Five things to know about the NHL playoffs on Friday, May 12

By The Canadian Press on May 12, 2023.

The Edmonton Oilers are without one of their best defencemen and the Toronto Maple Leafs are hanging on to their playoff hopes by a thread.

Here are five things to know as we head into Friday’s post-season action:

DOWN D-MEN

Both the Vegas Golden Knights and the Edmonton Oilers will be down a defenceman in Game 5 of their playoff series Friday night.

The Golden Knights’ Alex Pietrangelo and Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse were suspended by the NHL for one game apiece on Thursday after a wild end to Wednesday’s Game 4.

Pietrangelo was punished for slashing Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl at the 18:29 mark of the third period.

Pietrangelo was suspended hours after Nurse was banned a game for instigating a fight in the final five minutes of the game.

LEAFS HOPE TO DELAY FALL

Toronto hosts Game 5 of its second-round series against the Florida Panthers on Friday night.

The Panthers have a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series after falling to the Leafs 2-1 in Game 4 in Sunrise, Fla.

Toronto avoided getting swept in a best-of-seven series for the first time since 1979. The Maple Leafs need three more wins to become the fifth team in NHL history to win a series after going down 3-0.

This is the Leafs’ first trip beyond the first round since 2004 after taking out the Tampa Bay Lightning, a Stanley Cup finalist last season, in six games.

HURRICANES ADVANCE

The Carolina Hurricanes are in the Eastern Conference final.

Jesper Fast deflected in a shot from Jesperi Kotkaniemi on a power play at 7:09 of overtime to give Carolina a series-ending 3-2 victory over the New Jersey Devils.

Fast’s deflection while shielding Akira Schmid set off a celebration for the Hurricanes, who never led until the final play and twice trailed by a goal before winning the best-of-seven series 4-1 to reach the Eastern Conference final.

RUFF BREAK

New Jersey Devils head coach Lindy Ruff joked that he’s going to ask the NHL to make the glass in all arenas a little bit higher.

Jesper Fast’s winner came after New Jersey’s Jonas Siegenthaler was sent to the box for a delay-of-game penalty for sending a puck out of play from his own zone.

Ruff noted that it’s the second time a team he’s coached has been eliminated in Raleigh, N.C., in part because of a delay-of-game penalty.

The puck-over-the-glass penalty that Ruff was referring to was when he was behind the bench for the Buffalo Sabres in the Eastern Conference Final when Brian Campbell was penalized on June 1, 2006.

STARS SHINE

The Dallas Stars hold a 3-2 series lead in their Western Conference semifinal with the Seattle Kraken.

Roope Hintz scored two goals and had an assist as Dallas beat the Kraken 5-2 in Game 5.

Joe Pavelski scored his seventh goal of the second-round series and assisted on Hintz’s second goal.