Boston Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery took a shot at Max Domi and the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday.

Montgomery didn't hold back when asked if he believes Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman's success against the Maple Leafs is an indication he's in their heads.

"Sometimes I don't think that, but when Domi goes off the bench and bumps him on purpose, it makes me think that maybe he's in their head a little bit," the Boston bench boss said.

Domi and Swayman made contact during a break in the action Wednesday night in the Bruins' 4-2 victory, which gave them a 2-1 series lead.

Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe fired back at Montgomery later Thursday when informed of his counterpart's comments.

"With that logic, you would say every time they bump into one of our guys, maybe we're in their heads," Keefe said. "I don't think that has anything to do with anything."

Swayman improved to 5-0-0 against the Leafs this season. He's allowed only three goals on 66 shots for a .955 save percentage in the two games he's started in the series.

The Bruins have alternated goaltenders all season, including in the playoffs, so Linus Ullmark would normally start the next one. But the additional day off before Game 4 in Toronto on Saturday might lead Montgomery to deviate from his usual strategy.

"We're going to have more rest, but ... the rotation's been so good for us, so it's a hard decision," he said.

That game is scheduled to start at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday.

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Andre Tourigny will once again lead Team Canada as head coach at the World Championship, the country's governing body of hockey announced Thursday.

Tourigny guided Canada to the gold medal at last year's tournament.

Former Minnesota Wild bench boss Dean Evason, ex-Edmonton Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft, and current St. Louis Blues assistant coach Steve Ott will serve as Tourigny's assistants at the event.

Rick Nash, Canada's general manager for the tourney, determined the coaching staff along with associate GM Kyle Dubas and assistant GM Scott Salmond.

Tourigny is the Arizona Coyotes' bench boss and will presumably remain in the post when the team begins playing in Salt Lake City.

Canada has already received commitments for the Worlds from several impact players, including Chicago Blackhawks phenom Connor Bedard, Seattle Kraken forward Jared McCann, and Buffalo Sabres defenseman Owen Power.

The tournament will run from May 10-26 in Prague and Ostrava, Czechia.

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Toronto Maple Leafs star William Nylander's absence from the lineup is due to a migraine so severe that the club's medical staff tested him to see if he had a concussion, sources told Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.

Team doctors have been unable to diagnose Nylander's exact condition, Friedman adds.

The productive winger missed the first three games of the Maple Leafs' first-round playoff series against the Boston Bruins, in which Toronto trails 2-1 following a 4-2 loss in Game 3 on Wednesday night. He played all 82 regular-season games and matched his career high of 40 goals while setting new personal bests in assists (58) and points.

Nylander's absence from Game 1 was only the second time he'd been forced out of the lineup due to injury and the first such instance since November 2016.

The Swede, who'll turn 28 on May 1, revealed in September 2022 that he switched to a tinted visor because of recurring migraines he endured one season prior.

Toronto is sorely missing Nylander's contributions in the postseason. He has 17 goals and 23 assists in 50 career playoff games, including four tallies and six helpers in 11 such contests last spring.

Nylander is in his ninth season with the Maple Leafs, who drafted him eighth overall in 2014.

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Toronto Maple Leafs star William Nylander's absence from the lineup is due to a migraine so severe that the club's medical staff tested him to see if he had a concussion, sources told Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.

Team doctors have been unable to diagnose Nylander's exact condition, Friedman adds.

The productive winger missed the first three games of the Maple Leafs' first-round playoff series against the Boston Bruins, in which Toronto trails 2-1 following a 4-2 loss in Game 3 on Wednesday night. He played all 82 regular-season games and matched his career high of 40 goals while setting new personal bests in assists (58) and points.

Nylander's absence from Game 1 was only the second time he'd been forced out of the lineup due to injury and the first such instance since November 2016.

The Swede, who'll turn 28 on May 1, revealed in September 2022 that he switched to a tinted visor because of recurring migraines he endured one season prior.

Toronto is sorely missing Nylander's contributions in the postseason. He has 17 goals and 23 assists in 50 career playoff games, including four tallies and six helpers in 11 such contests last spring.

Nylander is in his ninth season with the Maple Leafs, who drafted him eighth overall in 2014.

Copyright © 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Toronto Maple Leafs star William Nylander's absence from the lineup is due to a migraine so severe that the club's medical staff tested him to see if he had a concussion, sources told Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.

Team doctors have been unable to diagnose Nylander's exact condition, Friedman adds.

The productive winger missed the first three games of the Maple Leafs' first-round playoff series against the Boston Bruins, in which Toronto trails 2-1 following a 4-2 loss in Game 3 on Wednesday night. He played all 82 regular-season games and matched his career high of 40 goals while setting new personal bests in assists (58) and points.

Nylander's absence from Game 1 was only the second time he'd been forced out of the lineup due to injury and the first such instance since November 2016.

The Swede, who'll turn 28 on May 1, revealed in September 2022 that he switched to a tinted visor because of recurring migraines he endured one season prior.

Toronto is sorely missing Nylander's contributions in the postseason. He has 17 goals and 23 assists in 50 career playoff games, including four tallies and six helpers in 11 such contests last spring.

Nylander is in his ninth season with the Maple Leafs, who drafted him eighth overall in 2014.

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National NHL broadcasts on Monday nights will air exclusively on Amazon Prime Video for the next two seasons, the technology company jointly announced with Rogers Communications on Thursday.

All national regular-season games on those evenings will stream on "Prime Monday Night Hockey," marking the NHL's first exclusive national broadcast deal with a digital-only streaming service in Canada.

Prime Video has partnered with Rogers since the start of this season, when Sportsnet launched the streaming service's channels north of the border. The NHL has worked with Amazon Web Services on in-game analytics and video highlights since 2021.

Rogers remains the NHL's primary rightsholder for national broadcasts in Canada. The telecommunications corporation's 12-year deal with the NHL will expire in 2025.

Amazon has secured the rights to numerous sports properties in recent years, including Thursday Night Football, NASCAR, the New York Yankees, the WNBA, and UEFA Champions League broadcasts in the United Kingdom.

It has also produced several original series on hockey including "All or Nothing: Toronto Maple Leafs" and "Saving Sakic."

Sportsnet has aired national Monday night NHL games since 2014-15.

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The Chicago Blackhawks secured the services of defenseman Alex Vlasic for six more seasons at a $4.6-million cap hit, the team announced Thursday.

Vlasic was a pending restricted free agent whose current pact carries an average annual value of $1,491,667 and a cap hit of $916,667, according to CapFriendly. He would've been eligible for arbitration.

The Illinois-born blue-liner produced two goals and 14 assists while averaging 21:29 of ice time over 76 games in his first full NHL campaign. He also blocked 148 shots, tying Colorado Avalanche superstar Cale Makar for 43rd in the NHL.

The Blackhawks rearguard, who'll turn 23 on June 5, finished the season playing on Chicago's top pairing alongside Seth Jones. Vlasic was also paired with Jones on the club's top penalty-killing unit. He and Jones will both represent the United States at the World Championship next month in Czechia.

Vlasic made his NHL debut in March 2022, playing 15 games for the Blackhawks down the stretch after signing out of Boston University. He then spent 2022-23 primarly with the AHL's Rockford IceHogs, suiting up for 56 games with them along with six contests with Chicago.

The Blackhawks drafted Vlasic 43rd overall in 2019.

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Peter DeBoer insists he isn't underestimating the Vegas Golden Knights despite the fact that the Dallas Stars' opponents came into the playoffs as a wild-card team.

"They're the Stanley Cup champions, they've got everyone figured out," the Stars head coach said postgame. "They figured out everyone last year, too, right? So we're not alone in that boat."

Vegas defeated Dallas 3-1 on Wednesday night to take a 2-0 lead in their first-round series. The Golden Knights won both games on the road and head home with a chance to sweep the Stars, the Western Conference's top seed.

DeBoer admits the Stars are in a state of disbelief after the first two games given how the two teams fared in the regular season.

"Yeah, for sure, I mean (we're) disappointed. I thought (in) Game 1, we probably deserved better, but you have to find a way to win that game. Tonight, the margin is like that," he added while pinching his thumb and index finger together.

The Dallas bench boss - who coached Vegas for parts of three seasons from 2019-20 to 2021-22 - gave further credit to the Golden Knights by suggesting they improved upon the championship-winning squad they boasted in 2022-23.

"They're a very good hockey club for a reason," he said. "I think they've got a deeper roster than they had last year if you look at their entire lineup including their scratches."

Vegas added Noah Hanifin, Tomas Hertl, and Anthony Mantha before the trade deadline and got captain Mark Stone back for Game 1 of this series after he missed the final two months of the regular season with a lacerated spleen.

The Golden Knights have now beaten the Stars in six straight games, including all three regular-season meetings in 2023-24 and a 6-0 shellacking in the decisive Game 6 of last spring's Western Conference Final.

Game 3 of their first-round matchup is scheduled for Saturday night in Vegas.

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Florida Panthers forward Sam Bennett will miss seven days or more after absorbing teammate Brandon Montour's shot with his hand Tuesday night, head coach Paul Maurice said Wednesday.

Maurice likened Bennett's relatively short recovery timetable to hearing his car was in an accident but discovering it was only a fender bender, according to team reporter Jameson Olive.

“Got to the rink and got great news,” the bench boss added.

Montour's shot hit Bennett in the left hand in the second period of Game 2 of the Panthers' first-round playoff matchup against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Bennett immediately departed and didn't return.

The Panthers referred to Bennett's ailment as an upper-body injury.

Bennett had been centering the Panthers' second line between Carter Verhaeghe and Matthew Tkachuk.

The injured center opened the scoring and then drew the primary assist on Vladimir Tarasenko's goal that gave Florida a 2-0 lead in a 3-2 overtime victory.

Bennett produced 20 goals and 21 assists over 69 games during the regular season. He's in his third full campaign (and fourth in total) with the Panthers, who acquired him in a trade with the Calgary Flames in April 2021.

The Ontario-born pivot, who'll turn 28 on June 20, also racked up 173 hits in 2023-24.

Florida holds a 2-0 series lead. Game 3 is scheduled for Thursday at Tampa's Amalie Arena.

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Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar praised goaltender Alexandar Georgiev for bouncing back in a Game 2 victory after struggling significantly in their series opener against the Winnipeg Jets.

Georgiev stopped all but two of the 30 shots he faced in a 5-2 win that tied the first-round playoff series Tuesday night after turning aside only 16 of the 23 shots the Jets mustered when they prevailed 7-6 in Game 1 on Sunday.

Bednar described Georgiev's response as "fantastic" before elaborating.

"If you give up seven as a goalie - what type of things you read online, what you're hearing from everyone - everyone just goes immediately to doubt and criticism," Bednar said. "So to be able to put that aside, focus on his process just like we would with the team, be mentally strong, resilient, and then go out and prove people wrong in Game 2? That's a tough job to do."

The head coach noted that the Avalanche weren't significantly more effective as a group in the second game, except for the netminder.

"He deserves all the credit," Bednar said. "Because our team was better, but it wasn't that much better. He was much better, and he gave us a chance to win, and we did win. Now, we've got to go repeat it.”

The Avalanche fired twice as many shots on goal as the Jets in Game 1, finishing with a 46-23 edge in a losing effort. Colorado outshot Winnipeg 32-30 in Game 2.

Game 3 of the series is scheduled for Friday night in Denver.

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