John Tavares will miss at least two weeks with a knee injury sustained on the same play in which he suffered a concussion, Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas said Saturday, according to TSN's Mark Masters.

The GM added Tavares had been cleared of all structural damage to his head, neck, and spine. However, there's no timetable for his recovery from the concussion.

Tavares was stretchered off early in Game 1 of Toronto's playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday after taking an inadvertent knee to the head from Corey Perry. The Maple Leafs captain was taken to hospital that night and discharged the next morning. He was ruled out indefinitely due to the concussion at the time.

Dubas also took the opportunity Saturday to criticize the Toronto Sun for its cover page showing the Leafs' medical staff attending to Tavares with the headline "Captain Crunched."

"I think that situations like that garner a significant amount of coverage, but as an organization, we felt (Friday) that the Toronto Sun cover of their newspaper crossed the line and we found the cover to be disgusting," Dubas said, according to Sportsnet's Chris Johnston.

"We understand here that writers and columnists have no input into the covers of papers or headlines, but we just thought that it was extraordinarily insensitive on the part of the Sun with regards to the photo and the caption that accompanied the situation (Friday).

"Just a complete lack of compassion and respect on behalf of the Sun towards John and his family, especially for such an upstanding member of our organization and community, and his family that had to endure that."

The collision between Perry and Tavares happened in the first period of the Canadiens' 2-1 victory. Game 2 is scheduled for Saturday at 7 p.m. ET.

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Craig Berube is resorting to a familiar tactic as his team sits on the brink of being swept out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The St. Louis Blues head coach criticized the officiating following a 5-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche that gave the victors a 3-0 lead in their first-round series Friday night.

"Every game, we get one or two calls. It's usually late in the third period. They're getting (four or five per game)," Berube said. "(It shouldn't be) that lop-sided. I'm not sure why we don't get the calls that we deserve."

Berube was particularly perturbed about a perceived missed call involving Blues defenseman Colton Parayko, which would have ultimately prevented the Avalanche from netting a goal.

"Parayko gets tripped in the corner. (The Avalanche) go down (and) score a goal ... he gets slew-footed, and they don't call it, and it cost us a goal," Berube said. "It's terrible. It's so one-sided, it's not even funny."

The St. Louis bench boss called out the officiating during the 2019 Stanley Cup Final, saying after a 7-2 loss in Game 3 that the Blues were "the least penalized team in the league in the first three rounds (and) now all of the sudden we've taken 14 penalties in one series." Berube's team then won three of the next four games to claim the championship in seven.

Game 4 of the Blues-Avalanche series is scheduled for Sunday at 5 p.m. ET.

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Carolina Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind'Amour voiced his displeasure with the officiating in the club's opening-round series against the Nashville Predators following Friday's double-overtime loss in Game 3.

"Nashville is a phenomenal team, but we're also fighting the refs, that's plain and simple," Brind'Amour said, according to Hurricanes beat writer Cory Lavalette. "You can't tell me two games in a row they get seven or eight penalties and we get three?

"When the game is this even? It's not right."

The Hurricanes have been whistled for 14 penalties to the Predators' six during the last two games.

Brind'Amour is proud, though, of the way his team - which owns a 2-1 series lead - has responded.

"I give my guys a ton of credit for just sticking in, going and playing their butts off, and having a good chance to win," he said.

Brind'Amour added: "Two overtimes, you know, a knick-knack penalty when there was stuff going on all over. It just flipped the momentum and they scored the next shift after because we're out of rotation. That's not how it should go."

The teams meet again for Game 4 on Sunday.

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The Colorado Avalanche cruised to a 5-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Friday night to take a commanding 3-0 lead in their opening-round series.

More to come.

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Colorado Avalanche forward Nazem Kadri is suspended eight games for an illegal check to the head of St. Louis Blues defenseman Justin Faulk during Game 2 on Wednesday, the NHL Department of Player Safety announced Friday.

Kadri received a five-minute major and match penalty for the hit. Faulk didn't return to the contest and wasn't available for Game 3 of the series.

"This is a high, forceful check to an opponent's head that caused an injury and was delivered by a player with a substantial disciplinary record," the league said.

Kadri's suspension began Game 3 on Friday.

The 6-foot pivot has been suspended three times in his last four playoffs and six times over his 12-year career.

He was last suspended during the 2019 postseason for a high hit on Boston Bruins winger Jake DeBrusk.

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The Boston Bruins defeated the Washington Capitals 4-1 in Game 4 on Friday to take a commanding 3-1 series lead in the opening-round matchup.

More to come.

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Vancouver Canucks general manager Jim Benning is setting himself up for a busy summer.

Benning said Friday that changes need to be made, and the club will explore trades, free agency, and buyouts to improve next season, according to TSN's Farhan Lalji.

"Ownership has given us the resources to do whatever we need to do to get back to where we need to be," Benning said. "Buyouts is part of our strategy ... We're going to be aggressive on trades, free agency."

Vancouver has a number of potential buyout candidates. Loui Eriksson has one year remaining on his deal with a $6-million cap hit at the NHL level, while Jay Beagle and Antoine Roussel each have one year left on their contracts with $3-million cap hits.

Benning will also need to re-sign young stars Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes this summer. Both players are set to become restricted free agents.

The Canucks announced earlier Friday that head coach Travis Green signed an extension to stay with the club. The contract is for two years, according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.

Owner Francesco Aquilini released a statement Friday to season ticket holders expressing his confidence in the team's management and young core in getting back to being a contending squad.

The Canucks finished last in the North Division this campaign with a 23-29-4 record. Vancouver has made the playoffs just twice over the past eight seasons.

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