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Jets’ Myers says he’ll play Game 5 vs. Wild

The Winnipeg Jets will welcome the return of one of their big anchors on the back end.

Tyler Myers, who missed Game 4 with a lower-body injury, told reporters that he will indeed suit up for Game 5 against the Minnesota Wild on Friday night.

"I stepped out there today, I feel pretty good, so I'll be out there tonight," he told TSN's Frank Seravalli.

Contrary to what was originally suspected, Myers' injury did not occur when Wild forward Marcus Foligno punched him in the back of the leg in Game 3, he told Seravalli.

Foligno, Myers' former teammate on the Buffalo Sabres, apparently reached out to apologize.

"It's all good," Myers said, according to TSN's Pierre LeBrun.

With Josh Morrissey suspended for Game 5, head coach Paul Maurice told LeBrun that he'll keep Tucker Poolman in the lineup rather than inserting AHL defenseman of the year Sami Niku. That gives the Jets four right-handed blue-liners for Friday's matchup.

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Matthews tops list of NHL’s best-selling jerseys

Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews had the top-selling jersey during the 2017-18 regular season, the NHL announced Friday.

The sales figures are from the Fanatics network of e-commerce sites, which includes Shop.NHL.com and NHLShop.ca.

Matthews finished directly ahead of Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby - last year's top seller - and the Edmonton Oilers' Connor McDavid.

The rest of the top 15 rank as follows:

  • Marc-Andre Fleury, Vegas Golden Knights
  • Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers
  • Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals
  • Mats Zuccarello, New York Rangers
  • Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks
  • Jonathan Toews, Chicago Blackhawks
  • Vladimir Tarasenko, St. Louis Blues
  • Patrice Bergeron, Boston Bruins
  • T.J. Oshie, Washington Capitals
  • Jack Eichel, Buffalo Sabres
  • Andrei Vasilevskiy, Tampa Bay Lightning
  • Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins

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Laine reaches 20th birthday with third-highest career goal total for a teen

Patrik Laine had many reasons to celebrate on Thursday.

The Winnipeg Jets winger turned 20, and reached the milestone with the third-most regular-season goals ever scored by teenager at the NHL level.

With 80 goals through 155 games as a teen, Laine is behind only Jimmy Carson, who scored 92 for the Los Angeles Kings (1986-88), and Dale Hawerchuk, who recorded 85 for the original Jets (1981-83), according to Tim Campbell of NHL.com.

With 54 assists, Laine's 134 points are also the ninth most in NHL history among players before turning 20.

"I'm happy with my numbers as a teenager," Laine said. "Now I'm disappointed that it's over but I'm happy what I was able to do before my 20th birthday. It's nice to be here."

Laine's Jets hold a 3-1 series lead over Minnesota heading into Friday's Game 5, and the Finn has contributed two goals and two assists in four playoff games.

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Babcock expected Matthews, Nylander to ‘dominate’ Bergeron-less Bruins

With four-time Selke Trophy winner Patrice Bergeron (upper body) sidelined for the Boston Bruins on Thursday, the previously quiet Toronto Maple Leafs duo of Auston Matthews and William Nylander had a glorious chance to break out in Game 4.

Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock certainly thought so, as the young, dynamic forwards were set to face a weakened bottom-six with Riley Nash moving up the Bruins' lineup and Toronto receiving the last change as the home team. However, Matthews and Nylander were both held without a point and failed to generate many scoring chances.

"I'm assuming that (Matthews) thought he was going to come tonight and dominate the game. That's what I thought," Babcock told reporters following Toronto's 3-1 loss. "I thought the same with (Nylander). That didn't happen."

Thursday was more of the same for Matthews and Nylander, as they've combined for just a goal and an assist throughout the first four games against Boston, which leads the opening-round series 3-1.

"The other people you're playing against are pros and they're trying too and they're competitive," Babcock added "There's regular-season competitiveness and there's first-round Stanley Cup playoff competitiveness and it keeps amping up the whole way through.

"In order to find that out we've got to play better than we are right now, if we're ever going to find that out. In reality, when you leave here tonight as an individual, as a coach, as a player, you've got time to evaluate yourself and most guys are pretty honest."

Matthews and Nylander will have another chance to get on track in Game 5 on Saturday, though it will come at TD Garden where the Bruins will get the last change, and where they'll potentially have Bergeron back in their lineup.

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Tortorella: Blue Jackets ‘laid an egg’ in Game 4

John Tortorella spent several minutes explaining what he felt went wrong for his Columbus Blue Jackets in Game 4 of their first-round playoff series against the Washington Capitals, but after a while, he got right to the point.

"We weren't good," the Blue Jackets head coach told reporters following a 4-1 loss when asked about the chances they had to trouble Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby.

"There's no sense in asking me things about the game," he continued. "I'm telling you, we laid an egg, so I'm not going to break it down for you. We sucked. We sucked. So let's move (on) and see if we play better Saturday afternoon (in Game 5)."

Tortorella said the Blue Jackets "laid an egg" multiple times in his postgame comments Thursday, and likened his club to robots in the defeat on home ice that drew the Capitals even in the series at 2-2 after Columbus won the first two games in Washington.

The Blue Jackets actually drove possession in Game 4 by a slim margin (52.63 to 47.37 percent at 5-on-5), and held the edge in scoring chances at 5-on-5 as well (51.06 to 48.94 percent), but Washington outshot Columbus 33-24 and Holby stopped 23 of the 24 shots he faced.

The puck is scheduled to drop for Game 5 after 3 p.m. ET on Saturday in D.C.

(Analytics courtesy: Natural Stat Trick)

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Ovi delivers on promise as Caps return home tied at 2-2

Alex Ovechkin tried to warn you.

Facing a steep uphill battle after dropping the first two games on home ice versus the Columbus Blue Jackets, the Capitals captain called his shot and said his club would return to Washington with the series tied.

Lo and behold, he was right, as the Caps drew even with a 4-1 victory on Thursday night, with Ovechkin contributing a key insurance marker - his third goal of the postseason.

After overtime decisions went the Blue Jackets' way in Game 1 and 2, the Capitals flipped the script and eked out a double-overtime win in Game 3, followed by Thursday's solid performance. The turnaround marks the first time in franchise history the Capitals have evened a series after losing the first two contests, per NHL PR.

Game 5 goes Saturday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. ET.

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Bruins’ Cassidy hopeful Bergeron will return for Game 5

Boston Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy is hopeful he will have his top line back intact for Game 5 against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Patrice Bergeron was announced as a scratch minutes before puck drop of Game 4 with an upper-body injury. He's listed as day to day with the ailment, and Cassidy is hopeful he'll be ready to go for Game 5 on Saturday, according to NHL.com's Mike Zeisberger.

Cassidy also noted the decision to scratch Bergeron came "just before game time," and the injury is something that he's been dealing with for a while.

Boston fared well in his absence, taking Thursday's contest by a 3-1 score. The Bruins will now head home where they'll have the chance to advance to the second round.

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Doughty, Hedman, Subban named Norris Trophy finalists

Drew Doughty of the Los Angeles Kings, Victor Hedman of the Tampa Bay Lightning, and P.K. Subban of the Nashville Predators are the 2018 finalists for the Norris Trophy, the Predators revealed Thursday.

Doughty led the NHL in average ice time this season (26:50) while ranking seventh among blue-liners with 60 points. Hedman posted 46 points in 77 games while ranking fifth in ice time (25:51 per game), and Subban collected 59 points while logging just over 24 minutes per contest.

The Norris is awarded annually to the defenseman who demonstrates the greatest all-round ability in the position.

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Bergeron out for Game 4 with upper-body injury

The Boston Bruins will be without superstar center Patrice Bergeron for Game 4 versus the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night as he's been diagnosed with an upper-body injury and is day to day, the team announced.

With Bergeron out, Riley Nash will take his spot on the top line between Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak. Here's a look at the Bruins' combos amid the shakeup.

The loss is obviously a huge one for the Bruins, as Bergeron is the league's premier two-way pivot, and has contributed five points through the series' first three contests on a line Toronto struggled mightily to contain in Games 1 and 2.

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Girl who went viral will be Caps’ guest at Game 5, Connolly hopes to meet her

Just imagine how excited Keelan Moxley is going to be on Saturday.

Washington Capitals forward Brett Connolly is making plans to meet the six-year-old girl - who he helped turn into a viral sensation - when the Capitals host the Columbus Blue Jackets in Game 5 of their first-round series, according to NHL.com's Tom Gulitti.

Moxley and her family will be guests of Capitals owner Ted Leonsis.

Connolly told Gulitti that his wife, Katrina, has been in touch with Moxley's mother, Lauren, and Katrina has been filling him in on what Keelan has been up to since the clip went viral Sunday.

By now, you've probably seen the video of Moxley trying and finally succeeding in getting a puck from Connolly during the warmup before Game 2, despite the efforts of a nearby man and two boys.

The clip was shown on NBC Sports Washington, and it later became the most streamed NHL video on Twitter of all time after being shared by the league's official account.

"I'm sure I'll get to meet her," Connolly said before Game 4 on Thursday. "I'll sure we'll do something for her. It's pretty cool. She seems like a great young kid with a ton of energy and a good attitude and a good little sense of humor. I'm excited to see where that all goes."

He was also impressed with how articulate Keelan is for her age.

"It's really, really cool just to see something little that you can do for a young kid, a young girl," he said. "I saw her interview. She's extremely well spoken for a young kid. I think she's a fan favorite now, so she's getting a little bit of recognition, too. So, she's having fun with it. That's what her mom was saying. She's just having the best time ever. All her classmates think she's famous."

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