from Iain MacIntyre of Sportsnet,

If this thing doesn’t work out with the Vancouver Canucks — and being a National Hockey League coach carries the job security of a newspaper delivery person — Rick Tocchet could probably make more money batting cleanup for the Toronto Blue Jays.

Throughout the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Tocchet has mashed for power and average while pushing the Canucks to the brink of the franchise’s fourth conference final in 54 years and the first one since 2011.

Plus, we all know the Blue Jays need the help, although Tocchet is more likely to replace manager John Schneider than Vlad Guerrero Jr.

On Wednesday, after excoriating his team for its “passengers” while tied 2-2 in a second-round series against the Edmonton Oilers, Tocchet reminded reporters that he was here to take his cuts at the plate. Twice fired as a head coach from unwinnable situations in Tampa and Phoenix, Tocchet made it clear soon after he was hired by the Canucks 16 months ago that he would swing for the fences, not try to work the count or sneak on base with a bunt. He did not come to Vancouver to play it safe.

“I told you guys when I took the job, 'I'm swinging the bat,’” Tocchet said Wednesday. “Like, I'm not scared. You can't play safe if you want to win. You've got to go for it.”

continued

from Mark Spector of Sportsnet,

from Rich Thompson of the Boston Herald,

Boston Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman couldn’t close the deal on a second straight elimination game.

Florida defenseman Gustav Forsling flicked home a rebound inside the near post at 18:27 of the third with the game winner in the Panthers’ 2-1 victory in the deciding Game 6 on Friday night at the TD Garden.

“I didn’t see it,” said Swayman. “I wish that I had put the rebound in a better spot and I didn’t see the release of the second shot. There was a hole there obviously and it was unacceptable.”

Swayman brought the series back to Boston with a 28-save effort in a 2-1 elimination game victory over the Panthers in Sunrise, Fla., last Tuesday. The Panthers eliminated the Bruins from the Stanley Cup playoffs in consecutive seasons and will face the New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference finals.

Swayman will be restricted free agent with arbitration rights, but he made it clear after the game his heart is in Boston.

“I told these guys in the locker room after that I never loved a team more, especially at the pro level when guys all have their own lives and their own families,” said Swayman.

“Every one of these guys took the initiative to come to the rink every day and make this our family. I don’t think there are many locker rooms in the world that have that. I think we should celebrate the fact that every day when we come to the locker room that everyone has each other’s backs away from the rink and at the rink.”

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from Mark Kiszla of the Denver Gazette,

Two years after hoisting the Stanley Cup, every step away from the victory parade gets heavier with regret of what might have been for this ridiculously talented Avalanche team.

The clock struck midnight on another Colorado season in the waning seconds of Friday night. And this 2-1 loss, in double overtime to Dallas, couldn’t have been more bitter, because our old friend Matt Duchene drove a stake in the Avalanche’s heart with the game-winning goal.

Another early exit from the Stanley Cup Playoffs. A team that professed to be all in has bombed out.

"A devastating result," Avs defenseman Cale Makar said, after the disappointment of Friday turned to Saturday and the first day of vacation the Avs didn't want.

Another season wasted in the prime of the careers of Makar, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen, players Duchene called "borderline super-human."

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Dallas defeated the Colorado Avalanche 2-1 in 2OT to win the series 4-2

They will face the winner of Vancouver/Edmonton.

Here is the game winner and below find handshakes and highlights.

The Panthers defeated the Boston Bruins 2-1 to win the series 4-2.

Here is the late winning goals and handshakes and highlights are below.

from Ansar Khan of Mlive,

Detroit Red Wings prospect Trey Augustine made 20 saves Friday in his first World Championship start and the United States defeated Poland 4-1 in Ostrava, Czechia.

It was the third appearance for Augustine, 19, in the tournament. He previously relieved an injured Alex Lyon and replaced an ineffective Alex Nedeljkovic.

Augustine ranks third in goals-against average (1.37) and fourth in save percentage (.929) among all goalies. He has stopped 39-of-42 shots in three games.

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from Mark Spector of Sportsnet,

This series turned here in Game 5, a smash and grab by a Vancouver Canucks team that got their hands around this game and simply just took off with it.

The Edmonton Oilers, a team that’s been chasing this series since blowing a 4-1 lead to lose Game 1, just didn’t have any more chase in them Thursday, losing 3-2 on a J.T. Miler goal in the game’s final 30 seconds.

It was another blown lead by Edmonton, but this one was different. When the teams came out of the dressing rooms for Period 2, Vancouver had more, played faster, executed better.

In the end it was a one-goal game in name only, a 5-2 drubbing dressed up like a 3-2 thriller.

The Canucks were not just the better team for the vast majority of the final 40 minutes, the players on both teams weren’t the only ones who noticed. So did the Hockey Gods, as a puck that hit the Oilers post with 29 seconds left in the game was guided perfectly to the stick of the deserved, Canucks bulldog Miller.

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from Larry Brooks of the New York Post,

His signature is all over recent Rangers history. You can’t miss it. Just as no one, but no one, could miss him down here on Thursday night.

The. National. Hockey. League. Saw. Chris.

Number 20 came about as close as possible as pulling a No. 11, for it was Chris Kreider, the senior Ranger, who recorded a natural hat trick in the third period to enable the Rangers to overcome a 3-1 deficit and record a Game 6 series-clinching 5-3 victory over the Canes.

It will mark the Blueshirts’ fifth trip to the conference final in the 13 years since Kreider joined the team fresh out of Boston College for the first round of the 2012 tournament. He was there for Adam Henrique. He was there for Jonathan Quick. He fairly famously crashed into Carey Price one time. He was there for the Tampa Bay letdown. He was there for The Letter.

And Kreider was there in the locker room after the second period Thursday. He stood up and said he would get one. He lied. He got three.

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Mark Lazerus of The Athletic on the Carolina Hurricanes,

* The Rangers became the first team to advance to the 2024 Conference Finals after overcoming a multi-goal deficit in the third period with the help of Chris Kreider who scored three straight goals, including the series clincher.

* J.T. Miller scored with 33 seconds remaining in regulation – the second-latest go-ahead goal in Canucks postseason history – to move Vancouver within one win of the Conference Finals.

* The Bruins and Avalanche both aim to force a Game 7 in their Second Round series Friday, while the Panthers and Stars take another crack at advancing to the Conference Finals.

With a 5-3 win over the Carolina Hurricanes, the New York Rangers win the series 4-2. They will face the winner of Florida/Boston.

It was the Chris Kreider show in the third period.

Handshakes and highlights are below.

from Ansar Khan of Mlive,

Could former Detroit Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill get another opportunity as an NHL head coach?

Blashill apparently is a candidate to take over the San Jose Sharks, according to Elliotte Friedman, who said on his 32 Thoughts podcast, “I think Blashill is someone they’re considering.”

Blashill, 50, has been an assistant coach with the Tampa Bay Lightning the past two years. He spent seven seasons as the Red Wings head coach from 2015-16 to 2021-22, compiling a record of 204-261-72.

continued

The Carolina Hurricanes will try to force a game 7 tonight which would be played Saturday at MSG.

One team, either Vancouver or Edmonton will go up 3-2 tonight. Your guess is as good as mine but expect the unexpected.

I did not realize some of the other names mentioned waited that long for the Cup.

Consider Marchand as hopeful for tonight.

The National Hockey League (NHL) playoffs are one of the most exciting times of the year for hockey lovers. It is where the best of the best come together to battle for the Stanley Cup, with each series producing intense and exciting games. We've brought together the NHL's most notable games in the playoffs.

Max Bultman of The Athletic answers questions from his readers,

Everyone is expecting a leap next season, but inevitably losing some key vets, growing pains for young players and hard competition, do you really expect a playoff berth? I feel like Wings are forever on this treadmill of get good, not good enough, trade assets, draft, repeat.

This is a great question because there’s a real chance the Red Wings could be in for a step back next season largely because of an expected infusion of young players. Defenseman Simon Edvinsson looked very good down the stretch, but he’s still going to need some grace in what will effectively be his rookie season. Detroit general manager Steve Yzerman has said he’ll need to make room for forward Jonatan Berggren and defenseman Albert Johansson, and if both are on the roster, the same will be true for them. There’s a solid chance at least one of Danielson, Carter Mazur or Kasper makes the team, too.

On any given night next season, there likely will be at least two young players in the lineup who were not on the team this past season. And that’s a good thing. It’s progress in the developmental arc. It will help the Red Wings get through a squeeze year under the salary cap before some contracts expire. And it should bring some more young energy to the locker room.

But it will probably lead to a few more mistakes, too. So, whether that means a step back or a step forward (and possible playoff berth) depends on what else they can do this summer. If they mostly promote internally, it will be hard to expect a postseason run. But if they mix in some youth and a couple of key upgrades (goaltending and some playoff-style scoring), I could see them managing to make a similar push to this season.

more ($) Q & A

from Eric Francis of Sportsnet,

f the Colorado Avalanche were going to be able to stave off elimination Wednesday, it was going to require heavy lifting from their stars.

In a series in which Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar and Mikko Rantanen had combined for two points and were minus-17 over the course of three straight losses, it was now or never.

They responded accordingly.

“You knew we were going to get their best game of their series and we did, and their big guys were all on the scoresheet, which you probably anticipated would happen,” said Stars coach Pete DeBoer following a 5-3 loss to the Avs.

“Listen, this is a hard league to beat any team four times in a row, never mind the Colorado Avalanche when you’re in the conference semifinals and you’re down to eight teams left in the league.

“It would have been a great thing to accomplish tonight, but you have to give them credit, they played a really good road game.”

Makar scored twice, MacKinnon had a goal and an assist and Rantanen added a helper as the Avalanche broke a 2-2 tie by scoring three goals in the third for a 5-3 win that sets up Game 6 Friday in Denver.

continued

Game highlights are below.

* A two-goal performance from Cale Makar secured him as the first defenseman in Avalanche/Nordiques history to score multiple game-winning goals in potential elimination contests (also Game 6 of 2020 R2) as Colorado forced a Game 6.

* The 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs is the sixth in NHL history in which all second round series have required at least six games alongside the 2017 Second Round, 2014 Second Round, 2009 Conference Semifinals, 1999 Conference Semifinals and 1986 Division Finals.

* Connor Ingram was awarded the 2023-24 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy after a breakout performance that came as a result of seeking help for his obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and lingering depression through the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance program.

* Thursday’s action includes the Rangers aiming to advance to the 2024 Eastern Conference Final, the Hurricanes focused on forcing a Game 7 and both the Oilers-Canucks vying for a 3-2 series lead.

They defeated the Milwaukee Admirals 4-2 to wing game 1 in the best of five series;\

Comments are always welcomed.