ST. LOUIS -- When the puck deflected off the stick of Winnipeg Jets forward Cole Perfetti into the upper half of the net with 2.2 seconds remaining in regulation to stun the St. Louis Blues in Game 7 of the Western Conference First Round to tie the score 3-3, a game in which the Jets would win in double overtime, 4-3, it signified a painful reminder of an ail that haunted the Blues all season long.

Only this time, it ultimately cost them their terrific run at upending the Presidents' Trophy winners and their season.

Unfortunately for the Blues, they were no strangers to the goals against when the opposition pulled the goalie. They allowed a league-high 13 in the regular season and two on Sunday. It marked the third time this season in which the Blues allowed multiple goals in a game when the opposition pulled the goalie, the others being Jan. 20 in a 5-4 shootout win against the Vegas Golden Knights and April 5 in a 5-4 win against the Colorado Avalanche.

They were the only team in the NHL to allow more goals-against with the goalie pulled than they scored empty-net goals (13-11).

And that's why they were sitting at a podium discussing the end of their season rather than prepping for a second-round series against the Dallas Stars.

"Yeah, yeah, it's a tough feeling around the room right now," Blues captain Brayden Schenn said. "That's just the reality of it. When you're that close to advancing and playing another day, the reality of where we are today, it's not a good feeling. That's sports and sometimes you're on the wrong side of it and that night we were."

Despite the surge the Blues took from the 4 Nations Face-Off post-schedule to their run to the Stanley Cup playoffs and qualifying on the final day of the regular season for them, the stinging feeling in blowing a 3-1 lead with less than two minutes remaining was the leftover residue that was hard to shake on Tuesday and will take time to shed moving forward.

All they needed was one extra play in that last two minutes and it's a different story, but now that the bear in the room regarding 5-on-6 grew even larger, it has to be a point of emphasis for the coaching staff to make a marked improvement in this area, even though they were 10-0-3 in those games, meaning they only lost three points, which isn't as bad as it sounds.

"It does sting. It hurts more today than it did two days ago, to be honest," Blues coach Jim Montgomery said on Tuesday. "But we will use it to grow. I'll make sure that we're better in pulled-goalie situations. That's my job. I'm going to make sure the plan is better, I'll study the teams that were the best at it (Winnipeg was No. 1 with one goal allowed, followed by the Edmonton Oilers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers at two) and see what they do that is similar to our D-zone coverage so we can do it easily."

Blues general manager Doug Armstrong wasn't going to offer a knee-jerk reaction to one painful segment of what amounted to a season-ending game, but does realize it's something that needs to be alleviated if the Blues are going to ascend even higher.

"My job is to look at things from 30,000 feet, not one game, one shift, one two-minute segment," Armstrong said. "That's all I can think about right now is one two-minute segment, but I do have to look at the year in its totality.

"... We ended up extremely disappointed in how that ended. The way this ended bothered me a little bit because it was a pattern of how games ended for us. It's not a pattern that we want to continue and if we're here next December and we're talking about the same issue, I'll have to go back to the old quote machine and bring back the killer instinct quote that my wife hates. But we have to find that back in us again. We have to be able to close out games. We've done the research on where we fit in the league 5-on-6, last in the league, only team in the league 5-on-6 that had a negative goal-for differential. Those are small things that make a huge difference."

And on the flip side, the Blues scored just seven goals when they pulled the goalie and made it 6-on-5 (two while on a power play at 6-on-4) and allowed 12 into an empty net. So just a small percentage of each of these stats and we could be talking about a third-place or possibly a second-place finish in the Central Division instead of being a wild card and another opponent.

But such is life and now they have an idea of one of the parts to the game that needs to change in a big way for 2025-26.

> Blues goals-against 5-on-6 (13):

* Nov. 21 vs. San Jose Sharks -- Alexander Wennberg, 19:51; led 2-1, won 3-2 in a shootout

* Dec. 3 at Winnipeg Jets -- Mark Scheifele, 15:45; led 3-0, won 4-1

* Dec. 10 at Vancouver Canucks -- Jake DeBrusk, 18:08; led 3-2, won 4-3 in overtime

* Jan. 20 at Vegas Golden Knights -- Jack Eichel, 16:50; led 4-2, won 5-4 in a shootout

* Jan. 20 at Golden Knights -- Pavel Dorofeyev, 19:30; led 4-3, won 5-4 in a shootout

* Dec. 4 vs. Edmonton Oilers -- Leon Draisaitl, 17:46; led 2-1, lost 3-2 in overtime

* Feb. 22 vs. Jets -- Gabriel Vilardi, 19:32; led 3-2, lost 4-3 in a shootout

* March 7 at Anaheim Ducks -- Alex Killorn, 19:17; led 4-2, won 4-3

* March 20 vs. Canucks -- Brock Boeser, 19:56; led 3-2, won 4-3 in overtime

* April 3 vs. Pittsburgh Penguins -- Rutger McGroarty, 19:35; led 4-3, won 5-4 in overtime

* April 5 vs. Colorado Avalanche -- Nathan MacKinnon, 17:42; led 4-2, won 5-4

* April 5 vs. Avalanche -- Sam Malinski, 19:51; led 5-3, won 5-4

* April 9 at Oilers -- Viktor Arvidsson, 1:41 of third period (came on delayed penalty); tied 2-2, lost 4-3

> Blues empty-net goals-for 5-on-6 (11):

* Oct. 24 at Toronto Maple Leafs -- Dylan Holloway, 16:42; led 3-1, won 4-1

* Nov. 2 vs. Maple Leafs -- Pavel Buchnevich, 19:21; led 3-2, won 4-2

* Nov. 25 at New York Rangers -- Buchnevich, 17:15; led 4-2, won 5-2

* Dec. 3 at Jets -- Robert Thomas, 16:21; led 3-1, won 4-1

* Dec. 23 at Detroit Red Wings -- Holloway, 15:54; led 3-0, won 4-0

* Dec. 27 vs. Nashville Predators -- Colton Parayko, 18:45; led 6-4, won 7-4

* Jan. 16 vs. Calgary Flames -- Brayden Schenn, 17:39; led 3-1, won 4-1

* Dec. 27 at Washington Capitals -- Jake Neighbours, 18:05; led 4-2, won 5-2

* March 15 at Minnesota Wild -- Jordan Kyrou, 17:40; led 4-1, won 5-1

* March 23 vs. Predators -- Schenn, 19:22; led 3-1, won 4-1

* April 5 vs. Avalanche -- Thomas, 19:29; led 4-3, won 5-4

Many things happen in the summertime.

GM’s get let go, coaches get fired, and players sign new contracts.

For the Colorado Avalanche, Jared Bednar’s job appears safe (the same goes for Chris Macfarland).

Bookmark The Hockey News Colorado Avalanche team site so you never miss the latest news, game day coverage, and information on the Avalanche players.

It also looks like a former Avalanche goaltender has found a new team that he wants to stick around with. That team agrees and has signed him to a new deal.

Jonas Johansson signed a contract extension with the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday morning.

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The Swedish netminder just wrapped up his second season with the team. Johansson had a 9-6-3 record to go along with a 3.13 goals against average (GAA), a .895 save percentage (SV%), and one shutout.

He’s been the backup for Andrei Vasilevskiy since he arrived in Tampa. But he took a winding road to get to Florida.

We have signed goaltender Jonas Johansson to a two-year contract extension worth an AAV of $1.25 million!

📝: https://t.co/7ZM6LrDm14pic.twitter.com/30QAsVUcDK

— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) May 7, 2025

Jonas Johansson's Journey To The Tampa Bay Lightning

Johansson was initially drafted in the third round of the 2014 Entry Draft by the Buffalo Sabres. He was traded to the Avalanche in March of 2021. 

He would play three years for the Avalanche until he was put on waivers. The Florida Panthers claimed Johansson off waivers. 

Johansson only played two games for the Panthers before he signed a new contract with the Avalanche in the following summer. He then signed as a free agent with the Lightning on July 1st, 2023.

Johansson’s new deal is worth $1.25 million per year. For year one, it’s split into a $775,000 base salary and a $475,000 signing bonus. The full $1.25 million will be his base salary the following season. He’s coming off a two-year deal that paid him $775,000 each season.

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The one thing the Vegas Golden Knights can't do against the Edmonton Oilers is take their foot off the gas and give them any signs of life, and in Game 1 of the second round, they did exactly that.

The Golden Knights took advantage of an early power play, taking a 1-0 lead. With momentum on their side, the Golden Knights stayed aggressive, forcing turnovers and counterattacking, which led to Mark Stone scoring his second goal of the game. Corey Perry answered with a goal late in the first period, and following the goal, it was all Oilers.

The Oilers outshot the Golden Knights 12-1 in the middle frame, but Adin Hill preserved the lead. A fortunate bounce for Leon Draisaitl tied the game at 2-2 in the third period, and after tying the game, it always looked like the Oilers would break the deadlock. The Golden Knights struggled to neutralize the Oilers' pressure and couldn't generate any chances for themselves. 

Zach Hyman scored the game-winning goal, and Connor Brown beat Shea Theodore and Hill in one-on-ones to provide the insurance marker. 

If the Golden Knights were to learn one thing from the Oilers' first-round series against the Los Angeles Kings, it would be to play a full 60 minutes and never sit back on a lead. Connor McDavid took advantage of the space the Golden Knights were providing him, and he generated a plethora of chances. Giving a player of McDavid's calibre that many free looks is always going to be trouble. 

"They elevated their game today, and I don't think we did halfway through the game, I think it's that simple. They're just better than us," said Golden Knights' HC Bruce Cassidy.

"Because we got out of the second. They probably felt pretty good about it, they're like, 'Hey, we're right there.' Then they get a lucky one to start, so now they're really on. We needed to build our game from there better."

According to Natural Stat Trick and the eye test, the Oilers dominated. They held 73.45% of the expected goals, generated 13 high-danger chances, giving up only three and outshot the Golden Knights 28-17.

Stay updated with the most interesting Golden Knights stories, analysis, breaking news and more! Tap the star to add us to your favourites on Google News to never miss a story.

3 Takeaways: Golden Knights Blow First-Period, Two-Goal Lead To Drop Series Opener To Edmonton, 4-2LAS VEGAS -- The Golden Knights squandered a first-period, two-goal lead and allowed the Edmonton Oilers to score four unanswered goals and steal a 4-2 road victory and home ice in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals. 3 Reasons Why The Golden Knights Can Defeat The Oilers In The Second RoundLAS VEGAS -- Just before the regular season started, an anonymous poll of Golden Knights revealed 86.7% of the team saying the Edmonton Oilers are "Vegas' chief arch-rival."

Rick Tocchet is headed back to television for the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs. On Wednesday, the NHL on TNT announced that the former Vancouver Canucks head coach would be back on the network this weekend on Friday and Saturday. At the moment, Tocchet is only booked for the two days, with no indication if he will serve as an analyst for the rest of the post-season. 

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Before joining the Canucks, Tocchet was featured on the NHL on TNT for a couple of years. Some of the notable personalities he worked with included Wayne Gretzky, Paul Bissonnette, Henrik Lundqvist and Anson Carter. There have also been appearances in the past from Shaquille O'Neal, who works for the NBA on TNT. 

On Wednesday morning, there was also a report that Tocchet had interviewed for the Seattle Kraken head coaching position. This report came courtesy of Frank Seravalli while making an appearance on "Sportsnet 650." There are currently seven head coaching positions that need to be filled, with Tocchet expected to receive offers from multiple organizations.

As for the Canucks, they continue to search for their next head coach. Some names rumoured for the head coaching position include Manny Malhotra and Adam Foote. Vancouver is currently looking for their fourth coach in four years after Tocchet decided to depart the organization this off-season. 

Make sure you bookmark THN's Vancouver Canucks site and add us to your favourites on Google News for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more. Also, be sure to leave a comment at the bottom of the page and engage with other passionate fans through our forum.

When Michael Andlauer took over as owner of the Ottawa Senators at the start of the 2023-24 NHL season, he set exactly the right tone for the organization. Andlauer told the city's fan base he wanted the Senators to be, in every way, "Best in Class." 

But at the time, the team he purchased was anything but. It was a fixer-upper.

So his first season as a rookie NHL owner resembled an HGTV show, where they encounter poor workmanship, damage and neglect. Then they declutter and strip things down to the studs, and finally hire professionals to properly build things back up.

In his second season, Andlauer stayed committed to doing things the right way, treating people kindly and respectfully, and generally being "Best in Class."

And then the wheels of progress finally began to turn.

The Senators returned to the playoffs for the first time in eight years, but even before that, their customer satisfaction rate among fans and corporate supporters was night and day from where it was two years ago.

Less than a week after an exciting first-round loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, Andlauer put pen to paper and wrote an open letter to the fans.

Sens fans,

Even though our season ended sooner than we liked, I wanted to take this opportunity to sincerely thank you for your unwavering and amazing support.

Your passion was on full display at our home games in the playoffs. I've never seen anything like the ovation inside Canadian Tire Centre when we tied game 6 in the third period.

I'm not sure there is another fan base that would have stayed in their seats to cheer on their team after they were eliminated.

If the empty net goal by Ridly Greig was the highlight from last year, certainly your passion and appreciation in game 6 – which sent shivers down my spine – was the highlight of this season.

When I purchased this team with my partners, I knew the grassroots of hockey ran deep in Ottawa-Gatineau. But I have come to realize that this is by far the most underrated hockey market in the world.

Our fan base is authentic and it's the perfect match for this roster, which we've built on honesty, genuine care, and work ethic.

We took a great foundational step forward this season and I am so thankful to our architect, Steady' Steve Staios (as you fans have eloquently dubbed him) for his hard work and vision. And to Travis Green and his coaching staff for giving our players the ability to thrive. Ultimately, our players stepped up and worked harder and cared more for each other.

Our dressing room has a family atmosphere we have not seen in a while and the players are the ones who deserve your praise.

This team has made Ottawa-Gatineau proud and this city responded in such an incredible way that I am so proud to call this home!

Thanks for coming along for the ride.

We're just getting started.

Go Sens Go!

Michael Andlauer,
Owner, Ottawa Senators Hockey Club

Bowness’ Reported Departure Marks Big Shift In Staios’ Vision For Ottawa’s Front OfficeFive days after the Ottawa Senators were eliminated from the postseason, significant changes are already on the horizon for the organization's hockey operations department.

When Michael Andlauer took over as owner of the Ottawa Senators at the start of the 2023-24 NHL season, he set exactly the right tone for the organization. Andlauer told the city's fan base he wanted the Senators to be, in every way, "Best in Class." 

But at the time, the team he purchased was anything but. It was a fixer-upper.

So his first season as a rookie NHL owner resembled an HGTV show, where they encounter poor workmanship, damage and neglect. Then they declutter and strip things down to the studs, and finally hire professionals to properly build things back up.

In his second season, Andlauer stayed committed to doing things the right way, treating people kindly and respectfully, and generally being "Best in Class."

And then the wheels of progress finally began to turn.

The Senators returned to the playoffs for the first time in eight years, but even before that, their customer satisfaction rate among fans and corporate supporters was night and day from where it was two years ago.

Less than a week after an exciting first-round loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, Andlauer put pen to paper and wrote an open letter to the fans.

Sens fans,

Even though our season ended sooner than we liked, I wanted to take this opportunity to sincerely thank you for your unwavering and amazing support.

Your passion was on full display at our home games in the playoffs. I've never seen anything like the ovation inside Canadian Tire Centre when we tied game 6 in the third period.

I'm not sure there is another fan base that would have stayed in their seats to cheer on their team after they were eliminated.

If the empty net goal by Ridly Greig was the highlight from last year, certainly your passion and appreciation in game 6 – which sent shivers down my spine – was the highlight of this season.

When I purchased this team with my partners, I knew the grassroots of hockey ran deep in Ottawa-Gatineau. But I have come to realize that this is by far the most underrated hockey market in the world.

Our fan base is authentic and it's the perfect match for this roster, which we've built on honesty, genuine care, and work ethic.

We took a great foundational step forward this season and I am so thankful to our architect, Steady' Steve Staios (as you fans have eloquently dubbed him) for his hard work and vision. And to Travis Green and his coaching staff for giving our players the ability to thrive. Ultimately, our players stepped up and worked harder and cared more for each other.

Our dressing room has a family atmosphere we have not seen in a while and the players are the ones who deserve your praise.

This team has made Ottawa-Gatineau proud and this city responded in such an incredible way that I am so proud to call this home!

Thanks for coming along for the ride.

We're just getting started.

Go Sens Go!

Michael Andlauer,
Owner, Ottawa Senators Hockey Club

Bowness’ Reported Departure Marks Big Shift In Staios’ Vision For Ottawa’s Front OfficeFive days after the Ottawa Senators were eliminated from the postseason, significant changes are already on the horizon for the organization's hockey operations department.