Growing up, Philip Broberg didn't turn many heads.

While his talent stood out in the Swedish system, by no means was Broberg labeled exceptional like some of his 2019 NHL Draft peers spread across the world.

But fast forward roughly five years, and Broberg's game has matured - a ton. There was slow growth throughout his early teens as he converted from forward to defense, and then rapid improvement over the past three seasons as his skill set developed and his confidence took off.

"As time has gone on, the dots have started to connect for him,” said Randy Edmonds, who's played, scouted, coached, and managed in Sweden for 30 years and now represents Broberg for DHG Sports Agency.

"It wasn't obvious at 13 that this kid was going to be a first-round pick in the NHL," he continued. "We knew - and Philip knew - he was a good player. But you see a lot of those players at that age and you don’t know which direction they'll go. With him, he's continued to rise."

These days, Broberg, who doesn't turn 18 until June 25, moves around the ice effortlessly. And while that skating ability is his calling card, talent evaluators have really warmed to his other tools, including hockey sense and defensive coverage. Bulking up and sharpening his decision-making are high on the to-do list.

It's conceivable now that an NHL team will use a top-10 selection on him later this month in Vancouver. Offensive juggernaut Bowen Byram is considered the top blue-liner in the 2019 class, while Broberg is among a handful of others - including German Moritz Seider and compatriot Victor Soderstrom - making up the second tier. It's anybody's guess which order they'll be selected, with the draft's first round expected to be all over the place.

"He's one of those players where I think a team will step up for him in the draft," NHL Central Scouting director Dan Marr said of Broberg. "I think that’s going to be a smart move. He's not the loudest, flashiest player, so he doesn’t draw attention. But, when you go to a game, you don't have to look for him. He makes the kinds of plays where you say, 'Smart player. Smart player.'"

"Prototypical size-skating combo," added an NHL scout who requested anonymity. "He's got a shot, good hands. Can probably man the second-unit power play one day. He's a really fun player to watch.”

Broberg shrugs when asked how he's managed to become an elite skater. Instead of bragging about a change in mechanics or productive sessions with a renowned skating coach, he references hard work and a belief in himself and his abilities.

"I don’t think a lot of guys realize how fast he is until it’s too late," said Niagara IceDogs forward Philip Tomasino, another projected first-rounder and Broberg's training partner during the Swede's annual visit to Toronto. "He's got a really long stride, with his body stretching out."

As the clip below demonstrated, Broberg possesses high-end acceleration. He crosses over often to gain speed, blazing past helpless opponents with conviction reserved only for the quickest skaters in the world.

In many instances, it looks like he's been shot out of cannon in the same way Connor McDavid and Rasmus Dahlin often enter or exit a zone:

Broberg's improvement was also aided by Swedish hockey culture, which is known for its focus on individual skill development. At the lower levels, winning is a secondary pursuit. Instead, the general encouragement of creativity and the blanket philosophy of learning from mistakes take precedent. It's no coincidence that Broberg's homeland has produced a boatload of dynamic defensemen, including his hero, Norris Trophy winner Victor Hedman.

"One of the beauties of playing hockey in Europe - especially junior hockey - is that there's no money in it," Edmonds said.

"There's no extra playoff round, extra gate for the owner, no corporate boxes to sell. So, as (Broberg's) development has progressed, he's been allowed to make mistakes along the way. When you do that in the Ontario league or the Western league, you're costing your team a playoff round. These European defensemen - Erik Karlsson is a good example - make all sorts of mistakes and turnovers, but it doesn't cost anybody money so they're allowed to keep doing it so they can figure it out.”

However, Broberg's young career hit a fork in the road during the 2017-18 season. Frustrated with his hometown team's unwillingness to promote him to J20 SuperElit, Sweden's top junior hockey loop, he decided to pack his bags - leaving behind his parents and brother in Orebro - for a move to Stockholm, where he'd suit up for AIK and live alone in the nation's capital.

"My coach in Orebro didn't think I was ready to play, not mature enough, not strong enough, not fast enough. So they put me with the J18 team," Broberg said. "But I thought I was good enough to play in the J20, and AIK gave me the chance."

It turned out to be a shrewd decision.

As a 16-year-old in the higher level, Broberg dazzled, registering 13 points in 23 games for AIK while establishing himself as an NHL prospect worthy of close scrutiny. Then in August, he blew the doors off the heavily scouted Hlinka-Gretzky Cup, scoring three goals and adding an assist in five games as Sweden claimed the silver medal. And he's continued to impress on the international stage ever since.

"He took a huge step this year, I must say," said Magnus Havelid, Sweden’s Under-18 team head coach.

Indeed, the Hlinka was just the first of three tournaments for Broberg leading up to the 2019 draft. He also made Sweden's world junior squad, though an illness derailed his performance. April's Under-18 World Championship proved more productive, with the Swedes capturing gold while Broberg was named the best defenseman and earned a spot on the tournament's All-Star team.

"He seems to play well when the pressure is at its highest point," Edmonds said.

Broberg also dressed for 41 games in the Allsvenskan, the country's second-tier pro league, and eight at the J20 level during the 2018-19 season. But the transition from junior to pro included an adjustment period. The 6-foot-3, 199-pounder saw his ice time cut in half and the shift-to-shift physicality ramped up. Perhaps most significant for a guy who loves to create, Broberg was forced to make safe choices with the puck and clamp down defensively without it.

"Of course I want to contribute offense all the time, but I still want to be a guy who you can trust on defense," he said.

Next, Broberg will make the jump this fall to the Swedish Hockey League, the sport's domestic peak. He signed a one-year contract with Skelleftea in May and, barring a push from his future NHL team to jump ship and join the OHL's Hamilton Bulldogs, who own his North American junior rights, he'll face another challenge. The SHL is considered the third-best league in the world.

"I think that he will do fine, considering how well he played last year in Allsvenskan," Skelleftea general manager Erik Forssell said. "If you take into regard his age, we think that he will develop further and play well in the SHL."

If all goes according to plan, Broberg will spend one year - two max - in the SHL before leaving Sweden to chase his NHL dreams in a to-be-determined locale.

"I think the only thing that he needs is what a lot of 17-going-on-18-year-olds need: A little bit more maturity and experience to his game, where it all comes together. I don’t know if there's any liabilities," Marr said.

"He's a pretty complete package for a team to draft and watch develop over the next year or two."

For a player who was never considered a prodigy growing up, that's certainly quite the leap.

John Matisz is theScore's national hockey writer.

Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

BUFFALO - All 31 teams and more than 100 draft-eligible players descended upon Western New York this past week for the 2019 NHL Scouting Combine, which includes face-to-face interviews and off-ice testing.

Spencer Knight, a blue-chip goaltending prospect, stole the show during Saturday's fitness gauntlet inside the Harborcenter facility, collecting top-10 scores in eight of 18 testing categories. He notably finished atop the class in the FMS Score category, which measures functional movement.

But while the combine is largely geared toward helping teams make decisions, it's also an opportunity for us to identify the odd trend and learn a thing or two ahead of the draft, which will take place June 21-22 in Vancouver.

Here are four takeaways from Saturday's festivities:

All eyes on the Kings

Every spring, as the draft approaches, the hockey world just can't help itself.

When will the intrigue really begin in Round 1? Is it the first selection? The second? At which point will we be on the edge of our seats, anticipating the announcement of a particular pick?!

At events like the combine, that noise is amplified and consensus gains momentum. And this week, the fifth overall selection - which is owned by the Los Angeles Kings - commanded the most attention. Why? Well, it's believed that pick is when the draft will become must-see TV.

The way it stands now, the New Jersey Devils will almost certainly use the first selection on American sensation Jack Hughes. The New York Rangers, picking second, won't think twice about choosing Kaapo Kakko, who's being hailed as the Finnish Auston Matthews. At No. 3, the prevailing sense is that the Chicago Blackhawks will go one of two ways - Bowen Byram, the dynamic Vancouver Giants defenseman, or Alex Turcotte, a two-way center from the U.S. National Team Development Program. Then, the Colorado Avalanche will most likely fall into line and select whomever Chicago passed on.

From there, relative certainty will go out the window, as Kings GM Rob Blake will have a helluva decision to make at No. 5.

There's a traffic jam of worthy players - many believe seven or eight - creating an unpredictable second wave of draftees. It could be Dylan Cozens, or Vasili Podkolzin, or Kirby Dach, or Cole Caufield, or Trevor Zegras, or Peyton Krebs … the list of possibilities is long, and each selection will heavily influence the next.

Expect chaos on June 21 once the first four players are off the board.

Long journeys

Speaking of Cozens, he and fellow projected first-rounder Alex Newhook share something heading into the draft. Both hail from remote areas of Canada, and both went to great lengths to find elite-level hockey at an early age.

Cozens grew up in Whitehorse, Yukon, skating mainly on outdoor rinks against uneven competition in makeshift leagues before moving to the Vancouver area as a young teenager.

In terms of leaving Yukon, the tipping point came when Cozens, who was only 5-foot-8 and 12 years old at the time, broke his leg during a game against men in what he described as a beer league.

"We're like, 'This isn’t real hockey. We've got to get out of here,'" Cozens said Saturday, recalling a conversation with his parents. "'I want to play in the NHL and it’s not going to happen if we stay up here for much longer, so I've got to get out.'"

So, Cozens moved at age 14 to suit up for Delta Hockey Academy. Leaving his family and territory behind was a difficult decision, but was "what I needed to do to chase my dreams," he said.

Now 18 and fresh off an 84-point season as a member of the Western Hockey League’s Lethbridge Hurricanes, Cozens is primed to become not only the first Canadian drafted in 2019, but also just the second Yukon-born draftee ever. Peter Sturgeon, who dressed for six career NHL games, went 36th overall to the Boston Bruins in 1974.

"It always seemed far away," Cozens said of the NHL. "It just seemed like a dream, not a reality, to be honest. I always wanted to make it come true and be that guy who came from a remote place and had a cool story."

"Lots of people don't know what it’s like up there," he added with a smile when asked to name the biggest misconception about Yukon. "They think it's some little community with igloos and stuff, but it’s just a normal place, a normal little town. We've got working electricity, houses, wifi."

As for Newhook, his pre-draft journey has taken him from coast to coast - all the way from St. John's, Newfoundland, to the Greater Toronto Area (York Simcoe Express minor hockey and St. Andrew's College prep school), to British Columbia (Victoria Grizzlies junior hockey).

And starting this fall, he's relocating once again, shipping off to Massachusetts to play for Boston College.

"'Tell us your story.' ... It's a pretty common question," Newhook said of his interviews with NHL teams. "I've been on a pretty cool journey so far."

These super athletes are human

The combine is a whirlwind event.

Teenagers from all over the world travel to Buffalo, and over the course of a few days, every single one of them stands in front of representatives from NHL teams to plead their case, interview-style. Then, on the Saturday, they power through rigorous fitness tests before meeting with the media. Later that day, it's all over. They fly out to resume their life ahead of the draft.

Leaving Buffalo in one piece is impressive, yet the combine always emphasizes a truth about this whole draft process - these teenagers are, well, just teenagers. They're not immune to growing pains, no matter how silly or serious the challenges may be.

For instance, Moritz Seider, a highly touted defenseman who fancies himself a fashionable guy, shared a fun story about a packing snafu. Back home in Germany, the 18-year-old wondered whether he should bring dress clothes for the interview portion of the combine, but ultimately packed only casual wear.

But since every other prospect was dressed to the nines, it ended up being a decision that followed Seider everywhere he went in Buffalo, and one that became a fun, slightly awkward conversation piece with NHL executives and scouts. Seider, who met with all 31 teams, rocked a business-casual look with sneakers in his interviews. "I'm famous for that, maybe," the 6-foot-4, 207-pound blue-liner said with a grin, eliciting laughs from a small group of reporters.

A few hours earlier, Egor Afanasyev of the USHL's Muskegon Lumberjacks settled into a chair in the media section and fielded questions about his journey to the NHL draft. He was rather chatty after posting a combine-best score of 62 in the dreaded VO2 max test.

It turns out the native of Tver, Russia, knew very little English when he and his mother first arrived in the United States three years ago for private school and junior hockey. He was an outsider who struggled to fit in. "First three months, I kind of hated it," said Afanasyev, who comes from a Russian military family. "I wanted to communicate, talk to guys like we were friends, but I just couldn't."

Imagine that. Barely a teenager, you move across the world for all the right reasons, but can't muster anything resembling a proper conversation for a few months. With the benefit of hindsight, though, Afanasyev shakes it off, saying the situation was a necessary sacrifice. Kids these days.

Psychologist runs the show for Habs

Trevor Timmins always offers a unique perspective from Buffalo. Every year at the combine, the Montreal Canadiens director of amateur scouting will hold court with the media, shining a light on the organization's draft prep.

Here are a few things Timmins shared Saturday, which help paint a picture of what happens behind closed doors during these one-on-many player interviews:

• While many Habs scouts and executives, including GM Marc Bergevin, participate in player interviews, it's a sports psychologist who leads the conversation.

• The psychologist is meant to provide a "non-biased approach" to the process, having not scouted or spoken to the players beforehand. They are also equipped with results from personality tests sent out by the Habs throughout the year.

• The psychologist will base some of the questions posed to players off individual green flags (good) and red flags (bad), which are extrapolated from the personality tests.

• This year, the Habs chatted with a total of 85 players, trying their best to identify "growth potential" in the kids staring back at them. And since they hold the 15th pick in the first round and don't see a realistic scenario of moving into the top 10, the Canadiens felt no need to interview a guy like Jack Hughes, the cream of the crop.

• According to forward prospect John Farinacci of Dexter prep school in Massachusetts, the Montreal group was unafraid to ask out-of-the-box questions. He told NHL.com that one revolved around a snake: "There's a 50/50 chance of a 20-foot python who hasn't eaten in five months is in the hallway. There's five of us in this room. Which one's going out there?"

The green flag/red flag approach is incorporated into the evaluation of fitness testing, too, Timmins said. For example, if a player does well in the long jump, he'll earn a green flag because the Habs have found that particular test correlates with quick feet on the ice.

"The data is interpreted by our sports science department, and we look at their feedback to see if it supports what we've identified on the ice and what we have evaluated in each of these prospects," Timmins said of the entire process.

The more you know.

John Matisz is theScore's National Hockey Writer.

Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Over the weekend, theScore's John Matisz tapped two hockey writers - one in Boston, another in St. Louis - to help preview the Stanley Cup Final. Below is an email thread between Matisz, who acts as the moderator, Boston Sports Journal's Conor Ryan, and Dan Buffa of St. Louis Game Time. (Note: The following roundtable discussion has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.)

Matisz: If you think back to the end of the regular season and compare the local vibe then to now, with the Cup Final about to begin, what's the confidence level in the home team? Has it changed, stayed the same?

Ryan: For as many titles as Boston has scooped up over the last two decades, Bruins fans can still be a rather pessimistic lot, taking a bit of a 'Murphy's Law' approach when it comes to charting out the odds for a Cup at the outset of spring.

The local vibe has been very positive for this team, especially thanks to that 25-6-5 run Boston went on from the Winter Classic all the way to the middle of March, but there was plenty of pessimism about Boston's chances of a deep run given the looming issue of Tampa Bay at the top of the bracket. As soon as the Lightning and the Capitals (with Bruins killer Braden Holtby) were bounced in the first round, things did become MUCH more positive around town.

It's been an interesting road for Boston, but the team is making the most of the opportunity. And the fans are clearly responding, given they sold out TD Garden for an intrasquad scrimmage last week.

Buffa: Around St. Louis, imagine a huge party after a proposed funeral. It's a classic rise-fall-rise storyline.

This past fall, the Blues were projected to go deep into the playoffs with the addition of Ryan O'Reilly, Tyler Bozak, and Pat Maroon. Hopes were high, but games weren't won. Mike Yeo was fired, and a guy named Craig Berube - whom few knew of - was put into his place. Jake Allen had another episode in net, Maroon got off to a terrible start, and Vladimir Tarasenko even ghosted the Blues for a few weeks. The city was talking about pre-ordering Jack Hughes for Christmas, and the team was literally in the cellar around New Year's. Most of the fanbase, outside of what they said on Twitter, wrote this team off as a bad joke.

And then the winning streak happened. Jordan Binnington happened. Berube Hockey became infused with the team's mantra and their love for the song "Gloria." The fans were leaving the house, but got pulled back in for a song, and they never left. They've been glued to their seats ever since and are truly believing in this team.

Matisz: Speaking of believing, both clubs are set between the pipes. Rask's been Boston's best player this postseason, and Binnington’s played a starring role in St. Louis' incredible ascension. Who has the goaltending advantage?

Buffa: While Binnington has been great, I have to give Rask the edge here. This is a close battle because Binnington has passed every test that the playoffs have thrown in front of him, but when it comes to the Final, it's a whole new world.

Rask has been lights-out this postseason, and he has his name etched on the Cup. He's like Ben Bishop - who gave the Blues all they could handle - but better, and a monstrous step up from Martin Jones, who rolled over for the Blues in the Western Conference Final.

Ryan: It's definitely going to be fascinating matchup in net - especially when you factor in the extended break for both teams leading up to Game 1. Binnington has been fantastic in net, his play carrying over from the regular season. He's the sixth netminder in NHL history to win at least 12 playoff games in a rookie campaign, while boasting a .914 save percentage and a shutout.

If the Blues are going to topple the Bruins, they’re going to need Binnington to steal a couple of games, and he currently has the moxie to do it. But, even at Binnington’s best, Rask still might be even better. The case could be made that this is the best stretch Rask has played since first donning a black and gold sweater 12 years ago. He leads all playoff goalies with a .942 save percentage and a 1.84 goals against average, while posting a pair of shutouts in clinching victories over both Columbus and Carolina.

Where Rask holds a clear edge over Binnington is when it comes to negating prime scoring chances, as he's posted a high-danger save percentage of .918 - tops among all playoff goalies with at least 10 games played. In a series that will likely feature multiple low-scoring games, a timely save or two might be the difference. So far, Rask has answered the call in that regard for Boston.

Matisz: Stylistically, there are similarities between Boston and St. Louis - the relentless forechecks, the ability to limit scoring chances against, the scoring punch throughout the lineup. Which matchups will you be monitoring closely?

Ryan: Two matchups that I'll be keeping tabs on are the battles for positioning in the slot, as well as Patrice Bergeron vs. Ryan O'Reilly. Throughout the postseason, Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy has harped on the need for Boston to get inside against the opposing D corps and generate quality looks down low. He's noted before that the failure to do so against guys like Victor Hedman and Ryan McDonagh was the main reason why Boston came up short against Tampa last spring, with the Lightning holding a 38-25 lead in 5v5 high-danger scoring chances during that five-game series.

The club has really responded this spring, holding a 150-130 edge in high-danger chances in the 2019 playoffs. With goals surrendered by Binnington this postseason coming from an average of 19 feet away from the net, Boston is going to have to fight inside and get those quality looks down low - though it's easier said than done against a big Blues' D corps. This could be a key series for a player like Jake DeBrusk, who has the speed to get inside in a hurry against bigger bodies, and he's more than wiling to scrap down low.

It wouldn't come as much of a surprise if Bergeron and Boston's top line primarily matches up against Jaden Schwartz, Brayden Schenn, and Tarasenko. However, I think the main matchup storyline is which of Bergeron and O'Reilly blinks first when it comes to locking down the opposition. In more than 86 minutes of 5v5 TOI in which O'Reilly, David Perron, and Sammy Blais have rolled out this postseason, the Blues have outscored the competition, 5-0.

As for Bergeron, he's excelled at shutting down the opposition's top scoring option all playoffs long, with the latest target being Carolina's Sebastian Aho. In 15:30 of 5v5 TOI in which Bergeron was on the ice at the same time as Aho during the Eastern Conference Final, the Hurricanes managed to generate only two shot attempts. Zero shots on goal. Crazy stuff.

Buffa: There's a few things I'm looking at. First, the net-front presence of the Blues. Can they overcome Zdeno Chara and the mighty Bruins' defense? Specifically, a guy like Maroon, who is so effective in front of the net and can get inside the heads of the goaltender and defensemen by using his body and soft hands to redirect shots. Same thing for the Blues and big-bodied blueliner Colton Parayko. If he can limit the chances the Bruins generate in front, the series could tilt in St. Louis' direction. Parayko has been key in swiping away scoring opportunities against the Jets, Stars, and Sharks.

Second, the face-off battle. Can O'Reilly get his dot efficiency back for this series? During the regular season, he was a 60 percent guy and was reliable in dictating the action, helping his team set up and generate scoring opportunities. In the playoffs, he's been nowhere near 60 percent. The Bruins will have Bergeron, David Krejci, and Charlie Coyle on the dot battling for possession.

The third thing has to be special teams. Boston has a clear advantage here. The Bruins have a fantastic power play and it has helped them dominate. Boston's 34 percent on the PP nearly doubles the Blues' 19 percent. If Brad Marchand works his magic, the Blues will take penalties and Boston will win those games. Penalty killing has also favored Boston, which holds an 86 percent kill rate over the Blues' 78 percent. During the playoffs, St. Louis' PP has either been missing altogether or solid. It'll have to be efficient against the Bruins.

Fourth, I'm looking at Tarasenko. He hasn't truly gone off yet this spring. He's scored goals and had big moments, but has taken off large parts of 5v5 action. Can he break through and dominate a couple of these games? People forget it was his resurgence in January and February that helped the Blues launch into their streak. When he's on, the team hits another level. He makes everyone else more lethal when he's putting the puck where he wants, moving his feet, and crashing around. If he waits on the dot like a guy waiting for his Uber, the Blues are in trouble. He has to hit another gear.

Boston is big, pushes people around, and generally has its way. The Bruins have ruled like an army of steamrollers during the regular season and playoffs. In a way, they are the Jets with superpowers. St. Louis, though, has pushed back against every unstoppable force so far this postseason, finding new contributors along the way. If the Blues can improve on face-offs, win some battles in front of the net, and run an efficient power play without falling for Boston's traps in drawing penalties, this could be a very entertaining series.

Matisz: Finish this sentence, Conor - the Bruins win if...

Ryan: The Bruins win if they are able to get inside against the Blues' big D corps and are able to make Binnington work down low with high-danger attempts and second-chance scoring bids. Also, Rask needs to shake off any rust that might have come with a 10-day break between games.

Matisz: Same to you, Dan - the Blues win if...

Buffa: The Blues win if Binnington outplays Rask. When it comes down to it, Binnington was the reason San Jose got frustrated and fell apart. He stopped shots, controlled action, and dictated pace. He held his own with Bishop in Round 2, but if he can do it again in the Final and best Rask, the series will tilt in the Blues' favor. If the Bruins come out and drop a barrage of goals on Binnington, the confidence will disappear. If the rookie stands tall, it will propel the Blues. On this final stage, a sharp goaltender means everything to a team.

Matisz: Prediction time. Who wins the Cup and in how many games?

Ryan: Bruins in 6 after six hard-fought, low-scoring bouts. David Backes buries the game winner at Enterprise Center.

Buffa: Man, I hate predictions. One day, I thought Boston in 7. A couple of days later, I convinced myself it was Blues in 7. These are two tough teams with some serious resolve. An unstoppable force against an immovable object. So close. At the end of the day, I am going with Bruins in 7. The Blues will push them to the brink, but in the end, the extra polish and skill of the Bruins will make a difference. Honesty is a double-edged sword for a sportswriter but a necessary travel companion.

Matisz: I picked Bruins in 7 for theScore's Staff Predictions post. I'll stick to it. Thanks for doing this, guys. Enjoy the series!

Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Will it be five or seven in 2020?

Ever since the NHL introduced its current playoff format in 2013-14, the number of new teams to qualify for the postseason each year has been one or the other. This season, for instance, the Islanders, Hurricanes, Blues, Flames, and Stars supplanted 2018's Flyers, Devils, Ducks, Kings, and Wild. Five in, five out. The year prior, it was seven in, seven out.

Sure, it's only five years of data, but it's still notable that between 16 and 23 percent of the playoff field has changed each spring. So, which of this year's 15 non-playoff teams are poised to break through and compete in the 2020 postseason?

Keeping in mind two high-impact events on the horizon - June's draft and July's free agency period - let's identify three teams that could make the leap.

Florida Panthers

The roster may be top-heavy, but it's young and talented. The coach may be new, but Joel Quenneville is revered as one of the best to ever run an NHL bench. The general manager may have his work cut out for him, but Dale Tallon certainly has incentive to build a winner. And the club's owner may have trouble filling the arena with warm bodies, but Vinnie Viola has publicly said he's willing to spend.

With Aleksander Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau, Vincent Trocheck, and Keith Yandle already on the roster, the Panthers are heading into the draft and free agency with a full head of steam. They own the 13th overall pick and eight other selections, and appear to be a front-runner in the battle to land free-agent headliners Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky.

All of that is producing a sense of cautious optimism around a club that missed the playoffs by 12 points this spring and by one point two years ago. By all accounts, the Panthers are fanatical about being competitive in the NHL, which bodes well for their future postseason chances.

Of course, Florida must address a few sore spots to earn just its third postseason berth since 2001. At the top of the list: goal suppression, with a focus on goaltending. In 2018-19, only three teams allowed more goals per game, and only the Sharks ended up with a lower team save percentage.

It'll also be interesting to see which way the power play trends under a new coaching staff. Paul McFarland, who ran the league's second-best power play, was fired in April alongside bench boss Bob Boughner.

Quenneville will undoubtedly provide stability. The potential acquisitions of Panarin and Bobrovsky, plus depth pieces through free agency or trades, would bolster Florida's middle-of-the-pack lineup. It's far from a guarantee, especially in a deep Atlantic Division. But if the Cats follow through with a transformative offseason, the playoffs are attainable.

Montreal Canadiens

Re-entering the playoff field is often dependent on consistent performances from cornerstone veterans and continued growth from important youngsters. The Canadiens, who missed the Eastern Conference cutoff by two points this season, line up quite well with this simple-but-tested theory.

No. 1 defenseman Shea Weber had a strong campaign, but he appeared in only 58 games because of offseason surgery. There's no reason to believe the captain can't bounce back to his old, dominant form. Over the short term, nobody should be worried about Weber, 33, or 31-year-old Carey Price, who posted a .918 save percentage in 2018-19.

The emergence of newcomers Max Domi and Tomas Tatar, the goal-scoring prowess of Brendan Gallagher, and Philip Danault's Selke Trophy-caliber play will give the Habs a solid group of vets next season. Jonathan Drouin is an X-factor of sorts. He's 24 and produces at a second-line rate, yet it doesn't feel like he's reached his ceiling yet.

Perhaps most important, Jesperi Kotkaniemi is just getting started. He was largely forgotten in a rookie class stacked with difference-makers at every position, and he went about his business in Montreal amid little fanfare. His counting stats - 11 goals and 23 assists in 79 games - tell only a part of the story, because the Finnish center is still raw, still learning the North American game, and was playing down the lineup this season.

If the 18-year-old can continue on his upward trajectory, and if incoming rookie Ryan Poehling can mimic what Kotkaniemi accomplished in Year 1, suddenly Montreal looks dynamic at forward. That boost up front should place this team firmly in the playoff conversation as long as Price and Weber stay healthy.

Arizona Coyotes

If any team got the short end of the stick in 2018-19, it was the Coyotes. Coach Rick Tocchet's group lost the third-most man games to injury, and those injuries were sustained by some marquee players. Starting goalie Antti Raanta appeared in only 12 contests, and center Nick Schmaltz played in only 17 after coming over in a November trade. Both ultimately required season-ending surgery.

Data source: ManGamesLost.com

The rest of the Coyotes willed their way into playoff contention, staving off elimination until the third-last day of the regular season. Heading into a presumably busy offseason, this is an upstart squad with depth on the blueline and a tremendous goaltending duo - Darcy Kuemper didn't get enough recognition for his stellar work in relief of Raanta - but with a dearth of shooting talent at forward.

Perhaps John Chayka, one of the most active GMs in the NHL, will seek a trade in order to supplement All-Star forward Clayton Keller. The club's top pick in 2018, Barrett Hayton, is progressing. And in free agency, maybe a veteran UFA, such as Jordan Eberle or Gustav Nyquist, can be lured to sunny Arizona. The team has cap room and can't spin its wheels forever.

A clean bill of health for key contributors Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Jakob Chychrun would be a good start. Some five-on-five scoring would go a long way. The Western Conference isn't exactly stacked with sure bets. Why not Arizona in 2020?

John Matisz is theScore's national hockey writer.

Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The system is broken.

If the National Hockey League, its fans, and the media didn't believe that prior to Wednesday night, the hand-pass debacle in overtime of Game 3 of the Western Conference Final eliminated all doubt.

Officiating shouldn’t be the prevailing talking point following an entertaining 5-4 win by the San Jose Sharks over the St. Louis Blues. It shouldn't have led the discussion after Game 7 of the Sharks-Avalanche second-round series, but it did because of the Gabriel Landeskog offside snafu. There was also the major penalty called on Cody Eakin in Game 7 of the hard-fought Sharks-Golden Knights opening-round matchup, which dramatically altered the final result.

And here we are. Again.

Off the top, let's state the obvious: Wednesday’s on-ice officials deserve a chunk of the finger-pointing. Referees Dan O'Rourke and Marc Joannette and linesmen Matt MacPherson and Jonny Murray all missed Timo Meier’s hand pass that led to Erik Karlsson's game-winning goal and a 2-1 series lead for the Sharks. Those officials are at the top of their profession, they've survived the playoff cuts to work the third round, and they're expected to perform under pressure. They didn’t.

Nobody's perfect at their job, but that doesn’t make the blunder any easier to swallow for the Blues. Afterward, GM Doug Armstrong reportedly yelled profanities at the officials room, head coach Craig Berube sternly declined comment, and captain Alex Petriangelo wondered aloud if there are separate sets of rules for the Sharks, a team that's been on the happy end of all three controversial moments listed above.

So, yes, there are human beings responsible for not blowing the play dead before the goal, and they'll face consequences in the court of public opinion. You'd be hard-pressed to find someone in the hockey world who doesn’t believe that the officials - as well-intentioned as they are - screwed this one up. Their superiors can't be pleased.

Which brings us to the NHL and its rule book, which turns the referees' on-ice mistake into something much bigger.

Rule 38.4 states only the following sequences are eligible for video review:

• Puck crossing the line

• Puck in the net prior to the net being dislodged

• Puck in the net prior to, or after, expiration of time at the end of the period

• Puck directed in by a distinct kicking motion

• Puck directed, batted, or thrown into the net by an attacking player other than with the stick

• Puck deflected directly into the net off an official

• Puck struck with a high-stick, above the height of the crossbar, by an attacking player prior to entering the goal

• To establish the correct time on the official game clock, provided the game time is visible on the video goal judge's monitors

• To assist the referees in determining the legitimacy of all potential goals (e.g. to ensure they are "good hockey goals")

You’ll notice all of these plays have something in common: They relate directly to a goal being scored, not to the sequence of events leading up to a goal. Therefore, under the current system, a hand pass such as Meier’s doesn't meet the criteria. (Coach's challenges can involve actions leading up to a goal, but only with regard to goalie interference and missed offside calls.)

This is where the blame game gets tricky.

Technically, the NHL's off-ice decision-makers - from commissioner Gary Bettman all the way down to Sharks-Blues series supervisor Kay Whitmore - are at the mercy of the rule book. They can't ignore it just because of the high stakes, or because the call on the ice was clearly wrong. Making exceptions to the rules is a slippery slope.

(A counterargument to the above: Some refs alter their interpretation of the rule book come playoff time and put their whistle away. Suddenly, fewer penalties are issued and dirtier plays are permitted. If the rule book is being followed with regard to reviewing contentious plays, like offsides and goals, why isn't it being followed in other ways?)

In March, I spent some time in the league's video review center in Toronto (also known as the Situation Room). One main takeaway from that night applies to Wednesday's madness: The rule book is god. There is no wiggle room for adjustments on the fly.

No matter the call, the folks tasked with reviewing it always defer to what's laid out on the page. It's a process with no improvisation. The Situation Room, led by director of hockey operations Colin Campbell, comes to a consensus based on video and rules. That's it. No personal preferences or opinions are considered until after the review is over and the debriefing begins.

In the latest case, since the play was not subject for review, the league's hands were tied. "It's just non-reviewable," Whitmore told pool reporter Jeremy Rutherford afterward. "I know that sounds like a cop-out answer, but that's the truth."

The NHL is not off the hook, mind you. This is a league that has struggled greatly with video review over the years, and the bubble has officially burst. The conversation always seems to circle back to the list of what's reviewable. At this point, given what has transpired this postseason, it's fair to expect more types of plays will be reviewable in the future. But where will the league draw the line?

The argument against additional reviews has always centered on the length of games and fans tuning out because minutes are being spent watching endless replays and officials huddled around an iPad. However, the past month or so seems to have shifted public opinion toward taking the time to get calls right versus being wrong but slow.

What happens next will be fascinating. The NHL's 31 general managers hold the hammer. Along with the board of governors, they have the power to change the way the game is officiated by instituting new rules and guidelines. Could we one day see two refs on the ice and another in the press box, as suggested Thursday morning by Carolina Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour? In the end, as NHL VP of hockey ops Rod Pasma noted inside the Situation Room in March, "The managers are our compass.”

The GMs are scheduled to meet in Vancouver on June 20, and you can bet video review will lead the agenda. At this point, our sanity depends on change of some kind.

John Matisz is theScore's national hockey writer.

Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Last time, it was the Sharks in six. This time? TBD.

San Jose and the St. Louis Blues, two clubs still searching for their first Stanley Cup, are set to face off in the Western Conference Final for the second time in four years. When they met in 2016, Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau helped lead the Sharks to a conference title.

Both teams are heavy, deep, and very good at even strength. San Jose needed 14 games to advance this far, defeating Vegas and Colorado in seven-game series, while St. Louis required 13 to send Winnipeg and Dallas packing. Neither the Sharks nor Blues have a significant player sidelined by injury, eliminating health-related excuses and setting the table for fierce competition.

Let's break the series down ahead of Game 1 on Saturday night.

Forwards

Sharks: Among the final four, San Jose is the only team to boast five players with at least 10 playoff points. The club is averaging 3.9 goals per game in wins and was the lone squad to finish the regular season with four 30-goal scorers.

This forward group has proven it can inflict serious damage thanks to a nice blend of high-end talent and quality depth. It starts with the Logan Couture line, which has produced 13 goals, and ends with the fourth line, which features Barclay Goodrow and his two game-winning goals. Thornton, Joe Pavelski, Evander Kane, and Kevin Labanc lead the middle six.

Timo Meier and Tomas Hertl top the list in the game-breaking ability department. The 20-somethings are modern-day power forwards who are more than capable of taking over a shift. Hertl's been a monster through two rounds (nine goals to pace the playoffs alongside Couture), and Meier appears to be sitting on a breakout performance (three goals in 14 games).

Something to keep an eye on: Meier and Kane have found themselves in penalty trouble this spring, combining for 11 minor penalties in the playoffs. Can they straddle the line better in Round 3?

Blues: Hands up if you knew Jaden Schwartz had eight goals this postseason, including seven at even strength, and a Corsi For rating of 60 percent? Yeah, his excellent numbers have been lost in the shuffle.

Patrick Maroon dominated discussion out of the Blues' second-round victory over the Stars - and rightfully so. The local hero scored the series-clinching goal in overtime, with his young son crying in the stands. Maroon's been solid on a third line with Tyler Bozak and Robert Thomas.

No. 1 center Ryan O'Reilly will be one to monitor. His line will most likely draw the toughest defensive assignment, the Gus Nyquist-Couture-Meier trio. If O'Reilly can hold his own and Vladimir Tarasenko capitalizes on a few five-on-five scoring chances, the Blues should be on the right track.

Brayden Schenn's production, or lack thereof, after two rounds is concerning. Four points in 14 games (0.3 PPG) from your second-line center is simply not going to cut it if you have Cup aspirations. Luckily for Schenn, the slate is wiped clean for Game 1.

Edge: Sharks

Defensemen

Sharks: At this point, at least one of Brent Burns, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, or Erik Karlsson is on the ice for nearly the entire game. It's a gigantic advantage for San Jose, and you can bet head coach Peter DeBoer will be doubling down on the approach moving forward.

Burns has been particularly effective, banking 14 points in 14 games while wreaking havoc in open ice. The hard-hitting rover - who's averaging 29 minutes per contest to lead all skaters - thrives in the high-stakes environment.

Blues: St. Louis has horses on the back end, too. Right-handed stalwarts Alex Pietrangelo and Colton Parayko anchor the top two pairs, while the mobile Vince Dunn is having a coming-out party this postseason on the third duo.

Head coach Craig Berube has a big and nasty defense corps that can transport the puck with ease. Defensively, it's all hands on deck against the Sharks. Continued yeoman's work from Jay Bouwmeester (five assists) and Joel Edmundson (58 percent Corsi For) is required if the club plans on advancing.

Edge: Sharks

Goaltenders

Sharks: Do you believe in Martin Jones? That's the question Sharks fans have been asking themselves all season. And the jury is probably still out.

After a disastrous regular season, Jones, the unquestioned starter ahead of backup Aaron Dell, has proven his worth these playoffs. He has a .910 save percentage overall and .928 since Game 5 of the first round. The playoffs bring the best out of Jones. Now, he must seal the deal.

Blues: Another chapter in Jordan Binnington's dream rookie season is upon us. The 25-year-old has been instrumental in St. Louis' incredible 2019 turnaround and hasn't looked out of place whatsoever in the postseason.

Backed up by Jake Allen, Binnington enters the series with a .915 save percentage in 13 contests. He's been pretty consistent from the opening puck drop of the playoffs through Game 7 against Dallas. As a bonus, his puckhandling has supplemented the Blues' breakout quite nicely.

Edge: Blues

Special teams

Sharks: San Jose's power play, the sixth-ranked unit in the regular season, is doing all right for itself, scoring 10 times in 54 opportunities for an 18.5 percent success rate. Hertl and Couture account for seven of those 10 goals. The penalty kill has been fairly effective, operating at 80 percent.

Blues: St. Louis' power play, the 10th-best unit during the regular season, is doing OK, too, finding the net seven times in 41 chances for a 17.1 percent clip. Tarasenko has scored four of those goals. The penalty kill has been decent, performing at 75 percent.

Edge: Sharks

X-Factors

Sharks: Meier. There is a gear in the Swiss winger's system that hasn't been activated yet. Beast Mode Meier could tilt the series in San Jose's favor.

Blues: Tarasenko. He's St. Louis' offensive spark plug. If he can find his touch at five-on-five and continue to drag along the power play, look out.

Prediction

Sharks in seven

John Matisz is theScore's national hockey writer.

Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

If we've learned one thing about these St. Louis Blues, it's that they leave nothing to chance.

Sitting 31st in a 31-team league on Jan. 2, St. Louis didn't suddenly rise from the ashes in the last week of the regular season and sneak into the playoffs. No, the Blues roared up the standings with chests puffed to finish in a three-way tie for 10th overall and third in the Central Division.

A month later, head coach Craig Berube and Co. continue to amaze. Following a dramatic double-overtime Game 7 win over the Dallas Stars on Tuesday night, St. Louis has earned the right to face the winner of Wednesday's series-deciding matchup between San Jose and Colorado in the Western Conference Final.

How did this happen? Let's explore some key factors that powered the Blues to that 2-1 Game 7 victory, and their playoff run in general.

Thomas found clutch gear

After 86 minutes of hockey on Tuesday, Patrick Maroon took center stage by potting the game-winning goal. The tally simultaneously ended Dallas' season and the (totally warranted) drool-fest over Ben Bishop's astounding 52-save performance.

Suddenly, the Blues, not Bishop's Stars, were advancing. Local boy Maroon was the hero, and his teary-eyed young son was there to witness it all. What a moment.

If you take that emotional connection out of the equation, however, it was actually Maroon's linemate - rookie Robert Thomas - who drove the bus for St. Louis in Game 7.

The 19-year-old was a catalyst on both goals, recording a pair of assists. He fed the point ahead of Vince Dunn's opening goal, and on the winning sequence created chaos around Bishop by firing the puck off the post. All told, the cerebral winger made his presence known in all three zones over a career-high 22:52 of ice time.

With Thomas on the ice at 5-on-5, the Blues controlled 71 percent of the shot attempts, 63 percent of the shots on goal, and 67 percent of the scoring chances, according to NaturalStatTrick.com. In the biggest game of his career, the teenager from Aurora, Ont., looked mega-comfortable alongside veterans Maroon, 31, and center Tyler Bozak, 33.

Funnily enough, none of them was on last year's roster. A rookie and two free agents setting the tone in Game 7? Bravo, Blues GM Doug Armstrong.

Binnington outlasted Bishop

Heading into Tuesday's tilt, Bishop had more assists (2) than goals against (0) in two Game 7 appearances. An excellent performer over a 49-game playoff career, he's developed a sterling reputation.

It was no surprise, then, that the Vezina Trophy finalist stood on his head against a St. Louis squad that threw everything but the kitchen sink at him. Bishop faced 54 shots, 24 more than counterpart Jordan Binnington. The contrast hit a peak in the second period when Dallas managed one shot to St. Louis' 18.

Anybody with half a brain would anoint Bishop the game's MVP, especially considering the shot-attempt discrepancy - 103-57 in favor of St. Louis. Bishop had to react to a potential shot on goal at least 103 times. That kind of workload will wear any goalie down, and Bishop stood his ground.

Ultimately, though, the fresher goalie got the last laugh. The record shows a 'W' beside Binnington's name. The series was partly a goaltending battle and, unfortunately for him, Bishop's teammates let him down in Game 7. The Stars were chasing the play for the bulk of regulation and it seemed only a matter of time before the Blues solved the towering 'tender in overtime.

Mind you, Binnington does deserve a healthy dose of praise. The rookie used some fine puckhandling to help break the puck out of St. Louis' zone countless times. He also faced a higher quality of shots than his Stars counterpart and didn't crack; Dallas' lone goal featured a bad bounce off a referee.

MoneyPuck.com calculates an advanced statistic called expected goals, which estimates the number of goals that should go in on an average NHL goalie. The Stars held the slight edge in this department in Game 7, earning the higher expected goals total - 3.3 to 3.1 - because they boasted higher shot quality.

The graphics below, courtesy of MoneyPuck, illustrate the respective opportunities Dallas and St. Louis generated Tuesday:

Stars scoring chances in Game 7

Blues scoring chances in Game 7

There's a huge clumping of Stars chances right in Binnington's face. Bishop, on the other hand, starred down shots from all over the zone.

Clearly, Binnington wasn't as busy as Bishop, but he certainly was a calming influence for the Blues - especially in overtime - and an underrated reason for his club's win.

Everybody rowed in the right direction

The Blues were in complete control of Game 7.

They broke the puck out of their zone with ease over and over again. They limited the effectiveness of Dallas' difference-makers, namely Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn, Alexander Radulov, and Miro Heiskanen. They didn't take a single penalty. They stuck to their game plan, even though goals were hard to come by. And they received valuable contributions from a slew of players.

Similar to what's going on with the Carolina Hurricanes, there's a top-to-bottom buy-in to what Berube - who began the season as an associate coach before assuming the head role on an interim basis in November - is preaching. There are few weak links night-to-night. The all-for-one, one-for-all mentality has manifested itself on a number of occasions through two rounds, and Tuesday was no exception.

On defense, for instance, Dunn had a hell of a game. The smooth-skating, 22-year-old blue-liner scored his first career playoff goal and wreaked havoc in the neutral zone shift after shift. Alex Pietrangelo and Colton Parayko - the team's cornerstones on the back end - asserted their alpha-male playing styles. Joel Edmundson, Jay Bouwmeester, and Carl Gunnarsson were all solid.

From the defense corps to Thomas and the bulk of the forward group to Binnington between the pipes, the Blues came to play Tuesday. They were the better team and have been rewarded with a trip to the conference final.

By now, with this 31st-to-final-four trajectory, it feels like the St. Louis freight train is virtually unstoppable.

John Matisz is theScore's national hockey writer.

Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Are you not entertained?

On Monday, the final multi-game night of the NHL season, the hockey world was gifted a pair of captivating Game 6s - the Boston Bruins' series-clinching 3-0 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Colorado Avalanche's 4-3 overtime victory over the San Jose Sharks to force Game 7.

Based on the final scores, those teams are Monday's winners and losers. At a personal level, though, who won and lost? Let's take a look.

Winner: David Backes

Backes is 36 years old. He'll make $6 million per season through 2020-21.

Usually, this is a problem for the Bruins. Despite being paid like a first-liner, Backes is a non-factor on most nights. The big winger is typically unable to keep up with the league's abundance of speed and skill, or he's dealing with an injury, or both.

But none of that mattered Monday, because Backes - who cracked coach Bruce Cassidy's lineup for only the third time in six games against Columbus - scored Boston's third goal in front of 19,219 rivals fans at Nationwide Arena. And while the veteran skated for fewer than nine minutes in the contest, he managed to make his presence felt on virtually every shift.

Everybody loves a redemption story - in this case, a previously solid player finding solid footing again. Even if it's just for one night.

Winner AND loser: Charlie McAvoy

McAvoy delivered a high hit on Jackets forward Josh Anderson at the end of the second period, but was sentenced to just two minutes in the box for an illegal check to the head. The on-ice officials chose to not hand out a match penalty and didn’t have the authority to issue a five-minute major or a game misconduct, according to Rule 48 guidelines.

Columbus didn't score on the ensuing power play, and Boston advanced to the third round. So, for the moment, McAvoy's a winner.

In a day or two, though? He'll probably be on the losing end of the incident.

The NHL's Department of Player Safety will strongly consider supplemental discipline, seeing as McAvoy's main point of contact was Anderson's head. The Bruins defenseman could very well be suspended for Game 1 against the Carolina Hurricanes.

(Speaking of Bruins stars behaving badly, what was that Marshawn Lynch impression from Brad Marchand all about?)

Winner: Jarmo Kekalainen

OK, this one requires a nuanced explanation.

Kekalainen is obviously unhappy with Monday’s result. The Blue Jackets GM wanted nothing less than a Stanley Cup, and his team is no longer in contention. He's not a winner in that sense.

However, he's absolutely a winner given the team's unlikely trip to Game 6 of the second round. The final contest will be a mere footnote in the grand scheme of things.

After all, Kekalainen essentially put his job on the line by holding onto Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky - pending free agents who'd stated their intentions to test the market this coming summer - and acquiring assets ahead of the trade deadline.

Columbus wasn't guaranteed a playoff spot then, and didn’t punch its postseason ticket until the second-last day of the regular season. The Jackets could have easily missed it altogether, but instead they swept juggernaut Tampa Bay to mark the franchise's first-ever series win before pushing Boston to six games.

The trades for Ryan Dzingel, Adam McQuaid, and Keith Kinkaid didn’t work out, but the Matt Duchene swap certainly paid off. You can live with the whiffs when Duchene puts up 10 points in 10 postseason games.

Kekalainen energized the Central Ohio market with five playoff home dates. Even in defeat, he's been vindicated and - quite ironically, given the thin ice he stood on a few months ago - might be due for a promotion.

Loser: Sharks' 3rd line

San Jose's forward line of veteran Joe Thornton between Marcus Sorensen and Kevin Labanc had performed admirably this postseason, putting up a combined 17 points in 12 games coming into Game 6.

The trio's been coach Pete DeBoer's under-the-radar weapon for a few months and offers the bench boss another look on offense. Despite being 39 years old, Thornton drives a sneakily efficient unit.

Unfortunately for San Jose, Game 6 produced a whole lot of nothing for the line. In 10 minutes of five-on-five play, the group scored no goals and allowed one. Meanwhile, Labanc recorded the lone shot among the three skaters. It was arguably their worst showing of the playoffs.

That's what you call getting neutralized by the opposition.

Winner: J.T. Compher

Aside from Tuukka Rask's fine work in the Bruins' crease, Compher was the MVP of Monday's doubleheader. Quite simply, the dude came to play.

In 15 minutes of ice time, the 2013 second-rounder exploded, doubling his playoff point total overnight. Compher set up Tyson Jost for the opening goal and then sniped the Avalanche's second and third tallies. It was his second career three-point game. What's more, the right-handed center paced the club in five-on-five shot attempts differential, at a sleek 56 percent.

Coach Jared Bednar needs Compher and the rest of the Avalanche's bottom-nine forward group to chip in here and there. As always, Nathan MacKinnon was buzzing in Game 6, but his line can't carry the team every step of the way. The puck won't always go in for Colorado's big guns.

Wednesday's Game 7 is going to be an outright battle. The Avs, a young outfit, will need their secondary scorers to contribute. Compher included.

Loser: NHL officiating

It's going to happen ... isn't it?

The Stanley Cup Final is going to be decided on a dramatic call made by either the on-ice officials or the NHL's Situation Room.

That's a guess, of course. Yet, at this point, it feels like a perfectly fair prediction.

There have been reviews galore through nearly two rounds (and hey, better to get the call right slowly than wrong quickly, right?), which seem to be turning off a portion of the league's fan base.

Plus, we had the Cody-Eakin-on-Joe-Pavelski blunder in Game 7 of the Vegas-San Jose first-round series, and now the McAvoy-on-Anderson miscall in Game 6 of the Boston-Columbus matchup.

While the refs are human and make mistakes, the outside world is pretty cruel. And to be honest, can you blame it?

Golden Knights fans don't care that the NHL apologized for giving Eakin a five-minute major. Their team is out.

Jackets fans don't care that McAvoy might get suspended. Their team is out.

What will happen next? Hopefully nothing. Then again, based on how things are trending, don't bet on it.

John Matisz is theScore's national hockey writer.

Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

What a bunch of final-four jerks.

The Carolina Hurricanes may have shelved the "Storm Surge," but they're certainly not done surging. On Friday, the plucky outfit that waited until the third-last day of the regular season to clinch a postseason spot became the first club to advance to the third round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Following a seven-game battle with the Washington Capitals, the Hurricanes needed only four contests to dispose of the New York Islanders, winning 5-2 at PNC Arena in Raleigh. A franchise-record crowd of 19,495 chanted "SWEEP! SWEEP! SWEEP!" during the third period.

Head coach Rod Brind'Amour and captain Justin Williams both deserve heaps of credit for guiding such an inexperienced group to the Eastern Conference Final. It's difficult to quantify, sure, but nobody should be doubting the tandem's influence on this special Cinderella run.

That being said, let's take a look at three quantifiable reasons why the Canes are moving on:

Goaltending duo shuts the door

It's safe to say that the "use two goalies" strategy wasn't in Brind'Amour's pre-series playbook, but he ended up relying upon both of Carolina's netminders to win the matchup.

In Game 1, starter Petr Mrazek went save for save with Islanders No. 1 netminder Robin Lehner in a 1-0, 31-save overtime win. Then, Mrazek went down with a right-leg injury 26 minutes into Game 2. It could have been disastrous, but backup Curtis McElhinney had other plans.

McElhinney - a 35-year-old October waiver pickup who had two playoff contests to his name prior to Game 2 and carries a sub-$1-million salary cap hit - went on to save 71 of 75 shots to close out the series. He was dialed in.

While New York's goalies - Lehner for the majority of the series, and Thomas Greiss for half of Game 4 - played well and shouldn't be blamed for the quick exit, Carolina's unexpected platoon had a steadying impact on the outcome of the series.

Case in point: NaturalStatTrick.com houses a metric called expected goals. It's an advanced statistic which uses shot-location data to calculate how many goals a team should be expected to score over a specific time period. The formula pegs the Isles at 11.6 expected goals in four games, yet Barry Trotz's squad actually buried just five on Mrazek and McElhinney.

Moving forward, since Mrazek's availability is up in the air, it's uncertain who will be between the pipes for Game 1 of the next round. Fortunately for Carolina, the Boston-Columbus series, which is tied 2-2, could go the distance. A week of rest may be huge.

Barzal never shook off the shackles

The Isles were a dominant defensive team during the regular season, allowing the fewest goals in the league. Conversely, they didn't have a potent offensive attack, and that discrepancy haunted them against Carolina.

Mat Barzal, a menace with the puck on his stick and the only New York skater to hit 60 points this season, was mostly held in check. He registered just 11 shots on goal, seven high-danger shot attempts, zero assists, and two power-play goals.

The goalies definitely contributed, but which skaters shut down the Isles' deadliest weapon? Here's the ice-time distribution for the six-man crew that kept Barzal scoreless at five-on-five:

Overall, the Isles - a hardworking team which has an offensive identity strongly linked to creating scoring chances off the forecheck and cycle - were unable to generate a ton of prime looks during five-on-five action, namely in Games 3 and 4. Carolina made sure New York couldn't access the middle of the ice and crash the opposing crease area as it had done all season long.

The Isles scored a grand total of five goals - three on the power play and two at even strength - or roughly 1.25 per game. Unless you're competing in the Dead Puck Era, that's simply not going to cut it in an NHL playoff series.

Production from just about everyone

An impressive 16 Carolina skaters recorded at least one point in this series. And nine of them scored a goal ... or two ... or three.

It was longtime Cane Jordan Staal in Game 1. Newcomers Warren Foegele and Nino Niederreiter in a 2-1 second game. A mix - Teuvo Teravainen twice, Justin Faulk, Williams, and Sebastian Aho - in a 5-2 third contest. And then Aho, Teravainen, and Williams again, plus fourth-liner Greg McKegg and recently injured Andrei Svechnikov in the clincher.

Carolina scoring often? OK then. It's quite the development, really, given the franchise's recent history. It typically doesn't cash in on its chances; aside from goaltending, it's been the team's downfall for years.

The playoffs have been different: the Hurricanes are scoring on 10 percent of their shots. Corsi kings for the better part of the analytics era, they are enjoying a nice run of shooting success.

Mind you, it's no fluke. For one, Jaccob Slavin has been an unbelievable distributor this postseason and has registered 11 assists in 11 games. Every forward line is feeding off the puck-moving ability of Slavin and other defensemen, bolting straight for the mucky parts of the ice with or without the puck. And, against the Isles specifically, the entire Canes attack targeted the home-plate area and managed to capitalize on seemingly every net-front chance.

When the final buzzer rang Friday, the numbers told a neat story: Carolina scored all 12 of its second-round goals from the money spot - below the hash marks and between the faceoff dots. Nothing from the outside, or from the point. All hard-earned, high-percentage goals.

The team that gave itself a strong chance to win every single game won this series. There should be no surprise about the Canes' sweep. They earned it.

John Matisz is theScore's national hockey writer.

Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Welcome to Puck Pursuit, a weekly NHL podcast hosted by John Matisz, theScore's national hockey writer.

Subscribe to the show on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher, Google Play, and Spotify.

In this episode, theScore colleagues Josh Wegman and Sean O'Leary join John to discuss the early stages of the postseason's second round. Topics include:

• Carolina's buy-in under Brind'Amour
• The emergence of Dallas' Roope Hintz
• Cale Makar's first five NHL games
• Early Conn Smythe favorites

... and more!

Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.