With the second round of the playoffs wrapped up and only four teams remaining, we take a look at the leading candidates for the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.

5. Braden Holtby, Washington Capitals

Perhaps the biggest reason the Capitals got the monkey off their back and defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins in Round 2 was that Braden Holtby outplayed his counterpart, Matt Murray. He'll need to do the same against Tampa Bay Lightning netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy if the Caps are to advance to the Stanley Cup Final.

Holtby is coming off the worst regular season of his career, but he's making up for it in a big way this postseason.

4. Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning

The Bolts have won eight games so far in the playoffs and Kucherov has scored in five of them, notching the game-winning tally on three occasions. However, after picking up 10 points against a relatively easy first-round opponent in the New Jersey Devils, Kucherov's production tailed off a bit in the second round against a better Boston Bruins team, which is why he's somewhat low on this list as Tampa Bay's representative.

3. Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals

Ovechkin still managed to be productive during the Capitals' playoff failures, so it's not surprising that he's been playing at an extremely high level during the franchise's deepest postseason run this century.

Arguments can be made that Holtby or Evgeny Kuznetsov have been Washington's most valuable players this postseason, but the Caps march to the beat of Ovechkin's drum. He's the heart and soul of the team, which he leads in both goals and points in these playoffs.

2. Mark Scheifele, Winnipeg Jets

The most impressive part about Scheifele's spectacular performance this spring is that nine of his 11 goals have come away from home, including an NHL-record seven road goals in one series against Nashville - not exactly an easy place to play. He was also clutch when it mattered most in Winnipeg's Game 7 win over the Presidents' Trophy-winning Predators, finding the twine twice.

1. Marc-Andre Fleury, Vegas Golden Knights

Anyone who disagrees with ranking Fleury at the top of this list probably hasn't watched more than a minute of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He's been nothing short of sensational, and has single-handedly stolen four wins. If Vegas is going to continue its miraculous run all the way to the final, Fleury will be the reason why.

And while Scheiefle has been remarkable, Fleury's had a greater impact on the direct outcomes of games, giving him the edge.

(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)

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The Winnipeg Jets took control of Game 7 against the Nashville Predators and never looked back, winning 5-1. Here are three players who stepped up in the winner-take-all affair, and three who did not.

Studs

Connor Hellebuyck

Hellebuyck was calm, cool, and collected in the Jets' crease, stopping 36 of 37 shots that came his way. The only puck that beat him was off a P.K. Subban power-play blast that went in off the post. Even when the Predators amped up the tempo late, Hellebuyck was there to weather the storm.

Paul Stastny

Maybe the best trade-deadline acquisition of all time? Stastny notched two goals in Game 7, including the game-winner. The Jets generated 62.96 percent of the shot attempts and 66.67 percent of the scoring chances while Stastny was on the ice (at 5-on-5), both of which led the team.

Mark Scheifele

Scheifele had two goals, though one was an empty-netter. It's tough to choose between him and linemate Blake Wheeler since they both had phenomenal games, but Scheifele gets a slight edge. In addition to his nose for the net, he also had three hits and three blocked shots in the contest.

Duds

Pekka Rinne

Game 7 nightmares could keep Rinne up at night all summer long. He allowed two early goals and was yanked less than 11 minutes into the game. To make matters worse, both goals were awfully ugly on his part.

Ryan Ellis

It was also a game to forget for Ellis. He could've been much more aggressive on Statsny's first goal, as he allowed him to walk in and get not one, but two shots on Rinne - even if they were both from a bad angle. He finished with two giveaways, was on the ice for three goals against, and nine scoring chances against at 5-on-5 - the second-most on the team.

Roman Josi

Given that he's paired with Ellis, it's not all that surprising that Josi didn't have his best game, either. He had two giveaways, was on the ice for three goals and a team-high 10 scoring chances against at 5-on-5. We're accustomed to the Josi-Ellis pairing controlling the game and driving offense, but they failed to do that when it mattered most.

(Advanced stats courtesy: Natural Stat Trick)

(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)

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Nashville Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne was yanked for the fourth time this postseason after allowing two goals on seven shots to open Game 7 against the Winnipeg Jets.

In the process, he made history for all the wrong reasons.

Both goals were from terribly poor angles, prompting the move to pull Rinne in favor of backup Juuse Saros.

It's been a rocky postseason for the Vezina Trophy nominee, as he owned a pedestrian 2.94 goals-against average and a .907 save percentage heading into Game 7.

The 23-year-old Saros had stopped all 26 shots he's faced in relief of Rinne these playoffs prior to entering Game 7. In the regular season, he posted a 2.45 GAA and a .925 save percentage in 26 contests.

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Even after getting annihilated 6-2 in Game 5 by the Winnipeg Jets, P.K. Subban is awfully confident his Nashville Predators can win Game 6 and force a Game 7 back in the Music City.

"We're going to go (to Winnipeg), we're going to win a game and come back here. It's that simple," he said, according to Adam Vingan of the Tennessean.

The charismatic Subban is no stranger to bold predictions. After going down 2-0 against the Pittsburgh Penguins in last year's Stanley Cup Final, he guaranteed a win in Game 3, which the Preds won 5-1.

Can he go two-for-two? We'll find out Monday in Game 6.

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Washington Capitals defenseman John Carlson is being evaluated after taking a high hit from Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jake Guentzel in Game 5 on Saturday night.

Capitals head coach Barry Trotz was not pleased.

"John took a high hit. He was unsuspecting, with about a minute left. He's being evaluated right now," he said, according to ESPN's Greg Wyshynski. "I know the standard's been set, so I'm going to leave it up the league. It was a head shot in my opinion."

Here's a look at the hit:

Carlson is the Capitals' top blue-liner, so any time missed would be detrimental to the team's chances of moving on. This is especially true considering Tom Wilson is still suspended for one more game, Andre Burakovsky hasn't played since Game 2 of the first round, and Nicklas Backstrom left Game 5 with an upper-body injury.

On the flip side, Guentzel has 10 goals and 21 points this postseason, so if he were to be suspended, the Penguins would be missing an irreplaceable piece of their offense.

Game 6 is set for Monday night in Pittsburgh, as Washington holds a 3-2 series lead.

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Nashville Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne was yanked in the third period of Game 5 against the Winnipeg Jets after allowing six goals on 26 shots.

This is already the third time this postseason - and the second time this series - that Rinne has been pulled mid-game in favor of Juuse Saros.

Mathieu Perreault, who hadn't played since Game 1 of the first round against the Minnesota Wild, notched the sixth tally that led to Rinne's departure.

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Washington Capitals forward Nicklas Backstrom left Game 5 against the Pittsburgh Penguins with an upper-body injury, head coach Barry Trotz said after the game.

There was no clear incident during which Backstrom may have suffered an injury, but it's worth noting the center only took three faceoffs in his 15:55 of ice time, indicating he may have already been battling some sort of wrist or shoulder ailment.

Already without forwards Tom Wilson and Andre Burakovsky, Washington would be in tough to close out its series - which it leads 3-2 - against the Penguins if Backstrom misses any time.

The Caps' first chance to finish off the Pens will come Monday night in Pittsburgh.

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Step aside, Jaromir.

Sidney Crosby surpassed Jaromir Jagr for the second-most playoff goals in Pittsburgh Penguins franchise history with his second-period tally against the Washington Capitals on Saturday night.

The goal was in vintage Crosby fashion, too, as he deflected home a Phil Kessel shot on the power play.

The redirect was Crosby's ninth goal and 20th point thus far this postseason. Considering the way he's been rolling, surpassing Mario Lemieux for the top spot on the franchise's playoff goal-scoring list could possibly happen in 2018 if the Pens make another run to the Stanley Cup final.

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Game 4 between the Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning was full of controversy. Brad Marchand's lick stole the headlines, but an apparent missed call that led to Steven Stamkos' game-tying goal for Tampa Bay had some Bruins up in arms.

Here's a look at Stamkos' goal, which came right after Boston's Charlie McAvoy was hauled down by Tampa Bay's Nikita Kucherov:

"It was a very blatant grab on (McAvoy's) shoulder," Marchand told reporters postgame, according to Mike Petraglia of CLNS. "It turned into a goal. The missed calls that are costing goals and games, it's unfortunate that they can't get it right, so hopefully they can fix that."

"It looked like he reached around and pulled him down," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy added in his postgame press conference, via NESN. "Charlie (McAvoy) is a strong guy, but it wasn't called, and it's in our net, and that's that."

Cassidy also took issue with Noel Acciari's third-period hooking penalty.

"It's game after game. I mean, to me, the calls - look at the Acciari penalty, it's unbelievable," the coach said, according to CBS' Michael Hurley. "The league gives you a directive at the start of the year that if you're going to after the stick, you gotta go under the stick and not on the hands, over the top of the hands. (Acciari) goes under the stick a foot from his hands, and you've got a 6-foot-5 guy that I think really sold it.

"And I think the officials have to be on top of that. They've gotta be on top of that call. Because it's not an infraction. He lifted his stick, as he's been directed to do."

The Bruins, now trailing 3-1 in the series, will try to keep their season alive in Game 5 on Sunday at 3 p.m. in Tampa Bay.

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Boston Bruins defenseman Torey Krug left Friday's Game 4 against the Tampa Bay Lightning late in the third period and did not return after suffering a lower-body injury.

Despite a crash into the boards in which his ankle took the worst of it, Krug made it to the bench under his own power, but had to be helped to the dressing room.

Krug later left TD Garden wearing a walking boot, according to Sportsnet's Chris Johnston.

Losing the diminutive blue-liner for any amount of time would be a massive blow for the Bruins. He has 12 points in 11 playoff games, including two assists Friday prior to his injury.

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