NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – May 1, 2025
The Panthers and Capitals advance to the second round, the Jets push the Blues to the brink of elimination, the Ted Lindsay Award finalists are announced, the Hurricanes re-sign Taylor Hall, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.
RECAPS OF WEDNESDAY’S PLAYOFF GAMES
NHL.COM: The Florida Panthers continue their quest to repeat as Stanley Cup champions by downing the Tampa Bay Lightning 6-3 in Game 5 of their first-round series, eliminating the latter in five games.
Florida Panthers forward Eetu Luostarinen (NHL Images).
Eetu Luostarinen had a goal and three assists, Anton Lundell had a goal and two assists, and Sam Reinhart and Brad Marchand each collected two points for the Panthers. Gage Goncalves, Nick Paul and Jake Guentzel replied for the Lightning.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Panthers made quick work of their Florida rivals, neutralizing Tampa Bay stars Nikita Kucherov, Victor Hedman and Brayden Point. The last time the Lightning won a playoff series was the 2022 Eastern Conference Final.
The Washington Capitals eliminated the Montreal Canadiens with a 4-1 Game 5 victory, taking their opening-round series four games to one.
Tom Wilson and Dylan Strome each had two points, Alex Ovechkin scored his fourth goal of the playoffs, and Logan Thompson stopped 28 shots. Emil Heineman scored for the Canadiens. The Capitals will face the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Washington’s depth and experience made the difference in this game, as it did throughout this series. The underdog Canadiens have nothing to hang their heads over as they proved to be a difficult opponent for the Capitals.
This game was the final one for retiring Canadiens defenseman David Savard. He spent 14 NHL seasons with the Columbus Blue Jackets, the Lightning and the Canadiens, winning a Stanley Cup with the Bolts in 2020-21. He finished with 242 points in 870 regular-season games and 17 points in 62 playoff contests.
The Winnipeg Jets defeated the St. Louis Blues 5-3 in Game 5 to take a 3-2 lead in their first-round series. Kyle Connor had a goal and two assists, Mason Appleton collected three assists, and Vladislav Namestnikov and Nino Niederreither each had a goal and an assist. Nathan Walker tallied twice for the Blues.
This series returns to St. Louis for Game 6 on Friday, May 2, at 8 pm ET.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Winnipeg center Mark Scheifele left this game after the first period following hits from Blues forwards Brayden Schenn and Radek Faksa. Jets head coach Scott Arniel believes the Blues are targeting his players with dangerous hits. He had no update on Scheifele’s condition following the game.
HEADLINES
NHL.COM: Tampa Bay Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov, Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon, and Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar are the 2024-25 finalists for the Ted Lindsay Award, honoring the season’s outstanding player as voted by the NHL Players’ Association.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Kucherov won this award in 2018-19, and MacKinnon won last season. This is the first time Makar has been a finalist for this award.
SPORTSNET: The Carolina Hurricanes signed winger Taylor Hall to a three-year contract extension. The average annual value is $3.16 million.
Hall, 33, was acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks in January as part of a three-team trade that brought Mikko Rantanen to Carolina from the Colorado Avalanche.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Hall has fit in well on the Hurricanes’ second line, tallying 18 points in 31 regular-season games and three points in five playoff contests.
NHL.COM: Vegas Golden Knights forward Pavel Dorofeyev is a game-time decision when his club faces the Minnesota Wild in Game 6 of their first-round series on Thursday. He suffered an undisclosed injury during Game 5. The Golden Knights hold a 3-2 series lead.
DAILY FACEOFF: The Utah Hockey Club signed goaltender Jaxson Stauber to a two-year, two-way contract extension. He’ll earn $775K per season at the NHL level.
DETROIT HOCKEY NOW: Former NHL forward Phil Roberto died Wednesday at 76.
Roberto spent eight seasons in the NHL from 1969-70 to 1976-77 with the Montreal Canadiens, St. Louis Blues, Detroit Red Wings, Kansas City Scouts and Cleveland Barons. He spent the 1977-78 season with the Birmingham Bulls of the WHA. Roberto won a Stanley Cup with the Canadiens in 1971, finishing his NHL career with 75 goals and 106 assists for 181 points in 385 regular-season games, and 17 points in 31 playoff contests.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: My condolences to Roberto’s family, friends and former teammates.
Is this the end of the line for Jon Cooper.He s been with Tampa for a long time.It s been 3 years since Tampa has won a series. Just food for thought.
I would hold back on suggestions that a coach of a successful team may be fired because of failure to advance in the playoffs. Because of the flat cap, teams like the Lightening have been forced to trade away supporting type players, or let them walk, to stay cap compliant. With the cap finally going up, such teams have the opportunity to improve their secondary group. I would think that, if a fan like me (who isn’t a Tampa fan) can understand that, so can owners and GMs.
Paul Bowles,I never said fire Cooperate Iwas just insinuating that maybe he s becoming stale and needs a change of scenery. I said this because there are so many job openings. I never heard of Utah as a possibility until after my original comments
Cap has not been a friend to the Bolts. After 2004 they faced the strike year and the first cap, and were too decimated to defend. Much the same in the last three; plus the seeding has put them v. the Panthers. Leafs. With the traditional seeding they likely would have won a series or two. A complication in the Cooper situation is that he is the Canadian Olympic coach. Lightning have had a long time to prepare; would it be a good move for a new franchise. Lightning were thin; top six survived but the games were lost at the third and fourth lines, one can see this in the box score even if you didn’t watch the games.
And I’m not saying that you’re wrong, just that it’s probably a good idea to wait on the idea because of the situation, the last few years.
Happens to most successful teams, actually all of them, just depends how long it takes.
FLA will need to make some decisions this off season too and they have managed their cap really well. Locked up key guys long term and with the rising cap, those deal will age well barring injuries.
But seems like they will need to decide between Bennett and Ekblad, even though that decision seems to have been made already. Jones is playing great for them playing over 25 minutes a night. Ekblad at 20. They will still have to sign depth guys on the cheap, especially on D, and find a #2 tender for same.
Great flippin’ trade and having Jones at $7M for 5 more years is a steal if he keeps playing like this.
That saying about good D-men on bad teams gets proven again.
Bruins will. Take him
what’s it say that all Eastern conference series ended 4-1? less parity in that conference? or just weaker?
No sure though series went short most games were very tight. So I say hockey gods. Lucky bounce good breaks etc
Capitalize on the mistakes vs missing on them
Not quite all, mikep. The Ottawa-Toronto series is at 5 and could go to 7 if Ottawa can pull off a win tonight.
I don’t care about Ted Lindsey award at present. Makar needs to up his game and figure out if he wants the Avalanche to win this series. Same goes for many other players: necas, drouin, malinski, are absent as far as I can tell. No excuses, tired of hearing the lip service from the Avalanche super stars. Put up or shut up!!!
I believe I saw Phil Roberto play for Montreal Voyagers back in the day against Rochester Americans . Also, ” little M” peter mahovolich . I remember him this was when I first began watching hockey. My dad was going to buy me goalie equipment because I wanted to be a goaltender. Slow skater and too busy smoking weed. So, he nixed that, lol! Regardless, that makes me old now but I always loved hockey, the greatest sport.
Seems odd to be hashing out a contract extension in the middle of the playoffs
Ya Chrisms, not sure if I remember this happening before, but I forget lots of stuff.
The Jets signed a couple of key guys right before they started their series.
This might have just been a simple one like the Jets deals. Hall probably made it clear he wanted to stay, and they wanted to keep him. The team and the agent looked at the comparables, cut a deal that the agent knew Hall would likely accept, might as well get it done.
With veteran guys and both sides want the same thing it really shouldn’t be that hard if both sides are being negotiating in good faith. Is it really that hard when that is the case?
Not really. Neither GMs or player agents play the game. What probably happened was that Hall told his agent that he wanted to stay with the Canes, so get the best deal possible. When he had, all Hall had to do is sign some paperwork.
Granted, we don’t see this often, but Hall’s no longer a star player, so he was probably ready to be more flexible.
Scott Arniel crying about Scheifele, 6ft 3in 217, being targeted is a joke. This entire series he and other players have tied to engage Kyrou after every scrum. And Logan Stanley, 6ft 7in 231 has repeatedly gone after Snuggerud 6ft 1in 186 rookie, to the point that if Stanley wasn’t a complete cement head he would realize he’s embarrassing himself.
Cry harder Arniel. Although he is probably trying to take the spotlight off of his shaky goalie who let in 2 more softies last night.
I saw Phil Roberto many times when he played for the Blues and he was the ideal teammate who would do whatever the situation called for, making a play, taking or giving a hit, fighting, whatever. He was a big fan favorite as well. Rest in peace sir.
Can’t remember the last time the Habs lost a playoff series and I came away happy.
With 5 rookies in the line up, three of whom played a combined total of less than half a season, they acquitted themselves well.
As they have to work the newest of the newbies into their line up, and also integrate a couple of new D, they could have a rocky start to the season before the plane’s nose points up.
But I’m also heartened by their goaltending. At one point I agreed with ShoreOrrPark’s assessment that goaltending wasn’t that great, but both goalies played very well.
Hutson for the Calder. I’ve not seen such a small player be so effective. And I didn’t think he could play in the NHL with his frame. Doh!
Wait until next year!
And while Washington deserved to win, I wouldn’t be putting money on them in the next series. Ovie plays a good half sheet of ice, and can still rifle them. But he is slow and cheats defensively. PLD is another who was noticeable for being unnoticeable.
Ya LJ, Hutson going straight from NCAA to the NHL and having that type of success is rare. Even more so for a D. Has to win the Calder doesn’t he?
So are you thinking Reinbacher, Mailloux or both?
You’re right young D usually means mistakes, which can lead to losses. But it worked out with Hutson, so WTF do I know? Just the way it usually works, but sooner or later they need to play in the NHL.
I would still sign a vet to take minutes and just in case they need more seasoning, especially Reinbacher who is only 20 and 21 pro games in NA. You want that kid getting big minutes every night, in all situations, which would be really tough to do at the NHL level. But he seems like a poised guy with all the traits of a top pair type guy, so maybe he is ready to go.
Kinda what the Oil did with Broberg so he is ready to rock when he comes up full time. Just try not to expose him to an offer sheet.
I honestly feel this way about the Sens.
Much improved regular season and showing they can keep up with the Leafs. They were only blown out once, then 3 OT and then a shutout.
No matter how this series ends, I will be proud of these guys for the steps they gave taken and the growth they have shown.
theSaint, what many not realize is that, over the season, Ottawa went 7 – 3 against the teams that finished ahead of them in the Atlantic (Toronto, Tampa and Florida), outscoring them 27 – 23. And that included two 5-1 blowout losses – one to each Florida team.
Vs Florida they were 2 – 1. winning 3-1 and 3-0 and losing 1-5
Vs Tampa they were 2 – 2, winning 5-4 and 2-1 and losing 3-4 and 1-5
Vs Toronto they were 3 – 0 winning 3-0, 2-1 and 4-2
It was Buffalo and Montreal that gave them fits!
@George oh trust me, there is a part of me that is very relieved we did not meet the Habs in first round haha.
The Sens are definitely a better team than they get credit for. I am just honestly already very happy with what they have done and any further wins are icing on the cake for me!
Yeah, Ray, I am thinking of Reinbacher and Mallioux. And you are right, the Habs need another D with size and a forward who can add a physical element. Anderson was on his own, unless Xhekaj played. And then there is Beck and Roy and possibly Davidson from Laval. So early growing pains and a lot of roster shuffling.
Your Oil have houdini like qualities, which surely softens the blow of the Bs fate.
I can’t understand the Oiler King series LJ. When you look at the #’s the Oil have out chanced them by a wide margin in the series as a whole, but they were also making big errors and turnovers that turned into goals against. Didn’t get many big saves either.
When they lose, that is their M.O.
Then in 3rd period of game 4 and OT they took over. Game 5 for the whole game. Wasn’t close.
The last 5 periods looked like last years playoff Oilers. Especially Bouchard. The change is amazing. All of a sudden the intensity and focus is there.
The new line of Nuge, Hyman and Kane is rocking. Kane hasn’t played all year and has been great. Surprising.
If they stomp LA again tonight, then they’re back IMO. This city is into it again, big time. It’s a hockey town. If it was a Friday or Saturday I would head downtown and take it in. But too old for that on a work night!
Vegas is very good, if they get through, Oilers will give them a serious problem IMO.
And yes, I can still enjoy the playoffs!
I watched a fair amount of this series,, and commented to my brother that, too much of the time, both teams played so poorly that neither belonged in the playoffs. My brother responded by saying he turned a few of theses games off – unwatchable.
LJ Couldn’t agree more. I was at peace last night knowing that ultimately we lost to a better team but the future looks bright. And they did it without Laine and Dach. Just imagine the second line with a committed Dach centering a committed Laine and Demidov. Don’t burst my bubble, I am still allowed to dream!
LOL!
I watched a fair amount of this series,, and commented to my brother that, too much of the time, both teams played so poorly that neither belonged in the playoffs. My brother responded by saying he turned a few of theses games off – unwatchable.
Which series Iago – Mtl-Wash or Edm-L.A.?