This is an exciting time for hockey fans as the NHL Playoffs are underway. We have seen great action thus far, and it looks that it will be an exhilarating ride to the Stanley Cup.

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The Pittsburgh Penguins are looking strong thus far, claiming the first three games against the Columbus Blue Jackets heading into Tuesday night’s contest in Columbus. The Pens have won their first three games by the scores of 3-1, 4-1, and 5-4, respectively. Columbus came out firing in all three games, but fell victim to phenomenal goaltending from Marc-Andre Fleury, who replaced an injured Matt Murray in Game 1. While there have been the usual amazing performances from veterans like Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, newer talents have emerged, like Brian Rust, who has three goals in the series, and Jake Guentzel, who scored a Hat Trick and the overtime winner in Game 3. The winner of this series will go on to meet the winner of the Capitals-Maple Leafs series.

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The Caps-Leafs series thus far has been a barnburner to say the least. Washington narrowly edged out the Leafs in Game one with a 3-2 overtime win. Justin Williams netted two goals and Tom Wilson scored the winner about five minutes into overtime in that contest. Game two displayed a back-and-forth affair that went into double overtime. Washington’s Nicklas Backstrom scored the tying goal late in the third period after a power play goal from Toronto’s Morgan Reilly late in the second. After a scoreless overtime Period, Toronto’s Kasperi Kapanen scored on a wide-open net after a backhand pass from Brian Boyle, tying the series heading into Monday night’s matchup in Toronto. Judging from the first two contests, the best moments of this series could be yet to come.

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The Montreal Canadiens have taken a 2-1 series lead over the New York Rangers. Despite a shutout performance from their star goaltender Henrik Lundqvist in the series opener, the Rangers have not since been able to stop a well-balanced Canadien attack lead by the likes of Alexander Radulov and Tomas Plekanec. After a narrow 2-1 victory, in which Brad Marchand scored the game-winner, the Boston Bruins were unable to capture Game two in a loss to the Ottawa Senators. The Bruins held a two-goal lead heading into the third period before the Sens got goals from Chris Wideman, Derick Brassard, and Dion Phaneuf, respectively, to claim the overtime win and tie the series heading into Monday night. The winners of these two series will square off in the second round.

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Taking matters out west, the Nashville Predators shockingly got out to a 2-0 series lead on the Chicago Blackhawks, on the road no less. The Predators have outscored Chicago by a combined 6-0 in the two games, with goaltender Pekka Rinne stopping a combined 59 shots and Nashville getting their six goals from six different players. This has certainly been the biggest surprise of the 2017 NHL Playoffs thus far, as the Blackhawks were favored by many to win the Stanley Cup, let alone get by Nashville. The winner of this series will go on to face the winner of the winner of the Blues-Wild series.

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The St. Louis Blues have taken a 3-0 series lead over the Minnesota Wild after their two-goal victory on Sunday. Blues netminder Jake Allen has allowed only one goal in each of the three opening games, allowing the Blues to pick up 2-1, 2-1, and 3-1 victories, respectively. The winner of this series will move on to face the winner of the Nashville-Chicago series.  Anaheim has dealt two consecutive 3-2 losses to the Calgary Flames, taking a 2-0 series lead. Lead by the likes of Ryan Getzlaf and Jakob Silfverberg, the Ducks are off to an impressive start in their pursuit of their second Stanley Cup. After losing Game one in overtime, the Edmonton Oilers have taken a 2-1 series lead over the San Jose Sharks on consecutive shutout performances from netminder Cam Talbot. Behind NHL points leader Connor McDavid, the Oilers are the Cinderella Story of the NHL this year, coming from the lower depths of the league last year to make a determined run toward a championship this year. They will have to get by the experienced and battle tested San Jose Sharks first, making for what will likely be a very entertaining series.