The Edmonton Oilers can advance to the second round of the playoffs — and eliminate the Los Angeles Kings from the post-season picture for a third straight year — with win tonight in the Alberta capital.
And the Dallas Stars can take a 3-2 lead in their first-round series if they can manage to beat the Vegas Golden Knights on home ice, which so far hasn't happened.
Here are five things to know about the NHL playoffs:
WE'RE BRINGING GAME 6 BACK
American entertainer Justin Timberlake brought his Forget Tomorrow World Tour to Rogers Arena on Monday. The Vancouver Canucks were hoping to do the same last night.
Instead, the Canucks will have to forget yesterday and focus on Friday when they get another shot to wrap up their first-round series with the Nashville Predators.
Defenceman Nikita Zadarov gave the Canucks a 1-0 lead at 3:11 of the third period and excited fans starting making victory party plans. But Roman Josi tied it at 7:15 and Alexandre Carrier's goal at 12:46 won it to spoil the celebration and trim the series deficit to 3-2.
The Preds, unlucky to lose both games at Bridgestone Arena, have a chance to force a Game 7 showdown with a win Friday.
AVALANCHE BURY THE JETS
The Winnipeg Jets, playing perhaps their best hockey since a series-opening 7-6 victory, became the first Canadian team ousted from the Stanley Cup playoffs when they lost 6-3 to the visiting Colorado Avalanche last night.
Tied 3-3 in the third period, and trailing the best-of-seven series 3-1, the Jets applied all kinds of pressure, but Mikko Rantanen scored his first two goals of the post-season four minutes apart to polish off Winnipeg's short post-season run.
Emotional bench boss Rick Bowness said he was proud of the Jets' Game 5 efforts, and hoped the hard lessons learned from the series will serve the team well going forward.
ALL THE WYATT STUFF
The Dallas Stars aim to do something radically different in their first-round series tonight when they host the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 5 at American Airlines Center — win at home.
So far it's been a "victories for the visitors" playoff between the Western Conference's top dog and the defending Stanley Cup champions. Vegas won the first two games in Dallas, and Dallas bounced back with a two-game sweep in Sin City.
Perhaps lost in all of that hoopla has been the rise of the Stars' 20-year-old centre Wyatt Johnston, who hails from Toronto.
Johnston has become the fifth player in Stars' history to record 10 post-season points at age 20, a list that includes Mike Modano with 21. Johnston is also sixth on a list of most career playoff goals before age 21 with seven. Patrick Kane and Sidney Crosby are on the list, each with nine. Jordan Staal is No. 1 with 13.
CAN OVIE CATCH GREAT ONE?
Alex Ovechkin packed up his gear for the year yesterday after he was held pointless — and almost shot-less — as the wild-card Washington Capitals lost four straight to the Presidents' Trophy winning New York Rangers.
He was asked about his future and the fact he's 42 goals shy of Wayne Gretzky's NHL record of 894. The Caps' captain said if he stays healthy and the team's talent improves it's possible to catch the Great One. But he admitted this past season was his most challenging yet.
The Great 8 had 31 goals in 79 regular-season games, including 23 in his final 36 games.
BACH TO BASICS
Edmonton defenceman Cody Ceci is focused on stopping the Los Angeles Kings tonight as his squad went over the keys in practice to eliminating the California crew for the third straight post-season.
Speaking of keys, Ceci only seems to spend time a lot of time on the bench when it's under the piano he plays when the Oilers are at home.
Saying he plays everything from classical to rock, he has collected three pianos in his journey through the NHL, noting they're almost harder to move than rival players in front of his net.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 1, 2024.
The Canadian Press
