NHL Playoffs 2025: Connor McDavid, Jaccob Slavin among 3 Stars of the Night after heroic performances
The 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs have already showcased some tremendous individual efforts, and Tuesday night was no different. Jaccob Slavin led the Carolina Hurricanes to a Game 1 win over the Washington Capitals, and the Edmonton Oilers’ dynamic duo sparked another comeback effort in Las Vegas.
The night began with a low-scoring affair in the nation’s capital with the Hurricanes and Capitals tied at 1 after regulation. Slavin contributed to that defensive slugfest, and he also played the role of hero in overtime.
NHL Playoffs 2025: Stanley Cup schedule, bracket, scores, as Hurricanes and Oilers open series with victories
Austin Nivison
In Vegas, the Golden Knights jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period, but the Oilers flipped a switch in the second period. Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl did most of that switch-flipping with another display of brilliance as they combined for four points on the night. When they get going, not even one of the best defensive teams in the league can keep pace.
With another night of playoff hockey in the books, let’s shine a light on the best individual performances with our 3 Stars of the Night.
3. Leon Draisaitl | C | Edmonton Oilers
It was another comeback win for the Oilers on Tuesday, and Draisaitl scored a critical goal yet again. Early in the third period, with his team down 2-1, Drasaitl showed off some brilliant hand-eye coordination and hockey IQ.
After a deflected Evan Bouchard shot kicked off Adin Hill’s glove and fluttered into the air, Drasaitl gave it a backhand swat as soon as it hit the ice. The Oilers’ sniper intentionally fired it off the pad of Hill and into the net to tie the game. Outside of that highlight reel goal, Draisaitl also picked up an assist on Edmonton’s first goal with a cross-ice pass to Connor McDavid on a textbook zone entry.
2. Connor McDavid | C | Edmonton Oilers
McDavid may not have found the back of the net in the Oilers’ Game 1 win over the Golden Knights, but he was the main spark behind their comeback. As we saw on several occasions in the first round, McDavid found another level when his team was behind, and he changed the complexion of the game with a couple of great plays.
The Edmonton captain assisted on each of his team’s first two goals, and he made brilliant plays on both. On the first goal, McDavid found Corey Perry all alone in front of Adin Hill with a perfect pass around Brayden McNabb. On the second one, McDavid showed off his blazing speed with an end-to-end rush that resulted in Draisaitl swatting in a rebound off that aforementioned Bouchard blast.
1. Jaccob Slavin | D | Carolina Hurricanes
All Slavin did in Game 1 against the Capitals was play near perfect shutdown defense and score the game-winning goal in overtime. In his 18 minutes at five-on-five, the Hurricanes had monstrous edges in shot attempts (plus-23), scoring chances (plus-12) and high-danger scoring chances (plus-5), per Natural Stat Trick. Considering Washington ranked second in the regular season with 286 goals, that’s a sterling defensive effort from Slavin.
On the offensive end, Slavin led the Hurricanes with five shots. That fifth shot was the last one of the game as it snuck underneath the pad of Capitals goalie Logan Thompson just 3:06 into overtime. No one had a bigger impact at both ends of the ice than Slavin did tonight.
