Late Friday, the NHL announced that Nazem Kadri had been suspended for eight games for his hit to the head of Justin Faulk. I don't say this all the time about the Department of Player Safety, but the NHL made the right call given the severity of the hit and Kadri's suspension history. Kadri has now been suspended six times by the league, including three times in the playoffs. An eight-game suspension means that he definitely won't return to the series against St. Louis and will also miss games in the second round, assuming the Avalanche don't blow their 3-0 lead on the Blues.

J.T. Compher moved up to center Kadri's line between Andre Burakovsky and Joonas Donskoi. Compher scored an empty-net goal.

As expected, Faulk missed this game, as did Vince Dunn and Robert Bortuzzo from the Blues blueline.

Nathan MacKinnon had racked up five goals and seven points over the first two games of the series, so was he the scoring star again in Game 3? Nah, MacKinnon was held pointless on the day I picked him in my daily points game (more on that at the end of the Ramblings). Instead it was Ryan Graves, who scored a goal and added two assists with a plus-4. Graves now has four points in three playoff games while leading the playoffs with a plus-8. Remember that he was also the plus-minus leader during the 2019-20 regular season (plus-40).

Philipp Grubauer stopped 31 of 32 shots he faced to pick up his third consecutive playoff win and quality start.

I noticed Tyler Bozak being used on the Blues' first-unit power play. Maybe because David Perron was out of the lineup again. Perron was the Blues' leading power-play scorer during the regular season (21 PPP). The next six power-play scorers for St. Louis have left-handed shots, while Bozak has a right-handed shot. Another reason that Perron is an important player for the Blues.  

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Game 3 between Carolina and Nashville went to double overtime, where Matt Duchene was the overtime hero in front of the home fans in Smashville.

MATT DUCHENE! DOUBLE OT HERO! 🚨#ItsOn pic.twitter.com/d6aDgfuMPO

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 22, 2021

That shot was Duchene's first of the game and the goal was his first of the series. That will hardly matter to Predators fans, as their team now only trail the Canes 2-1 instead of having to face a 3-0 hole.

Filip Forsberg and Ryan Ellis led the Nashville scoring attack, scoring a goal and adding an assist each. Forsberg also fired six shots, which gives him 11 shots over his past two games.

Viktor Arvidsson missed Game 3 with an upper-body injury. He is considered day-to-day.

In spite of the loss, Sebastian Aho brought the offense with a goal, two assists, and seven shots. With 19 shots in three games, Aho is second in the playoffs in shots on goal.

Vincent Trocheck shot 13.8% during the regular season, which was his highest percentage in five seasons. Maybe he's been working on his shooting instead of it being luck-based, as you can see on the pinpoint accuracy on this goal.

Perfect shot. 🎯#ItsOn pic.twitter.com/qrzYRbHZ0A

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 22, 2021

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The high-scoring North Division saw its playoff game go to overtime tied 0-0. Yet it ended much more quickly than the Canes/Preds game. Paul Stastny scored the overtime winner just 4:06 in to give the Jets a commanding 2-0 lead over Edmonton going back to Winnipeg for Games 3 and 4.

Paul Stastny lets it rip and that's an OT winner! #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/pZZRCryV4b

— NHL (@NHL) May 22, 2021

The real star for the Jets has been Connor Hellebuyck, who is accomplishing what most North Division goalies failed to do in the regular season: stopping Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. Hellebuyck has faced 71 shots over the two games and allowed just one goal, giving him a near-perfect .986 SV%. Stuff McDavid and Draisaitl, and most of your work is done against Edmonton.

So far, the Oilers' only points in this series have gone to Jesse Puljujarvi (goal), Tyson Barrie (assist), and Darnell Nurse (assist). That means no points in two games for McDavid or Draisaitl with the Oilers potentially two games away from elimination. If the Oilers are ousted from the playoffs sooner rather than later, McDavid and Draisaitl could be the two biggest busts of playoff pools. When McDavid was scoring at will to finish the regular season, the thought of him being held scoreless for two games seemed impossible. Yet here we are.

To their credit, McDavid did take five shots in Game 2, while Draisaitl took four. They can't really go pointless during the playoffs… right?

Pierre-Luc Dubois returned to the Jets lineup after missing Game 1 with an undisclosed injury. Nikolaj Ehlers remains out of the Jets lineup, though.

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After Thursday's scary incident, it was good news to see that John Tavares was discharged from hospital on Friday. As you'd expect, he's out indefinitely with a concussion. Given the minimum one week that players need, assume that Tavares is out for at least the next few games.

On a personal level, Tavares should be given all the time that he needs to recover. On a hockey level, the Leafs' depth will be tested. They are a top-heavy team cap-wise when it comes to the distinction between their star players and the rest of their lineup. Nick Foligno and Alex Galchenyuk can't score at the rate that Tavares can, but will they be able to score enough to help the Leafs get past Montreal? The Leafs aren't as much of a clear favorite to win this series now as they were before Game 1.

Here are your #leafs practice lines:

Hyman-Matthews-Marner
Galchenyuk-Foligno-Nylander
Mikheyev-Kerfoot-Engvall
Thornton-Spezza-Simmonds

Rielly-Brodie
Muzzin-Holl
Sandin-Bogosian

Andersen
Rittich

Extras: Nash, Brooks, Dermott, Marincin, Hutton
Absent: Tavares, Campbell

— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) May 21, 2021

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David Pastrnak scored a goal and added an assist in the Bruins' 4-1 win in Game 4, giving them a 3-1 series lead over the Capitals. With 25 shots in four games, Pasta is far and away the shots leader during the playoffs. The goal was just his first of the playoffs, though.

Charlie McAvoy recorded three assists, giving him five assists in four games. He's logged at least 26 minutes in three of his past four games, which is a full two minutes higher than his regular-season average.

Kevan Miller was taken to hospital after receiving a hit from Dmitry Orlov during the second period of Game 4. Orlov, who left his feet to make the hit, was assessed a minor penalty for the hit and another minor penalty for roughing after the play.  

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On Friday the Canucks made official that Travis Green will return as head coach next season, signing him to a two-year extension. For this offseason, the signing means that there is one less potential coaching vacancy, with the NY Rangers, Columbus, Arizona, and Seattle still currently looking for head coaches. Green's two-year contract lines up with that of GM Jim Benning, so if 2021-22 isn't much different than 2020-21 for the Canucks, there's a good chance that both are out by the end of next season. Keep an eye on further non-player staff signings in Vancouver, including those for Green's assistants (including coveted goalie coach Ian Clark), and the possible additions of Daniel and Henrik Sedin in front office roles.

Related to that, goalie coaching news might seem insignificant, but it matters to the specific value of goalies. Think of Mitch Korn's track record with Barry Trotz in Nashville, Washington, and now the NY Islanders, and how Semyon Varlamov's fantasy value has skyrocketed after he started working with Korn. Thatcher Demko has lobbied to keep Clark in Vancouver, which makes sense if you consider Demko's improvements starting with the playoff bubble last season and into this season. In particular, note the last three columns.

Season	GP	GAA	SV%	MIN	QUAL	QUAL%	RBS	RBS%	GSAA
2020-2021	35	2.85	0.915	2086	19	54.3	3	8.6	8.09
2019-2020	27	3.06	0.905	1529	15	55.6	6	22.2	-4.02

Really Bad Starts (RBS): Games with save percentage below .850

Goals Saved Above Average (GSAA): Calculates goal differential between goalie and league average (positive is better)

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The news wasn't good about Marcus Johansson's Game 3 injury. The Wild forward will be sidelined for a while with a broken arm. Zach Parise, who has been a healthy scratch for the first three games of the series, could draw back into the lineup, although coach Dean Evason wouldn't commit to anything.

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When I was scanning through the Forum a while ago, I noticed someone posted something about a Hockey Challenge on the Tim Horton's app. I decided to try it out on Friday, picking MacKinnon, Dougie Hamilton, and Devon Toews. I realized after I made my picks that it only rewards goals, which isn't good for defensemen. Oh well, something to remember for the future. Thanks to Forum user PenguinHunter for starting the thread. I think this is something I'm going to try throughout the playoffs. So why don't I post my Saturday picks to score a goal.

Pick 1: Ondrej Palat – the battle of Florida doesn't appear to be a goaltending battle

Pick 2: Nick Foligno – will be leaned on more heavily with Tavares out

Pick 3: Morgan Rielly – group was mostly d-men

So I guess I'm mostly in on the Leafs to bounce back in Game 2. Let's see what happens and if I get any Tim's rewards! I believe the contest is only available in Canada.

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For more fantasy hockey discussion, or to reach out to me, you can follow me on Twitter @Ian_Gooding