PHT’s Three Stars: Wheeler dishes, Byfuglien does it all for Jets

By Sean LeahyMay 12, 2018, 10:30 PM EDT

1st Star: Blake Wheeler, Winnipeg Jets

The Jets captain assisted on three of Winnipeg’s four goals during their 4-2 Game 1 win over the Vegas Golden Knights. Two of his helpers came in the first period as the Jets built up a 3-0 lead in the opening 7:35 of the game. His sweetest dish of the night came while setting up Patrik Laine’s power play goal in the first period.

2nd Star: Dustin Byfuglien, Winnipeg Jets

Big Buff continued his dominant postseason with a goal, an assist and a ton of minutes in Game 1. He opened the scoring after 65 seconds, fired the shot that Mark Scheifele would tip in to give the Jets a 4-1 lead and finished by logging 24:44 of ice time, three minutes more than any other Jets defenseman. It was also his effort that kept the puck onside during a sequence that would lead to the Laine goal.

What a play by Dustin Byfuglien to keep the puck onside before Patrik Laine scored pic.twitter.com/Celz8rbRd7

— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) May 12, 2018

3rd Star: Mark Scheifele, Winnipeg Jets

After scoring seven goals on the road in the second round, Scheifele netted his first goal at Bell MTS Place since Game 5 of the first round. He now leads all players with 12 goals this postseason.

[Jets give Golden Knights bitter dose of reality in Game 1]

Highlight of the Night: Blake, meet the Vegas bench.

Factoid of the Night:

The @NHLJets scored 3 goals in the first 7:35 of Game 1 against Vegas.

The last team to score 3 goals in the first 8 minutes of a conference final game was the Blackhawks in 1989 Game 2 at Calgary.#WPGWhiteout

— Stats By STATS (@StatsBySTATS) May 12, 2018

Sunday’s schedule: Game 2: Capitals at Lightning, NBCSN, 8 p.m. ET (live stream)

MORE:
• Conference Finals schedule, TV info
• NBC’s Stanley Cup Playoff Hub

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Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy.

Canucks’ Ilya Mikheyev to have season-ending knee surgery

Associated PressJan 28, 2023, 3:20 PM EST

Bob Frid/USA TODAY Sports

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Vancouver Canucks right wing Ilya Mikheyev is set to have season-ending surgery on his left knee.

Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin said Friday night the 28-year-old Russian forward tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in the team’s first preseason game Sept. 25. Mikheyev will undergo surgery next week and is expected to be ready for training camp in the fall.

Mikheyev was originally listed as week-to-week with the injury and played 45 regular-season games, finishing with 13 goals and 15 assists. He scored in his final appearance Friday night, a 5-2 home victory over Columbus.

Mikheyev signed a four-year, $19 million contract as a free agent last summer.

Maple Leafs’ Matthews out at least 3 weeks with knee injury

Associated PressJan 28, 2023, 12:14 AM EST

Nick Turchiaro/USA TODAY Sports

Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews will miss at least three weeks with a sprained knee.

The team announced the reigning MVP’s anticipated absence Friday, two days after Matthews was injured in Toronto’s victory against the New York Rangers.

Matthews is expected to miss at least six games and could be out for a few more. The timing of the injury coinciding with the NHL All-Star break and the Maple Leafs bye week prevents this from costing Matthews more time out of the lineup.

After being voted an All-Star by fans, Matthews is now out of the event scheduled for Feb. 3-4 in Sunrise, Florida. The league announced Aleskander Barkov from the host Florida Panthers will take Matthews’ place on the Atlantic Division All-Star roster.

Matthews, who won the Hart Trophy last season after leading the NHL with 60 goals, has 53 points in 47 games this season.

Caufield opted for surgery with Habs out of playoff race

Associated PressJan 28, 2023, 12:10 AM EST

David Kirouac/USA TODAY Sports

MONTREAL — Montreal Canadiens winger Cole Caufield said Friday he wouldn’t be having season-ending surgery on his right shoulder if the team were in playoff contention.

But with the Canadiens near the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings, the 22-year-old Caufield said he decided to have the surgery to protect his long-term health. The procedure is scheduled to be performed by Dr. Peter Millett on Wednesday.

“I didn’t want to stop playing,” Caufield said. “I had a couple tests done to look at it more clearly but, in the end, like it could’ve been one more fall and it could have been even worse.”

Caufield, who leads the Canadiens with 26 goals in 46 games, had three different medical opinions on his shoulder before concluding that his season was over.

“I think they’ve seen a lot more than I have and they know the differences and what they like or don’t like about it,” he said about the medical opinions. “Long term, I think this is what’s best but for sure it was tough to sit out that game against Toronto on Saturday night.”

Caufield initially felt the injury in an awkward fall during Montreal’s 4-2 loss at Dallas on Dec. 23. He said his right shoulder popped, and he replaced it himself.

Caufield felt it again in the Habs’ 4-3 loss at Nashville on Jan. 12. The club announced on Jan. 21 that Caufield would miss the rest of the season.

Caufield is nearing the end of his three-year, entry-level contract and will be a restricted free agent this summer.

All-Star Matty Beniers to miss next 2 games for Kraken

Associated PressJan 27, 2023, 11:59 PM EST

Joe Nicholson/USA TODAY Sports

SEATTLE — Seattle Kraken rookie All-Star Matty Beniers will miss the team’s final two games before the All-Star break after taking a big hit from Vancouver’s Tyler Myers earlier this week.

Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said after morning skate Friday that Beniers would not play Friday night against Calgary or Saturday against Columbus. Hakstol did not speculate on Beniers’ availability for next weekend’s All-Star Game in Florida.

The team has not specified what kind of injury Beniers sustained from the hit. He was barreled over by Myers away from the play early in the second period in Wednesday’s 6-1 victory over Vancouver. Myers was penalized for interference on the play. Beniers returned briefly for one shift later in the period but did not play in the third period.

Beniers is Seattle’s lone All-Star selection this season. He leads all rookies in goals (17) and points (36), and is fifth in total ice time for rookies.

Seattle also placed defenseman Justin Schultz on injured reserve and recalled forward Max McCormick from Coachella Valley of the AHL. Hakstol said Schultz is improving but there’s no timeline on his return.