EP Rinkside 3 stars: What a start

Not even five days into the first round and we've been treated to a lot of drama… and parity.

Only two of the eight series so far are 2-0 (both in the Metro), and only two series have a goal difference beyond one team being plus-2 (Stars/Wild and Rangers/Devils).

That's despite the fact that there have only been four one-goal games out of 16. In fact, there have been 50 percent more games with a four-goal difference than one-goal difference. The fact that teams mostly seem to be trading big nights as opposed to occasionally absorbing a beatdown and then bouncing back with a narrow win the next time out is, to me, "cool."

Let’s go:

3. Making it interesting

If I were Brandon Tanev, I probably wouldn't have blown the kiss.

I'm not sure people thought it would be a walkover for the Colorado Avalanch