The Winnipeg Jets defeated the Vancouver Canucks 5-0 Tuesday to clinch the North Division's third seed and set up a first-round series against the Edmonton Oilers.
Meanwhile, the top-seeded Toronto Maple Leafs will face the fourth-seeded Montreal Canadiens. It'll mark the 16th playoff series between the Original Six rivals, but the first since 1978-79.
The winner of each series will meet in the second round.
Though this Jets franchise has never met the Oilers in the postseason, the two cities have quite the playoff history. The original Winnipeg Jets franchise took on the Oilers six times in the playoffs between 1983-1990, with Edmonton winning each time.
The Leafs - who've made the postseason in five straight seasons - will look to advance past the first round for the first time since 2004.
Toronto won the season series against Montreal 7-3, while Edmonton owned a 7-2 record against the Jets.
The playoffs begin Saturday for U.S. teams while the North Division games are expected to begin no earlier than next Wednesday.
Connor McDavid continues to bolster his status as the world's top hockey talent.
The Edmonton Oilers star reached the 100-point mark in just his 53rd game this season when he notched his fourth point Saturday against the Vancouver Canucks.
Connor McDavid picks up point #100 on the season with an assist to Leon Draisaitl pic.twitter.com/ORXqW0FgSW
— CJ Fogler #BlackLivesMatter (@cjzero) May 9, 2021
McDavid has now totaled four or more points in seven games this season and leads the NHL scoring race by 21 points.
The 24-year-old is averaging 1.88 points per game, which is the highest mark since Mario Lemieux's 2.30 in 1995-96. He's on pace for 155 points over a full 82-game campaign.
If McDavid closes the campaign at this pace, he'll join Lemieux, Adam Oates, Bernie Nicholls, Steve Yzerman, Phil Esposito, and Wayne Gretzky as the only players to average at least 1.88 points per game over a season (minimum 50 games).
The Oilers defeated the Canucks, 4-3, and will finish the season as the North Division's No. 2 seed.
It's the first time since 1999-2000 that the Maple Leafs have finished atop their division. Toronto will own home-ice advantage through at least the first two rounds of the playoffs.
The Leafs have won seven of their last eight outings and improved their record to 35-13-6 on the campaign. The club is playing at a franchise-best 53-win pace over a full 82-game season.
Toronto took a major step forward defensively this year after adding rearguards T.J. Brodie and Zach Bogosian in the offseason. The Leafs rank fifth in goals for per game (3.36) and eighth in goals against per contest (2.60) after finishing 25th in the latter category in 2019-20.
Montreal Canadiens netminder Carey Price returned to the ice Friday after suffering a concussion April 19, but the club announced there's still no timeline for his return with the regular season winding down.
Price was injured after Edmonton Oilers forward Alex Chiasson bumped into him. The 33-year-old owns a .901 save percentage and a 2.64 goals-against average across 25 games this season.
Canadiens forward Philip Danault suffered an upper-body injury during the club's 5-2 loss against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday and will be sidelined for Saturday's rematch.
The two-way pivot has contributed five goals and 24 points through 53 outings.
Montreal needs just one point on Saturday to clinch the final postseason berth in the North Division.
Welcome to the 16th edition of "Looking North," our weekly Friday dive into the all-Canadian division. This installment dates back to April 30.
The rundown
Matt Zambonin/Freestyle Photo / Getty Images Sport / Getty
The Toronto Maple Leafs and Edmonton Oilers continue to separate themselves from the pack, with the former looking to lock up the top spot in the division this week. The Oilers have won five of their last six and are playing their best hockey heading into the playoffs.
In Montreal, the Canadiens followed up their three-game winning streak with a pair of uninspiring losses. On the bright side, the club received a major boost from rookie Cole Caufield, who netted three goals - including a pair of overtime winners - in five games.
The Winnipeg Jets hope to ride the momentum of a decisive 4-0 win over the Calgary Flames to turn their fortunes around. The club may have clinched a playoff spot, but the win ended a tough seven-game slide during which Winnipeg was outscored 28-10. Losing sniper Nik Ehlers was a tough blow, but the Jets need to rediscover their scoring touch if they want to make a serious postseason push.
Meanwhile, the Ottawa Senators continue to show significant improvement as the season wanes on. The club torched Montreal with a 5-1 victory and has collected a division-best eight wins since April 12.
Team
Points over last week
Montreal Canadiens
7 (3-1-1)
Edmonton Oilers
6 (3-1-0)
Ottawa Senators
5 (2-0-1)
Toronto Maple Leafs
5 (2-0-1)
Winnipeg Jets
2 (1-2-0)
Vancouver Canucks
2 (1-3-0)
Calgary Flames
0 (0-2-0)
The stars
Icon Sportswire / Icon Sportswire / Getty
Forward:Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl casually combined for 21 points in four games last week, but Nick Suzuki put on a show of his own. The Canadiens pivot, who had a seven-game point streak snapped Thursday, tallied two goals and six helpers.
Defense: Jeff Petry was on a mission for the Canadiens last week. The 6-foot-3 blue-liner added to his career-best campaign with a goal and six assists through five games to hit the 40-point mark for the third straight season.
Goalie: Mike Smith has quietly had an incredible bounce-back season. The veteran puck-stopper picked up a pair of victories for the Oilers last week, allowing only one goal in each. His .925 save percentage this season is tops in the North Division.
Canadian of the week
Darcy Finley / National Hockey League / Getty
McDavid's chase for 100 remains very much in reach, and the Oilers captain is about as hot as he's ever been after another sensational week. He recorded points on 12 of the Oilers' 16 goals last week to bring his total up to 96 with four games remaining.
The moments
What a week for Caufield. The Canadiens rookie was brought in for the stretch run and has delivered in a big way. Caufield buried his first NHL goal in overtime against the Senators on Hockey Night in Canada last Saturday.
— Here's Your Replay ⬇️ (@HeresYourReplay) May 2, 2021
In Edmonton, McDavid was up to his old tricks, and his latest all-world highlight mirrored one of Sidney Crosby's most memorable goals from 2007. The resemblance is striking.
— Hockey Night in Canada (@hockeynight) May 2, 2021
Auston Matthews hit the 40-goal mark for the third time in his young career, and he did it in just 49 games this season. The Maple Leafs star is scoring 0.81 goals per game, which is the highest rate since the lockout in 2004-05.
Will the Canadiens catch the Jets? Montreal has occupied the fourth seed for several weeks, but the Jets' recent slip has opened the door for the Habs to move into third. Hockey fans will hope the Canadiens stay put in fourth to set up the first playoff series between Montreal and Toronto since 1978-79.
Games to watch
The Leafs and Canadiens square off for the ninth and final time this regular season on Saturday, with Toronto looking to lock up the top spot in the North.
With McDavid in pursuit of 100 points, all Oilers games are appointment viewing. Edmonton faces Vancouver on Saturday before heading to Montreal for a pair of games with the Habs on Monday and Wednesday.
New York Rangers owner James Dolan believes his club needs a culture reset.
The Rangers fired team president John Davidson and general manager Jeff Gorton in a surprise move Wednesday, appointing former Rangers forward and assistant GM Chris Drury to both roles.
Dolan explained the changes Thursday.
"I saw a weakness in the team that was not being addressed, and I knew it needed to be," he told Larry Brooks of the New York Post. "I knew that we were missing a key component to us being a Stanley Cup contender.
"And that is the overall spirit and culture that goes with being a team. I believe that as good of a job as JD and Jeff have done, in speaking with them, it is clear to me that Chris Drury was going to be the right guy to lead the team forward."
The firings of Gorton and Davidson came just one day after the Rangers issued a scathing statement calling for George Parros to be removed as head of the NHL Department of Player Safety; Parros did not suspend Washington Capitals winger Tom Wilson for his controversial actions in Monday's contest between the Rangers and Capitals.
But Dolan said he began to contemplate a change earlier this season during a critical stretch in which he felt the team failed to meet expectations.
"I started thinking about it 20 or 25 games ago at a time when the team really needed to show heart," Dolan said, according to Brooks. "And we had key games - I won't be specific - where we had to show up and had to come out strong, and even if we lost, it had to be our best effort.
"And we clearly had nowhere close to our best effort."
The Rangers named Gorton as GM in May 2015 and appointed Davidson as president in May 2019. New York has missed the playoffs in three of the past four seasons and was swept out of last year's qualifying round by the Carolina Hurricanes.
Marc-Andre Fleury continues to climb the history books.
The Vegas Golden Knights goaltender collected his 490th career win against the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday to pass Roberto Luongo and take sole possession of third on the all-time wins list.
Mark Messier is not impressed with how the New York Rangers have been assembled.
The former Rangers captain criticized the team for a perceived lack of toughness after club president John Davidson and general manager Jeff Gorton were let go Wednesday.
"In my opinion, if you're going to win, you got to be able to win in the street and the alley," Messier said, according to Molly Walker of the New York Post. "I, particularly, would not have built the team that didn't have answers in this regard."
Messier's comments come just two days after a melee between the Rangers and Washington Capitals. Washington enforcer Tom Wilson punched a defenseless Pavel Buchnevich in the back of the head before rag-dolling a helmet-less Artemi Panarin to the ice, which injured the star winger for the remainder of the season.
Wilson escaped with just a $5,000 fine. The Rangers later responded with a pointed statement calling for George Parros, the head of the NHL Department of Player Safety, to be removed from his position.
The Rangers replaced Gorton and Davidson with longtime Rangers forward Chris Drury. Messier, who captained the Blue Shirts to the Stanley Cup in 1994, says he's been waiting patiently to land a role with the organization.
"I've made it very clear that I've been standing by ready to help out in any way for many years," Messier said, according to Walker. "I don't really know what else to say."
New York has been eliminated from playoff contention but takes on the Capitals in a highly anticipated rematch Wednesday.
