The quest for reliable goaltending in the Calgary Flames' crease continues.

After acquiring Brian Elliott and Chad Johnson last offseason to patch the team's most glaring undoing, the same problem pushed the Flames out of the playoffs without a single win.

Elliott has openly worn the goat horns for a troublesome sweep at the hands of the Anaheim Ducks in which he owned an .880 save percentage, and his early departure in the first period of Game 4 on Wednesday night may very well have been the final blow in his audition for a new contract with the club.

Both Elliott and Johnson are unrestricted free agents July 1, and the Flames will need to exhaust plenty of time and effort to potentially fill their voids. Here are some factors they'll need to consider:

In the system

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• Bringing back Elliott isn't out of the question, but after a disastrous start and equally disappointing close to his season, the odds of Calgary awarding the 32-year-old another contract are definitely slim.
• Retaining Johnson makes sense as a reliable backup, as he kept the Flames afloat during Elliott's swoon, and shouldn't cost too much.
• In the minors the Flames have Jon Gillies, Mason McDonald, David Rittich, Nick Schneider, Tom McCollum, and Tyler Parsons under contract, none of whom appear ready for the NHL.

Financial situation

The Flames are hard pressed against the salary cap, but will have some notable burdening contracts off the books come summer time.

Dennis Wideman, Deryk Engelland, Michael Stone, and Elliott coming off the books alleviates $12.65 million alone, and the only pressing contract outside the blue paint Calgary will have to deal with is Sam Bennett, who will be an RFA, but shouldn't break the Flames' bank.

The market

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In the likely event Calgary looks externally for a new No. 1, there are few notable upgrades.

Here's a look at the some options on UFA goalie list, and their stats from this season.

None of the available options particularly instill the confidence of transforming a talented Flames' roster into a Cup contender, and Calgary won't be alone in the pursuit of a new goalie.

Dallas has long been in the market for a new netminder, and don't forget, Vegas is lurking, too.

The wound of a disappointing sweep is still fresh for the players, but you can bet Brad Treliving and Brian Burke won't waste much time this offseason in attempting to fix the reason their season ended.

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Each week, theScore looks at the teams, players, and other hockey figures trending upward and taking a step back. This week, we're looking at some playoff surprises.

▲ Tom Wilson

Because scoring the overtime winner in Game 1 wasn't enough, the Washington Capitals pest tallied twice in a crucial Game 4 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night.

Wilson has as many goals as Alex Ovechkin so far in these playoffs, and the Toronto-born winger has looked like an entirely different player against his hometown team.

Coming into this series, he'd never scored in 28 career playoff games, and he managed only seven goals and 19 points in 82 regular season contests.

Wilson's contributions are often of the more physical variety and he's accustomed to getting under the skin of opponents, but he's been a thorn in the Leafs' side in a most unexpected way.

▼ Boston Bruins

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It's not particularly surprising that the Bruins are trailing the Ottawa Senators in their first-round series, given that Boston is the lower seed.

But it is a mild shock that the Bruins are on the brink of elimination after only four postseason games, considering how much improvement they showed in the regular season after Bruce Cassidy took over the coaching reins.

All four playoff contests have been decided by a single goal, and the Bruins have lost three in a row - including Wednesday's 1-0 victory by Ottawa that gave the Senators a 3-1 series lead.

Two of those three losses came in overtime, which only further illustrates how tight the series has been and how, with a few bounces the other way, Boston could have been on the verge of eliminating Ottawa.

▲ Bobby Ryan

One of the major reasons for the Senators' success in the series has been Ryan's resurgence.

The veteran forward had one of the worst regular seasons of his career from a production standpoint, but he's been revived in the postseason.

Ryan has three goals in four first-round games and back-to-back game-winners with the lone goal Wednesday night and the overtime winner Monday in Game 3.

He's accounted for 30 percent of Ottawa's goals in the series, underscoring how critical his improved play has been for the Senators early on in these playoffs.

▼ Chicago Blackhawks

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The top seed in the West is on the ropes.

Chicago came into the postseason as the best team in the conference, with home ice secured through the first three rounds, but that won't matter much if the Blackhawks can't make it past the Nashville Predators.

That's the potentially disastrous possibility they're facing now, with the Predators holding a commanding 3-0 series lead in their first-round matchup.

The Blackhawks couldn't solve Pekka Rinne at all in the first two games, and when they did it twice in Game 3 - jumping out to a 2-0 lead - they coughed it up and allowed Nashville to come from behind and win 3-2 in overtime.

A great deal of credit is due to the Predators, who've simply outplayed their Central Division rivals, but it is surprising to see the Blackhawks in danger of being swept out of the opening round.

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The Buffalo Sabres dismissed general manager Tim Murray and head coach Dan Bylsma in a massive shake-up Thursday.

Team owner Terry Pegula said in a statement that the club has already begun the process of filling the positions.

The Sabres missed the playoffs in both seasons under Bylsma, and Murray was never able to guide Buffalo to the postseason in parts of four campaigns as GM.

Bylsma won 68 of 164 games in his two years behind the bench. He was hired by Buffalo in May 2015 after a year away from the NHL following parts of six seasons as head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins, with whom he won the Stanley Cup in his first year.

Murray was tasked with rebuilding the Sabres when he was hired in January 2014, and he wasn't shy about making significant moves.

He pulled off a blockbuster deal with the Winnipeg Jets in February 2015, landing Evander Kane and defenseman Zach Bogosian for a package that included Tyler Myers and Drew Stafford.

At the 2015 draft, he acquired goaltender Robin Lehner and veteran forward David Legwand from the Ottawa Senators for the 21st pick, which the Senators used to select highly touted prospect Colin White.

He wasn't done dealing at that draft, also landing top-line center Ryan O'Reilly in a multi-player trade with the Colorado Avalanche.

Murray signed winger Kyle Okposo to a seven-year, $42-million pact on July 1 last year, and was responsible for drafting Sam Reinhart and Jack Eichel second overall in 2014 and 2015, respectively.

Thursday's firings came about 24 hours after WGR 550's Paul Hamilton reported Eichel had no desire to sign a contract extension with Buffalo this summer if Bylsma remained head coach.

Eichel and his agent both denied the report, with the 20-year-old phenom insisting he wants to be a member of the Sabres "for a long time."

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Phil Kessel hot dog tattoos are apparently all the rage now.

Pittsburgh Penguins fan Ian Stoneking shared this photo of his new ink, which features Kessel, a hot dog, and the right winger's Twitter bio, "Nice guy, tries hard, loves the game." He notes in the Facebook post that he had the piece planned before another tattoo of Kessel riding a hot dog went viral.

- With h/t to 96.1 KISS FM

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Vancouver Canucks defenseman Nikita Tryamkin will suit up in the KHL next season for Yekaterinburg Automobilist, the Russian league announced Thursday.

Tryamkin played four seasons for Automobilist before joining the Canucks - who drafted him in the third round in 2014 - for a brief portion of the 2015-16 season.

The towering 22-year-old blue-liner finished the final year of his entry-level contract this season, and was due for restricted free agency.

This season, Tryamkin played 66 games for the last-place Canucks, recording two goals and seven assists.

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