5 things to know today

SHUFFLING DOESN’T PAY OFF

The Edmonton Oilers trail their Western Conference final series with the Colorado Avalanche 2-0 after they got blanked 4-0 Thursday.

Perhaps in an effort to get more consistent offensive pressure from line to line, Edmonton head coach Jay Woodcroft decided to scramble his top-6 forwards, most notably splitting up the dynamic duo of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.

McDavid skated with Zach Hyman and Evander Kane, while Draisaitl lined up with Nugent-Hopkins and Kailer Yamamoto.

The move didn’t work, however, as Colorado’s second line dominated, led by Nazem Kadri’s three assists.

Heading into Game 3, it’ll be interesting to see if Woodcroft opts to stick with splitting up his superstars or look to pair them once again.

KADRI, KADRI, KADRI

Avalanche centre Kadri (pictured) set up three goals all coming within a 2:04 span in the second period of Game 2 to put the Avs up 3-0 and, essentially, put the game to rest.

FRANCOUZ A RELIEF

The Avalanche were without starting goalie Darcy Kuemper, who was forced to miss the game with an upper-body injury, for Game 2.

No problem, however, as Pavel Francouz stopped all 24 shots he faced to record his first playoff shutout. He’s stopped 42 of 45 shots he’s faced so far this series.

It’s unclear if Kuemper will be able to return for Game 3 in Edmonton.

WILL LIGHTNING SHAKE OFF RUST? After getting thumped 6-2 by the New York Rangers in the opener of their Eastern Conference final, Wednesday, the Tampa Bay

Lightning’s long break appeared to be the cause for their lack of focus.

The Blueshirts had the momentum of coming off a thrilling Game 7 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes; meanwhile, the Lightning swept the Florida Panthers and were able to rest up and recover while awaiting their opponent.

RANGEY PRODUCTION

Of course, the top line found the back of the net with Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider and Frank Vatrano all scoring, and second-line stud Artemi Panarin adding another one, but it was really the heroics of third-line star Filip Chytil that won the day for New York.

Chytil scored a pair of goals in the second period to break a 2-2 tie and break the game open. During this post-season, Chytil has scored nearly as many goals (7) as he did in the 67 games he played in the regular season (8).