Five Minute Major

*Photo from NBC Sports* Colorado leads series 1-0     Game one between the Colorado Avalanche and the Vegas Golden Knights was supposed to be the start of a close battle of a series. If game one was any indication of how the series is actually going to go, it won’t be close.     Gabe Landeskog scored twice, Nathan MacKinnon scored twice, and the Avalanche routed the Golden Knights with a commanding 7-1 win Sunday night.    Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said "I love the way our team played tonight, right away, out of the gate, skating, relentless puck pressure, great commitment to our checking game, capitalizing on our chances. I thought the top line set the tone once again, but our whole team was involved and playing well and skating well.”    The top line of MacKinnon, Landeskog, and Mikko Rantanen did indeed set the tone. Rantanen had a goal and an assist, MacKinnon had two goals and one assist, and Landeskog had two goals and one assist. Ca...

*Photo from Yahoo! News* Tampa Bay leads series 1-0     Game one between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Carolina Hurricanes was a tight game throughout, pretty evenly matched. Until Barclay Goodrow showed up. Brayden Point scored, Goodrow scored the game winner, and the Lightning defeated the Hurricanes 2-1 Sunday afternoon.    Lightning coach Jon Cooper said of Goodrow that "He usually doesn’t get his accolades from getting game winning goals. He’s usually the guy stopping game tying goals from happening. So you’re really happy for guys that are team first players and have an opportunity to bask a little bit in the limelight.”    Point started the scoring 8:15 into the second period, with his 5th goal of the playoffs making it 1-0 Tampa Bay. In the 3rd, Jake Bean scored for the Hurricanes, his first playoff goal tying it at 1-1. Goodrow then made it 2-1 12:39 into the 3rd, giving the Lightning the win.    Goodrow said of his goal that "Coleman made ...

*Photo from the Boston Globe* Boston leads series 1-0     When the Boston Bruins and New York Islanders opened the second round, it became the David Pastrnak  show. Pastrnak scored a hat trick, Charlie McAvoy scored, and the Bruins defeated the Islanders 5-2 on Saturday night. Taylor Hall also scored for Boston.    Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron said of Pastrnak that "It seems like he always rises to the occasion every time he’s asked to. I think he one of those guys who brings that energy, but he also loves to get the crowd going. It seems kind of fitting for him to have one of those nights with fans back in the building.”    Pastrnak scored near the end of the first period on the power play, tying the game at 1-1. In the second, he scored again to give Boston the 2-1 lead. With the game tied 2-2 entering the 3rd, Pastrnak scored, McAvoy scored, and Hall scored, making it a 5-2 win.    Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said of Pastrnak that “Obvio...

*Photo from TSN* Series tied 3-3    The Montreal Canadiens rallied once again to keep their season alive. Tyler Toffoli scored, Jesperi Kotkaniemi scored the winner, and the Canadiens defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 in overtime on Saturday night. Corey Perry also scored for Montreal.    Kotkaniemi said of scoring the season saving goal that "It was pretty remarkable. It was a great feeling, especially with the fans in the stands.”    Montreal did host around 2,500 fans for game 6, the first Canadian sporting event to have fans in the building for the game since March 10, 2020.    Toffoli said of having fans back that "It was pretty cool going out for warmups and seeing them, seeing the towels go. They were fired up and they definitely gave us that emotion to start the game. And I thought we played really good. Obviously, a couple of tough bounces, but we stuck with it, and obviously a big goal by KK.”    Perry started the scoring la...

*Photo from CBS Sports* Vegas wins series 4-3     What a night game 7 was. It was an even bigger night for Mattias Janmark. Janmark scored a hat trick, Zach Whitecloud scored, and the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Minnesota Wild with a 6-2 win Friday night.     Vegas now will face the Colorado Avalanche in the second round, with game one beginning Sunday night in Colorado. Marc-Andre Fleury saved 18 out of 20 shots for the Golden Knights, being a big reason why they are moving on.     Vegas coach Pete Deboer said "You hope that moments like that galvanize your group. When we talked this morning in our team meeting, we talked about how we felt we were prepared for this tonight. We were ready to go and we had all hands on deck, we felt with that lineup that we would be a hard team to beat tonight."    Janmark started the scoring for Vegas 5:09 into the first period, with his first goal of the playoffs making it 1-0 Golden Knights ...

*Photo from AP News* Carolina wins series 4-2     The Carolina Hurricans-Nashville Predators series has been filled with overtime battles. Game 6 was no different, but the result was. Dougie Hamilton scored the tying goal, Sebastian Aho scored the winning goal, and the Hurricanes defeated the Predators with a 4-3 overtime win Thursday night.    With the win, the Hurricanes advanced to the second round of the playoffs, where they will battle the Tampa Bay Lightning. The schedule for that series, including game start times, has not yet been announced by the NHL.     Brock McGinn started the scoring for Carolina, tying the game at 1-1 4:21 into the game. After Nashville took a 3-1 lead, Aho scored on the power play 13:34 into the second period, cutting the deficit to 3-2. 13:59 into the 3rd period, Hamilton scored his first goal of the playoffs, tying the game and forcing overtime. Just 1:06 into overtime, Aho scored his second goal of the night to give t...

*Photo from the Toronto Star* Toronto leads series 3-2     Game 5 between the Montreal Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs was a spectacle. Montreal had all the momentum in the world. Then, Toronto took it all for themselves. Then, Montreal got it back again. Joel Armia scored two goals, Nick Suzuki scored the winning goal, and the Canadiens defeated the Maple Leafs 4-3 in overtime on Thursday night, to keep their season alive. Jesperi Kotkaniemi also scored.    In the first period, it was the Armia show for the Canadiens. He made it 1-0 Montreal on an unassisted goal 5:19 into the game, and made it 2-0 about 3 minutes later with his second goal of the night. Kotkaniemi then scored to make it 3-0 4:52 into the second period. After Toronto tied the game, Suzuki scored on a 2 on 0 overtime break with Cole Caufield.     Suzuki said "Sometimes those 2-on-0s are a little bit more difficult. Some guys are hesitant to shoot, but we were just confident ...

*Photo from the Las Vegas Review-Journal* Series tied 3-3     The Minnesota Wild have been a thorn in the side of the Vegas Golden Knights all season. When they fell down 3-1 in the series, they have continued to be a thorn in the side. Ryan Hartman scored, Kevin Fiala and Nick Bjugstad scored, and the Wild shut out the Golden Knights with a 3-3 win Wednesday night.     Hartman said "It's an elimination game, and those type of games are just a game of mistakes. It's who's going to budge first. You've got two teams, one fighting for their lives more than the other, but they're playing just as hard. They don't want to have to play another game and we're fighting for our lives. Like I said, a game of mistakes, and when you get your opportunities, you have to put it in the net."    All of the Wild scoring came in the 3rd period, which started with Hartman's second of the playoffs 4:21 into the period. Fiala then scored on the power play at the 9:35...

*Photo from ABC Action News* Tampa Bay wins series 4-2     The playoff edition of the battle of Florida has reached it's conclusion, and boy, was it a fun series to watch. Steven Stamkos scored, Brayden Point and Alex Killorn both added goals, and the Tampa Bay Lightning shut out the Florida Panthers 4-0 on Wednesday night. Pat Maroon also scored for the Lightning.    Maroon started the scoring 6:16 into the game, with his first goal of the playoffs making it 1-0 Tampa Bay early. 13:27 into the second period, Stamkos scored on a wicked one timer on the power play to up the lead to 2-0 Lightning. In the 3rd period, goals from Point and Killorn sealed the 4-0 win for the Lightning.     Stamkos said of the win that "It was our best effort by far in the playoffs in the biggest game that we've played so far. That's what experienced teams do in those situations. They step up when it's time to step up. We didn't like our game last time and we talked...

*Photo from the Philadelphia Inquirer* New York wins series 4-2     The New York Islanders were free falling during the second half of the regular season. Halfway through the season, they were first in the East Division, and by the start of the playoffs, they had fell all the way down to 4th, the last team in from the East. During the playoffs though, they found that early season form. Brock Nelson scored two goals, Kyle Palmieri scored, and the Islanders defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins with a 5-3 win Wednesday night.    With the win, the Islanders have moved on to the second round of the playoffs, where they will battle the division rival and 3rd seeded Boston Bruins, to determine who will represent the East Division in the 3rd round, and have a shot at the Stanley Cup this season.     Islanders coach Barry Trotz said of moving on that "When everybody stays on task, a lot can get accomplished with the group. I've said it probably to every team I...

*Photo from the Associated Press*     After two double overtime losses on the road, the Carolina Hurricanes were the home team, and got some overtime luck this time. Martin Necas scored twice, Jordan Staal potted the game winner, and the Hurricanes topped the Nashville Predators with a 3-2 overtime win Tuesday night.     For Staal, who scored the game winner, emotions make their way into his game frequently, but he usually doesn't show it, and is simply focused on getting the job done and getting his team a win. After scoring the overtime winning goal, however, he couldn't help but scream and open his arms to get mobbed by his teammates.    Jaccob Slavin said of Staal that "You see the emotion he had in the end. He doesn't always show it, but that's the emotion he puts into every single thing he does. He's a great leader on and off the ice. He's a beast on the ice, and off the ice he's a great guy, great leader and great teammate who is willing to...

*Photo from the Toronto Star* Toronto leads series 3-1     In game 4, what led the Toronto Maple Leafs to victory was not their young core, but their older veteran faces. Jason Spezza scored, Joe Thornton and Alex Galchenyuk scored, and the Maple Leafs defeated the Montreal Canadiens 4-0 Tuesday night.    Jack Campbell got the win in net for the Maple Leafs, stopping all 32 shots he faced from Montreal to record the shutout, his first career playoff shutout. Campbell's strong play is a big reason that Toronto is where they are right now, which is on the brink of the second round with a commanding 3-1 series lead against the Canadiens.    Campbell said of his playoff success so far that "I think the guys just did a great job in front of me. I mean, we just stuck to our game plan, got a nice lead and then everybody was just battling. So it's not always the prettiest, but we battled until the end."    It was William Nylander who scored first for...

*Photo from TheScore* Tampa Bay leads series 3-2     Sergei Bobrovsky and Chris Driedger were not an effective goalie tandem for the Florida Panthers in their first round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning, with goalie changes almost becoming a nightly occurrence for the Panthers. So Joel Quenneville decided to shake things up. He brought in 20 year old Spencer Knight, who is in his rookie season and has only a handful of professional games under his belt.    Turns out, Quenneville was right to bring in the youngster. Knight stopped 36 shots, Mason Marchment scored, and the Panthers topped the Lightning with a 4-1 win Monday night, keeping their season alive for at least one more game with the win. They now trail the series 3-2 as they head to Tampa Bay for game 6.     Knight allowed a goal to Ross Colton on the first shot of the game, and it seemed like it was going to be a long night for the Panthers. Knight then proceeded to save the next 36 sho...

*Photo from InfoRum* Vegas leads series 3-2     Sitting on the brink of elimination, the Minnesota Wild wanted to head home to play a game 6, not to head home eliminated. So they made sure their was a game 6. Kirill Kaprizov scored his first career playoff goal, Zach Parise scored, and the Wild topped the Vegas Golden Knights with a 4-2 win Monday night to keep their season alive.     Wild coach Dean Evason said "The guys believed. The looks we were getting, the goals we scored tonight, that's what we've talked about. We just have to believe in that. The guys did persevere, and it's something that's inside them. It's a standard they have set for themselves that they don't panic, and we didn't do that tonight."    Parise, who was a healthy scratch for the first 3 games of this series, made his return to the lineup in game 4, and in game 5, potted a first period goal, which put Minnesota in front 2-1, and also put them in the lead for good. The 3 go...

*Photo from Global News* Winnipeg wins series 4-0     The Winnipeg Jets wanted their first career playoff series win against the Edmonton Oilers. They sure went out and took it. Mark Scheifele scored two goals, Kyle Connor scored the winner, and the Jets beat the Oilers with a 4-3 win in triple overtime Monday night, punching their ticket to the second round.    Connor said "Pionk made a great play. He was on McDavid there, just to get his stick on it and whack it up the boards, and I saw it coming and tried to skate as fast as I can. It's our mentality, the whole overtime, just get pucks to the net and just shoot that one and, yeah, that one feels pretty good."    This triple overtime thriller was the longest game in Jets/Atlanta Thrashers history, and this is just the second time since relocating from Atlanta that the Jets have made it to round two, the last time being the 2017-2018 playoffs, when they made it all the way to the Western Conference fi...

*Photo from PensBurgh* New York leads series 3-2     Overtime playoff hockey is simply a spectacle. So many last ditch efforts, incredible chances, even more incredible saves overtime in the playoffs is a must watch. So far, for these playoffs, it's just been a question of how many overtimes will be needed. Jordan Eberle scored the tying goal, Josh Bailey won it, and the New York Islanders defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 in double overtime Monday night.    Islanders coach Barry Trotz said "What I liked about our group was that we pulled together. We got stronger because it wasn't easy, it wasn't going our way and instead of trying to shift the blame or anything we just dug in. That's to me what good teams do, when you're not at your best, you find a way to hang in there, find a way to win and that to me shows a lot of character to our group. I always complement our group on character and that's one of our strengths."    Ilya Sorokin got the win in...

*Photo from Maple Leafs hot stove* Toronto leads series 2-1     In game 3 against the Montreal Canadiens, the Toronto Maple Leafs leaned on a few guys in particular. Forward William Nylander and goalie Jack Campbell. Nylander scored, Campbell was stellar in net, and the Maple Leafs defeated the Canadiens with a 2-1 win Monday night.    Campbell had another fantastic performance in goal for Toronto, saving 28 of 29 shots. Campbell's performance helped the Maple Leafs take a 2-1 series lead against Montreal. 14 of Campbell's saves came in the 3rd period as Montreal attempted to come back, but Campbell was up to the challenge.    Nylander was very complimentary of Campbell after the game 3 win, saying "Campbell was unbelievable. The work he put in before the playoffs started shows what it takes to compete at this level. He's been unbelievable for us, a huge part of our team."    Nylander gave Toronto a 1-0 lead 7:18 into the second period, thank...

*Photo from the Denver Post* Colorado wins series 4-0     St.Louis Blues captain Ryan O'Reilly said before the series that the Blues would have some fun and beat the Colorado Avalanche. Well, Colorado took that to heart. Gabe Landeskog scored, Mikko Rantanen scored the winning goal, and the Avalanche defeated the Blues with a 5-2 win Sunday evening.    With the win, the Avalanche finalized a sweep of the Blues in a one sided first round matchup, and booked their ticket to the second round, where they will play the winner of the Vegas Golden Knights and Minnesota Wild series, which Vegas currently leads 3-1. A start date for the series has not yet been determined.     Rantanen said of winning game 4 that "It was probably the toughest game for us. I think like Game 2, we weren't really happy how we played. But I think last two games we wrapped up the series really well and found a way to play kind of grinding hockey, so everybody knows we have the s...

*Photo from Sporting News* Winnipeg leads series 3-0     The Edmonton Oilers had a 4-1 lead as time was dwindling in the 3rd period. They appeared to be heading for their first win of the series, which would have made it a 2-1 series lead for the Winnipeg Jets. Turns out, the Jets had other ideas. Josh Morrissey scored the tying goal, Nikolaj Ehlers scored twice, including the winning goal, and the Jets defeated the Oilers with a 5-4 overtime win Sunday night.    Jets captain Blake Wheeler said "Our power play stepped up huge. That's obviously what got us kick-started. Those guys have been so awesome for us most of the year. They scored two big goals for us tonight, none bigger than Matty Perreault's to get us back in the game. I think the biggest takeaway is you need to win another game. Definitely a thrilling game, definitely an exciting game, but we've got to start focusing on tomorrow pretty quick here. It's just too bad our fans weren't in the building...

*Photo from the Boston Herald* Boston wins series 4-1     After a overtime loss in game one, the Boston Bruins made some adjustments and bounced back. They bounced back better than lots of people imagined. David Pastrnak scored, Patrice Bergeron scored two goals, one of which was the game winner, and the Bruins defeated the Washington Capitals with a 3-1 win Sunday night.     Boston has officially booked their ticket to the second round with the win, where they will face the winner of the Pittsburgh Penguins-New York Islanders series, which is currently tied 2-2. Tuukka Rask made 40 saves on 41 shots for the Bruins, capping off a strong series from the longtime Bruins goalie.    Pastrnak started the scoring 2:28 into the second period, tallying his second goal of the playoffs and making it 1-0 Bruins. 14:05 into the second, Bergeron made it a 2-0 lead for Boston with his second goal as well. After Conor Sheary scored for Washington 11 seconds into the ...

*Photo from On the Forecheck* Series tied 2-2     Even after falling behind in the series 2-0, the Nashville Predators were not going to go down easily. Game 4 showed once again the resilience of Nashville. Luke Kunin scored two goals, including the game winner, Nick Cousins scored the tying goal, and the Predators defeated the Carolina Hurricanes with a 4-3 double overtime win Sunday afternoon.    Nashville center Ryan Johansen said "We did a lot of good things tonight. You've just got to be mentally tough. You've got to stay ultra-focused, and your details got to be very sharp. Since Day One, we've loved the character in our room. The resilience is showing when we need it most. That's our group, and we continue to try and get better and keep moving forward."    Kunin scored for the Predators just 57 seconds into the game, and it was 1-0 early. In the second period, Johansen scored and Nashville took a 2-1 lead. In the 3rd, Nick Cousins tied...