Two Canadian teams came away with victories in their opening games of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoff Qualifier Series this past weekend. In Toronto on Saturday, the Montreal Canadiens beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 in overtime, and in Edmonton, the Calgary Flames defeated the Winnipeg Jets 4-1.
The Canadiens got an overtime winner from defenseman Jeff Petry. The Canadiens were one of two 12th ranked teams to win their opening game of the Stanley Cup Playoff Qualifier series. The other was the Chicago Blackhawks, who beat the Edmonton Oilers 6-4 in game one of the Western Conference qualifier series.
In the Flames win over the Jets, Andrew Mangiapane of Bolton, Ontario led the Flames in scoring with one goal and one assist for two points. All eight Stanley Cup qualifier series are best of five.
One could argue the finest Canadian performance on the weekend came from Minnesota Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon of Edmonton, Alberta. Spurgeon had one goal and two assists for the Wild in their 3-0 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday night.
The Stanley Cup Playoff qualifying action will continue in Edmonton and Toronto throughout the week. The Western Conference series are in Edmonton, and the Eastern Conference series are in Toronto.
