NHL Playoffs Central: Schedule, scores, highlights, analysis

Florida enters the summer as the clear frontrunners to acquire the services of Columbus’ two Russian superstars, Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky.

There are several reasons a general manager fires an assistant coach the way Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman whacked Mike Kitchen this week, and almost none of the fallout is good. One reason is to threaten the head coach with his job if a particular assistant isn’t canned after a bad event, such as a top seed getting swept by the last team in the playoffs, even if that head coach is a three-time Stanley Cup-winner and sure-fire Hall-of-Famer. Another reason is to prompt the head coach to resign after his usual control of assistant coaches is usurped. Another is that it was a necessary move that the head coach was too close to properly evaluate. Yet another reason is for the GM to cover his backside

Sidney Crosby slapped the puck out of the air and into the goal, giving the Penguins an overtime win over the Devils on Thursday night.