The playoff Skinny
Pittsburgh Penguins at Columbus Blue Jackets When: Monday, 5 p.m. CBC The series: Penguins lead 3-2 The skinny: Was it right to doubt the Penguins? Could they really lose a first-round series to a team that has never come remotely close, in its history, to doing so? Sure, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, who played on the same line for the first time in the series, still haven’t scored. But Crosby’s work led to Chris Kunitz’s critical tying goal and they put 50 shots on Sergei Bobrovsky. So, has the Blue Jackets’ magic run out? Colorado Avalanche at Minnesota Wild When: Monday, 7:30 p.m., TSN The series: Avalanche lead 3-2 The skinny: The Avalanche have been outstanding at home. The Wild have been outstanding at home. So do you give the advantage to Minnesota, which hosts Game 6 but is facing elimination? One thing’s for sure: In those three games in Denver, 18-yearold Nathan MacKinnon has looked like 18-year-old Wayne Gretzky. If he can replicate that on the road, Colorado will advance to the second round. San Jose Sharks at Los Angeles Kings When: Monday, 8 p.m., CBC The series: Sharks lead 3-2 The skinny: When the Sharks built a 3-0 lead in the series, just a few nights ago, the Kings didn’t look much like the team that won the Stanley Cup just 22 months ago. Now, with the Kings on the brink of tying the series, the Sharks are beginning to resemble the team that has made the playoffs 10 straight times but too often falls short of expectations. The Sharks might have to go forward without Canadian Olympic defenceman Marc-Edouard Vlasic, who was injured in Game 5. He did not practise on Sunday.