2 days agoToronto Maple Leafs defenseman Timothy Liljegren (undisclosed) will draw back into the lineup for Game 5 on Tuesday versus the Boston Bruins. The Swede didn't dress for Game 4 on Saturday, as head coach Sheldon Keefe said Liljegren wasn't 100 percent healthy as the reasoning for the scratch. It doesn't appear Liljegren agrees with that notion. "I don't know, I feel good," Liljegren said. "I was a bit surprised (to come out), but it is what it is." Liljegren is expected to take the spot of T.J. Brodie, who drew in for the first time in the series on Saturday. The 2017 first-round pick turns 25 years old on Tuesday and notched three goals and 23 points on 62 shots on goal with another 116 blocks across 55 games this season.
--Brenton Kemp - RotoBallerSource: David Alter
2 days agoToronto Maple Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll is expected to be the team's starting goaltender for Tuesday's Game 5 against the Boston Bruins. Woll didn't take part in the morning skate while both Ilya Samsonov and Martin Jones did, suggesting Woll will indeed be between the pipes for his first start of the series. Woll replaced Samsonov for the third period of Game 4 on Saturday and turned aside all five shots he faced in his team's 3-1 loss. The 25-year-old took over the starting role from Samsonov early in the season but suffered a high-ankle sprain in early December and missed nearly three months. He worked to a 2.94 goals-against average and a .907 save percentage across 25 regular-season appearances.
--Brenton Kemp - RotoBallerSource: David Alter
2 days agoToronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews (illness) is a game-time decision for Tuesday's Game 5 contest against the Boston Bruins. The superstar has been dealing with an illness that forced him out of the third period of Saturday's 3-1 Game 4 loss. "Obviously he was on the ice today, so he's working through things to try to make himself available to play," Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said. "No determination at this time." The head coach declined to answer when asked if there is something else other than the illness bothering Matthews. Matthews led the league with 69 regular-season goals but has just a single tally through the first four games of this series.
--Brenton Kemp - RotoBallerSource: NHL.com
3 days agoNew York Islanders forward Matt Martin (lower body) will not dress for Tuesday's Game 5 against the Carolina Hurricanes. The 34-year-old traveled with the team to Raleigh but will not suit up for Tuesday's contest. Martin has been sidelined for the past two games due to a lower-body issue. "Still the same. Day-to-day," head coach Patrick Roy said on Monday. "He's a leader on our team. so guys want to be around him for sure." Martin tallied four goals and eight points to go along with 43 penalty minutes across 57 games during the regular season.
--Brenton Kemp - RotoBallerSource: NHL.com
3 days agoBoston Bruins defenseman Derek Forbort (undisclosed) could be an option for the team ahead of Tuesday's Game 5 tilt against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The 32-year-old has been sidelined due to a pair of undisclosed injuries and hasn't played in a game since March 2. He then underwent surgery and played in a pair of AHL contests and practiced with fellow blue-liner Parker Wotherspoon on Monday. The veteran appeared in just 35 games for the Bruins this season, tallying four assists and a plus-eight rating in that time. The Bruins can close out the series with a win on home ice on Tuesday night on home ice.
--Brenton Kemp - RotoBallerSource: NHL.com
3 days agoNew York Rangers center Mika Zibanejad collected two points on Sunday while helping his team to a four-game sweep of the Washington Capitals in their first-round playoff series. The Swede notched two assists on the night, the first of which came on a power play with just 16 seconds to go in the first period. He notched another power-play helper on Artemi Panarin's third-period, game-winning goal just 3:21 in the third period. It was the third straight two-point game for the veteran who finished the series with a goal and six assists through four games. The Rangers will now take on the winner of the Carolina Hurricanes and New York Islanders series with the 'Canes sporting a 3-1 series lead with Game 5 set for Tuesday in Carolina.
--Brenton Kemp - RotoBallerSource: ESPN
3 days agoNew York Rangers forward Artemi Panarin tallied the game-winning goal in Game 4 of the team's first-round series against the Washington Capitals, eliminating the Caps in a four-game sweep. The Russian beat netminder Charlie Lindgren with a wrister 3:21 into the third period, notching his second point of the night in the process. It had been a pretty quiet series for Panarin prior to Game 4 as he had just one goal across the first three games and was held off the scoresheet entirely in games two and three. The Rangers will now face either the Carolina Hurricanes or New York Islanders in round two but it will likely be the Hurricanes who hold a 3-1 series lead over New York with Game 5 set for Tuesday in Raleigh.
--Brenton Kemp - RotoBallerSource: ESPN
3 days agoToronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews' status for Game 5 of the team's first-round series against the Boston Bruins is up in the air as the pivot continues to deal with an illness. Matthews has played through the issue for the last two games but was pulled by team doctors prior to the third period of Saturday's Game 4 loss. The Maple Leafs now trail the Bruins 3-1 in the series with Game 5 set to go Tuesday in Boston. "Not much of an update there (but) luckily, again, we've got a couple of days here," head coach Sheldon Keefe said on Sunday. "We thought the last couple of days would help us. For whatever reason it's not one of those run-of-the-mill, everyday type of illnesses that sort of come and go." The superstar has three point through the first four games of the series.
--Brenton Kemp - RotoBallerSource: NHL.com
3 days agoVancouver Canucks forward Brock Boeser notched a hat trick and willed his team to a monumental come-from-behind victory over the Nashville Predators to take a 3-1 stranglehold in the first-round on Sunday. Down 3-1 late in the third period, Boeser got the Canucks within one goal with his second tally of the game with less than three minutes remaining in the game. He then buried the tying goal with just eight seconds left in the final frame, sending the game to overtime before Elias Lindholm scored just 1:02 into the extra frame to hand the Canucks a 3-1 series lead. The outstanding performance carries over from a fantastic regular season that saw the 27-year-old record a career-high 40 goals and 73 points across 81 contests.
--Brenton Kemp - RotoBallerSource: NHL.com
3 days agoEdmonton Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner posted a shutout on Sunday as the Oilers took a 3-1 stranglehold on the Los Angeles Kings. Evan Bouchard's second-period power-play goal was all the offense in the contest as the Oilers go back home with a 3-1 lead and will look to put the Kings away on Wednesday. Skinner turned aside all 33 shots he faced and the Oilers won despite being outshot 33-13 in the contest. After allowing nine goals through the first two games of the series, the 25-year-old has yielded just a single tally over the last two contests, putting up a .987 save percentage in that time. He posted a 2.62 goals-against average and a .905 save percentage across 57 starts and 59 appearances during the regular season.
--Brenton Kemp - RotoBallerSource: NHL.com
4 days agoWinnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck struggled once again as part of a 5-1 loss in Game 4 of the team's first-round series against the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday. The veteran allowed four goals on 30 shots (.867 save percentage) and was pulled late in the game in favor of backup Laurent Brossoit. With the effort, the American has now allowed 19 shots over the first four games of the series, posting an .870 Sv% in the process. While the Avalanche led the NHL with 3.68 goals per game this season, Hellebuyck's poor postseason remains a surprise considering he posted a 2.39 goals-against average and a .921 Sv% across 60 games in the regular season. The Jets need a win on home ice in Game 5 on Tuesday to avoid elimination.
--Brenton Kemp - RotoBallerSource: ESPN
4 days agoColorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon and defenseman Cale Makar both notched a pair of points as part of a 5-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets in Game 4 on Sunday. MacKinnon assisted on both of Valeri Nichushkin's second-period tallies while Makar assisted on Nichushkin's first of three goals before scoring a beauty of his own with just under five minutes to go in the middle frame. MacKinnon now has a multi-point effort in three of the first four games of the series and seven total points in the series. As for Makar, the 25-year-old now has two goals and a hefty eight points across the first four games. Game 5 goes Tuesday as the series switches back to Winnipeg with the Jets needing a win to avoid elimination.
--Brenton Kemp - RotoBallerSource: ESPN
4 days agoEdmonton Oilers center Derek Ryan will enter the lineup for his 2024 postseason debut on Sunday for Game 4 of the team's best-of-seven series against the Los Angeles Kings. He will take the spot of center Sam Carrick on the fourth line. The veteran appeared in 70 regular-season games for the Oilers, notching five goals and 12 points in just 10:12 of average ice time per game. The 37-year-old didn't enter the league until the 2015-16 season and has tallied 81 goals and 203 points across 570 career games. He is skating in his ninth NHL season and also has 41 games of postseason experience under his belt, tallying three goals and nine points in that time.
--Brenton Kemp - RotoBallerSource: Daniel Nugent-Bowman
4 days agoColorado Avalanche goaltender Alexandar Georgiev was excellent on Sunday, turning aside 26 of 27 shots (.963 save percentage) he faced as part of a 5-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets. The Avalanche now hold a command 3-1 series lead ahead of Game 5 on Tuesday in Winnipeg. The Russian was beaten by Mason Appleton with roughly six minutes to go in the first period but was perfect from there on out. After allowing seven goals in a 7-6 Game 1 loss, the 28-year-old has allowed just five goals over his last three games, posting a .938 save percentage in that time. Georgiev paced the NHL with 38 wins this season, the second straight season in which he led the NHL in that department after posting a league-leading 40 victories a season ago.
--Brenton Kemp - RotoBallerSource: ESPN
4 days agoColorado Avalanche forward Valeri Nichushkin notched a hat trick in Game 4 on Sunday to help steer his team to a 5-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets. He gave his team a 2-1 lead midway through the second period before extending the lead to 4-1 with just 24 seconds left in the middle frame. The Russian would then deposit his third goal of the game into an empty net with 13 seconds to go in the contest. The veteran now has a goal in each game this series and a whopping six tallies through the first four games. Add in his two-goal game in the final regular-season contest and Nichushkin now has eight goals over his last five games. The Avalanche lead the best-of-seven series 3-1 ahead of Game 5 on Tuesday in Winnipeg.
--Brenton Kemp - RotoBallerSource: ESPN
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