NHL playoff scores 2017: The Maple Leafs have officially shocked the Capitals

The first week of the NHL playoffs has seen some incredible stuff. The Blackhawks went seven periods without scoring a goal in the postseason. Both the Penguins and Blues are on the verge of sweeps in their respective series.

Monday, however, gave us some deja vu that likely has the entire area of Washington on edge. On Monday, the Maple Leafs took a 2-1 series lead over the Capitals in an overtime stunner.

Really, we shouldn’t be surprised at how Toronto has approached this series. They’ve gone stride for stride with the Capitals, and they have frustrated the Presidents’ Trophy winners at almost every turn.

Take Game 3, for example, where the Capitals went up by two-goal leads twice. Instead of folding like the young team could have, the Maple Leafs were overwhelming in their pushback to take the game to overtime. A late regulation penalty by Washington sunk any chance it had of getting possession to start the extra frame, and Tyler Bozak got the game-winner.

It’s a narrative we’ve seen play out against the Capitals in the playoffs for years, that they cannot finish in the postseason. Yet, the Maple Leafs are giving as good as they’re getting and are even outplaying the Capitals in some stretches.

With the ever-mounting pressure to move on, Washington has been set back on its heels. Game 4 on Wednesday is, in a word, huge.

Maple Leafs 4, Capitals 3 (OT)
Senators 4, Bruins 3 (OT)
Predators 3, Blackhawks 2 (OT)
Ducks 5, Flames 4 (OT)

1. The end of the Bruins vs. Senators game was chaos

And not in a good way. Boston fans — and Pierre McGuire! — were heated after a penalty was assessed to Riley Nash for retaliating to a Bobby Ryan elbow to the head.

As these things often do, Ryan scored the overtime winner for the Senators as Ottawa took a 2-1 lead on the subsequent power play. Bruins fans no doubt have a case for a missed call, but retaliations are often called in the NHL and Nash put the Bruins in a bad spot.

2. Chicago finally scored!

It wasn’t going to last forever, but the Blackhawks got their first goals of the postseason three games into their series with the Predators. Dennis Rasmussen broke the ice early in the second period, putting to rest Chicago’s biggest fears after the Blackhawks were held scoreless in Games 1 and 2.

Unfortunately for Rasmussen and the Blackhawks, they ended up blowing their lead to fall behind 3-0 in the series.

3. Everyone got in on the overtime action

Not one of the Capitals, Senators, Blackhawks, or Flames could hold leads of two goals or more. That meant overtime for all four of Monday night’s games! We touched on the wins by the Maple Leafs and Senators, which leaves the West Coast games.

The Predators and Ducks both battled back from multi-goal deficits to force overtime and eventually win in the overtime. Kevin Fiala got the game winner for Nashville after missing on a few golden chances earlier in the extra frame.

Meanwhile, Anaheim was able to score five goals on Brian Elliott, including a game-winner from Corey Perry that will haunt the Flames goaltender for awhile.

Erik Karlsson gifted us with the best stretch pass in playoff history. No this is not an exaggeration.