All of the Eastern Conference series are now 3-1 after Tampa Bay inexplicably erased their own inspiring two-goals-in-11-seconds surge by conceding two goals in 11 seconds late in Game 4 against the Panthers.
Out west, by contrast, every series reached 2-2 before the Stars were the first to three wins last night in Game 5.
Granted, it’s still hockey — playoff hockey at that — so any of these series could’ve easily turned a different direction. Ottawa could’ve won two OT games instead of losing two before finally getting one and avoiding the sweep. L.A. could have and probably should have gone up 3-1. Anything could happen in any game in the Vegas-Wild series.
But overall, things are playing out close to expected, with the East featuring also-rans while the West is filled with “any of these teams could go all the way” wars. Even the lowest-seed Blues were one of the league’s top teams over the second half.
Anyway, tonight features four games, with two Eastern series that could end (Toronto, Carolina) and two Western series that will break their 2-2 ties (Vegas-Minnesota, L.A.-Edmonton).
Islanders News
- As teams get eliminated, GM candidates will become available (and at least one coach, too), so the Isles can’t afford to wait too long to make their moves. [Newsday]
That, and the question of whether the new GM will want to tear down or retool and want a new coach or keep Patrick Roy leads us to…
Elsewhere
- …Mike Sullivan is out as Penguins coach. Apparently he wanted a faster approach to the rebuild, and Kyle Dubas wants to go slow and patient. [PensBurgh]
- What’s next for the Penguins? Well, that’s a bad headline because it doesn’t talk a bit about that; it does say Sullivan has his pick of teams and will be missed by the Aging 3. [Athletic]
(Let us take a moment to reaffirm that the Penguins have not won a playoff series since 2018, a run of horror initiated by the Islanders’ 2019 sweep. Ahhh, delicious.)
- The Lightning must “turn the page” after an excruciating late loss to the Panthers, this after they rallied quickly after Aaron Ekblad’s uncalled headshot on Brandon Hagel. [NHL]
- The three Vezina finalists were announced, and each is facing first-round angst: Connor Hellebuyck is under fire again after getting pulled two games in a row; Andrei Vasilevskiy was victim to that shocking late loss last night in Florida; and Darcy Kuemper was standing on his head but even that wasn’t enough to keep the Kings from blowing Game 4 and a shot at a 3-1 lead. [Sportsnet]
- As far as “I’m confident and will be better” statements go, Hellebuyck’s was not exactly Shakespeare: “I’ve studied goaltending extremely hard. I’ve probably studied the most out of anyone in this world, so I know what to do…” Okay. [Sportsnet]
- Craig Berube called Artem Zub’s chicken-wing elbow on the Kid Who Didn’t Win the Calder a headshot. Toronto’s #91 will be fine though. [TSN]
- The NHL fined Montreal’s Arber Xhekaj and Washington’s Dylan McIlrath for warmup shenanigans. [TSN]
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