Arturs Silovs will get the opportunity to clinch a series win for the Vancouver Canucks.

The rookie is in net for Game 5 of their first-round playoff series against the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night. Silovs was Vancouver's surprise starter in Game 4 on Sunday in the wake of injuries to Thatcher Demko and Casey DeSmith.

Both Silovs and DeSmith got the standard "starter's chat" from goaltending coach Ian Clark at Tuesday's morning skate, according to The Athletic's Thomas Drance. After practice, Silovs left the ice first - a ritual usually carried out by the starting netminder - but head coach Rick Tocchet later said it would be a game-time decision.

Silovs made 27 saves en route to the Canucks' 4-3 victory in Game 4, which Vancouver forward Elias Lindholm ended in overtime to give his team a 3-1 series lead. It was Silovs' playoff debut.

The 23-year-old Latvian played only nine regular-season NHL games over the last two campaigns, which he spent primarily with the Canucks' AHL affiliate in Abbotsford.

DeSmith allowed three goals on 15 shots during a 4-1 loss in Game 2, then bounced back with a 29-save performance in a 2-1 victory in Game 3.

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Auston Matthews isn't in the Toronto Maple Leafs' lineup for Game 5 of their first-round series against the Boston Bruins on Tuesday night.

The 69-goal-scorer missed the third period of Toronto's Game 4 defeat due to illness. He's believed to be battling injury too, according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.

Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe noted Sunday that it's been a lingering, atypical illness that's gotten worse when Matthews has been on the ice.

Matthews won the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy by 12 goals over Florida Panthers forward Sam Reinhart this season, claiming the hardware for the third time in four years.

Meanwhile, Joseph Woll is starting in goal for the Leafs on Tuesday over Ilya Samsonov. Woll relieved Samsonov for the final frame in the aforementioned 3-1 loss on Saturday that gave the Bruins a 3-1 series lead.

The American stopped all five shots he faced in that game while making his first playoff appearance of this spring. Woll went 1-2 with a .915 save percentage over four postseason contests in 2023.

Woll posted a 12-11-1 record with a .907 save percentage during the regular season. Samsonov got pulled after allowing all three goals on just 17 shots. The Russian is 1-3 with a mark of .883 in the four playoff games he's played this year

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The NHL draft lottery will be conducted on May 7, the league announced Friday.

The San Jose Sharks will have the highest odds of winning the first overall pick and the right to select Boston University standout Macklin Celebrini, while the Chicago Blackhawks have the second-highest odds just one year after drafting Connor Bedard with the top pick.

Here are the teams' odds of being chosen in the lottery:

A team can move up a maximum of 10 spots if it wins one of the lottery draws as part of changes the NHL made to the process in 2021 for the following year's event. This means only the top 11 seeds are eligible to nab the first overall pick.

So the Sharks actually have a 25.5% chance of winning the first overall pick because the bottom-four teams can't move up that high.

The Pittsburgh Penguins must deal a first-rounder in either 2024 or 2025 to the Sharks to complete the Erik Karlsson trade from last August. If the Penguins move into the top 10 in this lottery, Pittsburgh will have the option to send San Jose its 2025 first-rounder instead.

The Sharks finished last in the NHL with 47 points at 19-54-9. They chose Will Smith at No. 4 last year. Bedard and the Blackhawks had five more points than San Jose with a record of 23-53-6. Anaheim wrapped up the regular season with seven more points than Chicago at 27-50-5.

The Ducks took Leo Carlsson second overall in 2023, and the Blue Jackets picked Adam Fantilli third overall. The Canadiens selected David Reinbacher with the fifth selection.

The 2024 NHL Draft will be held at The Sphere in Las Vegas on June 28 and 29.

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The NHL draft lottery will be conducted on May 7, the league announced Friday.

The San Jose Sharks will have the highest odds of winning the first overall pick and the right to select Boston University standout Macklin Celebrini, while the Chicago Blackhawks have the second-highest odds just one year after drafting Connor Bedard with the top pick.

Here are the teams' odds of being chosen in the lottery:

A team can move up a maximum of 10 spots if it wins one of the lottery draws as part of changes the NHL made to the process in 2021 for the following year's event. This means only the top 11 seeds are eligible to nab the first overall pick.

So the Sharks actually have a 25.5% chance of winning the first overall pick because the bottom-four teams can't move up that high.

The Pittsburgh Penguins must deal a first-rounder in either 2024 or 2025 to the Sharks to complete the Erik Karlsson trade from last August. If the Penguins move into the top 10 in this lottery, Pittsburgh will have the option to send San Jose its 2025 first-rounder instead.

The Sharks finished last in the NHL with 47 points at 19-54-9. They chose Will Smith at No. 4 last year. Bedard and the Blackhawks had five more points than San Jose with a record of 23-53-6. Anaheim wrapped up the regular season with seven more points than Chicago at 27-50-5.

The Ducks took Leo Carlsson second overall in 2023, and the Blue Jackets picked Adam Fantilli third overall. The Canadiens selected David Reinbacher with the fifth selection.

The 2024 NHL Draft will be held at The Sphere in Las Vegas on June 28 and 29.

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The New York Islanders are turning to Semyon Varlamov once again, and this time with their backs against the wall.

Varlamov is starting Game 4 on Saturday, Islanders head coach Patrick Roy said Friday, according to Newsday's Andrew Gross.

New York trails the Carolina Hurricanes 3-0 in the series. Varlamov started the first two games and allowed six goals on 63 shots for a .905 save percentage in the losses. Sorokin got the nod in Game 3 but was pulled after giving up three goals on 14 shots.

Varlamov stopped all eight shots he faced after relieving Sorokin on Thursday.

The veteran goaltender, who'll turn 36 on the day of Game 4, was excellent down the stretch of the regular season. He helped the Islanders make the playoffs by going 8-1-1 with a .930 save percentage in his final 10 appearances and concluded the campaign with a 5-0-0 run, during which time he registered a mark of .946.

New York signed Sorokin to an eight-year, $66-million contract extension last July after he was voted the Vezina Trophy runner-up. The 28-year-old led the NHL in goals saved above expected at five-on-five (34.26) in 2022-23, according to Evolving Hockey. That figure dipped to 10.14 this season.

Game 4 is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET on Saturday.

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Boston Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery took a shot at Max Domi and the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday.

Montgomery didn't hold back when asked if he believes Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman's success against the Maple Leafs is an indication he's in their heads.

"Sometimes I don't think that, but when Domi goes off the bench and bumps him on purpose, it makes me think that maybe he's in their head a little bit," the Boston bench boss said.

Domi and Swayman made contact during a break in the action Wednesday night in the Bruins' 4-2 victory, which gave them a 2-1 series lead.

Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe fired back at Montgomery later Thursday when informed of his counterpart's comments.

"With that logic, you would say every time they bump into one of our guys, maybe we're in their heads," Keefe said. "I don't think that has anything to do with anything."

Swayman improved to 5-0-0 against the Leafs this season. He's allowed only three goals on 66 shots for a .955 save percentage in the two games he's started in the series.

The Bruins have alternated goaltenders all season, including in the playoffs, so Linus Ullmark would normally start the next one. But the additional day off before Game 4 in Toronto on Saturday might lead Montgomery to deviate from his usual strategy.

"We're going to have more rest, but ... the rotation's been so good for us, so it's a hard decision," he said.

That game is scheduled to start at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday.

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Andre Tourigny will once again lead Team Canada as head coach at the World Championship, the country's governing body of hockey announced Thursday.

Tourigny guided Canada to the gold medal at last year's tournament.

Former Minnesota Wild bench boss Dean Evason, ex-Edmonton Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft, and current St. Louis Blues assistant coach Steve Ott will serve as Tourigny's assistants at the event.

Rick Nash, Canada's general manager for the tourney, determined the coaching staff along with associate GM Kyle Dubas and assistant GM Scott Salmond.

Tourigny is the Arizona Coyotes' bench boss and will presumably remain in the post when the team begins playing in Salt Lake City.

Canada has already received commitments for the Worlds from several impact players, including Chicago Blackhawks phenom Connor Bedard, Seattle Kraken forward Jared McCann, and Buffalo Sabres defenseman Owen Power.

The tournament will run from May 10-26 in Prague and Ostrava, Czechia.

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Toronto Maple Leafs star William Nylander's absence from the lineup is due to a migraine so severe that the club's medical staff tested him to see if he had a concussion, sources told Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.

Team doctors have been unable to diagnose Nylander's exact condition, Friedman adds.

The productive winger missed the first three games of the Maple Leafs' first-round playoff series against the Boston Bruins, in which Toronto trails 2-1 following a 4-2 loss in Game 3 on Wednesday night. He played all 82 regular-season games and matched his career high of 40 goals while setting new personal bests in assists (58) and points.

Nylander's absence from Game 1 was only the second time he'd been forced out of the lineup due to injury and the first such instance since November 2016.

The Swede, who'll turn 28 on May 1, revealed in September 2022 that he switched to a tinted visor because of recurring migraines he endured one season prior.

Toronto is sorely missing Nylander's contributions in the postseason. He has 17 goals and 23 assists in 50 career playoff games, including four tallies and six helpers in 11 such contests last spring.

Nylander is in his ninth season with the Maple Leafs, who drafted him eighth overall in 2014.

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Toronto Maple Leafs star William Nylander's absence from the lineup is due to a migraine so severe that the club's medical staff tested him to see if he had a concussion, sources told Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.

Team doctors have been unable to diagnose Nylander's exact condition, Friedman adds.

The productive winger missed the first three games of the Maple Leafs' first-round playoff series against the Boston Bruins, in which Toronto trails 2-1 following a 4-2 loss in Game 3 on Wednesday night. He played all 82 regular-season games and matched his career high of 40 goals while setting new personal bests in assists (58) and points.

Nylander's absence from Game 1 was only the second time he'd been forced out of the lineup due to injury and the first such instance since November 2016.

The Swede, who'll turn 28 on May 1, revealed in September 2022 that he switched to a tinted visor because of recurring migraines he endured one season prior.

Toronto is sorely missing Nylander's contributions in the postseason. He has 17 goals and 23 assists in 50 career playoff games, including four tallies and six helpers in 11 such contests last spring.

Nylander is in his ninth season with the Maple Leafs, who drafted him eighth overall in 2014.

Copyright © 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Toronto Maple Leafs star William Nylander's absence from the lineup is due to a migraine so severe that the club's medical staff tested him to see if he had a concussion, sources told Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.

Team doctors have been unable to diagnose Nylander's exact condition, Friedman adds.

The productive winger missed the first three games of the Maple Leafs' first-round playoff series against the Boston Bruins, in which Toronto trails 2-1 following a 4-2 loss in Game 3 on Wednesday night. He played all 82 regular-season games and matched his career high of 40 goals while setting new personal bests in assists (58) and points.

Nylander's absence from Game 1 was only the second time he'd been forced out of the lineup due to injury and the first such instance since November 2016.

The Swede, who'll turn 28 on May 1, revealed in September 2022 that he switched to a tinted visor because of recurring migraines he endured one season prior.

Toronto is sorely missing Nylander's contributions in the postseason. He has 17 goals and 23 assists in 50 career playoff games, including four tallies and six helpers in 11 such contests last spring.

Nylander is in his ninth season with the Maple Leafs, who drafted him eighth overall in 2014.

Copyright © 2024 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.