Jon Cooper isn't expecting another blowout victory for his Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference Final.
"You've got to take advantage of a tired team," the head coach told the assembled media, including Fox Sports Florida, after the Lightning rolled to an 8-2 win over the New York Islanders in Game 1 on Monday. "Let's be honest. This is a one-off."
New York eliminated the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 7 of its second-round series on Saturday. Meanwhile, the Lightning finished off the Boston Bruins in Game 5 of their matchup on Aug. 31.
Lightning stars Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov both racked up five points in Tampa Bay's Game 1 win. Point scored twice, including a dazzling first-period marker, but he downplayed his squad's dominance postgame.
"Let's be honest, we got a lot of bounces tonight," Point said, according to Bryan Burns of the team's website. "Things went well for us. We can't hang our hat on that."
Point may be on to something. Despite the six-goal margin, the possession and scoring-chance figures show the game was more evenly contested than it appeared.
Kucherov's goal moved him past Martin St. Louis as Tampa Bay's all-time playoff goals leader.
McDonagh's marker chased New York's starting goaltender Thomas Greiss late in the first period. The German netminder allowed three goals on nine shots before Semyon Varlamov replaced him. Varlamov didn't fare much better, stopping 20 of the 25 shots he faced.
The honor is bestowed annually upon the player who "best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey," with the Professional Hockey Writers Association voting on the award. Dallas Stars defenseman Stephen Johns and Philadelphia Flyers forward Oskar Lindblom were the other two finalists.
Ryan left the Senators to enter the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program in November. He rejoined the club in late February and notched a hat trick in his first home game following his return.
The 33-year-old later revealed he had struggled with alcohol abuse.
Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Robin Lehner won the Masterton Trophy last season while with the New York Islanders.
“We will be seeing what the open market has to offer,” his representative, Todd Diamond, told The Athletic's Adam Vingan on Monday.
When asked if Granlund has ruled out rejoining the Predators, Diamond declined to answer directly, instead reiterating that his client won't re-sign before free agency begins.
Granlund will be one of the top free-agent forwards. The 28-year-old struggled after the Minnesota Wild traded him to Nashville in 2018-19, and he remained inconsistent at the start of this season.
However, the Finnish veteran raised his game when the Predators hired John Hynes to replace Peter Laviolette as their head coach in January. Granlund posted only six goals and 14 points across the first 35 games of the campaign under Laviolette, but he led the club with 11 goals in the 28 regular-season contests following Hynes' hiring. His average ice time also rose from 16:45 to 19:07 after the coaching change.
The Wild traded Granlund to the Predators for forward Kevin Fiala in February 2019. Granlund spent the first six seasons of his career with Minnesota, which dealt him to Nashville during his seventh. The Wild drafted him ninth overall in 2010.
Granlund is in the final campaign of a three-year, $17.25-million contract he inked with Minnesota in summer 2017.
The honor is awarded annually to the player "who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution in his community."
Dumba is one of the most vocal NHL players on the subjects of racial injustice and inequality. In June, he co-founded the Hockey Diversity Alliance, whose mission is to eliminate systemic racism and intolerance in the game.
On Aug. 1, the 26-year-old gave a passionate speech addressing those issues and then became the first NHL player to kneel during the playing of "The Star-Spangled Banner" before a game between the Edmonton Oilers and the Chicago Blackhawks. One day later, he raised his fist during both anthems before Minnesota's matchup with the Vancouver Canucks.
Dumba started the "Rebuild Minnesota" project to help local businesses affected by protests stemming from the death of George Floyd in police custody. He pledged to match all donations up to $100,000 for that cause, according to the Star-Tribune's Randy Johnson.
The Wild rearguard also assisted over 60 families with COVID-19 support amid the outbreak of the pandemic and donated over $11,000 toward Australia's wildfire relief in January.
This is the second straight year the award went to a Wild player - Jason Zucker, now of the Pittsburgh Penguins, took home the honor in 2019 while with Minnesota.
This is the second edition of theScore's rankings of the top candidates to be named 2019-20 playoff MVP. We've only featured players still competing in the postseason, which officially includes the qualifying round and round-robin stage.
5. Mark Stone
Dave Sandford / National Hockey League / Getty
Stone contributes more to team wins than most players do. The gifted Vegas Golden Knights winger posted a point per game in the first two rounds and round-robin play, recording six goals and nine assists in 15 contests.
Stone also plays a critical shutdown role on the defensive end, frequently being tasked with containing some of the most dynamic stars in the league on the Chicago Blackhawks and Vancouver Canucks in Rounds 1 and 2, respectively.
The 28-year-old possesses a blistering 69.69% expected goals rate at 5-on-5 entering the Western Conference Final, and his scoring chances for (62.5%) and Corsi For (60.93%) figures only underscore his value further.
4. Shea Theodore
Bruce Bennett / Getty Images Sport / Getty
It's safe to say the Anaheim Ducks are still kicking themselves for trading Theodore to the Golden Knights at the 2017 expansion draft, and the defenseman is making his old club regret that decision more than ever this postseason.
This list's No. 1 is the only player with more points among blue-liners heading into the conference finals - Theodore's produced six goals and 10 assists in 15 games in just over 22 minutes of ice time.
The 25-year-old is particularly formidable lately, burying two goals in the last three games ahead of Round 3 and amassing two goals and eight assists over a seven-game span, including three multi-point efforts from Aug. 16-Sept. 1.
3. Brayden Point
Elsa / Getty Images Sport / Getty
Point is certainly living up to his last name in these playoffs, and his production is critical to the Tampa Bay Lightning's success, especially in the absence of injured captain Steven Stamkos.
Entering the conference finals, the 24-year-old forward led all NHL skaters still competing with 1.38 points per game. He's collected six goals and 12 assists in 13 games played through the first two rounds and the round-robin stage. He only earned two of his 18 points on the power play - and both were helpers - making his output look even more impressive.
Point occasionally gets overlooked because of the Lightning's catalog of superstars, but he's a game-changer in his own right. The skilled center boasts terrific possession figures entering Round 3, going above 60% in expected goals for (65.22), scoring chances for (60.95), and Corsi For (61.26) at 5-on-5.
2. Andrei Vasilevskiy
Chase Agnello-Dean / National Hockey League / Getty
Vasilevskiy does have a potent offense in front of him, but he deserves ample recognition for his stellar performance this postseason.
The Lightning goaltender is pacing the remaining puck-stoppers with a .931 save percentage in all situations, and a 6.03 goals saved above average at 5-on-5 alongside his 10-3 record. A 45-save effort against the Boston Bruins in Game 5padded those numbers, but he authored a commendable .927 save percentage in the 12 previous contests.
It's rare to see someone so young become the most valuable still-competing player in the conference finals, but that's what Heiskanen is.
The 21-year-old led all active skaters in playoff points with 21 in 16 games heading into the third round, while averaging nearly 26 minutes of ice time.
That's remarkable,considering not just theDallas Starsdefenseman's age, but his position.Heiskanen is also effectively driving possession -his expected goals for (53.53), scoring chances for (52.59), and Corsi For (50.71) percentages at 5-on-5 are all favorable through the second round.
The Arizona Coyotes may be looking between the benches for their next general manager.
"An interesting name surfaced this week, Ron, and that's Pierre McGuire," Sportsnet's Chris Johnston reported while addressing host Ron MacLean on "Saturday Headlines."
"The longtime broadcaster working at NBC has had some conversations with the Coyotes about that opening," Johnston added.
"What's interesting here, to me, is that Steve Sullivan, who's holding the job on an interim basis, is taking calls right now ... I know he's getting a lot of interest in (goaltender) Darcy Kuemper ... so in the background of this GM search, (Sullivan) is also talking to some teams about trades."
McGuire has been a broadcaster since 1997, and with NBC since 2011. The 59-year-old previously held coaching, scouting, and executive roles with several clubs, including the Pittsburgh Penguins and Hartford Whalers.
Arizona also reportedly interviewed Penguins assistant GM Jason Karmanos for the Coyotes' GM job.
John Chayka, Arizona's previous GM, terminated his contract in late July, and the team accused him of "quitting" on the club as postseason play was beginning.
Riikola, previously a pending restricted free agent, receives a slight salary increase compared to the $850,000 he's earning this season.
The 26-year-old has played his two NHL campaigns with Pittsburgh, serving primarily as a depth defender. He signed with the Penguins in May 2018 after suiting up for parts of six seasons in his native Finland.
Even after signing Riikola, Pittsburgh has nine remaining pending free agents, though only Conor Sheary, Patrick Marleau, and Justin Schultz are soon-to-be UFAs. Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford said earlier this week the team plans to "move on" from Schultz.
Goaltenders Tristan Jarry and Matt Murray are among the Pittsburgh players set to become RFAs, but Rutherford said in August that there's a "very, very good chance" he'll have to trade one of his netminders.
Joel Kiviranta's unlikely heroics etched his name in the record books.
The Dallas Stars forward became the first rookie ever to notch a Game 7 hat trick when he capped off his three-goal effort Friday with the overtime winner that eliminated the Colorado Avalanche and propelled the Stars into the Western Conference Final.
The winner came less than eight minutes into the extra frame. His second marker, which tied the contest 4-4 with 3:30 remaining in the third period, came 10 seconds after Avalanche forward Vladislav Namestnikov scored his second goal of the game to give Colorado the lead.
Friday marked Kiviranta's third career playoff contest after he suited up for Game 6 of the Stars' first-round series against the Calgary Flames and a round-robin matchup against the St. Louis Blues.
The undrafted winger collected one goal and no assists in 11 games during the regular season.
Dallas clinched its first Western Conference Final berth since 2008 with the 5-4 victory Friday. The Stars will meet the winner of Game 7 between the Vancouver Canucks and the Vegas Golden Knights.
Neither side scored again before the end of the third period, sending Game 7 to overtime.
Kiviranta and Alexander Radulov potted a pair of goals apiece, providing all of the Stars' offense before the extra frame. Andre Burakovsky and Nazem Kadri notched the other markers for the Avalanche.
The winner of the contest advances to the Western Conference Final, which Colorado hasn't reached since 2002. Dallas is seeking its first appearance in the conference finals since 2008.
