Florida 5, Toronto 4 (Leafs lead series 2-1)

Brad Marchand scored the game-winning goal at 15:27 of the first overtime to give the Panthers a 5-4 win over Toronto in Game 3. The puck appeared to float off Morgan Rielly past Joseph Woll.

BRAD MARCHAND IS THE OVERTIME HERO FOR THE PANTHERS IN GAME 3!#TimeToHunt | #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/c9godTB6Gv

— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) May 10, 2025

Marchand has now scored goals in back-to-back games, and he is producing at a point-per-game pace (8 PTS in 8 GP) during the playoffs. Having Marchand playing on the third line with Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen speaks to the Panthers' depth.

The Leafs held 2-0 and 3-1 leads in this game, but the Panthers scored two goals in just over a minute to tie the game in the second period. Then Jonah Gadjovich scored what appeared to be a soft goal later in the second period to give the Panthers a 4-3 lead. Rielly tied the game for the Leafs about halfway through the third period.

Sam Reinhart, Carter Verhaeghe, and Aleksander Barkov also scored for the Panthers. Reinhart and Verhaeghe also each registered an assist.

Despite hanging on for the win, Sergei Bobrovsky has allowed at least four goals in all three games of the series. He has a sub-.900 save percentage in five of his last six games. The Panthers have been careful not to overwork Bobrovsky to the extreme during the regular season, holding him to under 60 games during each of his six seasons there. However, the long playoff runs of the past two seasons could be catching up to him.

At the other end, Woll hasn't been able to give the Leafs the same level of goaltending that Anthony Stolarz had before his injury. Woll has a sub-.900 GAA in each of his three games. That being said, it's highly unlikely that Craig Berube would turn to either Dennis Hildeby or Matt Murray to start Game 4 if Stolarz is still unavailable. Hildeby backed up Woll in Game 3 because Murray was sick. This has been a high-scoring series and could continue to be that way.

John Tavares led the Leafs with a pair of goals in Game 3, snapping a four-game point drought. Tavares also led the Leafs with six shots on goal.

Matthew Knies also scored a goal and added an assist for the Leafs, opening the scoring just 23 seconds into the game. With five goals in nine playoff games, Knies appears to be legitimately selling his fantasy value for next season. I try to cover my ears once I hear more Leafs coverage than I need from the major Canadian sports networks, but Knies' accomplishments and upside are difficult to ignore.

In his sophomore season and at only 22 years of age, Knies finished just one goal shy of 30, two points shy of 60, plays on the Leafs' five-forward top power play, and has been good for at least 160 hits in each of his two NHL seasons. The shot total (just under 2.0 SOG/GP) could be a little higher, but there's enough there for me to take notice in next season's fantasy drafts – particularly for bangers leagues. If either Tavares or Mitch Marner (or both) leave via free agency, Knies could be a part of the new core four (or whatever the number happens to be).

Max Pacioretty has been a point-per-game player in the playoffs (7 PTS in 7 GP). A shadow of the scorer he was before his Achilles injury, Patches is earning a contract somewhere for at least one more season. At age 36, he won't ever get to 30-goal and 300-shot annual totals again, but he still appears to be a productive NHLer. Playing on a scoring line with Tavares and William Nylander is helping his cause.

Winnipeg 4, Dallas 0 (series tied 1-1)

Nikolaj Ehlers scored two goals and added an assist to lead the Jets to a split before the two teams head to Dallas for Game 3. Prior to Game 2, Ehlers had not scored a playoff goal since 2021. He now has four points in four playoff games, so his return to the lineup from a foot injury during the first round has been instrumental.

Connor Hellebuyck made 21 saves in earning his first shutout of this season's playoffs. The shutout was also his first since 2021. Hellebuyck's struggles during the first round against St. Louis were well-documented, but his numbers were particularly awful on the road. He has been much better at home, posting an 18-1-1 record with a 1.41 GAA and .938 SV% and 3 shutouts over his last 20 home games dating back to the regular season. He will be one to watch as the series shifts to Dallas for Games 3 and 4, but he at least appears to be much more in control.  

Josh Morrissey returned to the Jets' lineup in Game 2 after missing Game 1 with an upper-body injury. Morrissey picked up an assist on Gabriel Vilardi's power-play goal, which opened the score. Luke Schenn was bumped to the press box to make room for Morrissey.

Game 7 hero Adam Lowry scored the Jets' other goal, giving him four goals during the playoffs. Lowry has equaled Kyle Connor for the team lead in playoff goals, although Lowry has yet to register an assist during the playoffs.

Miro Heiskanen remained out of the Stars' lineup for Game 2. He was projected to possibly return during the series, but he has not played a game since January.

Game 2 marked the first time in five games that Mikko Rantanen was held to fewer than three points. If you are wondering how many points he had in Game 2, just look at the score.

Jamie Benn has been held without a point with a minus-6 over his last six games. Benn's $9.5 million cap hit comes off the books after this season, so I wonder if he fits into the Stars' future plans. The 35-year-old Benn has played his entire 16-year career for Dallas, also serving as the captain for 12 of those seasons.

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Other player news:

Nicolas Roy received only a fine but no suspension for his cross-check to the face of Trent Frederic in Game 2. Roy received a five-minute major in overtime, so the league seemed to think the penalty and the fine were sufficient.

K'Andre Miller underwent surgery recently for an upper-body injury, but he is expected to be ready for the 2025-26 season. The injury occurred late in the season, although Miller elected to play through it. The two games that Miller missed in April were listed as due to illness.

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Now that the regular season has finished and the number of games that I have to write about is winding down, I have some time to recap the fantasy hockey season that was. Where I'll start is with players that exceeded expectations on my various fantasy teams. I'll base this on point projections versus actual performance, but I may bring up other factors as they arise.

Martin Necas

Necas's start to the season as one of the league's top scorers was so unexpected, he was one of the players featured on the cover of the Midseason Guide. For a player often drafted after pick 100 in Yahoo leagues, Necas sure delivered return on investment with 43 points in his first 28 games. Yet primed for a dropoff, Necas's production started to level off with 13 points in his next 21 games.

Then came another unexpected twist: Necas was the main piece headed to Colorado in the (first) Mikko Rantanen trade. Although his production never reached the early-season level, Necas registered 28 points in 30 games while finding chemistry with Nathan MacKinnon. In what could be a contract season, Necas will try to continue to make a strong impression, which could mean a second consecutive season of point-per-game point totals.

Nick Suzuki

Most overall stats did not change much for Suzuki compared to last season, including goals, shots, power-play points, and hits. What did change was assists, where Suzuki piled up a career-high 59 en route to a career high of 89 points. That point total was within the top 15 in the league. That's not a huge jump from where Suzuki was projected to finish in the Fantasy Guide (81 points), but Suzuki was also drafted outside of the top 100 in many Yahoo leagues. He will be worth a top-50 pick in next season's drafts.

Can Suzuki take the next step and get to 100 points? Don't rule it out completely, as the Habs are trending in the right direction. Montreal has been adding some high-scoring pieces in recent seasons, including Ivan Demidov, Calder Trophy finalist Lane Hutson, and Suzuki's linemate Cole Caufield. A rising tide lifts all boats.

Rickard Rakell

A jump from 15 goals and 37 points to 35 goals and 70 points came from an over-30 player. Who saw that coming? Rakell's icetime increased by nearly three minutes per game, as did his power-play time. He managed to ride a 17.2 SH% this season compared to just 9.1 SH% last season, so a lot went right for him.

On a personal note, I had traded for Rakell late in the 2023-24 season. He was more of a throw-in as an unproductive $5 million cap hit, as I was interested in acquiring another draft pick and prospect Chaz Lucius (who sadly, was forced to retire due to Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. Rakell's resurgence was one reason my rebuilding team turned out better than expected, but I expect some regression next season. Maybe it's time to sell high.

Zach Werenski

After winning Werenski in an auction-style league, a leaguemate told me that he thought I overpaid for him based on his injury history. What I saw is that if Werenski stayed healthy for most of the season, he had the potential to reach 60 points for the first time in his career. Not only did Werenski miss just one game all season, but he blew that 60-point projection out of the water with an 82-point campaign – good for second among all blueliners.

Repeating his 2024-25 "breakout" will be a tough act to follow for Werenski. Helping his cause was the fact that he led all blueliners with 298 shots and 3.7 SOG/GP, both the highest totals of his career. Columbus as a team was better than we thought they would be in 2024-25, as they also had four other 50+ point players beyond Werenski. Although a regression seems likely, it won't be large enough to place him into the bust category.

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