NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – June 1, 2024

The Oilers push the Stars to the brink of elimination in the Western Conference Final, the latest on the Panthers and Rangers on the eve of Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final, and more in today’s NHL Morning Coffee Headlines.

GAME RECAP

NHL.COM: The Edmonton Oilers are a win away from reaching the Stanley Cup Final after beating the Dallas Stars 3-1 in Game 5 of the Western Conference Final, taking a 3-2 series lead.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored two power-play goals, Philip Broberg tallied his first career NHL playoff goal, and Evan Bouchard collected two assists for the Oilers. Wyatt Johnston replied for the Stars in the third period.

Edmonton Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (NHL Images).

The series returns to Edmonton for Game 6 on Sunday, June 2 at 8 pm EDT.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: This was the most complete game by the Oilers in this series. They broke through on the power play after going scoreless with the man advantage in the previous four games, stifled the Stars’ offense, and maintained their poise and discipline throughout this contest.

Meanwhile, the Stars continue to have difficulty at home in this postseason. Their best scorers struggled against the Oilers’ defense and they’re still looking for their first power-play goal in this series. This was the first time in this postseason that Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger failed to bounce back with a win following a loss in his previous game.

Dallas defenseman Chris Tanev returned for this game after leaving Game 4 with an injured foot. However, he appeared to be laboring throughout this contest.

Following this game, Stars head coach Pete DeBoer took exception to a reporter’s question about his club’s “lifeless” performance during the second period.

“Listen, there are always things you can do better,” said DeBoer. “You’re going to sit here and question our character if you want, you haven’t been here all year. I’m not going to do it. You go ahead and write whatever the f**k you want.”

PLAYOFF NOTEBOOK

FLORIDA HOCKEY NOW: The Panthers are a win away from advancing to the Stanley Cup Final for the second straight year. However, the players’ focus is on defeating the New York Rangers in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final.

“I don’t think we’ve thought about it at all,” said forward Sam Bennett. “We’ve got business to take care of still. We’ve got Game 6 and our entire focus is on that.”

Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky and team captain Aleksander Barkov share Bennett’s view. “We don’t think that far,” said Bobrovsky. “Right now, we just need to recover and think about that,” Barkov said.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Panthers have been in this situation before. That experience should work to their advantage as they prepare to face the Rangers on Saturday evening.

NEW YORK POST: The Rangers’ Igor Shesterkin has been the best goaltender of this postseason, but he needs more support from his teammates to stave off elimination in Game 6, especially from his scorers. They’ve spent too much time in the defensive zone in this series with the Panthers.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Panthers have dominated the last two games of this series. If the Rangers can’t find a way to break through in Game 6, they’ll be cleaning out their lockers on Monday.

IN OTHER NEWS…

STARTRIBUNE.COM: The Minnesota Wild dismissed long-time assistant coach Darby Hendrickson on Friday. An original member of the Wild as a player, he spent the past 14 seasons as an assistant to six different Wild head coaches.

THE TENNESSEAN: The Nashville Predators parted ways with assistant coach Dan Hinote. He was with the club for the past four seasons and was primarily responsible for their penalty kill.

PUCKPEDIA: This year’s restricted free agent offer sheet compensation list was released on Friday.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Follow the link for the full breakdown. The top compensation is four first-round picks for an offer sheet of over $11.45 million.

DAILY FACEOFF: Scott Burnside is the 2024 winner of the Elmer Ferguson Award for excellence in hockey journalism. Pierre Houde is this year’s recipient of the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award for outstanding contributions as a hockey broadcaster.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Congratulations to Burnside and Houde for the well-deserved recognition of their work.