NHL Playoff Central, Round 1: Reflect on wild opening series

And then there were eight.

With Wednesday night's Lightning 2-0 victory over the visiting Red Wings, the first round is complete and the second round is set.

Tampa Bay's Game 7 win was the first pair of consecutive victories by either team in its scintillating series with Detroit. The Lightning advance to take on the East's No. 2 seed in the Montreal Canadiens, who needed six games to dispatch the Ottawa Senators.

The other East matchup pits the top-seeded New York Rangers against the Washington Capitals. The Rangers beat Sidney Crosby and the Penguins in five games in the opening round, while the Caps went the distance with the New York Islanders.

Out West, the top-seeded Anaheim Ducks face the Calgary Flames in one semifinal, while the Chicago Blackhawks meet the Minnesota Wild in the other.

In the first round, the Ducks swept the Winnipeg Jets in four (with the Ducks rallying in each of the first three games when trailing in the third period), while the other three series went six: the Flames ousting the Vancouver Canucks, the Blackhawks beating the Nashville Predators, and the Wild skating past the second-seeded St. Louis Blues.

NOTE: HOME TEAM in CAPS.