Florida Panthers defenseman Radko Gudas wasn't able to return to Monday's 7-2 defeat after he absorbed a reverse hit from Vegas Golden Knights forward Ivan Barbashev in the opening period of Game 2.

Gudas went straight down the tunnel on the play. Barbashev wasn't penalized for the incident.

Florida head coach Paul Maurice had no updates on Gudas' status postgame, per team beat reporter Jameson Olive.

The Panthers entered the contest with 11 forwards and seven defensemen because Gudas was already banged up, according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman. Blue-liner Casey Fitzgerald came into the lineup, replacing forward Zac Dalpe.

Prior to Monday's action, Gudas had three assists in 17 playoff games while leading all skaters with 79 hits.

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Chaos ensued after Florida Panthers pest Matthew Tkachuk leveled Vegas Golden Knights star Jack Eichel with a big hit near the end of the second period of Monday night's Game 2.

Eichel appeared to be falling down in the lead-up to the hit. He went down the tunnel immediately afterward but was back on the bench for the third period.

In his first shift back from his brief exit, Eichel set up Jonathan Marchessault to restore the Golden Knights' four-goal lead less than two minutes after Anton Lundell got the Panthers on the board.

Tkachuk received a 10-minute misconduct, as well as two minutes for roughing Vegas forward Ivan Barbashev in the aftermath of the hit.

Golden Knights defenseman Alex Pietrangelo and Panthers blue-liner Gustav Forsling were given minors for roughing as well.

Barbashev was also handed a 10-minute misconduct.

Heading into Monday's contest, Eichel led the Golden Knights with 20 points in 18 games this spring.

Tkachuk was assessed a 10-minute misconduct near the end of Game 1 after throwing punches in a scrum.

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The Ottawa Senators have begun examining the trade market for forward Alex DeBrincat, reports Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.

DeBrincat, 25, is a restricted free agent this summer and requires a $9-million qualifying offer. He's one season away from becoming an unrestricted free agent.

The Senators are described as considering all options, from salary arbitration to a potential trade, per Friedman. DeBrincat indicated that he wanted to wait until the completion of the team's ownership sale before considering a long-term commitment.

Ottawa's general manager Pierre Dorion said there was "no chance" the team would trade DeBrincat in February.

DeBrincat was acquired by the Senators on draft day last July. Ottawa sent the seventh overall pick, the 39th overall pick, and a 2024 third-round pick to Chicago in the transaction. The Blackhawks drafted defenseman Kevin Korchinski and forward Paul Ludwinski with the selections.

The Michigan native scored 27 goals and registered 66 points in his first season with Ottawa, ranking fourth on the team in both categories. DeBrincat has tallied 41 goals twice in his career, most recently doing so in 2021-22 with the Blackhawks.

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The Anaheim Ducks have hired Greg Cronin as head coach, the team announced Monday.

Cronin has never been a head coach at the NHL level. He spent the past five seasons as the bench boss of the AHL's Colorado Eagles and has 12 years of experience as an NHL assistant.

"I'm excited and honored to be named head coach of the Anaheim Ducks," Cronin said in a statement. "This team has a fantastic future ahead, and I'm very grateful to the Samueli family and (general manager) Pat Verbeek for entrusting me with this amazing opportunity."

Cronin has been an assistant coach with the New York Islanders for two separate stints as well as the Toronto Maple Leafs from 2011-14. The 60-year-old has also worked at the NCAA level with Colby, Maine, and Northeastern and was a co-founder of the United States National Team Development Program.

His penchant for developing young players was a key factor in his hiring in Anaheim.

"While we did cast a wide net in searching for the next head coach, it became clear to me that Greg would be the ideal fit for the position," Verbeek said. "Being a young team, I felt we needed a teacher of the finer points of the game and someone who has worked extensively over time with talented young players, helping them develop into successful NHL players."

The Ducks have missed the playoffs five consecutive seasons but boast a promising young core in Trevor Zegras, Mason McTavish, and Jamie Drysdale. Anaheim also possesses a strong prospect pipeline, with CHL Defenseman of the Year Olen Zellweger, Memorial Cup champion Nathan Gaucher, and the second overall pick in this month's NHL draft.

Anaheim parted ways with former head coach Dallas Eakins in April after four seasons at the helm.

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Powered by a dominant third period, the Golden Knights took care of business in the opening game of the series.

Can they replicate that performance - and grab a 2-0 lead - or will the Panthers fight back and claw away home-ice advantage?

Let's take a closer look as we dive into three best bets for the second game of the series.

Panthers (+120) @ Golden Knights (-140)

The Panthers did a great job of limiting the damage opposing offenses could inflict over the first three rounds of the playoffs. They deserve credit for that. But it's also worth noting they didn't face any teams that were creating anywhere close to the level of the Golden Knights.

The Bruins netted 2.31 goals per 60 at five-on-five in the opening series. That would've sandwiched them between the Flyers and Coyotes - two horrendous teams - during the regular season. Yet that's the highest output of any team the Panthers faced en route to the Stanley Cup Final.

The Maple Leafs averaged only 2.22 goals per 60 over 11 playoff games, while the Hurricanes scored just 2.26 spanning 15 games. All of those teams seemed happy to try to dull the game down and bank on their side converting at a better rate. It didn't happen.

Vegas, on the other hand, is simply overwhelming teams offensively. The Golden Knights have scored a whopping 3.46 goals per 60 at five-on-five, the best mark of any playoff team - and it's not close.

They're completely railroading each and every team that stands in their way, generating a good dose of chances in the zone and destroying teams in transition following turnovers forced by their great two-way game (led by Mark Stone).

They made Sergei Bobrovsky look human in the series opener, scoring four goals on 33 shots. That marked the first time since Game 7 of the first round that Bobrovsky has allowed more than three goals or posted a sub .900 save percentage.

I think the Golden Knights are going to score their fair share of goals in this series. They have all playoffs despite facing Jake Oettinger, Connor Hellebuyck, and an Oilers team that entered the playoffs in as good of form as anybody in the league.

If those goaltenders, or teams, couldn't slow the Golden Knights' offense down, I don't see Bobrovsky doing it - especially after such a long layoff that could've taken him out of the zone he was in.

That means the Panthers will need to score goals to keep up. I think that'll lead to them taking more chances and to higher event games, one way or the other.

Bet: Over 5.5 (-120)

Alex Pietrangelo over 2.5 shots (+110)

Pietrangelo had a strong shooting performance in the opening game of the series, attempting six shots while hitting the target three times.

His shooting success is nothing new on home ice, nor against the Panthers. Pietrangelo has hit in four of the last six playoff games in Vegas and attempted at least five shots in all of them.

That has been somewhat of a magic number for Pietrangelo this season. He's attempted five shots or more 44 times, clearing his prop line in 30 of those games. That's good for a 68% success rate.

I think Pietrangelo should be able to get to that mark again in this one. He's playing a lot of minutes at even strength, getting a lot of reps on the power play, and has hit in all three games against the Panthers this year.

We're getting a more than fair price in backing Pietrangelo to do it again.

Aleksander Barkov over 2.5 shots (-110)

Barkov let us down in Game 1 of the series, recording two shots on goal over the first two periods but failing to get the third while the Panthers piled up shots pushing to tie the game. It wasn't for a lack of opportunity, though, as Barkov was credited with five scoring chances in the game.

He generated the volume necessary to get the job done, and his shots came from good locations. He just didn't get the puck on target. That's generally not an issue for Barkov, who hit the net on 62% of his shot attempts during the regular season.

He's playing 21-plus minutes each and every night, so the opportunities should be there. If he can be a little more clinical with hitting the target, he should get back on track in Game 2.

Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @ToddCordell.

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The Montreal Canadiens signed star forward Cole Caufield to an eight-year contract extension carrying an average annual value of $7.85 million, the team announced Monday.

The 22-year-old sniper was a restricted free agent. His new cap hit makes him the second-highest-paid skater on the Canadiens, behind only captain Nick Suzuki ($7.875 million), who's under contract through 2030.

Caufield was drafted 15th overall in 2019. After a prestigious collegiate career at Wisconsin, he joined late in the shortened 2020-21 season and made his mark on the NHL stage by contributing 12 points in 20 playoff games as the Canadiens made an unlikely run to the Stanley Cup Final.

His new pact features modified no-trade clauses for the final three seasons. Caufield will submit a 15-team no-trade list for 2028-29, a 10-team list for 2029-30, and a five-team list for 2030-31, according to CapFriendly.

Caufield was limited to 46 games this season due to a shoulder injury but still finished tied for Montreal's goal-scoring lead with 26 tallies. He's managed 53 goals and 31 assists in 123 NHL contests to date.

With Caufield inked, the Canadiens' most notable RFA left to sign is forward Denis Gurianov. Montreal is currently projected to be right up against next year's $83.5-million cap but will have $10.5 million in additional flexibility with goaltender Carey Price on long-term injured reserve.

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