Nashville Predators general manager David Poile insists he's open to anything that will improve his team ahead of the 2020-21 season.

"Some players aren't going to be brought back. ... We're not satisfied, and going to make some changes. We have to manage better, John (Hynes) and his staff have to coach better, and players have to play better," Poile said, according to NHL.com's Mike Morreale.

"All options are on the table for making our team better for the 2020-21 season," he added, according to the team's director of digital and radio, Thomas Willis.

The Predators were knocked out of the qualifying round after falling to the Arizona Coyotes in four games. Nashville has failed to advance past the second round of the playoffs since reaching the Stanley Cup Final in 2017.

Poile criticized the team's second line, which often featured Matt Duchene, Kyle Turris, and Mikael Granlund. Duchene, who inked a seven-year, $56-million deal last summer, managed only 42 points in 66 regular-season games and two points in four postseason contests.

"The second line was a weak point of our team," Poile said. "They did not get it done."

Poile did praise the play of Norris Trophy candidate Roman Josi and the resurgence of his top line comprised of Ryan Johansen, Filip Forsberg, and Viktor Arvidsson.

Nashville has just six players in need of new contracts this offseason, including forwards Granlund and Craig Smith as well as defensemen Yannick Weber and Dan Hamhuis.

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Troy Stecher's game-winning blast in the third period of the Vancouver Canucks' series opener versus the St. Louis Blues carried significant weight for the defenseman.

The goal not only helped Vancouver take a 1-0 series lead over the defending Stanley Cup champions, but it was Stecher's first tally since his dad died at 65 this past Father's Day.

Stecher blasted a slap shot past Jordan Binnington five minutes into the third period and immediately pointed to the sky in celebration.

"It's been tough, obviously, at certain moments throughout this process, but I'm thankful to be surrounded by my teammates," Stecher said after the game, according to NHL.com's Dan Rosen.

"Obviously, I had a couple seconds there to reflect on my dad and the biggest thing is everybody showed support on the bench instantly and kind of gave me a tap, and it just kind of motivated me to keep it going."

Stecher's teammates understood the importance of the moment.

"What Troy had to go through during the summer was just devasting, so I just wanted to go and hug him," said Canucks star Elias Pettersson.

Bo Horvat and J.T. Miller added insurance markers later in the third period to seal Vancouver's win.

Game 2 is scheduled for Friday at 6:30 p.m. ET.

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The Vancouver Canucks topped the St. Louis Blues 5-2 and the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Montreal Canadiens 2-1 in Wednesday's late NHL playoff games. Below, we break down each team's defining round-of-16 storyline and examine how the events of Game 1 shape their outlooks for the rest of their respective series.

Canucks: How will Hughes, Pettersson fare against top competition?

Engineering offense has never daunted Calder Trophy co-favorite Quinn Hughes or spectacular sophomore center Elias Pettersson. Both of the goals and seven of the 10 points they united to score in their qualifying-round series against the Minnesota Wild came on the power play, but they also rolled at five-on-five, leading Vancouver's regulars with Corsi For marks exceeding 56%.

The Wild were spirited, experienced challengers, but they aren't the Blues, who combine the coveted "been there" factor - having, you know, won the Stanley Cup last year - with scoring depth and firm defensive play. They pose a terrific test for Vancouver's cornerstone youngsters (Hughes is 20, Pettersson 21) who both appeared in their fifth playoff game Wednesday, and for so many essential Canucks players in the midst of their postseason debuts.

It took 4:29 - the moment at which Bo Horvat opened the scoring with a power-play tally - for Hughes and Pettersson to prove the Blues' track record wouldn't cow them, and they reaffirmed that truth periodically. Hughes had the primary assist on Horvat's goal, while his deft puckhandling and precise passing were treats to watch. Pettersson's hustle kept the puck in the offensive zone for that same tally, and he scored and rang a mean half-slapper off the crossbar on later power plays.

The Canucks' youngest, brightest stars are hardly the only sources of skill on the roster - look no further for proof than at Horvat walking Vince Dunn ahead of his second goal of the night - and they aren't the primary reason Vancouver now leads by a game. Neither Hughes nor Pettersson was effective at five-on-five in Game 1; indeed, Pettersson, Brock Boeser, and J.T. Miller's line struggled against David Perron, Ryan O'Reilly, and Zach Sanford, failing to muster a shot in that phase of the game.

But Vancouver's lethality on the power play - the Canucks were 3-for-6 on the night - rendered all of that moot. Against St. Louis' penalty kill, the league's 18th-best this season, that clip might even be sustainable for a few more games. Undoubtedly, so too is the sight of Hughes and Pettersson showing they can hang with the big boys.

Blues: Were round-robin woes a blip or a bad omen?

Days after the Western Conference round-robin phase concluded, observers were left trying to process a damning dichotomy. The Blues were unbeaten in regulation this season (27-0-6) when they led after two periods. Naturally, they led each of their first three contests in Edmonton through 40 minutes - and bungled all three leads in the third.

These collapses followed different scripts. Nazem Kadri of the Colorado Avalanche defied reality by breaking a 1-1 tie at the last possible millisecond. The Vegas Golden Knights netted three goals in the final frame to validate a dominant overall effort. The Dallas Stars wiped out a 1-0 shutout with 32 seconds left and then edged St. Louis in a shootout. The common thread through each of those round-robin games: The Blues didn't score a third-period goal. That trend persisted Wednesday as Vancouver turned a 2-2 deadlock into a rout.

The advanced metrics suggest St. Louis was the slightly better team at five-on-five in Game 1. The Blues' rough treatment of Hughes and Pettersson - Perron, in particular, made a point of targeting them for body shots away from the puck - may well enervate the duo as the series progresses. But St. Louis generally lacked discipline and let the Canucks' top power-play unit run amok, a grim combination.

No doubt Jacob Markstrom was solid in the Vancouver net, as he was for the most part against the Wild. But separate from anything the Canucks did, something ails the defending champions right now. No mitigating factor - not the quality of the teams they've faced in the bubble nor their opportunity to even the series Friday - makes that any less worrisome.

Canadiens: Can Price, other play-in heroes steal another series?

That scoring leaders Phillip Danault, Brendan Gallagher, and Tomas Tatar picked an inopportune time to go goalless didn't hurt the Canadiens in their play-in series against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Carey Price's .947 save percentage over four games was pristine. Several Habs players - the defensive vanguard of Shea Weber, Jeff Petry, and Ben Chiarot, mainly, plus secondary forwards Paul Byron, Artturi Lehkonen, and Jesperi Kotkaniemi - were two-way forces, which helped Montreal clinch the signature upset of the qualifying round.

Some of those play-in stalwarts were among the better players on the ice in Game 1 against the Flyers. Weber's power-play goal was the latest sign of his reliability - rejuvenation, even - as he gets set to turn 35 on Friday. Price now seems to make a pantheon-caliber save every couple of contests; his sprawling stick denial on Scott Laughton was the finest of his 29. Petry, Brett Kulak, and the Lehkonen-Danault-Byron line posted strong possession numbers that powered Montreal's big lead in that category, an advantage the Habs attained by laying siege to Carter Hart's net in the second period.

Despite attempting 56 shots at five-on-five to Philadelphia's 45, Montreal wasn't clinical or especially accurate. The Flyers wound up with a few more shots on target (31-28); the Habs only put five on net in the first period and six when they were down a goal in the third frame.

The Flyers are a complete team, and they looked the part early and late, moving the puck smoothly and with speed as they dictated the run of play. They resiliently nullified Weber's tying goal with their own tally 16 seconds later, and they halted Montreal's second-period charge by locking the door from there.

Basically, they appear less fallible than Pittsburgh, making it clear that Montreal's finishing must improve. For now, Canadiens head coach Claude Julien ought to be encouraged that much of his lineup can take the game to Philly, in spurts if not consistently.

Flyers: Are they really the class of the East?

If a thematic tie binds Montreal and Vancouver in these series, it's their shared status as Canadian underdogs facing favorites with questions to answer or something to prove. St. Louis was the Western Conference's top performer in the regular season but hasn't won a game since March, with the team's round-robin defeats consigning it to the No. 4 seed.

The Flyers authored a climb in the opposite direction, surging from fourth to first in the Eastern Conference at the expense of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Washington Capitals, and Boston Bruins. It's been eight years since Philadelphia won a playoff round, but that history might be all that's feeding doubts about the Flyers' readiness to contend. Everything about their form of late - their 11-3 scoring margin in round-robin play; the 9-1-0 (and 19-6-1) tear on which they closed the now-distant regular season - fits the profile of a bona fide powerhouse.

Comparing positional units head to head, Philadelphia's lone anticipated weakness in this series was in goal: Hart, whose 22nd birthday is Thursday, enjoyed a good but not stellar second NHL season. Through three starts in Toronto, his save percentage stands at .966 on a mere three goals allowed - and none at even strength in Game 1. If he achieves what Matt Murray couldn't and continues to keep the Habs at bay, the Flyers' worst-case scenario will be that much easier to avoid.

The 2018-19 Blues famously rose from last place in the NHL on Jan. 3 to a Stanley Cup title at season's end. The 2020 playoffs remain young, and Montreal might yet make this a grueling series, if not a long one. But little about Game 1 suggested the Flyers aren't capable of riding their own great second half to the vicinity of the promised land.

Nick Faris is a features writer at theScore.

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Washington Capitals head coach Todd Reirden called out New York Islanders captain Anders Lee for his hit that knocked Capitals forward Nicklas Backstrom out of Game 1 on Wednesday.

"It was a late hit on a player who wasn't expecting it," Reirden said, according to The Washington Post's Samantha Pell. "It was predatory."

Lee caught Backstrom with a hard hit just minutes into the game and was immediately met by Capitals rearguard John Carlson. Lee was handed a minor for interference, while he and Carlson were both assessed roughing penalties in addition.

Carlson also voiced his displeasure with the hit following the contest: “It looked real dirty to me," he said, per Pell.

Islanders bench boss Barry Trotz, who coached Backstrom and the Capitals from 2014-18, came to the defense of his captain.

"Anders is making a hockey play," he said, per The Athletic's Arthur Staple. "I don't know if Nick was ready or not. Anders is a strong guy, the hit was made and they responded, he and Wilson fought and that was probably the end of it. We'll see."

The Islanders netted four unanswered goals - including three in the third period - to win the series opener 4-2.

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Carolina Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind'Amour was both miffed and bewildered about how the officials handled the Boston Bruins' second goal in Boston's double-overtime victory over Carolina in the opener of the first-round playoff series Wednesday.

"This is why the league's a joke, in my opinion, on these things," Brind'Amour told The News and Observer's Luke DeCock. "That one is a crime scene."

Charlie Coyle gave the Bruins a 2-1 lead less than five minutes into the second period. However, earlier in the play, Boston's Nick Ritchie appeared to hit the puck out of midair with his glove. Bruins forward Anders Bjork then dislodged it from under Hurricanes goaltender Petr Mrazek's glove, and Coyle deposited the puck into a virtually open net.

The Hurricanes challenged the play, citing Ritchie's hand pass, according to DeCock.

Referee Chris Lee said Mrazek had possession, thereby negating the hand pass and serving as an admission that the on-ice crew initially incorrectly deemed it a goal after not blowing the whistle when the netminder closed his glove on the puck.

However, Brind'Amour said postgame that neither Lee nor fellow referee Francis Charron would elaborate about the call on the ice, making the bench boss unsure about which aspect of the play to challenge.

"They came to me, and I said, "If he has possession of it then it's goalie interference. If he doesn't have possession then it's a hand pass," Brind'Amour said. "It's one of the two. I don't know what you're calling on the ice. All he has to do is tell me. 'We're calling it non-possession (by Mrazek),' then we're challenging a glove-hand pass. If it's possession, then goaltender interference. I said, 'Tell me the call on the ice.' They wouldn't do it when I (said), 'What is the call?' So, I had to flip a coin."

The head coach continued: "I said, 'What was the call on the ice?' and he said, 'You've got to call one or the other.' It should be so easy. If they said the goalie had it, then it's an easy call. They wouldn't tell you. It makes no sense. I know we weren't the better team, but if that goal doesn't go in, do we win that game? I don't know."

The NHL later fined Brind'Amour $25,000 for his remarks. It also issued a conditional fine for the same amount, which the league will collect in addition to future discipline if it deems him to display "similar inappropriate behavior" through Aug. 12, 2021.

The league's official stance was that the netminder had possession.

"Hurricanes goaltender Petr Mrazek controlled the puck prior to Charlie Coyle's goal, which nullified the potential hand pass," it said in its explanation.

Officials assessed Carolina with a minor penalty for the failed review but Hurricanes winger Brock McGinn scored 21 seconds later to tie the game.

Bruins star Patrice Bergeron netted the winner 73 seconds into double overtime.

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Nicklas Backstrom's day came to a premature end several shifts after New York Islanders winger Anders Lee caught the Washington Capitals center with a hard hit Wednesday.

Lee hit Backstrom early in Game 1 of the first-round playoff series, after which Washington blue-liner John Carlson immediately came to his teammate's defense.

The officials assessed Lee an interference minor for the hit and also gave both Lee and Carlson roughing penalties.

Later in the period, Capitals agitator Tom Wilson dropped the gloves with Lee.

Backstrom initially played through the hit, remaining on the ice for nearly a minute of game time afterward and then logging five more first-period shifts.

However, he didn't emerge for the start of the second frame, and the Capitals later ruled him out for the rest of the contest.

Backstrom ranked second in assists among Washington skaters (42) and third in points (54) during the regular season.

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The Washington Capitals have their Norris Trophy finalist in the lineup once again.

John Carlson was deemed good to go for Game 1 of the Capitals' opening-round playoff series against the New York Islanders, his club confirmed prior to puck drop.

The 30-year-old missed all three of the Capitals' round-robin games after suffering an injury late in an exhibition win over the Carolina Hurricanes on July 29.

He led all NHL blue-liners with 75 points during the regular season and topped all Washington skaters in ice time, logging 24:38 per game.

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