The Montreal Canadiens acquired netminder Jake Allen and a seventh-round pick in 2022 in exchange for a third-round selection and a seventh-rounder in 2020, the team announced Wednesday.

Allen, 30, has one year remaining on his current deal, which carries a $4.35-million cap hit, and will become an unrestricted free agent following the 2020-21 campaign.

The move frees up more cap room for the Blues this offseason with captain Alex Pietrangelo set to become an unrestricted free agent and Vince Dunn heading toward restricted free agency. St. Louis now has $6.39 million in projected space next season, according to CapFriendly.

Allen enjoyed a bounce-back campaign in 2019-20, posting a career-best 2.15 goals-against average and .927 save percentage over 24 appearances.

With Allen in the fold, 33-year-old Carey Price should be afforded more rest next season after making a league-leading 58 starts in 2019-20.

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The Dallas Stars are going back to Anton Khudobin as they once again seek to eliminate the Colorado Avalanche.

The Stars' backup goaltender is starting Game 6, the club confirmed before puck drop. Ben Bishop is unfit to play, the team announced, according to Stars senior staff writer Mike Heika.

Bishop, who was Dallas' No. 1 netminder during the regular season, has been out for most of the playoffs. He returned from injury for Game 5 on Monday, but the veteran allowed four goals on 19 shots before Khudobin replaced him in Colorado's 6-3 win.

It was Bishop's first start since Game 2 of the Stars' first-round series against the Calgary Flames, when he gave up four goals on 26 shots in a 5-4 victory.

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David Pastrnak wasn't fully healthy for the duration of the NHL's restart.

"(He) had a lower-body injury that he played through for the entire playoffs," Boston Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy told reporters on Wednesday, including NBC Sports Boston's Joe Haggerty.

Cassidy added that Pastrnak and Ondrej Kase fell behind because they missed most of training camp upon returning to North America from the Czech Republic.

"You could see (Pastrnak) wasn’t at top speed," the bench boss said. "Obviously missing time, him and Kase, their conditioning level wasn't where it needed to be to stand the rigors of (the postseason). That was a bit of circumstance. Typically you have a whole year to build that up and we didn’t have that luxury this year."

Pastrnak and Kase were both forced to quarantine upon landing in Boston in July. Pastrnak's agent said at the time his client came in contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19, though the Bruins superstar did not test positive himself.

The duo eventually joined their team in Toronto for postseason play. Pastrnak suited up for all three round-robin games, followed by Game 1 of Boston's series against the Carolina Hurricanes. However, he missed the next three contests before returning for Game 5. Pastrnak then appeared in all five second-round games against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Despite the injury, the 24-year-old contributed three goals and 10 points in 10 postseason contests.

Pastrnak tied Alex Ovechkin for the league lead with 48 markers during the regular season. They'll share the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy despite the fact Ovechkin accomplished the feat in two fewer games played.

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It appears Justin Schultz's days with the Pittsburgh Penguins have come to an end.

The 30-year-old rearguard is set to become an unrestricted free agent this offseason, and Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford said he won't be a part of the club's future.

"We’ll move on from Justin," Rutherford said Monday, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Mike Defabo. "He’s going to do better in the marketplace than what he can do here, based on our cap situation."

Schultz was the second-highest paid blue-liner on the Penguins last season with a cap hit of $5.5 million. Pittsburgh has $9.17 million in projected cap space next season, but has several restricted free agents in need of a new deal, including netminders Matt Murray and Tristan Jarry. However, Rutherford said in August there's a "very, very good chance" one of the goaltenders will be traded.

Schultz captured back-to-back Stanley Cups with the Penguins (2016, 2017) and notched a career-best 12 goals and 51 points during the latter campaign.

The British Columbia native tallied three goals and 12 points while logging 19:53 of average ice time over 46 games this season.

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Find line reports, best bets, and subscribe to push notifications in the Betting News section.

If you stuck with the under despite the Jacob Markstrom injury, congrats on 8-0. I passed, which, in hindsight, is frustrating. The Flyers cashed as my lone bet Tuesday night as we extended this winning run to 7-0 dating back to Saturday.

I'm forgetting what it feels like to lose a bet, and here's hoping we're not reminded anytime soon.

Colorado Avalanche (-125) @ Dallas Stars (+105)

Nothing's confirmed regarding which goalies will start, but it's hard to envision anyone other than Anton Khudobin between the pipes for the Stars. Ben Bishop returned to the Dallas net Monday following an 18-day absence and was nothing short of horrific, getting pulled after 13:43 and allowing four goals on 19 shots. It's hard to blame Bishop entirely for the loss seeing as the Stars didn't show up for the first period, but how do you not go back to Khudobin after that?

The Avalanche have more of a dilemma. Pavel Francouz has struggled in relief of the injured Philipp Grubauer and was unfit to play in Game 5, with Michael Hutchinson starting in his place. Hutchinson was solid, not spectacular, but he didn't have to be great with Colorado jumping out to a 5-0 lead before Dallas could muster five shots on goal. Even if Francouz is able to play, his performance in this series suggests Hutchinson will get the start regardless.

That's problematic for the Avalanche, who will need another flawless effort in front of him to prolong this series. Hutchinson channeled the adrenaline of the occasion to help Colorado to victory in Game 5, but starting a game on short notice requires a very different mentality than sitting and thinking about a start for a couple of days. A lot more pressure comes with the latter, and with the Avalanche on the brink of elimination, that's a huge burden to place on Hutchinson's shoulders.

This is a guy who started 13 games this season and allowed four or more goals in eight of them. His .888 save percentage and 3.43 goals-against average in the regular season is cause for concern against a Stars team that hasn't stopped scoring following a sluggish start in the bubble. Dallas is firing on all cylinders right now and we will see its best effort of the series tonight in an attempt to avoid Game 7.

Pick: Stars (+105)

(Odds source: theScore Bet)

Alex Moretto is a sports betting writer for theScore. A journalism graduate from Guelph-Humber University, he has worked in sports media for over a decade. He will bet on anything from the Super Bowl to amateur soccer, is too impatient for futures, and will never trust a kicker. Find him on Twitter @alexjmoretto.

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The Florida Panthers have hired Bill Zito to serve as the team's 11th general manager in franchise history, the team announced Wednesday.

"We are thrilled to welcome Bill Zito as general manager of the Florida Panthers," Panthers owner Vincent Viola said. "Bill is an excellent mind in our game today who proved during his time with the Columbus Blue Jackets that he possesses great prowess for evaluating talent and building success. He brings great experience to our club and possesses a strong business acumen."

Zito is a former player agent who served as the senior vice president of hockey operations and as an associate general manager with the Columbus Blue Jackets. He also previously served as general manager of the team's AHL affiliate.

The Panthers parted ways with previous general manager Dale Tallon shortly after being eliminated from the 2019-20 postseason. Tallon was with the team for the last decade.

Zito previously served as general manager of the U.S. team at the 2018 World Championship, where the squad finished in third place. He also helped guide the AHL's now-named Cleveland Monsters to a Calder Cup victory in 2016.

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The Vancouver Canucks avoided elimination on Tuesday with their 2-1 victory in Game 5 against the Vegas Golden Knights.

Despite being outshot 43-17, the Canucks held on for the win on the back of Thatcher Demko's incredible playoff debut. He's the first rookie goaltender since Jose Theodore in 1997 to win his NHL playoff debut when facing elimination, according to Sportsnet Stats.

"You never know what’s going to happen, so I’ve just been working in practice and been staying mentally sharp in case I was called upon," Demko said. "This is what I’ve wanted to be a part of since I was a kid. This is super special and I want to help the team any way I can."

Vancouver didn't do Demko many favors early, taking over 10 minutes in the opening frame to record its first shot on goal. Vegas outshot Vancouver 10-6 while registering four high-danger scoring chances to the Canucks' one, but the game remained without a goal after the first period.

Vegas held the puck and maintained the pressure for much of the second stanza, too. Demko made several key saves, helping to keep Vegas off the board for as long as he could while Vancouver failed to record a shot on goal for the first 12:28 of the period.

The Golden Knights finally scored with under five minutes remaining in the second when Shea Theodore weaved his way through the offensive zone. However, seconds later Brock Boeser tipped one past Robin Lehner to tie the game.

"They didn't have many shots but they had some chances," Lehner said, according to NHL.com's Danny Webster. "It would've been nice to come up with the save (on Boeser) and go into the third up 1-0. We've just got to look at the next one."

Despite the equal score through two, Vegas dominated in every facet of the game. At all strengths, the Golden Knights held a 66.67 Corsi For percentage while outshooting Vancouver 28-10.

Elias Pettersson tipped another shot past Lehner just minutes into the third, and Vancouver held on for the rest of the game. Demko finished with 42 saves, while Lehner stopped 15 of the 17 he faced.

Game 6 takes place Thursday at 9:45 p.m. ET.

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Vancouver Canucks goaltender Thatcher Demko is between the pipes with his team's season on the line in Game 5 against the Vegas Golden Knights, according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.

Jacob Markstrom is not dressed, as Louis Domingue is backing up, Friedman added.

It marks the first career playoff start for Demko. Other than a brief relief appearance in Game 1 of the series, the 24-year-old hasn't seen meaningful game action since March 10.

More to come.

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