Updated 2025 NHL Playoff Bracket, Schedule and Top Highlights from April 20

The second day of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs (Sunday, April 20) is complete.

Two dominant performances marked most of Easter Sunday.

On Sunday afternoon, the Carolina Hurricanes easily took down the New Jersey Devils, 4-1. Then the Toronto Maple Leafs' offensive onslaught left the Ottawa Senators no chance in a 6-2 victory.

The best game was left for last, as the Vegas Golden Knights withstood a great effort from the Minnesota Wild for a 4-2 victory.

Here's a look at where everything stands now in the best-of-seven first-round series, alongside recaps and highlights from today's action.

Eastern Conference

A1. Toronto Maple Leafs 1, WC1. Ottawa Senators 0 (Game 1: TOR won 6-2)
A2. Tampa Bay Lightning vs. A3. Florida Panthers (Game 1 on Tuesday)
M1. Washington Capitals vs. WC2. Montreal Canadiens (Game 1 on Monday)
M2. Carolina Hurricanes 1, M3. New Jersey Devils 0 (Game 1: CAR won 4-1)

Western Conference

P1. Vegas Golden Knights 1, WC1. Minnesota Wild 0 (Game 1: VGK won 4-2)
P2. Los Angeles Kings vs. P3. Edmonton Oilers (Game 1 on Monday)
C1. Winnipeg Jets 1, WC2. St. Louis Blues 0 (Game 1: WPG won 5-3)
C3. Colorado Avalanche 1, C2. Dallas Stars 0 (Game 1: COL won 5-1)

Carolina Hurricanes 4, New Jersey Devils 1

Logan Stankoven scored two goals and Andrei Svechnikov and Jalen Chatfield added one apiece as the Carolina Hurricanes demolished the New Jersey Devils 4-1 in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first-round series.

The Devils skated uphill all afternoon against a thoroughly dominant Hurricanes team that thrived in front of the home crowd in Raleigh. Carolina out-shot the Devils 38-13 through two periods and 45-24 for the game.

Chatfield got the 'Canes on the board early after deflecting a shot within some traffic in front of the net for a 1-0 edge 2:24 into the game.

Stankoven, who posted 14 goals and 24 assists in his rookie year, added Carolina's second goal when Jordan Martinook took the puck away from the Devil defense behind the net. Martinook then smartly found Stankoven, who fired a quick shot into the net at 6:37 of the second period.

The Stankoven show continued after he took a Taylor Hall pass and sniped a shot from the faceoff circle and off the goalpost into the net for a 3-0 lead at 13:08 of the second.

The Devils did get one back with 1:09 left in the second courtesy of Nico Hischier's snipe in the upper-right hand corner.

However, that was as close as New Jersey would get. Svechnikov scored an empty-netter to seal the win.

Carolina will now host Game 2 on Tuesday at 6 p.m. ET.

Toronto Maple Leafs 6, Ottawa Senators 2

The Toronto Maple Leafs scored two goals apiece in the first, second and third period for a resounding victory over the Ottawa Senators.

Ottawa lost by four goals despite out-shooting Toronto 33-24. Toronto had just five shots on goal in the first and six in the third but managed to score twice in each frame. Meanwhile, Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz excelled with 31 saves.

Mitch Marner posted a goal and two assists. Auston Matthews added two helpers, and William Nylander and John Tavares had a goal and an assist apiece. Matthew Knies, Morgan Rielly and Oliver Ekman-Larsson all scored goals. Three of the Maple Leafs' six goals were on the power play.

For Ottawa, Drake Batherson and Ridly Greig both scored.

Toronto jumped out to 2-0 first-period lead off goals from Ekman-Larsson and Marner (on a breakaway), but Batherson responded with one. The Maple Leafs led 2-1 after one.

The Maple Leafs took full control in the second period off power play goals from Tavares and Nylander for a 4-1 edge going into the second intermission.

The Sens weren't done yet, though, as Greig scored four minutes into the period to cut the Leafs' lead to 4-2.

However, the Maple Leafs scored just 45 seconds later when Rielly put one home.

And then Knies scored the Leafs' third power play goal. Toronto finished 3-of-6 with the extra man.

There was some extra activity in the closing seconds and after the horn, though, between Senators center Shane Pinto and Maple Leafs defenseman Christopher Tanev.

Toronto will now host Ottawa for Game 2 on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Vegas Golden Knights 4, Minnesota Wild 2

The Vegas Golden Knights opened the playoffs with a win thanks to two Brett Howden goals and a goal and an assist from forward Tomas Hertl. They were victorious despite the best efforts of Minnesota forward Matt Boldy, who scored both Wild goals (Kirill Kaprizov also had two assists).

Both teams scored one goal apiece in the first period. Hertl opened the scoring for Vegas at 15:22, but Matt Boldy responded 2:20 later to knot the game at one going into intermission thanks largely to a great Kaprizov pass.

Vegas got one in the second period, though, for a 2-1 lead. Pavel Dorofeyev scored a one-timer on the power play at 13:33 off assists from Hertl and Theodore.

In the third period, Brett Howden gave Vegas a 3-1 edge at 2:28, but Boldy responded at 11:46 thanks to a fantastic wraparound.

However, the equalizer never arrived. Minnesota pulled the goalie for an extra attacker, but Boldy later took a tripping call to stop an empty-netter. Howden later scored an empty-netter anyway just before time ran out to end the game.

Game 2 will go down in Vegas on Tuesday at 11 p.m. ET.