Connor Hellebuyck was pulled from the Winnipeg Jets' crease for the third time in four games as the St. Louis Blues won Game 6, 5-2.
The first period came to an end with the Blues leading 1-0, thanks to Phillip Broberg's first goal of the playoffs. The Jets were heavily outplayed in the opening frame, throwing just two shots at Jordan Binnington.
Morgan Barron had thought he tied the game, but an offside challenge reversed the call. The Jets did, however, tie the game with Cole Perfetti's first of the playoffs. But just like Games 3 and 4, the Jets imploded the Blues took over, scoring four unanswered goals. Nathan Walker got it started before, Brayden Schenn, Cam Fowler and Alexey Toropchenko added to the lead.
As the third period began, it was Eric Comrie who took over the Jets' net, replacing Hellebuyck for the third consecutive road game. Nino Niederreiter scored his second goal of the playoffs to cut the Blues' lead to 5-2, but the thoughts of a comeback were short-lived, as the Blues shut down every attempt the Jets made.
Hellebuyck allowed five goals on 23 shots, and his replacement, Comrie, stopped all four shots he faced. While he wasn't challenged too often, when called upon, Binnington delivered, turning away 21 of the 23 shots he saw.
The Jets and Blues will return to Winnipeg for a do-or-die Game 7 on Sunday.
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Tampa Bay Lightning forward Anthony Cirelli has been named a finalist for the Frank J. Selke Trophy, awarded annually “to the forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of…
Viktor Arvidsson (33), Mattias Janmark (13) and Vasily Podkolzin (92) celebrate after scoring during the second period during Game 6 of their playoff series against the Kings Thursday at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. (Andy Devlin / NHLI via Getty Images)
This one is a little different, though, because this was a season that had inspired rare promise before it ended Thursday in the same painful monotony as the last three, with the Oilers going on and the Kings going home.
And that’s particularly disappointing since the Kings tied franchise records for wins (48) and points (105) and set one for home victories (31) this season. Yet it ended with the team breaking another record: it has now gone 11 seasons without winning a playoff series, the longest drought in team history.
A postseason in which the Kings seemed primed for a long run lasted just six games, the last a 6-4 loss to the Oilers at Rogers Place that leaves the organization once again shuffling off into the offseason plagued by doubt, frustration and one big question.
Edmonton Oilers Adam Henrique and Trent Frederic celebrate after scoring in the first period against the Kings during Game 6 of their playoff series at Rogers Place on Thursday. (Andy Devlin / NHLI via Getty Images)
What happened?
“Having the season that we had, the group of guys in this locker room, and know, to come up short again? It sucks,” said captain Anze Kopitar, who scored the team’s final goal of the season. “It's frustrating. This one hurts a little more.”
Hurts a little more because the Kings lost more than a game and a series Thursday. They lost a golden opportunity. Rarely has a postseason set up so favorably for the team.
After acquiring Andrei Kuzmenko at the trade deadline, the Kings went on a tear, winning 17 of their final 22 games, averaging better than 3.7 goals a game. The once-punchless power play became potent; goalkeeper Darcy Kuemper went 15 games allowing two or fewer goals, the second-longest streak in the NHL’s expansion era; and the team sprinted past the Oilers to place second in the Pacific Division, its best finish in nine seasons.
No team finished the season hotter nor healthier than the Kings.
That also meant the Kings, who had the best home record in the NHL in the regular season, would have the home-ice advantage for the first round of the playoffs. And if they finally got past an Edmonton team that limped into the postseason wounded, they would have faced Las Vegas in the second round and a team from a quartet of Winnipeg, Dallas, Colorado or St. Louis in the Western Conference final.
The Kings were a combined 8-4-1 against those teams in the regular season. It wasn’t outlandish to think the Kings had a shot at the Stanley Cup Final.
“It’s all going according to plan,” one team executive whispered early in the playoffs. And then it wasn’t, with the Kings once again tripping over a familiar hurdle.
“One hundred percent it’s a missed opportunity,” Kings coach Jim Hiller said. “We had great buy-in from our players. We believe we could have won the series. We believe we should have won the series. We didn't.
“So that's the bottom line.”
The Oilers have proven to be the kryptonite to even the most Superman-ish of Kings teams, with Edmonton the place the Kings postseasons go to die.
The teams have met in the playoffs 11 times since 1982 with the Oilers winning nine of those series, including the last four in a row. The last time the Kings beat Edmonton in the playoffs, in 1989, Wayne Gretzky led the team in points, current general manager Luc Robitaille was in his third season as a player while Kopitar, the only player on this year’s team who was even alive then, was still in diapers.
This year’s loss may be the most painful of the lot though.
The Kings had the home-ice advantage, one of the league’s top three goaltenders in Darcy Kuemper and the top power play in the playoffs. They led in every game.
Yet they still lost in six.
The turning point in the series came in late in Game 3. After dominating the first two games at home, the Kings were leading the first game in Edmonton with about seven minutes to play when disaster struck. After the Oilers’ Evander Kane tied the game on a controversial goal, Hiller challenged the call, claiming goalie interference. He lost, Edmonton was awarded a power play, and 10 seconds later the Oilers went in front to stay.
In Game 4 the Kings led with less than 35 seconds to play when Quinton Byfield failed to make a simple clearance out of the Kings’ zone. The Oilers pounced on the mistake to tie the game, then won it in overtime. They never lost again.
“You can pinpoint Game 3, we didn’t close out,” Kopitar said. “Definitely Game 4. It's a completely different series if we go home up 3-1 versus 2-2. But could’ve, should’ve, would’ve.”
The Kings simply wore down, especially on the blue line. That’s why they gave up a playoff-worst 15 goals in the third period and overtime in the series. The Oilers scored just 12 times in the first and second periods combined.
Yet asked in his postgame news conference if he regretted how he used his defensemen, Hiller was curt.
“No,” he said.
And with that he walked away from the podium for the final time this season.
Edmonton Oilers fans celebrate their team's playoff series win over the Kings Thursday at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. (Andy Devlin / NHLI via Getty Images)
Then there’s the offense. Kopitar and Adrian Kempe combined for 19 points in the series, but had just one goal and two assists combined after Kane’s tying goal in Game 3.
“The chances were there. We just couldn’t convert,” Kopitar said. “Credit to their goalie, he made some good stops. Credit to their team. The last couple of games they played a solid checking game and made it harder on us to generate stuff.
The five new 94 overall master set players are Andrei Vasilevskiy, Larry Murphy, Ryan McDonagh, Bryan Trottier, and Jarome Iginla.
16 additional Stanley Cup base cards were added, led by 93 overall Thomas Steen, Olaf Kolzig, Deryk Engelland, and Borje Salming and 92 overall Sergei Zubov, Cory Sarich, and Bernie Nicholls.
Six new Wildcard players were added and are playable, all are 94 overall. The players are David Pastrnak, Nikita Kucherov, Connor McDavid, Jacob Markstrom, Zdeno Chara, and Cale Makar.
Four new Game Day players, two 91 overall players from the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars are also available, Evgenni Dadonov and Cody Ceci for the Stars and Josh Manson and Jonathan Drouin for the Avalanche.
Each master set Playoff player costs three 91+ Playoff cards and any two 91+ cards.
Players can trade any three 89+ Playoff cards for a 91 Playoff card or any three 87+ cards for an 89 overall Playoff card.
There are Collectible sets where players can trade in Stanley Cup Collectibles for player packs. Players can trade in 30 Stanley Cup Playoff Collectibles for a 91 overall untradeable or 93 overall BND card.
The first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs is wrapping up, and there has been no shortage of entertaining highlights and storylines for hockey fans to enjoy.
This week on The Hockey Show, co-hosts Roy Bellamy and David Dwork discussed much of the happenings that have occurred so far during an exciting start to the postseason.
Several of the opening round series’ are complete, and we already know our second round matchups in the Eastern Conferene.
The Metro-winning Washington Capitals will host the Carolina Hurricanes while the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Atlantic Division champs, will face last season’s Stanley Cup winners, the Florida Panthers.
To discuss the postseason and current NHL news, including the New York Rangers hiring Mike Sullivan and the amazing season from rookie Macklin Celebrini, Roy and Dave welcomed San Jose Sharks host and reporter for NBC Sports California Tara Sloan to the show.
As many of you know, Roy and Dave have been closely following the journey of the team they cover, the Panthers.
Last week, Florida advanced past the opening round of the playoffs when they eliminated their cross-state rivals, the Tampa Bay Lightning, in five games for the second consecutive postseason.
Joining this week’s show to discuss Florida’s mission to repeat, their opening round win, becoming a new dad and lots more was Panthers forward Eetu Luostarinen!
You can check out both interviews and the full show in the video below:
Tampa Bay Lightning star right winger Nikita Kucherov is one of three finalists for the Hart Trophy, underscoring his excellent regular-season performance this year.
But after the Lightning were eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs by the Florida Panthers Wednesday night, Kucherov’s output does not compare well to his regular-season showings.
For years now, Kucherov has produced a tremendous amount of offense. In the past three regular seasons, he’s generated a combined 267 assists and 378 points. He won the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL’s best point-producer in the past two years and he recorded at least 30 goals each time. This season alone, he had 1.55 points per game. You can’t deny him his due respect as a needle-mover.
However, the playoffs are a different story for Kucherov since winning the Stanley Cup back-to-back and losing in the final the year afterward.
In the past three playoffs, where the Lightning have won a combined four games in three playoff rounds, Kucherov has only one goal.
The 31-year-old Russian has put up 17 points in 16 playoff games in the past three years, which is still quite a drop from his regular-season rates, but posting just a single goal in that span is a problem.
Can you imagine the outcry that would be taking place if Kucherov were a Toronto Maple Leaf, and he only posted one goal in three playoff years when his team loses in the first round? Leafs fans and media would be tearing him apart.
Even if you give Kucherov a bit of a break for earning only $9.5 million per season, that’s still a lot of money you’re giving to a player who has put up a combined 111 goals in the past three regular seasons but can’t make it translate into playoff success.
It would be one thing if the Lightning scored bucket-loads of goals this spring, and Kucherov was responsible for creating that offense as a playmaker extraordinaire. But against the Panthers, Tampa Bay managed only seven goals in its four losses.
Now, Kucherov told reporters on Friday that he suffered a left hand extensor injury on Feb. 25, and that he did not want to miss any games.
“The trainers did a hell of a job getting me to games, and we go through some hard time,s but it is what it is,” Kucherov said. “Guys are playing with a bunch of bruises and something else, but I just wanted to play hockey and enjoy the moment and be with the guys.”
For an injured player, 11 goals and a league-leading 36 points in 24 games since Feb. 25 is very impressive. But he also proved he can still play and produce at an elite level, which means those expectations remain in the playoffs.
And to Kucherov’s credit, he has been a strong playoff performer throughout his career. He has 53 goals and 118 assists for 171 points in 152 career playoff games. He had 34 points in 25 games in 2019-20 en route to the Stanley Cup, 32 points in 23 games to defend the title and 27 points in 23 games when they just missed out on the three-peat. He had seven or eight goals in each of those years.
As one of the world’s best players, Kucherov deserves credit for what he’s been able to do in the regular season and in past post-seasons. But he shouldn’t be protected from criticism.
Athough he deserves to be in the mix for the Hart Trophy as one of the NHL’s most valuable regular-season performers, a fair estimation of his playoff production indicates that he’s been nowhere near as dynamic when the games matter most from 2022-23 to now.
It was a bittersweet sight for Senators supporters to see a packed house cheering their team off the ice for the 2024–25 season after a hard-fought series.
What’s important to remember for Senators fans is that this team took a major step this season — one worth celebrating. They could have rolled over when the series was at 3–0, but instead, they put a scare into the first-place Leafs. Game 5 in Toronto ended in boos and fans fleeing early, despite the Leafs still holding the series lead.
The “Brady sucks” chants gave way to silence.
This young, inexperienced team started a “here we go again” narrative against the heavily favoured Leafs. This was the moment the Senators put the league on notice: they’re back and won’t be an easy out for years to come. Three overtime games, one blowout each way, and a Game 6 tied late — this series could have gone either way.
The Leafs played an excellent series and were a formidable opponent. Full credit to them for blocking out the noise and closing out the series after an insane 1–13 record in elimination games during the Matthews/Marner era before Game 6. Their rebuilt defense made it very difficult to get rebounds and traffic in front of goalie Anthony Stolarz. Their power play was absolutely lethal and struck quickly and often.
The Leafs may be 5–0 against the Senators in the playoffs, but the vibes were never this positive in those previous defeats. Those series featured two teams at similar points in their contention windows. Now, the Leafs are likely down to their final opportunity with this core, while Ottawa is just opening its window. This was likely always going to be the end result when comparing the skill and experience of the two teams.
Still, there are small consolations for Ottawa fans. This series didn’t end in a sweep, and Toronto broke its second-round playoff drought against Tampa two years ago — not against the Sens. Either point would have led to a full season of Leafs fan ammunition in “friendly” social media banter.
Speaking of Ottawa fans — major credit goes to them for finally taking their building back from the invading horde of Leafs supporters. Thanks to grassroots efforts from the team and die-hard supporters like Kevin Lee, tickets ended up in Senators fans' hands. It was a three-game party in Kanata. The regular season may return to business as usual, but those playoff nights gave the team real home-ice advantage — and the players noticed.
Captain Brady Tkachuk wore his emotions on his sleeve in his final media scrum: “You just feel the support... I just really wanted to do it for them. They were absolutely amazing.”
A far cry from a year earlier, when he said: “I just finished Year 6 and haven’t done a thing... I’m sick and tired of losing. At the end of the day, I’m just disappointed.”
Tkachuk, who led the team with 7 points in 6 games, will be an even better leader for having felt the sting of this experience and the love and support of the fans. He and the rest of the squad have plenty of reasons for optimism — even if moral victories might feel a bit hollow immediately after losing a series to their provincial rivals.
Young stars Tim Stützle (5 points) and Jake Sanderson (OT winner in Game 4) had their coming-out parties. Core pieces like Thomas Chabot and goalie Linus Ullmark settled in after shaky starts. Tyler Kleven showed playoff readiness. Even Drake Batherson, despite some untimely penalties, will be wiser from the experience.
The window is now open for contention. Minor tweaks could mean winning one more OT or one-goal game. With a supportive owner and a patient GM, they’ll look to carry this year’s momentum forward.
New addition Dylan Cozens will benefit from a full camp. Young goalie Leevi Meriläinen looks ready to platoon with Ullmark.
Coaching was a major bright spot. Travis Green made adjustments that helped the team rally in the series. His defensive structure created buy-in where others failed, frustrating top opposition forwards all year.
One more fast forward to complement Stützle, and a tough right-handed defenseman to support the strong left side and the penalty kill, would be welcome. Strong veteran playoff experience in either role would be a bonus — and GM Steve Staios likely knows it.
Much ink has been spilled about Ottawa’s lack of top-end prospects, but this group has made wise choices with key picks. Carter Yakemchuk looks like a future top-four righty. Mid-rounders like Blake Montgomery, Tomas Hamara, and Stephen Halliday are all trending upward. If they repeat the success of savvy drafting like Ridly Greig, Shane Pinto, Meriläinen, and Batherson — and if the NHL eases its first-round penalty — the farm could rebound quickly. Expect the team to keep their pick this year and delay the penalty.
It’s been so long since Ottawa saw playoff hockey, many forgot what it brings: heartbreak on the way to greater success. This year’s mission was to take a big step — and they did. From the energized fans to the steady management and finally playoff-tested players, the light at the end of the tunnel has arrived. They’ve given every reason to believe another leap is coming.
Maybe it’ll even mean a long-overdue victory in the next Battle of Ontario.
The Chicago Blackhawks have had a ton of great players over the years, whether the team was winning or not. For a short time, one of those great players was the wonderful Marc-Andre Fleury.
Over his legendary NHL career, Fleury also spent time with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Vegas Golden Knights, and Minnesota Wild. Most recently, he was part of a great duo in Minnesota.
On Thursday night, Fleury’s career came to an end with a first-round series loss to one of his old teams in the Golden Knights. Vegas beat Minnesota in six games.
By his final season, Fleury served as the backup to Filip Gustavsson. Fleury only played in relief for Gustavsson in game five as the latter left the game due to illness. That would end up being his final in-game appearance of his NHL career.
Once the handshake line between Vegas and Minnesota ended, Fleury stepped off the ice for the final time as an NHL player. His personality, smile, and skills will be missed by all hockey fans.
This won't be the end of Fleury in the public eye, though. He is someone who could end up in the front office of an organization or in hockey one way or another. He will also have special ceremonies in Pittsburgh over time as they celebrate their run during the Sidney Crosby era.
Fleury will be in the Hockey Hall of Fame one day soon, now that he is officially hanging them up. He leaves the game with a record of 575-339-92. Those 575 wins are the second most in NHL history (Martin Brodeur). He also had a career 2.60 goals-against-average, a .912 save percentage, and 76 shutouts.
Fleury is a three-time Stanley Cup champion, a winner of the Jennings Trophy, and a Vezina Trophy recipient. All of these accolades put him in the stratosphere of the game's all-time greats.
The Blackhawks were lucky to be a small part of it. He played for them during the pre-trade deadline portion of the 2021-22 season. Fleury appeared in 45 games for Chicago before being traded to Minnesota. He was a great warrior for a team going through some massive change.
On his way out of the league, Fleury was nominated for the NHL's Bill Masterton Trophy, which goes to the player voted to best exemplify the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey. This is a well-deserved honor.
Now that his career is over, his fans can look forward to seeing what the next chapter of his life is. On the ice and off, he was one of the NHL's supreme talents. The league was a better place for having him in it for so long.
It is award season in the NHL. As the playoffs continue, the list of finalists for various end-of-year awards continues to trickle out. It has been a tough season for…
