LA loses at home - Canes whip Devils to move onto 2nd round - Nighties beat Minni - and the Sens plant the round one exit buds in the fertile CoTU psyche.
LAST NIGHT'S ACTION
Canes push Jersey onto the golf course - win 5-4 in 2OT and take series 4-1.
The thoughtless players from Lost Wages ruin Flower's great comeback narrative with 3-2 OT win and lead 3-2 in the series. A series we have no interest in following and fortunately we won't have to not follow in a mere 2 games.
As Westy predicted the sheer weight of entitlement can be a game changer. And the Oil slickers have LA on the ropes. For the 4th straight round one exit for LA. tOil win 3-1 in LA and Kings ain't coming back.
The gnashing of nerve endings in the CoTU had the entire country either nervously giggling or giggling nervously as the Sens shutout the Laffs 4-0 in the most important rink in hockey. Will the Laffs be bounced in round one, again? Maybe.
TONIGHT'S ACTION
Eastern Conference First Round, Game 5
7 p.m. ET; MNMT, ESPN, SNP, SNO, SNE, TVAS, CBC
Washington leads best-of-7 series 3-1
Can Montreal pull off an Ottawa and make the series a series? Hope so. Hope is the next best thing to a plan.
Canadiens projected lineup
Cole Caufield -- Nick Suzuki -- Juraj Slafkovsky
Josh Anderson -- Christian Dvorak -- Brendan Gallagher
Alex Newhook -- Jake Evans -- Ivan Demidov
Emil Heineman -- Oliver Kapanen -- Joel Armia
Mike Matheson -- Alexandre Carrier
Kaiden Guhle -- Lane Hutson
Arber Xhekaj -- David Savard
Jakub Dobes
Cayden Primeau
Scratched: Jayden Struble, Michael Pezzetta
Injured: Sam Montembeault (undisclosed), Patrik Laine (upper body)
Capitals projected lineup
Alex Ovechkin -- Dylan Strome -- Aliaksei Protas
Connor McMichael -- Pierre-Luc Dubois -- Tom Wilson
Andrew Mangiapane -- Lars Eller -- Ryan Leonard
Brandon Duhaime -- Nic Dowd -- Anthony Beauvillier
Jakob Chychrun -- John Carlson
Rasmus Sandin -- Matt Roy
Alex Alexeyev -- Trevor van Riemsdyk
Logan Thompson
Charlie Lindgren
Scratched: Ethen Frank, Dylan McIlrath, Ethan Bear, Clay Stevenson, Taylor Raddysh
Injured: Martin Fehervary (lower body), Sonny Milano (upper body)
Status report
Laine will not play; the forward practiced Tuesday after missing Games 3 and 4. ... Carrier will be a game-time decision after being hit by Wilson in the third period of a 5-2 loss in Game 4 on Sunday. ... Dobes will make his first Stanley Cup Playoff start with Montembeault, a goalie, not making the trip. ... Protas is expected to return after being a full participant at practice Tuesday; he has not played since April 4 because of a skate cut on his left foot.
Eastern Conference First Round, Game 5
7:30 p.m. ET; FDSNSUN, SCRIPPS, ESPN2, TVAS2, SN360
Florida leads best-of-7 series 3-1
This is the nastiest, dirtiest series. That it's happening in the hockey swamplands with our old friend Ratchand is probably just a coincidence.
Panthers projected lineup
Carter Verhaeghe -- Aleksander Barkov -- Sam Reinhart
Evan Rodrigues -- Sam Bennett -- Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen -- Anton Lundell -- Brad Marchand
A.J. Greer -- Nico Sturm -- Jesper Boqvist
Gustav Forsling -- Seth Jones
Niko Mikkola -- Dmitry Kulikov
Uvis Balinskis -- Nate Schmidt
Sergei Bobrovsky
Vitek Vanecek
Scratched: Tomas Nosek, Jonah Gadjovich, Jaycob Megna, Mackie Samoskevich
Injured: None
Suspended: Aaron Ekblad
Lightning projected lineup
Jake Guentzel -- Brayden Point -- Nikita Kucherov
Nick Paul -- Anthony Cirelli -- Gage Goncalves
Conor Geekie -- Yanni Gourde -- Mitchell Chaffee
Zemgus Girgensons -- Luke Glendening
Victor Hedman -- JJ Moser
Ryan McDonagh -- Erik Cernak
Emil Lilleberg -- Nick Perbix
Darren Raddysh
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Jonas Johansson
Scratched: Cam Atkinson, Max Crozier
Injured: Oliver Bjorkstrand (lower body), Brandon Hagel (undisclosed)
Status report
Ekblad, a defenseman, will serve the first of his two-game suspension for elbowing Hagel during Game 4 on Monday. Hagel, a forward, left the game after the hit and did not return and won't play Wednesday. ... Cirelli and Hedman did not participate in morning skate (maintenance), but will be in the lineup. ...Crozier, a defenseman, was recalled from Syracuse of the American Hockey League on Wednesday.
Western Conference First Round, Game 5
9:30 p.m., ET; CBC, TVAS, SN, ESPN, FDSNMW
Best-of-7 series tied 2-2
Back home in the Peg, Jets have Vilardi back on the 1st line. That's good. Hellebuyck starts in net. That might not be. Oh well... as we Nucks fans know, winning the Prez trophy is so much better than that Fake Cup thing.
Blues projected lineup
Pavel Buchnevich -- Robert Thomas -- Jimmy Snuggerud
Jake Neighbours -- Brayden Schenn -- Jordan Kyrou
Alexandre Texier -- Oskar Sundqvist -- Zack Bolduc
Alexey Toropchenko -- Radek Faksa -- Nathan Walker
Cam Fowler -- Colton Parayko
Philip Broberg -- Justin Faulk
Ryan Suter -- Nick Leddy
Jordan Binnington
Joel Hofer
Scratched: Mathieu Joseph, Matthew Kessel
Injured: Dylan Holloway (lower body), Tyler Tucker (lower body)
Jets projected lineup
Kyle Connor -- Mark Scheifele -- Gabriel Vilardi
Alex Iafallo -- Vladislav Namestnikov -- Cole Perfetti
Nino Niederreiter -- Adam Lowry -- Mason Appleton
Brandon Tanev -- Morgan Barron -- Jaret Anderson-Dolan
Josh Morrissey -- Dylan DeMelo
Dylan Samberg -- Neal Pionk
Logan Stanley -- Luke Schenn
Connor Hellebuyck
Eric Comrie
Scratched: David Gustafsson, Dominic Toninato, Haydn Fleury, Colin Miller, Ville Heinola
Injured: Nikolaj Ehlers (lower body), Rasmus Kupari (concussion)
Status report
Suter is expected to play after being scratched the past two games. ... Tucker is day to day after the defenseman was injured during Game 4. … With Vilardi’s return, Iafallo goes to the second line, Niederreiter the third and Barron moves to center on the fourth line. ... Ehlers, a forward, skated in a noncontact jersey Wednesday.
(All lineup projections courtesy of nhl.com so blame them, not us)
GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN
We have to watch the same old teams beating their same old brains out, so Chris gets to take us for a drive again. Even if it's on the wrong side of the road.
Reject fascism (We did! pretty much), fuck the Conservatives and Trump, too! Enjoy the games, everyone!
The Ottawa Senators and New Jersey Devils are on the chopping block tonight. Can they stave off elimination? And will being back home get the Kings back on track against the Oilers?
LAST NIGHT'S ACTION
FLORIDA PANTHERS 4 TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING 2 (Panthers lead series 3-1)
This series continues to be the ugliest of them all, and we're not just talking about Brad Marchand. Actually it's funny, that in a series that has seen multiple egregious fouls, that Marshmont hasn't been involved in any of it. Anyway, the latest edition of this war on ice ended with Niko Mikkola getting tossed for boarding (and apparently being fined but not suspended)
and Aaron Ekblad being scheduled for a call with DoPS to chat about an unpenalized hit on Brandon Hagel.
That's some garbage hockey from the Cats, for real. Seth Jones' first of the playoffs would secure the win for the Panthers, who can advance to the next round with a win on Wednesday night as the series shifts back to Tampa.
DALLAS STARS 6 COLORADO AVALANCHE 2 (Stars lead series 3-2)
Wyatt Johnston scored nine seconds into the game and added another as the Stars cruised to a 6-2 win, setting up an elimination Game Six in Denver Thursday night. Mikko Rantanen got his first of the series against his old team, and Nathan MacKinnon added his fifth of the playoffs in a losing cause.
TONIGHT'S ACTION
TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (3-1) vs OTTAWA SENATORS (1-3)
SCOTIABANK ARENA, TORONTO, ON
4:00 PM PST/ 7:00 PM EST
TV: SPORTSNET, CBC
The Sens were able to avoid the sweep on Saturday night at home, but they've been outplayed by the Leafs in both games in Toronto. The question here is: was this just a fluke, or are the Leafs actually going to do this again? As much as it's tempting to say that this one's going seven games (and lord knows there isn't anyone aside from Leafs fans that isn't desperate to see this), I feel like the Leafs are going to come out and snuff out all that talk tonight. Then again, nobody thought Bruce Fanjoy was going to take out Pierre Poliviere, either.
Eastern Conference First Round, Game 5
7 p.m. ET; CBC, TVAS, SN, ESPN
Maple Leafs lead best-of-7 series 3-1
Senators projected lineup
Brady Tkachuk -- Tim Stutzle -- Claude Giroux
David Perron -- Dylan Cozens -- Drake Batherson
Ridly Greig -- Shane Pinto -- Michael Amadio
Nick Cousins -- Adam Gaudette -- Fabian Zetterlund
Jake Sanderson -- Artem Zub
Thomas Chabot -- Travis Hamonic
Tyler Klevin -- Nikolas Matinpalo
Linus Ullmark
Anton Forsberg
Scratched: Dennis Gilbert, Leevi Merilainen, Matthew Highmore, Nick Jensen
Injured: Hayden Hodgson (lower body)
Maple Leafs projected lineup
Matthew Knies -- Auston Matthews -- Mitch Marner
Pontus Holmberg -- John Tavares -- William Nylander
Bobby McMann -- Max Domi -- Max Pacioretty
Steven Lorentz -- Scott Laughton -- Calle Jarnkrok
Morgan Rielly -- Brandon Carlo
Jake McCabe -- Chris Tanev
Simon Benoit -- Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Anthony Stolarz
Joseph Woll
Scratched: Dakota Mermis, Philippe Myers, Nicholas Robertson, David Kampf, Ryan Reaves, Artur Akhtyamov
Injured: Jani Hakanpaa (lower body)
CAROLINA HURRICANES (3-1) vs NEW JERSEY DEVILS (1-3)
LENOVO CENTER, RALEIGH, NC
4:30 PM PST/ 7:30 PM EST
TV: SN360
The Devils are banged up, and could be without Brett Pesce and Jonas Siegenthaler, but they could seize on the opportunity of Carolina being without G Frederik Andersen. Pyotr Kochetkov will start, and this could be the thing that allows the Devils back into the series. It'll be tough, trying to do it on the road, and down so many key pieces, though.
Eastern Conference First Round, Game 5
7:30 p.m. ET; FDSNSO, MAX, MSGSN, TBS, TVAS2, SN360
Carolina leads best-of-7 series 3-1
Devils projected lineup
Ondrej Palat -- Nico Hischier -- Timo Meier
Erik Haula -- Dawson Mercer -- Jesper Bratt
Paul Cotter -- Cody Glass -- Stefan Noesen
Tomas Tatar -- Justin Dowling -- Nathan Bastian
Brian Dumoulin -- Brett Pesce
Jonas Siegenthaler -- Dougie Hamilton
Seamus Casey -- Simon Nemec
Jacob Markstrom
Jake Allen
Scratched: Kurtis MacDermid, Nolan Foote, Curtis Lazar, Daniel Sprong, Dennis Cholowski, Dennis Cholowski
Injured: Luke Hughes (undisclosed), Brenden Dillon (undisclosed), Johnathan Kovacevic (undisclosed)
Hurricanes projected lineup
Andrei Svechnikov -- Sebastian Aho -- Jackson Blake
Taylor Hall -- Jesperi Kotkaniemi -- William Carrier
Jordan Martinook -- Jordan Staal -- Seth Jarvis
Logan Stankoven -- Mark Jankowski -- Eric Robinson
Jaccob Slavin -- Brent Burns
Dmitry Orlov -- Jalen Chatfield
Shayne Gostisbehere -- Sean Walker
Pyotr Kochetkov
Spencer Martin
Scratched: Jack Roslovic, Tyson Jost, Alexander Nikishin, Riley Stillman, Ruslan Khazheyev
Injured: Frederik Andersen (undisclosed)
VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS (2-2) vs MINNESOTA WILD (2-2)
T-MOBILE ARENA, LAS VEGAS, NV
6:30 PM PST/ 9:30 PM EST
TV: SPORTSNET EAST, SPORTSNET 360
If you had told me the Wild would be outscoring Vegas 15-12 after four games I would have hard time believing that could happen, but here we are. Despite a one goal loss in Game Four, the Wild have shown they can hang with the Golden Knights, even on the road, and that confidence could lead them to a fairly stunning first round upset. A lot of hockey still to be played, but Minnesota's showing a lot more than anyone thought they'd see in this series.
Western Conference First Round, Game 5
9:30 p.m. ET, FDSNNO, SCRIPPS, ESPN, SNE, SN360, TVAS
Best-of-7 series tied 2-2
Wild projected lineup
Kirill Kaprizov -- Joel Eriksson Ek -- Matt Boldy
Marcus Johansson -- Ryan Hartman -- Mats Zuccarello
Marcus Foligno -- Frederick Gaudreau -- Gustav Nyquist
Yakov Trenin -- Marco Rossi -- Justin Brazeau
Jonas Brodin -- Brock Faber
Jacob Middleton -- Jared Spurgeon
Jon Merrill -- Zach Bogosian
Filip Gustavsson
Marc-Andre Fleury
Scratched: Zeev Buium, Declan Chisholm, Vincent Hinostroz, Devon Shore, Jesper Wallstedt
Injured: None
Golden Knights projected lineup
William Karlsson -- Jack Eichel -- Pavel Dorofeyev
Brandon Saad --Tomas Hertl -- Mark Stone
Ivan Barbashev -- Nicolas Roy -- Reilly Smith
Tanner Pearson -- Brett Howden -- Keegan Kolesar
Noah Hanifin -- Alex Pietrangelo
Brayden McNabb – Shea Theodore
Nicolas Hague -- Zach Whitecloud
Adin Hill
Akira Schmid
Scratched: Alexander Holtz, Ben Hutton, Kaedan Korczak, Tanner Pearson, Ilya Samsonov, Cole Schwindt
Injured: None
So is Tanner Pearson on the 4th line or in the press box? Make up your mind, nhl.com!
LOS ANGELES KINGS (2-2) vs EDMONTON OILERS (2-2)
ROGERS PLACE, EDMONTON, AB
7:00 PM PST/ 10:00 PM EST
TV: SPORTSNET, CBC
While the Kings were the better team in Games One and Two, and granted the Oilers played better in their home games, the losses in Game Three and Four for the Kings were self-inflicted wounds. Baffling coaching decisions and an insistence on running a ridiculously shortened bench allowed the Oilers back into the series. The Kings need to get back to what worked for them this season and just hammer shots at Calvin Pickard, while hoping Darcy Kuemper shows his Game Two form rather than how he's played the rest of the series. The goaltending from both teams has been comically bad in this series, and it's gonna end up being the reason one of these teams goes out early.
Western Conference First Round, Game 5
10 p.m. ET; MAX, TBS, KCAL, TVAS2, SN, CBC
Best-of-7 series tied 2-2
Oilers projected lineup
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins -- Connor McDavid -- Zach Hyman
Vasily Podkolzin -- Leon Draisaitl -- Viktor Arvidsson
Evander Kane -- Adam Henrique -- Connor Brown
Trent Frederic -- Mattias Janmark -- Corey Perry
Darnell Nurse -- Evan Bouchard
Jake Walman -- John Klingberg
Brett Kulak -- Ty Emberson
Calvin Pickard
Stuart Skinner
Scratched: Derek Ryan, Kasperi Kapanen, Olivier Rodrigue, Joshua Brown, Max Jones, Jeff Skinner, Cam Dineen
Injured: Mattias Ekholm (undisclosed), Alec Regula (knee), Troy Stecher (undisclosed)
Kings projected lineup
Andrei Kuzmenko -- Anze Kopitar -- Adrian Kempe
Warren Foegele -- Phillip Danault -- Trevor Moore
Kevin Fiala -- Quinton Byfield -- Alex Laferriere
Jeff Malott -- Samuel Helenius -- Alex Turcotte
Mikey Anderson -- Drew Doughty
Vladislav Gavrikov -- Jordan Spence
Joel Edmundson -- Brandt Clarke
Darcy Kuemper
David Rittich
Scratched: Kyle Burroughs, Akil Thomas, Trevor Lewis
Injured: Tanner Jeannot (undisclosed)
GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN
An absolute beast of a song from the UK's EMPLOYED TO SERVE is on deck today. Off their new album 'Fallen Star' (and featuring guest vocals from Jesse Leach of Killswitch Engage), this is "Whose Side Are You On?"
While we may have dodged a bullet yesterday, the threat from far right fascists remains. Stay vigilant and lend your voice to keep this country free and fair for all. Enjoy the games, eh? Oh, and Fuck Trump.
Another terrible game for the Jets - Prez trophy curse working its magic again. Tragic game in Montreal. Free-for-all hockey in McMuck land.
LAST NIGHT'S ACTION
Canes push Jersey to the edge of the universe golf course as Devils get beat 5-2.
A series we really care about, turning into a best of 3 series. Dammit. Is the curse of the Prez Trophy a new cologne that Hellybuck is wearing?
Which loss was worse for Canada, the Jets or Habs? The correct answer is yes. As well as Montreal is on the brink of losing the series, not just another game.
LA had the game under control. Leading by 2 going into the 3rd. Losing by 1 in OT. We know what that feels like.
TONIGHT'S ACTION
Eastern Conference First Round, Game 4
7 p.m. ET; FDSNSUN, SCRIPPS, ESPN, SN, TVAS
Florida leads best-of-7 series 2-1
The battle of weirdo palm tree hockey teams continues. Will the Cats get their paws on the Bolts tonight? We don't know and don't care.
Lightning projected lineup
Yanni Gourde – Brayden Point – Nikita Kucherov
Brandon Hagel – Anthony Cirelli – Jake Guentzel
Gage Goncalves – Nick Paul – Conor Geekie
Zemgus Girgensons – Luke Glendening
Victor Hedman – JJ Moser
Ryan McDonagh – Erik Cernak
Emil Lilleberg – Nick Perbix
Darren Raddysh
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Jonas Johansson
Scratched: Cameron Atkinson, Mitchell Chaffee
Injured: Oliver Bjorkstrand (lower body)
Panthers projected lineup
Carter Verhaeghe -- Aleksander Barkov -- Sam Reinhart
Evan Rodrigues -- Sam Bennett -- Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen -- Anton Lundell -- Brad Marchand
A.J. Greer -- Nico Sturm -- Jesper Boqvist
Gustav Forsling -- Aaron Ekblad
Nate Schmidt -- Seth Jones
Niko Mikkola -- Dmitry Kulikov
Sergei Bobrovsky
Vitek Vanecek
Scratched: Mackie Samoskevich, Tomas Nosek, Jonah Gadjovich, Jaycob Megna, Uvis Balinskis
Injured: None
Status report
Greer will play a Stanley Cup Playoff game for the first time, replacing Samoskevich, a forward, on the fourth line. … Cirelli did not participate in the Lightning’s morning skate, but coach Jon Cooper said he would play.
Western Conference First Round, Game 5
9:30 p.m. ET; Victory+, ESPN, ALT, SN360, SN, TVAS
Series is tied up at 2 apiece. Becomes another best of 3. Why bother with 7 games? We don't know, other than apparently it's exciting for fans and more importantly, more revenue for owners.
Avalanche projected lineup
Artturi Lehkonen -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Martin Necas
Gabriel Landeskog -- Brock Nelson -- Valeri Nichushkin
Jonathan Drouin -- Charlie Coyle -- Joel Kiviranta
Parker Kelly -- Jack Drury -- Logan O’Connor
Devon Toews -- Cale Makar
Samuel Girard -- Josh Manson
Ryan Lindgren -- Sam Malinski
Mackenzie Blackwood
Scott Wedgewood
Scratched: Erik Johnson, Keaton Middleton, Jimmy Vesey, Miles Wood
Injured: Ross Colton (lower body)
Stars projected lineup
Mikael Granlund -- Roope Hintz -- Mikko Rantanen
Mason Marchment -- Matt Duchene -- Tyler Seguin
Jamie Benn -- Wyatt Johnston -- Evgenii Dadonov
Oskar Back -- Sam Steel -- Colin Blackwell
Thomas Harley -- Ilya Lyubushkin
Esa Lindell -- Cody Ceci
Lian Bichsel -- Alexander Petrovic
Jake Oettinger
Casey DeSmith
Scratched: Mavrik Bourque, Mathew Dumba, Brendan Smith
Injured: Miro Heiskanen (knee), Nils Lundkvist (shoulder), Jason Robertson (lower body)
Status report
The Avalanche are expected to use the same lineup from their 4-0 win in Game 4 on Saturday. … Back will return after not playing in Game 4 because of an undisclosed injury. … Heiskanen, a defenseman, will not play. He remains day to day.
(All lineup projections courtesy of nhl.com so blame them, not us)
GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN
Chris knows what it means to meet the one who doesn't care - about the playoffs no more.
Reject fascism, fuck the Conservative Party and Trump, too! Enjoy the games, everyone!
And if you haven't already, go out and vote!
Four games on tap again today, as the Jets look to rebound from an ass-kicking, the Devils aim to tie their series with Carolina, the Habs will try and show that Friday's win was no fluke, and the Kings try to forget that Game Three disaster against the Oilers.
All of us here at Nucks Misconduct are shocked and saddened by the horrific events last night at the Lapu Lapu Day Festival in East Vancouver. Please keep the families and friends of those affected in your thoughts today and going forward, as the community tries to come to terms with this senseless tragedy.
LAST NIGHT'S ACTION
ABBOTSFORD CANUCKS 5 TUCSON ROADRUNNERS 0 (Canucks win series 2-1)
Coming off a rough performance in Game Two, I wondered whether Coach Manny Malhotra would switch things up in goal. He didn't, and Arturs Silovs rewarded that trust with a 21 save shutout, as the Abbotsford Canucks punched their ticket to the Pacific Division semifinals with a 5-0 last night at the Abbotsford Centre. Tristan Nielsen's goal late in the first period would hold up as the winner, and also got goals from Chase Wouters, Max Sasson, Sammy Blais (with his third goal of the series) and Phil Di Giuseppe. Arshdeep Bains added two assists to give him four for the series. They'll take on the Coachella Valley Firebirds in a best of five series, with the winner of that playing the winner of the series between the Colorado Eagles and San Jose Barracudas.
TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING 5 FLORIDA PANTHERS 1 (Florida leads series 2-1)
After getting out played in the first two games of the series, the Bolts responded with an outstanding effort to get their first win of the playoffs. Jake Guentzel had a goal and two assists for Tampa, and was on the end of a pretty scummy Matthew Tkachuk late hit as he set up an Anthony Cirelli empty net goal. I know this will come as a shock, but Tkachuk will not be hearing from DoPS on it.
VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS 4 MINNESOTA WILD 3 OT (Series tied 2-2)
Ivan Barbashev scored at 17:26 of overtime to give Vegas a 4-3 win and tie their series at two games a piece. Tomas Hertl scored his third of the playoffs, while they also got PPG's from Shea Theodore and Nicolas Roy. Marcus Foligno with his 3rd of the postseason, Marco Rossi and Jarrod Spurgeon scored for Minnesota. This series shifts back to Vegas for Game Five Tuesday night.
OTTAWA SENATORS 4 TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS 3 OT (Leafs lead series 3-1)
Death, taxes, and the Leafs blowing a series clinching game seem to be the only certainties in life, eh? The first goal of the playoffs from Jake Sanderson was the dagger as the Sens send the series back to Toronto for another do or die game Tuesday night. Tim Stutzle on the power play, and a beauty SHG from Shane Pinto gave the Sens a 2-0 lead in the first before a nice tip in from John Tavares pulled the Leafs within one before the end of the frame. They tied it on a breakaway goal from Matthew Knies in the second period, but David Perron's first of the playoffs would restore the lead for Ottawa. It wasn't to last though, as Oliver Ekman-Larsson's 2nd of the postseason would send it to OT.
COLORADO AVALANCHE 4 DALLAS STARS 0 (Series tied 2-2)
Did you hear a sound similar to a distant explosion last night? That was in Denver, where the roof of the Ball Arena was sent hurtling into space as Gabriel Landeskog scored his first NHL goal in almost 3 years en route to a 4-0 Avs victory. Landeskog added an assist, and they got a shorty from Logan O'Connor, the 4th of the playoffs from Nathan MacKinnon, and some insurance from Samuel Girard. Game 5 goes tomorrow night in Dallas.
TODAY'S ACTION
WINNIPEG JETS (2-1) vs ST LOUIS BLUES (1-2)
ENTERPRISE CENTER, ST LOUIS, MO
10:00 AM PST/ 1:00 PM EST
TV: SPORTSNET, CBC
Game Three was ugly, and the Jets are going to need to get Connor Hellebuyck to start showing his regular season form if they want to head back to Winnipeg with a chance to close out the series Wednesday night. I just want to warn you that the next sentence I am going to write will look utterly bizarre, but I assure it is true. The Jets need to find a way to stop Cam Fowler, or they will lose this series to the Blues. I know that the NHL Playoffs can produce some unlikely heroes, but come on, man!! Fowler tied for third in playoff scoring with Connor McDavid and Anze Kopitar??? That seems so fake, but here we are.
Western Conference First Round, Game 4
1 p.m. ET; FDSNMW, MAX, truTV, TBS, SN, TVAS, CBC
Winnipeg leads best-of-7 series 2-1
Kyle Connor -- Mark Scheifele -- Alex Iafallo
Nino Niederreiter -- Vladislav Namestnikov -- Cole Perfetti
Morgan Barron -- Adam Lowry -- Mason Appleton
Brandon Tanev -- David Gustafsson -- Jaret Anderson-Dolan
Josh Morrissey -- Dylan DeMelo
Dylan Samberg -- Neal Pionk
Logan Stanley -- Luke Schenn
Connor Hellebuyck
Eric Comrie
Scratched: Dominic Toninato, Haydn Fleury, Colin Miller, Ville Heinola
Injured: Nikolaj Ehlers (lower body), Gabriel Vilardi (upper body), Rasmus Kupari (concussion)
Pavel Buchnevich -- Robert Thomas -- Jimmy Snuggerud
Jake Neighbours -- Brayden Schenn -- Jordan Kyrou
Mathieu Joseph -- Oskar Sundqvist -- Zack Bolduc
Alexey Toropchenko -- Radek Faksa -- Nathan Walker
Cam Fowler -- Colton Parayko
Philip Broberg -- Justin Faulk
Nick Leddy -- Tyler Tucker
Jordan Binnington
Joel Hofer
Scratched: Alexandre Texier, Ryan Suter, Matthew Kessel
Injured: Dylan Holloway (lower body)
CAROLINA HURRICANES (2-1) vs NEW JERSEY DEVILS (1-2)
PRUDENTIAL CENTER, NEWARK, NJ
12:30 PM PST/ 3:30 PM EST
TV: SN360
The New Jersey Devils will look to build on a massive double OT win Friday night and send this series back to Raleigh tied at two games a piece with a win this afternoon. The Canes meanwhile could have newly signed Alexander Nikishin in their lineup as they weigh some potential line changes to get a win today.
Eastern Conference First Round, Game 4
3:30 p.m. ET; FDSNSO, MAX, truTV, MSGSN, TBS, SN360, TVAS
Carolina leads best-of-7 series 2-1
Hurricanes projected lineup
Seth Jarvis -- Sebastian Aho -- Jackson Blake
Taylor Hall -- Jesperi Kotkaniemi -- Andrei Svechnikov
Jordan Martinook -- Jordan Staal -- Logan Stankoven
William Carrier -- Mark Jankowski -- Eric Robinson
Jaccob Slavin -- Brent Burns
Dmitry Orlov -- Jalen Chatfield
Shayne Gostisbehere -- Sean Walker
Frederik Andersen
Pyotr Kochetkov
Scratched: Jack Roslovic, Tyson Jost, Alexander Nikishin, Riley Stillman, Ruslan Khazheyev
Injured: None
Devils projected lineup
Ondrej Palat -- Nico Hischier -- Timo Meier
Erik Haula -- Dawson Mercer -- Jesper Bratt
Paul Cotter -- Cody Glass -- Stefan Noesen
Tomas Tatar -- Justin Dowling -- Nathan Bastian
Brett Pesce -- Dougie Hamilton
Brian Dumoulin -- Johnathan Kovacevic
Jonas Siegenthaler -- Simon Nemec
Jacob Markstrom
Jake Allen
Scratched: Kurtis MacDermid, Nolan Foote, Curtis Lazar, Daniel Sprong, Dennis Cholowski, Seamus Casey
Injured: Luke Hughes (undisclosed), Brenden Dillon (undisclosed)
WASHINGTON CAPITALS (2-1) vs MONTREAL CANADIENS (1-2)
BELL CENTRE, MONTREAL, PQ
4:00 PM PST/ 7:00 PM EST
TV: SPORTSNET, CBC
The Habs made a series of it in Game Three, and the animosity between these teams is building. While it looks like Logan Thompson will be good to go based on seeing him in warmups this morning, but we'll have to see about Sam Montembault closer to game time. He was solid before getting hurt in Game Three, leaving it up to rookie Jakub Dobes, who stopped seven of eight shots coming in for Montembault Friday night. We'll try to update the lineups when we can.
LOS ANGELES KINGS (2-1) vs EDMONTON OILERS (1-2)
ROGERS PLACE, EDMONTON, AB
7:00 PM PST/ 10:00 PM EST
TV: SPORTSNET, CBC
While Friday night's loss was not good, there are a number of positives for the Kings to draw from in Game Four. While this was never going to be a goaltender's series, they have the edge over the Oilers and have been the only team to actually get a good night out of one of their net keepers. Continuing to pick apart a weak Oilers penalty kill and hammer shots at whichever goaltender gets the nod tonight for Edmonton can send them back to LA with a 3-1 lead and a chance to eliminate one of the Cup favourites.
GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN
Off his 2001 album 'Terria', this is 'Canada' by Vancouver's own DEVIN TOWNSEND. Vote like our future as Canadians depends on it.
Enjoy the games. Fuck fascists.
Four games on tap today including some daytime action, and we could see the first team to exit tonight as the Senators look to avoid the sweep against the Leafs!
LAST NIGHT'S ACTION
MONTREAL CANADIENS 6 WASHINGTON CAPITALS 3 (Caps lead series 2-1)
Coming off a heartbreaking OT loss in Game 2, the Habs felt they were close, and maybe the friendly confines of the Bell Centre could help them get back into this series. Boy, did it ever! After trading goals in the first, the Canadiens jumped out to a 2-1 lead on a goal from Nick Suzuki, only to have Jacob Chychryn tie it two minutes later. A goal from Cole Caufield with just nine seconds left in the second frame. The lead didn't last for long though as Alex Ovechkin tied it early in the third. That's when Montreal cranked it up, and exploded for three in the third for a 6-3 win and their first win of the series, giving them a shot at heading back to Washington with the series tied if they can pull off another win tomorrow. It's gonna be interesting to watch, as both teams had their starting goaltenders leave to injury, and we'll have to see if either Sam Montembault or Logan Thompson are good to go for Game Four.
NEW JERSEY DEVILS 3 CAROLINA HURRICANES 2 (2 OT) (Canes lead series 2-1)
In another game where the home team was looking to avoid going down 3-0 in the series, Simon Nemec scored at 2:36 of the second overtime to give the Devils a 3-2 win over Carolina. Dawson Mercer's goal early in the third had given the Devils a 2-0 lead, but PPG's from Seth Jarvis and Sebastian Aho helped the Canes send it to OT. Game Four goes tomorrow afternoon.
EDMONTON OILERS 7 LOS ANGELES KINGS 4 (Kings lead series 2-1)
The Kings entered the third with a 4-3 lead, then gave up a goal to Evander Kane, but Kings coach Jim Hillier inexplicably decided to challenge for goaltender interference. They lost the challenge, then lost the game ten seconds later when Evan Bouchard's PPG sealed it. Honestly, that's gotta be one of the most frustrating ways to watch a team lose a game. Game Four goes tomorrow night in Edmonton.
TODAY'S ACTION
TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING (0-2) vs FLORIDA PANTHERS (2-0)
AMERANT BANK ARENA, SUNRISE, FL
10:00 AM PST/ 1:00 PM EST
TV: SPORTSNET
The defending champs will be on home ice looking to put a stranglehold on this series in the next installment of the Battle of Florida. It's been pretty one-sided so far, though. And while you probably shouldn't count out the Bolts, the Panthers look very much like last year's Cup winners so far. Tampa will be without Brandon Hagel, who was suspended for one game after a late hit in Game Two on Aleksander Barkov, who should be good to go. The Cats will also get Aaron Ekblad back, coming off his 20 game suspension for violating the terms of the NHL/NHLPA Performance Enhancing Substances Program.
Eastern Conference First Round, Game 3
1 p.m. ET; FDSNSUN, SCRIPPS, MAX, truTV, TBS, SN, TVAS
Florida leads best-of-7 series 2-0
Lightning projected lineup
Jake Guentzel -- Brayden Point -- Nikita Kucherov
Nick Paul -- Anthony Cirelli -- Gage Goncalves
Conor Geekie -- Yanni Gourde -- Mitchell Chaffee
Zemgus Girgensons -- Luke Glendening -- Cam Atkinson
Victor Hedman -- J.J. Moser
Ryan McDonagh -- Erik Cernak
Nick Perbix -- Emil Lilleberg
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Jonas Johansson
Scratched: Darren Raddysh
Injured: Oliver Bjorkstrand (lower body)
Suspended: Brandon Hagel
Panthers projected lineup
Carter Verhaeghe -- Aleksander Barkov -- Sam Reinhart
Mackie Samoskevich -- Sam Bennett -- Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen -- Anton Lundell -- Brad Marchand
Evan Rodrigues -- Nico Sturm -- Jesper Boqvist
Gustav Forsling -- Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola -- Seth Jones
Nate Schmidt -- Dmitry Kulikov
Sergei Bobrovsky
Vitek Vanecek
Scratched: Tomas Nosek, Jonah Gadjovich, Jaycob Megna, Uvis Balinskis, A.J. Greer
Injured: None
VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS (1-2) vs MINNESOTA WILD (2-1)
XCEL ENERGY CENTER, SAINT PAUL, MN
1:00 PM PST/ 4:00 PM EST
TV: SPORTSNET, SPORTSNET ONE
After dropping Game One of this series, the Wild have been maybe the biggest surprise of the first round so far, and they have a chance to head back to Vegas with a 3-1 lead if they can manage another win on home ice. The Golden Knights have been struggling to deal with the Wild's suddenly potent offensive attack, and it will probably be the biggest upset of the round if Minnesota can pull this off.
Western Conference First Round, Game 4
4 p.m. ET; FDSNNO, SCRIPPS, MAX, truTV, TBS, SNP, SNW, SN1, TVAS
Minnesota leads best-of-7 series 2-1
Golden Knights projected lineup
Ivan Barbashev -- Jack Eichel -- Mark Stone
Brandon Saad --Tomas Hertl -- Pavel Dorofeyev
Victor Olofsson -- William Karlsson -- Reilly Smith
Brett Howden -- Nicolas Roy -- Keegan Kolesar
Brayden McNabb – Shea Theodore
Noah Hanifin -- Alex Pietrangelo
Nicolas Hague -- Zach Whitecloud
Adin Hill
Ilya Samsonov
Scratched: Alexander Holtz, Ben Hutton, Kaedan Korczak, Tanner Pearson, Akira Schmid, Cole Schwindt
Injured: None
Wild projected lineup
Kirill Kaprizov -- Joel Eriksson Ek -- Matt Boldy
Marcus Johansson -- Frederick Gaudreau -- Mats Zuccarello
Marcus Foligno -- Ryan Hartman -- Gustav Nyquist
Yakov Trenin -- Marco Rossi -- Justin Brazeau
Jonas Brodin -- Brock Faber
Jacob Middleton -- Jared Spurgeon
Zeev Buium -- Zach Bogosian
Filip Gustavsson
Marc-Andre Fleury
Scratched: Jon Merrill, Declan Chisholm, Vinnie Hinostroza, Devin Shore, Jesper Wallstedt
Injured: None
TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (3-0) vs OTTAWA SENATORS (0-3)
CANADIAN TIRE CENTRE, OTTAWA, ON
4:00 PM PST/ 7:00 PM EST
TV: SPORTSNET, CBC
While most had the Leafs pegged to win this series, I don't know if anyone had them pulling off the sweep. It's not a domination, needing overtime to pull out wins in Games Two and Three, but a sweep is still a sweep, and the Ottawa Senators are going to need to see more from their entire lineup if they hope to force a Game Five. We'll slot the lineups in when they become available, but I wouldn't expect any changes from either team.
COLORADO AVALANCHE (1-2) vs DALLAS STARS (2-1)
AMERICAN AIRLINES CENTER, DALLAS, TX
6:30 PM PST/ 9:30 PM EST
TV: SPORTSNET, SPORTSNET ONE
Like the Wild, the Stars dropped the series opener before coming back to win two straight, and can head back to Denver leading the series 3-1 with a win tonight. Also benefactors of two straight overtime wins, they have done a fantastic job of neutralizing Cale Makar in this series. If Makar can't be a difference maker, this one's gonna be over fairly soon.
ABBOTSFORD CANUCKS (1-1) vs TUCSON ROADRUNNERS (1-1)
ABBOTSFORD CENTRE, ABBOTSFORD, BC
7:00 PM PST/ 10:00 PM EST
TV: FLOHOCKEY.TV
It's winner take all tonight in Abbotsford as the Canucks look to move on to the second round in the AHL Calder Cup Playoffs. Abbotsford took Game One 4-3 on Wednesday night, then dropped a 4-1 decision in Game Two the following evening. Arturs Silovs has been in goal for both games, so maybe we'll see Nikita Tolopilo get the crease tonight?
GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN
German thrashers SPACE CHASER have a new one out, and I dig what I hear so far off this one. Here's the title track off 'Ignite The Skies', available now on Metal Blade Records.
Enjoy the games, fight fascists, fuck Trump, VOTE ON MONDAY and Go Canucks Go!
Last night's action
Florida Panthers 2 Tampa Bay Lightning 0
T-Bay is getting spanked by the Cats. Who saw this coming?
Toronto Maple Leafs 3 Ottawa Senators 2
Turns out jimmi was wrong in his prediction. Again. Maple Laffs are getting the bounces in the game while Green is getting the laughs in the pressers.
Minnesota Wild 5 Vegas Golden Knights 2
Kent will be upset that the Wild are upsetting the favs going into this series. Although not many here would be upset to watch the Nights get bounced in the 1st round.
St. Louis Blues 7 Winnipeg Jets 2
This was a horrible game. For the Jets. For Canada. But mainly for Hellebuyck. Jets need to learn the importance of starting the 1st period in the 1st period.
Today's games
Eastern Conference First Round, Game 3, 7 p.m. ET
Washington leads best-of-7 series 2-0
This is a vital game for the Habs. For Canada. For democracy. No pressure. Just win it, Les Canadiens!
Capitals projected lineup
Alex Ovechkin -- Dylan Strome -- Anthony Beauvillier
Connor McMichael -- Pierre-Luc Dubois -- Tom Wilson
Andrew Mangiapane -- Lars Eller -- Ryan Leonard
Brandon Duhaime -- Nic Dowd -- Taylor Raddysh
Jakob Chychrun -- John Carlson
Rasmus Sandin -- Matt Roy
Alex Alexeyev -- Trevor van Riemsdyk
Logan Thompson
Charlie Lindgren
Scratched: Ethen Frank, Dylan McIlrath, Ethan Bear, Clay Stevenson
Injured: Aliaksei Protas (foot), Martin Fehervary (lower body), Sonny Milano (upper body)
Canadiens projected lineup
Cole Caufield -- Nick Suzuki -- Juraj Slafkovsky
Josh Anderson -- Christian Dvorak -- Brendan Gallagher
Patrik Laine -- Alex Newhook -- Ivan Demidov
Emil Heineman -- Jake Evans -- Joel Armia
Mike Matheson -- Alexandre Carrier
Kaiden Guhle -- Lane Hutson
Jayden Struble -- David Savard
Sam Montembeault
Jakub Dobes
Scratched: Arber Xhekaj, Michael Pezzetta, Oliver Kapanen
Injured: None
Status report
Protas took part in the morning skate and is a possibility to return. It was the forward's first time skating with the team since he sustained a skate cut to his foot during a 5-3 win against the Chicago Blackhawks on April 4. … Laine had a maintenance day and did not take part in the morning skate. He played 10:10 in Game 2 on Wednesday, including 3:08 on the power play, and did not play a shift in the third period. … Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said more players will be on the ice for the warmup than normal and lineup decisions will be made before the game. … Kapanen, a forward, could make his Stanley Cup Playoff debut if Laine does not play. … Pezzetta, a forward, and Xhekaj, a defenseman, were the last players off the ice at the morning skate.
Eastern Conference First Round, Game 3 8 p.m. ET
Carolina leads best-of-7 series 2-0
Will this be the sweep series that we don't care about? Could be.
Hurricanes projected lineup
Seth Jarvis -- Sebastian Aho -- Jackson Blake
Taylor Hall -- Jesperi Kotkaniemi -- Andrei Svechnikov
Jordan Martinook -- Jordan Staal -- Logan Stankoven
William Carrier -- Jack Roslovic -- Eric Robinson
Jaccob Slavin -- Brent Burns
Dmitry Orlov -- Jalen Chatfield
Shayne Gostisbehere -- Sean Walker
Frederik Andersen
Pyotr Kochetkov
Scratched: Tyson Jost, Mark Jankowski, Alexander Nikishin, Riley Stillman, Ruslan Khazheyev
Injured: None
Devils projected lineup
Ondrej Palat -- Nico Hischier -- Timo Meier
Erik Haula -- Dawson Mercer -- Jesper Bratt
Paul Cotter -- Cody Glass -- Stefan Noesen
Tomas Tatar -- Justin Dowling -- Nathan Bastian
Brett Pesce -- Dougie Hamilton
Brian Dumoulin -- Johnathan Kovacevic
Jonas Siegenthaler -- Simon Nemec
Jacob Markstrom
Jake Allen
Scratched: Kurtis MacDermid, Nolan Foote, Curtis Lazar, Daniel Sprong, Dennis Cholowski
Injured: Luke Hughes (undisclosed), Brenden Dillon (undisclosed)
Status report
The Hurricanes will dress the same 18 skaters they used in Game 2. … Siegenthaler, who hasn't played since Feb. 4 because of a lower-body injury, is likely to return to the lineup. Devils coach Sheldon Keefe said he is "optimistic," and if the defenseman does play, it will "be in a reduced role with reduced minutes." If he isn't able to play, Cholowski, a defenseman, will play his second straight game. … Hughes and Dillon, each a defenseman, will each miss his second straight game.
Western Conference First Round, Game 3
10 p.m. ET; CBC, SN, TVAS2, TNT, truTV, MAX, FDSNW
Los Angeles leads best-of-7 series 2-0
This 2-Man Oily team appears to be in a bit of trouble. Last year's series, the Oil had the best PK and top PP. This season, not so much.
Kings projected lineup
Andrei Kuzmenko -- Anze Kopitar -- Adrian Kempe
Warren Foegele -- Phillip Danault -- Trevor Moore
Kevin Fiala -- Quinton Byfield -- Alex Laferriere
Jeff Malott -- Samuel Helenius -- Trevor Lewis
Mikey Anderson -- Drew Doughty
Vladislav Gavrikov -- Jordan Spence
Joel Edmundson -- Brandt Clarke
Darcy Kuemper
David Rittich
Scratched: Kyle Burroughs, Jacob Moverare, Akil Thomas, Alex Turcotte
Injured: Tanner Jeannot (undisclosed)
Oilers projected lineup
Leon Draisaitl -- Connor McDavid -- Zach Hyman
Vasily Podkolzin -- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins -- Viktor Arvidsson
Evander Kane -- Adam Henrique -- Connor Brown
Trent Frederic -- Mattias Janmark -- Corey Perry
John Klingberg -- Evan Bouchard
Darnell Nurse -- Ty Emberson
Brett Kulak -- Jake Walman
Calvin Pickard
Stuart Skinner
Scratched: Joshua Brown, Cam Dineen, Max Jones, Kasperi Kapanen, Olivier Rodrigue, Derek Ryan, Jeff Skinner
Injured: Mattias Ekholm (undisclosed), Troy Stecher (undisclosed)
Status report
Lewis returns after sitting out in Game 1, when the Kings dressed 11 forwards and seven defensemen. ... Hyman moves up from the second line, pushing Perry down to the fourth. ... Podkolzin moves up from the fourth line, bumping Kane down to the third and Frederic to the fourth. ... Pickard will make his first start of the playoffs.
GAME HYMNAL
These aren't our playoffs. We're just looking for the summer - signings.
Enjoy the games, fuck fascists at home and abroad!
The Leafs and Jets can take a stranglehold on their series with a win tonight, Minnesota looks to build off a big Game 2 win and Tampa tries to avoid going down 2-0 to the Panthers.
LAST NIGHT'S ACTION
AHL PACIFIC DIVISION ROUND ONE
ABBOTSFORD CANUCKS 4 TUCSON ROADRUNNERS 3 (CANUCKS LEAD SERIES 1-0)
The AHL Calder Cup playoffs got underway last night for the Canucks AHL affiliate, as they hosted Utah's farm team from Tucson in Game One at the Abbotsford Centre. Sammy Blais scored twice on the power play in the second, part of a three goal out burst in the middle frame as the Canucks hung on to take Game One by a score of 4-3. This included Arturs Silovs stopping Tucson's Max Szuber on a penalty shot with 0:35 left in the game! Tristan Nielsen and Linus Karlsson also scored for the Canucks. Game 2 goes tonight at 7:00 pm at the Abbotsford Centre, and you can watch that on FloHockey.tv
WASHINGTON CAPITALS 3 MONTREAL CANADIENS 1 (Washington leads series 2-0)
Despite a frantic effort in the third period, the Canadiens find themselves down two games to none as the series prepares to shift back to Montreal for Game 3. The Habs had opened the scoring early in the second on a goal from Christian Dvorak, but goals a minute apart from Connor McMichael and Dylan Strome would be too much to overcome. McMichael would add an empty netter for the 3-1 final. The Habs are playing well and getting good goaltending, but they need to find ways to generate offence or this series is gonna be a short one.
DALLAS STARS 2 COLORADO AVALANCHE 1 (OT) (Dallas leads series 2-1)
After a convincing Game One win by the Avs, the Dallas Stars have clawed their way back into this series, and now lead the series following a second straight overtime win. This one was even more impressive given the emotional lift Colorado got from the return of Gabe Landeskog, who hasn't played an NHL game since Game Six of the 2022 Cup Finals. Apart from a power play goal from Valeri Nichushkin, they weren't able to solve Jake Oettinger. Tyler Seguin scored the OT winner for Dallas, who can make it a 3-1 lead with a win Saturday night in Denver.
LOS ANGELES KINGS 6 EDMONTON OILERS 2 (LA leads series 2-0)
After losing to the Oilers in the first round three straight years, the Kings were looking to flip the script, and boy, have they. Fears about the Oilers potential weak spots on defense and in goal appear to be reality, as the Kings rang up 6 on Edmonton for a second straight game. Three power play goals, and four point nights from Adrian Kempe and Anze Kopitar led the way for LA, who also got a goal and an assist from former Canuck Andrei Kuzmenko. They also held Connor McDavid off the scoresheet, limiting him to just two shots and four attempts as well as 20% on faceoffs. What a dud, eh? Stuart Skinner was pulled after giving up the fifth goal in the third period, but the Kings would score on the first shot they put on Calvin Pickard. This series shifts to Edmonton for Game Three Friday night. The Oilers have a pretty bad record of coming back after dropping the first two games of a series, so expect them to come out hard.
TONIGHT'S ACTION
TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING (0-1) vs FLORIDA PANTHERS (1-0)
AMALIE ARENA, TAMPA, FL
3:30 PM PST/ 6:30 PM EST
TV: SPORTSNET 360
The Panthers looked very much ready to defend their crown in a convincing Game One win over Tampa on Tuesday night. Matthew Tkachuk had a 2G 1A performance to lead the way, and also got two goals from former Canucks dman Nate Schmidt. Yeah, we were as shocked as anyone. Expect some pushback from the Bolts tonight, this one is gonna be worth the watch.
Eastern Conference First Round, Game 2
6:30 p.m. ET; FDSNSUN, SCRIPPS, MAX, truTV, TBS, TVAS2, SN360
Florida leads best-of-7 series 1-0
Panthers projected lineup
Carter Verhaeghe -- Aleksander Barkov -- Sam Reinhart
Mackie Samoskevich -- Sam Bennett -- Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen -- Anton Lundell -- Brad Marchand
Evan Rodrigues -- Nico Sturm -- Jesper Boqvist
Gustav Forsling -- Seth Jones
Niko Mikkola -- Dmitry Kulikov
Uvis Balinskis -- Nate Schmidt
Sergei Bobrovsky
Vitek Vanecek
Scratched: Tomas Nosek, A.J. Greer, Jonah Gadjovich, Jaycob Megna
Injured: None
Suspended: Aaron Ekblad
Lightning projected lineup
Gage Goncalves -- Brayden Point -- Nikita Kucherov
Jake Guentzel -- Nick Paul -- Brandon Hagel
Conor Geekie -- Yanni Gourde -- Mitchell Chaffee
Zemgus Girgensons -- Luke Glendening
Victor Hedman -- JJ Moser
Ryan McDonagh -- Erik Cernak
Emil Lilleberg -- Nick Perbix
Darren Raddysh
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Jonas Johansson
Scratched: Cam Atkinson
Injured: Oliver Bjorkstrand (lower-body injury), Anthony Cirelli (undisclosed)
TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (2-0) vs OTTAWA SENATORS (0-2)
CANADIAN TIRE CENTRE, OTTAWA, ON
4:00 PM PST/ 7:00 PM EST
TV: SPORTSNET, CBC
The Sens looked better in Game Two, managing to force overtime after (are you sensing a theme here?) former Canuck Adam Gaudette scored to tie the game 2-2 and send it to OT. Unfortunately for the Sens, they had to suffer the humiliation of giving up an OT winner to Max Domi of all people, and will need to come up big tonight to keep from going down 3-0 against a confident looking Leafs squad. Remember though, this is the Leafs, and this is the playoffs. Expect chaos.
One thing to watch for, is Max Pacioretty replacing Nick Robertson tonight for the Leafs.
Eastern Conference First Round, Game 3
7 p.m. ET; CBC, TVAS, SNE, SNO, SNP, ESPN2
Toronto leads best-of-7 series 2-0
Maple Leafs projected lineup
Matthew Knies -- Auston Matthews -- Mitch Marner
Pontus Holmberg -- John Tavares -- William Nylander
Max Pacioretty -- Max Domi -- Bobby McMann
Calle Jarnkrok -- Scott Laughton -- Steven Lorentz
Morgan Rielly -- Brandon Carlo
Jake McCabe -- Chris Tanev
Simon Benoit -- Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Anthony Stolarz
Joseph Woll
Scratched: Dakota Mermis, Philippe Myers, David Kampf, Artur Akhtyamov, Nicholas Robertson
Injured: Jani Hakanpaa (lower body)
Senators projected lineup
Brady Tkachuk -- Tim Stutzle -- Claude Giroux
Fabian Zetterlund -- Dylan Cozens -- Drake Batherson
Ridly Greig -- Shane Pinto -- Michael Amadio
David Perron -- Adam Gaudette -- Nick Cousins
Jake Sanderson -- Artem Zub
Thomas Chabot -- Nick Jensen
Tyler Kleven -- Nikolas Matinpalo
Linus Ullmark
Anton Forsberg
Scratched: Dennis Gilbert, Travis Hamonic, Matthew Highmore
Injured: Hayden Hodgson (lower body)
VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS (1-1) vs MINNESOTA WILD (1-1)
XCEL ENERGY CENTER, SAINT PAUL, MN
6:00 PM PST/ 9:00 PM EST
TV: SN 360
The Wild were full value for a 5-2 win on Tuesday night in Vegas to tie up this series, and hope they can continue to exploit some uncharacteristic Vegas defensive lapses to take the lead in the series at home this evening. Kirill Kaprizov has been the big story so far, leading all scorers in the series with 3G 2A, but Matt Boldy's 3G have been huge for the Wild.
GOLDEN KNIGHTS (1P) at WILD (WC1)
Western Conference First Round, Game 3
9 p.m. ET; FDSNNO, SCRIPPS, MAX, truTV, TBS, TVAS2, SN360
Best-of-7 series tied 1-1
Golden Knights projected lineup
Ivan Barbashev -- Jack Eichel -- Mark Stone
Brandon Saad --Tomas Hertl -- Pavel Dorofeyev
Victor Olofsson -- William Karlsson -- Reilly Smith
Brett Howden -- Nicolas Roy -- Keegan Kolesar
Brayden McNabb – Shea Theodore
Noah Hanifin -- Alex Pietrangelo
Nicolas Hague -- Zach Whitecloud
Adin Hill
Ilya Samsonov
Scratched: Alexander Holtz, Ben Hutton, Kaedan Korczak, Tanner Pearson, Akira Schmid, Cole Schwindt
Injured: None
Wild projected lineup
Kirill Kaprizov -- Joel Eriksson Ek -- Matt Boldy
Marcus Johansson -- Frederick Gaudreau -- Mats Zuccarello
Marcus Foligno -- Ryan Hartman -- Gustav Nyquist
Yakov Trenin -- Marco Rossi -- Justin Brazeau
Jonas Brodin -- Brock Faber
Jacob Middleton -- Jared Spurgeon
Zeev Buium -- Zach Bogosian
Filip Gustavsson
Marc-Andre Fleury
Scratched: Jon Merrill, Declan Chisholm, Vincent Hinostroz, Devon Shore, Jesper Wallstedt
Injured: None
WINNIPEG JETS (2-0) vs ST LOUIS BLUES (0-2)
ENTERPRISE CENTER, ST LOUIS, MO
6:30 PM PST/ 9:30 PM EST
TV: SPORTSNET, CBC
The Jets are looking to prove they're the real deal, and after a bit of a bumpy start in Game One, battled hard to head to Missouri with a 2-0 lead over the St Louis Blues. With Connor Hellebuyck starting to show the form that will very likely see him win another Vezina this season, the Blues are going to need Jordan Binnington to steal one for them, or their hopes of another Cinderella Cup run are going to be snuffed out soon.
Western Conference First Round, Game 3
9:30 p.m. ET; FDSNMW, ESPN2, SN, TVAS, CBC
Winnipeg leads best-of-7 series 2-0
Jets projected lineup
Kyle Connor -- Mark Scheifele -- Alex Iafallo
Nino Niederreiter -- Vladislav Namestnikov -- Cole Perfetti
Brandon Tanev -- Adam Lowry -- Mason Appleton
David Gustafsson -- Morgan Barron -- Jaret Anderson-Dolan
Josh Morrissey -- Dylan DeMelo
Dylan Samberg -- Neal Pionk
Logan Stanley -- Luke Schenn
Connor Hellebuyck
Eric Comrie
Scratched: Dominic Toninato, Haydn Fleury, Colin Miller, Ville Heinola
Injured: Nikolaj Ehlers (lower body), Gabriel Vilardi (upper body), Rasmus Kupari (concussion)
Blues projected lineup
Jimmy Snuggerud -- Robert Thomas -- Pavel Buchnevich
Jake Neighbours -- Brayden Schenn -- Jordan Kyrou
Alexandre Texier -- Oskar Sundqvist -- Zack Bolduc
Alexey Toropchenko -- Radek Faksa -- Nathan Walker
Cam Fowler -- Colton Parayko
Philip Broberg -- Justin Faulk
Nick Leddy -- Tyler Tucker
Jordan Binnington
Joel Hofer
Scratched: Mathieu Joseph, Ryan Suter, Matthew Kessel
Injured: Dylan Holloway (lower body)
All lineups are subject to change and courtesy of nhl.com
GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN
Going back to 1989 and an album that definitely had a massive impact on me, musically. 'Beneath The Remains', the third studio album from Belo Horizonte, Brazil's SEPULTURA was an absolute game changer, and one that helped them explode worldwide. The album is flawless from beginning to end, mixing thrash and death metal with some subtle nods to more traditional metal influences and before they began incorporating native Brazilian musical styles to their mix, BTR is insanely ferocious from beginning to end. I chose a track that has a deep personal meaning for me. 'Mass Hypnosis' was the song that inspired me when I was looking for a name for my show on 92.5 The X at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, back in the day. Another fun fact, I still have the cd that I won in a contest in Metal Maniacs magazine back when this album came out.
Enjoy the games, fuck fascists at home and abroad! Oh, and Go Abby Canucks Go!
All the teams that should win, did win last night....unfortunately. Special teams did their job for the winners and the losers are going to have to find a way to keep out of the penalty box.
Vegas Golden Knights 4 Minnesota Wild 2 (Vegas leads 1-0)
While the Wild came out hitting (2-1 ratio), the Golden Knights powerplay came through twice and got them the game 1 win.
Toronto Somethings 6 Ottawa Senators 2 (COTU leads 1-0)
Maple Laughs powerplay was far too much for a Sens team that took far too many penalties. The shennigans at the end of the game won't help the Sens deal with the skill and speed of the Laughs.
Carolina Hurricanes 4 New Jersey Devils 1 (Carolina leads 1-0)
The Canes jumped out to an early lead and then hit the boring button to shut down the neutral zone.
Today's games
Eastern Conference First Round, Game 1
7 p.m. ET; MNMT, ESPN, SN, TVAS
The team the dominated the East faces the last team in. Montreal and all of the Les Habitantes road the wave of love the last two weeks of the season and their reward.....a Russian guy who scores all the goals and a good Caps team
Canadiens projected lineup
Cole Caufield -- Nick Suzuki -- Juraj Slafkovsky
Josh Anderson -- Christian Dvorak -- Brendan Gallagher
Patrik Laine-- Alex Newhook -- Ivan Demidov
Emil Heineman -- Jake Evans -- Joel Armia
Mike Matheson -- Alexandre Carrier
Kaiden Guhle -- Lane Hutson
Jayden Struble -- David Savard
Sam Montembeault
Jakub Dobes
Scratched: Arber Xhekaj, Michael Pezzetta, Oliver Kapanen
Injured: None
Capitals projected lineup
Alex Ovechkin -- Dylan Strome -- Anthony Beauvillier
Connor McMichael -- Pierre-Luc Dubois -- Tom Wilson
Andrew Mangiapane -- Lars Eller -- Ryan Leonard
Brandon Duhaime -- Nic Dowd -- Taylor Raddysh
Jakob Chychrun -- John Carlson
Rasmus Sandin -- Matt Roy
Alex Alexeyev -- Trevor van Riemsdyk
Logan Thompson
Charlie Lindgren
Scratched: Ethen Frank, Dylan McIlrath, Ethan Bear, Clay Stevenson
Injured: Martin Fehervary (lower body), Aliaksei Protas (lower body), Sonny Milano (upper body)
Status report
The Canadiens did not hold a morning skate. … Thompson could return after missing the final seven games of the regular season because of an upper-body injury. … Protas, a forward who missed the final six games because of a skate cut on his left foot sustained against the Chicago Blackhawks on April 4, skated before the start of the morning skate. Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said he expects Protas to play at some point during the best-of-7 series.
Western Conference First Round, Game 2
7:30 p.m. ET; CBC, TVAS2, ESPN2, FDSNMW
Winnipeg leads best-of-7 series 1-0
I think the message for both teams is to be more disciplined as each team seems to have a pretty good powerplay. The Jets will need their fans to keep them pumped against a Blues team that was arguably one of the best teams over the past month. Game 1 was fast-paced, so I suspect the neutral zone might be a little harder to get through today.
Blues projected lineup
Jake Neighbours -- Robert Thomas -- Pavel Buchnevich
Jimmy Snuggerud -- Brayden Schenn -- Jordan Kyrou
Mathieu Joseph -- Oskar Sundqvist -- Zack Bolduc
Alexey Toropchenko -- Radek Faksa -- Nathan Walker
Cam Fowler -- Colton Parayko
Philip Broberg -- Justin Faulk
Ryan Suter -- Nick Leddy
Jordan Binnington
Joel Hofer
Scratched: Alexandre Texier, Tyler Tucker, Matthew Kessel
Injured: Dylan Holloway (lower body)
Jets projected lineup
Kyle Connor -- Mark Scheifele -- Alex Iafallo
Nino Niederreiter -- Vladislav Namestnikov -- Cole Perfetti
Brandon Tanev -- Adam Lowry -- Mason Appleton
David Gustafsson -- Morgan Barron -- Jaret Anderson-Dolan
Josh Morrissey -- Dylan DeMelo
Dylan Samberg -- Neal Pionk
Logan Stanley -- Luke Schenn
Connor Hellebuyck
Eric Comrie
Scratched: Dominic Toninato, Haydn Fleury, Colin Miller, Ville Heinola
Injured: Nikolaj Ehlers (lower body), Gabriel Vilardi (upper body), Rasmus Kupari (concussion)
Status report
Vilardi, a forward, wore a noncontact jersey during an optional practice Sunday, his first time skating with the Jets since his injury. He remains day to day.
Western Conference First Round, Game 2
9:30 p.m. ET; Victory+, ESPN, ALT2, TVAS-D, SN360
Colorado leads best-of-7 series 1-0
I am not sure what happened to Dallas over the past month (Hello Mikko) , but they haven't played well and the Avs are not a team you can play your "B" game against.
Avalanche projected lineup
Artturi Lehkonen -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Valeri Nichushkin
Jonathan Drouin -- Brock Nelson -- Martin Necas
Joel Kiviranta -- Charlie Coyle -- Miles Wood
Parker Kelly -- Jack Drury -- Logan O'Connor
Devon Toews -- Cale Makar
Samuel Girard -- Josh Manson
Ryan Lindgren -- Sam Malinski
Mackenzie Blackwood
Scott Wedgewood
Scratched: Erik Johnson, Keaton Middleton, Jimmy Vesey, Miles Wood
Injured: Gabriel Landeskog (knee), Ross Colton (lower body)
Stars projected lineup
Mikael Granlund -- Roope Hintz -- Evgenii Dadonov
Mason Marchment -- Matt Duchene -- Tyler Seguin
Jamie Benn -- Wyatt Johnston -- Mikko Rantanen
Oskar Back -- Sam Steel -- Colin Blackwell
Thomas Harley -- Ilya Lyubushkin
Esa Lindell -- Cody Ceci
Lian Bichsel -- Alexander Petrovic
Jake Oettinger
Casey DeSmith
Scratched: Mavrik Bourque, Mathew Dumba, Brendan Smith
Injured: Miro Heiskanen (knee), Nils Lundkvist (shoulder), Jason Robertson (lower body)
Status report
Colorado held an optional morning skate. … Coach Jared Bednar did not confirm any lineup changes or whether Landeskog would play in Game 2. The forward left early rather than staying on late to skate with the other healthy scratches. … Heiskanen took part in the morning skate for the second game in a row but the defenseman still is considered day-to-day.
Western Conference First Round, Game 1
10 p.m. ET; FDSNW, ESPN2, TVAS2, SN
Oilers defensive core will determine the outcome of this series. It's that simple.
Oilers projected lineup
Zach Hyman -- Connor McDavid -- Connor Brown
Vasily Podkolzin -- Leon Draisaitl -- Viktor Arvidsson
Jeff Skinner -- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins -- Kasperi Kapanen
Mattias Janmark -- Adam Henrique -- Corey Perry
Darnell Nurse -- Evan Bouchard
Brett Kulak -- Jake Walman
Ty Emberson -- Joshua Brown
Stuart Skinner
Calvin Pickard
Scratched: Derek Ryan, Max Jones, Cam Dineen
Injured: Mattias Ekholm (undisclosed), Trent Frederic (ankle), Evander Kane (hip, knee), John Klingberg (lower body), Alec Regula (knee), Troy Stecher (undisclosed)
Kings projected lineup
Andrei Kuzmenko -- Anze Kopitar -- Adrian Kempe
Warren Foegele -- Phillip Danault -- Trevor Moore
Kevin Fiala -- Quinton Byfield -- Alex Laferriere
Jeff Malott -- Samuel Helenius -- Alex Turcotte
Mikey Anderson -- Drew Doughty
Vladislav Gavrikov -- Jordan Spence
Joel Edmundson -- Brandt Clarke
Darcy Kuemper
David Rittich
Scratched: Kyle Burroughs, Akil Thomas, Pheonix Copley, Jacob Moverare, Trevor Lewis
Injured: Tanner Jeannot (undisclosed)
Status report
Kane, a forward, and defensemen Ekholm and Stecher have been ruled out for Game 1. … Frederic, a forward, is a game-time decision. … The Kings held an optional morning skate. … Copley, a goalie, was recalled on an emergency basis from Ontario of the American Hockey League on Monday. … Jeannot, a forward, remains week to week.
After a couple interesting games to kick off the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, we move to day two, and three more series getting underway including another edition of the Battle of Ontario.
Three games on tap today, as we hit day two of the Stanley Cup Playoffs (as well as the gold medal final between Canada and the US at the Women's Worlds in Czechia), but first, let's recap last night's games, shall we?
Winnipeg Jets 5 St Louis Blues 3 (Jets lead series 1-0)
The Jets and Blues both looked a little shaky to start this one, and a much anticipated goaltenders' duel was beginning to look like a dud as they finished the first period 2-2. The Blues took a 3-2 lead in the 2nd period, when Jordan Kyrou scored the Blues' 2nd power play goal of the game, but the Jets came roaring back in the third period. Alex Iafallo tied it, and then Kyle Connor scored what would prove to be the winner with just over a minute and a half to go to take a 1-0 series lead.
Colorado Avalanche 5 Dallas Stars 1 (Avalanche lead series 1-0)
Mackenzie Blackwood was outstanding in his first ever post-season appearance, stopping 23 of 24 Dallas shots as Colorado stole home ice advantage in an impressive 5-1 Game One victory. Nathan MacKinnon is off on what could be another monster playoff performance with a two goal, one assist night. Logan O'Connor added two assists as the Avs quieted a pumped up Dallas crowd.
CAROLINA HURRICANES (0-0) vs NEW JERSEY DEVILS (0-0)
LENOVO CENTER, RALEIGH, NC
12:00 PM PST/ 3:00 PM EST
TV: SPORTSNET, SN360
After a couple Western Conference battles, the first of two Eastern Conference matchups gets underway this afternoon as New Jersey heads to Raleigh to take on the Carolina Hurricanes. The Hurricanes limped into the playoffs, losing seven of eight before winning their last two games of the season. The Devils meanwhile had won four of their last five to finish off the season. While the Devils are definitely the underdogs of this series, Carolina's recent poor play and a strong Devils PP could give them a chance against the NHL's best penalty kill.
Here's what nhl dot com says we'll see as far as lineups...
Stefan Noesen -- Nico Hischier -- Jesper Bratt
Erik Haula -- Dawson Mercer -- Timo Meier
Paul Cotter -- Cody Glass -- Daniel Sprong
Ondrej Palat -- Justin Dowling -- Nathan Bastian
Luke Hughes -- Brett Pesce
Brenden Dillon -- Dougie Hamilton
Brian Dumoulin -- Jonathan Kovacevic
Jacob Markstrom
Jake Allen
Scratched: Dennis Cholowski, Kurtis MacDermid, Seamus Casey, Simon Nemec, Nolan Foote, Tomas Tatar, Curtis Lazar
Injured: Jonas Siegenthaler (lower body)
Seth Jarvis -- Sebastian Aho -- Jackson Blake
Taylor Hall -- Jesperi Kotkaniemi -- Andrei Svechnikov
Jordan Martinook -- Jordan Staal -- Logan Stankoven
William Carrier -- Mark Jankowski -- Eric Robinson
Jaccob Slavin -- Brent Burns
Dmitry Orlov -- Jalen Chatfield
Shayne Gostisbehere -- Sean Walker
Frederik Andersen
Pyotr Kochetkov
Scratched: Tyson Jost, Jack Roslovic, Alexander Nikishin
Injured: None
With the Devils missing Jack Hughes and Jonas Siegenthaler, it's hard to see them coming out on top, but that's the beauty of the NHL playoffs: upsets can and do happen.
TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (0-0) vs OTTAWA SENATORS (0-0)
SCOTIABANK ARENA, TORONTO, ON
4:00 PM PST/ 7:00 PM EST
TV: SPORTSNET, CBC
The one everyone will be watching, for sure. Any meetings between these two teams always guarantees both entertaining hockey and bad blood and with Brady Tkachuk set to appear in his first ever NHL playoff game, you know things are gonna get a little nuts. The Sens swept the season series between these two teams, but apart from that, the Leafs were very good this year. Can they overcome years of playoff failure in the early rounds? If there's a team that could continue their misery, it's definitely the Ottawa Senators.
VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS (0-0) vs MINNESOTA WILD (0-0)
T-MOBILE ARENA, LAS VEGAS, NV
7:00 PM PST/ 10:00 PM EST
TV: SPORTSNET, SN 360
It won't come as a shock if this is the first series completed. The Wild are fortunate to be here in the post season, and their hard work down the stretch is rewarded with a date against a team that is gonna turn them inside out. Vegas has good goaltending, a high powered offence and a tough, steady defence core that is simply better than anything Minnesota can muster. They might steal a game, but the post-season is gonna be a short one for the Wild.
GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN
Here's a ripper from a new metal super group bursting from the Bay Area for ya. NEFARIOUS have some thrash metal royalty in their ranks, with Katon W. DePena (vocals), guitarists Rick Hunolt (Exodus) and Doug Piercy (Heathen), bassist Tom Gears (Blind Illusion) and drummer Will Carroll (Death Angel), they have managed to put something together that's a nice blend of old school and modern sounds, and without any obvious nods to any of their previous acts. I like what I hear so far, and will definitely check out the full release.
The hunt for Lord Stanley's mug begins tonight as sixteen teams embark on their quest for hockey glory. And with 5 Canadian teams in the playoffs this year, will the Cup finally be coming home?
WINNIPEG JETS (0-0) vs ST LOUIS BLUES (0-0)
CANADA LIFE CENTRE, WINNIPEG MB
3:00 PM PST/ 6:00 PM EST
TV: SPORTSNET, CBC
The Presidents' Trophy can sometimes be a curse (believe us we know. In the last decade, only two of the teams who were at the top of the standings in the regular season advanced to the second round. The Jets, no strangers to disappointing playoff exits are hoping that this season provides a change to that narrative.
They've been an absolute beast all season long, with a speedy, skillful offensive attack, solid defence and the NHL's best goaltender in Connor Hellebuyck. And while they're going to be without Nikolas Ehlers for possibly the first round, it's not enough to derail the team that could be Canada's best hope to bring home the Cup in a long time.
They go up against a St Louis team that floundered through the first half of the season before going on a ridiculous heater in the tail end of the season to snag a wild card slot. Unlike 2019, when they went from last place in the NHL to their first ever Stanley Cup, this Cinderella isn't staying at the ball. The Blues will put up a fight, but this Jets team is on a mission, and ready to give the Whiteout something to cheer about.
LINEUPS
Over on nhl dot com, they say to watch for this...
Kyle Connor -- Mark Scheifele -- Alex Iafallo
Nino Niederreiter -- Vladislav Namestnikov -- Cole Perfetti
Brandon Tanev -- Adam Lowry -- Mason Appleton
David Gustafsson -- Morgan Barron -- Jaret Anderson-Dolan
Josh Morrissey -- Dylan DeMelo
Dylan Samberg -- Neal Pionk
Colin Miller -- Luke Schenn
Connor Hellebuyck
Eric Comrie
Scratched: Ville Heinola, Haydn Fleury, Logan Stanley, Dominic Toninato
Injured: Nikolaj Ehlers (lower body), Gabriel Vilardi (upper body), Rasmus Kupari (concussion)
Jake Neighbours -- Robert Thomas -- Pavel Buchnevich
Jimmy Snuggerud -- Brayden Schenn -- Jordan Kyrou
Mathieu Joseph -- Oskar Sundqvist -- Zack Bolduc
Alexey Toropchenko -- Radek Faksa -- Nathan Walker
Cam Fowler -- Colton Parayko
Philip Broberg -- Justin Faulk
Ryan Suter -- Nick Leddy
Jordan Binnington
Joel Hofer
Scratched: Tyler Tucker, Dalibor Dvorsky, Matthew Kessel, Alexandre Texier
Injured: Dylan Holloway (lower body)
COLORADO AVALANCHE (0-0) vs DALLAS STARS (0-0)
BALL ARENA, DENVER, CO
5:30 PM PST/ 8:30 PM EST
TV: SPORTSNET, SN360
With a different first round opponent, I could see the Dallas Stars being legit Cup contenders. But having to go against a Colorado team looking very much like they're ready for a long run, and losing Jason Robertson to injury the other night, the Dallas Stars appear to be headed for an early exit this spring. And while the acquisition of ex-Avs forward Mikko Rantanen will help them overcome the loss of Robertson somewhat, Colorado is a different beast in the playoffs, and with a fired up Nathan MacKinnon, and the return of Gabe Landeskog for his first game since they won the Cup in 2022, the Ball Arena is going to be absolutely electric tonight.
These two teams have a healthy dislike for each other, and it's almost a shame that they have to meet this early, but it will still be one of the most entertaining series of the first round. It will be interesting to see if the Stars are still mired in the funk of the last couple weeks, one that saw that record breaking last minute collapse at the hands of the Canucks along with a number of somewhat shocking losses. They're definitely not playing their best hockey at the moment, can Pete De Boer get his team back on track?
LINEUPS
This is what the nhl dot com site tells us to expect...
GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN
"Do you wanna fight on Saturday Night?" Oh, you better f'n believe it! Ireland's finest GAMA BOMB are back with a 4 song EP 'Necronomicon Automaton', and it shows the lads in fine form. The first track "Nunchucks!" is an absolute belter! Check it out here, available now from Prosthetic Records.
There may not be Canucks hockey to watch, but it's gonna be fun nonetheless. Don't forget to check out our playoff prediction thread!
