Welcome to The Hockey News Playoff Frenzy Live, streaming nightly during the NHL's Stanley Cup playoffs.
After the big game of the night, our experts go live to react to the match that was, break down the key moments and storylines, provide updates on the rest of the night's NHL slate and read your opinions.
On tonight's show, Katie Gaus and Andrew McInnis react to the Washington Capitals beating the Montreal Canadiens 4-1 in Game 5 and advancing to the second round of the playoffs.
With the Carolina Hurricanes and Washington Capitals eliminating
the New Jersey Devils and Montreal Canadiens respectfully from 2025 Stanley Cup
Playoffs, the Calgary Flames are now officially locked in the 2025 NHL Entry
Draft with the 18th overall pick.
Who will they draft?
Let the speculation begin…
The Flames have a problem on the offensive end. They had the
fourth-lowest goals scored in the league, and a power play that ranked 19th.
But they do get shots on goal with the seventh-most this past season.
The good thing about Calgary is they have two first-round
picks this year and the second one is dependent on how far the Florida Panthers
end up in the playoffs. The Flames should prioritize their offensive needs with
that second pick.
Considering in Elite Prospects top 32 April’s list of
prospects for the draft, there are just seven defencemen, it makes the position
even more valuable.
And since 23-year-old Wranglers centre Rory Kerins impressed
in the AHL with 33 goals and 61 points in 63 games this past season, and even
scored four points in five games with the Flames, there is potential he makes
the roster and helps with the scoring.
Calgary has depth with right-handed defencemen: Rasmus
Andersson (whose future with the organization is cloudy), MacKenzie Weegar, Brayden
Pachal, Daniil Miromanov.
Zayne Parekh and Hunter Brzustewicz are RHD prospects that
are very likely to make the roster.
With left-handers, the only regulars are Joel Hanley, Jake
Bean and Kevin Bahl. Hanley will be an unrestricted free agent in the summer
and will turn 34 on June 8th: quite old for the Flames roster whose
average age was 27.35 for the 2024-45 season according to Elite Prospects.
Jake Bean is not a game-changing defenceman, and will most
likely be headed to the AHL, leaving Bahl as the top pairing left defenceman.
That means it should be Craig Conroy’s priority to sign the upcoming restricted
free agent.
With that 18th overall pick, the Flames should
draft a left-handed defenceman and add depth to their blueline.
Our pick: Kitchener
Rangers LD Cameron Reid -
24'-25' OHL Stats: 14 Goals, 40 Assists, 54 Points in 67 Games
Notable Stat: 22 Power Play assists (Team-high, 16th in the OHL)
The Reasons:
Valuable shutdown defenseman
Two-way capabilities with great offensive skills
Leadership experience as alternate captain of Rangers
Ability to quarterback the man-advantage will help Flames power
play woes
Very physical defender will fit well in a Flames roster ranked 11th
in hits this past season
The NHL announced that the 2025 Draft Lottery will be held May 5 at NHL Network studios in Secaucus, New Jersey. The event will be broadcast on ESPN in the United States and Sportsnet and TVA Sports in Canada, at a time to be announced.
The Draft itself will take place from June 27-28 in Los Angeles.
There will be two drawings in the Draft Lottery, one to determine the No. 1 pick and a second to determine the No. 2 pick. No team can move up more than 10 spots in the draft order, and only the top 11 teams in the lottery are eligible for the No. 1 pick. If a team outside of the top 11 wins the draw, the team with the worst record in the NHL will pick No. 1.
The San Jose Sharks (20-50-12), who finished with the NHL's worst record, have the best odds to win the lottery at 18.5%, followed by the Chicago Blackhawks (25-46-11) at 13.5% and the Nashville Predators (30-44-8) at 11.5%.
According to Tankathon, the Predators' odds for their five possible lottery results are as follows:
No. 1 overall — 11.5%
No. 2 overall — 11.2%
No. 3 overall — 7.8%
No. 4 overall — 39.7%
No. 5 overall — 29.8%
Regardless of the lottery results, the Predators will select in the top five of the draft order for the first time since 2013, when they selected defenseman Seth Jones at No. 4 overall.
Carlos Carrasco allowed four second-inning runs, and that was enough for the Orioles to hold off the Yankees, 5-4, on Wednesday night in Baltimore.
Here are the takeaways....
-The Yankees got out to an early lead once again, thanks to the longball. Aaron Judge took Cade Povich deep on a hanging sweeper, launching it 426 feet into deep center field. Judge extended his on-base streak to 27 games.
He would drive in another run with an RBI single in the seventh to cut the Orioles' lead to 5-4. Judge finished 3-for-3 with a walk.
-Paul Goldschmidt would get in on the home run barrage in Baltimore, launching his second long ball -- a solo shot -- of the season in the fifth. It was the first baseman's first homer since March 29.
Unfortunately, the Yankees' lineup just couldn't get traffic on the bases or come through when they needed to. Their best chance came in the sixth with runners at the corners with one out. Pablo Reyes and Jasson Dominguez struck out to end the threat.
-Carrasco was tasked with keeping the Orioles' hitters down with an early lead, but just couldn't. Ryan Mountcastle turned on a slider that had too much plate that tied the game at 2-2 in the second. Two batters later, Ramon Urias took Carrasco deep to give the Orioles the lead. Carrasco would allow another run in the second after two-out hits from Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman.
Carrasco would settle down, but in the fourth, he could only get one out. Tim Hill came in to get the final two outs of the inning.
Carrasco pitched just 3.1 innings (66 pitches/40 strikes), allowing four runs on eight hits, no walks, while striking out five.
-The Yankees' bullpen did their job, keeping the game close. Hill allowed a run -- aided by an Anthony Volpe error -- in his one inning of work, while Fernando Cruz continued to dominate, striking out four in his 1.2 innings.
Devin Williams made his second appearance since losing his closer's role. After getting the Orioles in order on Monday, Williams allowed a walk but got through his one inning of work unscathed. Mark Leiter Jr. worked in and out of trouble in the eighth to give the Yankees one last shot in the ninth, down 5-4.
However, the Yankees would go down in order to closer Felix Bautista, not allowing Judge to get one final at-bat.
-In the fourth, Heston Kjerstad stole second base but Austin Wells' throw was high. Reyes jumped and batted the ball down but landed on Kjerstad's head. Kjerstad took offense to Reyes and started jawing, causing both benches to clear. Cooler heads would prevail, but it harkens back to last season when Kjerstad was hit in the head with a pitch that caused the benches to clear.
-Dominguez started, hitting right-handed against the southpaw. He had some bad luck in his first at-bat, lining a ball into left field that Ramon Laureano caught diving to rob Dominguez of a hit (xBA .530). In his second at-bat, he smoked a pitch 103.9 mph off the bat but right at the third baseman for a forceout. His third and fourth at-bats resulted in strikeouts, and he finished the night 0-for-4.
-With Jazz Chisholm Jr. out of the lineup with his "flank" sprain, manager Aaron Boone switched up his lineup, having Reyes start at second and Oswald Peraza at third. Ben Rice hit leanup against the left-hander Povich and Volpe was moved up to the No. 5 hole.
Reyes finished 0-for-2 with a walk, while Peraza went 0-for-3 with a walk and a run. Volpe went 1-for-3 with a walk, while Rice went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
Game MVP: Orioles bullpen
Baltimore used six pitchers to get the final 13 outs, allowing just one run.
The Dallas Mavericks general manager may have been watching from home, but his thought process about trading Luka Doncic came to the spotlight.
Doncic, in particular, struggled to impose himself defensively despite posting strong offensive numbers. The Los Angeles Lakers also saw their lack of depth play a factor, as the five starters accumulated heavy minutes to compensate for a feeble bench.
Los Angeles worked its way up the Western Conference ladder to the No. 3 seed following the Doncic trade, but playoffs expose team’s weaknesses. The No. 6-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves delivered when it mattered, with Julius Randle also enjoying a solid series given his past woes.
The first postseason of the LeBron James-Doncic era ends in early failure, with Rob Pelinka having more work to do as James turns 41 next season.
Here’s how social media reacted to the Lakers’ elimination, which included the Mavericks’ GM:
Nico Harrison was right he just didn't piece together the proper trade package
Nico Harrison ain’t going to sleep tonight until somebody crunches the numbers and posts the total points Luka scored vs total points he gave up as the the primary defender this series
— ✨🦫America Is Musty🦫✨ (@DragonflyJonez) May 1, 2025
Anthony Edwards last three series wins:
— Knocked out Luka and LeBron — Knocked out Jokic and Murray — Knocked out KD and Book
Luka is my favorite player, but idk how you don’t do some deep soul searching after this offseason. He’s going to need to lock competely in and hopefully this is the offseason that ultimately changes his career for the better
The Dallas Mavericks general manager may have been watching from home, but his thought process about trading Luka Doncic came to the spotlight.
Doncic, in particular, struggled to impose himself defensively despite posting strong offensive numbers. The Los Angeles Lakers also saw their lack of depth play a factor, as the five starters accumulated heavy minutes to compensate for a feeble bench.
Los Angeles worked its way up the Western Conference ladder to the No. 3 seed following the Doncic trade, but playoffs expose team’s weaknesses. The No. 6-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves delivered when it mattered, with Julius Randle also enjoying a solid series given his past woes.
The first postseason of the LeBron James-Doncic era ends in early failure, with Rob Pelinka having more work to do as James turns 41 next season.
Here’s how social media reacted to the Lakers’ elimination, which included the Mavericks’ GM:
Nico Harrison was right he just didn't piece together the proper trade package
Nico Harrison ain’t going to sleep tonight until somebody crunches the numbers and posts the total points Luka scored vs total points he gave up as the the primary defender this series
— ✨🦫America Is Musty🦫✨ (@DragonflyJonez) May 1, 2025
Anthony Edwards last three series wins:
— Knocked out Luka and LeBron — Knocked out Jokic and Murray — Knocked out KD and Book
Luka is my favorite player, but idk how you don’t do some deep soul searching after this offseason. He’s going to need to lock competely in and hopefully this is the offseason that ultimately changes his career for the better
For his first two NBA seasons, Dyson Daniels was fighting just to get minutes off the bench in a crowded New Orleans guard rotation. He was improving, but not getting a chance to show off that growth.
Then this summer he was traded to Atlanta as part of the Dejounte Murray deal. Atlanta was starved for quality two-way wings and gave Daniels a legitimate chance — and he thrived.
He averaged 14.1 points and 5.9 rebounds a game while playing elite defense, finishing second in Defensive Player of the Year voting. Daniels improved his scoring by +8.3 points per game, rebounds by +2.0 per game, assists by +1.7 per game, and steals by +1.62 per game from last season.
All that earned him the NBA's Most Improved Player award.
Daniels got 44 first-place votes from the panel of 100 global media members who vote on the awards.
Clippers big man Ivica Zubac — who has had a standout playoffs after a great regular season — came in second in the voting (23 first-place votes), with Pistons star Cade Cunningham (15) third. The Nuggets' Christian Braun (9) and the Lakers' Austin Reaves (3) rounded out the top five.
When the award was announced on TNT's Inside the NBA, the Bendigo, Australia, native did the interview from his home in the island nation — with his father making an appearance in the background.
Australia all-rounder Glenn Maxwell missed Punjab Kings’ IPL match on Wednesday with a fractured finger and is likely to be out injured for the rest of the T20 tournament.
A hat-trick by Yuzvendra Chahal and skipper Shreyas Iyer’s 72 helped Punjab Kings to a four-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings on Wednesday, officially ending their opponents’ slim chances of reaching the playoffs.
Following a bullpen session Wednesday ahead of the Phillies’ 7-2 win over the Nationals, Suarez was formally cleared to make his 2025 major league debut.
Phillies manager Rob Thomson said Suarez will pitch Sunday vs. the Diamondbacks at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies will open the series Friday with Jesus Luzardo on the hill and start Aaron Nola on Saturday.
Suarez was brilliant to begin 2024 and named an All-Star. He went 9-0 with a 1.36 ERA over his first 10 starts, but back trouble popped up and Suarez struggled in the second half. The 29-year-old lefty had a 6.54 ERA over his final 11 outings.
In mid-March, Suarez was sidelined by lower back stiffness. He made four rehab starts — two for Single A Clearwater, two for Triple A Lehigh Valley — and threw 16 2/3 total innings. Suarez allowed just two runs, struck out 24 hitters and walked five.
Thomson said Tuesday the Phillies are discussing the possibility of turning to a six-man rotation. Taijuan Walker will get his sixth start of the season on Thursday against Washington. Entering that game, he sits at 1-2 with a 2.78 ERA in Suarez’s absence.
Cristopher Sanchez started Wednesday’s victory, returning from a left forearm issue. He tossed five innings, conceded two runs and watched the Phillies’ bullpen handle the rest.
“Looked a little rusty,” Thomson said of Sanchez. “It’s been a week since he’s pitched. The command was off a little bit, but the stuff was really good. The changeup looked normal, the slider looked normal, the fastball velocity was good. I’m pleased with it.”
Sanchez said he felt “great” and expressed no lingering concern about his forearm.
“That’s what I was looking forward to today, feeling like my best self, as I always do,” he said. “And just go out and compete.”
Stephen Curry’s swollen right thumb looks as if it would be uncomfortable holding a toothbrush or tying shoes, much less pulling the Warriors through the NBA playoffs.
There is no doubt the Houston Rockets have noticed the wrap that extends from Curry’s thumb to his wrist. They sense a possible weakness, and every team hunts vulnerabilities once in the playoffs. Coincidentally, basketball is very much a contact sport for the Rockets.
They’re making plenty of contact with Curry’s right thumb, which is at the base of the release of his jump shot, and Warriors coach Steve Kerr is more annoyed by it than Curry.
“I don’t think it’s impacting him,” Kerr told reporters in Houston after the 131-116 Game 5 loss to the Rockets. “Players are going to do whatever they’re allowed to do. And, so, on every release Steph’s getting hit.
“But it’s basically within the rules. So that’s how the league wants it right now. I know we’ve got 30 coaches who all think it’s just idiotic that we allow this.”
"It's the dumbest thing I've ever heard, but we have to take it through the league process to get that changed."
Kerr wants to see rule a change after the Rockets went at Steph's thumb all night pic.twitter.com/U2GmUF3ZmD
The NBA rulebook allows “minimal contact” from a defender once a shot is released. Officials are allowed to use discretion on the definition of “minimal contact.” The Rockets – particularly Dillon Brooks, Amen Thompson and Alperen Şengun – generally don’t operate with a minimal contact approach.
“There’s a pattern of when it’s full extension, when it’s the full point of release, because it’s hard for a ref,” Curry said. “I get it. You’re trying to look at the body, look at the release, where contact is. There’s a subtle difference in how certain people do it. When I say it’s a foul, it’s a foul. But other than that, as a player, you can’t worry about it too much.”
“As a player, you can’t worry about it too much … you can complain, but if you dwell on it and get distracted by it, then you’re not worried about making shots. I’m trying to do both. Make shots and if I get fouled, like, let them know I got fouled.”
Curry played 24 minutes in the Game 5 blowout, finishing with 13 points on 4-of-12 shooting from the field, including 3 of 9 from distance and 2 of 3 from the line. He added three rebounds and seven assists, with three turnovers.
Kerr and Curry both said the tender thumb, initially sprained on New Year’s Day and aggravated countless times, is not having an impact on his performance. He’s averaging 23.4 points per game in this first-round series, shooting 48.8 percent from the field, 39.6 beyond the arc and 90 percent from the line.
In short, Curry is playing well enough for observers to forget about the sore thumb.
But it is sore.
“I do believe [officials] are allowed to call a flagrant if they want,” Kerr said. “The refs can call a flagrant if the guy winds up and takes a takes a shot. It’s been happening across the league all year long. It’s a dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.
“But we have to take it through the league process to get that changed, and that’ll probably happen this summer.”
That thumb will be an issue for as long as the Warriors remain in the postseason. Curry is determined not to let it become the issue that impacts his performance.
It would surprise no one, however, if the Rockets try to have a few more whacks at it. The rule says they can.
“You don’t think about it,” Curry said. “And if it’s a foul, they should call it. That’s it. If it’s a foul, they should call it.”
The Los Angeles Kings looked on the way to eliminating the Edmonton Oilers for the first time in their four straight first-round series. They’re now on the brink of going home empty again.
While some people may see one bad coach’s challenge as a turning point in this matchup, the Kings have only a series of blown leads to blame for where they are in the series at the moment.
Without a doubt, Kings coach Jim Hiller coach’s challenge for goaltender interference on Evander Kane’s equalizer in Game 3 was not a good look. The review quickly determined the goal would stand, and the resulting penalty led directly to the game-winning goal being scored on the Oilers’ power play. That’s not up for debate.
That’s not the reason why Los Angeles dropped three games in a row. The key issue for the Kings is that they’ve deviated from their strong regular-season play when they knew how to hang onto their leads.
The Kings were 25-4-3 this season when leading after the first period, and they were even more impressive when leading after two periods at 35-1-2.
But in the first round, Los Angeles is 2-1 when leading after 20 minutes, and they’re 2-2 when leading after two periods. They’re already two-thirds of the way to their blown third-period leads in the regular season.
When you break down the games even further, you’ll see the Kings constantly squandering advantages they managed to carve out.
In Game 3 on Friday, the Kings overcame a 2-0 Oilers lead, scoring three straight goals before Edmonton tied it. Los Angeles again took the lead late in the second period, only to allow the final three goals of the game.
In Game 4 on Sunday, the Kings built a two-goal lead – and after the Oilers cut the lead in half, L.A. restored its two-goal advantage, only to allow the next three goals to Edmonton, including the overtime-winner. And finally, in Game 5, the Kings scored the first goal, then allowed two straight Oilers goals, plus an empty-netter.
Clearly, one bad coach's challenge is not responsible for L.A. blowing leads time and again. A lost coach’s challenge didn’t help matters, of course. But that’s in one game only.
The Kings’ defensive deficiencies are the real culprit here. And to be sure, Kings goalie Darcy Kuemper isn’t the goat, although his 3.44 GAA and .899 SP aren’t moving the needle in a positive way for his team. It’s the defense in front of Kuemper that’s the root cause of three straight defeats.
In the first two games of this series, the Kings’ offense was the difference in their favor, posting six goals in both games. But Los Angeles has messed around by trying to run-and-gun with Edmonton’s high-octane offensive attack, and they’ve found out that’s not a great idea.
As it stands, L.A. is on the brink of elimination – and once again, the team could be heading home for the summer courtesy of an Oilers team it knows all too well. The stakes are sky-high for them now, as one loss in the next two games could spell the end of the line for Kings GM Rob Blake and could lead to roster changes this summer. You can’t keep running back the same core, lose in the first round four straight seasons to the same team and expect to keep your job.
Ultimately, the Kings can’t say they didn’t know how to build a lead against Edmonton. They just didn’t know how to hold one. And consequently, they’re on the verge of exiting the playoffs and becoming a gigantic disappointment yet again.
Third baseman Max Muncy, reacting after hitting a homer in the second inning, is among a group of key position players for the Dodgers who are the oldest in MLB. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
With the Lakers, Clippers and Kings all one loss from summer vacation, the sporting eyes of Los Angeles turn to the Dodgers.
If you’ve been busy watching the NBA and NHL playoffs, let us catch you up on the Dodgers. After a start so good that folks giddily wondered if the Dodgers could win every game, and after a couple of runs so bad that the Dodgers twice fell into third place in the National League West, the opening month is over and the verdict is in: The Dodgers are who we thought they are.
They are in first place, in the toughest division in the major leagues. They have 21 victories, the most by any Dodgers team at the end of April since their streak of annual postseason appearances started in 2013. They are on pace to win 110 games, and their odds of making the playoffs stand at 98.3%, according to Baseball Prospectus.
There are 29 major league teams that start the season hoping to advance to the playoffs, and then there are the Dodgers, who start planning for October in March. For all the angst about the Dodgers’ injured pitchers, well, that is all part of the plan.
The Dodgers awoke Wednesday with 13 pitchers on the injured list, the most of any major league team, matching the combined total of the rest of the NL West. They have 32 pitchers under control: on the active roster, on a minor league option, on the injured list, or on two-way status (Shohei Ohtani, who is expected to resume pitching later this season).
They do not try to find five starting pitchers and ride them all season. They do try to end up with five healthy and effective starters for the postseason, and they try to maximize their chances to do that by collecting as many pitchers as they can, with the support of an ownership group willing to pay players to rehabilitate.
No one pitched more innings last season than Gavin Stone, at 140. In 2013, Clayton Kershaw pitched 259 innings, including the postseason.
However, as the Dodgers have become acutely aware of managing the workloads of their starting pitchers, they have not prioritized managing the workloads of their key position players.
The Dodgers have the oldest group of position players in the majors, and the sustained success means extra weeks on the schedule every year.
Over the past five years, Mookie Betts has 205 postseason at-bats and Freddie Freeman 175. Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees has 119 and, among NL West rivals, Corbin Carroll of the Arizona Diamondbacks has 66 and Fernando Tatis Jr. of the San Diego Padres has 48.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said the team has discussed that issue, but mostly in regard to catching. Will Smith had 105 at-bats last April and 76 this April; backup Austin Barnes had 21 at-bats last April and 32 this April (and he is batting .250 this April, 27 points above his career average).
Among other position players, Roberts said, “I don’t know if that tax of playing an extra month is necessarily a disadvantage for the following season.”
The Dodgers’ renowned research and development department has not done a deep dive into that question, according to president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman.
“So much of our focus is on pitching,” Friedman said, “and, after a long season, what the offseason program looks like, what the ramp-up looks like, what the season looks like. I don’t worry about it that much on the position player front.”
While “load management” is established in the NBA lexicon, Roberts said he is less concerned in baseball because the postseason features more off days than the regular season, including nearly a week off after the regular season if your team is one of the top two seeds in each league.
“They’re actually more antsy and rested than we would actually like,” Roberts said. “It’s a tricky one.
“To give Freddie Freeman off days to say that you’re managing his workload, I think it just makes some people feel better that they’ll be ready for the postseason. There’s no correlation. And it’s not an exact science.”
Freeman said the Dodgers do manage his workload, but not always with days off. On Tuesday night, with the Dodgers enjoying a big lead, Freeman was removed after six innings.
“They do such a good job of load management here,” said the 35-year-old Freeman, “and I’m reluctantly to starting to get on board with it as I get older.
“I ingrained in myself that I get paid to do a job and I do my job. It’s hard for me to wrap my mind around, ‘You’re not doing your job today.’ ”
On Wednesday, Freeman homered, singled and drove in two runs. The Dodgers again ran up the lead, and again they removed him after six innings.
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