Four Stanley Cup Playoff games are on the schedule tonight, starting with Florida/Tampa at 6:30pm ET.

The full schedule is below and this post is yours, feel free to comment on the games or anything related to our game.

from Ansar Khan of Mlive,

Jonathan Bernier experienced a lot of losing the past three seasons with the Detroit Red Wings. Now he sees the team potentially turning a corner, and he wants to be here for better days.

“My family and I really like it here,” Bernier said. “I feel comfortable at the rink, on the ice, so it would be my No. 1 choice. I definitely would like to stay here.”

There is no reason why the Red Wings wouldn’t want to retain Bernier, an unrestricted free agent, if they can agree on a contract figure and term.

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Bernier, along with Glendening and Bertuzzi spoke with the media today. If you missed it earlier, you can watch their videos here.

added 4:47pm, Ted Kulfan on Bertuzzi...

added 5:33pm, added a video below of NASCAR driver Brad Keselowski talking Wings.

from the Columbus Blue Jackets,

The Columbus Blue Jackets have named John Davidson president of hockey operations and alternate governor and signed General Manager and Alternate Governor Jarmo Kekalainen to a contract extension through the 2024-25 National Hockey League season, club President and Alternate Governor Mike Priest announced today. Davidson agreed to a five-year contract and returns to the role he held with the club from 2012-19.

"John Davidson and Jarmo Kekalainen worked tirelessly and effectively together to transform our hockey club from a team with one Stanley Cup Playoffs appearance in 12 seasons to one that reached the postseason five times in seven years from 2013-20," said Priest. "This is an important time for our organization and having stability and proven leadership at the top of our hockey operations department is critical for us to do what we want to do, which is bring a Stanley Cup championship to Columbus. Signing Jarmo to an extension and then bringing J.D. back gives us the right people to address the opportunities and challenges before us and we couldn't be more excited."

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First round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs edition.

I'm not sure the exact day, or even year, Steve Yzerman took over as Tampa's GM. I do know, however, that it coincided with the first day I predicted, and began to publicly beg, that he take over the same position in Detroit. I have a sneaking suspicion that, grammatically, the previous sentence was not effective. I apologize.

The chatter here has increased in volume the last two days, regarding The Captain's decision to extend one Jeffrey Blashill. I will tell you with zero shame that I was hoping he'd go. I wanted (and still want) Gerard Gallant behind that bench. I'd sell some not so immediate family members for, oh, Barry Trotz.

But, Yzerman made his choice and I--as I may have stated--stand behind any decision he makes 100 percent. I literally cannot imagine a scenario that would change my stance on that.

via Barry Rubinstein @barryrubinstein tweet,

Goosebump alert: Thought this appropriate on day of first #stanleycupplayoffs game between @CanadiensMTL and @MapleLeafs since 1979. This is from 2013, but still powerful. Count the Hall of Famers.

from Matt Larkin of The Hockey News,

Detroit Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman is collecting chess pieces. We know there’s an intriguing long-term plan forming in his brilliant hockey mind. But he’s not placing his pieces on the board yet. Most of what came out Tuesday in the Wings’ season-ending media availability sent the message that Yzerman wants to stay the course with a long, long, long-term rebuild.

The final years of the franchise’s 25-year playoff streak, which ended in 2016-17, brought with them an air of denial. The streak became a curse. Detroit limped along in mediocrity to make the post-season at all costs, Everything Yzerman has done since taking over from Ken Holland in 2019 suggests charting an opposite path. Slow and steady. Go backward to go forward. Tank? No one in Hockeytown will use the word, but there are indirect ways to go about it. The morsels we there in Yzerman’s comments Tuesday....

The coach coming back to keep patiently guiding a team in transition? Check. Staying committed to slow-cooking the prospect pool? Check. Refusing quick-fix trades for veterans? Check. It’s easy to read between the lines here. Detroit is in no hurry. This is the same franchise that was vocal about changing the draft lottery rules to give the bottom teams better odds and, as a result, only two lottery slots will be awarded for 2021, with more changes coming in 2022. Maybe it wasn’t just about the Red Wings feeling they were jobbed last season. Perhaps they expected they’d be in the hunt for more lotteries in the ensuing seasons.

In 2021, they own just the sixth-best lottery odds after finishing 19-27-10. But they possess two first-round picks, five picks in the first two rounds and 12 picks overall. It’s all welcome news for a franchise that is improving its youth crop but hasn’t reached the critical mass of young talent required to contend just yet. In Future Watch 2021, our panel of active NHL scouts and team executives graded Detroit’s prospect pool No. 7 in the NHL. In Raymond and Seider, Detroit owns our fourth- and fifth-overall NHL-affiliated prospects, but there’s a dropoff after them to 48th with Veleno. The 2021 draft will yield a couple more useful pieces – but Yzerman’s open reticence to throttle up may also indicate he’s watching the 2022 draft class carefully. It’s considered a group with much bigger star power than 2021’s class. The 2022 draft is the Shane Wright draft, the Brad Lambert draft and the Matthew Savoie draft.

So while every NHL GM wants to improve his team incrementally, and Yzerman will surely seek out more Vrana-style trades to add young impact players, don’t be surprised if Detroit’s 2021-22 feels similar to 2020-21. Next season isn’t the year to start pushing. It’s likely 2022-23.

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Appearing today are Luke Glendening, Tyler Bertuzzi and Jonathan Bernier.

Watch it below and the stream is scheduled to begin at 10:55am ET.

added 12:18pm, Below, find the players interviewed today. All three had interesting things to say.

May 20, 2021 – NHL Network’s 2021 Stanley Cup^® Playoffs game coverage begins with Game One of the First Round series between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET. Tonight’s game will mark the first time in 42 years the Maple Leafs and Canadiens, two of the Original Six, have faced off in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

NHL Now will begin NHL Network’s three-plus hours of pre-game coverage at 4 p.m. ET, co-hosted by E.J. Hradek, Jackie Redmond and Stanley Cup^® champion Mike Rupp. Jamison Coyle, three-time Stanley Cup champion Ken Daneyko and Darren Pang will set the scene on NHL Tonight at 6 p.m. ET leading up to puck drop, while Tony Luftman, Mark Parrish and guest analyst Jody Shelley will recap the action immediately following the game. Additional First and Second Round games airing on NHL Network will be announced at a later date.

Featuring in-studio demonstrations, highlights and breakdowns, Bruce Boudreau, Ryan Callahan, Stu Grimson, Billy Jaffe, Mike Johnson, Mike Kelly, Brian Lawton, Stanley Cup champion Dave Reid, Kevin Weekes and host Jamie Hersch will continue to be part of NHL Network’s comprehensive studio coverage throughout the Stanley Cup Playoffs and Stanley Cup Final. Stanley Cup Playoffs content will be highlighted across NHL Network’s social media platforms, including clips from NHL Now and NHL Tonight.

from Carlos Monarrez of the Detroit Free Press,

It’s also clear Blashill and Yzerman get along, and that matters. Both are low-key guys and personality fits are important.

But the reason I wasn’t crazy about Yzerman keeping Blashill? Hockey is primarily a defensive game, which means a team needs to have star offensive players. And not only was it hard to see progress from the Wings’ young offensive players, but two of their most promising young scorers struggled or regressed. Anthony Mantha was supposed to lead the team with around 20 goals, but he looked unmotivated and was traded after scoring 10 goals in 42 games. Filip Zadina was projected to score about 15 goals but finished with six.

Yzerman took the most generous view of Blashill’s development of a team that was led in points by a defenseman, Filip Hronek’s whopping 26 points. (Is it even worth mentioning that Connor McDavid led the NHL with 105 points?)

“As we are rebuilding and trying to move younger players into the lineup,” Yzerman said, “I think it is important to have a coach that has a calmness and a willingness and the patience to allow these younger players to go through some of the growing pains of playing in the NHL.”

But maybe there’s too much patience and calmness.

I like Blashill’s demeanor and his overall approach, but it’s time to show a little more urgency on the bench and throughout the organization. Hiring a new coach would have signaled that intention — and possibly appeased a restless fan base — though, admittedly, it might have elongated the rebuild even more with Yzerman having to align his rebuild vision with a new coach’s system and approach....

Talent tends to trump everything in pro sports. And maybe Yzerman believes if he works hard enough, he can draft and trade his way to greatness.

But coaching also plays a huge part in how a team’s talent is developed and used most effectively, and Yzerman should understand better than anyone that no matter how good and big and fast and strong any player is, he isn’t necessarily perfect and needs the right coach to help him improve.

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from Rick Sadowski at NHL.com,

Nathan MacKinnon scored a hat trick and had an assist, and the Colorado Avalanche extended their lead in the Stanley Cup First Round with a 6-3 win against the St. Louis Blues in Game 2 at Ball Arena on Wednesday.

MacKinnon has scored seven points (five goals, two assists) in the first two games of the best-of-7 series.

"I don't know if I'm at another level or pucks are (just) going in right now, I guess," MacKinnon said. "I mean, all my goals are with great screens in front. [Gabriel Landeskog], Mikko [Rantanen] are beasts down low.

"Without those guys battling and mucking it up in front when I'm up high, those pucks don't go in. Everyone's helping out, for sure."

Joonas Donskoi had two goals and an assist, and Philipp Grubauer made 32 saves for Colorado, the No. 1 seed in the Honda West Division.

"You have to have guys elevating their game this time of year," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. "You have to have different guys chipping in and making plays, not just on the offensive side of it, but on the defensive side of it as well. Guys are feeling good with their game."

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Highlights are below.

from Samantha Pell of the Washington Post,

Ilya Samsonov, making his first start since May 1, was the Washington Capitals’ unlikely hero for 85 minutes in Game 3 of their first-round playoff series against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden on Wednesday night. The 86th minute foiled the young goaltender.

A miscommunication with defenseman Justin Schultz behind the Capitals’ net allowed Boston’s Craig Smith to pick up a loose pick and beat Samsonov to the post with a wraparound shot, giving Boston a 3-2 win in double overtime and a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Game 4 is scheduled for Friday in Boston.

“It looked like one of them went for ‘leave it’ and one went for an outlet pass,” Capitals Coach Peter Laviolette said. “There was just a little bit of a miscommunication. It was a tough break the way the game ended. I thought Sammy played a hell of a game for us. It was just tough the way it ended.”

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Below, watch the OT game wining goal.

from Robert Tychkowski of the Edmonton Sun,

Thirty-seven years to the day after winning their first Stanley Cup championship, the Edmonton Oilers set out in search of their next one Wednesday at Rogers Place.

Opening their first playoff series since the two-round run in 2017, and eager to show the hockey world just how they’ve evolved as a team, the Oilers saw firsthand what they already knew going in — this isn’t going to be easy.

Not even against an injured team they were 7-2 against in the regular season.

The Winnipeg Jets turned out to be exactly what they said they’d be in their 4-1 victory in Game 1, a solid, hungry team determined to prove the playoffs are an entirely different battleground than the one Edmonton dominated in the regular season.

And they did. Jets forward Dominic Toninato broke a 1-1 tie at 9:16 of the third period and Kyle Connor and Blake Wheeler sealed it with empty netters to give the Jets first blood in their North Division semifinal.

“It’s playoff hockey, it’s tight,” said Oilers coach Dave Tippett, who wasn’t unhappy with how his club played in a game that was a coin toss until the final minutes.

“They got a break on the winning goal and the first empty netter hits the referee. The way games are, they’re going to be tight. You have to capitalize on your chances.

“There are some things we can do better, but that’s how it’s going to be — it’s going to be tight hockey. We like what we’ve done all year. We have a confident group. We’ll re-rack and be ready for Game 2.”

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Game highlights are below.

added 10:11am,

There was no update on Justin Faulk post game.

THREE HARD LAPS

* It was raining hats in Denver after Nathan MacKinnon scored a hat trick in the playoffs for the first time in his NHL career, lifting the Avalanche to a 2-0 series lead.

* Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews were officially named the winners of end-of-season awards as the 2020-21 regular season wrapped up with a Flames victory over the Canucks.

* The Maple Leafs and Canadiens are set to renew the NHL’s oldest Stanley Cup Playoffs rivalry when they go head-to-head in the postseason for the first time in 42 years.

from Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch,

Blue Jackets fans hoping to see John Davidson return as president of hockey operations will soon get their wish.

Multiple sources indicated to the Dispatch on Wednesday that Davidson, the Jackets’ former president of hockey operations for seven years, will be re-hired to his former position in the near future – perhaps as soon as Thursday.

Davidson did not immediately respond to a call and text message seeking confirmation of the hire and multiple team officials either declined to comment or did not reply.

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NEW YORK (May 19, 2021) – The 2020-21 National Hockey League regular season concluded today with Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid capturing his third Art Ross Trophy as the League’s scoring champion and Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews claiming his first Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy as the NHL’s goal-scoring leader

NEW YORK (May 19, 2021) – The National Hockey League announced today the 2021 NHL Draft Lottery, used to determine the order of selection for the first 16 picks in the first round of the 2021 NHL Draft, will be held on Wednesday, June 2, at NHL Network’s Secaucus, N.J., studio.

We have at least 6 1/2 hours of playoff hockey tonight.

Capitals/Bruins start the action tonight and the North Division gets in on the action with Jets/Oilers.

The full schedule is below and use the comment section to express your views.

NEW YORK (May 19, 2021) – The National Hockey League today released the following statement:

“This morning, we became aware of certain test results involving multiple Players on two Clubs (the St. Louis Blues and the Vegas Golden Knights) that had indicated positive results for the COVID-19 virus. Because those reported results emanated from the same laboratory, and due to other peculiarities and similarities as among the test results themselves, an investigation was initiated into the possibility that the initial test results reported may have been in error. All affected Players were immediately isolated and further testing was done involving collected samples. Those tests have returned uniformly negative results, therefore confirming that the initial reported test results were in error. As a result, all affected Players will be eligible to play in their team’s next game.”

from Stu Cowan of the Montrreal Gazette,

Tyler Toffoli believes Cole Caufield is a “special” player.

“He’s got that it factor,” Toffoli said about his Canadiens teammate in a first-person story that was published last week on The Players’ Tribune website. “I’ve only seen it in a few guys in the league. He’s got it.”

What Caufield doesn’t have is NHL playoff experience and he’s going to have to wait to get it. Caufield won’t be in the lineup when the Canadiens play the Maple Leafs in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series Thursday in Toronto.utting the emphasis on experience over youth, which is why Caufield, Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Alexander Romanov will be spectators for Game 1.

Of course, the only way to get NHL playoff experience is to actually play in a game.

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from Ted Kulfan of the Detroit News,

Dylan Larkin is recovering, getting better and is optimistic he’ll be ready for September’s start of training camp.

But Larkin also feels a little lucky.

The neck injury Larkin sustained after being crosschecked in the back of the neck by Dallas forward Jamie Benn on April 20 could have been much worse than it was.

“Anytime you’re dealing with the neck, it’s a little scary,” Larkin said Wednesday during an end-of-season media zoom chat. “I always believed I was going to be OK. It’s something minor that needs time to heal and that’s all you can ask for. I’m just resting and trying to do the right things so I can be ready to train here soon.

“I really do believe I got pretty lucky.”

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Below, watch Larkin with the media today.

Oh dear.

SY may be a great GM (or not), his free pass for me is expired.
From here on - results baby, own your wins, own your suck!

That's one of us, just moments ago. Laying down the law, letting Steve Yzerman know he is...on...the...clock. Leeway...gone. Benefit of the doubt? None. He'd better perform or the pitch forks will be out and the Twitter GM contingent will be out (from behind their keyboards) in full frigging force, brother.

Why? Because Steve Yzerman, the best GM in hockey, decided keeping Jeff Blashill for the intermediate, or even short, term is the best move for this organ-I-zation.

It reminds me of Yzerman's first mistake as GM, and this was a big one. Holy cow did he bone this one up.

from Gemma Karstens-Smith of the CP at CBC,

Winnipeg Jets coach Paul Maurice conceded that his squad has little chance of keeping McDavid off the scoresheet when they face the Oilers in the first round of the playoffs, starting Wednesday.

"He's that good," Maurice said. "You're not stopping this guy completely. If you just do it right, if you just play the right way against Connor McDavid, he's still putting up points against you. He's that level of talent. You just can't help him. He's going to get them on his own. You just can't help him do it."

Long touted as one of the NHL's top talents, the 24-year-old Oilers captain ascended to new heights this year, tallying 100 points in 53 games. Only seven players in NHL history have reached the mark faster.

By the end of the regular season, he led the league in scoring with 105 points (33 goals, 72 assists) in 56 games. His sometimes-linemate Leon Draisaitl was second with 84....

"He really stepped up his game and it was impressive to watch," said Winnipeg centre Mark Scheifele. "I'm a big fan of his. He's a fantastic hockey player and he's the best player in our game right now."

Maurice has watched the likes of Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr come through the league and is hesitant to draw comparisons.

But he's certainly proved himself to be a special talent, the Jets coach said.

"He's just unique," Maurice said. "This guy's different than all other players and that uniqueness, he's part of that group of players that are the greatest of all time."

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10 of them.