THREE HARD LAPS

* Defensemen continued to shine for the Golden Knights as they won their fifth straight game and grabbed a 1-0 series lead.

* Pekka Rinne, a Predators franchise icon for his sparkling playing career and unwavering commitment through the years to improve the lives of so many in Middle Tennessee, won the 2020-21 King Clancy Memorial Trophy.

* The Islanders, who dropped the first two games against the Lightning in the 2020 Conference Finals, will look to take a 2-0 series lead over Tampa Bay in the Stanley Cup Semifinals.

An intriguing matchup starts tonight with the Vegas Golden Knights hosting the Montreal Canadiens.

We are about to find out if the Canadiens can continue their strong play or will the Golden Knights offensive power be too much?

Pre-game stats and numbers are below.

from Michael Blinn of the New York Post,

Time to meet the new boss.

The Rangers have agreed to hire Gerard Gallant as their next head coach, The Post’s Larry Brooks first reported on Monday.

Gallant, 57, most recently coached the Vegas Golden Knights from 2017-2020 after stints behind the Florida Panthers’ and Columbus Blue Jackets’ benches. He was considered the front-runner in the Rangers’ search, and holds a 270-216-4-51 career record over parts of nine NHL seasons.

continued

added 5:32pm,

3 1/2 minutes to watch.

Max Bultman of the Athletic answers some fan mail,

For Eichel, one of the league’s top scorers under contract for five more years, the cost would be immense. It could mean a deal headlined by Lucas Raymond or Filip Zadina, the No. 6 pick this year, plus either another current top-six NHL forward or another high draft pick or top prospect.

It’s possible Eichel’s neck injury changes that price a bit, but the safe assumption is that Buffalo will be able to command a mint for a 24-year-old right-shot center who has been near or above a point per game for five seasons.

And if that is the price range, it probably doesn’t make sense for the Red Wings to be a major player in those talks. It’s always worth checking in, but that kind of package would be so costly, with so many of the pieces Detroit is counting on in its rebuild, that the Red Wings may not end up being significantly better off than Buffalo is right now. Eichel is a great player, but Detroit still needs so much more....

Columbus would be effectively starting a rebuild if it traded Jones, which means they’d surely want tone-setting value for their No. 1 defenseman. But while Jones is a highly respected blueliner — he earned Norris votes in the four seasons preceding the most recent one (2021 voting has not yet been announced) — exactly where he fits among the league’s top defensemen is up for some debate. His shot share and quality numbers were down in a big way last season on a bad Columbus team.

The team context matters in that, no doubt. But it certainly doesn’t make it easy for an acquiring team to justify giving up premium value, especially if that team would then need to turn around and sign Jones to a huge extension. It just doesn’t look like a good fit for the Red Wings.

more ($$$)

from Chris Johnston of Sportsnet,

For the NHL’s ultimate underdogs, this was a moment worth savouring.

In their first look at the Tampa Bay Lighting since last year’s Eastern Conference Final, the New York Islanders landed a solid counter-punch by bottling up the defending champs with a 2-1 victory to open this third-round rematch.

Mathew Barzal and Ryan Pulock scored the only goals Semyon Varlamov needed to secure the Islanders a win nine months in the making. That’s how long they’ve had to stew on a six-game defeat at the hands of Tampa inside the Edmonton bubble last fall.

“Both teams were familiar [with each other] and both teams went at it,” said Islanders coach Barry Trotz.

“They’re the standard of the league, I would say,” added Barzal.

And yet New York was full value for its win at Amalie Arena, keeping the Lightning’s most dangerous shooters at a safe distance. Brayden Point broke Varlamov’s shutout bid in the final minute, but he, Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos were held to just four total shots in the game.

continued

THREE HARD LAPS

* The Islanders stifled the Lightning in Game 1 of their Semifinals matchup, rewriting a different outcome than their series-opening contest during the 2020 Conference Finals.

* RyanPulock leads all defensemen with four goals during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, three of which have stood as the game winner for New York.

* The Golden Knights and Canadiens are set to begin their Semifinals series tonight with a couple of decorated goaltenders at the helm.

As I said in the open post for the game, the Islanders played their game, the Tampa Bay Lightning did not and I'll add could not.

Tampa is going to need to make some adjustments.

Final score 2-1.

Game highlights are below.

The New York Islanders enter game 1 against the Tampa Bay Lightning as the underdog.

We are about to find out how these two teams matchup against each other.

Below, find out more about the Islanders and Lightning.

from Ted Kulfan of the Detroit News,

Stecher was also the partner throughout the tournament of Michigan defenseman Owen Power, who projects to be the No. 1 overall pick in the July NHL Entry Draft.

"He's real good, a lot like Seider in that he's good in every aspect," Stecher said. "He isn't overly offensive or defensive, he's just a real good two-way defenseman that can contribute at both ends of the ice."

The infusion of young talent coming into the NHL lineup, plus the way the Wings finished last season — as well as played for the majority of the season, save for a three-week early battle against COVID — gives Stecher optimism about the Wings' future.

"You look at the young guys coming in and the impact they made last season like when Joe Veleno came in, and he played real well in those games he played," Stecher said, "and knowing we're going to have more young players coming in and making an impact, it's a good time to be a Wing."

more (paid, mostly World Championship talk)

"Put it this way, three of the final four teams left this year are the same as last year: the [New York] Islanders, [Tampa Bay] Lightning and Golden Knights. The fourth team: whichever team Corey Perry is on. Last year it was Dallas; this year it's Montreal. That's the common thread.

"It's no coincidence. The guy's a winner."

-Pat Morris, agent for Corey Perry. Mike Zeisberger of NHL.com has more on Perry.

How did you do with your second round picks?

Tampa Bay Lightning vs. New York islanders

Vegas Golden Knights vs. Montreal Canandiens

Include the number of games to win each series if you'd like.

Please submit your picks by Sunday, 2:45pm ET

note- original post was on 6/11/21 at 8:54am.

A bit over 11 minutes of your time.

from the Denver Post,

In this Avalanche roundtable, beat writer Mike Chambers, columnist Mark Kiszla and staff writer Ryan O’Halloran address five questions about the Avs’ postseason and offseason:

1. After the Avalanche was eliminated by Vegas on Thursday, center Nathan MacKinnon was asked about 2021-22 and the team’s window and said: “I’m going into my ninth year next year and haven’t won (squat).” A frustrated star player after a collapse or was he sending a message to management that the Avs better not run it back with this group?

Mike Chambers: I think MacKinnon really liked this group and was frustrated like everyone about how the Avs couldn’t play their game after the first period of Game 2 through most of Game 4. But perhaps he was thinking about something he thought the team should have added at the trade deadline and did not — probably more heaviness knowing forward Matt Calvert and defenseman Erik Johnson would not return.

Mark Kiszla: I’m beginning to get the same vibe from MacKinnon I felt from John Elway after his early disappointments in the Super Bowl. Elway got to the point where he wanted more say in how the Broncos did their business. Joe Sakic and the Avalanche might be wise to treat MacKinnon more like a partner than an employee going forward. But as talented as he is, I also think MacKinnon tends to be a bit of a diva. Approaching his 26th birthday, MacK is no Kid. It might be time for him to grow up a bit as a leader.

more

from Mike Vaccaro of the New York Post,

For those of us of a certain age, watching the Islanders renaissance has been a splendid reminder of what we had — what, sadly, we took for granted — all those many years ago. Long Islanders are parochial and proud of it. Billy Joel is one of us, always. Jerry Seinfeld? One of us. Billy Crystal? Eddie Burns?

One of us. Always.

That was the Isles of 1980-83. They not only made us proud, they made us champions. Islanders fans have other rooting interests in other sports, but the Isles were ours. Maybe it seems silly. Believe me, it was real.

The best part of this new Isles Mania is all the faces of folks under 45 years old. For them, this was a different franchise, cast adrift for years by lousy management and awful teams. Yet they stuck around. It was easy for guys like me: J.P. Parise scored his famous goal against the Rangers when I was 8. From then through college the Isles were a given.

continued

from Michael Traikos of the National Post,

Julien BriseBois knows how it looks, knows what people are saying.

How the Tampa Bay Lightning are exploiting the system. How they are going against the spirit of the salary cap. How they got to the Stanley Cup semifinal by basically cheating.

It all stems from the curious timing of Nikita Kucherov’s return from off-season surgery — and how Tampa Bay’s GM used the season-long absence of his superstar player to bolster an already star-studded roster. By placing Kucherov on long-term injury, the team did not have put his $9.5-million cap hit on the books. That not only allowed the Lightning to keep last year’s championship roster mostly intact, but also provided them the space to acquire defenceman David Savard at the trade deadline.

“Sometimes the stars align for you,” BriseBois said of Kucherov, who since returning from injury leads the playoffs with 18 points in 11 games.

Others, however, are not so sure everything is on the up and up. Some have accused the Tampa Bay of holding back Kucherov for the start of the playoffs, where his cap doesn’t count. Some have insinuated that the Lightning, which has long benefitted from Florida’s tax breaks, of playing by a different set of rules.

continued

from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun,

- What exactly does a general manager do and how much does he matter in the National Hockey League?

That discussion came up once again as Lou Lamoriello’s New York Islanders moved on in the Stanley Cup playoffs and his former teams in New Jersey and Toronto plod along uncomfortably.

Being a GM is not only about acquiring players, negotiating contracts and trading acumen. That’s the way it’s perceived from the outside. Those are parts of the job.

But building a foundation — that’s the most important factor in performance.

I remember having a conversation with an Islanders front-office employee just months after Lamoriello had taken over on Long Island. He said he couldn’t believe the difference in the group from before Lamoriello arrived as GM. He talked about team structure, the hiring of Barry Trotz as coach, the way in which everything was geared to team, the notion of one team, one goal....

- Someone should say this: Pending free agent Taylor Hall, with three playoff goals for the Bruins, is just another guy in the NHL. A name to fill out a roster with.

- Rental Nick Foligno apparently wants to stay with the Leafs. That’s what he’s telling people. If the team can’t sign Zach Hyman, which is likely, maybe they can afford Foligno.

- If I was a hockey player, I’d want to be coached by Rod Brind’Amour.

more on the first item plus a few additional hockey notes...

HREE HARD LAPS

* The Islanders and Lightning begin their playoff rematch tonight as the Stanley Cup Semifinals get underway. This time, they meet as two of the NHL’s top-three scoring teams in the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

* Nikita Kucherov continues his journey towards joining elite company as he has the chance to lead all players in points for the second time in as many postseasons.

* Semyon Varlamov puts his three-game win streak on the line and looks to become the second Islanders goaltender to earn four straight victories during the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

from Larry Brooks of the New York Post,

And so, in the Islanders, Lightning and Golden Knights, the NHL has its first trio of repeat semifinalists in 29 years, since the Penguins, Bruins and Oilers went back-to-back in 1991 and 1992.

Parity is dead. The hard flat cap obviously doesn’t work. The boys on Sixth Avenue had better get cracking in order to devise a way for ongoing ne’er do-wells like the Sabres and Maple Leafs (we kid, we kid) to make a run.

But you know what? The hard cap is a myth. The Lightning’s cap is not the same size, in real dollars, as the Islanders’ cap, and no, this section of the program does not concern Nikita Kucherov. The Golden Knights’ cap is not the same size as the Canadiens’ cap, with Montreal of course this year’s party crasher....

more on the first topic plus notes like this..

Though it goes without saying, it will be said anyway: If Mark Scheifele somehow becomes available out of Winnipeg, he is the player for whom the Rangers empty the cupboard, and the guy in Buffalo becomes Jack Who?

Minority report (as often is the case), but it also says here that Scheifele’s suspension was disproportionate to anything that had come before and for whatever reason, the league decided to make an example of the Jets center.

Almost 7 minutes long.

from Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe,

Their postseason disappointment still palpable, Bruins management any hour now will offer preliminary indication what their roster will look like when they next convene on the ice in Brighton for the start of training camp in September.

Time changes everything, of course, and time mixed with playoff regret typically means a deeper cut. Last season’s dismissal by the Lightning led to waving goodbye to Torey Krug and Zdeno Chara. In the weeks ahead, we could see unrestricted free agents Tuukka Rask and David Krejci (29 years of combined Spoked-B service), both members of the 2011 Stanley Cup team, likewise headed for the door.

Granted, this is open to debate, but the Bruins, even in the hours following their most recent loss, have the most identifiable roster among the town’s four major sports. Remarkable. Even though it has been 10 years since their last championship.

Roster identity alone clearly does not equate to championships, or even solid playoff runs, but it keeps the customers engaged. If the time has come for Rask and/or Krejci to move on, no matter by whose decision, the franchise’s valuable, fragile “Q” factor will take a significant hit....

Those Cinderella Canadiens (take a drink, Bruins fans) take on the Vegas Golden Knights Monday night in Game 1 of their Stanley Cup semifinal.

As hard as CH success is on the eyes of Black and Gold nation, imagine how Maple Leafs fans feel, their Blue and White darlings making it beyond the first round but once since 2002. They lost to the Habs in Round 1 this year. More striking, in three-plus postseasons, the newbie Knights already have 36 playoff victories, one more than the Leafs have accumulated since the spring of 2001.

The Habs, though underdogs entering the matchup with the Knights, edged the Leafs in seven, then went on to jumble the Jets with a 4-0 sweep. Karma dressed as a 19th skater on the Habs’ bench after the outrageous, predatory slam Mark Scheifele delivered as the punctuation mark to Game 1 of the series. The Habs then ran the table, outscoring the Jets, 9-3, over the final three games with Scheifele suspended....

more on each of the above topics plus more hockey notes...

via Scouting The Refs,

As the playoffs advance to the NHL’s Stanley Cup Semifinals — aka Conference Finals, in a normal year — here are the officials moving on. While the NHL has had a separate pool of officials in Canada, the groups have merged for this round.

Referees
Francis Charron, Gord Dwyer, Eric Furlatt, Chris Lee, Wes McCauley, Dan O’Rourke, Francois St. Laurent, Kelly Sutherland

Out from Round 2: Jean Hebert, Brad Meier, Brian Pochmara, Kevin Pollock

Linesmen
David Brisebois, Scott Cherrey, Michel Cormier, Ryan Gibbons, Kiel Murchison, Jonny Murray, Bryan Pancich, Andrew Smith

Out from Round 2: Devin Berg, Steve Barton, Matt MacPherson, Mark Shewchyk

Standby Officials: Referee Brian Pochmara, Linesman Devin Berg

First-Timers: Linesmen Andrew Smith and Ryan Gibbons are making their first trips to the Conference Finals.

Lance Lysowski of the Buffalo News answers a few questions, the first one is about Jack Eichel,

My prediction is that the Sabres will grant Eichel permission to talk to teams that are interested in trading for him. This dialogue will be necessary because any team acquiring Eichel must feel comfortable with his preference to have the particular surgery he is seeking to repair his injured neck. Allowing those sides to talk is a sign of good faith, and the Sabres also should provide all available medical information.

Then it will be time to field substantive trade offers. This process will need to move quickly, or the Sabres will find themselves in a hearing in which Eichel's camp can state its case to an independent arbitrator. It's better to pass the problem on to another team if the Sabres decide Eichel isn't part of their future.

If another team supports Eichel's decision and offers the appropriate trade package, the Sabres will complete the deal. If not, you might see this drag on for a while. Neither side is going to change its mind. In the end, an exit seems inevitable.

more Q & A

THREE HARD LAPS

* We are one day away from the start of the 2021 Stanley Cup Semifinals, with the Islanders set to visit the Lightning in Game 1 on Sunday at AMALIE Arena. Game 1 of the series between the Canadiens and Golden Knights will take place on Monday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

* The Lightning, Islanders, Golden Knights and Canadiens all defeated higher seeds in the Second Round, marking the first time since 1992 that the round before the Stanley Cup Final has featured four teams that defeated a higher-seeded opponent in the prior series.

* Carolina’s Rod Brind'Amour, Minnesota’s Dean Evason and Florida’s Joel Quenneville were announced as the three finalists for the 2020‑21 Jack Adams Award. The NHL will begin revealing winners of the 2021 NHL Awards presented by Bridgestone on Monday, June 14.

via Awful Anouncing,

New York York Islanders vs Tampa Bay Lightning

NBC: Kenny Albert, Eddie Olczyk, Brian Boucher

Montreal Canadiens vs Vegas Golden Knights

NBC: John Forslund, Joe Micheletti, Pierre McGuire