Inside look at the two American overtime heroes to begin the 2023 NHL Playoffs

The 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs began on Monday night with two electrifying Western Conference quarterfinal games. It was two Americans who came through with the overtime winners. Alex Iafallo of Eden, New York scored at 9:19 of the first overtime period on the power-play from Viktor Arvidsson of Skelleftea, Sweden and Anze Kopitar of Jesenice, Slovenia to give the Los Angeles Kings a 4-3 win over the Edmonton Oilers from Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta. Then, Ryan Hartman of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina scored from Sam Steel of Adrossan, Alberta at 12:20 of the second overtime period to give the Minnesota Wild a 3-2 win over the Dallas Stars from the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.

Alex Iafallo

This was Iafallo’s first Stanley Cup Playoff overtime winner. In 11 NHL postseason contests since 2018, he has three goals and three assists for six points. During the 2022-23 NHL regular season, Iafallo had 14 goals and 22 assists for 36 points in 59 games. He was a +14 with 20 penalty minutes, eight power-play points, five game-winning goals, 133 shots on goal, seven faceoff wins, 33 blocked shots, 27 hits, 28 takeaways, and nine giveaways. Iafallo had career-highs in plus/minus and game-winning goals.

On Monday, it was an impressive comeback for the Kings. They were trailing the Oilers 2-0 after two periods and 3-1 with nine minutes left.

Ryan Hartman

This was Hartman’s first Stanley Cup Playoff overtime winner. In 18 NHL postseason games since 2017 with the Chicago Blackhawks, Nashville Predators and Wild, he has five goals and six assists for 11 points. During the 2022-23 NHL regular season, Hartman had 15 goals and 22 assists for 37 points. He was a +7 with 90 penalty minutes, four power-play points, four shorthanded points, six game-winning goals, 149 shots on goal, 242 faceoff wins, 48 blocked shots, 62 hits, 30 takeaways, and 32 giveaways. Hartman’s four shorthanded points were a career high.

The biggest story from the game on Monday was the hard hit by Wild defenseman Mathew Dumba on Stars veteran forward Joe Pavelski. It will be interesting to see if Dumba gets additional disciplinary action after being given a two-minute minor penalty for roughing.