After a two-game opening night, the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs continue Sunday with a trio of Game 1s:

• New Jersey Devils-Carolina Hurricanes (3 p.m. ET, ESPN)

• Ottawa Senators-Toronto Maple Leafs (7 p.m. ET, ESPN2)

• Minnesota Wild-Vegas Golden Knights (10 p.m. ET, ESPN)

Which teams will earn the early edge in their series? Who are the key players to watch?

Read on for game previews, recaps of what went down last night, and the Three Stars of the Night from Arda Öcal.

Matchup notes

New Jersey Devils at Carolina Hurricanes
Game 1 | 3 p.m. ET, ESPN

These two teams split the regular-season series with two wins apiece; notably, all four of those games were played before Devils star Jack Hughes sustained a season-ending injury. The Hurricanes were led in scoring this season by Finland native Sebastian Aho (29 goals, 45 assists), while Sweden's Jesper Bratt was the Devils' leading scorer (21 goals, 67 assists). The two teams' most recent postseason clash occurred in 2023, which the Canes won 4-1.

Ottawa Senators at Toronto Maple Leafs
Game 1 | 7 p.m. ET, ESPN2

The opening skirmish in the Battle of Ontario is the first postseason appearance for the Senators since 2017 -- and the first ever for Ottawa captain Brady Tkachuk. On the other side, this will be the Maple Leafs' ninth consecutive playoff appearance -- with just one series win to show for it. Toronto has had its scoring prowess vanish in past postseasons, so leading scorer Mitch Marner (27 goals, 75 assists) & Co. will hope to reverse that trend. And while Toronto is the favorite in the series, Ottawa won all three regular-season games between the teams.

Minnesota Wild at Vegas Golden Knights
Game 1 | 10 p.m. ET, ESPN

Sunday's nightcap sees the wild-card Wild face one of the more complete teams in the West. Newly signed Minnesota defenseman Zeev Buium -- fresh off a run to the NCAA Frozen Four final with the University of Denver -- didn't see action in the regular-season finale; how much will he be deployed in this series? The Knights will come at the Wild in waves, led by center Jack Eichel, who earned some Hart Trophy votes in the final edition of ESPN's NHL Awards Watch. Vegas won all three regular-season games between the two clubs, by an aggregate score of 12-4.

Arda's Three Stars of Saturday

1. Kyle Connor
LW, Winnipeg Jets

A goal and two assists for Connor, who kept the Jets' offense soaring in a game that set the tone for Winnipeg in this series -- including a third period comeback. This team is still motivated by a five-game first-round exit last postseason, and they also want to keep the Presidents' Trophy vibes going.

2. Nathan MacKinnon
C, Colorado Avalanche

One of the best players of the game, and he showed up Saturday. Three points in Game 1 (on the road, no less), including the eventual game-winning goal and an empty-netter to help the Avalanche take the early lead in the series.

3. Mark Scheifele
C, Winnipeg Jets

The chemistry between Scheifele and Connor was on display. The center finished with three points in Game 1, including a great play to get Connor the puck late in the third period on the game-winning goal.

Saturday's results

Winnipeg Jets 5, St. Louis Blues 3
Jets lead series 1-0

A furious first period included a pair of goals for both teams, as the clubs elected to throw haymakers at the start of the series instead of patiently reading their opponents. The Blues carried a 3-2 lead into the third after a second-period tally from Jordan Kyrou, but the Jets took over the third -- first with the momentum in front of a "White Out" crowd, and then with a trio of goals. Alex Iafallo had the game-tying score at 9:18 of the third, followed by the game-winner by Kyle Connor with 1:36 left and an empty-net goal by Adam Lowry to put the game away. Full stats, recap.

Colorado Avalanche 5, Dallas Stars 2
Avs lead series 1-0

Unlike Saturday's earlier game, these two contenders started with a 0-0 first period. But from the second period onward, it was all Avalanche. Artturi Lehkonen opened the scoring with one of the most unique goals in memory, with the puck going in off of his skate and over Jake Oettinger's shoulder -- the play was ruled a good goal upon review. Nathan MacKinnon added a power-play tally after Roope Hintz high-sticked him to push it to 2-0 and the Avs never looked back. Although Hintz scored a power-play goal of his own in the third, the Avs got goals from Devon Toews, an empty-netter from MacKinnon and a final tally from Charlie Coyle. Full stats, recap.

Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski is a major doubt for the Copa del Rey final and the Champions League semifinal, sources told ESPN after the team confirmed he has a hamstring injury.

Lewandowski, 36, was taken off in the second half of Saturday's 4-3 comeback win against Celta Vigo and underwent tests at the training ground Sunday.

Barça have not revealed how long they expect him to be sidelined. They host a LaLiga match against Mallorca on Tuesday before they take on Real Madrid in the Copa final in Sevilla on Saturday. They then face Inter Milan in the Champions League semifinal first leg on April 30.

Lewandowski has played a key role under Hansi Flick this season, helping Barça stay alive in all three competitions going into the final stretch of the campaign.

The Polish striker has scored 40 goals in all competitions, with Barça top of LaLiga.

The loss of Lewandowski comes with doubts also surrounding Alejandro Balde's fitness. The left back has missed the team's past two games with a hamstring problem.

Holders Barcelona put themselves in the driving seat with a resounding 4-1 over Chelsea in the first leg of their Women's Champions League semifinal on Sunday, with substitute Clàudia Pina netting twice.

Alexia Putellas missed an early penalty for the hosts before Barca's Polish striker Ewa Pajor broke the deadlock in the 35th minute, ghosting in behind the defence to latch onto a through ball from Putellas and slotting it in at the far post for her 36th goal in 39 games this season.

Coming up against the Catalans at the semifinal stage for the third season in a row, Chelsea were left floundering in their wake for much of the game at the Estadi Johan Cruyff.

They went two down in the 70th minute when Pina netted her first goal four minutes after coming off the bench for Caroline Graham Hansen.

"It's a good result. It's was a complete performance and we have a three goal lead," Pina said after the game. "It's a small advantage, but it's not over.

"Everyone wants to play every game. I was keen to get on. I have a really good understanding with Alexia. She was already telling me where the spaces are. I just had to give her the ball and I knew she would give it back. I am really happy to help the team whenever I can.

"Barça always go out to win, to try and play in our way. That's what we will do and try and win the game."

Sandy Baltimore, who slipped in the build-up to Barca's second goal, redeemed herself four minutes later by reducing the deficit, picking up a pass from Catarina Macario and flashing a shot in at the far post.

The Londoners rushed to retrieve the ball to restart the game, but instead it was the home side who scored next, Irene Paredes steaming in at the far post and sending an unstoppable bullet header into the net to restore Barca's two-goal advantage from a corner in the 82nd minute.

That goal took the wind out of Chelsea's sails but Pina was not finished.

She added a fourth goal on the stroke of full time to give her side, who are seeking to win the title for a third successive year, a commanding lead ahead of the second leg in London next Sunday.

In Saturday's other semifinal, Lyon beat Arsenal 2-1 in London in their first leg, with the return also taking place next Sunday.

Carlo Ancelotti praised Federico Valverde as "the key" after the midfielder's 93rd-minute goal gave Real Madrid a dramatic 1-0 win over Athletic Club on Sunday to react to their Champions League exit in midweek.

After an underwhelming first half, Madrid improved in the second period at the Santiago Bernabéu, and Vinícius Júnior -- the game's outstanding player -- had a goal disallowed for offside before Valverde's sensational strike in added time.

The result leaves Madrid four points behind leaders Barcelona in the LaLiga table, as Ancelotti's side look to bounce back from being eliminated by Arsenal in the Champions League quarterfinals.

"Valverde was the key," Ancelotti said in his post-match news conference. "The team played well. We were a bit slower in the first half, but in the second half we did well. We wanted to win, to react after our elimination. The team delivered, and Fede was the key player."

Vinícius has faced criticism for his performances in recent weeks -- and has been whistled by some fans at the Bernabéu -- but responded with a committed display against Athletic.

"Vinicius is extraordinary," Ancelotti said. "He has a fantastic attitude. He scored the [disallowed] goal, played some key passes for [Jude] Bellingham, he was decisive as always."

The Brazil international looked to have put Madrid ahead in the 80th minute, but his goal was ruled out by VAR, with substitute Endrick in an offside position.

"They haven't been happy days for [Vini] or for us," Ancelotti said. "I liked his reaction on the pitch a lot. He'll be very important in the coming games, I have no doubts about that."

Madrid visit Getafe on Wednesday in LaLiga, before facing Barcelona in the Copa del Rey final next Saturday.

With Kylian Mbappé missing through suspension -- and a minor ankle injury -- Ancelotti played Bellingham as a false nine, a role which served him well in his first season in Madrid.

"It's the position that gave us a big advantage last season," Ancelotti said. "[Bellingham] did well in the second half. We got on the outside a lot, put crosses in, and he was smart in the box. He deserved to score."

Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold remained tight-lipped on his future at Anfield amid continued links to Real Madrid, although he added that Sunday's winner over Leicester City would always be "special."

Alexander-Arnold started on the bench against Leicester as he looked to make his return from an ankle injury. He was introduced on 71 minutes, and he fired Liverpool to victory just five minutes later, scoring a goal which puts his team just one win away from clinching the Premier League title.

ESPN has previously reported that Madrid are "optimistic" of securing a deal for Alexander-Arnold, whose Liverpool contract is set to expire this summer.

"I have said all season that I am not going to speak on my situation. I am not going to go into the details," he told Sky Sports after the match.

"But days like today are always special. Scoring goals, playing games, winning games, winning titles -- they are special moments for me and I am glad to do my part."

On his celebration in front of the Liverpool supporters, Alexander-Arnold added: "As much as we do it for ourselves and our family, we do it for the fans as well, they are the ones who travel to the games and spend their money, so it is the least they deserve to see us give 100% on the pitch and win games.

"So to see us so close, some of us, to a second league title and for others a first, especially in front of fans, which is what we've been missing is very special.

"Virgil [van Dijk] pushed me to the front to soak it in, get up close and personal. The fans have been amazing again this season, they have pushed us every game to the final minutes and they have done that again today to help us win the game."

With teammates Van Dijk and Mohamed Salah both having signed new contracts in recent weeks, speculation over Alexander-Arnold's future continues to build. However, head coach Arne Slot said after the match that the defender's commitment to Liverpool should never be in doubt.

"The headline today should be the goal he scored and not about his contract, but it would be ridiculous if someone argues his commitment for this club," Slot said. "The workrate he puts in. No one can argue his commitment to this club but the headlines be his great goal and not his contract."

Liverpool can seal the Premier League title as early as Wednesday if Arsenal fail to beat Crystal Palace and can make sure of it on Sunday with a home win over Tottenham should Mikel Arteta's Gunners win midweek.

Leicester City have been condemned to an immediate return to the Championship after their relegation from the Premier League was confirmed with a 1-0 defeat to Liverpool on Sunday.

It marks the second relegation in three years for Leicester, who earned an immediate return to the top flight last season as winners of the Championship.

It has been a struggle from the start this season, though, for the 2015-16 Premier League winners. They failed to win any of their first six games and sacked manager Steve Cooper after 15 games with the team in 16th position.

Leicester turned to former Man United assistant Ruud van Nistelrooy to steer the club to safety, but the appointment did nothing to turn around the team's fortunes.

Leicester went into Sunday's game as the first team in England's top four divisions to lose eight consecutive home games without scoring a goal -- the 1-0 loss taking that total to nine.

"We have to use this time to get better," Van Nistelrooy said after the game. "The club will continue and it is my job to put the club in the best place possible."

Asked when he will know whether he is staying on, Van Nistelrooy said: "I hope soon. The new season starts very soon and preparation needs to start to move forward.

"The sooner, the better."

Leicester's display on Sunday had some positives, but relegation has felt inevitable for months.

"I'm very disappointed that it's a definite now. We kept hoping and fighting, but over the last weeks we saw the gap growing," Van Nistelrooy said. "Then you see it coming, although we never gave up and we shifted the focus towards the future to use these games and finish the season as best as possible.

"Next season the Championship will start and it is my job to do the best things possible for the club. I'm working in the coming weeks, it is my job to do everything in the best interests of Leicester City.

"I'm waiting on the clarity of the club and how they want to continue. It is the goal to lead the club."

Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava officially announced his transfer to UCLA via a social media post Sunday.

"My journey at UT has come to an end," he wrote on Instagram. "This decision was incredibly difficult, and truthfully, not something I expected to make this soon. But I trust God's timing, and I believe He's leading me where I need to be.

"Even though this chapter is ending, a new chapter has begun and I am committed to UCLA!"

Iamaleava was a highly regarded local recruit who led Tennessee to the College Football Playoff last season. He was No. 1 in ESPN's transfer portal rankings and immediately gives UCLA one of the best-known players in the sport upon his arrival. The Bruins are coming off a 5-7 debut season by coach DeShaun Foster.

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Iamaleava, a five-star prospect from Long Beach, California, was recruited by UCLA out of high school. His younger brother, Madden Iamaleava, committed to UCLA out of high school but changed his commitment on the morning of signing day and signed with Arkansas.

Those recruitments gave both sides plenty of familiarity and the ability to potentially move quickly.

Iamaleava passed for 2,616 yards, 19 touchdowns and 5 interceptions in his first season as a starter, but in nine games against SEC opponents and Ohio State in the playoff, he threw for more than 200 yards only twice.

Tennessee's offense finished No. 9 in the league in scoring with 25.0 points per game in SEC play. The Volunteers' offense was No. 1 in rushing and No. 11 in passing in league play.

UCLA is coming off a season in which it finished No. 14 in scoring offense, and No. 12 in total offense, in Big Ten play.

Iamaleava was earning $2.4 million at Tennessee under the contract he signed with Spyre Sports Group, the Tennessee-based collective, when he was still in high school. The deal would have paid him in the $10 million range altogether had he stayed four years at Tennessee.

Tennessee coach Josh Heupel announced last week after the Volunteers' spring game that the program was moving forward without Iamaleava after he missed practice and meetings April 11. He hadn't alerted anyone on the team and was unresponsive afterward.

Heupel thanked Iamaleava and called the situation unfortunate, but added, "There's no one bigger than the Power T, and that includes me."

Iamaleava, a rising redshirt sophomore, officially entered the transfer portal Wednesday with a do-not-contact tag.

ESPN's Pete Thamel contributed to this story.

OKLAHOMA CITY -- After the Memphis Grizzlies were on the wrong side of the most lopsided NBA playoff loss in a decade, Ja Morant kept his message to his teammates short but certainly not sweet.

"We will never play that bad again," Morant said after the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder opened their Western Conference playoff series with a 131-80 rout over the Grizzlies on Sunday.

The 51-point margin is the fifth highest in a playoff game in NBA history, according to ESPN Research. It's the most lopsided playoff game in the league since the Chicago Bulls defeated the Milwaukee Bucks by 54 in a 2015 first-round game.

Oklahoma City, which didn't play any of its starters in the fourth quarter, led by as many as 56 points. The record for largest margin of victory in a playoff game is 58, set by the Minneapolis Lakers over the St. Louis Hawks in 1956 and matched by the Denver Nuggets over the New Orleans Hornets in 2009.

"Luckily for us, there's only one way from this, and that's up," said Grizzlies interim coach Tuomas Iisalo, who took the reins when Taylor Jenkins was fired the day after a 125-104 loss to the Thunder on March 27. "We will analyze it, we'll learn from it, and then we will fix those things that hurt us. But there were a lot of things."

A blowout win for the Thunder comes as no surprise, especially considering the circumstances. Oklahoma City broke the NBA record for point differential during the regular season (plus-12.9 per game) while going a league-best 68-14.

The Thunder swept the season series against the Grizzlies, winning each of the four games by double figures. The average margin of Oklahoma City's regular-season wins over Memphis was 18.75 points.

The Grizzlies were also dealing with a difficult schedule against the rested Thunder. Memphis earned the Western Conference's eighth seed by beating the Dallas Mavericks in the final play-in game, which was a 9:30 p.m. ET start on Friday. Game 1 tipped off at noon Sunday at the Paycom Center.

"We kind of have to take this win, like, they're going to be way better in Game 2," said Thunder forward Jalen Williams, who had 20 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals in 26 minutes. "We're trying to not give them a lot of life in regards to that. That's a really good team over there, so Game 2 is going to be completely different. We're kind of competing with ourselves in a way to make sure we're sharp for Game 2."

Oklahoma City's top-ranked defense smothered Memphis, forcing 24 turnovers, including 14 in the first half. The Grizzlies shot only 34.4% from the floor, including 6-of-34 from 3-point range, although Iisalo noted that Memphis' expected field goal percentage -- a statistic based on the quality of shot attempts -- was significantly higher.

"You got to turn the page fast," said Grizzlies shooting guard Desmond Bane, who was held to nine points on 3-of-12 shooting and had a plus-minus of minus-51 in 27 minutes. "Definitely take the rest of this afternoon and kind of see what we could have done better, but at the end of the day, it's one game. If we lose by 50 or lose on a buzzer-beater, the series is still 1-0. Not the result that we wanted for sure, but still got a good opportunity to get along the road here in two days."

Morant, who finished with 17 points on 6-of-17 shooting, downplayed any effect his sprained right ankle had during the Game 1 rout. He suffered the injury during Tuesday's play-in loss to the Golden State Warriors and needed pain-killing injections to play Friday against the Mavericks.

"It felt good," Morant said, declining to say whether he needed another pain-killing injection before the playoff opener. "I was available."

Oklahoma City coasted to the win despite an off shooting night for MVP front-runner Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. He was 4-of-13 from the floor while scoring only 15 points, three fewer than his lowest total from the regular season, when Gilgeous-Alexander won his first scoring title with 32.7 points per game.

"I have a great group of guys around me," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "I know that, and I've known that for a long time. Tonight is no surprise. They obviously played amazing. A bunch of me's out there tonight might not have won this. That's what you have a team for."

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The Thunder beat the Memphis Grizzlies 131-80 in Game 1 of their Western Conference playoff series Sunday, the fifth-biggest margin of victory in NBA postseason history.

The 51-point margin was seven points shy of the record and was the largest Game 1 win in NBA playoff history.

Jalen Williams scored 20 points and Chet Holmgren had 19 points and 10 rebounds. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the league's scoring champion with nearly 33 points per game, scored just 15. The Thunder still shot 50.5% from the field.

"We played to our identity," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "Nothing more, nothing less than that. We were who we were all year ... and it's going to be the key to our success, just staying true to who we are."

Gilgeous-Alexander had said several times since Oklahoma City's loss to Dallas in last season's Western Conference semifinals that he would be intentional about getting his teammates better prepared for this postseason.

So far, so good.

"I have a great group of guys around me, and I know that," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "And I've known that for a long time. ... They obviously played amazing."

There have been two 58-point playoff margins in NBA history: Denver beating New Orleans 121-63 on April 27, 2009, and the Minneapolis Lakers beating the St. Louis Hawks 133-75 on March 19, 1956.

The Los Angeles Lakers beat Golden State by 56 (126-70) on April 21, 1973, and the Chicago Bulls beat the Milwaukee Bucks by 54 (120-66) on April 30, 2015.

And now, a 51-point game -- where the Thunder had it well in hand by early in the second quarter. It was the sixth playoff victory of at least 50 points.

Sunday's blowout comes just four years after the Grizzlies handed the Thunder a historic beatdown of their own. They beat Oklahoma City by 73 points in a regular-season game on Dec. 2, 2021, setting the record for the largest margin of victory in NBA history.

Game 2 is Tuesday.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Tyler Glasnow left Sunday's start against the Texas Rangers in the fifth inning of a scoreless game with lower leg cramps.

Glasnow was visited by manager Dave Roberts and head athletic trainer Thomas Albert after striking out Dustin Harris for the second out of the fourth inning.

Glasgow remained in the game and fanned Josh Jung for his sixth strikeout. He started the fifth with a four-seam fastball for a called strike to Jake Burger, and Roberts and Albert returned to the mound. Glasnow was replaced by Luis Garcia.

Glasnow threw 52 pitches, allowing three singles and walking one.

He didn't pitch after Aug. 11 last year because of right elbow tendinitis.

Dodgers left-hander Blake Snell hasn't pitched since April 2 because of left shoulder inflammation.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.