If Milan Lucic has his way, he will be off the market come July 1st.
The Los Angeles Kings forward is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, but remains set on being a member of the Kings going forward, and would rather avoid the chaos free agency is sure to bring if he hits the open market.
"The sooner the better," Lucic told LA Kings Insider Jon Rosen, regarding his expected timeline on inking a new contract. "To be honest, I really don't have much interest into hitting the open market or even hearing what's out there, because in my mind this is where I want to be. Why flirt with something when you know what you want."
Lucic *very* much wants to remain in Los Angeles. Talks progressing; he indicated that they're not worlds apart.
Early last month ESPN's Pierre LeBrun reported that both sides had exchanged contract proposals. Lucic has remained adamant all season that his desire would be to remain with just the second team he has played for during his nine-year career.
The 27-year-old amassed 20 goals and 55 points in his first season with the Kings and added three assists in five playoff games.
While advancing to the second round, Holtby also made history by recording the 20th playoff victory of his career, tying Olaf Kolzig for the most in franchise history.
He also joined Kolzig as the only Capitals goalies to post a series-clinching shutout, with the former Vezina winner accomplishing the feat in 1998 against the Ottawa Senators.
The 26-year-old now has to prepare for what is sure to be an incredible series against the Pittsburgh Penguins - the only team Holtby recorded three losses against during the regular season, finishing with a 2-2-1 record.
Despite the tough competition, the netminder is confident his team can handle its upcoming opponent:
Holtby to NBC: "If we play our game, it doesn't matter." #penguins#capitals
The Dallas Stars appear to be sticking with their goalies as long as they win, and after Antti Niemi allowed five goals in Friday's loss, head coach Lindy Ruff is returning Kari Lehtonen to the net for Game 6 on Sunday against the Minnesota Wild.
Lehtonen was incredible in the opening two games of the series, stopping 47 of 48 shots over a pair of wins, but followed that up by allowing 4 goals during the Stars' first loss of the series in Game 3.
The Wild, meanwhile, will stick with Devan Dubnyk who made 37 saves in Minnesota's overtime victory in Game 5. He has started every game for his team in the series.
Ovechkin had an assist on Backstrom's second-period goal that was easily enough against the punchless Flyers.
Riding the momentum of Michal Neuvirth in net, the Flyers won two straight to force an unlikely trip home. Neuvirth was sensational again, but the Flyers were ultimately doomed by a power play that could not cash in against Holtby. The Flyers wasted nearly 2 minutes of a 5-on-3 power play in the second period that made a critical difference.
Holtby, who had a 19-save shutout in Game 1, was barely tested the last two games. The Flyers took only 11 shots against him in Game 5 and matched that feeble total midway through the second period. Most of their shots Sunday came from long range, and the Flyers never really attacked Holtby.
The Flyers entered a miserable 1 for 21 on the postseason power play.
Backstrom was whistled for a double minor for a high stick and Matt Niskanen was hit 5 seconds later for hooking, giving the Flyers 1:55 of a 5-on-3. The Flyers missed both shots with a two-man advantage. They later got hit with a penalty to make it 4 on 4 and wipe out the one-man edge.
Backstrom helped Washington break Neuvirth's shutout streak that stretched nearly 110 minutes when he scored on a one-timer just below the circle with 8:59 left in the second period.
The Capitals scored two goals over the final three games of the series and clearly need more from Ovechkin and Co. to have a chance against the Penguins, who beat the Rangers in five games.
Against the Flyers, it was just enough, though.
Neuvirth replaced the ineffective Steve Mason with the Flyers on the brink of getting swept headed into Game 4. He responded with two fantastic outings, highlighted by his 44-save effort in Game 5's shutout win. He stopped a flurry of shots, including a point-blank one-timer from Justin Williams - late in the first period and skated off the ice to a thunderous standing ovation.
He was pulled after 28 saves with 1:30 left in the game for an extra skater. Not even a sixth Flyers skater helped.
Neuvirth, who went 18-8-4 with a 2.27 goal against and a .924 save percentage in 32 games, did his share to keep the Flyers in the series. But the Flyers' top line vanished in the series and gave them no real chance at pulling off an upset against the best team in the Eastern Conference. Flyers captain Claude Giroux (67 points) had one assist in the series. Wayne Simmonds (60 points) had two assists.
Notes: The Flyers have not won the Stanley Cup since 1975. ... Capitals D Brooks Orpik sat out with an undisclosed injury. ... The team that scored first won five games. ... Ovechkin and Crosby are playing each other in the postseason for the first time since 2009.
The Capitals forward left for the dressing room and missed the rest of the period, but returned for the third.
Oshie challenged Schenn to a fight off the opening faceoff in Game 5 on Friday night, in response to the Flyers center's cross-check on Washington forward Evgeny Kuznetsov in Game 4.
The veteran forward met with the local media in Los Angeles on Sunday and confirmed he's still planning to retire, according to Kings beat reporter Jon Rosen.
Lecavalier's 17th NHL season came to an end when the Los Angeles Kings were eliminated by the San Jose Sharks in Game 5 of their first-round series Friday night.
The 36-year-old center said he plans to return to Tampa Bay at some point. He played for the Lightning from his rookie season in 1998 to 2013, wearing the "C" for his final five seasons with the club.
Lecavalier's agent, Kent Hughes, told ESPN's Pierre LeBrun in January that his client planned to retire at season's end following the trade that sent him to the Kings from the Philadelphia Flyers.
He notched 383 goals and 874 points in 1,037 career games, collecting another 56 points in 75 playoff games.
Lecavalier won the Stanley Cup with the Lightning in 2004, won the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy in 2007, and was named to the All-Star Game four times.
For the second postseason in a row, the Tampa Bay Lightning have had to overcome a flu bug as they advance through the playoffs, but forward Valtteri Filppula assured the illness was out of the dressing room as they now await their second-round opponent.
The worst for wear was forward Tyler Johnson, as head coach John Cooper told reporters the 25-year-old was "struggling to sit on the bench" during their series-clinching Game 5 win against the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday.
"All of a sudden, the trash can got a little heavier and my body got a little lighter," Johnson described, per Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times. Cooper added that up to five players were dealing with the flu.
Meanwhile, the Lightning still await the returns of defenseman Anton Stralman and forward J.T. Brown, who remain out indefinitely with lower- and upper-body injuries, respectively. Neither player is expected to dress early in the series.
Head coach Barry Trotz acknowledged Sunday morning that Chorney has played well in the series, according to NHL.com's Tom Gulitti, but he will draw out in favor of February trade acquisition Mike Weber.
Weber will play alongside Dmitry Orlov on the team's third pairing.
Mike Weber in for Taylor Chorney on Caps defense. Weber's last playoff game was during 2011 playoffs for Buffalo -- against Flyers
The 21-year-old hasn't appeared to be phased by the pressure of the postseason, but he admits he was nervous before making his playoff debut at Madison Square Garden in Game 3.
"It was hard to control the nerves, but I just wanted to focus on staying in the moment and enjoying every minute of it," Murray said Sunday on ESPN's SportsCenter.
He stopped 17 of 18 shots in his postseason debut and turned aside 72 of 75 shots over the next two games while filling in for Fleury, who worked out in full equipment Saturday but remains sidelined with a concussion.
Murray suffered a head injury of his own in the final game of the regular season against the Philadelphia Flyers, forcing Jeff Zatkoff to start the first two games of the opening round.
"It was a little frustrating, for sure," Murray said Sunday. "I was playing pretty well and starting a lot of games. This is my first time playing that many games at this level."
Murray went 9-2-1 with a 2.00 GAA, a save percentage of .930, and a shutout in 13 regular-season games for the Penguins before being thrust into the playoff spotlight.
He put up similar numbers in the AHL, posting a 2.10 GAA, a .931 save percentage, four shutouts, and a 20-9-1 record in 31 contests with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton this season.
Murray spent parts of four campaigns with Pittsburgh's AHL affiliate after the Penguins made him a third-round pick in 2012.
Imagine, for a minute, Henrik Lundqvist and the Stanley Cup in the same room. Beautiful overload.
The New York Rangers were dumped in five games - convincingly - by the Pittburgh Penguins in the first round. As a result, the 34-year-old Lundqvist is watching the remainder of the Stanley Cup Playoffs with the rest of us, and has to wonder if he'll ever get his name on the silver chalice. After years of 20, 12, 25, and 19 playoff games, Lundqvist started only five this year - and finished only two.
So, with "The King" in our thoughts, here's a list of NHL greats whose careers ended short of fulfilling their dream of lifting the Stanley Cup:
Pavel Bure
Few flew like the "Russian Rocket."
Pavel Bure was one of the more electrifying players of a generation ago, with unmatched speed and goal-scoring abilities. He ranks 14th all time in playoff points per game with 1.094, thanks to a marvelous run with the Vancouver Canucks when he broke into the league as a 20-year-old.
In 1994, when the Canucks went to the final where they lost to the Rangers in Game 7, Bure had 16 goals and 15 assists in only 24 games, firing a remarkable 101 shots on goal. Even more unbelievable: 13 of his goals were scored at even strength.
Following another 11-game spring run with Vancouver in 1995 in which he scored another seven goals, Bure would play in only four more playoff games, with the Florida Panthers in 2000. Life isn't fair.
Bure finished with 35 goals and 35 assists in 64 career playoff games.
Mats Sundin
Speaking of unfairness, that brings us to Mats Sundin, who gave the Toronto Maple Leafs the best years of his life, with little to show for them apart from personal success.
Always the focal point of the Toronto offense, carrying the Jonas Hoglunds, Fredik Modins, and Lonny Bohonoses of the world along with him, Sundin finished his playoff career with 38 goals - eight of them game-winners - and 44 assists in 91 games.
Sundin never got as close as the Stanley Cup Final, though two of his Maple Leafs teams were eliminated as one of final four standing. But as is the case with the rest of the Sundin era in Toronto: It was never his fault.
Thank God for that Olympic gold medal.
Lundqvist
Among goalies who've played at least 115 games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, only four have a save percentage equal to or higher than Lundqvist's .918: Dominik Hasek (.923 in 119 games), Ed Belfour (.920 in 161 games), Martin Brodeur (.919 in 205 games), and Patrick Roy (.918 in 247 games). Hasek, Belfour, and Roy are in the Hall of Fame, and Brodeur will join them when he's eligible.
What makes Saturday's events - Lundqvist allowed six goals on 23 shots in New York's Game 5 defeat - more stunning is that Lundqvist went into the game with a .923 career save percentage in the playoffs. The Penguins took a a hammer to it.
What makes Lundqvist's postseason exploits even much more impressive is when he's had his most success: in his age 29 to 32 seasons, when he won 39 games in the spring.
Eric Lindros
"The Big E" did some of his best work during the postseason.
Eric Lindros' 1.075 points-per-game average in the playoffs ranks 18th all time, and he too tasted playoff success early in his career, in his age 21-23 seasons, when he played 43 playoff games for the Philadelphia Flyers.
Lindros was a force when the Flyers waltzed to the Stanley Cup Final in 1997, winning each of their first three series in five games before being swept for the Cup by the Detroit Red Wings. Lindros had 12 goals and 14 assists in 19 games that year, in what Flyers fans thought was surely the first of their club's multiple attempts at glory.
That's not the way hockey - or life - works, though. Lindros would play only seven more playoff games for the Flyers, playing only three more with the Dallas Stars in 2007 as a 33-year-old to end his Cup dreams. In his final 10 postseason games, Lindros managed only two goals and two assists, as injuries robbed him of his early dominance.
Adam Oates
Adam Oates couldn't pass his way to a Stanley Cup - but did he ever try.
The Hall of Fame setup man played 163 playoff games throughout his storied career, and he racked up 114 assists and 42 goals. His .957 points per game bests Cup winners Steve Yzerman, Brett Hull, and Maurice "Rocket" Richard.
Oates went on numerous playoff runs throughout his career. He had 20 points in 16 games in his second taste of the Stanley Cup Playoffs as a 25-year-old with the Red Wings, 20 points in 13 games with the St. Louis Blues in 1991, 17 points in 21 games with the Washington Capitals in 1998 as a 35-year-old, and his last run was great, too. Oates, in his only playoff appearance with the then-Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, had 13 points as a 40-year-old in 21 games in 2003.
Oates did it all during his time in the NHL - except win a Stanley Cup. He's not the only one.
