Five takes about the Winnipeg Jets, the Anaheim Ducks and the Stanley Cup playoffs as the marathon begins…
1. One of the oldest axioms in playoff hockey is for the team travelling to open a series desperately searching for a split of the first two games. If the Jets win tonight they’ll be talking about coming home up 2-zip, but if they lose all we’ll hear for a couple of days is the importance of winning Game 2 to come home 1-1.
Well, here’s a stat that stresses why winning the opener is critical: according to the NHL, the winner of Game 1 of a seven-game set captures the series 63 per cent of the time.