from Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe,

Reminder: Heaving junk at the guys in stripes, no matter what you think of their work, is equal parts dangerous, classless, and stupid. Save that crap for your league night with pals down at “Pinhead Lanes.”

Look, folks, time has taught us that hissing and moaning about the officials is as useless as angsting over the Bruins not selecting Mathew Barzal, Kyle Connor, and Sebastian Aho with picks Nos. 13, 14, and 15 in the 2015 draft. For the record, none of the three Boston picks from ’15 were in uniform for Game 5.

Yeah, we love to complain, would love even more a big fat do-over for Game 5 and the 2015 draft . . . but we’ll see that when pigs and Duck Boats fly.

The carping and kvetching about calls and non-calls changes nothing. Worse, it sets an unhealthy, unproductive, even defeatist tone of “woe is us.”

read on

from Paul Friesen of the Winnipeg Sun,

Are the Jets a young team just coming into its own, a bitter playoff loss the fuel it’ll need to take the next step in 12 months?

No, that would seem to better describe the team of three years ago, when it finished second, overall, and shocked top-seeded Nashville to reach the Western Conference final.

That moment seems to have been the peak for this group.

The contending window was thrust open that spring, but it’s been gradually sliding shut ever since.

The team’s core talent up front appears to have absorbed as much as it can about how to pay the price in the post-season. Three straight early summers slam the point home.

Getting that message to take root is Maurice’s job.

more

from Eric Francis of Sporstsnet,

To suggest he was relieved would be inaccurate, because he knows there’s still plenty of work to be done.

But ask Jon Cooper about the latest test his club just passed and the Tampa Bay Lightning coach is quick to point out its magnitude.

“I’ve been very fortunate to coach in a few playoffs now and those are two of the toughest rounds we’ve ever faced,” said Cooper following a five-game series win over the Central division-leading Carolina Hurricanes, capped off by a 2-0 road victory on Tuesday.

“It was a hell of a grind to get out of this division.”

On paper, the Lightning sure didn’t make it look that way.

After finishing off their upstart state rivals Florida Panthers in six, they made quick work of the league’s third-place finisher with three road wins in a building that witnessed just three regulation setbacks all season long.

continued

from Ed Graney of the Las Vegas Review-Journal,

This was never going to be easy, no matter how inept Colorado was at times during Games 3 and 4 losses at T-Mobile Arena. They entered 20-0-1 in their last 21 home games. The Avalanche win here like the town is hit with snow flurries across December.

It’s also true the Knights were beyond fortunate that it was only a 2-0 deficit after two periods. The forecheck that allowed them to smother Colorado in Las Vegas instead belonged to the Avalanche those first 40 minutes.

But belief is a strong attitude to own and no team remaining in these playoffs is more confident in its ability than DeBoer’s side.

Think about this: Alex Pietrangelo is a defenseman expected to do significant things, but when he has six shots to zero from your top line after two periods, something is amiss.

It wasn’t at all the most productive of nights for Stone, Chandler Stephenson and Max Pacioretty. The trio combined for two shots on goal.

Until, of course, it became the most productive of nights.

“(Stone) was exhausted and then you saw how hard he skated all the way down the ice (in overtime),” said Knights forward Alex Tuch, whose third-period goal got his team to within 2-1. “He is the heart and soul of this team. He wears his character on his chest. He’s the captain that we have always wanted.

“I think he was a little frustrated with himself at times during the game, but then he came up huge for us.”

more

Below catch the game highlights.

THREE HARD LAPS

* Andrei Vasilevskiy recorded a third straight series-clinching shutout as the defending champions eliminated the Hurricanes to advance to the Stanley Cup Semifinals.

* The Golden Knights overcame a 2-0 deficit to earn a 3-2 overtime win in Game 5, which mirrors their 2021 Second Round so far in which they have rallied from a 2-0 series deficit to take a 3-2 lead.

* The Islanders host the Bruins tonight with a chance to set up a Stanley Cup Semifinals matchup with the Lightning – whom they faced in the Conference Finals last year.

The aocial media chatter is Palat should get a game or two.

He receied two for a hit to the head.

Thoughts?

The Tampa Bay Lightning continue their march for back to back Cups with a 4-1 series win over the Carolina Hurricanes.

The Bolts beat the Canes 2-0 tonight and will now face the winner of Boston/NYi.

Game-winning goal is below and check out the save from Vasilevskiy too.

added 9:28pm, Handshakes and hghlights below.

The Carolina Hurricanes need a home win tonight against the Tampa Bay Lightning or else they can start booking summer activities.

The Colorado Avalanche host the Vegas Golden Knight tonight with the series tied 2-2

Feel free to discuss the games and below find the schedule along with notes and numbers.

2 1/2 minutes long.

NEW YORK/TORONTO (June 8, 2021) – The National Hockey League and the National Hockey League Players’ Association announced today that Colorado Avalanche forward Nazem Kadri’s eight-game suspension for an illegal check to the head of St. Louis Blues defenseman Justin Faulk has been upheld by Arbitrator Shyam Das.

Pursuant to this ruling, Game 6 of Colorado’s Second Round series against the Vegas Golden Knights will mark the last game of Kadri’s eight-game suspension after which he will be eligible to return.

Watch the elbow below.

NEW YORK (June 8, 2021) -- Boston Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy has been fined $25,000 for public comments critical of the officiating following Game 5 of the Second Round series against the New York Islanders Monday night in Boston, the National Hockey League announced today.

The fine money goes to the NHL Foundation.

Watch his post-game comments below.

NEW YORK (June 8, 2021) – Minnesota Wild defenseman Matt Dumba, Philadelphia Flyers left wing Oskar Lindblom and San Jose Sharks center Patrick Marleau are the three finalists for the 2020‑21 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 after the conclusion of the regular season and the top three vote-getters were designated as finalists. The winners of the 2021 NHL Awards presented by Bridgestone will be revealed during the Stanley Cup Semifinals and Stanley Cup Final, with exact dates, format and times to be announced.

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

A little over 2 minutes of your time.

from Ed Graney of the Las Vegs Review-Journal,

I am sure about this: DeBoer and his team are flawlessly playing the underdog role.

Perhaps the Avalanche should try such a narrative.

Sportsbooks still favor Colorado to emerge victorious in this West Division final, but anyone who witnessed Games 3 and 4 at T-Mobile Arena might struggle buying such a forecast.

Its confidence will rightly stem from going 16-0-1 in the final 17 regular-season home games and being 4-0 in the playoffs at Ball Arena. Its doubt will stem from how the Knights have controlled play from the second period on of Game 2.

“I don’t know if mental toughness is the right (term),” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “But your mentality coming into the game and your approach from a mental standpoint is really important. We can talk about adjustments and this and that, but it’s pretty clear what they’re doing.”

The Knights are making life difficult on Colorado, and the Avalanche aren’t responding in kind. They’re getting beat up and down the ice time and again. It’s not like pickup basketball at the YMCA and nobody feels a need to get back on defense, but it’s close enough.

In the two losses, Bednar’s team couldn’t crack the structure of the Knights, who have been terrific at making a play in the defensive zone, throwing the puck out and attacking the neutral zone.

“They’re coming at us 100 miles per hour,” Bednar said. “All of their lines are executing really well. We have to start getting back above them. They’re coming every single time. We have to earn our ice and earn our space.”

read on

from Luke DeCock of the News & Observer,

Under different circumstances, Rod Brind’Amour probably should have benched Andrei Svechnikov in Saturday’s third period. Svechnikov’s two selfish penalties — he also took one earlier to deny a potential goal — helped open the floodgates as the Carolina Hurricanes saw a two-goal lead disappear in a blink.

But it’s a measure of Svechnikov’s irreplaceable value to the team as a goal-scorer that Brind’Amour felt he had no choice but to keep throwing the young winger out there, waiting for him to conjure the inevitable moment of brilliance.

Still waiting.

There’s no time left to wait. It’s time for Svechnikov to grow up — now — with the Hurricanes facing elimination on Tuesday against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Svechnikov’s first two years in the league were full of wide-eyed precocity, smiling charm and dazzling skill, but school is out and it’s time for him to get out of a season-long funk and graduate being the kind of player who can rise above the postseason fray and turn the tide of a series, or even a season.

It’s easy, on paper, to look at his six assists and his team-best analytics and say, what more do you want from him?

continued

from Eric Engels of Sportssnet,

The Canadiens are moving on to the Stanley Cup semifinals for the first time in seven years. They’re doing so on a seven-game winning streak, as a team that hasn’t trailed in 4:37:53 of game time. They’re just over 50 minutes away from tying an NHL record, set by the 1960 Canadiens, who swept the Maple Leafs to win it all.

And yet, they will be talked about like lambs awaiting the slaughter against whoever emerges from the battle between the NHL’s two best teams from this regular season.

Not by us, though.

You may underestimate these Canadiens at your own peril.

“It kind of feels like nobody believes in us,” said Tyler Toffoli, who scored at 1:39 of overtime to secure the 3-2 win in Game 4 and the sweep over the Jets. “The only people we have are ourselves and our fans, which clearly with the small amount of fans in the building, it sounded a lot more than what it was, are behind us and our friends and family. We’re sticking together. We’re playing as one and we’re winning games and having fun.”

Phillip Danault, who blanketed Toronto and Winnipeg’s best players in these playoffs, called it the best time of he and his teammates’ lives as he chomped on some celebratory pizza.

continued

from Mollie Walker of the New Tork Post,

While the second-round series between the Islanders and Bruins has gotten nastier and nastier on the ice each game, the jabs have carried over to the postgame press conferences.

Following the Islanders’ 5-4 victory over the Bruins at TD Garden on Monday night, a game in which the Isles capitalized on three of their four power plays, Boston head coach Bruce Cassidy had some pointed words for the visiting team.

“It’s a very well-respected management and coach staff over there,” Cassidy said. “But they sell a narrative over there that they’re the New York Saints rather than the New York Islanders.”

While NHL referees continue to struggle with setting a precedent for penalties at the start of games, the Bruins evidently felt spurned by the black-and-white stripes in Game 5. Boston only received two man-advantage opportunities, with David Pastrnak scoring his second of the night on one to make it a two-goal game in the third period.

There have been an abundance of cross-checks throughout the series that the referees haven’t called, in addition to lots of post-whistle activity that have been let go. As a result, the series has gotten increasingly more physical.

contued

THREE HARD LAPS

* The Canadiens have emerged from the Scotia North Division after Tyler Toffoli scored a series-clinching goal in overtime – a first by a Montreal player since 1993 – to complete a sweep of the Jets and make Montreal the first club through to the Stanley Cup Semifinals.

* The Islanders are one win away from back-to-back appearances among the final four teams in the Stanley Cup Playoffs following yet another comeback win.

* The defending champion Lightning can join the Canadiens in the Stanley Cup Semifinals tonight, while either Colorado or Vegas will get one win closer to setting up a matchup with Montreal in the next round.

I hope Google is correct... The Montreal Canadiens Are In The Semi-finals of the Stanley Cup Playoffs

The Montreal Canadiens have swept their series with the Winnipeg Jets. Final score was 3-2 in OT.

They'll face the winner of Vegas/Colorado in the semi-finals.

GWG is below.

added 11:08pm, Handshakes are below. added 11:32pm, Game highlights are below.

The NYI beat the Boston Bruins 5-4 tonight and with a home win on Thursday. the Islanders will be playing either Tampa or Carolina in the semi-finals.

Highlights are below.

After tonight's game, either the New York Islanders or Boston Bruins will be facing elimination. The series is ts tied 2-2.

The Montreal Canadiens can sweep the Winnipeg Jets tonight with a home win.

All the information you need about the games today can be found below.

The 2021 IIHF, Ice Hockey World Championship, is almost coming to an end. The USA faced Slovakia in the quarter-finals while Finland was against the Czech Republic in a similar match. How had the teams fared before reaching the quarters, and which two teams proceeded?

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. … American Hockey League President and CEO Scott Howson announced that the league’s Board of Governors has approved a schedule unification plan that will see all teams play a 72-game regular-season schedule beginning in 2022-23.

As part of the plan, for the 2021-22 season, teams in the Atlantic, North and Central Divisions have the option of playing either 76 or 72 games, while teams in the Pacific Division will play 68 games. Additionally, there will be an increase in the number of teams qualifying for the Calder Cup Playoffs each year; details will be finalized and announced later in the offseason.

“I am very pleased that we were able to achieve a schedule of 72 games for all teams in the American Hockey League,” said Howson. “In coming together to create a plan that is fair and equitable, our owners have demonstrated a commitment to the long-term strength of the league.”

The following division alignment has been approved for the 2021-22 AHL season (National Hockey League affiliations in parentheses):

Two minutes to get caught up.