NEW YORK (May 4, 2024) – Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews, Vancouver Canucks center Elias Pettersson and Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin are the three finalists for the 2023-24 Lady Byng Memorial Trophy, awarded “to the player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability,” the National Hockey League announced today.

Members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association submitted ballots for the Lady Byng Trophy at the conclusion of the regular season, with the top three vote-getters designated as finalists.

Following are the finalists, in alphabetical order:

from Tom Mayenknecht of the Vancouver Province,

Boston versus Toronto isn’t just a Game 7. It’s an historic Original Six matchup. It’s a heritage brand pairing. And it’s an intense rivalry game; a showcase of fan intrigue and storytelling, which is ultimately what drives interest and audiences.

Will the Bruins become the first team in NHL history to squander a 3-1 series lead in back-to-back opening round series or will the Leafs be sent to the off-season by yet another heartbreaking collapse when it matters most?...

South of the border will be equally hot. As per TV Sports News & Updates, with U.S. coverage anchored by ABC on Saturday night, it marks the first Game 7 in an opening-round series to be presented on American broadcast TV since 1972 when CBS showed Game 7 of the first-round series between the old Minnesota North Stars and the St. Louis Blues.

It says here that the conditions are perfect for Boston-Toronto to set a new Canadian record for an opening-round game (at least on English-language TV).

South of the border, it could rival the average American audience of 3.5 million that watched the Bruins beat the Washington Capitals in Game 6 in overtime on NBC in 2012, the year after a Game 7 Cup Final between Boston and the Vancouver Canucks in 2011 drew more than eight million in Canada alone.

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NEW YORK (May 3, 2024) -- Two of the NHL's storied franchises whose century-long rivalry has never been hotter will meet in a Game 7 showdown Saturday night when the Boston Bruins play host to the Toronto Maple Leafs at TD Garden to decide their Eastern Conference First Round series. The winner advances to the Second Round and will face the Atlantic Division champion Florida Panthers in a best-of-seven series that opens Monday, May 6 in Florida.

from Ed Graney of the Las Vegas Review-Journal,

Desperate teams play like this sometimes. Play up to their ability. Often beyond it.

Survival can be the greatest of motivators.

The Golden Knights aren’t done yet. There is still a Stanley Cup to defend.

It hasn’t gone anywhere.

The season continues after the Knights’ 2-0 win over the Dallas Stars before a crowd of 18,432 Friday at T-Mobile Arena.

What it means: There will be a Game 7 of the series Sunday at American Airlines Center. Winner takes all. Loser gets ready for things such as exit interviews and clean-out day and vacation plans.

What it also means: This series deserves a Game 7. It has been too closely contested for it not to be brought to the brink.

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Game highlights are below.

from Iain MacIntyre of Sportsnet,

When Pius Suter signed with the Vancouver Canucks six weeks into free agency last summer, cut adrift by the Detroit Red Wings, a lot of friends back home in Switzerland thought he was nuts.

“They said, ‘You're going to another team that's not going to make the playoffs,’” Suter recalled late Friday. “I was like, 'No, this team is better than you think. We have guys that are top-five guys in the league at every position.’ It's huge for us to win this series. But we know what people say. Not many believed in us before this season. Probably even less next series.”

Suter, who came to the Canucks with a lot of skills in his tool box but was never regarded as tough, was one of the best Vancouver players against the Nashville Predators. He took a beating in the hard areas all series, won more battles than he lost, never shied from the fight and played the last two games with a mouthful of stitches.

And on Friday, having never logged a National Hockey League playoff game until two weeks ago, Suter scored the franchise’s biggest goal since the 2011 Stanley Cup Final.

After smashing his stick in frustration at missed opportunities earlier in the game, the 27-year-old from Zurich used its replacement to direct Brock Boeser’s centring pass past Nashville goalie Juuse Saros with 1:39 remaining as the Canucks beat the Predators 1-0 to win the first-round series in six games. They advance to a dream Stanley Cup quarterfinal matchup against the Edmonton Oilers that starts Tuesday at Rogers Arena.

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Watch the only goal in the game below.

Game highlights are here.

* Noah Hanifin netted his second game-winning goal of the 2024 First Round as the reigning Stanley Cup champion Golden Knights staved off elimination, setting up a winner-take-all weekend with a Game 7 slated for each day.

* Pius Suter scored with 1:39 remaining in regulation, marking the latest series-clinching goal in regulation in Canucks history and the fifth latest across the NHL in the past 10 years. The victory set up a Second Round matchup between the top two teams in the Pacific Division as the Canucks and Oilers are set to face off in the postseason for the first time in 32 years.

* Since the final contest Tuesday (NSH at VAN, Game 5), the score has been tied or within one goal for 94% of playing time across six games (338:54 of 360:00). Only three teams have had a multi-goal lead in that span, for a combined total of 21:06 (EDM: 18:35, TOR: 2:12 & VGK: 0:19).

* All eyes are on the Bruins and Maple Leafs on Saturday as the clubs meet in a Game 7 for the fourth time in the past 11 years and sixth overall. Click here for the Bruins-Maple Leafs Game 7 #NHLStats Pack.

The take a 2-1 series lead in the best of five series.

Game 4 is Sunday in Rockford.

The Canucks with a 1-0 shutout win over the Nashville Predators to win the series 4-2.

They will face the Edmonton Oilers in round 2.

The Predators did all they could in the last 33 seconds but could not score.

Highlights and handshakes are below.

Vancouver and Dallas can advance to the second round with a road win tonight.

NEW YORK (May 3, 2024) – Rick Bowness of the Winnipeg Jets, Andrew Brunette of the Nashville Predators and Rick Tocchet of the Vancouver Canucks are the three finalists for the 2023-24 Jack Adams Award, presented to the head coach who has “contributed the most to his team’s success,” the National Hockey League announced today.

Members of the NHL Broadcasters’ Association submitted ballots for the Jack Adams Award after the conclusion of the regular season, with the top three vote-getters designated as finalists.

Following are the finalists for the Jack Adams Award, in alphabetical order:

from Joe Starkey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette,

Did you actually listen to coach Mike Sullivan at his season-ending news conference two weeks ago?

I would imagine, as a fan, you wanted some outrage. You wanted the fiery Sully that arrived in Pittsburgh all those years ago, the drill sergeant who put the stars in their place and seemingly did not smile once until the Penguins won it all.

That Sully might have stepped to the podium, after missing the playoffs for the second straight season, and begun by telling fans — the real audience at those types of gatherings — that he was beyond disgusted and would exhaust every last ounce of energy to make it right. That Sully might have said something like, “This is unacceptable, and it begins with me. Given our talent, our good health and the golden opportunity our opponents gave us, missing the playoffs again is simply intolerable. We failed. I failed. This cannot happen again.”

Instead, we got this from a kinder, gentler Sully: “I’ve said on a couple of occasions we’re proud of the group for the performance down the stretch. ... There were a lot of excuses out there to go in a different direction, and they chose not to. And I think that speaks volumes for the character of the people in the room, the leadership we have, the professionalism of the group and their care factor. And we couldn’t be more proud of the effort and the investment they all put in to drag ourselves back in the fight. ... I can’t say enough about the character of the people in our dressing room.”

Come again? Isn’t trying hard the least a professional athlete can do? And why did the Penguins leave the fight in the first place? Oh, and where was the “care factor” when the team basically quit upon learning longtime teammate Jake Guentzel would be traded? The night the Penguins found out, they lost at home to the Capitals, 6-0, and remained in a funk, basically costing themselves a playoff spot. I don’t think that speaks volumes for the “professionalism of the group,” quite frankly, although at least defenseman Kris Letang told the truth after the Capitals debacle.

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from Luke Fox of Sportsnet,

William Nylander was still catching his breath on the Toronto Maple Leafs' bench after scoring the Game 7–triggering goal when, upon noticing that Scotiabank Arena had flashed his image on the Jumbotron, he held an open gloved hand up to his ear.

The arena was already going bonkers, witnessing a dramatic script getting flipped in real-time, but much like prime Hulk Hogan — another blond athletic superstar who prefers his tarps off and his comebacks theatrical — Nylander wanted to hear more.

Scoring both Maple Leafs goals in Thursday's airtight, win-or-stay-home Game 6 in stylish fashion, Nylander may have been late to put his stamp on this series. But his performance — heck, the whole squad's performance — in a gutsy 2-1 victory now has the Boston Bruins on the ropes.

Toronto is but a leg drop away.

"Incredible. Big-time stuff. That's what you're looking for from a player of his calibre," marvelled coach Sheldon Keefe, who could've said nice things about his players all night if he didn't have a plane to catch.

"He's a heckuva game-breaker. When he's got the puck on his stick, he can make something happen at any time. Two elite finishes for us tonight," added captain John Tavares. "Not surprising. Love having him."

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Below find the game highlights.

* William Nylander and Joseph Woll led the Maple Leafs to a second straight one-goal win as Toronto rallied from a 3-1 series deficit to force the first Game 7 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

* The Maple Leafs became the 65th team in NHL history to force a Game 7 after facing a 3-1 series deficit. The winner-take-all showdown has been a 50-50 split to date: the club that trailed has won 32 times, as has the team that led.

* The Predators and Golden Knights can follow the Maple Leafs’ lead and force this year’s second and third Game 7s when they host the Canucks and Stars on Friday.

* Thursday’s edition of #NHLStats: Live Updates featured more notes on Toronto’s victory as well as tomorrow’s winner-take-all showdown at TD Garden.

NEW YORK (May 2, 2024) – The National Hockey League today announced that the Second Round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs will begin on Sunday with Game 1 between the Carolina Hurricanes and New York Rangers. In addition, on Monday, the Florida Panthers will host Game 1 against the winner of Saturday’s First Round Game 7 between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins. The complete 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs Second Round schedule, as well as the start times and broadcast information for this weekend’s potential Game 7s, will be announced when available.

Boston at Toronto with puck drop just after 8pm ET.

Watch on TBS, MAX, Sportsnet, CBC and TVAS.

Bruins will clinch the series with a win, Toronto will force a game 7 with a win. Something has to give.

from Joe Smith of The Athletic,

He’s adamant — doubters be damned — that this accomplished and aging core has a few more kicks left at the can. Or the Cup.

The doubt, Cooper says, is why the next one might be the most meaningful.

“What was special about Jack Nicklaus winning the Masters in ’86? He kept grinding and then he did it,” Cooper says. “How about Tiger (Woods) when he won the Masters in ’19? Our window is open. But it’s not as open as it was four, five years ago. At some point, guys are going to get older. (Andre Vasilevskiy) is going to get older. (Nikita Kucherov) is going to get older. (Brayden Point) is going to get older. Stamkos.

“But to win, get knocked down and come back, would be super cool. To be able to knock back at people that said, ‘They were Chicago, they were Pittsburgh, L.A.’ — the teams that dominated, won their Cups and had to take steps back because of the salary cap — if we can fight through that, it’d be really gratifying.”

With the Lightning coming off back-to-back first-round playoff exits, many see them headed to the same purgatory as the other recent multiple-Cup winners: the Pittsburgh Penguins, Chicago Blackhawks and Los Angeles Kings. They’re too good to rebuild, not good enough to compete for a championship.

Cooper sees this group differently.

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from Stephen Whyno of the AP at the Seattle Times,

Off the goaltender’s mask, off a defenseman’s back, nothing but net. Well, at least in the net.

That is how Colorado’s Casey Mittelstadt got his first goal of the NHL playoffs this year, and it is not the only one. Several players have scored by ricocheting the puck in off a goalie’s head, including Dallas’ Evgenii Dadonov against Vegas earlier this week.

It is an art that is becoming more and more refined as skaters find ways to score against the best netminders in the world. Sniping goals in from near-impossible angles — Mario Lemieux was remarkable at it — is now common and even expected for NHL forwards. Maybe banking shots in off a goalie’s mask was the inevitable next step in a league that saw its first “Michigan” — the lacrosse-style goal done from behind the net — only in 2019.

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NEW YORK (May 2, 2024) – Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Andersen, Arizona Coyotes goaltender Connor Ingram and Calgary Flames defenseman Oliver Kylington are the three finalists for the 2023-24 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, which is awarded “to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey,” the National Hockey League announced today.

The local chapters of the Professional Hockey Writers Association (PHWA) submitted nominations for the Masterton Trophy at the conclusion of the regular season and the top three vote-getters were designated as finalists.

Following are the finalists for the Masterton Trophy, in alphabetical order:

from Nick Kypreos at the Toronto Star,

It’s just so typical of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

A new level of frustration had been reached, with many wanting their beloved hockey team to rip the Band-Aid off by losing in Game 5 to get the much-needed organizational overhaul underway.

On Tuesday night in Boston, they gave everyone reason to hope again.

“We were playing for our lives and wouldn’t be denied tonight,” Max Domi said after the game.

Here we go again. Leafs Nation has lived through so many consecutive seasons that ended in utter disappointment that it’s hard to muster up optimism for an epic series comeback against, of all teams, the archrival Bruins. It’s fair if they’ve convinced themselves that even the impressive overtime win in Game 5 without Auston Matthews will only prolong the inevitable.

When Toronto was down 3-1 in the series, the thought process was not if changes are going to be made but which major changes ownership would start with. At the top with president Brendan Shanahan? Or maybe with head coach Sheldon Keefe?

But they won Game 5 and at least for a moment — before Game 6 on Thursday at Scotiabank Arena, where they’ve lost six straight playoff games — the mood has improved.

So let’s be hypothetical for a second. After abysmal and embarrassing losses in three of the first five games of this first-round series, what would it take for this Leafs team to earn respect back from fans and media alike?

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from Sean McIndoe of The Athletic,

NHL playoff controversies are all unique, like precious little snowflakes, although they typically fall into a handful of categories. There’s the (maybe) dirty hit. There’s the (maybe) missed call. There’s the (maybe) violation of The Code, which may also involve a dirty hit on which there’s a missed call.

One way or another, something is on the way, and we’re all going to be mad at each other about it. For now, we may as well prepare. So let’s get ready for the inevitable, with a quick reminder of the 20 stages of an NHL playoff controversy.

Stage 1: Something happens

It barely matters what. All you know is that one minute, things are fine. The next, the crowd is booing, a coach is turning red, everyone is mad on your TV, and your social media feeds are already yelling at each other.

You’re not even completely sure what happened, which leads to …

Stage 2: The first replays

They do not help. If anything, they make it worse. One angle looks like the play was maybe bad. The next one makes it look fine. The third angle is too far away to help. The fourth angle is from a different game in a different league. You’re more confused than you were before.

Stage 3: The announcers aren’t sure what just happened

There’s a non-zero chance they don’t even realize what the issue is and will spend those first few minutes talking about a completely different moment that has nothing to do with this one.

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from Ted Kulfan of the Detroit News,

...over the last two seasons, and particularly this season, there was more noticeable consistency to Rasmussen's overall game. Rasmussen's impact was felt and seen most every game.

"Definitely the biggest thing is consistency, and that's a hard thing to do in this league," Rasmussen said. "For the most part I was consistent with just the things that make my game effective. Forechecking, killing penalties, playing with energy and physicality, adding some offense here and there. There were some positives taken in that way."

An area that Rasmussen feels still needs attention is scoring goals around the net. Rasmussen has the size and strength to get to the net and cause havoc. But knocking some of those loose pucks, or deflecting pucks, continues to be a work in progress.

"Some more touch around the net," Rasmussen said of an area he'll focus on this summer. "You look at and reflect at some of the opportunities that could have changed the outcome of some games, and therefore the season, if different (scoring chances) go in for you."

And, hopefully, next season staying healthy all the way through. Rasmussen doesn't want watch those late-season games, he'd rather be playing.

He's done enough helpless watching.

"It was tough," Rasmussen said.

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from Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press,

from Ed Graney of the Las Vegas Review-Journal,

You can change lines. You can change your goalie. You can shorten your bench.

You can hit the HIGH button on a blender.

But sloppy won’t do in a Stanley Cup playoff series this tight. It’s a major reason the Golden Knights are on the verge of elimination.

The team that took so much pride in not taking penalties is killing itself by doing just that.

By not having composure. By being frustrated and undisciplined. By being let down by team leaders.

The Knights fell to Dallas 3-2 on Wednesday night before a sold-out American Airlines Center.

The Stars now lead the best-of-seven 3-2. It means a win-or-go-home scenario faces the Knights on Friday evening at T-Mobile Arena for Game 6. It means the defending Stanley Cup champion is 60 minutes from being bounced by its skates in the first round.

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Game highlights are below.

The Edmonton Oilers advance to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs after defeating the LA Kings 4-3.

First the handshakes, highlights are below.