Although Maple Leafs starting goaltender James Reimer's lower body injury cast a dark cloud over Toronto's 5-2 victory, forward James van Riemsdyk left his first contest against the team that traded him, the Philadelphia Flyers, with bragging rights.
With Toronto up 4-1 early in the third period, van Riemsdyk was able to score his team-leading eighth goal of the season. The 23-year-old is now three goals shy of his 2011-12 total.
The man Toronto gave up in the exchange, 23-year-old defenseman Luke Schenn, registered an assist, blocked three shots, and had two hits. Although van Riemsdyk will show up on more highlight reels, Schenn has been the Flyers' most physical blueliner and ranks second on the squad with 30 blocked shots this season.
Because obviously, it's pretty messy.
The eighth-seeded Avalanche certainly played a big role in that. Colorado knocked off the Calgary Flames – the top team in the West – in five games for its first playoff series win since 2008. It's on to the second round, where Colorado faces the winner of the Vegas-San Jose series. The Golden Knights lead the Sharks 3-2.
While others may be surprised, Nathan MacKinnon and his teammates have been asserting that this postseason would be entirely different. This time, unlike a year ago, they wouldn't be content with merely making the playoffs. This time, they wanted to make some noise even if they again entered as an eight seed and faced a No. 1 seed.
Colorado actually has been in playoff mode for about a month, needing to go 8-0-2 down the stretch to earn the last spot. Despite the Avalanche's surge, they weren't exactly a trendy pick to spring an upset on a Flames squad that amassed 107 points. But they outscored the Flames by a 17-11 margin and outshot them 205-164.
And just like that, another top seed exited. Tampa Bay, the Presidents' Trophy winner with the league's best record, got swept out of the playoffs by Columbus.
Dating to expansion in 1967-68, this marks the first time the top two teams in each division or conference or the teams with the two best records have been eliminated in the opening round, according to the league.
Rantanen turned in quite a series, with five goals and four assists. He has at least a point in four straight games, which is one away from tying the Colorado/Quebec franchise mark held set by Peter Stastny in 1982 and equaled by Peter Forsberg on three separate occasions.
This after Rantanen missed the last eight games of the regular season with an upper-body injury. He shook off some rust in Game 1 and then spent the rest of the series shaking free of defenders. He scored the overtime winner in Game 4.
The same can be said for goaltender Philipp Grubauer, whose play down the stretch got the Avalanche into the postseason and whose play now has kept them rolling. Grubauer posted a 1.90 goals-against average against the Flames.
Grubauer believes this team can reach an even higher level.
Like recently signed rookie defenseman Cale Makar , who made his NHL debut in Game 3 and scored a goal. The 20-year-old signed a three-year deal with Colorado last Sunday, a day after his college season ended when Massachusetts lost in the Frozen Four championship game.
Makar, who is from Calgary, grew up a big Flames fan. He just played a role in eliminating them.
Matt Nieto had two short-handed goals in the series, while Tyson Barrie added five assists and logged the most ice time among Colorado skaters.
In the clincher at Calgary, Rantanen, Colin Wilson, MacKinnon and Barrie all had at least three-point performances. This marked the first time in the team's history that four players had at least three points in a series-clinching game.
That comes as no surprise to Landeskog.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Carolina Hurricanes rookie Andrei Svechnikov hopes to play in Game 6 against the Washington Capitals on Monday after suffering a concussion in a fight with Alex Ovechkin a week earlier.
Svechnikov took part in his first full team practice on Saturday during the Hurricanes' morning skate before Game 5 of their first-round series. The 19-year-old Russian winger wore a yellow non-contact jersey and would need to clear the NHL's concussion protocol before he returns to game action.
Coach Rod Brind'Amour was noncommittal about Svechnikov's status for the remainder of the series. Svechnikov is one of three Carolina forwards out with injury, along with Micheal Ferland and Jordan Martinook.
Ovechkin knocked out Svechnikov with a right hook during a fight in the first period of Game 3. Both players has said the other asked to fight.