It's no secret: losing Ryan Johansen deeply hurts the Nashville Predators' chances of advancing to the Stanley Cup Final.

The 24-year-old center underwent thigh surgery to repair a mysterious injury suffered in Game 4, ending a 14-game playoff run in which he led the club with 13 points and drove the bus for an impressive Predators top line.

Related: Poll: Can the Predators beat the Ducks without Ryan Johansen?

That said, it's now a best of three between the Preds and the Anaheim Ducks, and even though Nashville's lost its top offensive player, by no means is the series over.

Here are three reasons why.

1. His linemates

Johansen is just one piece of a truly terrifying top line that features Viktor Arvidsson and Filip Forsberg.

Arvidsson's notched 10 points in the postseason thus far, and has five points in his last three games. Forsberg has accrued 12 points in the playoffs, and has scored a goal in four consecutive contests.

Forsberg may have to shift to center in Johansen's absence, which would limit his time and space as he goes against Ducks shutdown pivot Ryan Kesler. It will be a tough test, but Forsberg and Arvidsson are legitimate offensive threats, and should still be able to generate a strong attack.

2. Kings of the bounce back

In three games following losses this postseason, Nashville is 3-0, allowing a grand total of three goals.

In those contests, goaltender Pekka Rinne owns a save percentage of .955. While his series versus the Ducks hasn't been his best, consecutive poor performances have been few and far between for the Finnish netminder of late.

And although the series is locked at two games apiece, Nashville has mostly controlled play through four contests, out-attempting Anaheim 285-211 in all situations so far.

If the Predators can stick to what they've been doing all postseason long, heading back to Music City with a 3-2 series lead is certainly attainable.

3. The blue line

While Johansen is the Predators' most important piece up front, the foundation of this club is its depth on the blue line.

Roman Josi, Ryan Ellis, and P.K. Subban occupy spots two through four in the defenseman scoring race this postseason, while Mattias Ekholm rounds out the best D corps in the playoffs.

Through 14 games, the Predators are allowing 28.6 shots per game - the lowest mark among teams still playing - and their 1.79 goals against per contest leads the playoffs.

Nashville wasn't able to dig itself out of an ugly first period in Game 4, ultimately dropping the decision in overtime before learning Johansen was out of the picture.

Now the Predators undoubtedly face a tougher road to earn a chance to play for the Stanley Cup, but don't count them out just yet.

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It's not over until it's over.

Team Canada put together a four-goal effort in the third period for a 4-2 comeback victory over Team Russia in semifinal action Saturday.

The two sides were scoreless through the first 20 minutes, but goals by Evgeny Kuznetsov and Nikita Gusev helped Russia take a 2-0 lead into the final frame.

Vadim Shipachyov, who recently signed with the Vegas Golden Knights, drew an assist on Gusev's goal, marking his 13th point of the tournament.

Canada got on the board just 17 seconds into the third with a goal from Winnipeg Jets center Mark Scheifele, who tipped a shot by Russian netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy.

Colorado Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon drew an assist on Scheifele's goal, then added a tally of his own from the slot with less than five minutes remaining in the third to bring the score to 2-2.

Buffalo Sabres center Ryan O'Reilly completed the comeback just 1:51 later, registering his fifth goal of the tournament to put Canada ahead. The team would tally again, with Sean Couturier adding an empty-net goal.

Canada will advance to the gold medal game to face the winner of Saturday's match between Finland and Sweden.

The country has won gold the past two years, defeating Russia in 2015 and Finland in 2016.

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Thanks to surgery on his injured thigh, Nashville Predators pivot Ryan Johansen will be forced to endure the remainder of the playoffs as a spectator.

At least he won't have to do so on his own.

Stuck in his hospital bed, Johansen was delightfully accompanied by his dog, who obviously made things much better.

Man's best friend, indeed.

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The Pittsburgh Penguins are hurting. Not on the scoresheet, but in the infirmary.

Pittsburgh defeated the Ottawa Senators 3-2 on Friday to even their conference final series at two games apiece. But it was a costly victory for the Penguins, who lost defenseman Chad Ruhwedel to a concussion following a hit by Senators winger Bobby Ryan.

it isn't known if Ruhwedel will be ready for Game 5. For now, he joins fellow blue-liners Kris Letang and Justin Schultz on the sidelines.

The oft-injured Letang, who has been out since late February after undergoing neck surgery, won't see the ice this postseason.

Schultz, meanwhile, has missed the last two games due to an upper-body injury. The 26-year-old has been one of the Penguins' most valuable defenders this postseason, leading all defensemen with eight points in 14 games. Like Ruhwedel, it's unknown if he'll suit up for Game 5.

Ruhwedel's injury is the latest ailment to take its toll on a blue line already short on experience:

Two names stand out among the pack: youngster Derrick Pouliot and veteran Mark Streit, both scratched in Friday's win over the Senators. They've combined for one game this spring.

A former first-round pick by the Penguins, Pouliot has rarely drawn into the lineup under coach Mike Sullivan.

After missing nearly three months to start the season following a lower-body injury, the Saskatchewan native was limited to 11 contests this season. He hasn't played since the final game of the regular season.

The high-flying defenseman has yet to display his scoring touch at the NHL level, but has shown it off with the Penguins' AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, where he has recorded 70 points through 114 contests.

With the Penguins' back end facing depth challenges, there's no better time for Pouliot to debut that offensive edge than now.

The same can be said for Streit, who was acquired from the Tampa Bay Lightning at the trade deadline. The hope was Streit would bring a veteran voice, but he's skated in a single playoff game with the Penguins, picking up an assist in Game 3 against the Senators.

But it surely won't be the last appearance for Streit this spring, given the injury bug that has hampered the Penguins' blue line. The 39-year-old offers a wealth of knowledge, and now is the time for Sullivan and the Penguins to tap into it.

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With the offseason underway for a number of teams and the remainder to join them in a few weeks, we're looking at what's in store for each club in the coming months.

2016-17 Grade: C

By the most important measure, the season was a failure for the Lightning, but there were still some positives in an otherwise disappointing campaign.

Tampa Bay missed the playoffs by a single victory, just one year after reaching the Eastern Conference Final, but there was a rather significant extenuating circumstance.

Steven Stamkos tore his knee just 17 games into the season, and that put unexpected pressure on a talented, but already fragile roster.

Despite the way Tampa Bay's season finished, general manager Steve Yzerman deserves to be lauded for his work securing the club's core while expertly navigating the salary cap.

He convinced Stamkos to sign an eight-year deal a few days before July 1, negotiated an eight-year pact with Victor Hedman on the first day of free agency, and got Nikita Kucherov inked to a three-year contract two days before the Lightning's season opener.

Yzerman then resolved the uncertainty surrounding pending free agent Ben Bishop, getting defensive prospect Erik Cernak and veteran goalie Peter Budaj in the deal that sent his longtime starting netminder to the Los Angeles Kings.

Still, between Stamkos' injury and just barely missing out on a playoff spot, it certainly wasn't how the Lightning wanted to start or end the season.

Free Agents

The Lightning have three significant deals to get done this summer, as Jonathan Drouin, Ondrej Palat, and Tyler Johnson are all pending RFAs.

Here's a look at the players whose contracts are up for renewal:

Budaj performed admirably behind the Kings' tight defensive system, and Yzerman could do worse than re-signing him to serve as the backup next season.

2017 Draft Picks

The Lightning have seven picks in next month's draft, including a second-round acquired in the Brian Boyle deal and a sixth-round selection sent to Tampa Bay by the Montreal Canadiens in the Nikita Nesterov trade.

Summer priorities

Tampa Bay has three primary objectives before the puck drops next fall:

1. Get Drouin's pen to paper

There was a time when an extension for Drouin seemed out of the question, but the young forward put his holdout behind him and posted his best NHL season to date.

Drouin ranked second on the Lightning with 21 goals and finished third with 53 points, making his past transgressions distant memories.

The 22-year-old is now unquestionably a key part of the franchise's future, and getting him locked in on a long-term deal would be another coup for Yzerman and company.

Signing Johnson and Palat is certainly important, as well, but getting Drouin's deal done has to be considered the No. 1 item on the offseason agenda.

2. Find more 'O' from the 'D'

The GM said last weekend that more offensive production from the back end was indeed a priority for next season, according to Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times.

Hedman poured in a career-high 72 points, but he barely had any offensive help among fellow blue-liners. The next-most productive Lightning defenseman was Anton Stralman, who chipped in 22 points.

Tampa Bay gets so much of its scoring and overall offensive contributions from its forwards, but balancing that with defensemen who help spur the offense would be certainly be beneficial.

3. Improve defensively

The other area of concern is the defensive play of the aforementioned group.

Tampa Bay was an average team in that regard this season, ranking 16th in the NHL with 2.73 goals allowed per game. That was a significant decline from 2015-16, when the Lightning ranked fifth in the league with only 2.41 goals allowed per contest.

Goaltending surely factors into that figure, but Tampa Bay should still look to upgrade defensively, even if the market for blue-liners this summer isn't robust.

2017-18 Outlook

Assuming Stamkos is healthy next season, the Lightning will be expected to return to the playoffs and once again challenge for the Stanley Cup.

Expectations will be high again, and they should be, given Tampa Bay's track record with this core.

It's Andrei Vasilevskiy's crease now, and the 22-year-old goaltender will have a clean slate to build on the 50-game workload he took on this season.

A return to the Cup Final might be setting the bar high, but another playoff miss will simply be unacceptable.

Offseason Outlook Series

COL | VAN | NJD | ARI | BUF
DET | DAL | FLA | LAK | CAR
WPG | PHI | TBL

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The dates for the Stanley Cup Final have been announced.

With four teams - Ottawa Senators, Pittsburgh Penguins, Nashville Predators, and Anaheim Ducks - still vying for spots in the fourth round, the NHL has announced the championship series will begin May 29.

Here's a list of the dates, with start times yet to be determined.

The team with the greatest number of points during the regular season gets home-ice advantage for the series.

Both conference finals are currently tied 2-2.

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Ottawa's power play has been dreadful this postseason. If they can't get it going with the man advantage, their magical run to the conference finals could be over faster than you can say "all even."

The Senators are just six-for-52 (11.5 percent) with the man advantage in the postseason, including an active run of 25 straight power plays without a goal. Only the eliminated Rangers and Blues posted worse power-play percentages in the playoffs.

It's not even the fact that they're not scoring with man advantage, it's that they simply can't get anything going. They've only recorded 46 shots on goal during their 52 power plays, per Corsica.Hockey.

Frankly, that is unacceptable. There's no reason a team should be averaging fewer than one shot per power-play opportunity - especially one good enough to be in the Eastern Conference Final.

Not only has the quantity of shots been poor, but so has the quality. Heading into Friday's game, they'd only generated 20 scoring chances for in 48 opportunities. None of the remaining teams have recorded fewer scoring chances, and Ottawa has received more power plays than anybody.

Since the Sens play such a defensive style of hockey, they can't afford to be this bad with the man advantage. They struggle generating offense as it is.

The best course of action would be to simplify everything. Get more traffic in front and throw everything on net. It doesn't have to be the big slapper. Wristers about a foot off the ice will do just fine.

The power play will certainly be a focal point at Ottawa's next practice, so it will be interesting to see if head coach Guy Boucher does anything to shake it up.

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