Chicago was the first team out of the NHL playoffs (the play-ins don't count), falling four games to one at the hands of Vegas. The Golden Knights are the deeper team with the better players. This is the result of that kind of matchup.

I do wonder about Chicago's coaching. Starting Game 5 with John Quenneville on the top line – and he stayed with Toews/Kubalik until late in the third period – is a clear indication Colliton was pushing buttons just to push buttons. Now, that's a function of his roster and we need to remember that this team was selling off at the deadline as they weren't anticipating a playoff appearance. All the same, if you get to a point where John Quenneville is on your top line, you're out of ideas. Bruce Boudreau is still out there…

There were a lot of positives for the Blackhawks, though. Kubalik looked great skating with Toews, scoring four goals in nine games and generally looked even better than he did in the regular season. Also, when they did put the line of Saad-Strome-DeBrincat together, I thought they showed good offensive knack and chemistry. Presumably, they could put together three good forward lines that looks something like Toews-Kubalik-Whomever, Caggiula-Dach-Kane, and Saad-Strome-DeBrincat. Whether it's Corey Crawford or Collin Delia, I think they'll be fine in net. It's the blue line that needs a makeover. (This is where I remind everyone that they willingly traded Henri Jokiharju, who probably would have been in the lineup for them, for Alex Nylander.)

There has been good news about Brent Seabrook but it goes further than that. They cannot rely on him and Duncan Keith anymore. Not if they really want to take another step. Adam Boqvist needs to become a top-4 guy ASAP, and they need a lot more help beyond that.

Fantasy-wise, there will be a lot of goodness here next year. And just imagine if Kirby Dach starts shooting. Imagine!

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Not that Tuukka Rask owed anyone an explanation, but in a radio interview with WEEI of Boston yesterday, Rask said he got a call from his wife and that their daughter was having a medical emergency. That's why he left the bubble. Again, not that he owed anyone an explanation beyond "this is a pandemic and I have a family to look after," but I really hope this is the end of the line for guys like Milbury ever questioning an athlete's motives in this regard.

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Tampa Bay got retribution for their sweep last year at the hands of Columbus by closing out their series 4-1 with a 5-4 overtime win on Tuesday. While the winning goal wasn't very flattering for 'Lumbus, maybe it was just desserts for Brayden Point, who was excellent all series:

BRAYDEN DOING WHAT HE DOES BEST 🔥 pic.twitter.com/fOGCu1nGtx

— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) August 19, 2020

Anthony Cirelli had a goal and an assist for Tampa while Blake Coleman scored his first goal of the playoffs. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 37 of 41 en route to the win.

It's obvious that Columbus needs a lot more forward depth. In this game, they had six forwards play at least 21 minutes and four forwards play under 11 minutes. I'm not saying it's necessary to roll four lines, but when looking at teams that reach the Cup Final in recent seasons, there aren't many one- or two-line teams. They can run three deep and usually have a playable fourth. Columbus needs a middle-six, and that's not easy to come by.

I was impressed with Oliver Bjorkstrand in the playoffs. I wrote back early in the Leafs series that he was basically invisible (he was pushed down to the fourth line, after all). But after Game 2 against Toronto, he really started to look like the guy who was well on pace for 30 goals this year, before injury and the pause. It'll be interesting to see what the team does in the off-season but at the least, they have their top two right-wing slots filled. That's something, at least.

As for Tampa, I really do hope Steven Stamkos is healthy and ready for the next round. Years back, he was injured for the playoffs and last year it was Victor Hedman. It just seems this team is never completely healthy whenever playoffs roll around. Being able to slide him on the second line with Cirelli would do wonders for this lineup.

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Boston finished off Carolina again after sweeping them in the Eastern Conference Final last year. They took Game 5 by a 2-1 score, and that included a return to the lineup for David Pastrnak. Whatever was ailing him will now get a handful of days to heal.

To be honest, I thought Carolina played well. The power play was, let's say, uninspiring, but they were generating chances at 5-on-5. Sometimes, a good goalie has a good day, and that's what Jaroslav Halak had, saving 23 of 24.

Pastrnak had two assists and five shots on goal, so I think he's fine.

Carolina took one game this time around, but it should show the Hurricanes what they need to be if they want to overtake Boston in the coming years. Sure, they were without Andrei Svechnikov, but the Bruins were also missing David Pastrnak for a few games, so that's no excuse.

Ondrej Kase took a high hit from Jordan Martinook and seemed to be alright, but with his injury history, it's always something to watch for. He did finish the game.

This was a 4-1 series but every game was a one-goal game except for Game 3, and that was only because of an empty-netter. It's not as if this was Colorado-Arizona. Boston is a very good defensive team and Carolina had a tough time consistently generating offence. Those things happen. They have Ryan Suzuki and Jake Bean on the way, hopefully, plus a healthy Brett Pesce. Carolina should be near the top of the East again next year.

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Colorado laid the wood to Arizona in Game 5, again by a 7-1 score, closing out the series. This wasn't really a competitive series. An average goaltending performance would have seen Colorado winning every game by five. This is one of those demarcation performances where one team has playoff aspirations and one team has Cup aspirations.

Nathan MacKinnon had 2-2 for a four-point game, Nazem Kadri had a pair of goals (and now has 11 points in eight playoff games), while both Landeskog and Rantanen had a pair of assists. Nikita Zadorov also scored, tipping a Nathan MacKinnon shot. No, I did not mistype anything in that sentence, that's just the kind of game it was.

If Arizona can take anything away from this postseason, it's that Clayton Keller finally looked like the guy they hope he can be. He scored the team's only goal in this game, had two in the series, and had seven points in nine games in the postseason. He looked confident with the puck and was more noticeable than Taylor Hall most of the time. That's a very good sign for Arizona, as he should only keep improving.

Which team Colorado will face in the next round will depend on the outcome of St. Louis and Vancouver, but they won't face Vegas as they are first and second in the West and they re-seed after the first round. It seems fated that those two will face off in the Conference Finals, and I know this year has been garbage in general, but please, PLEASE, hockey gods I beg you, give us this. Just give us this much.

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In a neat little twist, the Habs were the only team to avoid elimination on Wednesday, taking a rather high-scoring 5-3 game over the Flyers. Nick Suzuki scored the game-winner to break a 3-3 draw midway through the third period (he also had a power-play assist). He was, and has been, excellent for Montreal.

Jakub Voracek had a pair of power-play goals in the loss for the Flyers, which is a silver lining for them. Their power play had looked rather uninspired of late. A couple goals can hopefully give them some confidence.

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Tyler Motte came through in a big way for Vancouver, scoring a pair of goals, including the game-winner, in Vancouver’s 4-3 win over St. Louis. This gives Vancouver a decisive 3-2 lead in the series with Game 6 coming Friday night.

This may have been Vancouver’s best game of the entire series. Everyone outside of the Horvat line was generating offence at even strength, something the team has struggled to do this series. If the Canucks can turn in another game like this, they should be reserving their seat in the second round.