Marc-Edouard Vlasic is expecting to hear from the NHL after what he believes was a missed call Sunday.
The San Jose Sharks defenseman made his feelings known postgame after an apparent icing infraction went unwhistled in Game 2 against the Colorado Avalanche.
Was that icing on the Barrie goal?
Vlasic: “It was the right call.”
Q: It was the right call?
“Absolutely. I’ll take the high road and wait for the league’s apology tomorrow.”
Late in the second period, Vlasic appeared to beat Avalanche forward Mikko Rantanen to the puck after Colorado blue-liner Nikita Zadorov dumped it into the Sharks' zone from his own end. Tyson Barrie scored moments later to give the Avalanche the lead.
San Jose head coach Peter DeBoer believes there's something his club can learn from the play.
"Whether I thought it was (icing) or not doesn't matter; our players did," the bench boss said. "They let up. They relaxed for a minute. It obviously wasn't. I guess the lesson in that is don't assume anything in the playoffs. Play, and make sure."
The Avalanche ultimately prevailed 4-3 to even the series at one game apiece.
Vegas Golden Knights general manager George McPhee said earlier this week the NHL apologized to his team for the controversial cross-checking major given to Cody Eakin in Game 7 of Vegas' first-round series against San Jose. The Sharks scored four times on that power play and went on to win the game.
At this stage of the playoffs, the Carolina Hurricanes have all the reasons in the world to fret about their chances of progressing past the second round.
Already down three of their top nine forwards due to injury, the 'Canes lost three more players - including starting goalie Petr Mrazek - to assorted ailments in Game 2; Mrazek's counterpart, New York Islanders starter Robin Lehner, has turned aside 47 of the 50 shots he's faced through two games; Carolina's power play, now 0-for-7 in the series, scarcely looks capable of generating a scoring opportunity, much less a goal.
And yet the Storm Surge is alive and well as this Eastern Conference semifinal shifts to Raleigh for Game 3 and 4. The Hurricanes have carved out a reputation for themselves as the postseason's most resilient team, and have taken a 2-0 series lead by the thinnest of margins due to the Islanders' inability to produce at even strength.
Resilience ranks among the best explanations of how the Hurricanes managed to win 2-1 Sunday after their offense barely tested Lehner through 40 minutes. Any of the Isles' 13 high-danger scoring chances at even strength (Carolina had five) could have knotted the series. Instead, they'll hit the road with no margin of error remaining.
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Here are three takeaways from Game 2 that will set the tone for the remainder of the series.
Islanders need to score - for Lehner, more than anyone else
Lehner's Game 2 stat line was nothing special - 16 saves on 18 shots - but New York's Vezina Trophy finalist has kept his squad in each of their past two losses with a sparkling .940 overall save percentage. Sunday marked the first game since the Islanders' playoff opener against the Pittsburgh Penguins that Lehner allowed more than one goal.
His effort should be enough for any NHL lineup to succeed, even one that scored fewer goals than every playoff team but the Dallas Stars this season. But a litany of missed chances (along with a disallowed goal) kept New York off the scoreboard at five-on-five for the second straight game.
Though the posts and crossbars Josh Bailey, Jordan Eberle, and Ryan Pulock struck at various points in the final 10 minutes were particularly painful, the Isles' inability to finish plagued them from puck drop. Driving toward an open net five minutes in, Anthony Beauvillier whiffed on a tap-in; on the two-on-one rush that directly preceded Mrazek's exit with a lower-body injury, Eberle and Casey Cizikas were unable to connect for a shot.
Mike Stobe / National Hockey League / Getty Images
Meanwhile, the Hurricanes have capitalized on key opportunities. In Game 1, Jordan Staal scored in overtime by beating Isles defenseman Devon Toews to a rebound off a shot that missed the net. On one of the Hurricanes' few open-ice rushes Sunday, Warren Foegele collected a banked pass from Lucas Wallmark and wired a wrister past Lehner for Carolina's first goal. Less than a minute later, Nino Niederreiter tipped in the game-winner.
The Islanders are probably due for better luck in the next couple of games, but at this point, time is of the essence.
Injuries haven't caught up with Carolina … yet
After going down 2-0 to the Washington Capitals in the first round, the Hurricanes have now won six of their past seven games despite injuries to forwards Andrei Svechnikov, Micheal Ferland, Jordan Martinook, Saku Maenalanen (who left in the third period with a hand injury and will be sidelined 10-to-14 days), goaltender Mrazek, and defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk (who hurt his shoulder 25 seconds into Game 2 and is out indefinitely).
If Svechnikov (concussion) and Martinook (leg) return soon, it would be a boon to Carolina's offense, which has operated on a by-committee basis through nine playoff games. Seven 'Canes have scored multiple goals, led by Foegele's five, while defenseman Jaccob Slavin has a team-high 10 assists.
Mike Stobe / National Hockey League / Getty Images
Can they withstand these latest blows? One argument in the Hurricanes' favor is the way they've responded to adversity. Carolina dug itself out of a two-game deficit and overcame a 6-0 loss in Round 1. Before Niederreiter scored on Sunday, the Hurricanes hadn't led for any amount of time since Game 6 against the Caps, aside from their overtime goals.
As for the Mrazek injury, Carolina might not be that much worse off with Curtis McElhinney in net. To be fair, that isn't a ringing endorsement of McElhinney, but an acknowledgment that their stats from this season were similarly mediocre (.914 save percentage in 40 games for Mrazek; .912 in 33 games for McElhinney). Mrazek posted a 31-save shutout against the Isles in Game 1, but his .899 save percentage against Washington was poor.
Hurricanes' power play looks broken
Ranked 20th in the NHL, Carolina's power play was pretty drab this year. But they could sure use more in this stage of the playoffs, especially on an afternoon when their offense looked lifeless for extended stretches.
Mike Stobe / National Hockey League / Getty Images
The Hurricanes' time on the man advantage actually did them more harm than good in Game 2. They went 0-for-3 and didn't put a single puck on net during a five-on-three that lasted 1:25 in the second period. The tail end of that particular power play produced the odd-man rush where Cizikas could've scored and Mrazek appeared to hurt himself.
Foegele and Niederreiter finally solved Lehner at five-on-five in the third period, but the Hurricanes certainly didn't make it easy on themselves. (Nor have they for most of the playoffs: Game 3 vs. Washington was the last time they scored on the power play.)
The gap between now and Game 3 on Wednesday will be the first time the Hurricanes have consecutive days off in nearly two weeks. Rest won't be the only order of business they attend to.
Carolina Hurricanes netminder Petr Mrazek was forced to leave Game 2 during the second period with an apparent injury and was replaced in goal by Curtis McElhinney.
Jack Hughes somehow seems to be pushing his draft stock even higher.
The projected No. 1 pick in June's draft proved he's worthy of phenom status at the IIHF World Under-18 Championship on Sunday, breaking Alex Ovechkin's record for points at the tournament by recording 32 (14 goals, 18 assists) in 14 combined games, according to NHL.com. Ovechkin previously held the record with 31 points (23 goals, eight assists) in 14 combined contests.
Hughes set the record across two years and wrapped up 2019's showing with a tournament-high 20 points in seven contests, helping the U.S. capture a bronze medal over Canada.
Ovechkin set the mark at the 2002 and 2003 tournaments before he was drafted first overall by the Washington Capitals.
Hughes has been the consensus No. 1 prospect all year. His NHL fate will be decided at the draft June 21 with the New Jersey Devils owning the first overall pick.
The Ottawa Senators' coaching search will reportedly include a candidate employed by their provincial rivals.
It's the Senators' intention to interview Toronto Maple Leafs assistant coach D.J. Smith for their head-coaching position within the next couple of weeks, according to The Athletic's Chris Stevenson, who adds that Marc Crawford, Troy Mann, Jacques Martin, and Nate Leaman will also be considered.
Smith, who's been a Leafs assistant since 2015, has long been viewed in hockey circles as a future NHL head coach.
Crawford took over as the Senators' interim bench boss after the club fired Guy Boucher on March 1. Mann is the current coach of the Belleville Senators, Ottawa's AHL affiliate.
Martin is an assistant coach with the Pittsburgh Penguins, and was Ottawa's head coach for parts of nine seasons from 1995-96 to 2003-04. Leaman is currently the bench boss at Providence College.
"I don't care," Heiskanen told The Athletic's Sean Shapiro after his team's Game 2 victory over the Blues. "They are good players also. So I'm having fun here in playoffs."
The 19-year-old led all first-year players in average ice time during the regular season, logging 23:07 per game, while posting 33 points.
Ironically, Heiskanen scored a goal on Binnington in the first period of Game 2, shortly before the finalists were revealed during intermission.
Stars forward Tyler Seguin weighed in on the snub postgame.
Pettersson lived up to some enormous hype, netting 10 goals in his first 10 games and going on to break the Canucks' rookie scoring record that Pavel Bure previously held. The 20-year-old finished his debut campaign with 66 points in 71 games, establishing himself as the face of the franchise.
Binnington came out of nowhere and played a significant role in saving the Blues' season. From Jan. 1 onward, the 25-year-old owned a 24-5-1 record with a .930 save percentage and five shutouts. His emergence thrust St. Louis into a playoff spot, and he's maintained his form in the postseason, helping the Blues past the Winnipeg Jets in Round 1.
Dahlin, the first overall pick in 2018, was sensational for the Sabres, immediately becoming the team's top blue-liner in his first year. He appeared in all 82 games and tallied 44 points - the second-highest total for an 18-year-old defenseman in NHL history.
The winner will be announced at the NHL Awards Show on June 19 in Las Vegas.
