It’s a beautiful late-spring Friday evening, and we’ve got two superb hockey games ahead of us. The worst series of the second round, Devils vs Canes, is over, and now all that’s left are gems. We begin with the Leafs trying to stay alive against the Cats.

FLORIDA AT TORONTO

7:00 PM
Florida leads 3-1

I don’t want to speculate about the mass psychology of the Leafs right now, only because everyone else seems so much better at it than I am. I will say obviously they’re psyched to have avoided the sweep. But I heard Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek muse that it might be worse for them to lose badly tonight at home, which seems wrong to me? Isn’t it worse to lose in four games than it is to lose in five games? Anyway, the funniest outcome remains this: LLLWWWL, and so I’m rooting for a Leafs win tonight.

VEGAS AT EDMONTON

10:00 PM
Tied 2-2

Game Four, a 4-1 Oilers win, was controversial, with two suspensions resulting from the final five minutes. First, Edmonton defender Darnell Nurse caught an instigator penalty, which comes with an automatic suspension if late in a game. Then, Vegas defender Alex Pietrangelo axe-chopped Leon Draisaitl after a play. I’m stunned that was only a one-game suspension. Anyway, tonight will be contentious.

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