Associated Press
The NHL playoff roundup …
DETROIT ó The Detroit Red Wings called it a fortunate play. The Nashville Predators claimed it was questionable call.
The end result was a tiebreaking goal by Henrik Zetterberg at 6:54 of the third period that helped Detroit to a 3-1 victory over Nashville on Thursday night in Game 1 of their first-round series.
Officials ruled Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk prevented Shea Weber from clearing the puck, setting up the goal that made it 2-1.
The Predators said the play should’ve been negated by an offsides call.
Datsyuk made a cross-ice pass from the left circle to perfectly set up Zetterberg’s one-timer that hit the back of the net before Dan Ellis could slide over or get his glove on it.
“We cleared the puck and it look like it hit the linesman and came back in,” Nashville coach Barry Trotz said. “I looked at it again on replay and from my judgment, it looked fairly clear.
“Usually in that situation, the linesmen or the referee blow that to not give an unfair advantage.”
Zetterberg said the puck stayed in the Nashville zone, but did acknowledge getting a break.
“I think it was a lucky bounce,” said Zetterberg, who added an empty-net goal with 19 seconds left. “I think it hit the ref and went straight to my stick.
“That’s the kind of bounces you need in the playoffs. We had them with us tonight.”
Canadiens 4, Bruins 1
MONTREAL ó Sergei and Andrei Kostitsyn scored goals 1:28 apart in the opening minutes of their playoff debuts, and Montreal remained perfect against Boston this season.
Carey Price also made his playoff debut, stopping 17 shots for Montreal, which finished first overall in the Eastern Conference with 104 points, in large part thanks to sweeping eight games against the Bruins.
Bryan Smolinski and Tom Kostopoulos also scored for the Canadiens.