Stanley Cup playoffs takeaways: Maple Leafs in control; Hagel should be suspended

Tampa Bay's Brandon Hagel should be suspended

The Tampa Bay Lightning could be in some trouble in their first-round series against the Florida Panthers.

Not only did Thursday's 2-0 loss put them into a 2-0 series deficit, but they could also be facing the possibility of being without one of their top forwards in Brandon Hagel.

At least, they should be if the NHL's Department of Player Safety does its job.

Hagel was assessed a five-minute major for interference for a brutal, late hit to Panthers star Aleksander Barkov. 

That is simply not a good hit, and Hagel is very fortunate he was not ejected from the game.

Barkov did not have possession of the puck, it was not close to him and it was a high hit toward his head. It is the type of hit that should be textbook for a suspension. But with the DoPS, there is always some uncertainty as to what they are going to do, especially when it comes to the playoffs.

Hits like that should not be tolerated.

Barkov, who is one of Florida's best players, exited and did not return, and there was no update on his status after the game. 

Kirill Kaprizov making early Conn Smythe case

The Minnesota Wild did not get much attention coming into the playoffs given the way they stumbled down the stretch run of the regular season. But injuries played a big role in those struggles, and now that they are healthy, they are starting to show what they can do.

The biggest return has been star forward Kirill Kaprizov who missed half of the season due to injury. He was having an MVP-caliber season when healthy, and he has picked that right back up so far in the playoffs.

He scored two more goals on Thursday to help the Wild roll to a 5-2 win and take a 2-1 series lead over the Vegas Golden Knights.

It might be early in the playoffs, but he is definitely in the Conn Smythe Trophy discussion so far. 

He has now scored two goals in consecutive games, and in the first three games of the series, he has four goals, three assists and seven total points. 

Connor Hellebuyck still has something to prove

Connor Hellebuyck is one of the best goalies in the NHL during the regular season and is one of the biggest reasons the Winnipeg Jets finished with the best record in the league. He has won two Vezina Trophies already, has a real chance to win a third this season and should probably get more MVP love.

For all of that success, he still has to answer critics for the way his past two playoff runs have gone and how poorly he played in them. After a strong start to their first-round series against the St. Louis Blues, those postseason struggles resurfaced on Thursday in a blowout loss that saw him allow six goals on 25 shots before getting benched.