The 3-year-old is playing in the first playoff series of his 14-year career - a byproduct of spending the bulk of his career with Columbus, Atlanta, and Carolina. It must be even sweeter that it came against one of his former teams.
Hainsey is better known for his work in the defensive zone than the offensive zone. He only has 49 career regular-season goals in 907 games, but now has a goal and an assist in this series.
The New York Rangers forward scored his second of the postseason Tuesday, skating in from the corner and beating Montreal Canadiens netminder Carey Price with an in-close deke to make it 2-1 New York in Game 4.
The New York Rangers picked the wrong time to make a line change.
The club conducted a full-scale swap late in the first period, allowing Torrey Mitchell and Shea Weber to walk in on a two-on-one, which they executed to perfection.
The strange play also saw a rarity: six skaters on the ice for both sides.
The NHL has announced it will couple its annual awards ceremony with the coming expansion draft for the Vegas Golden Knights.
The event will take place June 21 at T-Mobile Arena, where the Golden Knights will call home next season. Vegas' 30 selections - one from each existing club - will be announced throughout the two-hour broadcast.
Teams can protect either seven forwards and three defensemen or eight skaters of any combination. Teams must also expose one goaltender.
Golden Knights owner Bill Foley, general manager George McPhee, and newly appointed head coach Gerald Gallant will be present at the expansion draft. Vegas also plans to introduce select players as part of the broadcast.
"June 21 will be an incredible day for the city of Las Vegas and our fans," Foley said in a statement. "The anticipation around the expansion draft has been building for months and that excitement will continue to grow as we get closer to draft day.
"By combining the draft with the NHL Awards, Golden Knights fans will get to experience a monumental day in our team’s history while enjoying one of the premier NHL events that features the game's biggest stars."
This Blue Jackets-Penguins series has the two fan bases competing in strange ways.
After a photo of a fan who got a tattoo of Phil Kessel riding a hot dog while holding the Stanley Cup went viral, the Blue Jackets faithful answered the call.
Ahead of Game 4, the supporter below was seen sporting a T-shirt with a stretched image of Zach Werenski's bruised face after he was hit by a Kessel shot in Game 3.
While the shirt may be a tribute to this fan's favorite player, it's also a painful reminder that Werenski is out for the playoffs due to the injury.
Of course, Blue Jackets fans - this one in particular - will hope for a win Tuesday night so they get to wear their game-day gear at least one more time.
The Edmonton Oilers were forced to practice in the dark without nets ahead of their matchup with the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday.
The Sharks prohibit having the lights in the arena turned on before 11:30 a.m. PT. The mandate has been in place all year, but teams who liked to practice early, like Edmonton, were typically given leeway. However, the rule became strictly enforced ahead of Tuesday's Game 3, according to TSN's Darren Dreger, who was skeptical of the timing.
"There's no doubt that there's gamesmanship in play here," he said.
TSN's Ryan Rishaug, who has covered the Oilers all season, reported that there are a group of players who get out on the ice early every morning and work on shooting drills with the assistant coach. This time, however, they had no nets to shoot on.
The change in routine could favor the Sharks, who are down 2-1 in the series and haven't held the lead once.
One of the most memorable practices in hockey history came in the dark. Back in 1980, Herb Brooks, the head coach of Team USA's Olympic team, put his players through a series of suicides following an embarrassing loss, and kept skating them again and again, even though the arena attendant was forced to turn off the lights. Here's the moment depicted in the movie "Miracle on Ice":
Team USA went on to upset the Soviet Union before taking the gold medal against Finland. The Oilers are surely hoping these dark practices parlay into a similar result this postseason.
Coaches rarely reveal their starting goalie prior to puck drop, and even less so in the postseason.
That's certainly the case with Anaheim Ducks bench boss Randy Carlyle, who wouldn't tip his cap on who will start between the pipes when the Ducks go for the sweep Wednesday against the Calgary Flames.
John Gibson has started all three games so far, but his night was cut short Monday after allowing four goals on 16 shots. Jonathan Bernier stepped in in relief, turning aside 16 shots as the Ducks mounted an overtime comeback after trailing 4-1 midway through the second period.
Interestingly enough, both teams may opt for a goalie change in Game 4. Flames coach Glen Gulutzan was noncommittal when asked Tuesday if Brian Elliott would get the call next game.
Elliott stopped just 22 of 27 shots in the Game 3 loss, later blaming himself for the defeat.
The 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs are off to a roaring start, with 11-of-24 first-round games needing extra time.
Monday night featured four overtime games for only the third time in NHL playoffs history and first time since 1985, per NHL Public Relations.
In honor of the early dramatics, we've ranked the top five winners so far in descending order:
5. Melker Karlsson - Game 1
Karlsson's heroics gave his Sharks a 1-0 series lead - one that has since evaporated. Even still, silencing a raucous crowd with a rocket wrist shot is a good way to get things going.
4. Jake Guentzel - Game 3
Benefiting from yet another ridiculous pass from Sidney Crosby, Jake Guentzel completed a hat trick in Game 3 to give the Penguins a 3-0 stranglehold over their division rivals.
3. Dion Phaneuf - Game 2
The Senators were a goal away from traveling to Boston down 2-0, but it was Phaneuf who broke through with a blazing slap shot past Tuukka Rask, sending the home fans into a frenzy.
2. Kasperi Kapanen - Game 2
The Maple Leafs hadn't scored an overtime winner in the playoffs since 2003, until Kapanen iced Game 2 versus the Capitals in the second extra frame.
The slick backhand pass from Brian Boyle earns this one bonus points.
1. Kevin Fiala - Game 3
Comeback win. Perfect give-and-go. 3-0 series lead. This one was a beauty.
The Los Angeles Kings have signed Minnesota-Duluth forward Alex Iafallo to a two-year entry-level contract, newly appointed general manager Rob Blake announced Tuesday.
Iafallo led the Bulldogs in scoring this season, recording 51 points - good for 12th in the NCAA - in 42 games.
The 23-year-old New York native played a major role in Minnesota-Duluth's run to the Frozen Four championship game, where it lost 3-2 to Denver earlier this month.
Polak was forced to leave Game 2 versus the Washington Capitals on Saturday, after a hard hit from Brooks Orpik forced an awkward fall. He was declared done for the playoffs after the contest.
The 30-year-old appeared in 75 games through the regular season, registering four goals and seven assists, while playing a key role on Toronto's penalty kill.