McDavid to begin rehab on leg immediately

Connor McDavid is going to start working his way back from injury right away.

The Edmonton Oilers determined a rehab protocol for the superstar that will start immediately, the club revealed Friday night.

McDavid was hurt April 6 against the Calgary Flames, in his team's final regular-season game.

He later opted to forgo the upcoming World Championship.

On the day after he suffered the injury, McDavid said it felt like his leg was "in two pieces."

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Golden Knights chase Jones, defeat Sharks to even series

San Jose Sharks goaltender Martin Jones was yanked just over six minutes into Game 2 against the Vegas Golden Knights, who hung on for a 5-3 victory to knot the series at one win apiece.

Jones was removed after allowing three goals on seven shots.

The change briefly inspired the Sharks, as they stormed back to tie it with Aaron Dell between the pipes in a wild first period.

San Jose became the first team in playoff history to tie a game in the first period after falling behind 3-0, according to NHL Public Relations.

Jones entered the playoffs as the Sharks' biggest weakness after posting a career-worst .896 save percentage during the regular season. He was stellar in Game 1, however, allowing two goals on 26 shots in a 5-2 win.

The 29-year-old began Friday with an impressive postseason resume, owning a .926 save percentage and 2.06 goals-against average in 43 career playoff games.

Dell also struggled during the regular season, posting an .886 save percentage in 25 contests.

Cody Eakin, Colin Miller, and Max Pacioretty each notched tallies for Vegas in the opening frame, while Logan Couture, Erik Karlsson, and Joe Thornton responded for San Jose. Mark Stone scored the eventual game winner on a power play early in the second period.

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Lightning’s Cooper after dropping 1st 2 games: ‘This is a 5-alarm fire’

Jon Cooper thinks his once-heavily favored club is in a state of emergency after its latest defeat.

The Tampa Bay Lightning head coach conveyed as much after his team lost Game 2 to the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-1 on Friday, two nights after blowing a three-goal lead and falling 4-3 in the opener of the first-round series.

"The regular season's different from the playoffs," Cooper told the assembled media, including FOX Sports Florida, postgame Friday. "Things just happen so fast. It's zero-zero and there's a lot of excitement going into Game 1, and then, all of the sudden you're down 0-2 at home and alarms are going off."

Cooper acknowledged that Tampa Bay was rarely tested during a historically dominant regular season, but he tried to take a positive outlook on the club's predicament.

"Have we faced a ton of adversity this year? We haven't," Cooper said. "I've been in the league for six years, and it probably hasn't gotten any easier than it has this year. So now we've got some adversity, and teams face this all the time. And you face it in little pieces. This is a five-alarm fire, but it's adversity, and I don't know. Sometimes, that's good. Sometimes you have to go through stuff like this. We'll see how we respond."

Making matters worse for the Lightning is the fact that they dropped the first two games of the series on home ice, meaning the Blue Jackets will head home with a chance to earn an improbable series sweep.

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Eberle, Bailey help Islanders take 2-0 series lead over Penguins

UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP) Jordan Eberle and Josh Bailey scored in the third period and the New York Islanders beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-1 Friday night for a 2-0 lead in their first-round playoff series.

Anthony Beauvillier also scored and Robin Lehner stopped 32 shots to help New York open a postseason series with two wins for the first time since sweeping Edmonton in the 1983 Stanley Cup Final for the Islanders' fourth straight championship.

Mathew Barzal had two assists in a chippy, physical game that featured a lot of hard hits and some skirmishes, especially in the first two periods - and also after the final buzzer.

Erik Gudbranson scored and Matt Murray finished with 31 saves for the Penguins, who have lost the first two games of a postseason series for the first time since the 2013 Eastern Conference finals against Boston.

Game 3 is Sunday at Pittsburgh.

After a turnover by the Penguins near their own blue line, Barzal sent the puck up to Eberle on the right side and he skated across the front and sent a backhand in at 7:54 of the third to give the Islanders their first lead of the night at 2-1.

Bailey, who had the overtime winner in Game 1 on Wednesday night, then gave New York a two-goal lead with a power-play score with 8:22 remaining on New York's sixth man-advantage of the night. Devon Toews fired a shot that hit Anders Lee, and the puck came to Bailey, who put it in from the right side.

The Penguins pulled Murray for an extra skater with 2:44 remaining, but couldn't take advantage. Lehner made a nice glove save on Phil Kessel from the right circle, drawing chants of ''Leh-ner! Leh-ner!'' from the raucous home crowd.

After a scoreless first period, Pittsburgh's Matt Cullen had an open look at a rebound from the right circle 1:13 into the second that Lehner stopped with a pad save into his glove.

The Islanders had a 5-on-3 advantage for about a minute in the second period, but couldn't beat Murray. The Penguins' goalie then had a diving stop on Matt Martin in front about 7:44 in, and a stick save on a slap sot by Ryan Pulock 10 seconds later.

Brian Dumoulin hit a goalpost for Pittsburgh at about the 9-minute mark.

Gudbranson then gave the Penguins their first lead of the series as he took a pass from Evgeni Malkin and fired a one-timer from straightaway inside the blue line that beat Lehner's blocker side and went in off the post with 9:24 remaining in the second. It was Gudbranson's first career playoff point.

Beauvillier tied it with 6:35 left in the period with his first career playoff goal as he knocked in the loose puck in front after Murray was out of position following a save on Barzal's initial try on a 3-on-2 break

While some of the Islanders began celebrating the goal, fights broke out to Murray's left. Barzal was given a double-minor for roughing, while Pittsburgh's Marcus Pettersson received a 2-minute penalty.

The Islanders outshot the Penguins 11-7 in the scoreless first period.

Lehner made a save on Sidney Crosby's backhand try in front about 4 minutes in. Toews hit the right post with a long slap shot from straightaway from the blue line a little more than 5 minutes later. Phil Kessel was denied on a shot from the left circle with just under 7 minutes remaining

NOTES: Murray has lost consecutive playoff games for the fourth time. He also did it in Games 3 and 4 of 2017 Stanley Cup Final against Nashville, and Games 2-3 and 5-6 against Washington in second round last year. ... Penguins F Jared McCann sat out due to an upper-body injury. He was replaced in the lineup by F Teddy Blueger, making his playoff debut. D Jack Johnson was back in the lineup after sitting out Game 1. He had played in all 82 games during the regular season. D Olli Maatta sat out to make room. ... The Islanders, who were 3 for 50 on the power play over the final 22 games of the season to finish 29th at 14.5 percent, are now 2 for 8 in this series. ... New York was 38-2-2 in regular season when scoring at least 3 goals, and is now 2-0 in playoffs.

UP NEXT

The series shifts Pittsburgh for Game 3 on Sunday and Game 4 on Tuesday night.

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Kucherov to have hearing for hit late in Game 2

Nikita Kucherov will have a hearing with the Department of Player Safety on Saturday for his hit on a defenseless Markus Nutivaara on Friday night.

The Tampa Bay Lightning superstar was assessed a two-minute minor for tripping, a five-minute major for boarding, and a game misconduct for his hit in the waning minutes of the Blue Jackets' 5-1 victory in Game 2.

Kucherov has never been suspended in his career, but any prolonged absence would be a devastating blow to the Lightning's chances in the postseason.

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Kucherov ejected for boarding late in Game 2

Nikita Kucherov let his emotions get the better of him Friday night.

The Tampa Bay Lightning superstar was assessed a two-minute minor for tripping, a five-minute major for boarding, and a game misconduct for this hit on a defenseless Markus Nutivaara in the waning minutes of the Blue Jackets' 5-1 victory in Game 2.

Kucherov has never been suspended in his career, but any prolonged absence would be a devastating blow to the Lightning's chances in the postseason.

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Report: Flyers asked Rangers for permission to speak with Vigneault

The Philadelphia Flyers have reached out to the New York Rangers about Alain Vigneault, TVA's Renaud Lavoie reports.

Philadelphia is the only club so far to ask permission to speak with the former Blueshirts head coach, adds Lavoie.

The Flyers dismissed Dave Hakstol in December, handing the reins to Scott Gordon on an interim basis. They went 25-22-4 under Gordon and missed the playoffs by 16 points.

New York fired Vigneault on the final night of the 2017-18 regular season after failing to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2009-10. New York was also unable to qualify for the postseason this year under new head coach David Quinn.

Vigneault spent five seasons behind the Rangers bench and guided them to the Stanley Cup Final in 2014. Before joining New York, he coached the Vancouver Canucks and Montreal Canadiens, helping the Canucks make a Cup Final appearance in 2011.

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Cale Makar wins Hobey Baker Award

Colorado Avalanche prospect and UMass defenseman Cale Makar won the 2019 Hobey Baker Award on Friday as the nation's top collegiate player.

It could be quite a week for Makar. After receiving college hockey's most prestigious award, he'll play for the national championship on Saturday and then be eligible to join the Avalanche for their playoff run.

Makar, the fourth overall pick in the 2017 draft, tallied 16 goals and 49 points in 40 games for the Minutemen. This was his second season at UMass after dominating the Alberta Junior Hockey League for two years.

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Report: Gusev expected to join Golden Knights this weekend

Nikita Gusev is expected to join the Vegas Golden Knights this weekend for their postseason run after receiving his release from SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL, according to TSN's Darren Dreger.

Gusev, arguably the best player outside the NHL, is the reigning KHL MVP. He recorded 17 goals and 65 assists in 62 games this past season and added 19 more points in 18 playoff contests.

The 26-year-old winger was exceptional during the 2018 Olympics, picking up 12 points in six games on the Olympic Athletes from Russia's gold-medal run.

Gusev was originally a seventh-round pick by the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2012. His rights were traded to the Golden Knights on June 21, 2017 - along with two draft picks - as compensation for Vegas taking Jason Garrison in the expansion draft.

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Report: McLellan no longer in consideration for Sabres’ coaching job

Todd McLellan is out of the running for the Buffalo Sabres' head coaching vacancy, reports TSN's Bob McKenzie.

The former Edmonton Oilers bench boss was reportedly a leading candidate for the job, which became available upon Phil Housley's firing after two seasons in Buffalo. However, a deal was never finalized, according to McKenzie.

McLellan has also been tied to the Los Angeles Kings' opening after the club announced interim coach Willie Desjardins won't be returning next season. He'll head to L.A. next week for an official interview with the Kings, a source told TSN's Pierre LeBrun.

The 51-year-old coach was let go by the Oilers in November after joining the team prior to the 2015-16 campaign. McLellan also spent seven seasons with the San Jose Sharks prior to his gig in Northern Alberta and owns a career coaching record of 434-282-90.

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