Earlier this season, former New Jersey Devils goalie Mackenzie Blackwood was traded to the Colorado Avalanche by the San Jose Sharks. The move was understandable, as the Avalanche desperately needed help between the pipes, while the Sharks were willing to move Blackwood because of his then-pending unrestricted free agent status. 

The decision to acquire Blackwood certainly has benefited the Avalanche. In 37 regular-season appearances with Colorado after the move this campaign, he had a 22-12-3 record, a 2.33 goals-against average, a .913 save percentage, and three shutouts. Due to this impressive play, Blackwood earned a five-year, $26.25 million contract extension with the Avalanche, which kicks in next season.

Now, Blackwood has gotten the playoffs started on the right foot for the Avalanche. In Game 1 against the Dallas Stars, Blackwood stepped up big time, saving 23 out of 24 shots he faced. That equates to an impressive .958 save percentage on the night.

Blackwood made multiple incredible saves in the process and undoubtedly played a significant role in the Avalanche's 5-1 win over Dallas. Now, Blackwood and the Avalanche will look to keep this kind of play up when they face the Stars next for Game 2 on April 21. 

Blackwood was selected by the Devils with the 42nd overall pick of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. In 152 games as a Devil over five seasons, he had a 65-57-18 record, a .906 save percentage, and a 2.97 goals-against average. His time in New Jersey came to an end during the 2023 NHL off-season when he was traded to the Sharks for a sixth-round pick.

Recent Devils News 

New Jersey Devils Star Entering Playoffs Red-HotWhile Timo Meier's numbers were a bit lower than expected for his standards this campaign, he was still one of the New Jersey Devils' top offensive contributors. In 80 regular-season games, the 6-foot-1 winger finished third on the Devils with 26 goals and fourth on the team with 53 points.  Former Devils Goalie Has Thrived With New TeamDuring this past off-season, former New Jersey Devils goaltender Scott Wedgewood signed a two-year, $3 million contract with the Nashville Predators. This was after the 32-year-old netminder posted a 16-7-5 record, a .899 save percentage, and a 2.85 goals-against average in 32 games with the Dallas Stars in 2023-24. Devils Superstar Has Hit New Level This SeasonAfter missing the playoffs during the 2023-24 season, the New Jersey Devils certainly bounced back this campaign. The Devils finished the 2024-25 campaign with a 42-33-7 record and secured the third-place spot in the Metropolitan Division. Now, they are set to face the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round of the post-season, with the series kicking off on April 20.

As the Kings prepare to open up their first round series against the Edmonton Oilers for the fourth straight year on April 21st, one thing will be dramatically different this time around: Darcy Kuemper.

For the first time since the days of franchise legend, Jonathan Quick, the Kings will have a netminder in place that is capable of stealing games or even an entire series with his play. However, in the three previous series with Edmonton, that wasn't the case for the LA Kings.

In the 2021-22 series, LA was backed by future Hall of Famer and all-time winningest American-born goaltender, Jonathan Quick. Although LA would eventually push the Oilers to seven games, Quick did not play at the level of his previous playoff performances. He finished the series with a save percentage of .904 and a goals against average of 3.43, far off his career playoff numbers with the Kings. In 92 career playoff games with Los Angeles, Quick posted a .921 SV% and a 2.26 GAA. Of course, Quick's gold standard took place in 2012 on LA's first Cup run when he dropped a .946% and a microscopic 1.41 GAA. 

On June 11, 2012, the @LAKings were crowned Stanley Cup champions after a 6-1 win over the New Jersey Devils in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final. Jonathan Quick was named playoff MVP, and Dustin Brown became the first player in #LAKings history to lift the Stanley Cup.#GoKingsGopic.twitter.com/Qa1lLzvysA

— The Kingstorian (@Kingstorian) June 11, 2024

The post-Quick versions of the Kings-Oilers playoff matchup have seen the Kings try to play around subpar goaltending. Not an ideal situation when facing Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. 

In 2022-23, for example, LA started both Joonas Korpisalo and Pheonix Copley, eventually losing again to the Oilers in six games. Both goalies posted numbers that were well inferior to Quick's. Korpisalo registered a .892 SV% and a GAA of 3.77 and Copley was even worse: .750 SV% and a GAA of 4.26. Not remotely good enough to beat anybody in the playoffs, let alone the Oilers.

Last year's battle with Edmonton would see LA go with Cam Talbot in net. After a very solid regular season campaign, Talbot was unable to elevate his game against the Oilers. Talbot started three games against Edmonton and posted a .861 SV% and a GAA of 5.30, while Dave Rittich had a .872 SV% and a GAA of 2.56. Thus, similar to the previous year's series, neither goalie was capable of stealing a game for the Kings. 

This year, however, could be an entirely different story. Darcy Kuemper is coming off one of the best regular seasons of this career. In addition to a 15-game streak of allowing two goals or fewer, the second longest streak since the NHL expanded in 1967-68, Kuemper finished the year with a stingy 2.02 GAA.

With his 27-save shutout victory, Darcy Kuemper has allowed two or fewer goals in 13 consecutive starts and is just the fifth goaltender in the NHL’s expansion era to accomplish such feat, per @NHLPR. pic.twitter.com/scQ7Itst7Y

— LA Kings PR (@LAKingsPR) April 5, 2025

More importantly, Kuemper has shown an ability to consistently make tough saves, something that could help LA win a game or two that they have no business winning. As per NHL Edge, Kuemper leads the league with a high-danger shot save percentage of .863.  His career playoff numbers are also superior to the goalies from the previous two series. Overall, Kuemper has a career .908 SV% and a GAA of 2.72, including a 9.02 SV% and a 2.57 GAA during Colorado's successful Stanley Cup run in 2021-22.

While many factors come into play in deciding which team eventually wins a seven-game series, the numbers and the eye test show that the LA Kings should feel very confident about playing in front of Darcy Kuemper this year.

If folks have been paying attention to NHL news cycles the past few weeks, young Montreal Canadiens forward prospect Ivan Demidov has garnered quite the buzz.

Although the 19-year-old Russian forward's impressive talent is on display - he had a goal and two points in the two regular-season NHL games he played prior to the Habs' first-round matchup against the Washington Capitals - he made some headlines Saturday because of his words.

During a media availability Saturday morning, Demidov was asked about facing Alex Ovechkin in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Someone followed up by asking if Ovechkin was one of his idols growing up.

His response?

"Probably in NHL," Demidov said. "But I love Malkin much better than Ovi, you know what I mean?"

Yes, Demidov was a big fan of Pittsburgh Penguins future hall-of-fame center Evgeni Malkin, who - along with Ovechkin - is one of the greatest Russian-born players of all-time. 

Habs rookie Ivan Demidov today:

“I love Malkin much better than Ovechkin.” pic.twitter.com/dkHJSscp3g

— /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) April 19, 2025

Malkin, like Demidov, is known for his playmaking, and the 38-year-old has amassed 514 goals and 1,346 points in 1,213 NHL games. He was infamously omitted from the NHL's 100 Greatest Players Of All Time list in 2017. 

In any case, that's one way for Demidov to spark something before going head-to-head with Ovechkin for the very first time in his NHL career - and in the playoffs, nonetheless. 

You can catch Game 1 between Montreal and Washington on Monday, Apr. 21 at 7:00 p.m. ET. 

Laine Saying He 'Couldn't Care Less' Facing Ovechkin In Playoffs Being Taken The Wrong WayMontreal Canadiens forward Patrik Laine made headlines on Saturday after appearing to downplay facing Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin in the opening round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

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Things were going like they intended it for the St. Louis Blues in Game 1 of the Western Conference First Round on Saturday.

Their special teams were strong, they started the game hitting everything that moved, with a whopping 32 in the first period, and their special teams helped them carry a lead into the final 20 minutes.

But the Blues succumbed in a big way. The Winnipeg Jets scored three times, including Kyle Connor's one-timer with 1:36 remaining to rally for a 5-3 win against the Blues at Canada Life Centre.

The Blues, who trail the best-of-7 series 1-0 with Game 2 on Monday at 6:30 p.m., were 35-2-1 in the regular season when leading after two periods. It was almost automatic they would have the capability to close out a game but couldn't on Saturday.

Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou scored power-play goals, Oskar Sundqvist scored and Jordan Binnington made 21 saves.

Let's look at Saturday's Three Takeaways:

* Horrendous third period -- The Blues are usually good at locking down the third, and coach Jim Montgomery has praised the players for their abilities to do so since the 4 Nations Face-Off break.

Whatever that was on Saturday, this will be a quick series if that same blueprint and way of execution is in play.

Instead of managing the game, the Blues played prevent defense for seemingly 20 minutes, sat back, didn't dictate any play and had just one shot on goal until a meaningless Mathieu Joseph shot on Connor Hellebuyck with seconds remaining.

They had a chance to put a stranglehold on the game with a power play after killing off a Nick Leddy minor to begin the period but Zack Bolduc took an inexplicably bad cross checking minor to negate what was left of it and it seemed the Jets, even through they didn't score on the ensuing power play of their own, fed off the momentum.

"We can’t take that penalty in the playoffs, I do know that," Montgomery said." I thought we killed the penalty pretty good. I can’t say it built momentum for them, but it took us from a situation where I thought we were a little bit in control and then we weren’t."

The Blues managed things until Alex Iafallo tied the game 3-3 when Scheifele took a puck around the net, and was defended well by Thomas, but Cam Fowler jumped into try and defend as well, leaving that side of the ice open. Scheifele's pass hit the side of the net right to an open Iafallo, who deposited a lot shot beyond Binnington's right pad.

Winnipeg goal!

Scored by Alex Iafallo with 10:42 remaining in the 3rd period.

Assisted by Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor.

Winnipeg: 3
St. Louis: 3#STLvsWPG#GoJetsGo#stlbluespic.twitter.com/wzVGOAW8Xv

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) April 20, 2025

The Blues didn't generate any offense because their play with the puck was poor at best. They couldn't string together, forget two passes, they couldn't put one pass together. They kept giving it back in the neutral zone, then had to defend much of the period, getting hemmed in and when they would get it, would give it right back. Then they iced a number of pucks, including Kyrou late that started the sequence that led to Connor's eventual game-winner. Connor had been robbed twice in the game earlier by Binnington.

After Scheifele won the face-off from Thomas, who was 11-for-15, the puck came to the point, Josh Morrissey found Scheifele curling around the net along the left side, a pass to the low circle to Connor for a one-timer and it was 4-3. Adam Lowry iced it with an empty-netter to make it 5-3 at 19:07.

Winnipeg goal!

Scored by Kyle Connor with 01:36 remaining in the 3rd period.

Assisted by Mark Scheifele and Josh Morrissey.

Winnipeg: 4
St. Louis: 3#STLvsWPG#GoJetsGo#stlbluespic.twitter.com/xfd34lCYDY

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) April 20, 2025

It was simply a terrible period for the Blues, one of their worst third periods all season and came at an inopportune time.

 "I didn’t think we managed the game very well in the third period," Montgomery said. "Penalties. Puck management. A little bit of our emotions.

"... I didn’t think our puck management and decision-making was quick enough."   

* Need more from Schenn line offensively -- Brayden Schenn will never be questioned for his physical nature; the Blues captain had a game-high nine hits of the Blues' 53 in the game. But with a line of Schenn, Kyrou and Jimmy Snuggerud, that line had a Corsi-for/Corsi-against of 0-11 in the game.

The Blues will not play beyond Game 4 if they don't get supportive scoring from someone other than the Thomas, Pavel Buchnevich, Jake Neighbours line. Even the fourth line of Radek Faksa, Alexey Toropchenko and Nathan Walker had a Corsi rating of 3-13.

No offense to Snuggerud, playing his first playoff game and eighth NHL game overall, but Saturday was a prime example of the Blues missing Dylan Holloway, who is a big influence in driving that line.

* Special teams did its job -- You can't go wrong when your power-play gets you two goals, like the Blues' did.

And quite frankly, if it wasn't for a lucky bounce off Ryan Suter's stick that gave Scheifele a gift power-play goal himself, the Blues' penalty killers would have been 4-for-4.

But one way to quiet a home crowd as a visiting player is to make the opposition pay with the man advantage.

Thomas made it 1-0 at 9:31 of the first when Cam Fowler kept a puck alive at the point, the second time on a backhand to Thomas, who made no mistake beating Hellebuyck with a wrister high glove.

Power play goal for St. Louis!

Scored by Robert Thomas with 10:29 remaining in the 1st period.

Assisted by Cam Fowler and Pavel Buchnevich.

Winnipeg: 0
St. Louis: 1#STLvsWPG#GoJetsGo#stlbluespic.twitter.com/MJUGEExgAY

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) April 19, 2025

And after Sundqvist tied it 2-2 with the Blues' only even strength goal at 18:10, Kyrou gave the Blues a 3-2 lead at 1:13 of the second period after a puck was worked around from left to the point to Kyrou, who had acres, it seemed, to skate into a wrister of his own and beat Hellebuyck high blocker (sense a theme here?).

St. Louis goal!

Scored by Oskar Sundqvist with 01:50 remaining in the 1st period.

Assisted by Zack Bolduc and Justin Faulk.

Winnipeg: 2
St. Louis: 2#STLvsWPG#GoJetsGo#stlbluespic.twitter.com/stTQvLE91a

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) April 19, 2025

Power play goal for St. Louis!

Scored by Jordan Kyrou with 18:47 remaining in the 2nd period.

Assisted by Justin Faulk and Jake Neighbours.

Winnipeg: 2
St. Louis: 3#STLvsWPG#GoJetsGo#stlbluespic.twitter.com/Q0QAw0rRrC

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) April 19, 2025

The Blues finished 2-for-3 with the man advantage and 3-for-4 on the penalty kill, and on most nights, you're winning those hockey games, playoffs or not. Not this night though.

"I think our special teams, ever since 4 Nations, it's been really good," Sundqvist said. "We just keep working on it. And, it's good to get some goals on the power play and killing some penalties off and then we just get back to work tomorrow and see what we need to do 5-on-5."

* Here's what else Montgomery and players said postgame:

“We played a hard game. Lot of good things to take away from this game for sure. It’s one game at a time and we know that.”

Jordan Binnington and Brayden Schenn after Game 1 in Winnipeg. #stlbluespic.twitter.com/Rw7suoyyQC

— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) April 20, 2025

The Vegas Golden Knights flamed out in the first round of the playoffs last year to the Dallas Stars in large part due to HC Bruce Cassidy’s inability to find the best lines. The blame can’t all be put on him as the Golden Knights were ravaged with injuries and did not have enough time to build chemistry among linemates. 

This season, however, is different. No long-term major injuries have leaked into the playoffs, and Cassidy feels comfortable with what he’s seen from his players. 

Heading into a series against a Minnesota Wild team that ranks 15th in goals allowed per game despite an abundance of injuries, Cassidy will go with what’s brought them success throughout the 2024-25 regular season. 

“Karlsson, Olofsson and Smith have been very good since Karly’s comeback, and we got Smitty through trade, so we don’t have to mess around," said Cassidy. "We’ve got Hertl, Dorofeyev and Saad; they’ve been very good together. Hertl missed a few weeks, but in general, they’ve been healthy. So it’s just Jack and Stoney, and then is it Barbie or Howden." 

"Then we got Roy, Kolesar and Pearson, and we have to decide that, but in general, we’re going to revert back to those lines we had earlier because guys have moved around. I think the positive side to losing guys to injury is that you get to look at guys in a more advanced role, so that can come in handy down the road. That's how we’re going to approach it to start and see how it turns out."

Jack Eichel, Mark Stone and Ivan Barbashev have been a mainstay on the top line, recording 462:00 of ice time together.

Tomas Hertl and Pavel Dorofeyev lead the team in goals and have been complemented nicely by Brandon Saad, who they signed as a free agent after he was cut by the St. Louis Blues. 

Victor Olofsson, who was not known for his defensive game with the Buffalo Sabres, has blossomed this season on that side of the puck and has become the perfect final piece to the formidable duo of William Karlsson and Reilly Smith. 

Smith And Karlsson’s Penalty Killing Pose Additional Offensive Threats For Golden KnightsWilliam Karlsson and Reilly Smith are the Vegas Golden Knights franchise leaders in shorthanded goals and points, and after being reunited at the deadline, they are showing just how dangerous and effective they can be on the penalty kill.

At the moment, Cassidy is unsure about who will be playing on the fourth line. One player out of Nicolas Roy, Brett Howden, Keegan Kolsear and Tanner Pearson will be held out of the Game 1 lineup despite being more than deserving of playing. 

The phrase "it’s a good problem to have" gets thrown around a lot in hockey, mostly when referring to having a plethora of depth options, and no team embodies it more than the Golden Knights. 

With several lineup options to choose from, Cassidy can benefit from being able to switch things quickly when it’s not going the Golden Knights' way and have the trust in his players that they can rely on the chemistry they’ve previously shown. 

The Golden Knights may be the odds-on favourite, but a team rostering Kirill Kaprizov, Matt Boldy, Marco Rossi, Joel Erickson-Ek, Mats Zuccarello and Brock Faber will not roll over and let the Golden Knights breeze by. 

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.

Storylines Abound When In Opening Round Series Between Golden Knights And Wild, Including Several Head-To-Head MatchupsLAS VEGAS -- There are storylines aplenty across every NHL Playoff series, and will be as we get closer to the Stanley Cup Final. Which Golden Knights Players Have Contract Implications Heading Into The PlayoffsThe Vegas Golden Knights are heading into the playoffs with an abundance of confidence, winning the Pacific Division and ranking second in the Western Conference. Although most of the team is under contract beyond this season, some are not, and that could bode well for the Golden Knights. 

The vibes were high, the crowd was loud, the colour was white.

And the home team got the win. 

Entering the game with an NHL-best 116 points in 82 games, the Winnipeg Jets came out and took the first game of the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs by a 5-3 final over the eighth-seed St. Louis Blues.

The Saturday night affair was the first scheduled game of the playoffs for any team, and it most certainly did not disappoint.

Kyle Connor scored the winner with just 1:36 remaining off a cross-ice pass from Mark Scheifele, while Connor Hellebuyck turned aside 14 of the 17 shots he faced for his first win of the playoffs. 

A chaotic first period saw four total goals scored, two per team. 

It was an up and down first period for trade deadline acquisition Luke Schenn. He was in the box to see the Blues score the game's opening goal, on a play that left Robert Thomas all alone in the high slot. He didn't miss, and beat Connor Hellebuyck just 39 seconds into the interference minor.

After Scheifele scored a power play goal just moments into a Jake Neighbours slashing call, Schenn set Jaret Anderson-Dolan up for a deflection, leading to Winnipeg's 2-1 lead. His long-range point shot was tipped by both Morgan Barron and Anderson-Dolan, bouncing past Jordan Binnington and into the Blues' net.

But then, Schenn was victimized on a bad bounce later in the period. He blocked a point shot but couldn't corral his rebound. It landed directly on the stick of Oskar Sundqvist, who quickly buried up high, past Hellebuyck, making it 2-2 before the period came to a close.

But before the clock his zeros, Neal Pionk found himself in the box for yet another suspicious call. All three of the first period penalties were questionable at best.

Again, the Blues struck, getting their second of the game shortly into the second. It was Jordan Kyrou who put a perfectly-placed wrist shot through traffic and into the net, making it 3-2 just 1:13 into the middle stanza. 

Kyrou's goal was the difference in the period, with St. Louis holding onto a 3-2 lead through 40 minutes of play. Winnipeg outshot the visitors 10-6 in the frame, pulling ahead to a 17-15 lead entering the third period.

Winnipeg tied things up on a gritty goal from first-line fill-in Alex Iafallo midway through the third. A power move from Scheifele behind the net saw Iafallo grab the puck in close and beat Binnington five-hole. 

Then, with just 1:36 remaining, Connor blasted his first of the postseason into the net - a goal that proved to be the game-winner. Once again, it was Scheifele who picked up the primary assist, helping the Jets to the 4-3 advantage. 

Adam Lowry got the insurance marker, banking a missed Mason Appleton dump in into the empty net, sealing the deal on a Game 1 victory. 

Some minor fisticuffs ensued, but it was the Jets that came out on top 5-3. 

Game 2 goes on Monday night, with the Jets and Blues facing off at 6:30 PM central time. The game will be aired live on Sportsnet.