from Tara Sullivan of the Boston Globe,

Playoff hockey guarantees that nothing comes easy, even if the Bruins had started to make it look that way.

One bad mistake and one overtime breakaway brought an end to their era of good feeling Monday night, a 4-3 overtime loss to the Islanders ending their five-game postseason winning streak and knotting their second-round playoff series at a game apiece.

From a strong first period when it seemed good feeling would hold, across an ugly second period when it seemed all hope was lost, through a resurgent third period when hope was rallied again, it was an overtime mistake by young defenseman Jeremy Lauzon that punctured the Bruins balloon for good.

Lauzon’s “ill-advised” (Bruce Cassidy’s description) cross-ice pass to nobody was picked off by Casey Cizikas and deposited at 14:48 of the OT into Tuukka Rask’s net, a mistake that brought another of playoff hockey’s truisms to life for the Bruins.

It’s not a series until the home team loses.

This is definitely a series now.

contiued

from Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette,

One of the great traditions in playoff hockey is the exchange of handshakes after the final game of a series and, as the TV cameras recorded the moment after the Canadiens’ series-clinching 3-1 win Monday, you couldn’t miss Auston Matthews as he paused to exchange words of congratulations with Phil Danault and Carey Price.

The Canadiens rallied from a 3-1 deficit to the win the best-of-seven North Division semifinal in seven games and Danault and Price played the key roles in thwarting Matthews and his linemate Mitch Marner.

Matthews came into the series as the NHL’s top goal-scorer but he managed only one goal in the series and he failed to earn a point in four of the seven games. As for Marner, he’s more of a playmaker but he collected only four assists and hasn’t scored a goal in his last 18 playoff games.

“I hope everyone realizes how important Phil is and how good of a series he had,” said Brendan Gallagher. “I talked about Matthews and Marner and how difficult they are to play against, Phil had that matchup in the series. We’ve got Pricey back there and we’ve got (Jeff Petry, Shea Weber and Joel Edmundson) going up against them, but Phil is equally as big in that. I know he realizes, and I hope everyone else does, just how important he was to us in the series.”

Price was at his best in the three games in which his team faced elimination, but it was no surprise when he deflected attention from himself.

continued

All Leafs, all the time? Not here, one post, call it a Leafs wrap if you so desire.

from Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun,

They’ll be remembered, not in a good way, as possibly the best Maple Leafs team never to win a playoff series.

Despite changing the blueprint to end a streak of first-round failures, Toronto is once again an early casualty. For the fifth time in the lifespan of the core — Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander and Morgan Rielly — they were on the wrong side of the handshake line when they couldn’t seal the deal.

The Montreal Canadiens go on to meet the Winnipeg Jets, who’ve waited an extra week as the Leafs agonizingly blew a 3-1 series lead, culminating Monday at Scotiabank Arena in a 3-1 loss to the fourth-seeded Habs.

“It’s really hard to put into words, we’re obviously devastated,” said coach Sheldon Keefe, who was saving any post-game speech to the players for exit meetings later this week. “We thought we were capable of a lot more.”

continued

from Luke Fox of Sportsnet,

Dubas has forever preached process, that progress is not linear the way fans would prefer it. In other words, that a team which hasn’t won a single series since YouTube was invented could suddenly win four one spring. If you keep betting on talent.

Eager to win during the Matthews-Marner prime, Dubas has also been the spendy type, both in draft capital and literal capital. (The Leafs used up four of their seven 2021 draft picks on this run.) He’s identified needs and hunted them down.

Eight Maple Leafs who dressed Game 7 will be unrestricted free agents. Three more (David Rittich, Ben Hutton, Riley Nash

Of that group, Jason Spezza, the best bang-for-your-buck veteran in the league, is worth re-signing. Dubas should take a run at Zach Hyman, too, although the power forward will have tempting suitors elsewhere. Bogosian, 30, certainly earned his $1 million. Would he take that sum short-term again?

more

from Kristen Shilton of TSN,

Poor Steve Danlge, a life-long fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs. The rant starts around the 1:19 mark and goes for about 1/2 hour.

THREE HARD LAPS

* The Canadiens won a historic Game 7 against the Maple Leafs to complete their rally from a 3-1 series deficit, the third time they've done so in a best-of-seven.

* The Islanders pulled even in their Second Round series via an overtime winner by Casey Cizikas.

* The Hurricanes will look to even their Second Round series on home ice tonight against the defending Stanley Cup champions.

Here's the overtime goal by Casey Cizikas.

added 11:27pm, Game highlights are below.

NEW YORK (May 31, 2021) – The National Hockey League today confirmed the matchups, dates, starting times and national television coverage for the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs Second Round. Starting times and broadcast details for games listed as TBD will be announced as they are determined. All times listed are ET and subject to change.

They defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-1 tonight to win the series 4-3.

The Canadiens will now play the Winnipeg Jets.

Post-game videos coming.

added 9:42pm, Corey Perry with the GWG. added 9:48pm, Handshakes below. added 10:02pm, Highlights below.

Roughing/Unsportsmanlike conduct

via Sportsnet,

Big game of the night, NYI/Boston, Islanders need a win to even their series at 1-1.

The other game is Montreal/Toronto game 7. By not hyping this game, I am trying to reach out to the hockey gods for a great game.

Full schedule is below.

Three minutes of your time.

from Ted Kulfan of the Detroit News,

Red Wings fans who strolled from the barbecue or lawn chair Monday had another chance to gaze at the Red Wings' future.

Moritz Seider was playing for Germany in the world championships against Team USA — and didn’t look out of place as a 20-year-old defenseman.

Team USA won the game 2-0 — which included a scary moment for former Red Wing Justin Abdelkader, who suffered an apparent knee injury — but Seider did all his could with three shots on net in 16 minutes 33 seconds (second among German defensemen) and playing with poise all over the ice, on both specialty teams.

One more reason to be excited about the upcoming Wings’ season.

“He’s got a lot of work to do, but there’s a lot of potential for him,” said general manager Steve Yzerman, during Yzerman’s season-ending media session. “We’re excited to have him here next year. Our hope is he’s ready to play for the Red Wings at the start of the season.”

continued (paid)

Watch the incident below.

NEW YORK (May 31, 2021) – NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman today upheld the eight-game suspension that was assessed to Colorado Avalanche forward Nazem Kadri by the Department of Player Safety for an illegal check to the head against St. Louis Blues defenseman Justin Faulk during Game 2 of the teams’ First Round Stanley Cup Playoff series on Wednesday, May 19.

Commissioner Bettman heard Kadri’s appeal of the original decision, assessed May 21, at a hearing on May 27.

The incident occurred at 6:26 of the third period. Kadri was assessed a match penalty for illegal check to the head.

from Adam Hill of the Las Vegas Review-Journal,

The NHL’s most dangerous top line combined for 183 points in the regular season to lead the Colorado Avalanche to the Presidents’ Trophy.

It only felt as if they matched that total Sunday night.

Nathan MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen combined for eight points in Colorado’s 7-1 victory over the Golden Knights in Game 1 of the West Division final at Ball Arena.

“We played a good game,” Landeskog said. “It doesn’t mean anything going into Game 2. We’ve just got to follow it up and do the same thing again.”

The three combined for nine goals and 24 points in the first-round series sweep of St. Louis and picked up where they left off Sunday. Colorado has outscored its opponents 27-8 in starting the postseason 5-0.

continued

via the NHL PR department,

Game 7 Trends

* The team that scores first is 136-46 (.747) in the 182 all-time Game 7s in the Stanley Cup Playoffs (1-0 in 2021).

* Home teams own a 106-76 (.582) advantage in the 182 all-time Game 7s in the Stanley Cup Playoffs (1-0 in 2021).

* Ninety-one of the 182 all-time Game 7s in the Stanley Cup Playoffs (50.0%) have been decided by a one-goal margin, including one of three in 2020.

* Forty-five Game 7s in the Stanley Cup Playoffs have required overtime (24.9%), including one of three in 2020. Home teams have a 23-22 edge in those contests (0-1 in 2020, played at a neutral site).

Instead of me giving you a history lesson on Memorial Day, I am going to ask you who do you honor on this day?

I honor my father, who was a company clerk under General George Patton in North Africa.

I also honor an uncle who was a pilot in WWII and another uncle who served in the Korean War. Until the day he passed, he refused to eat rice of any kind after returning home from Korea.

One more person to honor, my mother who worked at the Willow Run facility, helping build airplanes.

May they all rest in peace knowing they served their country proudly.

THREE HARD LAPS

* For just the second time in their storied, century-old rivalry, the Maple Leafs and Canadiens will face off in a winner-take-all Game 7.

* Nathan MacKinnon continued his scorching start to the Stanley Cup Playoffs as Colorado cruised to a 1-0 lead in its Second Round series.

* Barclay Goodrow scored another timely postseason game-winning goal as the Lightning also opened their Second Round series with a victory.

The Colorado Avalanche defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 7-1 tonight.

This of course happened in the third period of a blowout game.

via Sportsnet's YouTube page,

Ryan Reaves shoved Ryan Graves down to the ice and kneed him in the face after crosschecking Philipp Grubauer in the back of the head. Reaves was assessed a match penalty for 'intent to injure' and ejected from the game. Jonathan Marchessault also received two double minors on the play, leading to a 9-minute powerplay for the Avalanche.

added 2:59am on 5/31/21, game highlights are below...

As discussed post-game on HNIC, Kelly Hrudey felt Alex Nedeljkovic was expecting a shot up high, thus pulling away from the post on a shot along the ice.

Here's the GWG by Goodrow.

added 8:03pm, game highlights are below...

Two game 1's of the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs begin today.

Full schedule is below along with some information bits.

Also, feel free to comment on the game today.

Last night Elliotte Friedman mentioned Seth Jones does not plan on re-signing with Columbus when his contract expires at the end of next season.

Today, Aaron Portzline wrote about it.

Seth Jones (CapFriendly, modified NTC, 10 teams on his list he can't be traded to)) is 26 and is in the top pairing in Columbus. He plays in all situations.

So what would it take to trade for Jones. It is going to be expensive, he will be wanted around the league.

This is a situation where Yzerman could use the plethora of draft choices he has stockpiled. Of course, it would take much more than that.

from Aaron Portzline of The Athletic,

Blue Jackets president of hockey operations John Davidson declined to confirm reports that star defenseman Seth Jones has told the club he won’t be signing a contract extension with it this summer.

“There was an agreement to keep the discussions private,” Davidson said. “The Blue Jackets will continue to keep things private.”

But Davidson has made it abundantly clear that the Blue Jackets won’t take the same approach with Jones that they did two years ago with forward Artemi Panarin, who eventually signed with the New York Rangers.

“The No. 1 thing we’d like to do is keep Seth,” Davidson told The Athletic on Sunday. “He has every right in the world to leave if he wants to not extend the contract, but we’ll do what’s best for our team. We just want players who want to be here.

“This is a different scenario (than in 2019). We were in a position (then) where we thought we had a chance to make a pretty good run at (the Stanley Cup). Beating Tampa Bay (in the first round) was great. Losing to Boston in six … it was a good series, and they lost in seven in the Final.”

continued (paid)

from Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times,

Maroon now is playing for his third straight Stanley Cup, and everyone around him says it’s no coincidence that he has such bragging rights. Maroon is a role player, doing the blue-collar work on the Lightning’s fourth line. But If there are certain qualities that make a winning player — like a positive mentality and a reputation for being a hard worker and a good teammate — Maroon possesses those.

“I don’t want to toot my own horn, but I try to do the best I can to keep the guys motivated, keep them light, keep them laughing in the room,” Maroon said. “Just knowing our structure, our system and what works and what does not work so I try to just remind the guys as much as I can. I try to be a good leader. It’s been fun to watch our team grow the last two years and the way we’ve changed our game and the way we’ve competed. We know how we’re supposed to win and how we’re not supposed to win.”

Maroon gets a lot of attention for providing physicality. He is the team’s enforcer and doesn’t shy away from confrontations. He can be an agitator at times, but he’s always there to defend a teammate. And the grit Maroon provides is something the Lightning needed to win last year’s Stanley Cup.

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