NHL Playoffs, Day One: Advantage Blackhawks

First, the question in your mind regarding the headline. No, the Blackhawks haven't played a playoff game yet.

It has been one day of playoff hockey and we've seen the following scores:

• Pittsburgh defeated Philadelphia 4-1
• New York Rangers defeated Washington 4-3
• New Jersey defeated Carolina 4-1
• Vancouver defeated St. Louis 2-1

So, how does this favor the youngest, least experienced team in this year's postseason? Especially when they haven't put blade to ice yet?

In postseason hockey, trends develop in coaching, play, and, most importantly, how the games are officiated. Let's look back at the first night of games and see how these early indicators line up favorably for Chicago.

In the Battle of Pennsylvania, there were 18 penalties called. If you had a chance to watch the game, it was clear that Philadelphia came into the game with a physical mindset, trying to take some of Pittsburgh's skill players out of their game. In fact, it was obvious that the Flyers were going to pick on Matt Cooke, and the refs noticed—three penalties were called for roughing Cooke alone.

The same star protection took place in the Rangers victory over Washington. Of the 11 penalties in that game, three were called for tripping Alexander Ovechkin. Arguably the tightest officiated game was between Vancouver and St. Louis, as 20 penalties were called. While one specific player didn't see a high percentage of calls, names like Hinote and Tkachuck drew penalties.

Throughout this season, especially since Christmas, opposing teams have been able to get a foothold in the psyche of the young Hawks by picking on one or two of their young stars. The biggest victim of this has been the diminutive Patrick Kane, who was planted into the wall against Detroit on Dec. 30 and hasn't played as well since.

If the Blackhawks skaters can gain similar opportunities on the power play, even with that unit struggling for Chicago over the past couple weeks, the ice will open up and the talent will convert chances.

When evaluating the skill sets and ages of both rosters, the general assumption coming into the Blackhawks-Flames series is that Calgary's likely approach will be a physical one, trying to use their size and experience to bring the playoffs to the younger Hawks. But the officiating on the first night of the playoffs shows that a physical approach might not come without the risk of penalties.

The other trend from the first night that was interesting was how open the skating was in most of the games, which was reflected in the scoring. If we eliminate the Canucks-Blues game (because of the enormous amount of penalties, it was nearly impossible for either team to establish any flow to their offense), the winning team in each of the other three games scored four goals.

Some of this undoubtedly relates back to how the games were officiated, but the other reality was that speed ruled on this night. Pittsburgh skated around Philadelphia, as Sydney Crosby scratched in his first playoff game this year. While he didn't find the back of the net, Ovechkin had two assists and 13 shots on goal.

The open ice was reflected in the total number of shots on goal, as the first four games saw an average of over 58 combined shots.

With the speed the Hawks have on the ice with the likes of Kane, Jonathan Toews, Patrick Sharp, Martin Havlat, and Kris Versteeg as forwards and Brian Campbell and Duncan Keith on the blueline, the more free the skating is the more it plays to the Blackhawks' strengths.

On Thursday, the youngest team in the league will get its first taste of the quest for Lord Stanley's Cup. If the trends we saw on the first night of the postseason hold true across the board in round one, it figures to be an April with a lot of potential on Chicago's West Side.