Five Minute Major

*Photo from The Rink Live* Series tied 2-2     Just like that, we have a brand new series. Wyatt Johnston scored, Evgenii Dadonov had a goal, and the Dallas Stars defeated the Vegas Golden Knights with a 4-2 victory Monday night in Las Vegas.    The Stars have won two straight game to tie the series 2-2 through 4 games. The road team through the 4 games played is undefeated, which creates an interesting situation with the Stars having home ice advantage in two of the final 3 possible games.    Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger said of coming back in the series that "It’s not surprising to anyone in this room. We felt good about our game in Dallas, it just didn’t go the way we wanted to. Series go a million different ways. It’s not always how you draw it up. Teams have back from down 3-0, 3-1. It’s not over unless you give up. No one in here is giving up."    Michael Amadio started the scoring in this one, giving the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead on hi...

*Photo from Bay News 9* Florida wins series 4-1     The battle of Florida now has a new champion. Niko Mikkola had a goal and an assist, Aleksander Barkov and Carter Verhaeghe each had two goals and an assist, and the Florida Panthers defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 6-1 Monday night in Sunrise.    With multi point games from Barkov, Verhaeghe, Mikkola, and Matthew Tkachuk who had two assists, the Panthers knocked out their in state rival in the Lightning, becoming the second team to win a series so far. It's an extra sweet win after being knocked out by the Lightning twice before.    Tkachuk said of the series win that "Just to be in a playoff series against your biggest rival is so cool and so much fun to begin with. To come out on top, be a part of the team that was able to do that for the first time makes it more special. We’re probably going to be playing our next-biggest rival, so there will not be an emotional letdown."    After a...

*Photo from KSL Sports* Vegas leads series 2-1     This is getting fun now. Jason Robertson dished out a pair of assists, Wyatt Johnston scored twice, and the Dallas Stars defeated the Vegas Golden Knights with a 3-2 overtime victory Saturday night in Las Vegas.    After losing the first two games of the series at home, the Stars went on the road and took care of business in game 3, winning in overtime to halve their series deficit. Behind Johnston and Robertson's two point games plus a goal and an assist from Miro Heiskanen, the Stars ensured at least a 5th game.    Dallas head coach Pete Deboer said of the win that "I loved the first period. I think we did some really good things. Executed at a high, high level and had great desperation to our game. Our game’s building, you know, Game 2 was better than Game 1. Game 3 was better than Game 2. So that's a great sign for me on our group."    It was the Stars who got things going in this one. Jo...

*Photo from the Boston Globe* Boston leads series 3-1     These guys just have Toronto's number. James van Riemsdyk scored, Brad Marchand had a goal and an assist, and the Boston Bruins defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs with a 3-1 victory Saturday night in Toronto.    Winning two straight road games has put the Bruins one win away from knocking out the Maple Leafs in the first round for the 4th time in 11 years. A big reason why has been Marchand, who scored his 56th playoff goal to become the new Bruins leader in playoff goals, passing Cam Neely.    Bruins alternate captain David Pastrnak said of Marchand that "He creates so much for our team, not only the production that is coming right now last couple games for him, but he’s all over the ice. He’s killing penalties for us, he’s playing big minutes. He’s our captain and he definitely led us the right way the last two games, and it’s easy to follow when your captain is doing that."    The only goa...

*Photo from The Hockey News* Florida leads series 3-1     These guys are still going. Steven Stamkos scored twice, Brandon Hagel had two goals and an assist, and the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Florida Panthers with a 6-3 victory Saturday in Tampa Bay.    Needing to win to extend the series and their season, the Lightning did so to finally get on the board in the series. Only 4 times out of the 206 in league history has a team rallied to win a series after being down 3-0. The Lightning want to be the 5th.    Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman said of the win that "We came out with fire and we got rewarded. Special teams was big, power play, short-handed, 4-on-4, those were the kind of goals we got and that's big for us. They pushed back in the second, but I thought we had a tremendous third and deserved the win."    Stamkos gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead in the first period with a power play goal assisted by Hagel and Brayden Point. With ...

*Photo from the San Diego Union Tribune* Carolina leads series 3-1     The series ain't over yet. Bo Horvat had a pair of assists, Mathew Barzal scored two goals, and the New York Islanders defeated the Carolina Hurricanes with a 3-2 double OT win Saturday on Long Island.    Needing to win to keep their season alive, the Islanders did just that as they extended the series for at least another game. Barzal and Horvat were the multi point scorers as the Islanders came out on top of a double overtime marathon game, the first double OT game of the playoffs this year.    New York head coach Patrick Roy said after the game that "You have no idea how proud I am of this group. They came out and played hard. Even when they took the lead, we stayed calm, and we stayed focused. Our mindset was really good and I think the guys were determined to find a way to fight to win this hockey game."    On the power play 8 minutes into the game, the lone goal of t...

*Photo from Canes Country* Carolina leads series 3-0     This series has been one sided so far. Andrei Svechnikov had two assists, Sebastian Aho scored the game winning goal, and the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the New York Islanders with a 3-2 victory Thursday night on Long Island.    In a matchup of the two and 3 seeds of the Metropolitan Division, the series has been all Hurricanes, staking themselves to a 3-0 series lead, one win away from knocking out the Islanders and advancing to the second round. Svechnikov's two assists made him the Hurricanes only multi point player.    Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind'Amour said of the win that "The first two periods were OK and then we knew what was coming. They're going to give it everything they had. And that’s exactly what happened. But Freddie came up with a couple of huge saves and that's the difference in the game."    The Hurricanes staked themselves to an early lead on the road. Brent Burn...

*Photo from Sportsnet* Florida leads series 3-0     One game away. Steven Lorentz had a goal and an assist, Brandon Montour had an identical line, and the Florida Panthers defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning with a 5-3 victory Thursday night in Tampa Bay.    With the win, the Panthers are one game away from sweeping the Lightning and advancing to the second round. Montour, Lorentz, and Matthew Tkachuk had two point games as Tkachuk scored two goals. It's quite a turnaround from their last playoff meeting that ended in a sweep for the Lightning.    Tkachuk said of being up 3-0 that "We're in a position right now that we would have dreamed about at the beginning of the series. But there have been stretches where they have played really well, and I think it's been a really close series so far in the first three games. We've been getting some unbelievable goaltending, that's really weathered the storm for us."    The only goal of the first period ca...

*Photo from ABC7* Series tied 1-1     Another edition of this series is off and running. Adrian Kempe had two goals, Anze Kopitar scored the winning goal, and the Los Angeles Kings defeated the Edmonton Oilers with a 5-4 overtime victory Wednesday night in Edmonton.    After giving up 7 goals in game one, the Kings were able to come out on the other side of a back and forth battle of game two, tying the series and forcing at least a 5th game. Quinton Byfield had two assists and Kopitar had a goal and two assists along with Kempe's two goals.    Kempe started the scoring 3:19 into the game, giving the Kings a 1-0 lead. He scored again at the 14:57 mark of the first to double the Kings lead to 2-0. Brett Kulak got the Oilers on the board and cut the deficit to 2-1 before Drew Doughty scored his first goal of the playoffs to make the Kings lead 3-1 after the first period.    Dylan Holloway cut into the Oilers deficit 7:51 into the second period, maki...

*Photo from AP News* Vegas leads series 2-0     Road dominance early on. Jonathan Marchessault had a goal and an assist, Noah Hanifin scored, and the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Dallas Stars with a 3-1 victory Wednesday night in Dallas.    Vegas took control of the series with the win, winning both road games to take a two game lead before hitting home ice for the next two games. Marchessault and Jack Eichel each had a goal and an assist for the defending champion Golden Knights.    Eichel said of the win that "I think we expected them to come out and push hard that first 5-10 minutes, and they did. They were physical, played hard, they had some chances. Thompson made some big stops for us. That’s a very desperate hockey team and a very good one. They gave us all we could handle."    It was the Stars who jumped out to the lead first. Jason Robertson found the back of the net with the Stars on the power play 16:07 into the game, assisted...

*Photo from the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette* Boston leads series 2-1     This rivalry is taking center stage. Jake DeBrusk scored, Brad Marchand had two goals and an assist, and the Boston Bruins defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs with a 4-2 victory Wednesday night in Toronto.    The Bruins took a 2-1 advantage in the series against the rival Maple Leafs, two wins away from advancing to the second round. Marchand was the only player with multiple points for the Bruins, who scored 3 times in the 3rd period to secure the win.    After a scoreless first period, Matthew Knies gave the Maple Leafs a 1-0 lead 13:10 into the second period with his first goal of the playoffs. Trent Frederic scored 4:27 after Knies to tie the game for the Bruins with Morgan Geekie and Hampus Lindholm assisting. DeBrusk scored on the power play 1:07 into the 3rd to put the Bruins ahead 2-1.    Later in the 3rd period, Tyler Bertuzzi scored for the Maple Leafs, tying the game 2-...

*Photo from Reuters* Vancouver leads series 1-0     One of the more competitive games of the day was this one. Dakota Joshua had two goals and an assist, Quinn Hughes had two assists, and the Vancouver Canucks defeated the Nashville Predators with a 4-2 win Sunday in Vancouver.    The Canucks got the win on the strength of 3 unanswered goals in the 3rd period, including two in 12 seconds. With the first playoff game in Vancouver since 2015, the Canucks got off on the right foot after winning the Pacific Division in the regular season.    Canucks forward Elias Lindholm said of the environment "Goosebumps for sure. Just in the warmups, people are standing up, you’re kind of fired up, kind of have to control your emotions a little bit during the warmup. It’s great to have playoff hockey. Obviously, it’s a lot of fun."    Jason Zucker started the scoring in this one, giving the Predators a 1-0 lead with the only goal of the first period. Lindholm...

*Photo from TSN* Winnipeg leads series 1-0     Offensive shootout coming right up. Adam Lowry scored two goals, Kyle Connor had two goals and an assist, and the Winnipeg Jets defeated the Colorado Avalanche with a 7-6 victory Sunday night in Winnipeg.    With a combined 13 goals between the sides, the Jets came out on top in the scoring duel. Lowry, Connor, Mark Scheifele, Josh Morrissey, Brenden Dillon, Gabriel Vilardi, and Nino Niederreiter all had multi point games for the Jets. This is the first time the teams have played in the playoffs.    Jets head coach Rick Bowness said of the win that "Listen, we’ll never complain about a win, especially this time of year. It wasn’t exactly how we drew it up, but if that’s the way it goes, that’s the way it goes. Their top guys took over, our top guys took over. It was just the type of game that it evolved into, and you play it out and we found a way to get the win. So, we’ll take it."    Valeri Nic...

*Photo from TheScore* New York leads series 1-0     Another series is off and running. Jimmy Vesey had a goal and an assist, Barclay Goodrow had two assists, and the New York Rangers defeated the Washington Capitals with a 4-1 victory Sunday afternoon in Manhattan.    The president's trophy winning Rangers got their playoff run started right, beating the Capitals, who were the last team in the playoffs. With the Rangers seeking to end a 30 year Stanley Cup drought, unexpected contributors like Vesey and Goodrow had the multi point games in the series opener.    New York head coach Peter Laviolette said of the win that "You're here to win games and so it's obviously good to get the first one. Everything ratchets up a little bit more and we're going to need to be ready, but you can only do one at a time. You need to win one at a time, so for that the result was good."    After a scoreless first period, Matt Rempe scored 4:17 into the second per...

*Photo from AP News* Florida leads series 1-0     The battle of Florida is back. Aleksander Barkov had two assists, Matthew Tkachuk had a goal and an assist, and the Florida Panthers defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning with a 3-2 victory Sunday afternoon in Sunrise.    In another playoff matchup with their in-state rival, the Panthers won a game one on home ice in the playoffs for the first time since 1997. The Lightning took down the Panthers in 6 games in the 2021 playoffs and swept them in 2022, a series which they outscored the Panthers 13-3.    Barkov, the Panthers captain, said of the matchup that "We have history between these two teams. Last two times, it didn’t work out well for us but we want to change it now. I think we have a great opportunity here and today was unreal. It’s been a great atmosphere here all season, but man, we missed the playoffs. We missed this atmosphere."    The Panthers took advantage to start this one. Sam Reinh...

*Photo from CP24* Boston leads series 1-0     This series is starting off on a familiar foot. Charlie McAvoy had two assists, Jake DeBrusk had two goals and an assist, and the Boston Bruins defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-1 Saturday night in Boston.    Having faced off plenty in the first round in the 2010s, the Bruins and Maple Leafs have their first matchup of the 2020s and like the bouts in the 2010s, it's the Bruins off to the quick start. If Boston keeps playing like they did in this game, the series won't go 7 games like the clashes of the 2010s did.    Riding two assist games from McAvoy and Brad Marchand to go along with a 3 point game from DeBrusk, the Bruins jumped out to the early series lead on home ice. It was a great bounce back for a team that lost the last two games of the regular season and the Atlantic Division along with it.    Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman said of the win that "I think we stuck to the game plan really well....

*Photo from The Hockey News* Carolina leads series 1-0     That's the start of the playoffs for you. Brady Skjei had two assists, Evgeny Kuznetsov had a goal and an assist, and the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the New York Islanders with a 3-1 victory Saturday in Raleigh.    In the matchup of the two and three seeds of the Metropolitan Division, the Hurricanes jumped out ahead early in the rematch of the first round series between the two last year, which Carolina won in 6 games as the top seed in the Metropolitan Division.    A chorus of players helped Carolina get the job done. Behind strong goaltending from Frederik Andersen, Skjei, Kuznetsov, and Martin Necas all had multi point games, with Necas getting a goal and an assist.    Carolina head coach Rod Brind'Amour said of the win that "We weren't great, that's for sure. New York is a perfect example of a team that’s been playing playoff hockey for a month against a team that hasn’t. As th...

*Photo from The Rink Live*     One more year, the ride into the sunset begins. Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury and the Minnesota Wild have agreed to a one year, $2.5 million contract extension, according to an announcement by Fleury and the Wild.    The contract pays him $2.5 million entirely in base salary and doesn't contain incentives. He gets a full no movement clause as well. In the announcement of his extension, Fleury also said next year will be his last in the NHL.    Fleury said "I would say early things were a little tough for the team, for me personally. I really thought this was going to be it. As the year went on, start winning a bit more, start having some fun a bit more. Still love to compete, love to battle with the guys out there and it’s what’s ultimately driving me to keep living the dream and go for one more. A lot of guys have said, guys I know, play as long as you can. If you stop too early you regret it. I'm very lucky to have the suppo...

*Photo from Daily Faceoff*     The playoff field is set in stone. TJ Oshie had a goal and an assist, Charlie Lindgren shined in net, and the Washington Capitals defeated the Philadelphia Flyers with a 2-1 victory Tuesday night in Philadelphia.    Needing a win to clinch a playoff spot, the Capitals did just that. After their 8 year playoff streak was snapped last season, the Capitals got back in and have made the playoffs 9 out of the last 10 years. The Capitals finished tied with the Detroit Red Wings for points but hold the regulation wins tiebreaker.    Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin said of clinching a playoff spot that "We fight through lots of stuff that happen at deadline, injuries, but I think the belief inside the locker room was tremendous. We enjoyed that process. It's special. That's why we play hockey. You want to be in that type of atmosphere, you want to be in, and we beat pretty good teams to be able to make it."    It was Ovechkin...