The Hockey Stop

At least one of my first-round predictions is already wrong: The Washington Capitals will not sweep the Montreal Canadiens. Les Habs beat the Caps 3-2 in overtime, stunning the sellout crowd at the Verizon Center in downtown D.C.

I was one of those stunned fans wearing my Caps red in the stands. And after exiting the arena with 18,000 other shell-shocked fans and mulling over this disappointing loss, I realized that we had plenty of company as favorites Pittsburgh, New Jersey, San Jose and Detroit all lost game one at home (except for the Red Wings who lost at Phoenix).

Welcome to the playoffs where any team can beat any other team on any night. Throw home ice "advantage" out because the truth is that there are no favorites in the NHL postseason.

Regular-season domination means nothing. The seedings are completely arbitrary. A hot goaltender can win a series and a cold netminder can lose one. A team that struggled in the regular season and just barely sneaked in, can suddenly become hot in the playoffs.

I don't fully understand it but on paper the Sharks, Devils, Penguins and Capitals should have rolled over their supposedly inferior opponents.

And they all just might win the next four games. Or not. But the playoffs are a marathon not a sprint and adjustments will be made in Game 2.

But what a start to the playoffs. And the Blackhawks-Predators series hasn't even started! Game 2 is going to be a must-win for Washington, San Jose, New Jersey and Pittsburgh as they don't want to go to Montreal, Denver, Philadelphia and Ottawa down 2-0.

Lots of great hockey action ahead. I'm going to throw all my predictions out the window and just enjoy the ride.

Pre-game scene video and pictures from in and around the Verizon Center: