After the last game of the season, as Montreal Canadiens players were gifting the jerseys they were wearing to lucky fans who had won the “Jerseys Off Our Back” traditional contest, Brendan Gallagher gave his to a special fan. After the alternate captain lost his mother in early March, Lucie Lachance had offered to give him the Hockey Fights Cancer jersey he had worn to honour his mother’s fight with cancer a few years ago.
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As they swapped jerseys on the red carpet, Lachance gave him baby gifts for his newborn daughter, while Gallagher also gifted her with a game-used stick. The next morning, Canadiens V.P. of Communications Chantal Machabee contacted Lachance to tell her the player wanted to give her tickets to a playoff game.
She received a pair of tickets for game four and went to Montreal from her hometown of Gatineau. On her way to the Bell Centre using the metro, she was recognized by a dozen of fans who had seen the video of the jersey swap, and they thanked her for the incredible gesture. She was even hugged by a man who told her he too had lost his mother to cancer and was touched by her good deed.
She realized she was sitting in the players’ friends and family section when she got to the arena. Then, the Canadiens showed the video of the jersey swap on the jumbotron, and Lachance was cheered by the whole arena.
During the game, a few mothers recognized her, including Alex Newhook’s mother, who was particularly moved, and Samuel Montembeau’s mom, who also came over to thank her for what she had done.
She also met one of the most active mothers on social media, Simona Xhekaj, who took a picture with her. While the Canadiens couldn’t pull off the win against the Washington Capitals on the night, Lachance had a day she won’t forget anytime soon.
Got lucky enough to meet @SimonaXhekaj who was 4 seats away from me. Thank you for the big hug and pic You’re the 🐐❤️❤️❤️ Monthy’s family was right the row below me. Got to see the wags goat from Daryanne up close and talked t her and Sam’s mom. They are the sweetest 🫶🫶 pic.twitter.com/8FhjlHl6iF
— x-Lucie Lachance (@LucieLou08) April 28, 2025
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The Minnesota Wild practiced on Monday morning before playing Vegas for Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Tuesday. Based on Monday's practice, we could see a few changes for tonight's game against the Golden Knights.
Zeev Buium, who has played with Zach Bogosian for the first four games of the series, was skating with Declan Chisholm. Jon Merrill was with Bogosian.
This would mean that Merrill is likely to draw in for Buium.
Wild head coach John Hynes did not confirm it on Monday, he will on Tuesday later, but all signs point to Merrill slotting in for the Wild for Game 5.
Merrill, 33, played in 70 games for the Wild this season. He had two goals, six points, 85 blocked shots, and 41 hits. He has been with the Wild the last four seasons and has played in eight playoff games for Minnesota.
In those eight games, Merrill has one assist, 16 blocked shots, four hits, and is a minus-5.
Liam Ohgren was listed on the "black aces" squad for the first four games but was now added to the roster. He traveled with the team to Vegas but is not expected to play.
Marcus Johansson missed Game 4 with a lower-body injury but is expected to be back for Game 5.
Make sure you bookmark The Hockey News' Minnesota Wild page for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns and so much more.
Former Wild Goaltender Named Vezina Trophy FinalistThe NHL announced the three finalists for the 2024-25 Vezina Trophy today. The trophy is awarded to the goaltender adjudged to be the best at his position.
(4-28-25) Minnesota Wild Practice Update: Eriksson Ek, Ohgren, Johansson, MerrillST. PAUL, Minn - The Minnesota Wild practiced on Monday morning before going to Vegas for Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Tuesday. Here are a few notes.
Cassidy Hoping Line Changes Spark Golden Knights In Time For Game 5LAS VEGAS -- As the second-seeded Golden Knights saw their opening round series with the Minnesota Wild slipping away, and on the brink of becoming out of hand, coach Bruce Cassidy did what he has done countless times: put his forward lines in a blender. 
Jon Cooper sounded frustrated. But he also sounded defeated.
Like someone who had lost control of a situation and had given up trying to get it back.
The Tampa Bay Lightning had just lost 4-2 to the Florida Panthers on Monday night, putting them down 3-1 in a best-of-seven series. But the Lightning coach’s reaction had less to do with the score and more to do with another on-ice incident that is becoming far too common in a series where we’ve seen more instances of star players getting hurt — than showing off their skill.
In Game 2, Tampa Bay's Brandon Hagel was suspended for a game after delivering a late hit to an unsuspecting Florida's Aleksander Barkov.
In Game 2, Florida's Matthew Tkachuk was ejected after doing something similar to Tampa Bay's Jake Guentzel.
In Game 4, Hagel then received payback for his hit on Barkov, with Aaron Ekblad delivering a forearm to the face of Hagel, who left the game after smacking the back of his head against the ice.
In Game 5, what do we expect?
Rinse. Wash. Repeat.
The Hockey News Playoff Frenzy Live: Reaction To Panthers' Comeback Win Vs. Lightning After Game MisconductWelcome to The Hockey News Playoff Frenzy Live, streaming nightly during the NHL's Stanley Cup playoffs.
“It’s getting tiresome answering questions about a hit every single game,” said Cooper, who asked reporters what they thought about the hit. “If anybody in here has something, stand up and let me know. Alright, let’s move on.”
Adding insult to injury was that Ekblad scored the goal that tied the game 3-3 in the third period. Eleven seconds later, Seth Jones scored the game-winner, putting the Lightning one loss away from being eliminated.
"I want to be consistent with what I've said," Panthers coach Paul Maurice told reporters. "On the Hagel (hit), I saw it. I've seen it before. Saw it last year. We'll all coach, the players will play, the refs will make the calls, and the league will do what they will. I just want to be — I don't want to use this platform to start making my case on this. Everybody's got a job to do. I'll stay in my lane."
In other words, it crossed a line. And it wasn't the first time.
Lightning Coach Jon Cooper Is Sick Of Talking About Dirty HitsGame 4 was an incredibly frustrating one for the Tampa Bay Lightning. After being up 2-1, the Lightning allowed three unanswered goals to the Florida Panthers in the third period and lost by a 4-2 final score. With this, the Lightning are now down 3-1 in the series and need to win their next three games to advance to the second round. If they are unsuccessful in doing so, it will mark the end of their season.
We all love the physicality of the playoffs. What makes hockey so unlike other sports is that the playoffs are so different than the regular season. It can sometimes be like watching a different sport. There's a different standard.
You can say that there’s a different standard of officiating. But the bigger issue is that there is a different standard of hatred.
Teams are not just trying to win. At times, it seems like they are also trying to hurt. Or injure.
We’re obviously seeing that in the Battle of Florida, which features some of the roughest players in the league. But we’re seeing it everywhere.
In the Battle of Ontario, Ottawa's Artem Zub somehow got away with a headshot on Toronto's John Tavares that prevented the former Leafs captain from being on the ice in overtime in Game 4. The following night, Habs fans were freeze-framing Washington's Tom Wilson’s massive hit on Montreal's Alexandre Carrier to see if it was a headshot or not.
Matthew Tkachuk hit on Jake Guentzel won't lead to disciplinary hearing, per report Matthew Tkachuk will not be facing any supplemental discipline following Game 3 between the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning.
Even the coaches are getting in on the action, with Maurice and Cooper taking turns chirping each other in their post-game news conferences.
After the Hagel hit in Game 2, Maurice told reporters: “The only players we hit are the ones that have pucks.”
After Tkachuk hit Guentzel in Game 3, Cooper trolled Maurice by repeating the line: “The only players we hit are the ones with pucks.”
To the refs' credit, they are calling penalties. And to the league's credit, they are doling out suspensions and fines. And yet, it's not really changing anything.
At some point, the players have to police themselves.
Playoffs or not, they can't go around injuring one another and then offering supplemental retribution in the following game. If they do, no one will be left standing by the end of the first round — much less the Stanley Cup final six weeks from now.
Winners And Losers From Week 1 Of The 2025 Stanley Cup PlayoffsWhenever he’s asked about expanding the Stanley Cup playoff pool, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has come up with a response that’s tough to argue: the current format creates the most compelling first round in all of sports.