Leafs and Dallas Stars have both started their respective seasons in interesting fashion.Toronto (2-1-0 Colorado Avalanche T-Shirts Authentic , 4 points) has gotten both wins in overtime, the latest Sunday night at United Center in a free-wheeling 7-6 defeat of the Chicago Blackhawks.The big star was John Tavares, who delivered his ninth career hat trick and first since signing with the Maple Leafs as a free agent last summer.Article continues below ...“A lot of momentum swings tonight (Sunday),” Tavares said postgame. “We stayed with it, no quit. Whatever adversity we faced today, I thought we responded pretty well.”Toronto has a day off Monday and despite his team getting with the full two points Sunday evening for their first road win, Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock still sees plenty to clean up.“It was probably fun for the fans, a lot of entertainment out there,” Babcock said. “We had a lot of good plays. They were flying Colorado Avalanche Hoodies Authentic , we were standing there watching them at the start. I don’t know if that’s too much respect or what that was, but once we got playing I thought we did a real good job.”This marks Toronto’s only regular-season trip to Dallas and is game two of a four-game road trip that will also take the Maple Leafs to Detroit on Thursday and Washington on Saturday to face the Stanley Cup champion Capitals.Dallas (2-0-0, 4 points) defeated Winnipeg 5-1 at home on Saturday, giving the Stars a plus-7 goal differential (8-1) to start the season after Dallas blanked Arizona 3-0 on Thursday.First-year Stars coach Jim Montgomery is pleased with his team’s performance thus far but remains ever vigilant for complacency creeping into their game.“Well, when the first two games have gone as well as they have, you’ve got to focus on the details and you’ve got to make sure that you’re not getting comfortable, so the players are not getting comfortable,” Montgomery said after practice Monday.One interesting storyline for this game for Dallas is that it will mark defenseman Connor Carrick’s first game against Toronto, who he played 130 of his 169 career NHL games for Colorado Avalanche Hats Authentic , before being traded to the Stars last week.Carrick has three assists in his first two games with Dallas and understandably, feels the change of scenery has been overwhelmingly positive.“It’s been fun. Really trying to accelerate the learning curve at this point, really trying to raise the bar in terms of expectations for myself,” Carrick said Monday. “2-0 is a good start against a strong Winnipeg team and Arizona’s improved. Now we’re playing a team with a lot of hype in Toronto.”Tuesday’s game could also mark the season debut for Stars forward Valeri Nichushkin, out the first two games with a lower-body injury. Nichushkin was the 10th pick in the 2013 draft and played two seasons for Dallas before spending last season in the Russian KHL.“I thought he looked good today (Monday),” Montgomery said of Nichushkin. “There is a good chance he plays tomorrow (Tuesday).” TAMPA, Fla. (AP) The highest-scoring team in the NHL is playing a stingy brand of defense in the playoffs.Andrei Vasilevskiy and the Tampa Bay Lightning know ultimately that will be the key to the chances for a deep run for the third time in four years.The top seed in the Eastern Conference won its opening round series 4-1 over the New Jersey Devils, with Vasilevskiy stopping 53 of 55 shots over the last two games.”We did a good job. They’re a good team, but we were better a little bit Custom Colorado Avalanche Jerseys ,” the 23-year-old goaltender said after Saturday’s 3-1 clinching victory.”The guys played well,” Vasilevskiy said. ”When your team is playing well, I’m feeling much better, more confidence. … ”Now it’s in the past and we have to move on and think about the second round.”Nikita Kucherov scored goals in four of the five games, including three game-winners.With five goals and five assists, he set a franchise record for points in a playoff series and also tied Vincent Lecavalier for second place on the Tampa Bay’s postseason scoring list with 52 points in 50 games.But as well as the league’s third-leading scorer and the rest of the offense performed over the course of the series, the defense was just as good after struggling at times over the last two months of the season.The Devils scored seven goals in the four games they lost. Before yielding one goal in each of the final two games, Vasilevskiy had never allowed one or fewer goals in a playoff start.”He’s been unbelievable. He’s so young, but it seems like he’s been in the league for 20 years www.officialbluejackets.com ,” Kucherov said. ”When he makes the saves, it gives energy to our group and the bench, everyone is fired up.”In his first season as a No. 1 goalie, the finalist for the Vezina Trophy tied for first in the NHL in victories (44) and shutouts (eight) and finished with a 2.62 goals-against average and .920 save percentage.Those numbers might have been even better if the Lightning had played better defense in front of him over the last half of the season.”He was on it from Game 1,” coach Jon Cooper said of the young goaltender’s performance against the Devils.”He just came up huge in every big situation. … The timely saves were phenomenal for us,” Cooper added. ”He just played with confidence.”And, that gives the Lightning reason to feel good heading into the Eastern Conference semifinals against the winner of the first-round matchup between the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs.”We don’t care who’s going to be there. There’s no easy teams in the playoffs,” Kucherov said. ”We have to make sure we play the same way and we play our way.”Cooper appreciates being able to close out the Devils early, avoiding a return trip to Newark Columbus Blue Jackets T-Shirts Authentic , New Jersey, for Game 6.”Ultimately, you just don’t want to get on the plane, again. It’s not that there’s still series left, but it’s the wear and tear on the body and mind,” Cooper said. ”I’m not one of those, let the series go seven and just keep playing. We’ll take the rest, take a step back and prepare.”—