It was a tough night at the office for the San Jose Sharks. Not only were they blown out 5-0 by the St. Louis Blues in Game 5 of the Western Conference Final, but they took a few bumps along the way.
The Sharks were hit hard with the injury bug during the contest; at one point in the third period, Joe Pavelski, Erik Karlsson, Joonas Donskoi, and Tomas Hertl were all in the dressing room, leaving San Jose's bench shorthanded.
Karlsson appeared bothered by his already injured groin and the star blue-liner's ice time diminished as the game wore on. After playing 7:29 in the opening frame, Karlsson logged just 3:03 in the second period and did not come out for the third.
Pavelski was shaken up after taking a hard hit from Blues defenseman Alex Pietrangelo early in the third period. The Sharks captain headed directly to the room and did not return.
Blues forward Ivan Barbashev caught Hertl up high with a first-period hit. It's unclear if the hit was the cause, but like Karlsson, Hertl saw his ice time decrease throughout the game and he did not emerge from the dressing room for the third period.
Just to go back a bit, this was the Barbashev hit on Hertl from the first period. Hertl did play the rest of the period + the second. He did not returning for the third #SJSharks#STLBluespic.twitter.com/uvz76dyrBF
Donskoi took a puck to the face in the third stanza on a clearing attempt by teammate Justin Braun. He was the only injured Shark to return to the contest.
San Jose will hope to have everyone healthy with its season on the line in Game 6 on Tuesday night in St. Louis.
San Jose Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson is in the lineup for Game 5 of the Western Conference Final against the St. Louis Blues, head coach Peter DeBoer confirmed prior to the contest.
Ever since the NHL introduced its current playoff format in 2013-14, the number of new teams to qualify for the postseason each year has been one or the other. This season, for instance, the Islanders, Hurricanes, Blues, Flames, and Stars supplanted 2018's Flyers, Devils, Ducks, Kings, and Wild. Five in, five out. The year prior, it was seven in, seven out.
Sure, it's only five years of data, but it's still notable that between 16 and 23 percent of the playoff field has changed each spring. So, which of this year's 15 non-playoff teams are poised to break through and compete in the 2020 postseason?
Keeping in mind two high-impact events on the horizon - June's draft and July's free agency period - let's identify three teams that could make the leap.
Florida Panthers
The roster may be top-heavy, but it's young and talented. The coach may be new, but Joel Quenneville is revered as one of the best to ever run an NHL bench. The general manager may have his work cut out for him, but Dale Tallon certainly has incentive to build a winner. And the club's owner may have trouble filling the arena with warm bodies, but Vinnie Viola has publicly said he's willing to spend.
With Aleksander Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau, Vincent Trocheck, and Keith Yandle already on the roster, the Panthers are heading into the draft and free agency with a full head of steam. They own the 13th overall pick and eight other selections, and appear to be a front-runner in the battle to land free-agent headliners Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky.
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All of that is producing a sense of cautious optimism around a club that missed the playoffs by 12 points this spring and by one point two years ago. By all accounts, the Panthers are fanatical about being competitive in the NHL, which bodes well for their future postseason chances.
Of course, Florida must address a few sore spots to earn just its third postseason berth since 2001. At the top of the list: goal suppression, with a focus on goaltending. In 2018-19, only three teams allowed more goals per game, and only the Sharks ended up with a lower team save percentage.
It'll also be interesting to see which way the power play trends under a new coaching staff. Paul McFarland, who ran the league's second-best power play, was fired in April alongside bench boss Bob Boughner.
Quenneville will undoubtedly provide stability. The potential acquisitions of Panarin and Bobrovsky, plus depth pieces through free agency or trades, would bolster Florida's middle-of-the-pack lineup. It's far from a guarantee, especially in a deep Atlantic Division. But if the Cats follow through with a transformative offseason, the playoffs are attainable.
Montreal Canadiens
Re-entering the playoff field is often dependent on consistent performances from cornerstone veterans and continued growth from important youngsters. The Canadiens, who missed the Eastern Conference cutoff by two points this season, line up quite well with this simple-but-tested theory.
No. 1 defenseman Shea Weber had a strong campaign, but he appeared in only 58 games because of offseason surgery. There's no reason to believe the captain can't bounce back to his old, dominant form. Over the short term, nobody should be worried about Weber, 33, or 31-year-old Carey Price, who posted a .918 save percentage in 2018-19.
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The emergence of newcomers Max Domi and Tomas Tatar, the goal-scoring prowess of Brendan Gallagher, and Philip Danault's Selke Trophy-caliber play will give the Habs a solid group of vets next season. Jonathan Drouin is an X-factor of sorts. He's 24 and produces at a second-line rate, yet it doesn't feel like he's reached his ceiling yet.
Perhaps most important, Jesperi Kotkaniemi is just getting started. He was largely forgotten in a rookie class stacked with difference-makers at every position, and he went about his business in Montreal amid little fanfare. His counting stats - 11 goals and 23 assists in 79 games - tell only a part of the story, because the Finnish center is still raw, still learning the North American game, and was playing down the lineup this season.
If the 18-year-old can continue on his upward trajectory, and if incoming rookie Ryan Poehling can mimic what Kotkaniemi accomplished in Year 1, suddenly Montreal looks dynamic at forward. That boost up front should place this team firmly in the playoff conversation as long as Price and Weber stay healthy.
Arizona Coyotes
If any team got the short end of the stick in 2018-19, it was the Coyotes. Coach Rick Tocchet's group lost the third-most man games to injury, and those injuries were sustained by some marquee players. Starting goalie Antti Raanta appeared in only 12 contests, and center Nick Schmaltz played in only 17 after coming over in a November trade. Both ultimately required season-ending surgery.
The rest of the Coyotes willed their way into playoff contention, staving off elimination until the third-last day of the regular season. Heading into a presumably busy offseason, this is an upstart squad with depth on the blueline and a tremendous goaltending duo - Darcy Kuemper didn't get enough recognition for his stellar work in relief of Raanta - but with a dearth of shooting talent at forward.
Perhaps John Chayka, one of the most active GMs in the NHL, will seek a trade in order to supplement All-Star forward Clayton Keller. The club's top pick in 2018, Barrett Hayton, is progressing. And in free agency, maybe a veteran UFA, such as Jordan Eberle or Gustav Nyquist, can be lured to sunny Arizona. The team has cap room and can't spin its wheels forever.
A clean bill of health for key contributors Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Jakob Chychrun would be a good start. Some five-on-five scoring would go a long way. The Western Conference isn't exactly stacked with sure bets. Why not Arizona in 2020?
Add a legendary figure to the mix in the Ottawa Senators' head coaching search.
Talk in league circles on Saturday was that Senators general manager Pierre Dorion is expected to make Patrick Roy his final interview, reports Postmedia's Bruce Garrioch, who adds it's believed the team could speak with Roy next week.
A Senators source confirmed to Sportsnet's John Shannon that Roy will interview for the position.
Ottawa fired former head coach Guy Boucher on March 1.
The Senators have already interviewed interim head coach Marc Crawford, Troy Mann of their AHL affiliate, Pittsburgh Penguins assistant Jacques Martin, Toronto Maple Leafs assistant D.J. Smith, Dallas Stars assistant Rick Bowness, and Providence College's Nate Leaman, according to Garrioch.
Roy served as the Colorado Avalanche's bench boss from 2013-14 to 2015-16. He resigned unexpectedly in summer 2016 and later returned to lead the QMJHL's Quebec Ramparts.
The Hall of Fame goaltender went 130-92-24 during his three seasons coaching the Avalanche, guiding Colorado to a playoff appearance in 2014. He won the Jack Adams Award as the NHL's coach of the year that season.
Kaapo Kakko believes the New Jersey Devils could select him first overall at the NHL draft next month.
The Finnish prospect has long been the presumptive No. 2 pick behind American forward Jack Hughes. But Kakko is excelling at the World Championship in Slovakia, and he recognizes that could sway the Devils into selecting him.
"This is a big thing for me for the draft," Kakko said at the tournament through a translator, according to NHL.com's Aaron Vickers. "I think I can be the first (pick)."
Kakko is among the leaders in goals at the worlds with six markers over five games. He's outshining Hughes, who collected his first point at the tourney on Saturday.
"I've played well," Kakko said. "I haven't paid much attention to Jack Hughes and his game, but I'm confident I've been able to let everyone see my skills and the level of my game. It's not going to be an easy choice for the teams."
Hughes topped NHL Central Scouting's final list of North American skaters, while Kakko finished atop the final rankings for international skaters.
"It's great that people are interested in me and my game, of course," Kakko said. "I'm glad I've been able to play well and execute. There are so many great NHL players in this tournament and it's huge I've been able to play well against them. I'm hoping I could play in the NHL."
No player from Finland has been chosen first overall in the NHL draft. The Winnipeg Jets took Finnish forward Patrik Laine second in 2016 after the now 21-year-old said he was worthy of the No. 1 selection. The Toronto Maple Leafs drafted Auston Matthews with the top pick that year.
Former Ottawa Senators assistant general manager Randy Lee and the team are being sued for negligence by a hotel shuttle bus driver who says Lee harassed him last June in Buffalo, N.Y., according to The Associated Press.
The 19-year-old driver said Lee inappropriately touched himself while making lewd comments and rubbing his shoulders while still a member of the Senators.
The lawsuit states that the plaintiff "was injured externally, internally, and permanently in and about the head, body, limbs, and nervous system so that he became and will continue to be disabled and will continue to suffer pain, discomfort, disfigurement, distress, and psychological adjustment, distress, and trauma."
The suit says the Senators should be found liable because the club was aware of Lee's alleged history of lewd behavior and didn't take action to stop it. A bar and grill called 716 is also listed as a defendant, as the suit says the establishment's employees continued to serve drinks to Lee after he was visibly drunk.
An attorney for the Senators said the organization would "vigorously fight" what he called a "frivolous" civil complaint. Lee's lawyer declined to comment, while the owners of 716 didn't provide an immediate comment.
Lee resigned from his position with the organization in August and pleaded guilty in December for a criminal violation stemming from the incident.
