Happy Monday everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend. While we were all off enjoying some quality time with our families there was a quite a lot of playoff action going on. Rather than go through every single game point by point, today’s “Weekend Recap” is going to feature my top takeaways from the first weekend of the NBA and Stanley Cup Playoffs. It was a pretty interesting weekend to say the least so lets jump right into the recap.

NHL: The Blackhawks are in Serious Trouble

Since the NBA playoffs are only one game into each series, my top takeaway comes from the NHL, where the Blackhawks have a big problem. That is Pekka Rinne and the Nashville Predators. Not only did the Predators swipe home-ice advantage from Chicago, but they now have the Blackhawks squarely on the ropes. With the series now shifting to Nashville for Games 3 and 4, the Predators have a real chance to knock out the Vegas favorites.

It has all been about the defense in this series as the Predators have yet to cede a goal to the usually potent Chicago offense. Right now its two games and two shutouts for Rinne in net. A 1-0 victory in Game 1 set the tone for the series, but no one could have seen Game 2 unfolding the way it did.

Nashville flat out dominated the second game and halted any attempt for Chicago to build any momentum in this series winning 5-0 in Game 2. However, hockey is a strange sport and a 2-0 series lead isn’t the end of the world. The real issue is the palpable lack of any form of offense from Chicago. We’ll see if the Blackhawks can turn it around, but there has not been a lot to love about these first two games.

NBA: The East is Going to Be Nutty

One game is a very small sample size, but the most telling sign is the way each of the games in the East went over the weekend. Cleveland barely escaped with a win, Chicago upset Boston, Washington came back against Atlanta, and Milwaukee dominated Toronto. Just the way we planned, right?

Chicago’s late run effectively stole a huge Game 1 for the Bulls. Granted, they did catch Boston dealing with a pretty serious off-court issue. If you haven’t heard by now, Isaiah Thomas’s sister passed away over the weekend, and there were some doubts about whether he would play yesterday. Thomas ended up playing and led the Celtics with 33 points in the game.

The problem for the Celtics was they got dominated on the boards, and Jimmy Butler took over the game late. Butler scored 15 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter to give the Bulls the 106-102 win.

The other surprise in the Eastern Conference was the emphatic win by the Bucks over the Raptors. Toronto had no answers for the length and athleticism of Milwaukee in Game 1. I was pretty certain that Toronto would have issues with Giannis Antetokounmpo, but it was Thon Maker who stole some of the headlines with his playoff debut. The combination of these two was a huge factor in the Bucks holding the potent Toronto offense to 32 points and 20 percent shooting in the second half. Milwaukee only won the game by 14, but as the second half unfolded it never even felt that close.

Like I said before, one game is a small sample size but things are going to get a little weird in the Eastern Conference. It might be time to rewrite the script on how we think things are going to play out.

NHL: The Edmonton Oilers are Legit

After blowing a lead in Game 1 to San Jose and giving up home-ice advantage, you had to worry about how this young Oilers team would respond. The answer was resounding as Edmonton took back control of its first round series against the Sharks.

Edmonton locked down a pretty good offensive team for two consecutive games and took a 2-1 series lead. Each game was impressive in its own right. Game 2 saw Edmonton play with fire by giving the Sharks six power play opportunities. Despite that, the Oilers managed to more than double the Sharks shot totals and scored twice while shorthanded. In fact, it was only the third time in NHL history where a team has won a playoff game by scoring all shorthanded goals.

The series shifted back to San Jose last night for a pivotal Game 3. The Oilers proved that the defensive showing in Game 2 was no fluke. Edmonton shut down the Sharks for a second consecutive game. However, the Sharks brought a solid defensive effort of its own, stifling the Oilers at almost every turn.

A bad defensive zone turnover by San Jose allowed Zack Kassian a perfect opportunity in the slot. He would not waste it, slipping a backhand shot through the legs of Martin Jones. Edmonton and Cam Talbot would not relent the defensive pressure to secure a 1-0 victory in Game 3.

Coming into the postseason, I was unsure about Edmonton’s chances if its offense was not playing well. Through three games, I am very impressed by the inspired effort that I’ve seen on the defensive end by the Oilers. If they can keep up this level of defensive excellence, Connor McDavid’s offensive prowess could become the x-factor to a deep playoff run.

 

That’s it for me today. I’ll be back tomorrow with “Heat Check” to give my picks for all of the major awards in the NBA. Episode 6 of the Shooting the Moon Podcast will debut on Wednesday. Follow me on Twitter @thereal_jmooney and go like the Shooting the Moon page on Facebook.