Connor Bedard is the No. 1 North American skater heading into this year's NHL draft.

The Regina Pats dynamo headlined NHL Central Scouting's final rankings of draft-eligible skaters from the continent Tuesday.

Here's the top 10:

Bedard led the WHL with a whopping 71 goals and 143 points across 57 games during the 2022-23 regular season, adding 10 goals and 10 assists over seven playoff contests. The 17-year-old led Canada to a second straight gold medal at the World Junior Championship in January. He was named MVP after leading all skaters in the tournament with 23 points.

Fantilli won the Hobey Baker Award as the NCAA's top men's hockey player this season. Bedard and Fantilli are widely projected to be selected first and second in the draft, respectively. The top three on the list remain unchanged from Central Scouting's midterm rankings, while Wood moved up from eighth.

Central Scouting also finalized its list of international skaters. Here's the top 10 in that category:

Carlsson also held the top spot on the midterm rankings in January. The 18-year-old, who's widely projected to be drafted third, collected 10 goals and 15 assists over 44 games while playing in Sweden's top league. He notched three goals and three assists in seven contests for his country at the most recent world junior tournament.

Reinbacher rose five spots from the midterm edition, while Sandin Pellikka dropped four spots.

The NHL will conduct the draft lottery on May 8. The draft itself is scheduled for June 28 and 29 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

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The Los Angeles Kings struck first in their playoff rematch with the Edmonton Oilers, rallying to erase multiple two-goal deficits and prevail 4-3 in overtime in Game 1. The outcomes of these three matchups powered L.A. to victory in Monday's spirited series opener.

Draisaitl dazzled, McDavid didn't

Leon Draisaitl produced two points per postseason contest on a compromised ankle last spring. Connor McDavid one-upped him, tallying 33 points in a magisterial 16-game playoff run that gobsmacked fans everywhere. After the Oilers superstars both set personal scoring bests this season, they were positioned to pick up right where they left off in 2022.

Four slipups nearly doomed the Kings on Monday. Moving freely, Draisaitl snuck unnoticed into the slot before rifling the series' first goal past Joonas Korpisalo. McDavid stripped the puck from and then sped by Drew Doughty, then dangled Mikey Anderson to induce two obstruction penalties in the span of 30 seconds, setting up Evan Bouchard to score at five-on-three. Draisaitl scored again later when all five Los Angeles defenders lost track of the puck in a scramble.

Those miscues didn't wind up mattering. Game 1 tightened up when Vladislav Gavrikov's deflection of a McDavid pass sparked Adrian Kempe's backhand goal. Quinton Byfield drew back-to-back penalties and poked the puck to Kempe to tee up his second snipe of the third period, inciting Edmonton's collapse. Admirably resilient, L.A.'s defensemen stayed square to McDavid on many of his rushes, holding him pointless as they bought time to tie the score.

Few teams curbed Edmonton's big guns in 2022-23. Draisaitl's 128 points equaled the previous season high in the salary-cap era. McDavid recorded 153 points, blowing out his sidekick and the rest of the league.

These two stars are unstoppable, so beating Edmonton starts with limiting the damage they inflict. Burned in the first period and showered with boos whenever he touched the puck, Doughty shoved McDavid to the ice as L.A. mounted its comeback, fulfilling his promise to "smack" No. 97 if the chance presented itself. Mission accomplished in Game 1.

Kings delivered on special teams

The tale of the tape in this phase of the game favors the Oilers, whose power play scored every third time it vaulted the boards this season. But L.A.'s power play ranked fourth and is one of few league-wide that can threaten to match Edmonton's unit shot for shot.

Both teams are subpar on the penalty kill, though the Oilers potted 18 shorthanded goals for an NHL high since 2006, per Stathead. Korpisalo stoned Mattias Janmark during an Edmonton penalty kill in Game 1 after backpedaling defenseman Sean Durzi astutely blanketed McDavid to deny a cross-ice pass.

The Kings hung in the game long enough to punish Edmonton's indiscipline. The Oilers' commitment to blocking shots snuffed out four Kings power-play attempts, but Anze Kopitar scored on the fifth try with Bouchard in the box for high-sticking, capitalizing 16.7 seconds before regulation ended. When Vincent Desharnais lost body position and tripped Blake Lizotte in OT, Alex Iafallo sniped from the bumper spot to finish a clinical tic-tac-toe passing play.

How McDavid is officiated in the series is a storyline to monitor. The NHL leader in drawn penalties over the past two seasons, McDavid infamously didn't earn a single call in 2021 when the Winnipeg Jets swept Edmonton in Round 1. The Kings took four minors trying to deal with his speed and shiftiness last year. The same issues arose Monday when Doughty hooked McDavid and Anderson hugged him to avoid being posterized.

McDavid racked up 71 power-play points during the regular season, the most in the league since 1996. He would have ranked 57th among NHL scorers if he never played a shift at even strength or shorthanded. Draisaitl, meanwhile, set a record by netting a power-play goal in 31 different games. Their dominance in such situations should clinch Edmonton some playoff wins, but the Oilers' five-on-three was their only significant opportunity in the opener.

Korpisalo made the extra save

The veteran goalies who previously led these teams on deep postseason runs - Mike Smith for Edmonton, two-time Stanley Cup champion Jonathan Quick for L.A. - have been replaced by fresh faces.

Stuart Skinner might win the Calder Trophy because he stabilized the Oilers when Jack Campbell slumped this season. Acquired for Quick at the trade deadline, Korpisalo established himself as the Kings' steadiest hand in net over 11 appearances. Counting his time with the Columbus Blue Jackets, Korpisalo ranked 13th in save percentage and ninth in quality start percentage among goalies who made 30-plus starts, according to Hockey Reference.

Korpisalo settled in Monday to offset Edmonton's hot start. Beaten just once in the final 56 minutes, he stopped 11 shots in overtime to expand his save total to 37. Skinner, who posted a .951 save percentage over four April appearances, was positionally sound and stopped 31 shots. But he let in four of the last 17 he faced, faltering for the first time in weeks.

Alternately brilliant and beatable - sometimes within the same period - Smith's goaltending in the playoffs was a wild ride. Quick's performance fell off a cliff in his age-37 season. His replacement was marginally better than Skinner on Monday, putting pressure on the rookie to bounce back as this duel continues.

Nick Faris is a features writer at theScore.

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Dallas Stars forward Joe Pavelski was forced to exit Game 1 on Monday after taking a massive hit from Minnesota Wild defenseman Matt Dumba.

Dumba was initially given a five-minute major for the hit, but it was rescinded to a two-minute minor for roughing after review.

Stars forward Max Domi also received a two-minute minor for roughing and a 10-minute misconduct for continuing after he came to Pavelski's defense.

Pavelski, who appeared to hit his head on the ice, needed help leaving the rink.

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Boston Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron isn't in the lineup for Game 1 against the Florida Panthers on Monday due to an illness, the team announced.

Bergeron also exited Boston's final game of the regular season with an upper-body injury, but it was deemed precautionary.

Pavel Zacha centers the top line in Bergeron's absence.

Bergeron has tallied 127 points in 167 career postseason games.

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