After his Minnesota Wild were knocked out of the playoffs by the Dallas Stars, star forward Zach Parise discussed the back injury that kept him sidelined for the entire round with reporters Wednesday.
"It's been really scary," Parise admitted. "It was a little eye-opening. I'm not worried about the start of next year."
The 31-year-old added that rehab for the injury is going "really well," and that it's too early to tell if he will require surgery.
Parise is dealing with a herniated disc that's pinching a nerve, causing him to have little feeling in his left leg and foot, according to Michael Russo of the Star Tribune. However, he expects to be ready to represent the United States at the World Cup in September.
Dubnyk will be the only one who really knows how much the injury affected his performance, but he didn't have a banner series. He allowed 20 goals, which stands to be the most in Round 1.
And while some of those goals can be ascribed to chance, there was no excusing his over-read late in Game 6 - a decision that halted the club's valiant third-period comeback attempt.
The second career playoff meeting between Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin may be the most meaningful series of the 2016 postseason, according to oddsmakers.
Despite being set to begin a second-round series against each other Thursday, the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals are co-favorites to win the Stanley Cup, according to Bodog.
Bryan Berard didn't request a trade from the Ottawa Senators because of their location.
Picked first overall by the Senators in 1995, Berard never played a game for the club. He asked to be dealt after his first and only training camp with Ot...
Plekanec will captain the squad, according to Zdenek Matejovksy of TV Nova Sport. The 33-year-old recorded 14 goals and 40 assists in 82 games this season.
Meanwhile, the 19-year-old Pastrnak scored a career-high 15 goals and added 11 assists in 51 games.
It is believed Plekanec and Pastrnak will play on the same line alongside former Calgary Flames forward Roman Cervenka.
What could the offseason hold for the Chicago Blackhawks? Read on for the latest. CHICAGO TRIBUNE: Chris Kuc reports the Blackhawks limited salary cap space this summer means they have little room to re-sign UFAs like Andrew Ladd and they’ll need to create some room. RFA center Andrew Shaw’s future with the Hawks doesn’t look bright, […]
What could the offseason hold for the Chicago Blackhawks? Read on for the latest. CHICAGO TRIBUNE: Chris Kuc reports the Blackhawks limited salary cap space this summer means they have little room to re-sign UFAs like Andrew Ladd and they’ll need to create some room. RFA center Andrew Shaw’s future with the Hawks doesn’t look bright, […]
The Pittsburgh Penguins signed defenseman Lukas Bengtsson to a two-year entry-level contract, general manager Jim Rutherford announced Wednesday.
The 22-year-old recently helped his SHL club, Frolunda, win the league championship with an impressive postseason, posting seven points and a plus-7 rating in 12 games.
The 5-foot-10, right-handed blue-liner recorded seven goals and seven assists in 30 regular-season games.
It is believed Bengtsson also received interest from the New York Rangers, who were eliminated from the playoffs by the Penguins earlier in the week.
The two clubs met in the first round of the 2004 postseason, with the Islanders serving as the first of four to fall by the wayside during the Lightning's first and only Cup win.
This time around, the teams will face off after having already won a series, as the Islanders knocked off the Florida Panthers in six and the Lighting - the current defending conference champions - took care of the Detroit Red Wings in five.
The Islanders took the season series 2-1, outscoring Tampa Bay by a margin of 12-11.
Here's why the Lightning will return to the Eastern Conference finals for the second straight season.
Triplets 2.0
The Lightning line of Alex Killorn, Tyler Johnson, and Nikita Kucherov - dubbed "Triplets 2.0" - straight-up dominated in the first round, combining for 20 points over the course of five games.
And it's the talented Russian winger who's leading the way.
Player
Goals
Assists
Nikita Kucherov
5
3
Tyler Johnson
2
5
Alex Killorn
3
2
This trio played together sporadically during the regular season, and it was Ondrej Palat who was featured on the first iteration of the Triplets line in lieu of Killorn.
Steven Stamkos remains a massive loss, but Kucherov and Johnson have proven to be able to carry the team, and the league's hottest line will remain near impossible to contain, especially for an Islanders team that's allowed a playoff-high 39.2 shots per game.
Goliath in net
Ben Bishop was one of the best goalies back in the regular season, and is showing no signs of being less dominant when it matters most.
He stands 6-foot-7, and certainly stood tall against Detroit, posting a .950 save percentage, while allowing just eight goals on 160 shots against. That success rate is up from .926 in the regular season, where he ranked second in that category among goalies with at least 41 appearances.
Bishop has also proven to lock it down in critical situations.
The 21-year-old forward, previously suspended for failing to report to an AHL game after making a public trade request, is back with the big club and making an impact in the offensive zone.
Drouin recorded fours assists against the Red Wings, three of which came on the power play. He also fired 13 shots on goal, and commanded the attention of defenders who would previously have been tasked with slowing Stamkos down.
His long-term standing with the Lightning remains up in the air, but more positive performances could be invaluable when it comes to sinking the Islanders.
Not unlike most teams that remain standing, the Anaheim Ducks must overcome a hurdle that's induced more than just a few postseason face plants.
When Anaheim hosts the Nashville Predators in the terminal clash of its first-round series Wednesday, it'll be looking to snap a three-season run of having its postseason bid end in a Game 7 on home ice.
Historical context is most often overblown. And it's important to note that just four players - Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, Andrew Cogliano, Cam Fowler - were around to experience each previous defeat. But without question, every player in the room feels the weight of those failures.
And for that, they're the wiser.
"Safe is going to get you nowhere," Cogliano said, according to Curtis Zupke of the Los Angeles Times. "Being ... timid, or hoping for something, is going to get you absolutely where it does, and that's where we've lost the last couple of years. We need to come out and be willing to out-compete them."
The Ducks were paralysed by two Jonathan Toews goals within the first 12 minutes of last season's culminating clash in the Western Conference Final versus the Chicago Blackhawks before falling behind 4-0. Just 11 months removed, those memories are still vivid, and an important reminder to force the issue.
"You can't go out there and play not to lose," Fowler said. "You have to play aggressive. You have to play on your toes. You have to do the things that got you here as a team and, for us, that's playing aggressive, that's (being) physical, because any time we sit back and we wait for teams, that's when we get in trouble."
