Staal was taken to and then released from hospital after going headfirst into the boards in the second period of Game 5 against the St. Louis Blues, who later prevailed in overtime to end Minnesota's season.
The veteran forward led the Wild with 28 goals and ranked second on the team with 65 points in the regular season.
He signed a three-year, $10.5-million deal with the Wild last July 1.
Logan Couture had nothing but praise to heap on the San Jose Sharks' two elder statesmen after the season-ending loss that brought their respective futures to the forefront.
"You're asking a guy who's played with those guys for eight years," Couture told reporters, according to The Mercury News' Paul Gackle, after a 3-1 defeat to the Edmonton Oilers in Game 6 of their first-round series sent the Sharks packing.
"I love those guys," Couture added. "They play hard. If you guys only knew what they play through. The respect level that I have for those two guys is just through the roof."
Thornton and Marleau will both be unrestricted free agents this summer if unsigned by July 1.
Both players are 37 years old, but they each proved this season that they have plenty left in the tank.
Thornton ranked second on the club with 43 assists, and only captain Joe Pavelski averaged more ice time than the bearded one among Sharks forwards in the regular season.
Marleau finished two goals behind Pavelski and Brent Burns for the team lead with 27, and scored three times in the six postseason contests.
He wasn't ready to discuss his plans when asked postgame.
"I'm not even really thinking about that right now, just need to reflect on all that," Marleau said. "I'm just sad about losing tonight."
Understandably, Thornton was equally noncommittal in the immediate aftermath.
"I just loved being their teammates, it was a real pleasure," he said.
Marleau is the Sharks' all-time leader in games played, goals, and points, and he ranks second behind Thornton on San Jose's all-time assist list. He's spent all 19 seasons of his NHL career with the Sharks.
Thornton ranks in the franchise's top three in all of those categories, and he's been in teal since being acquired from the Boston Bruins in 2005. He's said in the past that he could see himself retiring as a Shark, and has also quipped that he hopes to play as long as Jaromir Jagr.
Both players were on the books for just under $7 million this season.
The Capitals and Maple Leafs brought their A-games to the media ahead of Sunday night's pivotal Game 6, as Washington looks to end Toronto's season.
Two days after Mike Babcock bid Verizon Center staff farewell with "See you in a couple days," Capitals defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk said he shares the Maple Leafs head coach's sentiments.
"We're ready to go home and say hello to the Verizon guys on Monday as well, just getting ready for series two," he said, according to the Washington Post's Isabelle Khurshudyan.
Strong. That's Shattenkirk giving 110 percent in the postseason.
Here are some more select quotes from both clubs ahead of Sunday's 7 p.m. puck drop:
"I think Washington's a beautiful city so I wouldn't mind going back," Toronto agitator Nazem Kadrisaid.
"This is the fun time of year," Caps head coach Barry Trotz said. "It's stressful at times, but it's fun."
Alex Ovechkin, who took a big hit from Kadri in Game 5, said he's just fine.
"I take a hit and we win the game so I'll take those hits every day," Ovie said.
He also knows what's at stake.
"They're young, but they're tough," Ovechkin said about the Leafs, who have punched back against the NHL's top team at every turn, with all five games decided by one goal and four of them requiring extra time. "They never stop so it's a challenge. It's going to be an interesting game.
"You don't want to give them extra air and extra motivation to play Game 7," he added. "We know exactly what we have to do."
The Caps may know what they require, but that hasn't exactly mattered in the past:
Closing out series isn't easy, they easy. Since 2010, #Caps are 1-5 in GM6 with chance to advance; 2016 the exception pic.twitter.com/HYVKkDtOdx
The Montreal Canadiens' and Minnesota Wild's seasons ended Saturday, the clubs joining the Chicago Blackhawks as 100-plus point teams eliminated in the first round. All shared the same fate: Beaten by otherworldly goaltending.
That has to be one of the finer four-game stretches of Rinne's career, because those numbers are downright silly, but the Nashville Predators' defense deserves a ton of credit, too. Look at what they were able to do to Chicago:
Hot goalie, hot team, hot coach. A perfect Nashville storm.
However, if you heard Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman's presser on Saturday, you'd have no idea he was talking about a team that two years ago won its third Stanley Cup in seven seasons with a core built around Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith, and head coach Joel Quenneville.
"Complete failure," he threw in for good measure, adding that changes would be made after a second straight first-round exit, this one after the Blackhawks' second 50-win season in franchise history.
Should a team be judged based on 82 games, or four? Even if the club overachieved a little bit in the regular season, at least according to Kane, you decide.
That's why he's the King
The Habs were the better team at five on five against New York. Okay, perhaps "better" is subjective, but Montreal certainly had the puck more often.
Canadiens captain Max Pacioretty finished with more fighting majors than goals in six games (one to zero), and 28 shots. That's a zero shooting percentage for a five-time 30-goal scorer (and three-time 35-goal scorer) and career 11.4 percent shooter. Believe it or not, he's the same Pacioretty who shot 10.9 percent in last year's postseason.
It gets crazier. People in Montreal are actually, physically, in real life talking about trading goaltender Carey Price, a Vezina Trophy finalist this season, who stopped 93.3 percent of the shots the Rangers fired at him, and 93.6 at even strength. That's exactly what you don't do when you lose to King Henrik.
This version of the Canadiens was far from perfect, but if you think Pacioretty and Price - Carey Price! - are the problem, you need to log off of Twitter, go for a long walk in the woods, and re-evaluate some of your life decisions.
Allen delivers the Blues
Allen didn't go into the playoffs for St. Louis with a standout spring resume going back to 2015. The opposite, actually. And check out the shot totals after the Blues' five-game series win.
Playoffs
GP
SV%
SA
SV
2015 & 2016
11
.902
193
174
2017
5
.956
182
174
Yeah, that'll do.
The poor Wild. Alive since 2000, this was Minnesota's best statistical season, with the club setting franchise records in wins (49) and points (106). And just like that, they're done. And it's because of Allen.
Team
CF
CA
Corsi%
Corsi Rank
Wild
283
182
60.86%
1st
Blues
182
283
39.14%
16th
(Data Courtesy: Corsica Hockey)
The irony: Minnesota ranked 20th in possession during the regular season, coming in at 49.35 percent. They finally had the puck - like, all the time - and couldn't do a bloody thing with it. That's hockey, sometimes.
Possession ain't god
Look, possession isn't everything. No one's saying it is. But the top three possession teams in the first round - Minnesota, Montreal, and the Columbus Blue Jackets - are done after five, six, and five games, respectively.
Once the regular season ends, it doesn't matter. That's the truth. But another truth is that anything can happen in the playoffs, that luck is a big reason why a team ends up moving on, and even winning the Stanley Cup.
Allen and Rinne can, in fact, stop basically everything you throw at them over a week (we already knew Lundqvist could). Does that mean you blow up your team, based on four-to-six games?
A short series due to a hot goalie and some poor luck is just that - a short series due to a hot goalie and some bad luck. View it in a vacuum at your peril.
He allowed only 12 goals in the first-round series loss to the New York Rangers, posting a 1.86 GAA and .933 save percentage in six games.
Maybe he should have had Mats Zuccarello's first goal in Saturday's 3-1 loss that eliminated Montreal from the playoffs early after a regular season in which the Canadiens cruised to the Atlantic Division title.
But he was not the problem in this series.
Price and the Canadiens simply ran into a hotter goaltender in Henrik Lundqvist, and the two netminders' numbers weren't all that different in the six-game affair.
Goalie
GAA
SV%
Goals Allowed
Saves
Shots Faced
Lundqvist
1.70
.947
11
195
206
Price
1.86
.933
12
167
179
It might seem obvious, but Price should be the last person blamed for the Canadiens' elimination.
Amid coaching changes, blockbuster trades involving franchise defensemen, and plenty of additional drama in one of hockey's most passionate markets, Price's consistently elite level of play has been the one constant routinely keeping the franchise's competitive hopes afloat during his 10-year tenure.
For a stark reminder of how this team would fare without him, one needs to look only as far back as last season, when an injury limited the veteran goalie to only 12 games, effectively derailing the Canadiens' season following his Hart and Vezina-worthy 2014-15 campaign.
Price is a finalist for the top goaltending honor again this season after going 37-20-5 with a 2.23 GAA and .923 save percentage in 62 games.
Sure, his future might be a little uncertain, considering he now has one year left on his contract and could become an unrestricted free agent when it expires. And yes, the Canadiens will have to pony up to keep him.
But what could Montreal possibly get in a trade for their all-world puck-stopper that would be as good or better than he's been?
Some might suggest general manager Marc Bergevin should explore dealing him for a star forward to help boost the Canadiens' offense, which ranked 15th in goals per game during the regular season.
But as significant as landing a prized sniper like John Tavares would be, it would also leave them with a gaping hole in net that would be near-impossible to fill.
The Canadiens played like one of the NHL's worst teams when Price was hurt, and surely Bergevin doesn't want to relive that nightmare, even if it involves an experienced but less talented replacement like Ben Bishop.
Barring a trade demand from the player himself or an expressed desire to explore free agency, Price should be signed to a contract extension before his deal runs out at the end of next season. It's a no-brainer.
Any thoughts of trading him are irrational, impulsive, and ill-informed reactions to a playoff disappointment for which he's hardly responsible.
It's a promotion for Stevens, who has been an associate head coach with the club since 2014.
Stevens was the head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers from October 2006 through December 2009, compiling a record of 120-109-34 in the regular season and 11-12 in the playoffs. He joined Los Angeles after his time in Philly, and the 2017-18 season will be his eighth with the Kings.
Oddly enough, while the Kings haven't formally announced Stevens' promotion, they have a release up on their website as of Sunday morning with the news that Stevens is the 27th head coach in team history. It includes a statement from new general manager Rob Blake.
John and I had very productive dialogue this last week in relation to his head coaching philosophy and specifically how he would implement a strategy to activate our players offensively while maintaining the defensive philosophies we have come to be known for. am confident that we are both in agreement on how that can be executed. With that said, we believe John has the ideal qualities to lead our hockey club. His wide array of coaching experience, including success as an NHL head coach and his inherent knowledge of our players and those in our development system, is very appealing to us. We are confident he is the best person to lead our hockey club forward.
Stevens was part of both Kings' Stanley Cup-winning teams in 2012 and 2014.
We're about to find out what a bunch of hockey-playing millennials are made of.
The Maple Leafs host the Washington Capitals in Game 6 of their first-round series Sunday evening, with Toronto facing elimination after its second overtime loss - and third one-goal loss - of the series Friday.
The young Leafs have - to put it simply - played with the veteran back-to-back Presidents' Trophy winners, in what's been one of the more entertaining series of the playoffs' opening round. And if they can force a one-game showdown, all bets may truly be off.
So, will they?
While Toronto's thought to be playing with house money, and the Capitals looking to exorcise some serious spring demons, Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock knows what his team needs to be Sunday.
"If we don't win, we go home," he said, according to the Associated Press. "There should be no more desperate team than us and we're well aware and understand that fully."
Special teams may be the difference, which means Toronto needs to play the game at even strength - and continue what it's doing:
Alain Vigneault led the New York Rangers to a 3-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens, knocking out the organization with whom he spent parts of four seasons in his first NHL head-coaching job.
Todd McLellan helped the Edmonton Oilers move on to the second round with a 3-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks, who employed him for seven seasons before he joined the Oilers in May 2015.
Vigneault's triumph came on home ice, and he coached the Vancouver Canucks for seven years between his Canadiens and Rangers tenures, but the wins were likely a little sweeter for Yeo and McLellan, who ended their former teams' seasons in their old workplaces.
It's a long way off, but if the Washington Capitals and Nashville Predators can advance to the Stanley Cup Final, Barry Trotz would face the organization with whom he spent 15 campaigns as head coach from 1998-99 to 2013-2014.
If the Anaheim Ducks and Toronto Maple Leafs reach the championship round, Randy Carlyle and Mike Babcock would both be battling their former clubs for a chance to lift Lord Stanley's mug.
Don't expect to get the confetti treatment in hostile territory.
San Jose Sharks fans showered the Edmonton Oilers bench with popcorn after Connor McDavid's empty-netter sealed Game 6 and eventually clinched the first-round series Saturday night.
It's too bad these Sharks supporters were so salty, but we're sure they'll feel butter soon.
