The Chicago Blackhawks' season is over, but Patrick Kane is still talking.

The star forward took a shot at the Nashville Predators' style of play at Chicago's postmortem session Saturday.

"A team like that, you kind of hope they don't win," Kane told reporters, according to Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun-Times. "I don't know if that's necessarily the best way to watch hockey games."

Kane said Blackhawks head coach Joel Quenneville was calling the Predators' trapping system "Red Rover."

Nashville shut out Chicago in both of the first two games in what was a four-game sweep by the Predators, limiting the Blackhawks to only three goals in the series.

Kane scored one of those, in Game 3, and chipped in with an assist in Game 4, but both he and Jonathan Toews were essentially held in check by goaltender Pekka Rinne and the Nashville defense.

The Predators weren't a particularly dominant defensive team in the regular season, ranking 15th with 2.68 goals allowed per game. The Blackhawks came into the playoffs on a four-game losing streak and thus finished on an eight-game skid, with their last win coming March 31.

Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Boston Bruins prevailed in Game 5 of their first-round series against the Ottawa Senators in double overtime Friday night, but coach Bruce Cassidy still had a line ready about the Bruins' goal that was called back earlier in extra time.

"I guess I've been out of the league a long time. I didn't know you had to win by two in overtime," Cassidy quipped to reporters Saturday, according to Mike Loftus of the Patriot Ledger.

Noel Acciari appeared to score the game-winner with about five minutes left in the first overtime, but it was ruled no goal on the ice and that call was upheld upon review.

Bruins rookie Sean Kuraly's second goal of the game - and second of his NHL career - won it in double overtime, essentially rendering the controversy moot.

Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Barry Trotz has a pretty morbid metaphor for the situation his Washington Capitals will be in on Sunday night.

"If you have the opportunity to push someone off the cliff, you want to push them off," the head coach told reporters Saturday, according to Stephen Whyno of The Associated Press.

The Capitals have the Leafs on the edge of the proverbial precipice, holding a 3-2 series lead thanks to Justin Williams' overtime winner in Game 5 on Friday night.

If Washington fails to send Toronto plummeting into the offseason abyss on Sunday, the Capitals will host Game 7 on Tuesday.

Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Andrew Shaw will miss his first game of the playoffs on Saturday night.

The Montreal Canadiens pest is dealing with an injury and won't be in the lineup for Game 6 against the New York Rangers, Canadiens head coach Claude Julien confirmed after the morning skate.

Brian Flynn will appear in his first 2016-17 playoff game in Shaw's absence.

The Canadiens trail the Rangers 3-2 in the series, and they'll be looking to avoid elimination in hostile territory at Madison Square Garden.

Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

For a brief moment, Alex Ovechkin had something in common with many sports fans.

The Washington Capitals star said he was doing several relatable activities while in the dressing room for repairs after taking a big hit from Toronto Maple Leafs forward Nazem Kadri late in the first period of Game 5 on Friday night.

"I was watching TV," Ovechkin said postgame, via Sportsnet. "Just (having) a Coke and watch(ing) the match."

Kadri was handed a two-minute tripping minor for the hip check that forced Ovechkin to take the brief trip to the locker room, and while the Capitals captain was in there, T.J. Oshie opened the scoring on the ensuing power play.

Ovechkin often appears superhuman, but sometimes he shows he's just like us.

Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Stan Bowman isn't going to fire his head coach.

The Chicago Blackhawks general manager put any chatter about Joel Quenneville's future to rest as the club met with media for the last time this season Saturday morning.

"Joel is our head coach. He will continue to be our head coach," Bowman told reporters, according to the Chicago Sun-Times' Mark Lazerus. And Joel and I will work together to make sure this (sweep) never happens again."

The GM said other moves will be made, but didn't go into detail.

Bowman was predictably perturbed when addressing the Blackhawks' first-round elimination at the hands of the Nashville Predators, who swept Chicago and didn't allow a goal in either of the first two games.

"I'm completely disappointed," he said. "It's unacceptable to be where we are today. I'm frustrated, I'm angry. ... Complete failure."

Bowman acknowledged the Blackhawks fell way short of expectations.

"We did not come even close to reaching the standard we've set for ourselves over the years here," he said.

He took responsibility for that, adding: "That starts with me. I need to be better. There's no doubt about it. I can promise you I will be better."

The Blackhawks entered the postseason as the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, but they sputtered down the stretch, losing their final four regular-season games, before dropping all four to the Predators.

Related - On The Fly: What happened to the Blackhawks?

Quenneville has guided Chicago to three Stanley Cup championships in nine years, so Bowman's confirmation of his coach's job security isn't a major shock, despite the club's first-round exits in each of the last two seasons.

Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Sean Kuraly went from being largely unknown to saving the Boston Bruins' season.

His first NHL goal tied Game 5 of the Bruins' first-round series against the Ottawa Senators on Friday night, and his second career marker ended the double-overtime affair while helping Boston stave off elimination.

Unless you're a hardcore Bruins fan or a college hockey aficionado, you might not be too familiar with the 24-year-old center. So just how did he go from relative obscurity to scoring an overtime winner in the Stanley Cup Playoffs?

Until Friday night's heroics, Kuraly was essentially the answer to a trivia question.

He wasn't a highly touted prospect, falling to the fifth round in the 2011 draft before the San Jose Sharks chose him 133rd overall. Before his Game 5 double dip, Kuraly was primarily known for being part of the package that netted the Sharks their No. 1 goaltender, Martin Jones.

In late June 2015, the Sharks shipped Kuraly to Boston along with a 2016 first-round pick that became prospect Trent Frederic in exchange for Jones. While the netminder was obviously the centerpiece of the deal, Kuraly was more than just a throw-in.

He was specifically targeted by John Ferguson Jr., Bruins executive director of player personnel, who served as the Sharks' director of pro scouting from 2008-14.

Here's how that went down, as described by The Boston Globe's Fluto Shinzawa in July 2015:

Ferguson knew Kuraly from San Jose's development camps. He tracked Kuraly’s progress at Miami. In December of 2012, before the 2013 World Junior Championship, Ferguson watched Kuraly in pre-tournament practices in Tarrytown, N.Y. It was then, because of Kuraly’s skating and size as a center, that Ferguson was confident he would become an NHL player.

At the time of the deal, Kuraly had finished his junior season at Miami of Ohio, where he was a teammate of Bruins prospect Austin Czarnik. Kuraly scored 19 goals in 40 games for the RedHawks that season, the most he'd tally in any of his collegiate campaigns.

After serving as Miami's captain for his senior season, he joined the Bruins' AHL club in Providence in 2016-17, posting 14 goals and 26 points in 54 games. He was summoned for eight NHL games in the regular season, but failed to make much of an impact, collecting a single assist.

Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy has given Kuraly several chances to prove himself in the playoffs, inserting him into the lineup for Games 1 and 2 against the Senators, and Kuraly's most recent opportunity came at the expense of Ryan Spooner.

Kuraly proved much more than a footnote to Spooner's Game 5 benching with a two-goal performance that helped Boston force Game 6.

He didn't come out of nowhere, but he wasn't exactly on the hockey world's collective radar until Friday's heroics. Still, whether he sticks in the lineup for good or ultimately needs more time to develop consistency, Kuraly has already proven he's more than an afterthought.

Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Sean Kuraly made his case to be a permanent fixture in the Boston Bruins' lineup.

The rookie forward scored his second goal of Game 5 in double overtime, helping his team avoid elimination and take the opening-round series back to Boston.

Kuraly, 24, entered the postseason with one assist in eight appearances with the Bruins, meaning his offensive outburst in Game 5 marked his first two goals at the NHL level.

The double-overtime winner came after Boston appeared to have won in the fourth period, only to have it disallowed due to goalie interference.

Kuraly, by the way, was inserted into the lineup as a replacement for Ryan Spooner - a decision that certainly paid off for interim head coach Bruce Cassidy.

Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.