The San Jose Sharks aren't happy with the perception that they've been fortunate in these Stanley Cup Playoffs.

"It irks me when you use words like (lucky) because this team has played four or five elimination games," Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer said Friday, according to ESPN's Greg Wyshynski. "Not moments - games. Twelve-to-15 periods of elimination hockey against Vegas, against Colorado in Game 7, so I think it's a ridiculous statement.

"You know what? We've found a way. And we've faced a lot of adversity. We've had calls go against us and we've had calls go for us, and we're still standing. For anybody to minimize that, I think is disrespectful to our group and what we've done."

The Sharks benefited from an egregious non-call in Game 3 of the Western Conference Final against the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday night, when all four officials missed Timo Meier's hand pass prior to Erik Karlsson's overtime winner.

NHL executive vice president Colin Campbell later admitted the goal shouldn't have counted.

San Jose also benefited from a coach's challenge that negated a Colorado Avalanche goal in Game 7 of their second-round series, when Gabriel Landeskog was deemed offside while standing by the bench waiting to go off on a line change.

In the first round, the Sharks stormed back to defeat the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 7 thanks in large part to the controversial five-minute major assessed to Vegas forward Cody Eakin, a call for which Golden Knights general manager George McPhee said the league later apologized.

"I wouldn't say we're lucky," San Jose forward Gustav Nyquist said. "(Against Vegas) our first-unit power play executed that to perfection. They scored four goals in five minutes. In Game 3, (Logan Couture) comes up clutch and ties the game. We battle through. We know we're never out of a game until it's over."

Tomas Hertl agreed.

"I don't care what everybody's saying," the Sharks center said. "We deserve to win. I don't like 'lucky' overall. If you work for it, you deserve it."

Game 4 of the Western Conference Final goes Friday night in St. Louis.

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John Davidson has left his post as president of hockey operations with the Columbus Blue Jackets after the New York Rangers sought permission to speak with him about serving as their team president, the Blue Jackets announced Friday.

Davidson is joining the Rangers, who are expected to make the move official on Wednesday, The Athletic's Aaron Portzline reports.

More to come.

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For nearly a decade, the Hurricanes were a league-wide footnote, and postseason hockey in Carolina was nothing but a pipe dream and a reflection of yesteryear.

However, the 2018-19 season was a different story, as the Hurricanes captivated fans with exuberant post-win celebrations and embraced those who looked down on their fun shenanigans. But most importantly, they won, snapping the NHL's longest postseason drought and making it all the way to the Eastern Conference Final.

Even though the season ended in bitter fashion - a sweep at the hands of the Boston Bruins on Thursday night - captain Justin Williams was able to reflect on the impact this campaign had not only on Carolina fans but on the entire league.

"I'm proud of what we've done," the 37-year-old told reporters postgame, per NBC Sports. "I'm proud that we've gotten ourselves relevant again. I'm proud that we raised the bar in the organization, and I'm proud of every one of my teammates."

One of the primary reasons for the Hurricanes' miracle run was the leadership from head coach Rod Brind'Amour. But even though his squad exceeded all possible expectations, he didn't stray from his fiery yet compassionate persona when reflecting on Thursday's 4-0 loss.

"I want to thank the people and community for supporting us. I hate that we went out like that on that game," Brind'Amour told Michael Smith of the team's website. "That was a dud game for them to come watch. I apologize for that. Tremendous support for our team. ... It's a real community feel. It's something special."

The Bunch of Jerks' season may be over, but with a young, promising core and plenty of cap space, there's no reason to believe it'll be another nine-year wait for playoff hockey in Raleigh, N.C.

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For nearly a decade, the Hurricanes were a league-wide footnote, and postseason hockey in Carolina was nothing but a pipe dream and a reflection of yesteryear.

However, the 2018-19 season was a different story, as the Hurricanes captivated fans with exuberant post-win celebrations and embraced those who looked down on their fun shenanigans. But most importantly, they won, snapping the NHL's longest postseason drought and making it all the way to the Eastern Conference Final.

Even though the season ended in bitter fashion - a sweep at the hands of the Boston Bruins on Thursday night - captain Justin Williams was able to reflect on the impact this campaign had not only on Carolina fans but on the entire league.

"I'm proud of what we've done," the 37-year-old told reporters postgame, per NBC Sports. "I'm proud that we've gotten ourselves relevant again. I'm proud that we raised the bar in the organization, and I'm proud of every one of my teammates."

One of the primary reasons for the Hurricanes' miracle run was the leadership from head coach Rod Brind'Amour. But even though his squad exceeded all possible expectations, he didn't stray from his fiery yet compassionate persona when reflecting on Thursday's 4-0 loss.

"I want to thank the people and community for supporting us. I hate that we went out like that on that game," Brind'Amour told Michael Smith of the team's website. "That was a dud game for them to come watch. I apologize for that. Tremendous support for our team. ... It's a real community feel. It's something special."

The Bunch of Jerks' season may be over, but with a young, promising core and plenty of cap space, there's no reason to believe it'll be another nine-year wait for playoff hockey in Raleigh, N.C.

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The Boston Bruins completed their sweep of the Carolina Hurricanes with a 4-0 victory on Thursday night to punch their ticket to the Stanley Cup Final.

It's the Bruins first finals appearance since 2013, and they await the winner of the San Jose Sharks-St. Louis Blues series to determine their opponent.

More to come.

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The Boston Bruins' Don Sweeney, St. Louis Blues' Doug Armstrong, and Carolina Hurricanes' Don Waddell have been named finalists for general manager of the year, the teams announced Thursday.

Sweeney made two key trades for the Bruins prior to the deadline, landing Marcus Johansson from the New Jersey Devils for a pair of draft picks and acquiring Charlie Coyle from the Minnesota Wild in exchange for Ryan Donato and a conditional draft pick.

The Bruins GM didn't make any major offseason splashes, but the low-risk depth signings of Jaroslav Halak, John Moore, Joakim Nordstrom, and Chris Wagner proved integral to Boston posting the second-best regular-season record in the Eastern Conference.

Armstong endured one of the busiest offseasons in Blues franchise history. He landed Selke Trophy candidate Ryan O'Reilly from the Buffalo Sabres without giving up any major assets and signed Tyler Bozak, David Perron, and Patrick Maroon in free agency.

His best move, though, may have been not making one at all. After an abysmal start to the season, the Blues were rumored to be sellers, but Armstrong gave his group time to gel before making any major moves. The team rewarded him with one of the league's hottest second-half runs, going from last in the NHL on Jan. 2 to a playoff berth by the end of the regular season.

Waddell had a busy offseason of his own during his first summer at the helm in Carolina. He made a blockbuster trade with the Calgary Flames at the draft, shipping out highly touted youngsters Elias Lindholm and Noah Hanifin to acquire Dougie Hamilton and Micheal Ferland.

He also solved the club's longstanding goaltending issues by signing Petr Mrazek to a one-year deal and claiming Curtis McElhinney off waivers from the Toronto Maple Leafs. His pre-deadline trade sending Victor Rask to the Minnesota Wild in exchange for Nino Niederreiter has proven to be one-sided in Carolina's favor.

The NHL's 31 general managers vote on the award at the end of the regular season. The winner will be announced on June 19.

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The Boston Bruins will be without defenseman Zdeno Chara as they look to sweep the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final on Thursday night, according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.

It appears Chara will be replaced in the lineup by John Moore. There's no word yet on the extent of his potential injury.

Chara was limited to 62 games in the regular season due to a knee injury but has played in all 16 of the Bruins' playoff contests.

Boston's captain hasn't been prominent on the scoresheet with just three points in the postseason, but he's still logged over 22 minutes per night on the club's top defensive pair and is an integral factor on the Bruins' penalty kill.

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NHL executive vice president Colin Campbell admitted the league made a mistake on the controversial play that led to the conclusion of Game 3 between the San Jose Sharks and St. Louis Blues on Wednesday night.

“That was the wrong call," Campbell said on Sportsnet's Hockey Central at Noon. "It should’ve been a whistle if the referee had seen it live.”

With the contest in overtime, Sharks forward Timo Meier made an illegal hand pass that led to San Jose's game-winner. The pass went undetected by the officials, and under the NHL rule book, it wasn't a reviewable play.

“It’s so unfair that the game ended that way,” Campbell added. “The wrong way.

"Yes, you could probably use (Rule 38.4(ix)) but I think it has to be a discussion (before expanding use of that rule).”

Rule 38.4(ix) allows the league to “assist the referees in determining the legitimacy of all potential goals (e.g. to ensure they are “good hockey goals”). For example (but not limited to), pucks that enter the net by going through the net meshing, pucks that enter the net from underneath the net frame, pucks that hit the spectator netting prior to being directed immediately into the goal, pucks that enter the net undetected by the referee, etc.”

This wasn't the first time in these playoffs a non-reviewable play has caused a game to end in contentious fashion.

Trailing 3-0 with 11 minutes left in Game 7 of their opening-round series against the Vegas Golden Knights, the Sharks were awarded a five-minute power play after forward Cody Eakin was called for a controversial cross-checking major. San Jose scored four goals on the power play and won the game in overtime.

The Sharks recaptured home-ice advantage over the Blues and now lead the series 2-1 with Game 4 set for Friday night in St. Louis.

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