let\u2019s get you caught up on last night, where everyone\u2019s talking about what went down in Carolina. That one saw the Hurricanes outlast the Senators in double-OT to take a 2-0 series lead, with Jordan Martinook ending it. Yet somehow, the winner wasn\u2019t the most memorable goal of the overtime. Let\u2019s explain, with a lightning round version of No Dumb Questions.<\/p>\n

Wait, there was another goal in overtime?<\/p>\n

There sure was, and this one also involved Martinook. Late in the first extra session, he got a mini-breakaway but was hooked off the puck by Warren Foegele. The referee\u2019s arm went up, and the Hurricanes sent on to apply almost a full shift of 6-on-5 pressure before Mark Jankowski buried the OT winner.<\/p>\n

Or so we thought. While the Hurricanes and their fans celebrated, the Senators were asking for a replay review. They eventually got it.<\/p>\n

What were they reviewing?<\/p>\n

Nobody knew.<\/p>\n

Seriously, this is part of what makes the NHL process so dumb: There\u2019s no explanation from the officials about what\u2019s being looked at or why. In this case, it was the linesmen hunched around the iPad screen instead of the referees, so we knew it was an offside review. At first, the assumption was that the review was about a near-miss exit seconds before the goal. But it eventually became apparent that it was actually the original zone entry by Jordan Staal, at which point we all watched to see if Martinook had crossed the line a fraction of a second early. But that wasn\u2019t right either.<\/p>\n

Eventually, the goal was waved off, with no further explanation. Only well after did we find out that it was actually Staal himself who was offside, because he didn\u2019t have \u201cpossession and control\u201d as he crossed the blue line with the puck.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t \u201cpossession and control\u201d mean the same thing?<\/p>\n

\u00af\\_(\u30c4)_\/\u00af<\/p>\n

Ha ha. No really.<\/p>\n

Yes, really. Believe it or not, those terms are among the many that not well defined in the NHL rulebook<\/a>. In other words, unlike most offside reviews, this one largely came down to a judgment call, not a black-and-white freeze-frame. And despite the rulebook\u2019s insistence that the call on the ice should stand if there\u2019s \u201cany doubt whatsoever,\u201d<\/a> the officials apparently saw enough to overturn an overtime goal based on \u2026 this.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Cool system. No notes.<\/p>\n

Wow, that is pretty wild.<\/p>\n

Oh, we\u2019re not at the weird part yet.<\/p>\n

Oh no.<\/p>\n

Yeah. Remember that hook on Martinook\u2019s mini-break? It turns out the ref wasn\u2019t just calling a penalty, but a penalty shot. And on a second look, it was the right call. So after a goal that wasn\u2019t and a long delay, we found out we were getting an overtime penalty shot, something that had only ever happened four other times in the history of the NHL.<\/p>\n

Wait, the penalty still counts? Wouldn\u2019t the offside wipe that out?<\/p>\n

You might think so. Lots of fans did, including many who assumed the league had screwed up by letting Martinook shoot. But no, unlike \u201ccontrol and possession,\u201d the rulebook is crystal clear on this one<\/a>: Any penalties that happen after a missed stoppage still count.<\/p>\n

But why? If the offside had been called correctly, the breakaway never happens, meaning there can\u2019t be a foul, meaning the penalty shot doesn\u2019t exist in this alternate reality where \u2026<\/p>\n

I\u2019m going to stop you there because the whole thing spirals into freshman philosophy if you let it. Think of it this way: If there\u2019s another Matt Duchene-level obvious missed call someday, should it be prison rules until the next stoppage? That\u2019s the scenario the league wants to avoid, which is why they make it clear that there are no freebies even after a missed stoppage.<\/p>\n

Anyway, after all that, Martinook\u2019s penalty shot was stopped by Linus Ullmark, the first overtime ended, everyone spent the intermission freaking out about how they\u2019re convinced the rules should work, and then the hockey gods got together and decided \u201cpuck don\u2019t lie.\u201d And now it\u2019s 2-0 Carolina.<\/p>\n

The other big emerging story in the Eastern Conference is the Flyers, who\u2019ve gone from playoff longshot to up 2-0 on the Penguins<\/a>. It\u2019s been a team effort in grinding the Penguins down, but rookie Porter Martone has been the big breakout star<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the Western Conference, we had a monster hit<\/a> in a Stars win to even their series with the Wild. And the Oilers survived a scare, coming back late to take a 4-3 win over the Ducks in the last of the openers.<\/p>\n

Got it? Good, let\u2019s panic.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Charles LeClaire \/ Imagn Images<\/p>\n

It\u2019s never too early to worry<\/p>\n

You\u2019re never in trouble in a playoff series until you\u2019ve lost a game at home, says the old cliche. Nonsense, reply the equally old sportswriters, you\u2019re in trouble when we say you are. But all trouble isn\u2019t created equal, so let\u2019s take a look at the seven teams that are trailing a series and divide them up based on how worried they should be.<\/p>\n

Tier 1: It\u2019s (almost) all going according to plan<\/p>\n

Teams: Kings, Bruins, Mammoth, Ducks<\/p>\n

You never want to lose a playoff game, period. But each of these teams came into their first-round series as underdogs, knowing they weren\u2019t likely to sweep their favored opponents. All of them put up a good fight in their openers. The Bruins and Ducks obviously won\u2019t like blowing those late leads, and the Kings may have just woken up a sleeping giant. But for now, one loss doesn\u2019t move the needle much for anyone here.<\/p>\n

Tier 2: Not a great start, but we\u2019ve still got time<\/p>\n

Teams: Lightning, Senators<\/p>\n

The Lightning have a recent history of looking off in Game 1, and they\u2019ve recovered just fine in some of those series. But the Canadiens have looked electric for the last month, and at the very least, we can say that they won\u2019t be remotely intimidated by Tampa\u2019s championship aura. The Lightning absolutely need a win tonight.<\/p>\n

As for the Senators, it\u2019s possible last night\u2019s weird loss was a killer, but I\u2019m not convinced. They\u2019re getting A+ goaltending from Ullmark and just need an extra bounce or two, so we won\u2019t write them off until we see how the two games in Ottawa go.<\/p>\n

Tier 3: It\u2019s already time to panic<\/p>\n

Team: Penguins<\/p>\n

Uh oh. The Penguins went 0-for-2 on home ice, and it\u2019s not like the Flyers stole either game. Philadelphia was the better team in both, and by a decent margin. We went into the series wondering if Sidney Crosby and friends could pull off one more \u201cLast Dance\u201d run; now the bigger question is whether the home fans may have already seen the last of them.<\/p>\n

Trivia time\ud83d\udca1: There are 14 teams that have won more playoff games than they\u2019ve lost in the salary cap era. As you\u2019d expect, most of those teams have won at least one Cup in that time. But can you name the five teams that are over .500 in cap-era postseasons without winning a championship?<\/p>\n

Hint: I\u2019d say that two of these teams are relatively obvious if you think about it, two more are trickier, and one was (for me at least) a surprise. Answer down below.<\/p>\n

Coast to Coast<\/p>\n

\u2708\ufe0f Murat does a good job of capturing the two paths available to the Jets<\/a>, and the urgency for them to choose one and follow it.<\/p>\n

\u26fd The pressure is mounting in Edmonton, where they need to convince Connor McDavid to stay<\/a>, and Kevin Lowe is sick of the city being used as a punchline<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\ud83e\uddee A reminder: We\u2019ve reached the point where the projections page<\/a> will update after each night of action, and those odds are going to swing wildly based on every game.<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfc6 Our writers weigh in on their picks for the major awards<\/a> (which a lot of them have ballots for).<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udf99\ufe0f On the Monday episode of \u201cThe Athletic Hockey Show,\u201d Max, Laz, and Jesse recap an excellent opening weekend of playoff hockey, checking in on every series. Listen here.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Charles LeClaire \/ Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Observations from a playoff prediction contest<\/p>\n

Did you enter the playoff contest<\/a>? If not, you\u2019re a coward. And it\u2019s too late now, so don\u2019t come crawling in with your excuses about why you need an extension. Let me guess, your dog ate your bracket. Sure it did. You\u2019re a spineless coward.<\/p>\n

Unless you did enter, in which case you\u2019re cool. Not sure why I got so cranky in that last paragraph. I think the playoffs are getting to me. Let\u2019s bring it in for a group hug.<\/p>\n

Where were we? Right, the playoff contest. Here\u2019s what we learned from nearly a thousand readers who entered because they are not cowards.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a clear favorite: And to nobody\u2019s surprise, it\u2019s Colorado. That makes sense \u2013 both the oddsmakers and our local panel of experts agree<\/a>, as does the standings page. The shocker here is the degree to which they\u2019ve lapped the field in your view: Roughly 50 percent of you listed the Avalanche as the first team on your entry, meaning you think they\u2019re going to win more playoff games than anyone else. That\u2019s not quite the same as saying they\u2019re going to win the Cup, but it\u2019s pretty close, and it was over five times as many picks as the next team, the Hurricanes. Even in a contest where going against the grain is a good strategy, you folks were overwhelmingly on the Avs bandwagon.<\/p>\n

One series definitely won\u2019t produce the Cup winner: At least according to you. In terms of the teams that were most often listed last on an entry \u2013 which is to say, the team you think will win the fewest playoff games \u2013 the top two spots were no surprise. The Kings were a runaway pick, as you\u2019d expect given how much you love the Avs. The Ducks were next, and that checks out. But the third and fourth teams came from the same series: The Penguins and Flyers, who each edged out the Senators and Mammoth among the apparently hopeless.<\/p>\n

The most confusing team in the postseason is \u2026 : The Boston Bruins, who appeared on the fewest entries of any playoff team, narrowly beating the Mammoth and Ducks. That\u2019s interesting, in part because the Bruins\u2019 opponents, the Sabres, were a relatively popular team, coming in fourth behind Colorado, Tampa and Edmonton, and usually confidence in one side of a matchup should inspire equal but inverse confidence in the other. This isn\u2019t new territory for Boston, who\u2019ve confused you before<\/a>. But it does set up a nice \u201cnobody believes in us\u201d narrative \u2013 because nobody thinks you\u2019re all that good, but apparently they\u2019re not confident your bad either.<\/p>\n

Eight was the magic number, again: If you\u2019ve followed the contest over the years, you know that \u201chow many teams should I pick?\u201d is the key strategic question. And for the last two years running, the winning entry has used eight teams. So it\u2019s no surprise that eight was most common number this year, with roughly a quarter of you going along with the crowd. Shout out to the 16 of you who picked just one team, the 78 of you who went all out and picked 16, and the one single and apparently unsuperstitious entry that took 13.<\/p>\n

What to watch<\/p>\n

Four games tonight, with nicely staggered start times.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcfa Canadiens @ Lightning
7 p.m. ET on ESPN2 \/ Sportsnet \/ CBC \/ TVA<\/p>\n

The Canadiens got the overtime win in the opener after Jake Guentzel chose a bad time to try out for the Team USA baseball team. We know that Montreal will be buzzing for Games 3 and 4, so the Lightning really need a win tonight if they\u2019re going to avoid a fourth straight opening round exit.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcfa Bruins @ Sabres
7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN \/ SN360 \/ TVA<\/p>\n

The opener served up 50 minutes of the Bruins putting on a road playoff clinic, followed by 10 minutes of the Sabres unleashing 15 years of pent-up playoff frustration. Here\u2019s hoping the encore can be as entertaining.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcfa Mammoth @ Golden Knights
9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2 \/ Sportsnet \/ CBC \/ TVA<\/p>\n

The Knights took care of business in Sunday\u2019s late game, although the Mammoth didn\u2019t make it easy. Utah will need more from big guns Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz, who were held off the scoreboard but were on the ice for plenty of Vegas offense.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcfa Kings @ Avalanche
10:00 p.m. ET on ESPN \/ SN360 \/ TVA<\/p>\n

To their credit, the Kings gave the Avalanche a game on Sunday. It wasn\u2019t enough to win, but it at least made you rethink some of those \u201cAvs in three\u201d jokes. There\u2019s no close enough in the playoffs, though, so the Kings need to find another level tonight.<\/p>\n

Full NHL schedule here<\/a>. Try streaming games like these for free on Fubo<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Your trivia answer \u2026<\/p>\n

The two teams that most of you should get are the Sharks, who are by far the winningest playoff team of the cap era who haven\u2019t won a Cup, and the Oilers, who\u2019ve been to the final three times. Next up are the Rangers and the Canadiens, two teams that each have a trip to the final mixed in with a few conference final trips. And the surprise team is the Sabres, who\u2019ve only won 26 playoff games since 2005 but have also lost just 22, the fewest in the league among teams that have existed for the entire era.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udceb Love Red Light?\u00a0Check out\u00a0The Athletic\u2019s other newsletters<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Red Light newsletter\u00a0\ud83c\udfd2\u00a0| This is\u00a0The Athletic\u2019s\u00a0hockey\u00a0newsletter.\u00a0Sign up here\u00a0to receive Red Light directly in your inbox. Good morning to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":597964,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[385,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-597963","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-nhl","9":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597963","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=597963"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597963\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/597964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=597963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=597963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=597963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}