Brady Skjei got in the first blow, a big one.
Jaccob Slavin scored the first goal on the first shot, also a big one.
And Justin Williams won the first fight of the postseason, dropping the gloves to throw some 38-year-old fists.
The Carolina Hurricanes came into Game 1 of their NHL qualifying series Saturday against the New York Rangers in a combative, intense mood, ready to fight, skate, compete and do whatever it took to win a postseason game unlike any other in NHL history.
The Canes outlasted the Rangers 3-2, using some timely goals, aggressive penalty killing and strong-enough play in net from goalie Petr Mrazek to gain the early edge in the best-of-five series at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.
"I'm happy with the way we came ready to play, no doubt about it," Canes coach Rod Brind'Amour said.
Brind'Amour elected to start Mrazek ahead of James Reimer while the Rangers' starter was the Canes' old nemesis, Henrik Lundqvist. Rangers rookie Igor Shesterkin was ruled "unfit to play," an unexpected twist, but was at the arena and could be available for Game 2 on Monday.
Slavin scored just 1:01 into the game and Sebastian Aho, who assisted on Slavin's goal, gave the Canes a 2-0 lead in the second period with a power-play score. Martin Necas scored in the third period _ his shot glancing off the skate of Rangers defenseman Marc Staal _ for a 3-1 lead.
Mika Zibanejad, another player who has tormented the Canes, scored the Rangers' first goal and Staal's short-handed goal in the third pulled New York within 3-2 with 1:55 left in regulation. The Rangers pulled Lundqvist in the final minute but could not tie the score.
"I thought we played a team that was pissed off because we had beaten them four times during the year," Rangers coach David Quinn said. "They set the pace and the tempo and it took us too long to respond to it."
By game's end, the Canes' penalty killing was the difference. The Rangers had seven power plays and failed to score on all seven, managing eight shots as the Canes moved well and limited scoring chances.
"I feel like they outcompeted us, really," Zibanejad said.
The start was just what the Canes wanted in the NHL's first postseason game ever played in August _ a product of the coronavirus pandemic. The scene still is a bit surreal, with no fans in the stands. But the Canes, playing without injured defenseman Dougie Hamilton, generated their own energy and intensity.
"There was a lot of emotion and adrenaline," Williams said.
Skjei, traded to the Canes by the Rangers in February, leveled Jesper Fast with a big hit along the boards 32 seconds into the game. That got everybody's attention and would knock Fast out the game.
"That got everybody involved early on the bench," Slavin said.
And on the ice. With Fast down, Slavin spotted open ice in the offensive zone. The defenseman slipped in, took a cross-ice pass from Teuvo Teravainen and beat Lundqvist with a rising short-side shot that nicked Lundqvist's right shoulder.
"It was big, obviously," Slavin said. "The previous seasons against Henrik we haven't had the most success."
A few minutes later, Williams and the Rangers' Ryan Strome went at it. Both landed good punches but Williams bloodied Strome's nose, briefly forcing him out of the game. It was Williams' second fight in 156 playoff games.
"When you play a team you've had success against they're going to come out with a little more hunger, piss and vinegar and they're certainly did," Quinn said.
While the Canes were the aggressors, they couldn't stay out of the penalty box. The referees, perhaps with pent-up cabin fever, called it close, sending players from both teams to the penalty box at a rapid rate _ 16 penalties called in the first two periods and 18 in the game.
At times there was precious little 5-on-5 play as both teams had to turn to their penalty killers.
Aho's goal came on a tip in the low slot, with Aho redirecting Andrei Svechnikov's shot past Lundqvist. But Zibanejad answered with a tip and score of his own to make it a 2-1 game.
Necas;' goal made it 3-1, Canes, the rookie scoring on a blast from the left circle.
With Hamilton out, Brind'Amour decided to put defenseman Haydn Fleury in the lineup and scratch Trevor van Riemsdyk. He also made forward Ryan Dzingel a healthy scratch as rookie Morgan Geekie played.
"Both teams had a lot of intensity," Williams said. "We won the first game but that only means we're up 1-0. That's totally it. We'll pick up and we'll move on and try to make it two."
