The Grand Rapids Griffins are on the brink of elimination.
The Texas Stars beat the Griffins, 4-2, on Monday in Game 2 of the best-of-five AHL playoff series at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids.
Texas leads the series 2-0 with three chances to close out the series at home. Game 3 is Friday in Cedar Park.
Michael Brandsegg-Nygard had a goal and an assist, Sheldon Dries had the other goal and Jack Campbell made 27 saves for the Griffins.
Maple Leafs beat Panthers in Game 1
William Nylander scored twice in the first period before adding an assist as Toronto built a big lead before holding on to beat the Florida Panthers 5-4 on Monday night in the opener of the second-round series.
Matthew Knies and Chris Tanev each had a goal and an assist, and Morgan Rielly also scored for the Maple Leafs. Max Pacioretty and Jake McCabe each had two assists.
Anthony Stolars stopped eight of the nine shots he faced before leaving in the second period with an undisclosed injury. Joseph Woll stopped 17 shots in relief.
Seth Jones, Eetu Luostarinen, Uvis Balinskis and Sam Bennett scored for the Panthers, and Brad Marchand and Carter Verhaeghe each had two assists. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 24 shots.
Florida beat Toronto in five games in the second round in the 2023 playoffs on the way to reaching the Stanley Cup Final. The Panthers went one step further last year when they won the Cup for the first time in franchise history.
Game 2 is Wednesday back at Scotiabank Arena, before shifting to South Florida for two games.
Oilers, Golden Knights could be budding rivalry
Las Vegas and Edmonton are separated by nearly 1,500 miles and though rivalries often are based on geography, there’s nothing like the heat of the NHL playoffs to create animosity between teams.
The Oilers and Golden Knights meet Tuesday night at Vegas in Game 1 of their Western Conference series, the second time in three seasons they’re facing each other in the second round.
Edmonton certainly hasn’t forgotten about letting its 2023 series against the Golden Knights get away. Vegas broke the second-round series tie by winning Games 5 and 6 to advance and ultimately take the Stanley Cup.
“You’ve got to learn from your failures, and that was one of them,” said Oilers center Connor McDavid, a three-time Hart Trophy winner. “We definitely changed some things system-wise, but it was a good learning experience for sure.”
The Oilers have a different coach this time, Kris Knoblauch is now on the bench instead of Jay Woodcroft. Edmonton also is a deeper team, though it still leans heavily on McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, one of three finalists for the Hart this year.
Bruce Cassidy remains in charge of the Golden Knights, and though lessons can be drawn from that 2023 series, he said even the best plans can be put to rest depending on what happens in Game 1 and beyond.
Much of the Vegas core remains intact, though it’s not quite the same Golden Knights team from two years ago with players such as Jonathan Marchessault having moved to other locales.
But there has been a mindset established since the first year of the organization when the Golden Knights made the 2018 Stanley Cup Final before losing in five games to Washington. This is their fifth appearance in the second round for the 8-year-old franchise.
Such enormous success so quickly has made Vegas one of the league’s more polarizing teams.
“It seems like it annoys most of the hockey fans,” Cassidy said. “I guess that’s what happens when you do well. It’s probably the same in other sports. … To me, I look at it as a respectful annoyance because it means you’re doing something right. That’s the part I think the organization should be proud of.”
Game within the game
McDavid and Draisaitl might be the league’s most dynamic duo, and Knoblauch will have to decide if they will play together or be on separate lines.
“I’m sure throughout the series we will see both scenarios,” Knoblauch said.
Cassidy’s general rule in his three years in Vegas is to roll through his four lines to keep team chemistry intact and not match up lines.
“They have a couple of players that are exceptions to the rule, so you’re keeping an eye on that,” Cassidy said. “No disrespect to the rest of the group, but those guys are MVPs of the league, so you have to be mindful when they’re coming over the boards to try to sort of get the matchup you prefer.”
Hill’s big break came in Edmonton
Adin Hill became the Golden Knights’ starter when he was called to replace the injured Laurent Brossoit in Game 3 of that 2023 series at Edmonton. Hill then helped lead Vegas to the championship before last season sharing duties with Logan Thompson.
With Thompson in Washington, Hill is the unquestioned starter and shined in the final three games of the first-round series against Minnesota. He had a 2.08 goals-against average and a .918 save percentage, all Golden Knights victories.
Hill said he didn’t necessarily consider going in for Brossoit the turning point in his career, “but it’s cool to reflect on that.”
Pickard nearly a Knight
Calvin Pickard started 31 games for the Oilers this season and the final four of the first-round series against the Kings. Edmonton won all four and Pickard has a 2.81 GAA and .898 save percentage over that span.
He nearly was an original Golden Knight. Pickard was taken in the 2017 expansion draft from Colorado and even held a contest for fans to design his helmet. But Vegas claimed Malcolm Subban off waivers from Boston and soon after Pickard was traded to Toronto.
Knoblauch wouldn’t commit to staying with Pickard or going back to Stuart Skinner in this series.
“See you tomorrow,” Knoblauch said Monday.
From the beginning
William Karlsson was on that first Golden Knights team and has been a mainstay since. He moved from center to wing over the final three games of the first-round series against Minnesota to play with Jack Eichel and Mark Stone and help the Golden Knights win all three and eliminate the Wild.
“Pretty good players I was playing with, so made it easy,” Karlsson said.
Cassidy said he knew he wouldn’t get any blowback from Karlsson when he asked him to switch.
“No maintenance,” Cassidy said. “He’s going to do what’s best for the team and he gets to play with Jack and Stoney. That’s kind of a nice perk. Those are guys with the puck a lot. They make plays, so if that’s where he lands, he’s just going to play. That’s who he is. If he ends up back in the middle checking McDavid for seven straight games or whatever it is, that’s what he’s going to do.”
GM Blake parts ways with Kings
Rob Blake is out after eight seasons as the Los Angeles Kings’ vice president and general manager.
The Kings announced a mutual parting with Blake on Monday, four days after Los Angeles lost to Edmonton in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs for the fourth consecutive season. Blake was working on a three-year contract extension that concludes this summer.
Blake built a consistent regular-season winner with the Kings, but the team failed to win a playoff series during his tenure. Los Angeles tied its franchise records this season with 48 victories and 105 points while finishing second in the Pacific Division, but the Oilers eliminated the Kings yet again, this time in six games.
“Reaching this understanding wasn’t easy, and I appreciate Rob’s partnership in always working toward what is best for the Kings,” team president Luc Robitaille said in a statement. “Rob deserves a great deal of credit and respect for elevating us to where we are today. He has been an important part of the Kings and will always be appreciated for what he has meant to this franchise.”
Blake was a Hall of Fame defenseman during a playing career spent mostly with the Kings, although he won his only Stanley Cup title with the Colorado Avalanche. Blake, whose No. 4 is retired in the rafters of the Kings’ downtown arena, retired in 2010 and joined the Kings’ front office during the 2013-14 season, Los Angeles’ second Stanley Cup championship campaign.
He replaced Dean Lombardi, who built the two championship-winning teams, as the Kings’ GM in April 2017. Blake led the Kings back to relevance after a three-year playoff absence, and they went 309-238-71 in his eight seasons despite failing to win a division title.
But the Kings lost in the first round of the playoffs five times during Blake’s tenure, winning just eight total games in those five series. Los Angeles has exited in each of the past four seasons at the hands of Connor McDavid’s club, unable to withstand the Oilers’ offensive onslaught.
Los Angeles won the first two games of its series against Edmonton last month, but then lost four in a row to crash out of the playoffs yet again amid growing fan discontent.
“It’s a hard day,” captain Anze Kopitar said Monday. “I’ve known Blakey for 20 years now. He was my teammate before he was our GM, but more importantly, he’s our friend. I think he did a good job building this team. I think we showed it this year. It (stinks) to see that we didn’t deliver and didn’t move on, and he paid the price for it, really. He’s a very exceptional human, and looking back now, he’s done a lot for me as a player, as a GM, as a mentor. At least for a little bit next year, it’s going to be weird not having him around.”
Blake fired head coach Todd McLellan and promoted assistant Jim Hiller in February 2024 during a difficult stretch. Hiller led the Kings to two standout regular-season finishes, but no postseason advancement.
Moments after Blake’s departure was announced, Hiller said he hadn’t spoken to Robitaille about his future.
“I’ll be talking with Luc at some point, I’m sure, but I do understand whenever there’s change like that, significant change, there’s usually more,” said Hiller, who is 69-37-10 in 1 1/2 seasons in his first NHL head coaching job.
The Kings’ next general manager will have several significant decisions to make beyond Hiller’s fate, but the two veteran pillars of the team’s roster from the championship years could remain in place.
Kopitar said Monday he will return in the fall for his 20th season with the club, while 17-year veteran defenseman Drew Doughty has two years left on a high-priced contract after missing much of the current campaign while recovering from a preseason injury.
Blake repeatedly took big swings to acquire top-end talent during his tenure, trying anything in his power to build a championship roster. He had big hits and big misses.
Blake traded three solid players to Winnipeg in June 2023 for center Pierre-Luc Dubois, who made it only one poor season into a lavish eight-year contract before being offloaded to Washington for veteran goaltender Darcy Kuemper – who made the Dubois debacle look better by becoming a Vezina Trophy finalist this season.
Blake also traded promising young defenseman Brock Faber in a package for Kevin Fiala, although the Swiss forward has largely delivered the goals sought by Los Angeles, including a team-leading 35 this season. Blake also traded away Jonathan Quick, the Kings’ Conn Smythe Trophy winner in 2012 and the goalie of both championship teams.
Blake’s draft history is not impressive, although he landed center Quinton Byfield at No. 2 overall in 2020 and found defensemen Brandt Clarke and Jordan Spence.
Capitals, Hurricanes have ‘no secrets’
There is a huge difference between how the Carolina Hurricanes and the Washington Capitals try to score goals.
The Hurricanes have by far the highest shot volume in the NHL playoffs, while the Capitals led by NHL career goal-scorer Alex Ovechkin are more selective and use their defense to generate offense by forcing turnovers. When it comes to defending, the divisional rivals who meet in the second round beginning with Game 1 on Tuesday night at Washington mimic each other.
As Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said, “We play the exact same way.” That makes the series a showdown with “no secrets,” veteran Capitals defenseman John Carlson said.
“There’s no surprises,” his coach, Spencer Carbery, said Monday after practice. “We just know the ins and outs of a lot of their systems because we play the same thing. .. It just becomes two teams (of) who can do it better and who can do it more consistently for a long period of time.”
The Hurricanes and Capitals each went into the playoffs with home-ice advantage and won their first-round series, against New Jersey and Montreal, respectively, each in five games. The teams have been idle for nearly a week.
They last played a series in 2019, won by Carolina in seven.
“We’re definitely ready,” said Sebastian Aho, who led Carolina in scoring against the Devils with eight points and is now a father after his wife gave birth to the couple’s first child Friday. “We’re definitely rested. We’ve been sharp. We’ve been practicing well. It’s going to be a good fight, but we’re ready for it.”
Special teams in round 1
The Hurricanes thrived on the power play in round 1, stopping all 15 Devils power-play tries. Carolina is the only playoff team to check in at 100% on the PK while also scoring a shorthanded goal.
The power play was an area that has been a concern for years. Not this time. Carolina converted 6 of 19 chances, scoring at a rate of 31.6%, fifth-best in the first round, after clicking at just 14.9% over the previous six playoff appearances.
The Capitals, who allowed the Canadiens to go 5 of 15 on the power play to rank 13th of 16 teams at 66.7% on the kill, have their hands full. It helps to have big forward Aliaksei Protas back from an extended injury absence.
Strome and Ovechkin
Dylan Strome, a point-a-game producer during the season, led Washington in scoring in the first round with nine points. The only player who averaged more? Three-time NHL MVP Connor McDavid.
Strome’s contributions may fly under the radar on a team with Ovechkin and Tom Wilson, but Carbery credited Canadian broadcasters for recognizing the 28-year-old center’s huge impact on the series.
“He should get that recognition because what he’s done offensively,” Carbery said. “He had a great first round, and he deserves a ton of credit for why we are where we are.”
So does Ovechkin, who scored four goals and had some big hits among his 19 over five games, an impressive feat at age 39.
“He has the ability to to change the game with a hit, with a goal, with a big play, with a blocked shot,” Wilson said. “That’s what leaders do: They step up in the tough moments and put their body on the line.”
Deep lines
Since the Hurricanes dealt Mikko Rantanen at the trade deadline, they’ve relied on their forward depth to keep the pressure on with an aggressive forecheck and puck-control philosophy. Fourth-line center Mark Jankowski illustrated that against the Devils.
Brind’Amour tweaked his forward groupings to insert Jankowski – a trade-deadline addition who had eight goals in 19 regular-season games with Carolina – over Jack Roslovic, and it helped at even strength and on the penalty kill. Brind’Amour said Jankowski’s “direct” style is suited for the playoffs, so it seems likely the Hurricanes stay with him to start this series.
“Obviously I wanted to be in there right away,” Jankowski said. “But we have such a good team and our depth is something that we take a lot of pride in. It’s a huge strength of ours.”
Getting heathier
Carolina should have No. 1 goaltender Frederik Andersen back after he was knocked out of Game 4 of the first round, giving way to backup Pyotr Kochetkov for the rest of the series. Andersen also has a fresh contract extension. Center Jesperi Kotkaniemi shoudl be back after taking a stick to his right eye late in Game 5, drawing the penalty that paved the way for Aho’s winning goal.
Washington got a scare when goalie Logan Thompson left Game 3 at Montreal with an injury, but he returned a few nights later and was excellent in stopping 132 of 143 shots in the series.
“He was awesome all series, including when I ran him over,” Strome said. “He bounced back pretty good from that, so I’m very thankful for that.”
The Capitals got Protas back at the end of the first round after missing three weeks with a skate cut to his left foot.
Canucks say X account compromised
The Vancouver Canucks said their official account on the X social media platform was compromised on Monday.
The NHL team sent out a statement saying to “disregard any recent posts” and that it was working with the platform to resolve the issue.
The statement comes after a post showing a video of billionaire Elon Musk announcing a $20 million cryptocurrency giveaway was pinned to the top of the Canucks’ feed. Musk is the owner of the X platform.
Replies were turned off for the post.
The Canucks X account appeared to be operating normally before that.
Earlier messages included a promotion of Monday’s NHL draft lottery and an announcement that defenseman Marcus Pettersson was joining Sweden’s team at the world hockey championship.
Second round playoff schedule
Eastern Conference
Capitals vs. Hurricanes
▶ Game 1: Tuesday at Washington, 7
▶ Game 2: Thursday at Washington, 7
▶ Game 3: Saturday at Carolina, 6
▶ Game 4: Monday, May 12 at Carolina, 7
▶ Game 5: x-Thursday, May 15 at Washington, TBA
▶ Game 6: x-Saturday, May 17 at Carolina, TBA
▶ Game 7: x-Monday, May 19 at Washington, TBA
Maple Leafs vs. Panthers
(Toronto leads 1-0)
▶ Game 1: Toronto 5-4
▶ Game 2: Wednesday at Toronto, 7
▶ Game 3: Friday at Florida, 7
▶ Game 4: Sunday at Florida, 7:30
▶ Game 5: x-Wednesday, May 14 at Toronto, TBA
▶ Game 6: x-Friday, May 16 at Florida, TBA
▶ Game 7: x-Sunday, May 18 at Toronto, TBA
Western Conference
Jets vs. Stars
▶ Game 1: Wednesday at Winnipeg, 9:30
▶ Game 2: Friday at Winnipeg, 9:30
▶ Game 3: Sunday at Dallas, 4:30
▶ Game 4: Tuesday, May 13 at Dallas, 8
▶ Game 5: x-Thursday, May 15 at Winnipeg, TBA
▶ Game 6: x-Saturday, May 17 at Dallas, TBA
▶ Game 7: x-Monday, May 19 at Winnipeg, TBA
Golden Knights vs. Oilers
▶ Game 1: Tuesday at Vegas, 9:30
▶ Game 2: Thursday at Vegas, 9:30
▶ Game 3: Saturday at Edmonton, 9
▶ Game 4: Monday, May 12 at Edmonton, 9:30
▶ Game 5: x-Wednesday, May 14 at Vegas, TBA
▶ Game 6: x-Friday, May 16 at Edmonton, TBA
▶ Game 7: x-Sunday, May 18 at Vegas, TBA
