A week after the free-agent frenzy last summer, the Florida Panthers and Calgary Flames finalized a trade wholly deserving of the blockbuster label.

In case you forgot the particulars: Calgary sent star forward Matthew Tkachuk and a fourth-round draft pick to Florida for winger Jonathan Huberdeau, defenseman MacKenzie Weegar, prospect Cole Schwindt, and a first-rounder. The July 22 deal included an eight-year, $76-million extension for Tkachuk.

At the time, many journalists and analysts - myself included - liked the deal for the Flames. Tkachuk had told then-general manager Brad Treliving he wouldn't sign a long-term contract, and another cornerstone player, Johnny Gaudreau, had just left for the Columbus Blue Jackets. The consensus reaction was essentially: Gotta hand it to Treliving, he made the best of a crappy situation!

I liked it for the Panthers, too, but with one important caveat - that they'd be in turmoil if the gamble didn't pay off. GM Bill Zito shipped out a lot of premium parts for one guy and a mid-round pick not long after the Panthers claimed the 2021-22 Presidents' Trophy (and then lost in the second round of the playoffs).

A season later, with Calgary missing the postseason and Florida pushing the juggernaut Boston Bruins to seven games in the first round, the trade can be viewed only as a victory for the Panthers. Tkachuk turned in a 109-point, Hart Trophy-caliber regular season to solidify his status as one of the league's true superstars. He's been the ultimate all-situations X-factor against the Bruins. Put another way, the Panthers don't clinch a postseason berth without Tkachuk, and they aren't playing Sunday without Tkachuk.

Big picture, there's still work to do in Florida. In a transition year of sorts, the Panthers didn't exactly flourish in the regular season under new coach Paul Maurice. Maybe they learned to play a brand of hockey more conducive to winning in the playoffs - I'll give them that. But Florida sorely missed Weegar on the blue line, and the combination of being capped out and not having a first-round pick until 2026 hamstrung Zito from making any midseason adjustments to the roster that ended up being the lowest-ranked qualifier for the playoffs in the East.

The Flames, meanwhile, are at another crossroads, with Treliving and the organization parting ways. (His replacement has yet to be hired.) Darryl Sutter remains employed, though reports suggest the old-school coach and Calgary's core may not be on the same page. This relates directly to the trade, seeing as Huberdeau's production dropped by 60 points. He's said he lost his swagger during his first year in Calgary. Better find it sooner than later: Huberdeau's eight-year, $84-million extension doesn't start until the fall.

There were other factors at work. Goalie Jacob Markstrom performed well below his standard. Another offseason acquisition, Nazem Kadri, had an up-and-down year. It took Weegar half a season to get going. Still, in the short term, it circles back to Huberdeau versus Tkachuk, and the Panthers at this point employ the better hockey player, who's nearly five years younger and $1 million less expensive per year on average.

Since Tkachuk wasn't interested in staying in Calgary, the Flames likely wouldn't want to travel back in time for a do-over. Treliving's hands were tied. Through a season, though, the Panthers have the upper hand. The next question is: How does Year 2 shake out? Does a taste of playoff success launch Florida to new heights? Or does Calgary rebound under new leadership?

Early playoff trends

As the first round winds down, let's look at a few league-wide playoff trends. (All statistics current through Thursday's games.)

Heavy hockey: We hear that term a lot this time of year - and for good reason. Our eyes tell us the style of play is drastically different in the playoffs, and the early Sportlogiq data definitely supports the assertion.

Teams have generated fewer scoring chances off the rush (11.5 per game in the postseason versus 11.8 in the regular season). The same goes for chances generated off the cycle (18.2 per game versus 19.1). Meanwhile, chances off the forecheck - which require serious grit - have risen to 5.1 per game from 4.6. What's more, the number of puck-battle wins and screen shots have jumped to 55.6 and 12.9 per game in the playoffs from 50.2 and 10.5 in the regular season, confirming that spring hockey's filled with all kinds of conflict.

Interestingly, the prevalence of major penalties is unique to this postseason. There have been 0.48 majors per game this year compared to 0.24 in last year's playoffs, 0.21 in 2020-21, and 0.28 in 2019-20. Most of this can be attributed to the uptick in fights. (HockeyFights.com counts nine.)

Goals off faceoffs: Grabbing a drink from the fridge during a stoppage in play has been a poor choice of late. In just 40 playoff games, a whopping 28 goals have been scored within 10 seconds of an offensive-zone faceoff win.

Among these well-executed set plays: game-winning goals by Toronto's Morgan Rielly, Vegas' Chandler Stephenson, and New Jersey's Ondrej Palat.

As Mike Kelly of NHL Network and Sportlogiq predicted last week, this trend has tapered off over the past week or so due to coaching adjustments. The overall numbers are still staggering, though, as this year's first-round per-game rate (0.70 faceoff goals) far exceeds 2021-22 (0.43) and 2020-21 (0.38).

Power-play goals: Since the NHL started tracking power-play success rate in 1963-64, there's been no equal to the 1980-81 playoffs, when teams combined for a league-wide power-play percentage of 25.1. Well, no equal until now, that is - power plays are clicking at 25.2% so far this postseason.

The high-octane Edmonton Oilers, who set an NHL record for power-play prowess in the regular season, lead the charge in the playoffs, scoring eight goals in only 14 opportunities. The Winnipeg Jets, Dallas Stars, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Bruins are also all above 30%.

Tuch's game-day routine

During the NHL regular season, there are roughly 730 rostered players at any given time. Each of them has a unique game-day routine, with age, home life, temperament, tendency toward superstition, and other factors affecting how they go about their preparation prior to puck drop. Ever wonder what a routine looks like?

Here's Alex Tuch's game-day routine when the Sabres are playing in Buffalo.

Morning

• Wake up at 7:50 a.m., take golden retriever Teddy outside

• Arrive at KeyBank Center at 8:30 a.m., eat the usual breakfast in the cafeteria ("ham, pepper, onion, scrambled, with breakfast potatoes; coffee; water")

• Check on equipment for any issues (i.e. torn skate laces, ripped gloves)

• Solve the latest USA Today crossword puzzle in the trainer's room

• Attend a team meeting, stretch, get dressed for morning skate

• Skate, shower, grab a pre-game meal from the cafeteria on the way out of KeyBank ("penne alla vodka with chicken and broccoli")

Afternoon

• Eat meal, take Teddy for a walk around the neighborhood with wife Kylie

• Relax at home, nap from 1:30-3 p.m., shower, suit up

• Stop for coffee en route to KeyBank, tip Starbucks barista well

"I changed from a venti to a grande with light ice this year. Big move!"

"The manager at Starbucks is like, 'Alex, same order?' I'm like, 'Yup. Thank you!' Not only do I do a mobile order, but she actually puts me ahead of the line. She's a super sweet lady. She takes good care of me."

• Arrive at the rink at 3:50 p.m., 4 if there's traffic or a long line at Starbucks

• Change out of suit, eat two English muffins (one with butter and jelly, the other with peanut butter and honey) while sipping on coffee

• Make drinks: two for hydration, one for energy, two are plain water

• Eat a "little waffle thing for energy" before taping three hockey sticks

• Solve the LA Times crossword puzzle with the team's athletic trainers

"Early in the week, we can usually do the crossword alone. Thursday to Saturday, we start alone and then usually come together to finish. Sunday, we just come together right away. It's too hard. It's really hard."

• Attend a second team meeting, get stretched out by trainer Bob Mowry

• Play sewer ball with teammates (the game where players stand in a circle and kick a soccer ball), finish warmup with dynamic exercises

• Settle into stall, put on equipment precisely 26 and a half minutes ahead of puck drop

And that's basically it.

Tuch, who posted a career-high 79 points this season, says he doesn't get hung up on the exact timing of his rituals. If, for instance, he's putting on his equipment with 25 minutes on the clock instead of 26 and a half, he knows not to panic.

"It's fine. It's OK. I move on," the veteran of 379 games says with a smile.

The busyness of the routine keeps Tuch in a positive headspace on game day.

"It allows me to focus on simple tasks instead of thinking about the game all day," Tuch says. Then, with a short chuckle, he adds: "Like this interview right now. It's throwing me off a little bit. But it's not going to affect me or my day."

Parting shots

Leon Draisaitl: The hockey world doesn't appreciate Draisaitl as much as it should. The Oilers superstar is in the mix for second-best player in the world, but we still probably underrate his brilliance. He's a four-time 100-point guy. Last year, with one functional leg, he posted 32 points in 16 playoff games. He's recorded 69 points in 42 career playoff games - an absurd rate of production that he's padded with a monstrous performance during Edmonton's first-round series against the Los Angeles Kings. Draisaitl was on the ice for each of the Oilers' first 14 goals, and he's now tied for third in scoring with 10 points in five games. Bonkers stuff.

Derek Lalonde: The Detroit Red Wings head coach has been fantastic on Sportsnet broadcasts. His insight on Andrei Vasilevskiy, the goalie for his former team, the Tampa Bay Lightning, even went viral. Lalonde's set to coach the U.S. at the world championship in Finland and Latvia, which starts May 12, so he won't be in the studio much longer. It's surprising Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman allowed Lalonde's foray into TV to happen at all. Yzerman's known to be a very tight-lipped executive. Maybe Lalonde's contract includes a broadcasting clause? Otherwise, his mere presence on Sportsnet doesn't add up, given his main gig and who he reports to in Detroit.

Brock Faber: Matthew Knies is getting plenty of love for his seamless transition from the University of Minnesota to the Maple Leafs - and rightfully so. But I've been even more impressed by Knies' former college teammate Brock Faber. In the Minnesota Wild's final eight games (two in the regular season and six in the playoffs), Faber wasn't on the ice for a goal against. That's zero goals surrendered in 127 minutes of action for a 20-year-old rookie who was mainly paired with the offensively-minded John Klingberg. Faber, who's a sturdy 6-foot-1, 200 pounds, has such a steadying presence, and his entry-level contract ($925,000 through 2024-25) is a boon for a Wild team that's in salary-cap hell. Check out his diving save in Game 1 overtime:

Takes, Thoughts, and Trends is theScore's biweekly hockey grab bag.

John Matisz is theScore's senior NHL writer. Follow John on Twitter (@MatiszJohn) or contact him via email (john.matisz@thescore.com).

Copyright © 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Lightning punched back Thursday in Toronto, winning Game 5 by a 4-2 score to send their first-round series against the Maple Leafs back to Tampa Bay. Tensions are palpably high ahead of Game 6. Since 2018, the Leafs are now 0-10 with a chance to close out a series. The Lightning, meanwhile, still need to pull off back-to-back wins. Here are six players primed to swing the rest of the series.

Ilya Samsonov

In the second period of Game 5, Samsonov slid into his right goal post with an awkward posture and stance. The Maple Leafs goaltender's five-hole open, he whiffed on Mikey Eyssimont's very savable, bad-angle shot, and all of a sudden, the score was 2-1 for Tampa.

Goalies let in bad goals every once in a while. It's part of the gig.

Yet Samsonov's problem in this series is that the odd bad goal has been accompanied by a long reel of shaky moments. The 26-year-old Russian had issues controlling rebounds throughout Game 1. He looked less busy the next time out, stood on his head at times in Game 3, and was decent in Game 4. On Thursday, he was back to swimming in his crease, flailing everywhere, and he seemed to have problems catching the puck with his glove.

For the series, Samsonov owns an .886 save percentage and a minus-5.06 goals saved above expected rating, according to Sportlogiq. Andrei Vasilevskiy, Samsonov's counterpart and arguably the best goalie of his generation, has even worse numbers - an .870 SV% and a minus-6.09 GSAx rating.

Given Vasilevskiy's strong Game 5 and career-long dominance in elimination games, the pressure is on Samsonov to elevate his performance and provide a sense of calm. The Leafs need competent goaltending in Game 6 - and, if necessary, Game 7 - to finally move on to the second round.

Nikita Kucherov

Over the past six regular seasons, Connor McDavid is the only player with a higher points-per-game average than Kucherov. In the playoffs over the same period, Kucherov ranks third in points per game among players who've appeared in at least 50 games and first in total points with 118 in 96 games.

This rock-star level of production has eluded Kucherov in the first round. Sure, he leads Lightning players in scoring, but his counting stats through five games are nothing special - one power-play goal, three power-play assists, and two even-strength assists. Noticeably absent: five-on-five goal-scoring.

Kucherov and linemates Brayden Point and Steven Stamkos have seen a ton of Toronto's shutdown defensemen, Jake McCabe and T.J. Brodie. The Lightning have generated 96 shot attempts to the Leafs' 73 in Kucherov's 78 five-on-five minutes. The high-danger attempt tally is 18-18. Goals are 4-4.

So, to be fair, it's not as if Kucherov's been completely underwhelming. You just want more from the 2019 Hart Trophy winner. Kucherov's off-the-charts hockey IQ leads to such deceptive, creative playmaking. He's a dual threat with that nasty one-timer. And he doesn't back down from physical contact.

The Lightning could use a jolt from Point and Stamkos, too. Four total goals from the line - which is as star-studded as any in the playoffs - isn't enough.

Auston Matthews

Matthews is at his best when he's assertive. You can tell he's in "beast mode" if he's carving up the neutral zone with purposeful strides, puck on his stick.

We've seen that version of Matthews sprinkled throughout the series, notably in Game 4, where he launched a three-goal comeback with a pair of prototypical tallies (a catch-and-release snipe off an odd-man rush, then a nifty deflection after getting lost in the offensive zone). He was also dangerous in Game 5, buzzing all night, especially off the cycle, and potting his fourth goal.

Something to monitor: While Matthews has recorded 39 shot attempts, only 20 have made it to Vasilevskiy. Tampa Bay's defenders have blocked nine, while Matthews has missed the net 10 times - one crossbar, two too high, and seven wide (including a couple off good power-play looks in Game 5).

Elite goal-scorers won't register a shot on goal every time, but Matthews' success rate so far could certainly be higher.

Why is he better primed to swing the series than running mate Mitch Marner (tied for the league lead in playoff points), longest-tenured Leaf Morgan Rielly (clutch all series), or any other star-caliber Leaf? Because when he's assertive, nobody can take over a single game like No. 34.

Anthony Cirelli

Straight up, the Lightning would be playing 18 holes on Friday if not for Cirelli.

On a micro level, his goal in Game 5 that came 26 seconds after the Leafs opened the scoring kept the Lightning alive. On a macro level, he and linemates Alex Killorn and Brandon Hagel have done a bit of everything through five games.

Cirelli, a Selke Trophy candidate every season, has logged the sixth-most five-on-five minutes among Tampa Bay's forwards. Yet the assignment has been laborious, since his most common opponents - Matthews and Marner - can torch you.

The results thus far: Tampa holds a 4-3 edge in goals and a 37-29 advantage in shots on goal in Cirelli's 71 minutes. Oh, and three of those four Lightning goals came off Cirelli's stick. He leads the entire squad in five-on-five markers.

Killorn - who's tied with Matthews and Point for the series lead in Sportlogiq's "quality chances" metric with 10 - has quietly racked up three goals. Hagel's bagged one himself. As a group, the Cirelli line has snuck seven past Samsonov, which is also the combined total from the rest of Tampa's top nine.

Cirelli's impact on Tampa Bay's neutral-zone defense cannot be overstated either. He embodies exactly what coach Jon Cooper wants out of his forwards: pressure, pressure, pressure. And although the Leafs have buried six power-play goals on 19 opportunities (31.6%), Cirelli hasn't suddenly lost his penalty-killing prowess. The Toronto native will remain a factor in that area.

Matthew Knies

It sure feels like Knies, the 20-year-old who doesn't look fresh out of college, is destined to score a goal before this series ends. Since drawing into the lineup for Game 2, he's improved every time out. At no point has the moment looked too big for him - a huge development for the Leafs.

The left winger has deployed his 6-foot-2, 210-pound frame to outmuscle Tampa defenders en route to the net. He's flashed his playmaking skills with different linemates. No red flags have popped up on defense, either, with his short playoff reel featuring a handful of impressive backchecking sequences.

Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe loves the kid. He's given him a nightly workload of 14:36 - including 13:28 at five-on-five, the sixth-highest among Leaf forwards - and praised him during press conferences. Knies, who's earned two assists and three inner-slot shots, was on the ice for both overtime goals. Overall, the team has outscored Tampa 5-1 with the ex-Minnesota Golden Gopher between the boards.

Knies' role should only increase in Game 6, providing him with additional opportunities to find the back of the net. Barring something unforeseen, he's a permanent fixture in Keefe's lineup - something you can't say about veterans Michael Bunting or Justin Holl, who have both struggled in different ways so far.

Victor Hedman

Hedman's performance has been equal parts surprising and unsurprising.

He's a future Hall of Famer whose career is filled with dominant games and series, so, on one hand, expecting anything less would be foolish. Then again, Hedman's regular season was subpar by his lofty standards, and he suffered an injury early in Game 1 that sidelined him until Game 3. He's clearly not 100%, and expecting a tour de force would be unreasonable.

Yet, here we are ahead of Game 6 and Hedman's body of work jumps off the page: three assists (two primary) and the Lightning outscoring the Leafs 7-3 and controlling play to the tune of a 67.8% expected goals rate with Hedman on the ice at five-on-five. Not bad for a hobbling 32-year-old who leads the NHL in playoff minutes logged since 2013-14 (3,568 in 141 games).

All of this should be excellent news for the Lightning - except it seems as though Hedman is dangerously close to being too hurt to play, or at least too hurt to be highly effective. The Sportsnet broadcast showed a wincing Hedman frantically calling for the trainer during Game 5. He isn't doing well.

The positive angle on this is that Tampa has the last change Saturday. Cooper has done a solid job of keeping Hedman away from Toronto's big guns up front and can double down on that strategy as the home team.

John Matisz is theScore's senior NHL writer. Follow John on Twitter (@MatiszJohn) or contact him via email (john.matisz@thescore.com).

Copyright © 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Maple Leafs have life. Toronto followed up a woeful Game 1 performance against the Tampa Bay Lightning with a fantastic showing Thursday, taking Game 2 at Scotiabank Arena by a 7-2 final score. Here are three pivotal battlegrounds as the first-round series shifts to Tampa. Game 3 goes Saturday.

Point line vs. Brodie-McCabe

Stacked in the past, Tampa isn't overly deep up front after losing Ondrej Palat, Yanni Gourde, Barclay Goodrow, and Blake Coleman in recent offseasons.

These hits to the secondary scoring ranks have put additional pressure on the club's premier forwards. Brayden Point, Nikita Kucherov, and Steven Stamkos tend to rise to the occasion, and they've done just that on the power play through two games, combining for three goals. Five-on-five action has been a different story, though, as Toronto's contained Tampa's top line.

In 22 minutes together at five-on-five, Stamkos-Point-Kucherov has drawn even in goals (1-1) while trailing in shots on goal (15-11), total shot attempts (24-21), and high-danger attempts (8-2), according to Natural Stat Trick. Limiting them to this extent - minimized but not completely shut out - is a sizable victory being overshadowed by the extreme results of Games 1 and 2.

Point and Kucherov were too cute with the puck Thursday, several times making an extra deke on a zone entry or taking forever to shoot the puck. It didn't help Tampa that Leafs defenseman T.J. Brodie, who had an uncharacteristically sloppy Game 1, returned to his nearly mistake-free form.

In Game 1, the Point line faced Brodie and Jake McCabe for roughly two-thirds of their five-on-five shifts while the Justin Holl-Mark Giordano pairing handled the rest. Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe line-matched harder in Game 2, getting his shutdown duo of Brodie-McCabe out for nearly all Point shifts.

The David Kampf-centered fourth line also did a marvellous job Thursday against the Point line, even flipping the script by controlling play during a few shifts. Keefe must be over the moon about the Kampf line's body of work.

Question No. 1 for Games 3 and 4: Will Lightning coach Jon Cooper use the home-team perk of last change to separate the Point line from Brodie-McCabe as much as possible? Is he ready to play chess against Keefe?

Question No. 2: How hard will Cooper ride Point, Kucherov, and Stamkos - individually and as a group? Does he double-shift his best forwards here and there, upping their usage from 18-19 minutes a game to, say, 21-22?

Point, 27, has bagged an NHL-high 32 goals over the past four postseasons. Kucherov, 29, has racked up 96 points, also a league high. They're clutch, two of the finest playoff performers of all time. And they won't settle for mediocrity.

The faceoff circle

The series' faceoff numbers are nothing special. Toronto owns the slight edge, winning 67 of 127 total draws for a 52.8% success rate. Tampa, meanwhile, employs the top draw taker in Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, who's won 14 of 22.

Mind you, what's happened after the puck's been dropped has certainly influenced the final scores - especially in Game 2. The Leafs' first two goals Thursday immediately followed clean faceoff wins, with the puck crossing the Lightning's goal line seven and five seconds after it left the linesman's hand.

Defenseman Morgan Rielly, a target of frustration within the Leafs fan base during a largely inconsistent and ineffective regular season, redeemed himself with a spectacular Game 2. Rielly orchestrated both quick-strike markers, then added two more helpers to bring his nightly primary assist total to four.

Surrendering not one but two goals just seconds after losing the faceoff can deflate a team, even one of Tampa's caliber. The coaching staff and players are likely equally frustrated, and it's safe to assume countering Toronto's set plays will be a strong point of emphasis in video sessions ahead of Game 3.

One category in which Tampa was schooled in Game 2 and may not have an answer: Toronto's heavy forecheck and cycle game. Specifically, the work being done by two veterans in midseason pickup Ryan O'Reilly and captain John Tavares, who recorded his first playoff hat trick.

Neither veteran is a burner. Neither is known to issue thunderous body checks. But O'Reilly and Tavares are supremely smart hockey players with the requisite size, strength, and craftiness to excel in puck battles along the side boards and in the corners. In Game 2, they consistently exposed the Lightning's depleted back end, leading to extended zone time for the Leafs.

Normally, top-four guys Victor Hedman or Erik Cernak would be up to the challenge. However, with them currently sidelined, the likes of Haydn Fleury and Darren Raddysh are tasked with mucking it up with Tavares and O'Reilly in the forwards' favorite spots of the ice. It isn't going well for Tampa.

The net-front areas

One of the stark differences between Games 1 and 2 was the way in which Toronto skaters acted in front of its own net and Tampa's net.

The Leafs were passive in protecting the area closest to goalie Ilya Samsonov in the opener; in Game 2, they were assertive in clearing bodies and defended with layers. Toronto players didn't layer themselves in the area closest to Andrei Vasilevskiy in the opener; in Game 2, the Lightning goalie had to battle traffic.

Samsonov, who told reporters he played like "shit" to begin the series, stopped 20 of 22 shots Thursday, most notably showing big gains in rebound control. Vasilevskiy, on the other hand, would like a few Game 2 goals back.

On a forward-line level, Toronto's Kampf trio was a nightmare to skate against all game. Tampa's fourth line, led by 37-year-old Corey Perry, performed above expectations again in Game 2, but not to the same degree as Tuesday.

On an individual level, the insertion of Matthew Knies provided a nice boost to the Leafs. The rookie winger wasn't afraid to drive to the net with the puck, and he was reliable in his own end. Tanner Jeannot, inserted into the Lightning lineup, was conversely invisible. The only time Jeannot became the center of attention was when he fought Luke Schenn in a gong show of a third period.

Tampa loves to screw with the opposition's psyche, whether it's Kucherov knocking Samsonov's stick out of his hands or Perry throwing his head back after an innocent post-whistle shove. If the Leafs plan on finally advancing past the first round, they can't allow Lightning players to toy with their emotions.

And, in general, Toronto absolutely cannot afford to take its foot off the gas pedal in Game 3. That may seem obvious and ultimately unnecessary to say. But, despite a strong Game 2, this series is merely tied. It's far, far from over.

John Matisz is theScore's senior NHL writer. Follow John on Twitter (@MatiszJohn) or contact him via email (john.matisz@thescore.com).

Copyright © 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Tampa Bay Lightning embarrassed the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 1 on Tuesday. The final score at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto: 7-3. Here are four areas the Leafs must address in Game 2 - which goes Thursday - and beyond.

Collective headspace

Let's get this out of the way off the top: The on-ice officials weren't kind to the Leafs in Game 1. They botched multiple calls, most notably the cross-checking and slashing penalties on Luke Schenn and David Kampf midway through the second period. Poor officiating undoubtedly affected the final score.

Still, Toronto did itself no favors in the discipline department. T.J. Brodie's holding infraction in the first and Michael Bunting's head hit in the second jump off the page as particularly unnecessary and, in the latter case, stupid.

Tampa made Toronto pay to the tune of four goals in just 10 power-play minutes. Plain and simple, if you give power-play dynamos Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov that much time to cook, you're going to surrender goals.

Of course, the mental lapses weren't limited to penalties. The Leafs were flat-out terrible in the opening 10 minutes Tuesday and then allowed goals in the dying seconds of both the first and second periods. It's drilled into hockey players from a young age to start games on time and finish periods strong, and the Leafs did neither to begin a series with so much on the line.

Hesitant, tentative, nervous, afraid, and uninspired are just some words to describe the Leafs at their worst moments in Game 1. That's ultimately what the fans and media will remember from that 60-minute debacle: the "demons" of playoffs past seemingly occupying the collective headspace of many Leafs.

"They've got demons in their head, in their car, under their f-----g beds, everywhere they turn there's a f-----g demon. The biggest obstacle this team has now is themselves," former Leafs assistant coach Paul MacLean memorably told head coach Sheldon Keefe during an episode of the "All or Nothing" documentary chronicling Toronto's 2020-21 season.

Whatever's going on mentally needs to be rectified ASAP.

The forecheck

Ryan McDonagh is long gone. Same goes for Jan Rutta and Cal Foote.

The Lightning blue line, a shell of its former self, was shaky at points during the regular season, with depth players occupying larger roles than they should. It's an area ripe for exposure over the course of a seven-game series.

Then Victor Hedman and Erik Cernak left Game 1 due to injury after skating for only seven and nine minutes, respectively. Tampa's four remaining defensemen thus logged tons of ice - 26 minutes for Mikhail Sergachev, 24 each for Ian Cole and Darren Raddysh, and 18 for Nick Perbix.

To put the depleted back end into perspective: In the third period, with Sergachev in the box, Cole - who's at best a third-pairing guy on any playoff squad - killed the entire two-minute penalty. It was out of necessity.

Somehow, the four-man Tampa blue line didn't just survive Game 1, it actually thrived. That's probably more of an insult to the Leafs' forwards than a compliment to the Lightning's defensemen. How do you not capitalize?

Even before Hedman and Cernak went down, it was crystal clear Toronto needed to apply constant pressure on the forecheck. Get sticks in passing lanes. Throw weight around. Force them to make mistakes - a smothering attack should expose the lack of experience and talent beyond Hedman and Sergachev. (Hedman, who hasn't been himself all year, is vulnerable too.)

In Game 1, Sergachev was the target of five hits, Raddysh absorbed four, Perbix and Cole took two each, Cernak one, and Hedman zero. (The hit on Cernak may lead to a suspension for Bunting.) As long as the checks are legal, those numbers need to climb. The Lightning need to be worn down.

Bottom-six defense

Corey Perry is one-third of a crusty, old Lightning forward line the Leafs can easily exploit in this series. After all, it's Toronto, not Tampa, that boasts the faster, more versatile, and overall objectively better bottom-six contingent.

At least that's how it looks on paper ...

Perry was arguably the best player on the ice in Game 1, bagging a goal and adding two primary assists in less than 14 minutes of action. The soon-to-be 38-year-old, who looked washed-up for stretches of his 18th NHL regular season, led Tampa with seven shots on goal and two drawn penalties. Perry's a clutch player, but nobody predicted this level of impact out of the gates.

Perry, Pat Maroon, and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare won the five-on-five matchup against Zach Aston-Reese, Sam Lafferty, and Kampf. The real Perry victim, however, was defenseman Justin Holl, who was on the ice each time Perry collected a point (two came on the power play). It gets worse: Holl finished the night with a minus-six goal differential - six against, zero for.

For Game 2, Keefe may go with Joseph Woll over Ilya Samsonov between the pipes. He also may be forced to replace a suspended Bunting up front. And he most definitely should replace Holl with Timothy Liljegren. Holl, who fumbled pucks and made poor reads in the defensive zone all night, can't be trusted after that lowly showing.

To that end, the Leafs can't afford to let Perry, a fourth-liner, dominate another game. They bulked up at forward before the trade deadline to overwhelm the opponent, not to be overwhelmed by a player ostensibly past his prime.

Top-six offense

In the regular season, the Leafs averaged 58 shot attempts per game - 32 shots on goal, 13 blocked shots, and 13 missed shots. In Game 1, Toronto recorded 64 attempts - 31 on goal, 20 blocked, and 13 missed.

The difference: clogged shooting lanes.

Auston Matthews for the most part looked dangerous Tuesday. He pitched in a pair of assists and more than held his own defensively. Yet the Leafs' best player managed to get only two of seven attempts on target. William Nylander contributed a tally, but half of his eight attempts didn't make it on goal. Mitch Marner, who racked up three assists, was otherwise ineffective on the attack while his flip-pass attempt in the first ultimately led to Tampa's second goal.

As a group, Toronto's big guns - Matthews, Nylander, Marner, John Tavares, Ryan O'Reilly - were fine in the opener. It was the others, from Holl, Brodie, and fellow defenseman Mark Giordano to Bunting and Samsonov, who cost the Leafs. That said, fine isn't good enough for world-class players - not at this time of year and certainly not within the context of the club's playoff history.

The Leafs were heavy favorites ahead of puck drop because the offensive pop keeps coming. They have multiple layers of game-breaking talent. Matthews and the other guns must find a way to break through the defensive shell.

Toronto beat Tampa 5-0 in last year's Game 1, then lost the series in seven games. Will another Game 1 become irrelevant by series end?

John Matisz is theScore's senior NHL writer. Follow John on Twitter (@MatiszJohn) or contact him via email (john.matisz@thescore.com).

Copyright © 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

A slight smile formed on Pete DeBoer's face Saturday as he nodded along to a reporter's question about Jake Oettinger, the Dallas Stars' starting goalie.

The veteran head coach was being asked if the 24-year-old Oettinger - a native of Lakeville, Minnesota, set to face off against the Minnesota Wild in an opening-round NHL playoff series - needed any help managing his emotions.

"I'm just trying to manage his bank account, make sure he's not buying a couple hundred tickets every game there," DeBoer replied with a chuckle. "I talked to him about that this morning: 'At some point, you can't buy everyone in Minnesota a ticket to come watch you play.'"

DeBoer didn't inject humor into his press conference to avoid answering the question directly. The bench boss simply knows Oettinger will be locked in for Game 1 on Monday night. The netminder's ascension, underlined by an epic 64-save performance against the Calgary Flames in Game 7 of last year's opening round, has been quick and convincing. He's left no doubt in Dallas.

"When you're drawing up what you want in your starting goalie, honestly, he checks all of those boxes," DeBoer told theScore in a recent interview.

"He's the backbone of our team," Stars forward Jason Robertson said.

In a toss-up of a Western Conference playoff bracket, there might not be a bigger X-factor than the gregarious goalie who's made a habit of rising to the occasion. Oettinger is fresh off a regular season worthy of down-ballot Vezina Trophy votes and holds a .956 save percentage in nine career playoff games.

"He absolutely loved every minute he played," Stars goalie coach Jeff Reese said of the Flames series, which ended in heartbreak for Dallas despite Oettinger's Herculean efforts. "He loved the hostile environment. He loved the pressure of the playoffs. And, guess what, he was smiling the whole time."

Dallas, the Central Division's No. 2 seed with a 47-21-14 record, is in this position today thanks to four slick moves at the draft table in Chicago six years ago.

The first move: selecting Miro Heiskanen with the third pick. The second: sending the 29th (acquired via trade a year earlier) and 70th picks to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for No. 26. Third: using that 26th pick to select Oettinger. Fourth: selecting Robertson at No. 39.

Those wide-eyed teenagers - one defenseman, one goalie, one forward - have since blossomed into foundational pieces of the Stars' present and future.

"You're just trying to get the best player at the time," general manager Jim Nill recalled of the 2017 draft. "We knew we had a cornerstone in Miro, and we were hoping the goalie would be something. After that, it's all about how they develop, and they've developed better than we ever thought they would."

Hitting home runs off three picks in the same draft is like strapping a jetpack onto a team's trajectory. Now in their early 20s, Oettinger, Heiskanen, and Robertson are surrounded by an over-30 cohort led by Jamie Benn, Joe Pavelski, and Tyler Seguin and an under-30 group headlined by Roope Hintz, Wyatt Johnston, and Nils Lundkvist. Meanwhile, blue-chip prospects Logan Stankoven and Mavrik Bourque could be on the roster as early as this fall.

Oettinger turned pro in 2019 after three years at Boston University. He then split three seasons between the AHL and NHL, sharing the big-club load with Anton Khudobin, Braden Holtby, and Scott Wedgewood after Ben Bishop's career-ending knee injury hastened a new era. But the No. 1 spot on the Stars' goaltending depth chart wasn't his out of training camp until this year.

He recorded a .919 save percentage (tied for sixth in the league) and five shutouts (tied for second) over 62 games this season. He also posted impressive underlying numbers despite playing behind a strong defensive group. For one, his 0.16 goals saved above expected per 60 minutes ranked seventh out of 66 goalies with 1,000 minutes played, per Sportlogiq.

"Where has he improved? I'd say just his consistency," Nill said. "He's got a level of play he can get to, and now he's learning to do that every game."

"We think we're set in net for the next eight, nine, 10 years," the GM added.

At 6-foot-5 and 220 pounds, Oettinger is a presence between the pipes. He's also athletic, smart, and technically sound. His current scouting report lacks a glaring weakness, especially after he made a concerted effort over the past 12 months to narrow his stance and sharpen his puck-handling skills.

"It's helped with my reads, and I'm a lot more patient than when I first got to the NHL," Oettinger said of his narrowed stance. "I was always like, 'Oh, I've got to be way out because these guys are so good.' Now I know I can make saves from everywhere. I'm confident that I can stop anyone. If that means I have to be back in my net a bit more so I can get over to a pass, no problem."

Oettinger's mental makeup is, to circle back on DeBoer's comment, another box checked on the "what you want in your starting goalie" list. It begins with his daily interactions with Stars personnel.

"I'm pretty laid back, in general," Oettinger said. "I like to hang out with the guys and be amongst the group. I don't isolate myself on the road or on game days with superstitions. I have a couple of things I do, but it's nothing out of the ordinary that you wouldn't see from a forward or a defenseman."

Dante Fabbro, the Nashville Predators defenseman and Oettinger's teammate in college, found Oettinger to be a magnetic force in the BU dressing room. "Almost immediately, you gravitated towards him, with how likable a guy he is," said Fabbro, who remains close friends with Oettinger.

"Most normal goalie you'll ever find. Almost the opposite of what you would think of with a goalie," said Stars forward Ty Dellandrea.

Reese has been an NHL goalie or goalie coach nearly every season since 1988. He's worked with plenty of oddballs, including the legendarily eccentric Ilya Bryzgalov. "Jake's as normal as they get," Reese said.

Oettinger, who's in the first season of a three-year deal carrying a $4-million annual cap hit, tries not to take himself too seriously. "When I'm not at the rink," he said, "I try to not think about goaltending." Whether it's spent on the golf course, at a restaurant, or whatever, time with family and friends is sacred.

"It's in the goalie's job description to ride the highs and the lows," Oettinger noted. He later added, "It's a long season. Unplugging is how I stay sane."

Danton Cole, Oettinger's coach at the U.S. National Team Development Program from 2014-16, used a golf analogy to describe Oettinger's mindset.

"An elite goalie kind of has to be like a golfer. Hit one in the woods? You have to forget about it. You have to focus on the next shot or you'll lose your mind," Cole said. "Jake, in that sense, was outstanding when he was with us at the program. He was rarely fazed, and that carried over to the rest of the team."

Virtually every person interviewed for this story brought up Oettinger's demeanor around the team. It's some blend of composure and confidence.

"What is the difference between a backup and a No. 1?" Reese asked rhetorically. "Some of it is physical, of course, but so, so much of it is mental. And Jake's a special individual mentally. Very mentally tough. Very special in that department. And the bottom line is, he has a great perspective on life."

Being mentally tough doesn't mean Oettinger isn't hard on himself. Case in point: In late March, he pointed the finger inward following a disappointing 5-4 overtime loss to the Seattle Kraken.

"Let in 10 goals in the last two games. Something's got to change," a frustrated Oettinger told reporters. "The guys have scored like crazy, so it's on me to keep the puck out of our net, and I haven't done that."

How Oettinger bounced back after the Kraken game didn't go unnoticed internally or around the league. He saved 180 of 191 shots for a .942 save percentage over his final eight regular-season contests, seven of them victories.

"If there's anything I know about him," Fabbro said, "he's never satisfied."

It can be easy to forget Oettinger's relative youth. He wears No. 29 because as a kid he idolized Marc-Andre Fleury, who at 38 may start for Minnesota on Monday. A Fleury Fathead cutout hung on Oettinger's bedroom wall until his mid-teens and last year he met the affable veteran before a head-to-head matchup, receiving a souvenir goalie stick from Fleury in the process.

Fleury, with 544 regular-season wins and three Stanley Cup rings, has earned a spot in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Nothing's guaranteed in hockey, let alone goaltending, but Oettinger's ceiling is just as high.

"There's still parts of his game we want to improve. He wants to get better. (Tampa Bay Lightning superstar) Andrei Vasilevskiy is the ceiling," Reese said. "Winning championships is what's next. That's when you're at the pinnacle. He looks at a guy like Vasi and wants to get to where Vasi's at. We've got a long way to go. But, as far as upside, if he continues with this attitude and wants to get better every day, he will get better every day."

Stars assistant coach Steve Spott has joked about how easy Reese's job is these days. By all accounts, Oettinger is a goalie coach's dream.

"Spotter thinks it's a crime to get paid to do this," Reese said with a hearty laugh. "He's probably right. I probably shouldn't get paid to coach this kid."

John Matisz is theScore's senior NHL writer. Follow John on Twitter (@MatiszJohn) or contact him via email (john.matisz@thescore.com).

Copyright © 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

In one way, Friday was a typical day for Luc Robitaille.

To start off, the Los Angeles Kings president embedded with the hockey operations staff, running through the playoff roster ahead of the 47-25-10 Kings' first-round date with the Edmonton Oilers. (The series starts Monday in Edmonton.) Robitaille had media responsibilities to close out the morning. Then, in the afternoon, his schedule featured "a lot of meetings" about the club's local TV future in the wake of Diamond Sports Group's bankruptcy.

In another way, Friday was atypical because Robitaille was hoping to cut it short. Usually booked seemingly all hours of the day, he instead wanted to be at home with family one last time. The grind of playoff travel was approaching.

"I won't be home for the next two months," said the affable Robitaille, letting out a short laugh. "That's the hope, anyway!"

Robitaille, 57, has overseen the hockey and business departments for the Kings since 2017. Undoubtedly, he and general manager Rob Blake - both iconic Kings players of previous eras - are the organization's most influential figures in trying to reconstruct a Stanley Cup-caliber roster.

The Kings, Cup winners in 2012 and 2014, are attempting to win a third championship with longtime cornerstones Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty. So far, so good in terms of making the postseason cut in consecutive years.

Robitaille - or "Lucky Luc," as he was nicknamed during a Hockey Hall of Fame career - spoke with theScore on Friday about retooling the roster, Kopitar's brilliance at center, shutting down Connor McDavid, and more.

(This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.)

theScore: Even at 35 years old, Anze Kopitar's in the conversation for best two-way center in the NHL. Why and how? What do you see day-to-day that's keeping him at such an elite level in his 17th season, all with the Kings?

Robitaille: It's incredible how he's still the same player he was 10 years ago. He seems to have not changed his pace, the way he plays. From his first day playing in the NHL, he's always been a 200-foot player.

You know how Patrice Bergeron is revered and viewed on the east coast? If you were to flip-flop those two, if they were to change places, I think Kopitar would get the same love as Bergeron.

If you talk to every player in the NHL, they'll tell you, 'He's a really hard player to play against. He's heavy. He plays both ends. He plays PK, PP.' He still plays 22 minutes a game most nights. His discipline to stay in shape - he's so committed to the game, with his offseason workouts seemingly getting better every year. It's pretty amazing those two guys are still doing it at their age.

You're right. Whether it's counting stats or advanced stats, Kopitar's right up there. One thing that jumped off the page for me: Kopitar's taken only two minor penalties in 2022-23. That's impressive, considering the strength of opponent he faces and, as you noted, his heavier style of play.

He leans on guys. He's heavy. It is amazing that he's basically had no penalties. It's kind of crazy … (laughs)

The other thing no one is talking about: The day we put Adrian Kempe with Kopi, Adrian Kempe became a 35- and 40-goal scorer. Then we put Quinton Byfield with Kopi and suddenly everybody's going, 'Ah, I can see Byfield's coming into his own now!' Kopi's our safety net to help the trend of our team.

A young player can gain confidence simply by lining up beside somebody like Kopitar, right? You attach the young player to the responsible veteran and life's easier. Pucks start going in and it all builds from there.

Yeah. You're right about that. But, also, I was talking to someone the other day about how lucky we feel. Let me explain: When you have Kopitar on your team, it's so easy to teach the young guys how to play responsibly. If they see one of the team's best players doing all of the little things day in and day out, no matter what, they can't come in and say, 'Well, that's just not the way I play.' No, they know Kopi's won, and they know he's won playing a certain way. Next thing you know, they're a little bit more responsible.

It's funny, there's some irony in it for us. Kevin Fiala's an incredible player. He's had a huge impact on our team. But early in the year, he'd make some risky passes we weren't used to seeing. We would be like, 'Whoa, what's up with that pass right up the middle?' And then, over time, Fiala has remained the same impactful player, but it sure seems like he got rid of 50% of those risky passes.

He's still producing, right, but I think the rest of it has a lot to do with guys like Kopitar playing the right way all the time. If you're a player and you're smart, you go, 'Oh, that's what makes him so special! If I can play like him a little bit, it'll help the team even more.'

The Drew Doughty-Mikey Anderson pairing - why is it so effective? And what was so appealing about Anderson to warrant an eight-year extension?

The biggest thing for us is trust. When you watch Mikey play, you never think about him. You just trust him. He gets the puck and makes the right play. He closes plays down low. And he's a great partner for Drew as somebody who gives Drew a little bit more freedom. Mikey will always, always back Drew up.

It's been such a great pairing for us, and that's why it was also so important for us to get another left-handed defenseman before the trade deadline. We wanted four guys who we can really trust. But it starts with Mikey and Drew playing the way they do together.

A few years ago, the Kings shifted toward a retool around Kopitar, Doughty, and goalie Jonathan Quick. There had been an emphasis on getting faster and younger. I'd say you've accomplished that. As far as a timeline on the retool, are you where you thought you'd be in 2023?

Internally, we always wanted to be pushing for the playoffs last year and this year, knowing that once you get in, you can beat anyone. We certainly feel like, because of the way we play, we can beat anyone. The playoffs are a hard road. You have to be locked and loaded and healthy to start. We feel that way.

That being said, we know if everything goes our way this year and we win, we really feel we're going to be better in two years. We have some young guys coming up, and we still have room for them, and it's only going to make our team better in the future.

I suppose that's the beauty of hitting on many of your draft picks. You don't have a bunch of prospects blossoming at once. It's a steady flow.

They trickle in over time. And, if there's anything we've learned, it's to be patient. With Adrian Kempe, it took him six years to start scoring goals. (laughs)

What do you attribute to Kempe's ascension? He isn't a flash in the pan.

He was always a really good player, but he wasn't shooting much. He wasn't creating much offensively. But the whole time he had the defensive skills, which can be very hard to get. We never worried about him defensively. And we knew he could skate. So, in our zone, the guy never hurt us.

He was playing center and some games we'd put him on the wing. Somehow, he found a way to get open more often and shoot more often. And his creativity with the puck got better.

We have a kid now who's similar to Kempe. He's not a shooter like Kempe, but with Rasmus Kupari, when we look at him, we remember Kempe in his first three or four years. They're great skaters, they never hurt you defensively, and you have to just wait for them to come into their own offensively.

You faced the Edmonton Oilers in Round 1 last year. Ditto this year, starting Monday. What needs to happen for L.A. to win this time around?

We know we can match up against anybody. We have to play our game. It's going to be really hard to do that when you have two of the best players in the world on the other team. They're hungry, too. So, it's about minimizing their scoring chances, and then when we get our chances, putting them in.

I really feel like the Oilers got better this year. But so did we, you know? So, I think it's going to be a really good series. There won't be a lot of room out there. You'll have to create room. We all know how good their power play is, so it almost goes without saying that you don't want to give them too many opportunities there. But we're certainly creating a big rivalry with them, and it's going to be a great series.

We've beaten them twice this year, and they've beaten us twice. We thought we outplayed them in one of those losses. So, it's going to be a show, I think. (laughs)

You played with and against Wayne Gretzky. With that in mind, how do you gameplan against a generational talent like Connor McDavid? Do you sink your teeth into the video, or is it more so about shadowing him or, at least, doing your best to keep up with him as far as skating speed?

If you're going to have a guy shadow Connor McDavid, he better skate faster than him, and I don't think anyone in the league can do that. (laughs)

So, I think it's more about playing the right way as a team. You're trying to minimize McDavid's scoring chances. He's going to create one or two chances a period on his own, but you certainly don't want to give him a free one. We went to Edmonton earlier this year, played a really good game, and then put it right on his stick for a breakaway. You can't do that. He has to earn every chance, and he will get some chances because of who he is.

You just have to keep playing, and it's the old cliche: Keep the puck in their zone as much as possible. But I do really believe they got better. So, we know it's going to be a lot of work for us to keep it in their zone. Mattias Ekholm was a great move for them. Even Nick Bjugstad, he's brought in a little size. Trust me, it's not going to be easy.

How have you felt about the Kings' two trade deadline additions - defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov and goalie Joonas Korpisalo - and how they've mixed into the group since March? Thoughts on the on-ice fit?

They both have fit in perfectly on our team. Korpisalo has come in and given us stability in the net. We've had Pheonix Copley play really well since December, and now Korpisalo's here, and he has this real calming attitude about him. He's been really, really good.

And then for Gavrikov, we always talked about getting that second-layer, left-shot D-man who can really stabilize our team. He's done that, and more. Him and Matt Roy give us an opportunity to cut down a couple of minutes with Doughty so that Drew is a little bit more rested. But that Gavrikov-Roy pairing has been a really hard pair to play against. Gavrikov has a long stick, long reach, and we couldn't be happier about what he's done for us so far.

One last one. Back to Gretzky. Beyond the obvious - all-time speed - what are the similarities and differences between Connor and Wayne?

Wayne was smaller and skinnier, so every team before every game would say, 'You have to run him. You have to hit him. You have to check him.' They did everything.

When you play against McDavid, you pay attention to him. It's incredible the speed he brings. And his vision is a lot like Wayne's. Still, I can't believe Wayne got 200 points! That's basically 50 more than McDavid! (laughs)

When you put that in perspective, you start thinking, man, how great was Gretzky? And Mario Lemieux, too. It's crazy. But here's another thing: I remember people saying Wayne's shot wasn't great, this and that. Then he scored 92 goals. And last year we've got people saying, 'Yeah, McDavid's good but he doesn't score as many goals as he should.' And then you see this year he gets 64.

It just shows how these guys want to get better every game, every year. McDavid's got a lot of the same drive as Wayne. Every shift, every shift. And you saw it last year in the playoffs, where McDavid really took his game to another level. You can tell the kid has a lot of personal drive.

You have to give him credit for what he's done so far in his career. He's a superstar, and he's fun to watch every night.

John Matisz is theScore's senior NHL writer. Follow John on Twitter (@MatiszJohn) or contact him via email (john.matisz@thescore.com).

Copyright © 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Adam Francilia, an exercise physiologist for NHL players, has long believed goaltending is, at its very core, similar to a martial art like jiu-jitsu or judo.

Both the hockey goalie and martial artist begin in a static stance, he explains, then read and react to whatever unfolds in front of them. Both operate in a confined space - the crease or the mat. Both need to be flexible and nimble. Both must find a mental sweet spot, no matter the environment.

"You're putting on this special gear, and you're entering this other self. It's very Zen," Francilia said of goaltending. "In a sense, you play a different sport than the skaters on your team and the other team, yet you're on the ice at the same time. You have very difficult responsibilities, a very different oneness with the game than skaters. And it's a position of perfection - especially these days."

Francilia, currently working with 11 NHL goalies, most notably starters Connor Hellebuyck and Thatcher Demko, emphasizes the plight of the modern goalie for two main reasons. One, making saves is extremely hard in today's offense-first environment. Two, staying healthy is also challenging, with the most effective save-making techniques inflicting a heavy toll on the body.

As the 2022-23 regular season comes to a close and goalies switch into either offseason recovery mode or a deeper Zen mindset for the playoffs, let's unpack Francilia's second point. What exactly is the deal with this save-making conundrum facing today's goalies? And how can they counteract it?

The conundrum

All modern goalies rely on some variation of the butterfly technique, popularized by Hall of Famer Patrick Roy in the late 1980s. The up-and-down style helped elevate save percentages in the '90s, but an increased injury rate followed. In 2009, Sports Illustrated declared hip injuries an epidemic in a seminal article chronicling the struggles of goalies who grew up imitating Roy.

A few years later, Jonathan Quick of the Los Angeles Kings popularized the RVH, a goal-post-integration technique used by nearly every current NHL netminder. Short for reverse vertical horizontal, the RVH involves the goalie leaning toward the post with his short-side pad tilted horizontally and far-side pad vertical. The RVH wards off offense from below the hash marks, and, like the butterfly, misuse and overuse can agitate ankles, knees, groins, and hips.

"You look at the butterfly, and you go, 'Oh, that's not ideal,'" said Maria Mountain, an exercise physiologist in London, Ontario, who works closely with goalies of all ages and skill levels through her online training programs.

"And then you look at the RVH," she added, "and it's like, 'Oh my God …'"

The RVH, Francilia noted, is "more of a culprit" than the butterfly in contributing to injuries. It's a completely unnatural shape and movement for a human being to execute, with the ankle and knee exploding toward a steel beam to hold an awkward posture. This puts tremendous torsion on the joints.

"If the joint that's directly and most locally involved with the movement has a lack of mobility, if it isn't doing its job properly, the joints above or below have to pick up that slack," Francilia explained of, for example, a mobile right knee compensating for an immobile right ankle. All of that kinetic energy must travel somewhere.

In other words, the only tried and true way to consistently stop pucks in 2023 sends goalies down a path that frequently ends with a trip to the surgeon's table and months of rehab. While forwards and defensemen are by no means immune to joint overuse injuries - our ancestors weren't skaters, after all - suffering a major hip injury has almost become a rite of passage for goalies.

Six NHL-caliber netminders - Robin Lehner, Laurent Brossoit, Joonas Korpisalo, Anton Khudobin, Jonathan Bernier, and Daniil Tarasov - underwent hip surgery in 2022 alone, according to reports. Others, including Elvis Merzlikins and Tristan Jarry, missed time this season because of hip issues, and it's safe to assume at least a few of the vaguely labeled "lower-body" injuries were, in fact, hip-related. Prospect Ian Scott, a 2017 Toronto Maple Leafs draftee who had hip surgery in 2019, retired last July at 23 after failing to return to "full playable health."

"Everyone gets it now," Buffalo Sabres goalie Eric Comrie said recently before pointing out he and teammates Craig Anderson, 41, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, 24, have all gone under the knife to repair at least one ruined hip.

"I had no choice. I couldn't prolong it. I had to stop playing. It was a lot of pain," Comrie, 27, said of undergoing double hip surgery in 2013, his NHL draft year.

Linus Ullmark, the front-runner to win the Vezina Trophy this season, also opted to get both hips fixed prior to making the jump to the NHL. In recalling the thought process behind choosing double over single, the Boston Bruins goalie said: "Let's do both of them at the same time and be done with it."

Comrie and Ullmark sounded like baseball pitchers fresh off Tommy John surgery, a procedure that not only repairs wonky elbow ligaments but can also provide performance benefits. Both goalies reported increased mobility, flexibility, and strength. "It helped at the time, and it's helped in the long run," Comrie said.

Anatomy plays a considerable role in goalie health. Some, including Ullmark, develop femoroacetabular impingement, or FAI, a condition in which wear and tear causes the head of the femur to sit and move improperly within the socket of the pelvis. Others are blessed with a hip structure capable of absorbing the butterfly and RVH, ultimately delaying wear and tear.

"It seems to be genetics, a lot of it, with how shallow or how deep your hips are. So I've been really lucky," Washington Capitals starter Darcy Kuemper said prior to the season. "Knock on wood here and hope that continues."

"So far, thank God I didn't have any major issues," said Andrei Vasilevskiy, the Tampa Bay Lightning superstar known for his freakish flexibility.

The counteraction

Born in 1999, Capitals prospect Clay Stevenson has lived his entire life in the butterfly era. He first dropped to his knees at the ripe age of six, and he added the RVH to his repertoire at about 16 while playing midget in British Columbia.

The late bloomer signed with the Capitals as an undrafted free agent last spring following an excellent season at Dartmouth College. Stevenson, a 24-year-old rookie pro, has posted strong numbers in 38 games between Washington's AHL and ECHL affiliates. His development arrow is pointing up.

Above all else, Stevenson must stay healthy - and he's tapped Francilia to help. "The pro season is so taxing on your body, so you have to find ways to combat that," the netminder said. "I'm learning how to stack my body right."

Francilia, who originally trained athletes from a variety of sports, including powerlifting, football, gymnastics, and equestrian, zeroed in on goaltending as his niche about a decade ago. His sweeping objective: To optimize how goalies move physiologically in and out of various save techniques - or "stacks."

"As soon as a muscle turns off and you're in any sort of shape, compression, or bend, the load goes through the connective tissue. That's not good. If the muscles are on the tissues don't have to work as hard," Francilia said.

The longtime trainer, based in B.C.'s Okanagan Valley, interacts with his clients often during the season, calling, texting, or meeting in person. Most crucially, Francilia produces a weekly video featuring narrated clips of good and bad in-game postures and stances. A polished foundation is crucial.

The hope is that smooth biomechanics equal fewer injuries and more saves.

"One of my favorite terms is that I'm giving myself 'the most access to pucks,'" Stevenson said. "If I'm stacked the right way and making saves with clean mechanics, there's a performance benefit. You're giving yourself optimal percentages to make that second save or third save - whatever you need."

Francilia also wants his clients to hone a Zen-like mentality when it comes to maintenance. Devise a plan and trust the process. On game days, Stevenson starts by placing a heating pad on his groins, hips, hamstrings, and lower back. He then dives into active stretching to wake up specific muscles and tissues - leg raises, hip bridges, forward-facing wall squats, side lunges, and A-skips, to name a handful. The full warmup takes approximately an hour.

Postgame, Stevenson stretches and rolls out specific muscles to "unpretzel" his body as much as possible. He then hits the cold tub to recover further.

On top of those routines, the former Ivy Leaguer loosens up before bed four-to-five nights a week through full-body stretching sessions. Occasionally, a team trainer provides treatment on his lower back, ankles, glutes, groins, or hips.

"My first job," Mountain said of her approach, "is to keep the goalie healthy. The second is to help them perform better. So I'm mostly selling them on the performance side, yet in reality, giving them the injury prevention side too."

Kevin Woodley, who reports on goaltending trends for NHL.com and InGoal Magazine, has noticed modern goalies are better than previous generations at trying to find the "happy medium" between elite performance and longevity.

For instance, many goalies have experimented with a "shin lock" variation of the RVH, which is more forgiving on the body. Goalies are also welcoming with open arms the new Bauer Konekt skate, which offers additional ankle mobility and flexion and, thus, in theory, less stressful butterflies and RVHs.

"If your ankle is locked in, where does the energy go? It goes up the chain to the knees, then the hips," Woodley said. "What this Bauer skate has done is it's allowed the ankle and the lower shin to absorb some of that energy."

Francilia would love to see other equipment changes to help prolong careers.

The knee stack on the inside of the pads - or pad riser as it's called in the NHL rulebook - can't exceed 2.5 inches in thickness when uncompressed. Permitting an extra inch or two, Francilia said, "would alter, in a healthy manner, the angle of the knee joint to the ankle joint. It would take a lot of torsion off the goalie's lower leg, which is a significant factor in the increase in ankle, knee, groin, and hip injuries."

Meanwhile, despite the RVH's increasing popularity, goalie pants have lost some circumference. "In order to seal the post, the angle required from the knee joint to the hip joint is so extreme that it's creating a lot of soft tissue tension," Francilia said. "When the pants had a little more flare to them, the goalie was able to perform the same task but maintain a much healthier physiological shape."

"The sport's blurring the line between goal-scoring and the health, safety, and wellness of goalies," he said, summarizing his concerns. "It's not good enough. I strongly feel like this needs to be addressed for the sport to move forward."

As for workload, Francilia dreams of a friendlier future. Starters play fewer games in 2023 versus 2003, which counts as progress. However, the typical practice still caters to shooters, resulting in untold butterfly and RVH drops.

Well, what if hockey treated goalies the same way baseball treats pitchers?

"In MLB, everything is about pitch count. And not just total pitch count but how many curveballs, how many off-speed pitches, how many knuckleballs, and how many heaters are you throwing in a single session?" Francilia said. "This is where we have to do a way better job with goalies. We need to start emphasizing a qualitative approach versus a quantitative approach."

In the current climate, as Mountain knows well as a trainer of goalies competing in beer leagues, the pros, and everything in between, the position's physical drawbacks are severe though not wholly unique. To make saves, a goalie must pay the price. In a strange way, it's the cost of doing business.

"If you look at any sport, really, it's not good for your body," Mountain said. "You look at football: It's not good to get smashed into by another 200-pound human being. Baseball pitchers: Not good for your shoulder to rip a baseball. Rowing: Not good for your back. You decide as an individual - 'Well, this is how I'd like to spend my body currency' - and that's it. That's the cost."

John Matisz is theScore's senior NHL writer. Follow John on Twitter (@MatiszJohn) or contact him via email (john.matisz@thescore.com).

Copyright © 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

It's around 11 a.m. in early March, moments after a morning skate, when Buffalo Sabres defenseman Mattias Samuelsson starts scanning the home team's dressing room inside KeyBank Center. He cranes his neck to see past the reporter blocking his view of the semi-circle wall where the forwards sit.

He's compiling a list of the squad's biggest "hockey nerds."

"Mittsy, Coz, Skinny, Quinner, OP - oh man, there's a bunch of them. Joster, for sure. Okie is when he has some free time with the family," Samuelsson says, smile widening. "Sometimes he's just busy. But on the road, man, Okie's always watching hockey and always has something to say about it."

Mittsy is Casey Mittelstadt. Skinny is Jeff Skinner. Coz is Dylan Cozens. Quinner is Jack Quinn. OP is Owen Power. Joster is Tyson Jost. Okie is Kyle Okposo. All of them "know every detail about everything" to do with hockey and the NHL, Samuelsson explains. "All the stats, stick curves, tape jobs … "

Samuelsson, 23, signed a seven-year contract extension on the eve of the season. He committed to the Sabres through 2029-30 partly because he feels strongly about the core's abilities on the ice and its makeup off it.

"Nobody's ego is too sensitive. Everybody kind of gives it to everybody," Samuelsson says. Yes, that includes 41-year-old goalie Craig Anderson, respected captain Okposo, and star forward Tage Thompson. "I can chirp him just as much as I chirp anybody else," Samuelsson says of "Thommer."

"You can also tell someone to get their head out of their ass, and they're not going to get mad at you for it," the blue-liner adds. "They know you're just looking out for them, and you're trying to do what's best for the team."

This open environment is shaped by time spent away from the rink - team dinners, golf outings, Xbox battles, NFL and UFC watch parties, shopping trips, and card games - plus the fact the Sabres' roster is the youngest in the league. "Sometimes," Samuelsson says, "it honestly feels like a college team."

That's what a "good room" looks and feels like for the Sabres. What about elsewhere? What are the pillars of a "good room" in cities across the NHL?

'Honest but not too harsh'

Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar has described Nathan MacKinnon's leadership style as "feisty." To maintain the Avs' high standard, the 100-point center has been known to be abrasive on occasion.

MacKinnon isn't a tyrant, though. His ears perk up when others take charge.

"We encourage guys to speak before games and voice to the group what they really think, regardless of how long they've been in the NHL," MacKinnon tells theScore. "That's really big as far as establishing and keeping a good room. It's simple in a way: Just be good to each other. Be honest but not too harsh."

Case in point: Perhaps Cale Makar, a force of nature on the ice but relatively shy off it, wouldn't speak up as much as he does had he not been encouraged to do so by MacKinnon or team captain Gabriel Landeskog.

"He's the best defenseman in the world, so he should be able to express his opinion," MacKinnon says. "This year, he's honestly been great in that department. It's been a tougher year for us with so many injuries, right, but he's been there to take the edge off that by being a little bit more vocal."

Alex Kerfoot subscribes to the same school of thought. The Toronto Maple Leafs forward thinks it's important for a room to be filled with unique individuals, 23 guys of varying nationalities, birth years, and career journeys.

"If your ultimate goal is to win the Stanley Cup, you want to have different opinions in the room," says Kerfoot, traded from Colorado to Toronto in 2019. "You want to have different experiences in the mix, people who have been through different scenarios. That is probably more valuable than having a bunch of guys who have been in similar circumstances."

The out-for-dinner test

It's fair to suggest Max Domi should be an expert in the study of hockey player dynamics. The Dallas Stars forward and son of longtime enforcer Tie Domi currently finds himself on his sixth NHL team in only eight pro seasons.

Insight No. 1 from Domi: He swears he's never been in a bad room, a toxic room, or one that's overly cliquey. "All of a sudden, you get a new guy coming in, and it's like butter," he says of the prevailing vibe. "He just fits right in."

(Side note: Domi's perspective isn't unique. All 16 of the players interviewed for this story were adamant they'd spent little to no time in a so-called bad room. If they have, they may prefer to forget those experiences or don't feel comfortable talking about them now.)

Insight No. 2: It helps to mingle. "We're all in the NHL for a reason. That's the easy part," Domi says. "But getting to know guys is key. Where are you from? Where did you play junior? What's your career been like? You get to know guys pretty quickly - it's not hard - and then it translates onto the ice."

Insight No. 3: There's a foolproof way to test the cohesiveness of a group, no matter the win-loss record. "If you can go out to dinner with anyone on the team, on any given night, you know you're in a good locker room," Domi says.

Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Calvin de Haan makes the point that "guys lead in different ways." Sure, fans and media know about the role of the rah-rah and lead-by-example types. But the other characters - the designated DJ, the collector of fines, the party planner - often lead too, just in covert ways.

Regardless of the talent level, de Haan says, hockey is a team-first sport.

"I go out and play with my friends in the summer, and no offense to them, but I'm better than all of them," de Haan says. "But we don't necessarily win every time, even though I play in the NHL. The teams who win have guys who use each other well and play like a team. That's a part of leadership, too."

Leaders lead (and read)

Mark Giordano's bona fides include captaining the Calgary Flames and Seattle Kraken and being the oldest skater in the NHL this season. He believes reading the room is a leader's most important job within the team setting.

Some teammates "need to get slapped," the Maple Leafs defenseman says, while others "need to get patted on the back and encouraged." Some are wired to beat themselves up too much; others are not self-reflective at all. And a bunch of guys fall between the two extremes.

"It's important to approach guys on a personal level and say, 'Hey man, I think you need to do this,'" Giordano explains. "That's for myself too. I like when guys come up and say, 'Hey, this is what I see about your game lately.' Sometimes you're caught off guard, and it gives you a different perspective."

"The biggest tell," the 39-year-old adds, "is when a group gets quiet. You know you're not in a good spot. But, when guys are chirping a lot, having fun but in a serious manner, I think that's when you know a team is rolling."

Alex Galchenyuk has bounced around the league enough to spend time in every kind of hockey market: big (Montreal, Toronto), mid-size (Pittsburgh, Minnesota, Colorado, Ottawa), and small (Arizona). The 2012 third overall pick finds standards are set by the captain and head coach, moods tend to rise and fall with wins and losses, and the "block out the noise" discussion can be useful.

Fan and media attention is so cranked up in Canadian markets - "more of a TMZ style," he puts it with a grin - that leaders need to do their best to downplay the hysterics.

"Especially the world we live in now, you try and not focus on social media and things like that. But everywhere you go, it's hockey, hockey, hockey," Galchenyuk says. "So it's, 'Hey, let's keep what we've got going on in the room and block out the noise.' That's definitely a thing in the huge markets."

Short and long memory

Through his various stops, Alex Chiasson has shared a room with five recent greats - Jaromir Jagr in Dallas, Erik Karlsson in Ottawa, Alex Ovechkin in Washington, and Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl in Edmonton.

"They're just like me. They love the game, they want to work, they want to compete. When you really go to the basics of it, their skills are slightly higher - OK, probably a little bit more than slightly higher - but that's the only real difference," says Chiasson, who's competed in 646 NHL games for seven teams, including 15 contests this year as a member of the Detroit Red Wings.

Chiasson's 32, so he's at the age where he'll run into retired teammates and reminisce. The winger snapped his fingers three times to illustrate how quickly he and former Star Ray Whitney recently rekindled their bond.

Victor Hedman is also 32. The Norris Trophy-winning defenseman practically grew up in the Lightning room, arriving in Tampa at 18, just two weeks after getting his driver's license. He's now a father of two with a pair of Cup rings.

Over the years, Hedman has learned to separate hockey from the rest of his life. If he's having a bad day at home or the rink, he can park the negativity.

"You can have stuff going on in your life, but when you get into the locker room, it's like a different world," he says with a sense of wonder. "Everything else, yeah, you put that aside for those few hours. You go in there and be with the boys. It's a great feeling and probably the thing I'm going to miss the most about hockey: the camaraderie that you have every day."

Hedman, who isn't retiring anytime soon, says contributing to a good room is all about having both a short memory - you can't hold grudges against a teammate for making a few mistakes on the ice - and also a long one.

You want to remember the pranks, the mindless banter, the intermission speeches, the player-of-the-game presentations. The blood, sweat, and tears.

"That brotherhood," Hedman says, "you can't get it anywhere else."

John Matisz is theScore's senior NHL writer. Follow John on Twitter (@MatiszJohn) or contact him via email (john.matisz@thescore.com).

Copyright © 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Like most superstars, Auston Matthews' game appeals to the masses in part because what you see from the stands or the couch mirrors his statistical profile.

For example, Matthews didn't ride some unsustainably hot shooting percentage to 60 goals last season. The gaudy goal total was accompanied by excellent underlying numbers and a highlight reel documenting how cleanly he was beating goalies. Matthews, in peak form, was an offensive tornado.

Why bring all of this up? Well, the Toronto Maple Leafs center has looked like his 2021-22 self of late. His one-time blast Wednesday against the Florida Panthers gave him five goals in four games, the best seven-day stretch in a season that's produced "only" 37 goals. (Matthews' per-game rate has dropped from 0.82 last year to 0.55 this year. He's on pace for 41 goals in 75 games.)

The visual cues that were absent for a significant portion of the season - No. 34 marching through the neutral zone, dangling defenders in tight spaces, deceiving goalies with that all-world shot - have returned. Now healthy, Matthews' name has been climbing the charts in the various statistical categories in which he tends to rank highly. The moments of dominance are adding up.

At a basic level, Matthews has simply been firing more pucks. Three of his six highest shot-attempt totals this season were recorded in March. He had a career-high 19 last week against the Carolina Hurricanes, 13 on March 11 against the Edmonton Oilers, and 11 on March 2 against the Calgary Flames. Plus, he recorded either eight or nine attempts in four other March games.

At a granular level, Matthews has been terrorizing defenses.

According to Sportlogiq's Jan. 30 leaderboards, Matthews ranked first in the NHL in scoring chances generated off the cycle per game, fifth in slot shots per game, 10th in inner-slot shots per game, and 10th in chances off rebounds per game. He'd appeared in 47 games at that point in the season.

Obviously, impressive rankings. But not quite up to Matthews' lofty standards.

As of Thursday morning, exactly two months and 20 games later, the 25-year-old was still leading in chances off the cycle. Notably, he'd jumped to second in slot shots, fourth in inner-slot shots, and eighth in chances off rebounds while wiggling into the top 10 in chances off the forecheck (ninth).

Matthews has found good health and his version of beast mode. As a leader on a team desperate for a playoff series win, the timing couldn't be better.

Suter's penalty-killing clinic

The Detroit Red Wings are 17th in penalty-kill percentage. Yet they may have the NHL's best shorthanded forward in the versatile Pius Suter.

Suter, who at even strength can fill a top-six winger spot or center the fourth line, is among the league leaders in Evolving-Hockey's catch-all metric for shorthanded defense. Yanni Gourde (2.2 rating), Suter (2.1), Jake Evans (2.1), Ty Dellandrea (2.1), and Brandon Hagel (2.0) pace the 100 forwards who've logged at least 100 shorthanded minutes this season. (Dylan Larkin is the next Wing on the list. He ranks 49th out of 100 with a minus-0.2 rating.)

Detroit coach Derek Lalonde lauds Suter for his hockey IQ and hockey sense. His anticipation and positioning - both his body and his stick - are exemplary.

As for strategy, Suter tries to straddle the line between being passive and aggressive.

"You have to focus on the (other team's first zone) entry. You want to put pressure on them as soon as you get a chance," the Switzerland native told theScore. "Guys are so skilled, so good on the power play now that you want to at least make them go all the way down the ice and skate up again. Then they get a higher pulse, and, hopefully, more mistakes happen."

Cheating for offense is a deadly sin for NHL penalty killers, Suter added. It's a selfless - not selfish - role. "You can't blow the zone," he said. He's found that simply pressuring the puck carrier shift after shift leads to favorable bounces.

Like on Feb. 21 against the Washington Capitals, for example:

A shorthanded goal against can deflate one bench and fire up the other. "It gives you different momentum. You're trying to fend a goal off, and then you score. The crowd just loves it," said Suter, who's potted three in his career.

Suter, a pending unrestricted free agent who turns 27 in May, has 13 goals and 10 assists in 72 games. It's his third NHL season and second in Detroit.

"He likes it a lot in Detroit, but we will see after the season where things will go," Suter's agent, Georges Muller, said when asked about the forward's future.

New union boss introduced

The NHL Players' Association held a press conference in Toronto on Thursday to officially introduce Marty Walsh, the union's new executive director. While the gathering produced little news, it certainly set the tone for Walsh's tenure.

The 55-year-old Bostonian said all the right things: He pledged to represent not only the union's members but their families too. He vowed to help market players better. He promised to work with the league office to expand the sport's presence globally. He detailed how he's long been a strong supporter of the LGBTQ community but also believes every NHLer has the right to make a personal decision with respect to wearing a Pride Night warm-up jersey.

He touched on a few more topics, but you get the point.

"I bring a different perspective than probably every single one of my predecessors," said Walsh, a lifelong union guy who was the mayor of Boston for seven years and recently served as the U.S. Secretary of Labor.

The collective bargaining agreement between the league and its players doesn't expire until Sept. 15, 2026, so Walsh and commissioner Gary Bettman aren't starting their relationship with a stretch of contentious negotiations.

In this honeymoon period, Walsh needs to hammer home the importance of international hockey to Bettman and the 32 owners. It can't be just another agenda item during meetings. He spoke only in generalities Thursday, but Walsh did say that it's a high-priority issue for him.

I'm of the belief that it's absolutely essential for the NHL and the players' association to stage a World Cup tournament in 2025 (the ship has sailed on 2024). If it makes sense to ban Russia for geopolitical reasons, then do it. That's a separate matter. You can hold a World Cup without Russia. It won't be perfect - heck, the 2016 version certainly wasn't with Team North America and Team Europe - but the point is to not let the 2026 Olympics be the next opportunity for a big event.

Star players, including Connor McDavid, have been clamoring for best-on-best hockey - or something close to it - for years. Hockey fans across the world are equally annoyed by the wait. Enough excuses. Make it happen.

Point always 'knows where to be'

Brayden Point has a one-track mind - and that's a compliment, not an insult.

If the Tampa Bay Lightning gain possession and Point's on the ice, you can almost guarantee the 27-year-old center will be making a beeline to the inner slot. You'd be hard-pressed to find an NHLer - let alone one with a relatively small stature - more obsessed with wheeling to the net-front area at all costs.

Seriously, check out Point's five-on-five shot chart at Evolving-Hockey (goals are the yellow dots, shots on goal are green, and missed shots are orange).

Heavy action below the hash marks. Virtually nothing outside the middle lane.

"Undercover, one of the best players in the world," Lightning teammate Victor Hedman told theScore last week. The veteran blue-liner later added, "I don't think Pointer gets talked about enough. His edge work, his speed - it's out of this world, and he can really put the puck in the back of the net. I swear, 95% of the goals in his career have been from the slot. He knows where to be."

Point, who's tied for fourth in the NHL in goals, scored his 47th of the season Tuesday in a 4-0 victory over the Hurricanes. Hedman's bang-on: What a weirdly quiet march to 50 goals for a notable player who's never reached the milestone. This fast-break tally was a perfect example of his one-track mind:

Parting shots

Kent Johnson: The Columbus Blue Jackets rookie hit the proverbial rookie wall about three-quarters of the way through the regular season but is working on a strong finish (nine points in his last 11 games). Around the dressing room, Johnson has become known for being very coachable. He's a sponge. The 20-year-old's developed an on-ice reputation for being a "dangerous player who is very tough to read as an opposing player," Blue Jackets captain Boone Jenner said. "He's very shifty and elusive, and he creates a lot by just having the puck on his stick and drawing guys towards him and finding that open guy." Confident kid, too, as evidenced by last week's viral dangle and snipe:

2017 draft: Nico Hischier, Miro Heiskanen, Cale Makar, and Elias Pettersson were all top-five selections in 2017. None of them took particularly long to break through. Cody Glass (sixth overall) and Owen Tippett (10th), on the other hand, needed a few years of marination before announcing their arrival this season. The playmaker Glass, the first-ever draft pick by the Vegas Golden Knights, is thriving with the Nashville Predators, posting 12 goals and 18 assists in 64 games. He played AHL games in the previous four seasons while also grinding through a significant knee injury. The sniper Tippett was part of last year's Florida-Philadelphia trade involving Claude Giroux. After rounding out his game under coach John Tortorella, Tippett's enjoyed a career year, sitting second on the Flyers in goals (23) and third in points (42).

Erik Karlsson: The race to 100 points is most definitely on for the San Jose Sharks star defenseman. Karlsson's amassed an eye-popping 91 points through 75 games, which means he needs nine in his final seven games to hit the milestone. It's doable considering his rate of production this season, and you know San Jose will be peppering him with passes. The 29th-place Sharks don't have much else to play for down the stretch, anyway. Karlsson's point total is already tied for the 24th-highest in NHL history. The last blue-liner to reach 100 was Brian Leetch, who put up 102 in 80 games in 1991-92.

Takes, Thoughts, and Trends is theScore's biweekly hockey grab bag.

John Matisz is theScore's senior NHL writer. Follow John on Twitter (@MatiszJohn) or contact him via email (john.matisz@thescore.com).

Copyright © 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The next time you watch the Boston Bruins, fix your eyes on No. 37 and don't look away for the entire shift. Take a few mental notes. Then do the same thing when Patrice Bergeron hops over the boards again, and for a third time.

By the end of the third shift, you'll start to see the patterns of a hockey genius.

The Bruins captain will probably win a faceoff cleanly, and for the following 40 seconds, he'll stay within a few feet of the puck, never cheating for offense or defense. He won't be overbearing to teammates or suffocating to opponents; he'll just be nearby, lurking from the perfect spot. If Boston has the puck, he's a safety valve, and if the opposition has possession, he's a disruptive force.

As I discussed during the home stretch last season, Bergeron earns Selke Trophy votes through thousands of subtly smart plays. And the 2022-23 campaign, Bergeron's 19th in the NHL, has been no different. At 37, he remains a textbook 200-foot center and a front-runner for the award that honors "the forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game."

Bergeron's finished first, second, or third in voting in a staggering 11 straight seasons, claiming the trophy a record five times. He's arguably the greatest defensive forward ever, and until his play tapers off or he retires, the Selke is his to lose.

Yet voters don't blindly select Bergeron. It's a deep field this year, with Jordan Staal, Mikael Backlund, Joel Eriksson Ek, and Elias Pettersson among the dozen or so forwards vying for downballot votes.

Using data from Sportlogiq and Evolving Hockey, let's assess how three of them - Mitch Marner of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Aleksander Barkov of the Florida Panthers, and Nico Hischier of the New Jersey Devils - stack up against Bergeron. (All tracking statistics current through Monday's games.)

The Marner conversation

What's helping Marner's case: Marner leads the league in takeaways, with 97 in 73 games. Like a grandmaster chess player, he's elite at anticipating his opponent's next move. He takes efficient routes and won't be outhustled.

Marner, who's armed with remarkable hand-eye coordination, ranks second among everyday NHL forwards in blocked passes per game. He regularly knocks down clearing attempts and intercepts stretch passes before quickly turning the change of possession into a grade-A scoring chance for the Leafs.

Marner is both an offensive dynamo (28 goals and 66 assists for 94 points) and a workhorse (21:19 a night, including 2:20 on the penalty kill). He has Bergeron beat in both areas (57 points in 73 games; 17:36 and 1:46). And while the Selke is by definition reserved for defensive studs, there's logic in the old "the best defense is a good offense" argument. A strong two-way impact should be seen as a boon to - not a drag on - Marner's case.

What's hurting Marner's case: Centers have owned the Selke during the salary-cap era. In fact, 2002-03 was the last time a winger won (Jere Lehtinen). While it'd be nice to break the drought - Mark Stone has come close - the trend is grounded in reason: Wingers generally have it easier than centers on the defensive side of the puck. They don't help out as much deep in the zone or take faceoffs - two areas in which Bergeron absolutely crushes.

Bergeron's Bruins also boast the NHL's top penalty-killing percentage while the Leafs sit 14th. Quality of teammates is a major factor with a stat like PK%, and Boston has better personnel, but the 13-team gap is worth mentioning.

Meanwhile, Bergeron ranks second in goals against per 60 minutes among the 349 forwards who've logged 500 five-on-five minutes or more this season. His ludicrous rate of 1.31 trails only Stefan Noesen, a Carolina Hurricanes forward who's faced significantly weaker competition. Marner's tied with Jordan Staal for 90th, at 2.18 goals against per 60. Very good, but not Bergeron great.

The Barkov conversation

What's helping Barkov's case: For voters who fancy a pure defensive artist, Barkov would be a tantalizing candidate. Among everyday NHL forwards, he ranks first in puck-battle wins per game, second in stick checks per game, third in loose-puck recoveries per game, and fourth in blocked passes per game. What else could Panthers head coach Paul Maurice ask for?

Barkov, the 2020-21 Selke winner, plays a ton (21:15 overall, 2:04 shorthanded) and alongside less talented teammates than the others we're considering here. His two most common linemates at five-on-five this year have been Sam Reinhart and Carter Verhaeghe, while Gustav Forsling and Brandon Montour have been the defensemen who most often share the ice.

Bergeron's crew, by comparison, consists of Brad Marchand, Jake DeBrusk, Hampus Lindholm, and Charlie McAvoy. All but DeBrusk are star-caliber players.

What's hurting Barkov's case: Barkov's tracking stats are extremely impressive. But Bergeron ranks fairly high on various lists too - fifth in puck-battle wins, sixth in blocked passes, 16th in stick checks, and 49th in loose-puck recoveries. Barkov's edges in those categories aren't definitive.

Barkov's shot-based statistics - five-on-five shot attempts against, expected goals against, shots on goal against - grade out at 18th, 118th, and 134th out of 349 qualified forwards. While some of that is linked to Florida's middling five-on-five numbers, the low ranks still sour Barkov's Selke resume. Another thing: Barkov's appeared in only 60 games this year. Missing 14 games isn't cause for exclusion from the discussion, but it diminishes the body of work.

Lastly, a note on the quality of Barkov's opponents. Sportlogiq calculates a "strength of opposition" metric, which is the cumulative average of offense-generating plays by opposing forward lines. The higher the average, the more difficult the defensive assignment. Barkov, with a strength of opposition rating of 22.9, is 215th among everyday forwards. Bergeron, with a 24.5 rating, is fifth.

The Hischier conversation

What's helping Hischier's case: If Marner's the takeaway king and Barkov's the tracking-data wizard, Hischier's the do-everything, all-around guy. The Swiss center doesn't have a discernible weakness, posting good-to-excellent numbers in virtually every relevant defensive category, from expected goals against and faceoff win percentage to puck-battle wins and takeaways.

Penalty differential is an interesting separator, though. This season, Hischier's been assessed only four minor penalties but drawn 25 penalties for the league's third-best differential. This type of discipline isn't typically associated with strong defensive play or the Selke, but maybe it should be. Power plays are so lethal in the modern NHL that every man-advantage opportunity is valuable.

Something else that can't be discounted: Hischier is the defensive conscience of an upstart Devils team, leading the forward group in shorthanded ice time (New Jersey has the seventh-best PK%). In many ways, he's the yin to Jack Hughes' yang.

What's hurting Hischier's case: Awkwardly, what helps Hischier is also what hurts him. Bergeron is a do-everything, all-around guy like Hischier, except the Bruin gets better results. Take the faceoff circle: Hischier has won 53.6% of all draws, tying him for 30th in the league, and he's even better in the defensive zone, tying for ninth at 57.8%. Bergeron's 60.6% overall rate (third) and 61.3% D-zone rate (fifth) make Hischier's strong work appear, well, less stellar.

Hischier's versatility could certainly earn him a finalist nod. But, like Marner and Barkov, he cannot match the layers of Bergeron's dominance. Not only does Bergeron have a materially better goals against per 60 rate at five-on-five - a clear indicator of defensive prowess - but his strength of opposition is far higher than Hischier's (23.1 rating, 165th among everyday forwards).

Bergeron has been competing against the best of the best every shift this season, and still, his results are undeniably Selke-worthy. Even at 37, the man is essentially peerless.

John Matisz is theScore's senior NHL writer. Follow John on Twitter (@MatiszJohn) or contact him via email (john.matisz@thescore.com).

Copyright © 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.