The key to Game 1 of Round 1 of the 2022 Calder Cup Playoffs, especially since Round 1 is a best-of-3 series, was whichever team was going to come out more quickly. There’s not a lot of time in a three game series to recover from mistakes or slow starts.
That team was the WBS Penguins, who got two goals 31 seconds apart in the first period, then rode starting goaltender Tommy Nappier to a 23-save shutout to take the 1-0 series advantage.
Defender Will Reilly struck first at 8:34 of the first on a very smart step-up from the blue line.