NHL playoff standings update: Who will win the Eastern Conference wild cards?

Zboril has the size, the skating ability, the puck-moving instincts and the toughness to be a very good player for the Black and Gold, and he’s shown those in flashes over the last couple of years. There have also been questions about his work ethic, his approach to being a pro hockey player and just how much he’s going to maximize his potential as a player in the NHL. The good news is that he’s said many of the right things over the last couple of years since a rough first development camp, and he’s really shown an ability to elevate his game to excellent levels when the games matter most. It may be that Zboril ends up being trade bait for the Black and Gold given his talent, his standing as a prospect and the questions they may still have about him as an eventual finished product at the NHL level.

Tampa Bay is proving to be just a bit too much for Montreal. Tyler Johnson netted a pair of goals in Game 3 to push the Lightning within a win of the Cup.

After a second-round playoff appearance and trading for P.K. Subban several weeks later last offseason, expectations for the Nashville Predators were perhaps the highest they’ve ever been entering a new season. When you think of those players that have been so critical to Nashville’s success in this run to the Stanley Cup Final versus the Penguins, most of them struggled mightily in that first month. In fact, he hasn’t even been on the ice for a Nashville goal at five-on-five!