The NHL Department of Player Safety has ruled on a four-game suspension for Mark Scheifele for his charge on Jake Evans near the end of Game 1. You can watch their video for an explanation of the suspension below.

Winnipeg's Mark Scheifele has been suspended for four games for Charging Montreal's Jake Evans. https://t.co/MhMHK55lmC

— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) June 4, 2021

I can't say this about the DoPS every time, but I believe they got this one right and explained it well in the video. Although four playoff games are worth considerably more than four regular-season games to a team, and although Scheifele doesn't have a suspension history, the video points out that he made no effort to play the puck and was instead completely focused on running Evans. That makes the hit seem like less of a hockey play than I originally thought. Now that we know more about the long-term impact of head injuries, the "keep your head up" defense of the hit seems less valid.

The suspension won't guarantee that Scheifele will be out of the lineup for the rest of the series as some had called for, but it has the potential to if the series lasts only five games. With the Jets already down 1-0 in the series, Scheifele's loss will have a major impact, as he was the team's leading scorer in the regular season (63 PTS in 56 GP) and co-leader in the playoffs (5 PTS in 5 GP). Don't forget that Paul Stastny was out of the lineup for Game 1, which could leave the Jets rather thin up the middle for Game 2.  

As for Evans, he reportedly has a concussion, which is no surprise. Expect him to be out for the foreseeable future, although he was not hospitalized even after being carried off the ice on a stretcher.  

One other thing: As a fan of the game, I worry about a fringe player with nothing to lose taking out one of the league's stars and how that could change the complexion of a season. So it's ironic that the star player (Scheifele) is the one injuring the fourth-liner (Evans).

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The Bruins peppered 34 total shots on Semyon Varlamov during the second and third periods alone, and he stopped every single one. Varlamov couldn't quite steal the game for the Isles, allowing a first-period goal and the overtime winner to Brad Marchand to give the Bruins a 2-1 series lead over the Islanders.

BRAD MARCHAND CALLED GAME. #ItsOn pic.twitter.com/oAzy4AKgYb

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) June 4, 2021

Marchand now has goals in back-to-back games and points in all three games of the series against the Islanders.

Craig Smith, who scored the first-period goal for Boston, returned to the Bruins' lineup after missing Game 2. He took his usual spot on the second line with David Krejci and Taylor Hall, a second line that has proven to be very effective down the stretch and into the playoffs for the B's.

Tuukka Rask stopped 28 of 29 shots to earn the win. He is quietly getting the job done in the playoffs, posting quality starts in six of his last seven games.

This was a hard-hitting game, one of which forced Brandon Carlo to leave the game. Carlo may have a concussion, which isn't good news because he suffered another one earlier this season after a hit from Tom Wilson.

Anthony Beauvillier's six-game point streak came to an end, even though he had four shots on goal and at least two Grade A scoring chances. He's been a regular pick of mine in the Tim Horton's Hockey Challenge (more on that below).

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Sebastian Aho was the overtime hero in Game 3 of the Lightning/Hurricanes series, scoring a power-play goal after Nikita Kucherov took a holding-the-stick penalty in the offensive zone. The win was an important one for Carolina, who are now down only 2-1 as opposed to 3-0. The visiting team has now won each of the three games in this series.

(Editor’s note: The overtime goal was later credited to Jordan Staal.)

Sebastian Aho caps off a three-point night with the OT winner. 🔥#ItsOn pic.twitter.com/4xeYic4uED

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) June 4, 2021

Aho has four multiple-point games during the playoffs. His output has been all or nothing, though, as he has been held off the scoresheet five other times without any one-point games.

In need of some kind of turnaround after an 0-2 start to the series, Rod Brind'Amour elected to give Petr Mrazek his first start of the playoffs. Mrazek turned in a solid performance, stopping 35 of 37 shots in the win. Alex Nedeljkovic hadn't been the problem, as he has not posted a single really bad start to go with four quality starts during the playoffs. Starting Mrazek yielded the result the Canes wanted, so don't be surprised if Mrazek is back in net for Game 4.

Brind'Amour also decided to load up his top line, matching Aho and Teuvo Teravainen with Andrei Svechnikov. Teravainen recorded two assists, while Svechnikov added one.

Warren Foegele left this game with an upper-body injury. The Hurricanes are currently without Nino Niederreiter and Vincent Trocheck, so they can ill afford to lose any more forwards.

Aside from the untimely penalty, Kucherov had a decent game with two assists and seven shots.  

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In case you didn't get to stay up late on Wednesday night, Game 2 of the Colorado/Vegas series was hockey played at its highest pace. Two teams that go full throttle and aren't afraid to ram a goal down their opponent's throat. The goalies have to be equal to the task, which is what Philipp Grubauer and Marc-Andre Fleury were with some big saves.

After it appeared that Colorado might have an easy time with Vegas after they took a 2-1 lead after the first period, Vegas outshot Colorado in the second and third periods by a combined 31-12 while tying the game to send to OT before Mikko Rantanen won it on a power play. Grubauer looked outstanding in making 39 saves, perhaps selling a few more viewers on his Vezina Trophy nomination being about more than just the team in front of him. And just about everyone on Vegas took a shot on Grubauer, as Nicolas Roy was the only Golden Knight not to be credited with one.

After being blown out in Game 1, Vegas definitely deserved better in Game 2. At least they'll be at home as they try to crawl back into the series.

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Kirill Kaprizov, Jason Robertson, and Alex Nedeljkovic have been voted as Calder Trophy finalists. The recent Calder debate has focused on Kaprizov and Robertson, so their inclusion should come as no surprise. Robertson has also had an impressive season, but Kaprizov has been a game-changer for the Wild, vaulting them into the upper echelon of teams. Give me Kaprizov.

As for Nedeljkovic, I can say firsthand that he has had an amazing season, as he helped me win a fantasy title. However, I don't think he wins the Calder for the same possible reason that Jordan Binnington didn't win in 2019, which is not enough games. Ned played in 23 of the Hurricanes' 56 games, so about 50 percent in spite of the presence of two other experienced goalies in James Reimer and Petr Mrazek (who was injured for part of the season). And to think the Hurricanes could have lost Nedeljkovic on waivers early in the season. Expect at least one of Mrazek or Reimer to leave via free agency, which should give Ned more job security next season.

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The Rangers have signed blue-chip prospect Nils Lundkvist to a three-year contract. The AAV works out to be $1.775 million, which is fairly high. That should signal that the Rangers value him highly, and so should you in keeper leagues. For more on Lundkvist, see his profile on Dobber Prospects.

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For those of you playing in the Tim Horton's Hockey Challenge (see Forum for more), here are my Friday picks. I ended up with zero points on Thursday after picking Beauvillier, Anthony Cirelli, and Mikhail Sergachev, so I’m itching to bounce back.

Pick 1: Gabriel Landeskog – I'm not going to overthink this one. Landeskog has four goals in six games and a minimum of two shots per game. He simply stands out as the best player of this group. Yet if you're a believer in riding the hot hand, Brandon Saad is your man. Saad has scored goals in five consecutive games.

Pick 2: Corey Perry – I'll play the hot hand for this pick instead. Perry has a four-game point streak, as well as goals in two of his last three games. Nothing fancy – he just gets to the greasy areas in front of the net, which is all you can ask from him. And he's on the first-unit power play, where both of those goals are from.

Pick 3: Tyson Jost – I also picked Jost in Game 2 and he came through for me. He now has points in four of his last five games. I regularly see Devon Toews and Samuel Girard in this spot as well, so if you don't like Jost, you could flip a coin to pick one of these two defenders.

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