The 30-year-old missed Game 6 of the club's second-round series against the Pittsburgh Penguins and the first two games of the Conference Final against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Luckily for Washington, the team hasn't missed a beat without their star center, winning each of their last three games.
That being said, his return will certainly be welcomed as he's posted three goals and 13 points in 11 games.
The Nashville Predators players would like another chance to prove themselves.
The team held its end-of-the-year press conference Monday where general manager David Poile noted several squad members asked that few changes be made as they still believe in the current roster.
"A lot of the players expressed to us in the team meeting that they really believed in our team," Poile said, per NHL.com's Robby Stanley. "They loved our team. They thought our chemistry, our culture, was really good. If I was trying to frame it correctly, basically I think what they were saying to the general manager and to the coach is they didn't want to see a lot of changes.
"I think if we could start tomorrow and be given another opportunity, we and our team would like to play Winnipeg again in another seven-game series. I think that's how close it is."
The Predators claimed the Presidents' Trophy this season but were ousted by the Winnipeg Jets in the second round in what some circles believed to be the "real" Stanley Cup Final.
Luckily for the players, their request shouldn't be too difficult to grant as the lone unrestricted free agents are Scott Hartnell (who Poile said will not be re-signed) and defenseman Alexei Emelin.
Canada avoided a potential upset loss to Latvia thanks to Connor McDavid's overtime winner on Monday.
McDavid scored 46 seconds into overtime, knocking a puck out of mid-air into the net after Latvia netminder Kristers Gudlevskis made an incredible pad stop on Canada's captain.
With the 2-1 win, Canada clinched a spot in the quarterfinals and moved into third place in Group B - one point back of Finland for second.
Anthony Beauvilier was named Canada's player of the game after scoring the the contest's opening goal early into the first period. Meanwhile, Gudlevskis earned the honors for Latvia after making 32 saves on 34 shots.
Canada will close out the preliminary round on Tuesday in a game against Germany.
The Winnipeg Jets jumped out to an early lead in Game 1 of the Western Conference Final Saturday night and never looked back.
The home team treated their fans to a commanding 4-2 win over the Vegas Golden Knights, giving the expansion club their first series deficit of the postseason.
However, there are still games to be won. In fact, the Golden Knights could very well have the series knotted up heading home for Game 3 if they make a few adjustments for Monday night.
Play more disciplined
This is not necessarily a knock on the number of penalties the Golden Knights took in Game 1, it has more to do with how lethal the Jets' power play was.
The Jets went 2-for-4 with the man advantage, firing six shots while wearing down the Vegas penalty killers. The Jets have proven that they have players capable of unleashing cannons when they set up properly in the offensive zone, and we got a taste of that in Game 1 through one-timers from Patrik Laine and Dustin Byfuglien (Byfuglien's goal was at even strength).
The Golden Knights surprisingly outchanced Winnipeg at even strength on Saturday night, proving it is imperative to keep the game played at five-on-five if they plan to counter the Jets' attack. If not, the Jets - who boast the third-most potent power play in the playoffs - will make quick work of the Golden Knights.
Get more pucks to Hellebuyck
As was mentioned above, the Golden Knights won the battle at five-on-five with a Corsi For of 54.05 percent to Winnipeg's 45.95 percent.
The problem is, Vegas struggled to get pucks into high-danger scoring areas, and even more so, struggled to actually get pucks on Connor Hellebuyck. The Golden Knights were outshot 26-21 in the game, but had an additional 22 shots blocked by the Jets, which is just too easy for a Vezina Trophy nominee.
As the chart shows below, the Jets did a mighty fine job of keeping the Golden Knights away from Hellebuyck, preventing them from getting any sustainable pressure in front of the net.
The Jets had 70 percent of the high-danger scoring chances in Game 1. However, the Golden Knights had the advantage in scoring chances overall (55.5 percent), meaning, quite simply, the Jets did a much better job of closing the gap against the speedy Vegas offense.
So, whether the Golden Knights execute a stronger cycle game to wear down Winnipeg's defenders and open up quality chances, or resort to picking their shots better, the fact is, with the Jets' offense connecting like it has of late, Vegas needs to find a way to counter in order to make the jobs of the Jets' defenders more difficult.
Grind the Jets down early
The Golden Knights need to play some ugly hockey early in Game 2.
The Jets lived up to their name in Game 1 and came out soaring. Before Vegas had any idea what was going on, they were down 1-0 and things rapidly snowballed from there.
What's worse - and has been well documented - MTS Place crowd is among the loudest in the league and the arena can become an intimidating place to play when the Jets give them something to cheer about.
This is where Vegas can benefit from limiting chances in their own zone and, more specifically, working the Jets in the opposite end of the rink. If they can find a way to start the game in Winnipeg's end and work the Jets' defenders down - as we saw them do to the Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks in the first two rounds - and possibly squeak out the first goal of the game, then we will most certainly see a different atmosphere.
MTS Place can be a nasty beast for the opposition when the crowd is as deafening as they were in Game 1, but what can be equally as haunting is when it's dead silent.
The Canadians suffered their second loss in the tournament, losing in stunning fashion, 5-1, to Finland. The game saw Canada take 11 minor penalties, a number that Ekblad equates to the opposition diving.
Ekblad when asked abt Can lacking discipline in loss to Fin. Accused Finns of diving, “diving isn’t part of the game. I think it’s cowardly”
Finland converted two power-play chances, both coming in the first period. But while Ekblad feels playacting played a role in the result, it's worth noting the Finns also took eight minor penalties of their own.
The Capitals' lone road loss of the playoffs came in Game 4 of the second round against the Pittsburgh Penguins. In all, Washington has now outscored the opposition 24-15 in road games.
Meanwhile, the Capitals have gone 3-3 at home this postseason where they've outscored the opposition 23-18. Suffice to say, they haven't been pushovers on home ice either, so the Lightning will certainly be in tough the rest of this series.
A number of the Nashville Predators' core players have elected not to hang up their skates just yet.
A day after being eliminated in a blowout Game 7 by the Winnipeg Jets, seven members of the Predators signed on to play at the World Championship, the team confirmed.
Sweden and the United States currently lead their respective groupings, while Switzerland sits tied for third in Group A and Finland ranks third in Group B.
Patrick Kane and Charlie McAvoy each had a game-high two goals and five points as the Americans continued to cruise through the round robin with a 13-1 win over Korea on Friday.
Korea actually held the lead at one point, scoring the game's opening goal courtesy of a power-play tally from Jin Hui Ahn just over five minutes into the game.
However, it was all USA from that point on, as the Americans responded with four goals to close out the first period.
"Critics that want to criticize him don't know what they're talking about, I don't care if they played in the NHL or not," Subban said, per Brady Trettenero of the Nation Network. "He's the backbone of our hockey club and he's one of the main reasons we're here.
"I'm sick and tired of people always talking about him. He's the backbone of this team. He's the main reason we're here. You talk about top goaltenders in the league it's him, it's (Carey) Price, it's (Andrei) Vasilevskiy, it's (Connor) Hellebuyck, it's these guys. You're lucky to have one of them."
While Subban might not believe Game 7 was Rinne's fault, it's hard not to wonder if the team might have had a better fate in the series had it gotten stronger play from its No. 1 netminder.
Rinne concluded the postseason with a .904 save percentage. The 35-year-old was abysmal at home during the second round, posting an .848 save percentage and 4.93 goals-against average at Bridgestone Arena.
