Dallas Stars netminder Ben Bishop appears to have avoided injury after taking a hard slap shot up high from St. Louis Blues defenseman Colton Parayko in Game 6 on Sunday, according to head coach Jim Montgomery.

"He's fine. Stayed in the game. He's fine. We just wanted to put Doby (Anton Khudobin) in. He wasn't hurt, that's why we made the switch," Montgomery said after the game, per The Athletic's Jim Rutherford.

The play occurred around the 7:37 mark of the third period. Blues forward Jaden Schwartz took advantage of the situation, depositing the puck with Bishop down to make it 3-1. The Stars netminder allowed a fourth goal to Sammy Blais 33 seconds later before exiting the contest.

The play sparked controversy as fans and media believed the sequence could've been whistled dead. Referee series supervisor Kay Whitmore provided answers following the contest.

"Not in this situation," Whitmore said, according to The Athletic's Sean Shapiro. "The scoring chance is imminent and it happened bang-bang and the puck's in the net. It wasn't a long duration of time. But the rule is pretty clear that in that situation they're not going to kill it (the play).

"As soon as his team would have gotten possession, they would have killed it immediately," he continued. "That happens all the time. But in this situation, they didn't deem it serious enough to kill it immediately and they didn't get possession before the puck went in the net. It's pretty clear how that rule works."

The two teams will meet in a series-deciding Game 7 on Tuesday in St. Louis with a trip to the Western Conference Final on the line.

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Joe Pavelski believes his San Jose Sharks got away with one when he was injured in Game 7 of their first-round series versus the Vegas Golden Knights.

Pavelski was sent hard to the ice on a faceoff play when he collided with Cody Eakin and Paul Stastny. The officials called a five-minute cross-checking major on Eakin, even though there was no contact to Pavelski's head.

San Jose proceeded to score four goals on the ensuing power play and ultimately clinched the series in overtime to conclude one of the craziest playoff games in recent memory.

The controversial referee decision set the hockey world ablaze, and Pavelski, speaking for the first time since his injury, admitted he thought the call was wrong.

"Was it a five-minute penalty? No. Am I glad they called it that way? Yes," Pavelski said, according to Sportsnet's Eric Francis.

Pavelski hasn't played since the incident and told reporters that he suffered through concussion symptoms and a pressure cut that required staples.

The Sharks captain is traveling with the team to Colorado as it seeks to eliminate the Avalanche on Monday, but he still doesn't have a timeline for a potential return to the lineup.

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The Edmonton Oilers are expected to introduce longtime Detroit Red Wings executive Ken Holland as their new general manager within the next few days, according to TSN's Darren Dreger.

Holland, who will take over from interim GM Keith Gretzky, will have full autonomy with regard to hockey operations, Dreger adds.

Edmonton has held extensive interviews for its GM vacancy and ultimately set its sights on Holland, who will reportedly sign a five-year deal worth $5 million per season.

Holland reached great heights running the Red Wings; Detroit won three Stanley Cups during his tenure, missing the playoffs just three times in 22 years. He signed a two-year extension in 2018, but the organization brought in Steve Yzerman as its new GM and executive vice president on April 19.

The 63-year-old will face immediate pressure to right the ship in Edmonton, as the Oilers, despite Connor McDavid's brilliance, have missed the playoffs in back-to-back seasons.

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The Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook opened its 2020 Stanley Cup betting on Saturday and the Tampa Bay Lightning are favored, even after the eighth-seeded Columbus Blue Jackets swept them in the first round this season.

The Lightning boast league-best 6-1 odds to capture the cup in 2019-20, while the Blue Jackets didn't make the top 10 despite their surprising postseason run.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are the favorites among Canadian teams, and the Ottawa Senators are extreme underdogs.

The Colorado Avalanche and St. Louis Blues are included in the top 10 after topping off strong regular-season finishes with convincing playoff performances.

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A San Jose Sharks goal was taken away in controversial fashion Saturday night in Game 5 of their second-round series against the Colorado Avalanche.

Kevin Labanc's first-period marker was waved off because referee Tim Peel handed Sharks forward Timo Meier a high-sticking penalty seconds before the goal. However, replays appeared to show Avalanche defenseman Tyson Barrie lifting Meier's stick into Colorado forward Mikko Rantanen's face.

Making matters worse for San Jose, here's where Peel was when he made the call:

And here's where the other referee, Marc Joannette, was positioned. He didn't call a penalty.

The NHL's explanation simply stated the penalty was called before the goal, but the league didn't provide further rationale.

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Don Cherry isn't backing down from his criticism of the Carolina Hurricanes, and now he's taking aim at their supporters.

On Saturday night during his "Coach's Corner" segment, the "Hockey Night in Canada" pundit began discussing the team by reiterating his disapproval over the regular-season "Storm Surge" and was baffled that his previous "bunch of jerks" criticism was adopted by the club as a rallying cry.

"I don't understand this. I said this up in Canada and it goes down in there," Cherry said. "And it's a funny thing. They know that it's the wrong thing to do or they'd do it in the playoffs."

The 85-year-old analyst then took a shot at the Hurricanes' attendance.

"I'm told the owner said, 'Entertain the crowd,' and they still draw 13-to-14,000 people," Cherry said. "And these people that are here now, now (that) they're winning (are) front-running fans as far as I'm concerned."

When asked by broadcast partner Ron MacLean whether it's hard not to enjoy it now, Cherry was dismissive.

"I don't embrace nothing," he answered. "I said they look like a bunch of jerks being a fish in the water, (miming) a bowling ball. This is professional hockey and no sport in the world does it except them. It came down from the top (that), 'I want to entertain the fans.' The fans there now, the 17-and-18,000, they're front-runners. They're there because they win. Not because they act like fish."

The Hurricanes fired back shortly thereafter, making a clear reference to Cherry based on the "Star Wars"-themed suit he was wearing during his segment.

After Cherry's original "bunch of jerks" comments in February, the team had T-shirts made and projected the phrase onto the ice after a win.

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