Elias Lindholm was an NHL All-Star in February, then struggled to live up to the billing. Dealt to Vancouver on the eve of the midseason showcase, Lindholm scored 12 points in 26 games and missed weeks with a wrist injury as the Canucks slipped out of Presidents' Trophy contention.They still made the playoffs comfortably, giving Lindholm a platform to shine. The Canucks' third-line center sniped their icebreaking goal against the Predators. His faceoff win and hustle on the forecheck created linemate Dakota Joshua's Game 1 winner. In Game 4's overtime, Lindholm's one-timer at the foot of the crease completed a furious comeback, pushed Vancouver to the brink of advancing, and demonstrated why he was a trade target.To keep pace in an arms race, most Western Conference playoff teams swapped future first-round draft picks for instant help. Lindholm and four fellow pending unrestricted free agents - Avalanche defenseman Sean Walker, Jets center Sean Monahan, and the Oilers' Adam Henrique-Sam Carrick forward duo - commanded that price ahead of the deadline. The Golden Knights surrendered firsts for Noah Hanifin and Tomas Hertl, and both are signed into the 2030s. Danny Murphy / Icon Sportswire / Getty ImagesA lot rides on these moves. Rentals can swing a tight matchup or sag under the pressure to contribute, doing little to justify the steep acquisition cost. Teams that trade their upcoming first-rounder risk losing a decent selection if they bomb out of the playoffs. Reaching the conference final or Stanley Cup Final, which lowers the draft pick to the end of the round, makes the gambit worthwhile, though winning it all is the obvious goal.Henrique pitched in to help the Oilers oust the Kings with a rip under the crossbar in the series opener. Edmonton's nine power-play goals, plus a couple scored right after penalties expired, relieved Henrique of the need to do much else. The versatile 34-year-old has the shot and instincts to own some future clutch moment, either while riding shotgun on Connor McDavid's line or at center in a reconfigured bottom six.The Golden Knights trail the Stars 3-2 in a Round 1 slugfest. In Wednesday's close Dallas win, Hanifin floated a point shot for his third power-play assist of the series and made an assertive stick check to foil a two-on-one, showcasing his two-way value. Hertl threatened to light the lamp on Jack Eichel's wing but is running out of time to bury pucks. Vegas has been heavily outchanced and outscored 4-0 in Hertl's five-on-five shifts, per Natural Stat Trick. Darcy Finley / NHL / Getty ImagesColorado's elimination of Winnipeg showed the ups and downs of renting. Walker's ability to skate and spark breakouts on the third defense pair offset the potential downside of trading Bowen Byram for Casey Mittelstadt, who's become a key playmaker up front in the relentless Avalanche attack. Monahan managed one power-play helper in the Jets' defeat, disappointing in his brief stint as second-line center.Over the past 10 years, 62 players were acquired in-season for packages involving their new team's first-round pick, according to CapFriendly's historical trade tracker. These big bets, executed with urgency before the deadline, were varyingly effective.Parting with draft assets helped recent champions triumph. Although Vegas missed the playoffs in the season of the Eichel blockbuster, he was the postseason points leader during last year's trip to the mountaintop. The star-laden Lightning brought in complementary pieces over several years, reaching a final with Brandon Hagel after Braydon Coburn, Barclay Goodrow, Ryan McDonagh, and David Savard stuck around to win Cups.The Blackhawks' deadline addition of third-line center Antoine Vermette, a pure rental, looked genius when he netted multiple game-winners in the 2015 Cup Final. Other champs wheeled and dealed in the offseason. The Avalanche got Darcy Kuemper, the Blues bagged Ryan O'Reilly, and the Penguins procured Phil Kessel for first-round picks in the summers before Cup victories.First-rounders were swapped like candy in 2023, producing mixed results. Paul Swanson / NHL / Getty ImagesMattias Ekholm, the steady hand of the Oilers' stellar top pair, continues to tilt the ice with defense partner Evan Bouchard. Retaining Vladislav Gavrikov didn't spur a Kings playoff run. Most Maple Leafs and Bruins reinforcements promptly departed, though Boston's addition and eight-year extension of Hampus Lindholm in 2022 constituted a masterstroke.Along those lines, Timo Meier has seven more seasons under contract to help the Devils rediscover their oomph. The five picks the Lightning offloaded for depth winger Tanner Jeannot are dearly missed. It could be worse: The Senators haven't been a playoff squad since 2017 despite splurging high picks to land Matt Duchene, Alex DeBrincat, and Jakob Chychrun.Recipients of first-rounders have ammo to make another move. The Lightning fetched Blake Coleman, a glue guy in both Cup lineups, for a Canucks pick that was part of their J.T. Miller swap. Trading Bo Horvat in 2023 let Vancouver acquire Filip Hronek, who empowered partner Quinn Hughes to chase this season's Norris Trophy. Icing the right mix of players is worth a steep price, especially when another team helps foot the bill.Nick Faris is a features writer at theScore.Copyright (C) 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Find year-round coverage of betting news and insights for all sports by visiting our Betting section and subscribing to push notifications.And then there was one ... game Thursday night.The Maple Leafs surprised many and kept "Be-Leaf" alive in Boston in Game 5 with an overtime victory. Now they have to do what they haven't done in a while: win a home playoff game.Game 6: Bruins (-110) @ Maple Leafs (-110)If you're confused about what to expect for Game 6, join the club.Luckily, with no shortage of intrigue, if you don't want to flip the coin on betting a game that's seen its odds hover around a true pick'em, this matchup should keep even the most casual observer engaged. Fluctuating moneyline prices, goalie changes, star unavailability, and four of five road winners have filled this series.With all those elements thrown into the metaphorical pot, let's look at what's gone into the betting market's closing line for the home team in each game:GAMEHOME TEAM MLIMPLIED WIN PROB.1BOS -13557.4%2BOS -14058.3%3TOR -11052.4%4TOR -13056.5%5BOS -17063.0%6TOR -11052.4%Everything mostly made sense in Games 1 and 2. After the Bruins' opening win, they got more credit ahead of the rematch. But that was tempered somewhat by a change from Jeremy Swayman to Linus Ullmark, as Boston kept to its goalie rotation. The Leafs rewarded those seeing the value in backing them against Ullmark as they tied the series 1-1.A location shift from Boston to Toronto sent the Leafs' implied win probability (IWP) in the market from 44.4% to win Game 1 to 52.4% to win Game 3. During the regular season, an average consideration for home-ice advantage is 3.5% from neutral or 7% for home-to-road. Going to 8% for home ice wouldn't be a stretch in the playoffs.What happened before Game 4 to send the Leafs from -110 as the opener to -130 as the closing moneyline?

Anze Kopitar didn't need many words to summarize how he and his Los Angeles Kings were coping knowing the Edmonton Oilers vanquished them from the Stanley Cup Playoffs once again Wednesday."(It's) definitely a disappointing feeling, obviously, for the third year in a row, and yeah, it just sucks right now," the Kings captain said postgame.Kopitar wasn't interested in criticizing the officiating in the decisive contest or the series as a whole."Whether they were penalties or not, the bottom line is we've got to get the job done on the penalty kill and we didn't do it throughout the five games," he said. "It wasn't just (Wednesday night)."The Oilers went nine-for-20 (45%) on the power play in the series. Edmonton also scored two goals in Game 5 that came seconds (four and three, respectively) after a Kings penalty expired.Drew Doughty echoed Kopitar's sentiment about falling to the Oilers yet again, calling it "super frustrating." Like the captain, he pointed to the Kings' penalty kill as a sore spot."Yes, they have an amazing (power play), amazing players, and (they) threw a lot of different things at us, but a lot of those goals were preventable, in my opinion," the veteran defenseman said. "If we had a better P.K., I think the series would've been - I mean, we would've taken it deeper, for sure."Doughty also avoided taking shots at the referees."When you watch the video, you might see something different, but they're trying to do their best just like we're trying to do our best out there, and I'm not going to put any blame on the refs," he said. "We lost 4-1 in the series, so that had nothing to do with reffing."Kings head coach Jim Hiller agreed with his players that the reason for their first-round exit this time around wasn't complicated."It's a pretty simple write-up on this one," he said. "You saw one team execute and one team not on special teams."Kopitar and Doughty are under contract through 2025-26 and 2026-27, respectively. But the Kings have several pending unrestricted free agents, including all three of their goaltenders, forward Viktor Arvidsson, and defenseman Matt Roy.The Oilers will face either the Vancouver Canucks or Nashville Predators in the second round. The Canucks lead that series 3-2, with Game 6 scheduled for Friday night in Tennessee.Copyright (C) 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

For the third consecutive season, the Edmonton Oilers eliminated the Los Angeles Kings to punch their ticket to the second round of the playoffs.This time, the Oilers dispatched their Pacific Division rivals in five games. Edmonton took down L.A. in seven contests in 2022 and in six outings in 2023.Leon Draisaitl was key to Edmonton's 4-3 victory Wednesday night with a two-goal performance, while Zach Hyman scored the eventual winner.Draisaitl is now up to 36 career playoff goals, tying him with Craig Simpson and Paul Coffey for the sixth-most in franchise history."It's fun," the German superstar told Sportsnet's Gene Principe postgame. "I like helping my team win when it matters most. It's always my goal to be a big-time player. For the most part, I think I've done that in my career, but hopefully I can keep it going a little bit."Edmonton did most of its damage in the second period. Blake Lizotte gave the Kings their first and only lead of the game early on in the frame, but Draisaitl scored back-to-back tallies and Hyman capped off the run of three unanswered goals.Los Angeles forward Adrian Kempe made things interesting in the final minutes of regulation by drawing his team within one, but that's as close as the Kings would get.Evander Kane opened the scoring for Edmonton in the first stanza, but Alex Laferriere capitalized on a wild carom in the last minute of the period to enter the intermission tied at 1-1.Stuart Skinner turned aside 18 of 21 shots to help backstop his team to victory. At the other end of the rink, David Rittich surrendered four goals on 26 shots in his fourth career postseason appearance.The Kings haven't won a playoff series since 2014."They're always extremely hard to play against," Draisaitl said. "They certainly don't make it easy on you. Hats off to that group over there, we've battled with them a lot over the last couple years here. It's a great team over there, but so are we."Next up for Edmonton is a meeting with the Vancouver Canucks or Nashville Predators. The former leads that series 3-2 with Game 6 scheduled for Friday.Last spring, the Oilers fell to the Vegas Golden Knights in the second round.Copyright (C) 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Alex Pietrangelo has taken a costly roughing penalty in back-to-back playoff games, and Bruce Cassidy has had enough."Veteran guy should know better," the Golden Knights coach told reporters following Vegas' 3-2 Game 5 loss to the Dallas Stars.Pietrangelo didn't speak to the media.After Tyler Seguin received a minor penalty for an illegal check to the head of Golden Knights rearguard Shea Theodore during the second period, Pietrangelo was penalized later in the frame for swatting his hand into the Stars forward's face.

The Vegas Golden Knights turned to Adin Hill for Game 5 of their first-round playoff series against the Dallas Stars on Wednesday night.He made 22 saves on 25 shots during the defending champs' 3-2 defeat.Hill hadn't played since the regular-season finale on April 18, when he gave up three goals in a 4-1 loss to the Anaheim Ducks.Last spring, he took over the Vegas crease midway through the championship run and ultimately went 11-4 with a .932 save percentage across 16 games en route to lifting the Stanley Cup.

If you're a Major League Baseball fan and watch your favorite team through a Comcast cable subscription, there's a good chance you awoke to an unpleasant new reality Wednesday."Bally Sports is no longer available."This isn't just an MLB problem. Unless a new deal is struck, many fans of NBA and NHL teams who watch via Comcast are affected, as well. USA Today reported that Tuesday's Vancouver Canucks-Nashville Predators telecast on Bally Sports South was removed by Comcast at midnight ET, in the middle of the broadcast.The news of Comcast's and Diamond Sports Group's split is a new development in the accelerating future of live sports on TV. Cord-cutting has removed revenues from a once-flush industry. Now, having a cord - Comcast's cord - doesn't even guarantee access.Downstream, the cable disruption is affecting pro sports, too. Deals between teams and regional sports networks (RSNs) account for about a quarter of all MLB revenue.Reports indicate the failure of negotiations between Diamond, which filed for bankruptcy more than a year ago, and Comcast is about Comcast's desire to move all Bally Sports channels to a more expensive and exclusive programming tier. Diamond wants to keep Bally Sports on the basic tier. Their most recent agreement expired Tuesday night. SOPA Images / LightRocket / Getty ImagesTo date, it's mostly been streaming players like YouTube TV and Hulu that have balked at the RSNs' carriage fees. The streamers have kept their bundles skinnier and cheaper - that's their strategy. But now Comcast, the second-largest traditional cable operator, is shedding the largest RSN player."Even the distributors that are seeing success - namely YouTube TV - are doing so without RSNs," said Alex Morris, a media equities analyst with TSOH Investment Research. "There are also ways to access out-of-market packages for most leagues without a linear TV subscription. Fragmentation and competition, in combination with rising costs, have led to an untenable situation."Traditional cable companies like Comcast have stuck with RSNs in part because local live sports have helped keep the bundle afloat. Even as customer bases have shrunk, live sports ratings remain steady. But as cord-cutters depart, they've passed along the cost of carrying RSNs and other specialty channels to fewer subscribers. Meanwhile, content costs haven't decreased. Those increasing cable bills place more and more pressure on existing customers, even those who love sports.To stay afloat and try to slow subscriber losses, Comcast is now tossing some of its most precious and heaviest cargo overboard: live, local pro sports.Meanwhile, YouTube TV is growing and recently surpassed 8 million subscribers. It's on pace to become the largest pay-TV provider by 2026, according to Michael Nathanson of New York media research company MoffattNathanson."There is still plenty of live sports without RSNs, and they don't really have any of games that actually matter - playoffs, championships, etc.," Morris said. "So in terms of where to save money on sports, (RSNs) are the clearest target. Also helps that YouTube TV has been the clearest winner of the past few years despite shunning RSN deals."Comcast's loss of subscribers has proceeded unabated since the end of 2018. With 13.6 million subscribers reported in the first quarter this year, that's a 38% drop in less than six years.

Matthew Knies scored 2:26 into overtime on Tuesday to keep the Toronto Maple Leafs' season alive. The Boston Bruins lead the first-round playoff series 3-2. Here are six battles that'll determine the outcome of Game 6 on Thursday in Toronto.Power play vs. power playOne team has spent 32:40 on the power play and scored a grand total of one goal. The other's been on the man advantage for 21:40 and scored six times.There's the series. Otherwise, the Bruins and Leafs have played to a near draw; the cumulative score at even strength is 9-8 Boston. Mark Blinch / Getty ImagesToronto's power play, which finished seventh in the NHL in efficiency during the regular season, has recorded a playoff-high 64 shot attempts over 17 opportunities. Its lone goal: a John Tavares turnaround slap shot in Game 2.Auston Matthews missed Game 4's third period and the entirety of Game 5 due to illness and/or injury. His uncertain status looms large in general, and especially with regards to the power play and its potency.The Leafs rolled out a top unit of Tavares, Morgan Rielly, William Nylander, Mitch Marner, and Max Domi in Boston on Tuesday. Nylander's an excellent shooting option. After that, things get dicey. If Matthews remains unavailable, coach Sheldon Keefe should take Domi out for Nick Robertson and his rocket of a shot. Domi's earned the PP1 spot, but his skill set is redundant on a Marner-led unit. The Leafs need a legitimate triggerman besides Nylander.McCabe-Benoit vs. Pastrnak lineMatthews dominated Game 2, setting up the first two Toronto goals before scoring the decider in a 3-2 victory. We're still waiting for Matthews' counterpart, David Pastrnak, to author a signature performance of his own.Pastrnak scored 47 goals in the regular season - good for seventh in the NHL and 18 more than any other Bruin. He collected 63 assists - tied for 10th in the league and 25 clear of his teammates. He racked up 382 shots on goal - second and 175 clear.In other words, Boston's offense flows through the Czech winger. Pastrnak's contributed two five-on-five goals, one five-on-five assist, and one five-on-six assist in five playoff games - not terrible but also not good enough. Worse, he's only been credited with six high-danger shot attempts all series.Pastrnak's line with center Pavel Zacha and Jake DeBrusk or Danton Heinen has almost exclusively faced the Tavares line and the Jake McCabe-Simon Benoit pairing. Keefe owns last change in Game 6 and should chase that matchup again; McCabe was particularly disruptive and controlling in Tuesday's win.Uptempo game vs. grinding game Mark Blinch / Getty ImagesGame 5 was different. The action was free-flowing and the teams traded scoring chances. It was a brand of hockey that accentuated Toronto's strengths.The Leafs' first four games, on the other hand, were marred by poor puck movement, which led to lackluster zone exits and entries, which produced a virtually nonexistent rush game. Coupled with limited time in the offensive zone, that put a ceiling on Toronto's ability to wreak havoc.While all of those components vastly improved in Game 5, Boston's forecheck took a back seat. Will the Bruins surge again or did the Leafs unlock something? It was no coincidence that the improvements came alongside a better showing from Nylander, who made his series debut in Game 4 and thrives on the rush. Keep an eye on him.Bruins vs. first periodThis battle is connected to the one above: The Bruins got manhandled in Game 5's first period. They generated just seven shot attempts (two on goal) to Toronto's 31 (11 on goal) and were lucky to escape with a 1-1 score.That said, Boston's up in the series because the team has otherwise taken charge.Coach Jim Montgomery tinkered too much with a good thing when he scratched forward Johnny Beecher and defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk in Game 5. Replacements Justin Brazeau and Matt Grzelcyk weren't the answer, so a reversal is in order. Beecher's been extremely effective on the fourth line.Marchand vs. Domi Claus Andersen / Getty ImagesWith 118 saves on 124 shots, Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman has been the series MVP. Joseph Woll's four periods in the Leafs' net have been stellar too.What's more interesting than the goalie duel, though, is how Brad Marchand and Domi close out the best-of-seven set. Both are built to thrive in the playoffs and have enjoyed strong series, yet both left something to be desired in Game 5.Marchand came into Tuesday with three goals (including two game-winners), five assists (including four primary helpers), and zero penalty minutes. He left with the same point total, two minors for roughing, and limited footage to add to the highlight reel. It was arguably the captain's worst game of the series.Domi, meanwhile, went 10-for-10 in the faceoff circle in the first period, with one of his wins leading to the opening goal. He was dangerous most of the night; however, he botched a pair of two-on-one breaks. Anyone watching could tell he was thinking about passing the puck, and then he did - both times. The irony is that Domi actually has a decent shot. Use it!Both teams vs. external pressureThe fan base in Toronto is sick of this core losing in the playoffs. Game 5 helped turn the dial down on the noise, but it won't go away - nor should it. There's immense pressure on the Leafs to force a Game 7 on Saturday.Boston coughed up a 3-1 lead to the Florida Panthers in last year's first round after setting a record for most points in a regular season. This is a different season and different opponent. Still, there's no denying the elephant in the room.Which team can dig in, focus on the task at hand, and ultimately execute?On the individual level, while Marner has somewhat redeemed himself as the series has progressed, the $11-million man remains public enemy No. 1 locally. Any goodwill created in Game 5 will vanish if the should-be difference-maker fails to produce in Game 6.John Matisz is theScore's senior NHL writer. Follow John on Twitter (@MatiszJohn) or contact him via email (john.matisz@thescore.com).Copyright (C) 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

A night of sleep didn't stop Boston Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery from being upset over his team's 2-1 overtime loss in Game 5 against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday."I'm still pissed off from last night, to be honest," Montgomery told reporters Wednesday, per WBZ's Dan Roche. "I don't understand or accept our play from last night ... So I'm gonna be pissed off until puck drop tomorrow night."The Maple Leafs came out of the gate with their hair on fire, controlling 76.4% of the expected goals while outshooting the Bruins 11-2 in the first period. Boston played much better in the second and third periods before Matthew Knies ended it 2:26 into the extra frame."Our crowd is unbelievable, so you'd think that would get us off to a great start, but it didn't," Montgomery said.Montgomery made a pair of polarizing lineup changes before Game 5, swapping out John Beecher and Kevin Shattenkirk for Justin Brazeau and Matt Grzelcyk. The coach wouldn't confirm any changes for Thursday's Game 6.The Bruins, who now hold a 3-2 series lead, had a chance to close out the Leafs on Tuesday but will now head back to Toronto for Game 6. Boston won Games 3 and 4 at Scotiabank Arena, and Montgomery said playing on the road has its advantages in the postseason."It's so much easier to eliminate outside noise when you're on the road," the reigning Jack Adams Award winner said. "These guys are watching other playoff games together, they're going for meals together, we have team meals together, so it's a little easier to stay dialed in. And you're talking hockey a lot."The Bruins led the Florida Panthers 3-1 in Round 1 a year ago before losing three straight games to be eliminated.Copyright (C) 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper owned up Wednesday for remarks he made following the club's elimination from the playoffs.In the wake of Monday's 6-1 loss in which the Lightning had two goals called back for goaltender interference, Cooper expressed his frustration using phrasing he later regretted.

Rod Brind'Amour has enjoyed immense success as head coach of the Carolina Hurricanes, but as his team prepares for its Round 2 matchup against the New York Rangers, questions swirl around his future with the franchise.A contract extension for Brind'Amour, the 2021 Jack Adams Award winner, has yet to be finalized as he completes the final year of his existing deal."Confidants say he has become unsure about his future in Carolina, according to sources familiar with those conversations," reports The News & Observer's Luke DeCock.An extension once seemed close, but it's believed the offer has been pulled, reports TSN's Darren Dreger, adding that Brind'Amour wants to stay in Carolina.However, team owner Tom Dundon said an extension is nearing the finish line."I think it's all but done," Dundon told DeCock. "(General manager) Don (Waddell) and him are working on it. I don't think there's anything there. We're in the playoffs, and they haven't focused on it. They're doing it together. I said OK to almost everything they've asked me for. They're just getting through the last little stuff."Waddell declined to comment to DeCock, while Brind'Amour told the reporter via text message that it's "in Tom's hands."Waddell later added that he's "very confident" a deal will get done. "Rod wants to be a Hurricane for life," the GM said, per Chip Alexander of The News & Observer. "There will be a solution here quickly, I feel."Brind'Amour would be highly sought-after if he decided to test the open market this offseason. He's led the Hurricanes to at least one playoff series victory in each of his six seasons at the helm, making the conference finals in 2019 and 2023.The 53-year-old has spent the last 24 seasons with the Hurricanes organization. He played in Carolina for 10 years from 2000-10, captaining the franchise to its lone Stanley Cup in 2006. Immediately after retiring, he became the director of player development before moving to an assistant coach role in 2011 and taking the head coach job in 2018.There are currently seven NHL teams without a permanent head coach: the St. Louis Blues, Ottawa Senators, Los Angeles Kings, New Jersey Devils, San Jose Sharks, and Seattle Kraken. Brind'Amour has ties of varying degrees to three of those clubs. He notably started his playing career with the Blues, was born in Ottawa, and was teammates and colleagues with Kraken GM Ron Francis.Whenever Carolina's offseason gets underway, it stands to be busy. The team has several notable pending unrestricted free agents, including Teuvo Teravainen, Jake Guentzel, Jordan Martinook, Brady Skjei, and Brett Pesce.Copyright (C) 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Not long into the 1994 NHL lockout, the Glace Bay Minor Hockey Association realized it had a financial puzzle of its own to solve.While big-league owners and players negotiated a potential salary cap to limit the soaring cost of contracts, the small, volunteer-led minor hockey association in Nova Scotia instantly lost its main source of fundraising: NHL hockey pools. The NHL might've stalled, but minor hockey in Nova Scotia was as strong as ever, and its costs were soaring, too. It needed another funding avenue."The fundraiser was to combat the high cost of minor hockey for players and families in an economically depressed area," said James Edwards, current president of the Glace Bay Minor Hockey Association. "Don't forget, we're talking about the mid-90s in Cape Breton. The area was built on coal mines, steel, and fishing. Those three industries were on the way out. Unemployment was high and money was scarce."So Glace Bay tried something new: a 50/50 raffle, another fundraising staple that's embedded in hockey culture. Tickets were priced at $1, and parents dutifully volunteered to hawk them on delivery routes, in work yards, and at offices around the community."We had parents who traveled throughout the municipality, whether they were delivering bread or gas - we had the distribution network," Edwards said. "It caught on right away, and then it started to grow. Then with that, it offered immediate benefits. All of a sudden, we could eliminate the registration costs. Then the cost of the ice. Then we could help with the equipment."In the three decades since, the raffle's totals have ballooned to rival professional sports teams. In December 2023, the association's 50/50 jackpot reached $213,681.50 - which means it sold over 400,000 $1 tickets in the town of 16,915 people. What started as a temporary solution to weather a three-month NHL lockout became a permanent fixture."We're a multi-million-dollar organization," Edwards said. "You can just imagine how popular this ticket is. People have them at work, in convenience stores, service stations, taverns, pizza joints. They're everywhere. Merchants call us asking for the tickets because it brings people into their shop."Two minor hockey players share a laugh on the ice in Glace Bay SuppliedThe association has used the 50/50 proceeds to pay for refs, fund development camps for each hockey position, start a sledge hockey league, create a bursary that offsets postsecondary education costs, pay for cross-training, and create skating clubs for children as young as 2. It recently started a program for international students to try hockey for the first time."The problem with minor hockey development right now is the cost. But not in Glace Bay," Edwards said.It's a Canadian thingThe Glace Bay Minor Hockey Association might have the most striking results, but successful 50/50s are hardly limited to Nova Scotia. Across the country, but particularly in Western Canada, 50/50 draws are a standard part of the experience of attending a pro sporting event."Being born and raised in Edmonton, 50/50s are interwoven into our DNA," said Corey Smith, chairman of the Edmonton Oilers Community Foundation. Before the pandemic, when the Oilers took their 50/50 digital, draws traditionally occurred on-site during the third period of hockey games. "From my earliest memories of going to Oilers games with my dad, the big thing was always that we had to buy a 50/50 ticket," he said.The Oilers' recent 50/50 totals have been record-setting. "The summer of 2020 was the first time people had the opportunity to buy tickets online, and our topline revenue went to $90 million," Smith said. The Oilers bill their 50/50 as "the largest game-day raffle in professional sports" and now run draws that build across multiple home and away games to add up to super jackpots. Their Round 1 main raffle jackpot is already over $1 million, with at least one more game to go in the series. All those tickets are purchased within Alberta, per the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission guidelines on lotteries.The Winnipeg Jets have also adopted the cumulative 50/50 model; their Round 1 jackpot totaled $930,540 with a main prize of more than $820,000 and various early-bid draws before they were eliminated by the Avalanche in Game 5."The 50/50 has become part of the game experience in Western Canada," said Dwayne Green, the executive director of the Jets' True North Youth Foundation, which is funded by their 50/50. "People would always stay in the building to hear the 50/50 number, traditionally, before it was all done online. And maybe certain communities would use it to keep more people in the building if it was a lopsided score. We still announce it at our games because lots of people do stay."Musician Alan Doyle of the group Great Big Sea announces the winning 50/50 at a Jets game Jonathan Kozub / NHL / Getty ImagesSeveral NHL clubs have adopted the 50/50 draw, but the Western Canadian teams are outliers in size and scope. The Canucks, who opted for per-game 50/50 draws in Round 1, totaled more than $1.2 million in prizes in their first five games against the Predators. For comparison, the 50/50 pots for the Golden Knights' first two home games in Round 1 were $76,000 and $63,000. Regular-season totals underscore the difference even more drastically. The last time the Ducks and Kings met in the 2024 regular season - a Ducks home game in one of North America's most populated regions - the 50/50 sales totaled just $15,010, with the winner taking home $7,505.Even in Canada, results in the West stand out. The Toronto Maple Leafs gave away just $122,775 in cash 50/50 prizes so far in Round 1. Single jackpots for the Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators rarely broke six digits this season. The Toronto Blue Jays are the only team in the East that has generated million-dollar jackpots; they run in-stadium and online sales for single draws spanning multiple games to benefit the Jays Care Foundation.Actor Bill Murray, right, laughs as director Peter Farrelly checks his 50/50 tickets during a 2019 Canucks game Jeff Vinnick / NHL / Getty Images"I always find that, especially the prairie provinces, in Western Canada ... they love to be able to be part of something that turns out to be good," Green said. "And the odds are also pretty good. There are not a lot of lotteries that have odds like there are in the 50/50s that go on at NHL games in Western Canada. And, whether you win or lose, you feel like you've helped."Who do the funds help?Tim Adams, who founded Free Play for Kids in Edmonton, echoes Green's suggestion that fans in Western Canada embrace 50/50s because they get a sense they're helping their communities."I can remember buying 50/50 tickets at games and knowing the list of charities that were on there and genuinely feeling good about the fact that I have a chance to win a million bucks and someone else has been helped for a good cause," said Adams, whose charity is a recipient of funding from the Oilers' 50/50."It's absolutely huge to have a partner like that, who has the ability to help with funding, especially when it's tight. ... In the charitable space, most grants, you're lucky if they're a year. So we're constantly fighting and fighting and fighting. And we've had times where I'll go to the crew at the (Edmonton Oilers Community Foundation) and say, 'It's really tight this year and this funding has changed, and that one's changed. Can you help us?' And they've stepped in and helped, so it makes a big difference," he said.Provincial gaming legislation in Canada mandates that funds raised from lotteries remain in province. National organizations, such as former NHLer Mark Kirton's ALS super fund, direct funds to activities within the province from which they were donated. The Oilers have set aside some 50/50 proceeds for Kirton's work, which he has used to work with neurologists based in Alberta."That's probably one of the reasons people are buying tickets, right?" said Kirton, who noted that being able to see who the money is benefiting and knowing it stays local are both part of what donors are looking for in today's charitable landscape.But information on 50/50 proceeds might not be as clear as fans believe. For example, Charity Intelligence Canada, which monitors the financial transparency of registered Canadian nonprofits, gave the Oilers a C- for their public reporting. It noted that financial statements aren't posted online and have been redacted by the Canada Revenue Agency since 2015. It added that in 2022, after paying out prize money and licensing fees, the charity had just $14.5 million of the $74.1-million lottery revenue, representing only 20% of lottery revenues going to programs."It's an expensive program to run," Smith said. "Right out of the gate, half of every dollar that you raise goes out the door to the winner. That's a miserable cost of fundraising. And then you've got your Visa charges and your advertising charges."It's tough to use a traditional philanthropy world to measure our performance. When you think about the costs to raise $1, our costs are quite high, because at minimum, even if Visa said, 'We're not going to charge you a penny to sell these things,' our cost is at least 50 cents to $1."Despite that, he's still a proponent of the 50/50 as a fundraising tool because people get excited about it and contribute. "I'm of the view that as long as the cost of every dollar raised is not greater than $1, and the difference is going back to the community, we should keep going."The Glace Bay wayGlace Bay Minor Hockey Association might not have the reach of the pros, but what it lacks in geography and population, it's made up for with pure grit. The group has avoided fees that eat into the margins of its NHL counterparts by continuing to sell tickets in cash, and it has kept the cost of each ticket at $1 for 30 years. It now sells over 3 million tickets annually. Three police officers preside over counting funds and tickets every Sunday afternoon during the regular season."At Christmastime, there's close to half a million dollars on the table," Edwards said.James Edwards pulls the winning 50/50 ticket during the Glace Bay Minor Hockey Association's Christmas draw in 2021 Supplied"Usually, the winner is local. And if someone wins $50,000, chances are, the entire amount of money that was generated in that week is going to be spent right here in the local area. Whether it's a car dealership or a restaurant or whatever, everybody's going to benefit," he said."Any kid who wants to play hockey in the community can," he added. "If it wasn't for the Glace Bay minor hockey 50/50 draw, there's a lot of kids who would not be participating in the game that Canada loves." Because of that, Edwards doesn't foresee the 50/50 in Glace Bay changing any time soon."The first rule of hockey is you don't tamper with a winning lineup."Jolene Latimer is a features writer at theScore.Copyright (C) 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Quinn Hughes of the Vancouver Canucks, Roman Josi of the Nashville Predators, and Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche are this season's Norris Trophy finalists, the league announced Wednesday.Members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association vote on the award at the end of each regular season. The Norris Trophy recognizes "the defense player who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-round ability in the position."A first-time finalist, Hughes is considered the favorite to win the hardware. He led all defensemen with 75 assists and 92 points - including 54 at even strength - in 82 games while leading the Canucks in average ice time (24:41).The 24-year-old also ranked first among all rearguards in goals above replacement (24.9) and wins above replacement (4.1). Vancouver dictated 57.2% of the shot attempts, 54.8% of the expected goals, and 57.7% of the scoring chances while outscoring opponents 92-55 with Hughes on the ice at five-on-five.A Canucks player has never won the Norris Trophy or been a finalist for the hardware. Hughes finished ninth on the ballot last campaign and 13th the season before.The other two finalists have a lot more experience with the honor.Josi took home the Norris Trophy in 2020 and was the runner-up two years ago. The Predators captain led all blue-liners with 23 goals and ranked third with 85 points while appearing in all 82 contests for the first time since 2018-19. He was also the hottest defenseman down the stretch, pacing his peers with 40 points in 31 games since the All-Star break to help Nashville make the playoffs.The 33-year-old veteran placed third among rearguards in both GAR (22) and WAR (3.6). The Predators controlled 53.8% of the shot attempts, 55.3% of the expected goals, and 53.6% of the scoring chances while outscoring opponents 82-63 with Josi on the ice at five-on-five. Nashville was outscored 90-86 when he was on the bench.Makar, meanwhile, is a finalist for the fourth straight year. He won the Norris Trophy in 2022.The 25-year-old finished second among all blue-liners with 21 goals and 90 points in 77 games and third with 70 takeaways, while his 1.17 point-per-game rate was the highest in the class. He also saw the most average ice time (24:46) of the three finalists.Colorado dictated 52.9% of the shot attempts, 52.7% of the expected goals, and 55.5% of the scoring chances while outscoring opponents 72-64 with Makar on the ice at five-on-five.Details surrounding the 2024 NHL Awards have yet to be finalized, but reports indicate the event will be held June 27 in Las Vegas.(Analytics sources: Natural Stat Trick, Evolving Hockey)Copyright (C) 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Find year-round coverage of betting news and insights for all sports by visiting our Betting section and subscribing to push notifications.We put together another 2-1 card Tuesday night. William Nylander soared over his shot total and Quinn Hughes picked up an assist on the Canucks' lone goal. Unfortunately, Artturi Lehkonen didn't reach three shots against the Jets despite scoring.Let's look at three players worth backing Wednesday night as we set our sights on a sweep.Wyatt Johnston: Over 3.5 shotsJohnston's shooting the puck like there's no tomorrow. He's tallied 27 scoring chances and 43 shot attempts through just four games, both of which lead the Stars by a country mile.Jamie Benn (14) is the closest in scoring chances, while Miro Heiskanen is second in attempts (30). Johnston is lapping the field.His success with regards to shots on goal came in Vegas, but Johnston's process was very strong at home as well. He attempted 17 shots over the first two games of the series; he just missed the target on 13 of them.Johnston's volume is encouragingly high on a nightly basis, and his usage reflects that. He leads all Stars forwards in five-on-five ice time in this series, which is no small feat considering they roster high-end forwards like Jason Robertson and Roope Hintz.Given how well he played while dragging Dallas back into the series, Pete DeBoer will undoubtedly look to ride the hot hand in Game 5.Odds: +110 (playable to -110)Leon Draisaitl: Over 2.5 shotsDraisaitl's shot the puck quite a bit in this series. He's piled up 17 shots on goal through the first four games, second to only Adrian Kempe on either side.Draisaitl's an efficient shooter, but his volume is generally inconsistent - until the postseason. Since the beginning of the 2023 playoffs, the German has picked up at least three shots in 15 of 17 outings and nine of 10 against these same Kings.The lone exception came in Game 4 when Draisaitl took only two shots while missing the target on three other opportunities. Otherwise, he recorded 11 shots on goal over the first two contests while playing at home, nearly double the six he put up on the road.With a chance to put away the series, I expect Draisaitl to be at his best and get right back on track when it comes to shooting the puck.Odds: -134 (playable to -155)Kevin Fiala: Over 2.5 shotsFiala recorded over three shots in each of the first four games and attempted at least seven in every contest.Nobody in the series has matched Fiala's attempt volume (34), and the location of the game hasn't impacted his ability to generate shots. Fiala attempted 17 shots over the two contests in Edmonton and subsequently did the same thing in Los Angeles.Shooting success against the Oilers is nothing new for Fiala: He's gone over his total in six of the past seven head-to-head meetings and 12 of the last 16.Fiala's ice time has also increased as the series has progressed. He should see roughly 20 minutes in a do-or-die game for the Kings - more than enough time to hit three shots in what has mostly been a high-event series.Odds: -125 (playable to -150)Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. You can follow him on X at @ToddCordell.Copyright (C) 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Find year-round coverage of betting news and insights for all sports by visiting our Betting section and subscribing to push notifications.Two more teams were shown the door Tuesday. The Avalanche are the first Western Conference club to advance, and our first second-round series is set, with the Hurricanes taking on the Rangers. Meanwhile, the Maple Leafs and Predators assured the hockey world there won't be a dark night on the NHL schedule this week.Wednesday features the league's best chance for a seven-game series. The home team is still looking for its first victory in the Golden Knights-Stars matchup, while a Stanley Cup contender seems ready to join the list of squads for Round 2.Game 5: Golden Knights (+135) @ Stars (-155)The most fascinating series of the first round can be broken down as follows:

Josh Morrissey wants the Winnipeg Jets' series loss to the Colorado Avalanche to resonate with his teammates and inspire them going forward."Right now it's just disappointing, it's frustrating, it feels like a missed opportunity ... but the only way that there's any good from this is that we learn from it," the Jets defenseman said following a 6-3 defeat in Game 5 of their first-round matchup that ended Winnipeg's season Tuesday night."They brought the Stanley Cup-winning class to this series, and we didn't return it for three or four of those games," Morrissey added. "So we have levels that we need to find this offseason, and I hope it stings for all of us into the summer, and we use it as motivation."The Avalanche outscored the Jets 28-15 in the series, including 5-2, 6-2, and 5-1 wins alongside the aforementioned 6-3 victory over the final four contests.Vezina Trophy finalist and favorite Connor Hellebuyck struggled mightily throughout the five games, finishing with a .864 save percentage and 24 goals allowed. However, Hellebuyck has also faced the most shots and made the most saves among all netminders in these playoffs, so Morrissey wasn't interested in singling him out for the team's fate."I'm not going to put any blame on Helly, that's for sure," the blue-liner said. "We wouldn't be where we're at right now if it weren't for him, the way he's played all year. Go through a lot of those goals and tell me if he could've stopped them."

Mikko Rantanen scored twice in the third period as the Colorado Avalanche won 6-3 in Tuesday's Game 5 to eliminate the Winnipeg Jets.The Avalanche will play either the Dallas Stars or Vegas Golden Knights in the second round. Colorado is the first lower seed to advance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs this year."We came in really humble this year," star forward Nathan MacKinnon told Sportsnet's Scott Oake. "We were really bad down the stretch. We got beat by these guys 7-0 at home, and for whatever reason, it just kind of woke us up that we really needed to fix some things. Right now, we've got every guy playing really hard and playing the right way."The Jets dropped four straight games after winning the series opener 7-6. Winnipeg became the first team in NHL history to allow five or more goals in five consecutive contests to commence a postseason, according to Sportsnet Stats.Vezina Trophy favorite Connor Hellebuyck ends the series with an .864 save percentage and a 5.23 goals-against average.Colorado lost to the Seattle Kraken in Round 1 last season after winning the Stanley Cup in 2022. It's the second straight first-round exit in five games for the Jets, who lost to the eventual champion Vegas Golden Knights last year.Copyright (C) 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Carolina Hurricanes eliminated the New York Islanders with a 6-3 victory in Tuesday's Game 5.The Hurricanes will face the Presidents' Trophy-winning New York Rangers in the second round.More to come.Copyright (C) 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Arturs Silovs will get the opportunity to clinch a series win for the Vancouver Canucks.The rookie is in net for Game 5 of their first-round playoff series against the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night. Silovs was Vancouver's surprise starter in Game 4 on Sunday in the wake of injuries to Thatcher Demko and Casey DeSmith.Both Silovs and DeSmith got the standard "starter's chat" from goaltending coach Ian Clark at Tuesday's morning skate, according to The Athletic's Thomas Drance. After practice, Silovs left the ice first - a ritual usually carried out by the starting netminder - but head coach Rick Tocchet later said it would be a game-time decision.Silovs made 27 saves en route to the Canucks' 4-3 victory in Game 4, which Vancouver forward Elias Lindholm ended in overtime to give his team a 3-1 series lead. It was Silovs' playoff debut.The 23-year-old Latvian played only nine regular-season NHL games over the last two campaigns, which he spent primarily with the Canucks' AHL affiliate in Abbotsford.DeSmith allowed three goals on 15 shots during a 4-1 loss in Game 2, then bounced back with a 29-save performance in a 2-1 victory in Game 3.Copyright (C) 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Auston Matthews isn't in the Toronto Maple Leafs' lineup for Game 5 of their first-round series against the Boston Bruins on Tuesday night.The 69-goal-scorer missed the third period of Toronto's Game 4 defeat due to illness. He's believed to be battling injury too, according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe noted Sunday that it's been a lingering, atypical illness that's gotten worse when Matthews has been on the ice.Matthews won the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy by 12 goals over Florida Panthers forward Sam Reinhart this season, claiming the hardware for the third time in four years.Meanwhile, Joseph Woll is starting in goal for the Leafs on Tuesday over Ilya Samsonov. Woll relieved Samsonov for the final frame in the aforementioned 3-1 loss on Saturday that gave the Bruins a 3-1 series lead.The American stopped all five shots he faced in that game while making his first playoff appearance of this spring. Woll went 1-2 with a .915 save percentage over four postseason contests in 2023.Woll posted a 12-11-1 record with a .907 save percentage during the regular season. Samsonov got pulled after allowing all three goals on just 17 shots. The Russian is 1-3 with a mark of .883 in the four playoff games he's played this yearCopyright (C) 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Alex Ovechkin got 31 goals closer to Wayne Gretzky's all-time goal-scoring record this season but is remaining levelheaded in his pursuit of 42 more tallies."I'm always saying the same thing: If I make it, it's good, but it's still 42 goals," Ovechkin said Tuesday, per NHL.com's Tom Gulitti. "It's kind of a long way, but it's possible if you're going to be healthy."Ovechkin endured an up-and-down season, scoring only eight goals in his first 43 games before helping the Washington Capitals reach the playoffs with 23 tallies in his final 36 contests. He set an NHL record with his 18th 30-goal campaign but failed to reach 40 over a full schedule for the first time since 2016-17.Only two other Washington players reached the 20-goal mark this season, one of whom, Anthony Mantha, was traded to the Vegas Golden Knights before the deadline."There's a lot of pressure on (Ovechkin)," general manager Brian MacLellan said. "That he's expected to carry us offensively at 38 is probably not fair."He added: "I think we need to add something in that area. We need to get a little more skill, a little more goals."Ovechkin has scored 853 career goals. He has two more seasons on his current contract to surpass Gretzky's record of 894 goals.Copyright (C) 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Chicago Blackhawks phenom Connor Bedard, Minnesota Wild workhorse Brock Faber, and New Jersey Devils blue-liner Luke Hughes are the trio of finalists in contention to take home the Calder Trophy, the league announced Tuesday.The Calder Trophy is voted on by members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association at the end of the regular season. The honor is presented annually "to the player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition."The battle for the hardware was largely a two-horse race between Bedard and Faber all season long.Bedard lived up to the hype as the 2023 first overall pick, leading all rookies with 22 goals, 61 points, and 206 shots in 68 outings while seeing just under 20 minutes of ice time per contest.The 18-year-old was a key driver of the struggling Blackhawks offense, factoring in on 34% of the team's 178 goals on the campaign. He also had a seven-point lead on Philipp Kurashev for the most on the team, which becomes even more impressive given that Bedard missed 14 games with a fractured jaw.Bedard posted the best campaign by a teenage rookie in franchise history since Patrick Kane in 2007-08. Artemi Panarin is the latest Blackhawk to win the Calder Trophy after taking it home in 2016, but he was 24 years old at the time.As a rookie defenseman, Faber's play may not have been as flashy as Bedard's, but he put together a Calder-worthy campaign in his own right. He tied Bedard for the most assists in the rookie class (39) and matched Hughes for the second-most points (47) while appearing in all 82 contests. Faber was also the league's busiest first-year player; he averaged 24:58 minutes of ice time per game, 3:30 minutes more than Hughes in second place.Those minutes weren't easy, either, as Faber was tasked with handling top opposing players on a nightly basis. The 21-year-old revealed he was playing with broken ribs for the final two months of the season.Kirill Kaprizov won the Calder Trophy in 2021 and is the last Wild player to do so.Hughes, meanwhile, showed off his penchant for dynamic, offensive play during his first full NHL season. He led all rookie defensemen with nine goals while admirably pacing the Devils in average ice time (21:28), which was a requirement given the injuries on New Jersey's blue line.The 20-year-old registered the second-most points by a rookie rearguard in franchise history, trailing only Barry Beck's 60-point campaign in 1977-78 as a member of the Colorado Rockies.Scott Gomez was the last Devil to win the Calder Trophy in 2000.Seattle Kraken center Matty Beniers was awarded the hardware last season.Details surrounding the 2024 NHL Awards have yet to be announced, but reports indicate they'll be held June 27 in Las Vegas.Copyright (C) 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Find year-round coverage of betting news and insights for all sports by visiting our Betting section and subscribing to push notifications.We had a solid Monday night on the ice, winning two of our three props. Let's waste no time getting to three more plays for a bunch of do-or-die games.William Nylander: Over 3.5 shotsNylander was given a full workload and then some in his return to the lineup, leading all Maple Leafs forwards in ice time (22:24) and shot attempts (eight). Although he fell one shot on goal shy of his total, it was encouraging to see he could handle a steady dose of ice.I expect Nylander to again clear 20 minutes with ease in Game 5. The Maple Leafs are playing for their season and need all the offense they can get, especially with Auston Matthews questionable to play.Nylander's averaged 4.4 shots on 8.8 attempts in games where he's played 20-plus minutes this season. That's led to him clearing his total at a 65% clip.If we move the needle to 22-plus minutes, a milestone Nylander hit in Game 4, he's averaged 4.8 shots on goal per game and cleared at a 71% rate.Whether Matthews plays or not, head coach Sheldon Keefe will be looking to get Nylander on the ice as much as possible with the season on the line. Expect him to take advantage.Odds: +120 (playable to -120)Artturi Lehkonen: Over 2.5 shotsLehkonen's turned into quite the Jets killer. He's recorded at least three shots in all four games this series, piling up 19 in aggregate. That's almost five per game.His success against them stems far beyond the playoffs, as Lehkonen's gone over his total in eight of his past nine meetings against the Jets.He's skating on the second line with an extremely pass-happy center in Casey Mittelstadt. That helps boost his shooting floor and ceiling, as does playing a net-front role on a lethal power play where the Jets have to pay so much respect to superstars Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, and Mikko Rantanen.It's also worth noting Lehkonen's recorded three-plus shots in five of six games without Jonathan Drouin while averaging 6.2 attempts. That's strong volume for someone who lives around the net and hits the target at a high clip.Win or lose, I expect Lehkonen to hit the target a few times in Game 5.Odds: -130 (playable to -145)Quinn Hughes: Over 0.5 assistsFew are relied upon to facilitate offense for their team as much as Hughes. Playoffs included, he's recorded 79 assists through 86 games this season. That's remarkable production for any player, let alone a defenseman.Although Hughes is an efficient producer against seemingly every team, he's hit a different level against the Predators.Hughes has piled up 15 assists over his last 10 games against the Predators, recording at least one apple in eight of them.He logs a ton of minutes at even strength and is lethal on the power play. With the Canucks pushing to eliminate the Predators, and get their guys extra rest heading into a likely second-round series against the Oilers, head coach Rick Tocchet will no doubt be leaning heavily on his captain.This is a spot where Hughes could play 25-plus minutes. Given how much he handles the puck, and the volume of shots he creates for his teammates, that should translate to an assist.Odds: -125 (playable to -135)Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. You can follow him on X at @ToddCordell.Copyright (C) 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Find year-round coverage of betting news and insights for all sports by visiting our Betting section and subscribing to push notifications.During each round of the playoffs, we eventually reach the "housekeeping" portion of the program. Since betting isn't done in a vacuum, we should acknowledge the positions we've previously created in each series to maintain responsible betting practices.In our Eastern Conference series preview, we played the Hurricanes to beat the Islanders in -1.5 games. With that bet in tow - and two chances for it to cash with series wins of either 4-1 or 4-2 - why would we add a risky -250 moneyline price on the Hurricanes, or bet against ourselves with the Isles?As for the Western Conference, it certainly wasn't smooth. Then again, we didn't know the Canucks would need three different goalies to get the 3-1 lead we figured they might be good enough to have before Game 5 in Vancouver. We don't have two chances to win a bet here, like with the Canes, but the Canucks are priced at -120 to win a bet we have at +275 odds, plus an in-series bet made at 1-1. It's hard to complain about holding those tickets, regardless of the result.That leaves two other Tuesday matchups, and we'll apply similar bankroll management logic while working through the handicap for a pair of Game 5s.Game 5: Maple Leafs (+140) @ Bruins (-165)We had faith in the Maple Leafs, thinking they could win this series, and if they did, it likely wouldn't happen in Boston in Game 7, so why not take Toronto -1.5 games at a better payout? If you told me Toronto would have the even-strength advantage through four games - 37-26 in high-danger chances and 8.36-7.81 in expected goals - I'd assume the Leafs were at least knotted up at 2-2.Those numbers - and previous shorter moneylines (+125 and +135) in Boston - suggest there's value on Toronto here. However, that implies full health for Toronto's star players, a willingness to battle, and some strategic or mental edge.The truth? Without an already sunk cost in the series market, there's no reason to keep be-leaf-in'. The Bruins' moneyline of -165 suggests a 62.3% chance Boston puts Toronto out of its misery. This number seems low based on how the wheels have come off the Maple Leafs, and is definitely low if Auston Matthews can't participate at 100%.The Bruins haven't been lucky - an 11.5% high-danger chance conversion rate is below the league average. Boston's special-teams advantage isn't likely to be magically flipped either. What should be another turbulent offseason in Toronto starts Wednesday.Best bet: Bruins moneyline (-165)Game 5: Avalanche (-125) @ Jets (+105)While they haven't officially crashed and burned, even the most optimistic Jets bettor can see the writing on the wall. Outside of an atrocious Game 1 from Alexandar Georgiev that gifted Winnipeg a win, it's been a literal avalanche since.If you ignore the Avalanche's special-teams advantage, they've still driven 59% of even-strength play. Giving Winnipeg a 3.5% bump for home ice would get us to the 55.6% implied win probability the Avs' -125 moneyline suggests. Then apply Colorado's 40% power-play efficiency and a goaltending matchup closer than we ever thought possible, and you're more likely to find value in betting this series to end.Best bet: Avalanche moneyline (-125)Matt Russell is the lead betting analyst for theScore. If there's a bad beat to be had, Matt will find it. Find him on social media @mrussauthentic.Copyright (C) 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

At Oilers home playoff games, anthem singer Robert Clark holds his microphone aloft as the Edmonton crowd belts "O Canada" in unison. When the music ends and the arena brightens for puck drop, the floodgates open.Paced by Connor McDavid's transcendent production, the Oilers outscored the Kings 18-10 to take a 3-1 first-round series chokehold. Anything can happen offensively when McDavid or Leon Draisaitl has the puck. For years, the team's defense has been about as volatile.The Oilers routinely play delirious, uniquely high-scoring playoff games, home and away. To watch Edmonton in this era is to see both goalies barraged. Since the Oilers' current playoff streak began in 2020, their average game has produced the most total goals. The Kings, their recurring opponent in Round 1, trail closely behind.Game 4 in Los Angeles on Sunday, an unusually subdued 1-0 Edmonton win, was the Oilers' 40th postseason contest since 2020. In that time, different exploits strengthened and sabotaged their Stanley Cup potential.Over the 40-game span, the Oilers:Scored at least four goals in 24 games - a healthy majority of their playoff outings - but managed to lose eight of those matchups, including by 9-6, 8-6, and 6-5 scores.Lost twice despite scoring three power-play goals, and lost another despite scoring twice on the power play and once shorthanded.Bagged a league-best 1.15 power-play goals per game.Thrashed the Kings 8-2, 7-4, 6-1, and 6-0. Ronald Martinez / Getty ImagesWitnessed McDavid and Draisaitl raise their playoff scoring averages to 1.60 points - 0.01 behind the great Mario Lemieux on the career leaderboard.Won McDavid's five-assist dissection of the Kings in last week's series opener but lost his four-point game against the 2022 Flames, squandered Draisaitl's four-assist effort against the 2022 Avalanche, and wasted Draisaitl's four-goal outburst against the 2023 Golden Knights.Pushed the 2022 Flames to the brink of elimination despite letting in a shorthanded goal slapped from Calgary's defensive zone.

The Tampa Bay Lightning saw a goal called back for goalie interference in each of the first two periods of Monday's Game 5 series-ending loss to the Florida Panthers.First, Anthony Cirelli's would-be opener was wiped off the board after Panthers head coach Paul Maurice successfully challenged the goal.

Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper made his opinion on pending unrestricted free agent Steven Stamkos clear after his team's elimination from the postseason Monday."He belongs here," Cooper said, according to team reporter Chris Krenn. "We know it. He knows it."Cooper added: "He's also, I suppose, in control of his own destiny. I don't know what's going to happen. He feels like a Bolt for life, but only he and (general manager Julien BriseBois) can answer that one."Stamkos tallied 40 goals and 81 points in 79 games this season. He backed it up by netting five goals and six points in five postseason contests.The 34-year-old said he wasn't thinking about the uncertainty around his future as the game winded down."No, no, that never crossed my mind," Stamkos said, per Bally Sports Sun. "I'm out there battling to try to help our team win, regardless. At the end of the game, we're trying to score, and there's some pride on the line for our group."

The Florida Panthers pulled away in the third period to win 6-1 in Monday's Game 5 and eliminate the Tampa Bay Lightning.It's the Panthers' first playoff series victory over their in-state rivals. Florida will play either the Boston Bruins or Toronto Maple Leafs in the second round."We knew this was a big game for us, coming back home," captain Aleksander Barkov said, per Bally Sports Florida. "We got a big steal in Tampa. ... Today, I think we showed up."He added, "Of course, we know there's a history between us two. We know Tampa has won Cups and been in the finals. And they're so close to us, one-hour flight, that it almost pisses me off. At the same time, huge respect to them, they've been an unreal franchise for a long time. But this time we got the best of them."The Panthers scored twice to make it 4-1 in the final frame before adding two empty-netters. Barkov and Carter Verhaeghe each notched two goals.Tampa Bay saw two goals called back due to goaltender interference.The Lightning have now seen their campaign end in the first round in consecutive years. The Maple Leafs eliminated Tampa in six games last season.Copyright (C) 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Stanley Cup Playoffs are famously unpredictable, but few could've foreseen Winnipeg Jets netminder Connor Hellebuyck losing his Vezina-caliber form in the first round.Hellebuyck has an .870 save percentage in four games against the Colorado Avalanche and has allowed more goals (19) than any other goaltender in the playoffs. With Winnipeg in a 3-1 series hole, blue-liner Neal Pionk said it's up to the skaters to pick up their star between the pipes."We have the best goalie in the league, and we got to play better in front of him. So plain and simple," Pionk said, according to The Canadian Press. "We got to give up less chances, block more shots and compete a little harder in front of him."The Jets pulled the netminder from a 5-1 loss Sunday in Game 4, but head coach Rick Bowness agrees with Pionk's assessment."I gave him a little bit of a breather in the third period last night and to put a little more onus on the players in front of him have to play better," Bowness said. "That's why we made that (change). It had absolutely nothing to do with his play at all."The Avalanche have heavily controlled play in the series, outshooting the Jets 122-87 at five-on-five while also registering 56.35% of scoring chances and 59.67% of expected goals, according to Natural Stat Trick.Colorado was the league's most potent offense in the regular season, but many expected Winnipeg to be a difficult test in large part due to Hellebuyck.The 30-year-old is a Vezina Trophy finalist for the fourth time in seven seasons and is the presumptive favorite for the hardware after going 37-19-4 with a .921 save percentage and five shutouts in 60 games this season.Winnipeg's must-win Game 5 is scheduled for Tuesday night on home ice.Copyright (C) 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Seattle Kraken fired head coach Dave Hakstol from his post, the team announced Monday.Hakstol was the first head coach in the franchise's history. He collected a 107-112-27 record, and Seattle made the playoffs once during his three-year tenure.General manager Ron Francis will immediately begin the search for a replacement."I thank Dave for his hard work and dedication to the Kraken franchise. ... These decisions are never easy, but we feel this is a necessary step to help ensure our team continues to improve and evolve," the executive said in a statement. "Dave is a good coach and a terrific person. We wish him and his family all the best."The Kraken also announced that assistant coach Paul McFarland won't return next campaign.Seattle signed Hakstol to an extension through the 2025-26 campaign in July. He was a finalist for the Jack Adams Award as the league's top bench boss one year ago but lost to Boston Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery.The Kraken made the playoffs for the first time in their existence last season following a 40-point improvement from their abysmal inaugural campaign. They knocked out the Colorado Avalanche in the first round before being eliminated by the Dallas Stars in seven games.However, Seattle regressed across several categories in 2023-24, finishing 17 points outside the playoff cutline.SeasonRecordPointsP%GF/GPGA/GP2021-2227-49-660.3662.603.462022-2346-28-8100.6103.523.072023-2434-35-1381.4942.612.83The Kraken ranked second in the league with a shooting percentage of 11.57% at all strengths last season but placed among the bottom-five teams with a 9.11% clip this campaign, per Natural Stat Trick.Hakstol is the second Pacific Division coach to lose his job in the span of a week. The last-place San Jose Sharks parted ways with David Quinn on Wednesday.Copyright (C) 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets, Thatcher Demko of the Vancouver Canucks, and Sergei Bobrovsky of the Florida Panthers are this season's Vezina Trophy finalists, the NHL announced Monday.The Vezina Trophy is voted on by the general managers of all 32 NHL teams at the conclusion of the regular season. The honor is awarded annually "to the goalkeeper adjudged to be the best at this position."Hellebuyck is widely considered the front-runner for the hardware. He topped all netminders in goals saved above average (29.35), goals saved above expected (39.35), wins above replacement (6.8), and goals above replacement (41.5) by a wide margin.The 30-year-old was once again the Jets' backbone and the driving force behind the second 100-point campaign in the franchise's history. Hellebuyck racked up a 37-19-4 record and trailed only Colorado Avalanche workhorse Alexandar Georgiev for the most victories in the NHL. His .921 save percentage was the highest of all netminders to make at least 25 starts this campaign.Hellebuyck was named a finalist for the Vezina Trophy last season, and he won the award in 2020.Demko's case to win the honor was weakened after he missed 14 games late in the regular season with a knee injury, though his body of work was strong enough to make him a first-time finalist.The 28-year-old was a force for the Canucks this campaign, posting a career-best .918 save percentage, 2.45 goals-against average, and five shutouts. Despite the missed time, he still ranked second in GSAA (18.51), fourth in GSAx (25.83), and fifth in both WAR (4.3) and GAR (26.4).Demko went 35-14-2 on the season and tied for the sixth-most wins in the NHL, though he played in nine fewer games than Hellebuyck and 12 fewer than Georgiev. The California native finished seventh on the Vezina ballot in 2022.Bobrovsky's fantastic play during the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs carried over into the regular season. He posted a sterling .915 save percentage and 2.37 goals-against average to go along with a 36-17-4 record, while his six shutouts were tied for the most in the league.The 35-year-old placed fifth among all goalies in GSAA (15.4), 17th in GSAx (15.76), and fourth in both WAR (4.3) and GAR (26.5).Bobrovsky won the Vezina in 2013 and 2017 as a member of the Columbus Blue Jackets and is the only active player to be awarded the trophy twice.Boston Bruins stud Linus Ullmark took home the honor last season.Details surrounding the 2024 NHL Awards have yet to be finalized, but reports indicate it will be held June 27 in Las Vegas.(Analytics source: Evolving-Hockey)Copyright (C) 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Toronto Maple Leafs may be without Auston Matthews for Tuesday's must-win Game 5 against the Boston Bruins.Head coach Sheldon Keefe told reporters Monday that the star center's status is "yet to be determined," though he's "hopeful" that Matthews will feel well enough to play, per The Hockey News' David Alter.Matthews was absent from practice. Max Domi centered the top line between Tyler Bertuzzi and Mitch Marner.

Winnipeg Jets head coach Rick Bowness said forward Vladislav Namestnikov is being evaluated at the hospital after taking a puck to the face during Sunday's Game 4 loss to the Colorado Avalanche, according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.Namestnikov was struck by a deflected slap shot from teammate Nate Schmidt in the third period and was helped off the ice.

The Toronto Maple Leafs signed winger Nikita Grebyonkin to a three-year, entry-level contract beginning this season, the team announced Monday.His deal has an average annual value of $875,000.Grebyonkin, 21, chipped in with 19 goals and 41 points in 67 regular-season contests as a member of the KHL's Metallurg Magnitogorsk this campaign. He added six points in 23 playoff games to help his team win the Gagarin Cup.The Maple Leafs selected Grebyonkin in the fifth round of the 2022 NHL Draft.Copyright (C) 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Find year-round coverage of betting news and insights for all sports by visiting our Betting section and subscribing to push notifications.We finished last week on a high, going 3-0 with our player props Friday.We'll look to pick up where we left off with three more props for Monday's pint-sized card.Matthew Tkachuk: Over 0.5 assistsTkachuk has four assists in this series and picked up at least one in three of four games. This sort of playmaking success is nothing new for Tkachuk, who's feasted on the Lightning the past couple of years.He recorded 13 assists over his past 12 games versus the Lightning and managed a 75% success rate in that span. He also picked up an apple in seven of the last eight against the Lightning overall.Tkachuk has great chemistry with Carter Verhaeghe, one of the league's most underrated scorers, at even strength. He's also a focal point of the Panthers' top power-play unit, getting a lot of touches from below the dots and distributing the puck effectively into high-danger scoring areas.The Panthers have scored at least three goals every game in this series. I expect them to extend that streak further while playing at home with a chance to put away their rivals. If they do, Tkachuk has a great chance of getting involved with an assist.Odds: -110 (playable to -130)Wyatt Johnston: Over 0.5 pointsOne of Stars head coach Pete DeBoer's adjustments after Game 2 versus the Golden Knights was moving Johnston up to Dallas' top line alongside Roope Hintz and Jason Robertson. He responded with a two-goal, eight-shot performance, which is par for the course based on his regular season.That line was unstoppable in their time together: They played 110 minutes at five-on-five and outscored opponents 9-1 while posting a plus-56 scoring chance differential.Of the nine goals the Stars efficiently scored in those minutes, Johnston picked up a point on eight. He wasn't just a bystander; he was a driving force on the line.Johnston leads all players in the series in shots, shot attempts, and scoring chances despite ranking ninth on his own team in five-on-five ice time.With an uptick in minutes playing alongside the team's top two point producers, Johnston has a great chance to make some noise offensively.Odds: -132 (playable to -145)Noah Hanifin: Over 0.5 pointsHanifin's been a regular point target in recent weeks and with great success. He picked up a point in six of his past eight games, finding the scoresheet nine times along the way.He's logging heavy minutes at even strength and, perhaps more importantly, skating on the top power-play unit.Since he joined Jack Eichel on the No. 1 power play, the Golden Knights have scored at a rate of 15 goals per 60 minutes. We're still dealing with small sample sizes, but it sure looks like they're going to be productive over the long haul.The Vegas defenseman is seeing optimal usage for point production: He's getting a ton of ice, he's on the top PP, and he's playing with great players in every situation.Look for him to convert that into results in Game 4.Odds: +110 (playable to -115)Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. You can follow him on X at @ToddCordell.Copyright (C) 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Find year-round coverage of betting news and insights for all sports by visiting our Betting section and subscribing to push notifications.Staying patient is the hardest thing to do when betting the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Monday night's matchups drill home that point.Game 5: Lightning (+155) @ Panthers (-185)After closing at -105 on the moneyline in Game 3, the Lightning were +115 as the puck dropped in Game 4, a price across our threshold of +104 that we considered valuable before the series. That's a 5% shift in implied win probability after they lost a game that was 1.46-1.44 in even-strength expected goals.Trying to predict which goaltender will come up big isn't easy. We were concerned about Andrei Vasilevskiy after a poor Game 3, and he didn't play particularly well in Game 4, registering a -0.58 GSAx. However, Sergei Bobrovsky was suddenly bad, going from 1.85 GSAx through three games to -2.03 on Saturday.With our buy price on Tampa being +146, we took +160 with the Lightning for Game 2 in Sunrise - an overtime loss - so there's no reason not to try the underdogs again at +155. Bobrovsky and the Panthers will likely bring back their best effort, but at +155, we play the valuable side.Best bet: Lightning moneyline (+155)Game 4: Stars (-115) @ Golden Knights (-105)Even in a loss, the Golden Knights continue to baffle. A 4.62-1.3 differential in even-strength expected goals and 23-4 disparity in high-danger chances (HDC) surpasses last week's Islanders-Hurricanes Game 2 as the most lopsided contest of the postseason. But the Islanders were resorting to a defensive shell against the better team, protecting a lead on the road. What's the Golden Knights' excuse for a first period in which they allowed 11 HDC?The most vexing part is that the Stars needed overtime to get their first win of the series after a shorthanded goal tied the game and Logan Thompson made 43 saves.Through three games, the Stars have 46 HDC at even strength and the Knights have 19. Who are we supposed to think is the better team?Of course, you're allowed to have a good goaltender. But Thompson's 4.54 GSAx to Jake Oettinger's minus-1.53 infers that the goal differential in this series should be six goals further in favor of Dallas. Can Thompson keep this up?If Thompson was a star with a track record of stealing games, that would be one thing. But he came into his first Stanley Cup Playoffs with 96 career starts and a 2.67 goals against average and .912 save percentage.Betting against the Golden Knights is a miserable experience, but there's no reasonable case for backing a team that mustered one even-strength HDC in 36 minutes across the third period and overtime.Best bet: Stars moneyline (-115)Matt Russell is the lead betting analyst for theScore. If there's a bad beat to be had, Matt will find it. Find him on social media @mrussauthentic.Copyright (C) 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The series is 3-1 for Boston and the sky is falling in Toronto.The Maple Leafs winning three straight games against the Bruins after Saturday night's dramatic and dreadful Game 4 showing on home ice? Yeah, seems highly unlikely. Yet, nothing's set in stone in the NHL playoffs.For instance, the Bruins failed to close out their first-round series the past two postseasons, losing in seven games to Carolina in 2021-22 and Florida last season despite holding leads of 3-2 and 3-1, respectively.Here's each team's path to victory in Game 5, which goes Tuesday in Boston.Leafs' perspective Mark Blinch / Getty ImagesThe Leafs weren't just a good offensive team in the regular season. They were elite, placing first in five-on-five goal-scoring and seventh in power-play efficiency.Through four games against Boston, Toronto's down 7-6 at five-on-five while producing a mere one goal in a league-high 25 power-play minutes. Forget about winning the series. In order to earn a second win, the Leafs need to throw absolutely everything they have at the Bruins on Tuesday. The attack needs to open up: pace, purpose, and to the hell with it, lots of risk too.It all begins with cleaning up the transition game. (Toronto's zone exits were particularly bad in Game 1 and its zone entries were particularly bad in Game 4.) Once inside Boston's zone, the Leafs must start accomplishing two things simultaneously: good puck movement and good player movement. Boston's defenders have rarely appeared gassed during a shift. Toronto's too static.So many of the Leafs' scoring chances - both at even strength and on the power play - have looked dangerous at first, but in reality, haven't been terribly difficult to stop. They've been jamming the puck into the goalie's pads instead of prioritizing full-release shots from the slot. The Bruins are certainly playing a role in this, but the Leafs are capable of maneuvering the zone better. Rich Graessle / Getty ImagesHead coach Sheldon Keefe should dress his most offensive lineup in Game 5.Let's assume for a second that Auston Matthews is over his illness and available but Bobby McMann remains out. Firstly, Keefe should sub in Noah Gregor for Ryan Reaves to create a speedier fourth line (Reaves is due for a scratch anyway after another defensive-zone blunder in Game 4), and secondly, reinsert Timothy Liljegren for Joel Edmundson to add mobility to the blue line.There are downsides to these changes, but desperate times call for desperate measures. Keefe should also juggle his forward lines to spread out the skill. Aside from taking some dumb penalties, Domi's had a strong series. Perhaps he can cook against weaker competition in the third-line center spot.

Stuart Skinner stole the show in Los Angeles on Sunday night, making 33 saves in a 1-0 victory to help provide the Edmonton Oilers a 3-1 series lead over the Kings.More to come.Copyright (C) 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Los Angeles Kings turned to David Rittich in net for Game 4 against the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday night.Cam Talbot started the first three games, posting a 5.30 goals-against average and an .861 save percentage. He ranks last among all netminders in the postseason in both goals saved above average (minus-3.74) and goals saved above expected (minus-3.08) at all strengths, according to Evolving-Hockey.Edmonton holds a 2-1 series lead.Rittich went 13-6-3 in the regular season with a stellar .921 save percentage and 2.15 goals-against average. His last appearance came on April 13 in a 3-1 victory against the Anaheim Ducks.The 31-year-old made two starts against the Oilers in the regular season - a 4-0 shutout victory and 4-2 loss - and registered a .930 save percentage while turning aside 53 of 57 shots.Rittich only has two games of playoff experience; he appeared in one contest as a member of the Calgary Flames in 2020 and one with the Nashville Predators two years later. It's a severely limited sample size, but he owns a postseason save percentage of .636.Copyright (C) 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Vancouver Canucks' crease just keeps getting thinner, but they keep finding ways to win.Rookie Arturs Silovs was the surprise starter for Sunday's Game 4 against the Nashville Predators with Casey DeSmith injured, and the Latvian made 27 stops to help the Canucks earn a thrilling 4-3 triumph in overtime."I wasn't too nervous," Silovs said after the victory. "I was fine, actually. I was just doing my thing, relying on the things I've worked on. That's it."Silovs revealed he found out on Saturday he was starting the contest."Time to shine, you know?" the 23-year-old joked.The inexperienced netminder drew plenty of praise from his teammates for his performance."I couldn't be happier for the guy," sniper J.T. Miller said. "He's so calm. He really is, and he made some really timely saves to keep it at bay when they were really pushing today."DeSmith's ailment appears to be minor, and he could return for Tuesday's Game 5, head coach Rick Tocchet said. His injury isn't related to a hit he took from Predators forward Michael McCarron during the Canucks' Game 3 victory, according to CHEK News' Rick Dhaliwal. The NHL fined McCarron $2,000 for goaltender interference.DeSmith, a six-year NHL veteran, registered a .911 save percentage and 2.02 goals against average in two postseason appearances this spring.The Canucks had to turn to DeSmith after losing starting goaltender Thatcher Demko to an apparent knee injury after Game 1. Demko missed 14 games down the stretch in the regular season due to another injury to the same knee, reports TSN's Farhan Lalji.Silovs recorded an .881 save percentage and 2.47 goals against average in four outings this campaign. Vancouver selected the 23-year-old Latvian in the sixth round of the 2019 NHL Draft.Nikita Tolopilo, a 24-year-old with no NHL experience, backed up Silovs in Game 4. He spent this season with the AHL's Abbotsford Canucks, registering a .905 save percentage in 35 appearances.The Canucks can end the series with a Game 5 win on Tuesday.Copyright (C) 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Colorado Avalanche are one win away from Round 2 after defeating the Winnipeg Jets 5-1 in Sunday's Game 4 to take a 3-1 series lead.Valeri Nichushkin capped off a hat trick with an empty-netter to seal the victory.Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, and Artturi Lehkonen each recorded multi-point efforts.Alexandar Georgiev continued his stellar form since a disastrous Game 1, stopping 25 of 26 shots in the win. His counterpart, Vezina Trophy-favorite Connor Hellebuyck, was chased from the contest after allowing four goals on 30 shots through two periods.Colorado lost 7-6 in Game 1 but have outscored Winnipeg 16-5 in three straight victories.Copyright (C) 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Washington Capitals veteran T.J. Oshie offered some advice to his teammates ahead of Sunday's do-or-die Game 4 against the New York Rangers: "Just let it all hang out there.""We can't do anything about the first three games," he said. "The worst thing you can do is wake up tomorrow and regret not blocking a shot, or regret not backchecking as hard as you absolutely can."He continued: "Your back's against the wall, you gotta throw everything at them. There's really no reason to be nervous, we don't got any time for it."The Rangers hold a 3-0 chokehold on the first-round clash. Washington has never recovered from such a deficit, though it did pull off a 3-1 series comeback in the opening round of the 2009 playoffs against the Blueshirts.New York has outscored the Capitals 11-5 in the series, but where the underdogs have struggled the most is on special teams. The Rangers capitalized on three of their 12 power-play opportunities. Washington has converted twice on 15 chances while allowing two shorthanded goals.The play has been more even at five-on-five, with the ice tilting slightly in the Capitals' favor everywhere but the scoreboard:TeamCF%SCF%xGF%GFGACapitals50.652.655.736Rangers49.447.444.363Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin has saved 1.76 goals above expected at five-on-five, per Natural Stat Trick. Connor McMichael is the only forward to score an even-strength goal for Washington.Five players from the Capitals team that won the Stanley Cup in 2018 remain on the roster: Alex Ovechkin, John Carlson, Tom Wilson, Oshie, and the injured Niklas Backstrom. Meanwhile, eight of Washington's players are getting their first taste of the playoffs this spring.Though Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery acknowledged that this experience is "really valuable" for his younger players, he dismissed the notion that his team is just happy to have made the postseason."We will never be satisfied if we gained experience, got into the playoffs," he said. "To me, that's a loser's mindset."He added: "It doesn't mean we're gonna win a Stanley Cup, but you should have a mindset that you expect to win, you expect to get into the playoffs, and you expect to beat the New York Rangers in the first round, and anything short of that is a failure."Puck drops on Game 4 at 8 p.m. ET in Washington.Copyright (C) 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Toronto Maple Leafs team doctors pulled Auston Matthews from Game 4 during the second intermission because of an illness, head coach Sheldon Keefe said postgame.Matthews played the first 40 minutes of the contest but didn't return for the start of the final frame. The Maple Leafs trailed the Boston Bruins 3-0 after two periods and ultimately lost the game 3-1, falling behind 3-1 in the series.The 26-year-old played through the illness in Game 3 and missed Friday's practice."It's not one of those run-of-the-mill everyday type of illnesses that come and go," Keefe said Sunday, according to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet. "This one has lingered. The effects have lingered and gotten worse when he gets on the ice and is asserting himself."Matthews produced a dominant three-point effort in Toronto's Game 2 win but has otherwise been held off the scoresheet in Round 1.Matthews won the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy for the third time in four years this past season, leading the league with 69 goals.Copyright (C) 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Stars found themselves in awe of Wyatt Johnston after the 20-year-old forward's dominant Game 3 performance prevented Dallas from going down 3-0 in its first-round series against the Vegas Golden Knights."What a player," head coach Pete DeBoer said after his team's 3-2 overtime victory Saturday night, according to The Associated Press. "He still can't get in the casino and play cards - he's not old enough. It's unbelievable.""Really incredible play by one of ... the great young players, the next generation of stars of this league. I thought he was just outstanding tonight for a kid to be under 21 years old and be on that ice with that level of player and look like he did all night tonight, just an outstanding player."Johnston scored a pair of goals, including the overtime winner, to get the Western Conference's top seed on the board in the series.He's the youngest player in franchise history to score an OT postseason goal, surpassing Steve Ott, who was 21 years old when he played the hero during Game 3 of the 2004 Western Conference quarterfinals.Johnston's excellent night wasn't limited to just the final scoresheet, either: He was credited with a team-high eight shots, nine scoring chances, and a whopping 15 shot attempts at all strengths, according to Natural Stat Trick."Maybe he's gotta pass one of them, I don't know," veteran forward Tyler Seguin joked, per Bally Sports Southwest.He added, "Seeing (Johnston) last year, and then how much he's evolved to this year - it's one thing being elite in the regular season but to do it in playoffs, at his age, that's great."This is Johnston's second NHL campaign. He led the Stars with 32 goals and tied for third with 65 points in 82 contests during the regular season.The Stars were up 2-0 at the midway mark of the middle frame Saturday, but the Golden Knights scored twice before the second intermission to tie things up. Vegas netminder Logan Thompson was outstanding, turning aside 43 of 45 shots before Johnston scored the dagger late in the extra frame."We have a kid here that's elite and won the game for us," Seguin said.Game 4 is scheduled for Monday at 9:30 p.m. ET.Copyright (C) 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Boston Bruins stifled the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-1 in Saturday's Game 4 to move one win away from the second round.Maple Leafs superstar Auston Matthews didn't return after the second period. Head coach Sheldon Keefe said Matthews' absence was related to an illness and that "the doctors pulled him," per The Athletic's Joshua Kloke.Toronto has lost six consecutive games on home ice in the playoffs dating back to last year and has been outscored 21-11 in that span.April 20, 2023 - Game 2 of the first round against the Tampa Bay Lightning - is the Maple Leafs' last playoff win at Scotiabank Arena."Nothing wrong with our effort level here tonight," Keefe said, according to The Hockey News' David Alter. "Guys are competing. It's physical hockey. Guys are trying. It's a good team over there. It's limiting us."You can question a lot of things, can't question the effort."Matthews, Mitch Marner, and William Nylander - who made his series debut - were visibly frustrated on the bench during the second period.

Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Mikhail Sergachev returned to the lineup for Saturday's pivotal Game 4 win against the Florida Panthers.Sergachev played 17:03 in the 6-3 victory and tallied an assist."The docs cleared me, and it was the coach's decision, so I stayed at the rink a little longer waiting for coach to say yes or no, and he said yes," Sergachev told Bally Sports Florida's Gabby Shirley. "I got very excited and, honestly, I couldn't really sleep last night."It felt like my first NHL game again, and then you go on the ice, and you get that from the fans in the warmup. It made me very emotional, and I am just thankful to be here and thankful for the guys."Sergachev fractured his tibia and fibula in a game on Feb. 7. It was his first contest back from a different lower-body injury that had kept him out the previous 17 games.Head coach Jon Cooper said earlier in April that Sergachev would miss the first round. His return comes just 79 days after undergoing surgery for his leg fractures.Tampa Bay put Sergachev back in the starting lineup alongside partner Erik Cernak for Game 4.However, Darren Raddysh sat out Saturday after the defenseman suffered an injury in Game 3.Sergachev tallied two goals and 19 points in 34 contests during the regular season. The 25-year-old has 98 playoff games under his belt.Copyright (C) 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Toronto Maple Leafs star winger William Nylander is back in the lineup for Game 4 of their first-round series against the Boston Bruins on Saturday.Nylander sat out the first three games with an undisclosed ailment. It was reported Thursday that he's been dealing with severe migraines, though he opted not to shed any light on his injury when addressing the media Friday.The Maple Leafs have been tight-lipped about Nylander's status, but Keefe explained there are reasons for secrecy in the NHL compared to other leagues."You're protecting your players," he said. "It's a very competitive and physical game, and you say guys don't target one another? Well, I've got news for you: They do. That's part of the game. So when you can protect the players and protect some information, why wouldn't you?"Before the three games Nylander missed in this series, he last sat out with an injury in November 2016 when he was absent from a single contest due to an upper-body issue.Nylander didn't attend Saturday's optional skate, but forgoing it is part of his normal game-day routine, per TSN's Mark Masters. He was a full participant in Friday's practice on a line with Pontus Holmberg and Calle Jarnkrok.The 27-year-old tied a career high with 40 goals and set a new personal best with 98 points in 82 regular-season games.Nylander has posted 40 points (17 goals, 23 assists) in 50 playoff games since his debut in 2015-16. He collected two goals and seven points in 14 games during the two previous playoff series against the Bruins in 2018 and 2019.The Bruins have a 2-1 series lead.Copyright (C) 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Winnipeg Jets defenseman Brenden Dillon is considered day-to-day after being cut at the end of Friday's loss against the Colorado Avalanche."We know the gash was there, but our doctors did a fantastic job of stitching him up, and there's no damage, and that's the most important thing," head coach Rick Bowness said Saturday, according to The Athletic's Murat Ates.Dillon was bleeding from his hand as he hurried toward the locker room.

Most NHL scoring records and rare feats inevitably trace back to Wayne Gretzky. He was the last MVP of a regular season to earn the parallel playoff honor. The Oilers icon took home the Hart and Conn Smythe Trophies in 1985, plus the Stanley Cup, by collecting 255 points (seriously) across both phases of the schedule.We're a long way from knowing the next winner of either award, partly because the Hart race was a bloodbath. No identifiable favorite, much less a shoo-in, headlines the stacked field. The outlandish stats of four superstar forwards - Nikita Kucherov, Nathan MacKinnon, Connor McDavid, and Auston Matthews - created an epic competition.Around the league, average goal-scoring slipped to a three-year low, but the top of the player leaderboard recalled Gretzky's freewheeling era.This was the first year since 1996 to feature a 70-goal chase. Two playmakers dished 100 assists for the first time since Gretzky and Mario Lemieux did in 1989. MacKinnon was the second player this century, mirroring McDavid last year, to achieve the 50-goal, 80-helper combo.Prizing that balance, theScore's mock panel cast first-place votes for MacKinnon on five of six MVP ballots. Everyone in the quartet placed second on a ballot, reflecting the difficulty of the choice. The snub of a compelling candidate will irk fans when the three actual Hart finalists are announced May 7. Paul Swanson / NHL / Getty ImagesIn the meantime, the postseason is a blank canvas. Point counts reset, and the expectation to dominate intensifies. The fortunes of the Hart protagonists diverged in the past week. Huge Game 3 wins Friday lifted McDavid's Oilers and MacKinnon's Avalanche to 2-1 series leads, while Matthews' Maple Leafs (down 2-1 to Bruins) and Kucherov's Lightning (winless in three against Panthers) face deficits.On a mission to crush the Kings, McDavid and Leon Draisaitl both raised their career playoff scoring averages to 1.62 points, vaulting Lemieux for second all time. McDavid's turbocharged dangles and assertive cuts to the net open lanes for filthy passes to Zach Hyman, who's already bagged six goals. The puck movement of the Oilers' power play makes heads swivel. That unit's absurd 7-for-14 conversion rate has offset Edmonton's defensive lapses.MacKinnon and his quick-strike supporting cast deluged the Jets in the third frame of Friday's 6-2 rout. MacKinnon showed off his breathtaking acceleration, had several grade A chances on eight shots, and snapped one through Connor Hellebuyck's legs. The run-and-gun Avalanche are winning the stylistic clash against the league's stoutest defense. Until this matchup, Hellebuyck had never let in 15 goals in a three-game stretch in his NHL career. Michael Martin / NHL / Getty ImagesMatthews' performance typifies Toronto in the postseason: there are two letdowns for every triumph. His clutch breakaway deke and pair of primary assists buried the Bruins in Game 2, but the Leafs stank in the opener and shriveled down the stretch of a close-fought Game 3. They've been outscored 5-1 on special teams. Jeremy Swayman's save percentage for Boston is .955.Swayman and rotation partner Linus Ullmark have stoned 15 of Matthews' NHL-high 16 shots. He clanged a post in each Leafs loss - once on an open net, once on a two-on-one. He's engaged physically, throwing one fewer hit (17) than postseason leader Ryan Reaves, but his challenge will be to snipe as pressure escalates in the series. Matthews has two goals and seven points over 11 previous playoff games in which Toronto's been at risk of elimination.In the lopsided Battle of Florida, the Panthers stripped Kucherov of the puck ahead of a breakaway or odd-man rush in all three Lightning defeats. The TNT broadcast crew repeatedly pointed out his visible dejection and frustration in Game 3 but predicted he'd start to dazzle soon.If he does, it'll probably be too late. Kucherov's assists on three Steven Stamkos goals in the series failed to jolt a battle-tested former champion that looks unusually tentative and a step slow. In the Florida net, Sergei Bobrovsky keeps robbing Lightning shooters on Kucherov's patented cross-ice setups. The NHL's fifth 3-0 comeback won't be possible unless he responds with several multi-point efforts.Nick Faris is a features writer at theScore.Copyright (C) 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Toronto Maple Leafs star William Nylander spoke to the media Friday for the first time since the playoffs started but didn't provide any information about what's kept him out of the lineup for the opening three games."Look, that's just personal, so I'm not going to get into that," Nylander told reporters, including Sportsnet's Luke Fox.He added: "It is what it is. There's nothing to really stress about. You can't force yourself back in, so I'll be ready when I'm ready."Nylander's absence is reportedly due to a severe migraine that prompted Toronto's medical staff to test him for a concussion. The 27-year-old played in all 82 games for the Maple Leafs this season but was a surprise omission from the Game 1 lineup against the Boston Bruins and hasn't played since.He's been skating throughout the series and was a full participant in Friday's practice on a line with Pontus Holmberg and Calle Jarnkrok, per Fox. Toronto has yet to confirm if Nylander will play in Game 4."Looked great to me on the ice," head coach Sheldon Keefe said.Nylander's possible return Saturday would be a big boost for a struggling Maple Leafs attack that's managed only six goals in the series. He notched a career-high 98 points this season and has 40 points in 50 playoff contests with Toronto."I mean, the games are crazy to watch from home," Nylander said. "I've never been so nervous in my life."The Maple Leafs trail the Bruins 2-1 in the first-round series and will look to snap a five-game losing streak in home playoff games on Saturday.Copyright (C) 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.