Ehlers’ Game 1 Blast Joins Fast-Start NHL Lore

Nikolaj Ehlers wasted no time putting his stamp on Game 1, and the kind of opener he delivered is the sort of thing that gets compared to some pretty rare company. For Carolina, that early strike changes the temperature in a building fast, because playoff hockey has a way of turning one quick goal into a whole new game script. The bigger question is not just how quick it was, but what that kind of start says about where this series can go from here.