Edmonton Oilers forward Josh Archibald will have a hearing for clipping Winnipeg Jets defenseman Logan Stanley during Game 3 on Sunday, the NHL Department of Player Safety announced.

The play occurred midway through the third period with the Oilers leading 4-1. Archibald was assessed a two-minute minor for tripping and the Jets scored on the ensuing power play.

Winnipeg buried two more goals in the final 3:03 to force overtime before Nikolaj Ehlers scored his second of the game to give the Jets a commanding 3-0 series lead.

Head coach Dave Tippett said Archibald's infraction ultimately proved costly.

"The Archibald penalty was a huge turning point in the game," Tippett said, according to The Athletic's Daniel Nugent-Bowman.

He added: "In a playoff game like this, it's really disappointing to see some of the things we did to let them back in."

Edmonton will look to stave off elimination in Game 4 on Monday.

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St. Louis Blues captain Ryan O'Reilly lamented his postseason struggles after the Colorado Avalanche swept his team from the first round of the playoffs Sunday night.

"I'm very disappointed with myself," O'Reilly said following the Blues' 5-2 loss in Game 4, according to The Denver Post's Mike Chambers.

"It was pretty pathetic. I didn't really do much this series and especially against that top line. They're a very good line. Obviously, they're going to get chances and make plays. I had the opportunity early to see a lot of that line and play them harder, and I didn't do my job. And if I'm not going my job, you can't expect anyone else to do theirs."

O'Reilly - who said before the series that the Blues would beat the Presidents' Trophy-winning Avalanche - notched just one assist over four games. Colorado outscored St. Louis 7-1 when the 30-year-old was on the ice, with the Avalanche's top line of Nathan MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog, and Mikko Rantanen combining for nine goals and 24 points.

The Blues were outscored 20-7 over the four games and led for just 7:12 of the series.

"I thought we would have been able to tilt the ice a bit more and take the momentum back," O'Reilly said. "Obviously, with that team, with the way they play, they're going to have momentum at times, but we sure didn't grab it back like we needed to and sustain pressure. ... They dominated us. Simple as that."

The Blues have been eliminated in the opening round of the playoffs in consecutive campaigns following their Stanley Cup win in 2019.

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The Colorado Avalanche completed a first-round sweep of the St. Louis Blues with a 5-2 win in Game 4 on Sunday.

Colorado will face either the Vegas Golden Knights or the Minnesota Wild in Round 2. Vegas currently holds a 3-1 series lead over Minnesota.

Vladimir Tarasenko gave the Blues their first lead of the series in the second period with his first of two goals in the game. But the Avalanche responded quickly, with Brandon Saad and Gabriel Landeskog scoring to put Colorado back on top heading into the final frame.

It's the first time the Blues have been swept in the playoffs since their Western Conference semifinal series against the Los Angeles Kings in 2012.

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Toronto Maple Leafs captain John Tavares was on his teammates' minds during their Game 2 win against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday.

"This one's for (Tavares), obviously. He's our guy, he's our captain," Leafs star Auston Matthews told Sportsnet's Kyle Bukauskas following the 5-1 win.

He added: "When a big piece of your team goes down like that, everybody's got to respond. Guys that come in have got to respond, and I think we did a really good job tonight."

Tavares was stretchered off early in Game 1 on Thursday after taking a knee to the head from Corey Perry. He suffered a knee injury and concussion on the play and will be sidelined for at least two weeks.

Leafs veteran Jason Spezza acknowledged that the club will need to have a relatively deep run if Tavares is going to rejoin his teammates this postseason.

"The only way we can see John (again) is to win hockey games," Spezza said, according to TSN's Kristen Shilton. "We want to do well for him, so we're going to try and win as many games as we can and get him back in the lineup."

"He's so selfless," Spezza added, according to The Athletic's James Mirtle. "He's trying to calm us down, even the night it happened ... That's why he's a leader."

The Leafs and Canadiens will play back-to-back contests on Monday and Tuesday in Montreal.

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Carolina Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind'Amour voiced his displeasure with the officiating in the club's opening-round series against the Nashville Predators following Friday's double-overtime loss in Game 3.

"Nashville is a phenomenal team, but we're also fighting the refs, that's plain and simple," Brind'Amour said, according to Hurricanes beat writer Cory Lavalette. "You can't tell me two games in a row they get seven or eight penalties and we get three?

"When the game is this even? It's not right."

The Hurricanes have been whistled for 14 penalties to the Predators' six during the last two games.

Brind'Amour is proud, though, of the way his team - which owns a 2-1 series lead - has responded.

"I give my guys a ton of credit for just sticking in, going and playing their butts off, and having a good chance to win," he said.

Brind'Amour added: "Two overtimes, you know, a knick-knack penalty when there was stuff going on all over. It just flipped the momentum and they scored the next shift after because we're out of rotation. That's not how it should go."

The teams meet again for Game 4 on Sunday.

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Colorado Avalanche forward Nazem Kadri is suspended eight games for an illegal check to the head of St. Louis Blues defenseman Justin Faulk during Game 2 on Wednesday, the NHL Department of Player Safety announced Friday.

Kadri received a five-minute major and match penalty for the hit. Faulk didn't return to the contest and wasn't available for Game 3 of the series.

"This is a high, forceful check to an opponent's head that caused an injury and was delivered by a player with a substantial disciplinary record," the league said.

Kadri's suspension began Game 3 on Friday.

The 6-foot pivot has been suspended three times in his last four playoffs and six times over his 12-year career.

He was last suspended during the 2019 postseason for a high hit on Boston Bruins winger Jake DeBrusk.

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The Boston Bruins defeated the Washington Capitals 4-1 in Game 4 on Friday to take a commanding 3-1 series lead in the opening-round matchup.

More to come.

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The Montreal Canadiens are the first NHL team north of the border to announce plans to let fans back into their building.

The team will permit 2,500 spectators to attend games at the Bell Centre beginning May 28.

The Canadiens begin their opening-round playoff series against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday. A potential Game 6 in Montreal is scheduled for May 29.

Though most American teams allowed at least some fans back into their arenas this season, Canadian clubs have played in front of empty stadiums throughout the pandemic.

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Rick Tocchet is looking to line up his next head coaching gig.

The former Arizona Coyotes bench boss will interview with the New York Rangers and the expansion Seattle Kraken for each club's vacancy at head coach, sources told TSN's Pierre LeBrun.

Tocchet and the Coyotes mutually parted ways earlier in May. The team went 125-131-34 over four seasons under his leadership. Though the club missed the playoffs in three of those four campaigns, Tocchet led the franchise to its first postseason series win since 2012 in the bubble last summer.

Before joining the Coyotes, Tocchet captured back-to-back Stanley Cups as an assistant coach with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2016 and 2017.

The Rangers also reportedly interviewed longtime NHL bench boss Gerard Gallant, who was recently selected to coach Canada at the upcoming world hockey championship.

New York dismissed former team president John Davidson and general manager Jeff Gorton on May 5 after the Rangers failed to make the playoffs for the third time in four seasons.

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Washington Capitals netminder Vitek Vanecek won't return to Game 1 against the Boston Bruins after suffering a lower-body injury in the first period, the team announced.

Veteran puck-stopper Craig Anderson took over in net for the Capitals.

The play occurred on a goal by Jake DeBrusk. The Bruins winger beat Vanecek with a quick shot off the faceoff, and the Czech goalie appeared to tweak something while attempting to make the stop.

The game marked Vanecek's postseason debut after the 25-year-old posted a .908 save percentage and 2.69 goals-against average through 37 appearances in his first NHL season.

Anderson, 39, made his first playoff appearance since 2016-17.

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