Colorado Avalanche coach Jared Bednar refused to use injury as an excuse after his side were routed 4-0 by the NHL-leading Boston Bruins on Wednesday.

The short-handed Avs slumped to their third straight loss amid a swathe of injuries that have hit the squad, forcing them to call up Cal Burke, Ben Meyers, Sampo Ranta and Andreas Englund from the Colorado Eagles of the AHL.

Colorado, who won last season's Stanley Cup, have used a league-high 34 players this season.

"Listen, if you're quitting, you shouldn't be in the league," Bednar told reporters. "It's a privilege to play in this league.

"It's not always going to be easy. It's a hard game. That's one. Moral victories? We’re going to take it, and we’re going to teach it.

"If this group stays the exact same moving forward for the next one game, two games, five games, I expect us to be better the next game.

"They're going to learn as a group, what it takes to be able to play in this league, what it takes to be able to have success in this league."

For the Bruins, the win improved their overall record to 21-3-1, with Taylor Hall scoring twice along with David Pastrnak and Trent Frederic adding goals. Goaltender Linus Ullmark stopped 23 shots.

Boston's 14-game NHL-record home win streak had come to an end on Monday with a 4-3 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights, with coach Jim Montgomery delighted with Wednesday's response at altitude in Denver.

"Just the response we had after losing the game and ending our [winning] streak at home, we come back and get on the road, and it was a great start to our road trip," Montgomery said.

"We made some big blocks. I thought Brandon Carlo was outstanding on the penalty kill and made some really smart offensive zone plays, too."

Just over a week after he was fired by the Boston Bruins, Bruce Cassidy has been hired as the next coach of the Vegas Golden Knights.

Cassidy guided the Bruins to the playoffs in each of his seasons and compiled a 245-108-46 record during his tenure in Boston. He led the team to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2018-19 before losing to the St. Louis Blues in seven games.

In the following season, Cassidy won the Jack Adams Award as the top coach in the league after the Bruins finished with the NHL’s best record (44-14-12).

Despite that success and coming off a 51-26-5 record this past season, Cassidy was fired on June 6, a month after the Bruins lost a seven-game first-round series against the Carolina Hurricanes.

"The Golden Knights are very pleased to have Bruce come in to coach our team," Golden Knights General Manager Kelly McCrimmon said.

"His success in Boston over six years is extremely impressive. His teams have had a clear identity, having been among the very best in the NHL in terms of goals for, goals against, goal differential and special teams. This is the right coach for our team at this time."

Cassidy fills the opening left when Vegas fired Peter DeBoer on May 16 after the team missed the playoffs for the first time in the franchise’s five-year history.

"I am excited to join an organisation that shares my commitment to winning and can’t wait to work with the talent that has been assembled in Vegas," Cassidy said.

"It’s been impressive to watch the city embrace the Golden Knights from afar, and my family and I look forward to becoming a part of that."

Cassidy is 292-155-53 as a head coach in the NHL, also serving as the Washington Capitals coach for two seasons (2002-2004).

The Boston Bruins have taken the "extremely difficult decision" to fire coach Bruce Cassidy despite reaching the playoffs in each of his six seasons.

Cassidy was appointed as coach in February 2017 – initially on an interim basis – having served as assistant since the start of the 2016-17 season. He had previously led the AHL Providence Bruins.

The Bruins made the former Washington Capitals coach their permanent hire in April of that year, and Boston made the playoffs.

The team had been missing from the postseason in the previous two seasons but would go on to be regulars with Cassidy behind the bench.

He took the Bruins all the way to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals in 2019, only to lose to the St. Louis Blues.

Despite the Bruins continuing to make the playoffs, that was as close as Cassidy would come to adding a seventh championship, this year losing in the first round to the Carolina Hurricanes.

Cassidy leaves Boston having overseen 399 regular season games, the fifth-most in team history. With a record of 245-108-46, he is tied third for most Bruins wins.

General manager Don Sweeney explained his dismissal, saying in a statement: "Today I informed Bruce Cassidy that I was making a change.

"After 14 years working with Bruce, this was an extremely difficult decision.

"I want to thank and acknowledge Bruce for all his work and success with the Bruins organisation. His record for the Bruins is impressive, and we are appreciative of Bruce both professionally and personally.

"After taking some time to fully digest everything, I felt that the direction of our team for both this season and beyond would benefit from a new voice."

Nick Paul scored twice, including a stunning individual goal late in the second period, as the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-1 in Game 7 on Saturday.

The two-time defending Stanley Cup champions came from a goal down in the previous two games, and had to do it again on the road at the Scotiabank Arena after Thursday's overtime win to level the series.

Morgan Reilly scored for Toronto but Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped an eventual 29 shots to keep the Lightning in the game, before Paul's brace secured the series win.

The Leafs were condemned to their seventh consecutive playoff series loss, and have not made the second round since 2004. After the match, Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe commended the reigning champions on their series win.

"They [Tampa Bay] don’t get a lot of credit because you don’t really think of them this way, but we knew coming into this series that going into third periods down against this team was going to be a challenge," he said post-game.

"They are the number-one team in the NHL when it comes to limiting chances against when up a goal in the third period. All regular season, they were that.

"That is sort of the hallmark of their success. That is championship hockey. They didn’t give us a great deal in that third period tonight. Those are the things I take away - just how hard they defend and how they prioritise defending."

In Saturday's other results, the Carolina Hurricanes won their series-deciding game at home to the Boston Bruins 3-2, while the Edmonton Oilers claimed Game 7 against the Los Angeles Kings with a 2-0 win.

Brayden Point scored the winning goal in overtime and forced a Game 7, as the Tampa Bay Lightning secured a thrilling 4-3 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday.

Ondrej Palat, Anthony Cirelli and Nikita Kucherov also scored for the reigning Stanley Cup champions, but they had to battle until 1:56 remaining in overtime for Point's sealer.

The Lightning had to fight their way back from 3-2 down in the final period with their season on the line, after Leafs captain John Tavares scored twice in the second period's closing 34 seconds.

With his side dropping a lead for the second straight game, Tavares said the focus is now on regrouping as the series heads back to Toronto for the decider.

"We worked hard all year to earn home ice and we've got a great opportunity going home in front of our fans to try to close this thing out," he said.

"So just regroup here, and look forward to the opportunity. This is what the game's all about."

The Boston Bruins also forced a Game 7 after they defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 5-2, while the St. Louis Blues advanced to the second round, beating the Minnesota Wild 5-1 in Game 6.

In Thursday's final game, the Edmonton Oilers evened their series up with the Los Angeles Kings in Game 6, winning 4-2.

Auston Matthews says his game-winner was "pretty special" after the Toronto Maple Leafs battled back from two goals down to win 4-3 over the Tampa Bay Lightning in the NHL playoffs on Tuesday.

The Maple Leafs trailed 2-0 after the first period but rallied with Matthews settling the contest with their third goal in the third period.

The win means Toronto lead 3-2 in the best-of-seven series against the reigning Stanley Cup champions.

"It was pretty special," Matthews told reporters, speaking about the goal. "To battle back from down two goals, and never losing hope and competing, that was big."

Matthews led the NHL across the regular season with 60 goals but he had not scored in the playoffs since Game 1 of the series.

Teammate John Tavares, who pulled one back during the second-period power play, praised the NHL's back-to-back Rocket Richard Trophy winner Matthews, who was also credited with seven hits.

"His whole game is all just really good," Tavares said. "When you score 60 goals, that's going to get [discussed], and how he scores it in different ways and the uniqueness of his shot in his abilities, but his all-around game is as good as anybody's in the league.

"He's going to play hard and compete because they're making it hard on him to earn his ice and opportunities, so good for him to play them hard."

The victory means Toronto are one win away from the franchise's first playoff series victory since 2004.

"I just think we needed to possess the puck a little bit more," Matthews said. "Get on top of them and be forechecking and not giving them as much time and space. We were on top of them and had our heads up to make plays."

Elsewhere, Adrian Kempe's over-time goal earned the Los Angeles Kings a 5-4 win over the Edmonton Oilers, having blown a 3-1 lead.

The goal was Kempe's second of the game, as he finished with a three-point performance. The result puts the Kings up 3-2 in the series.

The Carolina Hurricanes also moved up 3-2 in their series against the Boston Bruins with an emphatic 5-1 win after losing their past two.

Rookie Seth Jarvis scored twice and Antti Raanta finished with 34 saves.

The St Louis Blues piled on three third-period goals, all from a Vladimir Tarasenko hat-trick, to secure a 5-2 win over the Minnesota Wild to lead their series 3-2.

Tony DeAngelo saved special praise for rookie goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov after the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Boston Bruins 5-2 on Wednesday.

Kochetkov was thrust into the spotlight for his playoff debut as the Hurricanes took a 2-0 lead in what is becoming a fiery series.

With Frederik Andersen already down, tempers boiled over as the Canes had to turn to Kochetkov after Antti Raanta was struck in the head by David Pastrnak's glove as he skated past.

The two teams traded words and big hits throughout, and defenseman DeAngelo made it clear where the Hurricanes stand with the Bruins in this series.

"We're not going to get pushed around, I guarantee you that," he said.

DeAngelo was glowing of Kochetkov's demeanour after the first-period change and his ability to keep it simple in a heated environment, making 30 saves.

"I think he's real calm," his team-mate said. "You don't see any jitters, at least in my eyes. I don't know what he's feeling inside. I'm sure he's a little nervous. Anybody would be, right?

"But I thought he was real calm in the net. He made a lot of saves, wasn't trying to do too much. He was calm. Coming into goal in the first period in a playoff game as a rookie after coming here a few weeks ago, he was really good."

Elsewhere on Wednesday, the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Minnesota Wild tied up their respective series against the Toronto Maple Leafs and the St. Louis Blues with wins.

The Edmonton Oilers also tied up their series, smashing the Los Angeles Kings in a 6-0 shutout.

The NHL's leading goal-scorer and MVP candidate Auston Matthews slotted home two more in the Toronto Maple Leafs' 5-0 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 1 of their playoff series.

Matthews – who is first player since 2011-12 to score 60 goals in a season – got on the scoresheet early in the second period to make it 2-0 for Toronto after Jake Muzzin's opener to close the first frame.

Mitchell Marner assisted the first Matthews goal and also set up David Kampf to make it 3-0, before he got on the scoresheet himself to make it four, capping off a brilliant second period.

Matthews scored his second goal of the game to round out the rout in the last period, with Morgan Reilly collecting his second assist in the process.

Speaking to post-game media, Matthews gave plenty of credit to the Maple Leafs' penalty-killing unit after the Lightning failed to score from five power-play attempts, as well as his running-mate Marner.

"I thought we played fast, we played through the contact," he said. "Our penalty-kill [unit] was huge tonight, I thought that brought us a lot of momentum.

"I thought [Marner] was incredible. He was all over the puck – so much poise – he's just doing his thing out there. 

"It's fun to watch, and fun to be out there with him. I know he's going to continue to elevate, so we've got to look for everybody to do that as well.

"We were able to capitalise on some chances, so I thought it was a really good effort by us. But it's a series – it's going to be a long series – and there's a really good team on the other end. 

"They'll be ready to go next game, so we've got to watch this one, learn from it, and move on to the next one."

Matthews also highlighted the energy inside the building as the Toronto crowd tries to will their team to their first series win since 2004.

"It was humming here tonight," he said. "It was just electric through all 60 minutes.

"I think that's what playoff hockey is all about, the atmosphere and everything. 

"It's been a while since we've been in front of our fans in front of a full arena in the playoffs, so there's a lot of excitement, and the guys fed off the energy."

It was a similarly dominant showing for the Carolina Hurricanes, as they beat the Boston Bruins 5-1 at home.

There were five individual goal-scorers for the Hurricanes as Seth Jarvis, Nino Niederreiter, Teuvo Teravainen, Vincent Trocheck and Andrei Svechnikov put in one each.

The St Louis Blues collected an important road win against the Minnesota Wild, scoring twice in the opening period on the way to a 4-0 result.

David Perron was the man of the hour for the Blues, capping off his hat-trick with the final goal of the game, while Torey Krug had three assists.

The most competitive game of the night was the Los Angeles Kings' trip to take on the Edmonton Oilers, escaping with a 4-3 road win.

After two action-packed periods the sides were tied at 3-3 going into the last, with a late Phillip Danault goal proving to be the difference.

Jared Bednar believes Taylor Hall's hit on Nathan MacKinnon is the type of challenge the NHL is looking to phase out.

The Colorado Avalanche had to play most of Wednesday's meeting with the Boston Bruins without five-time All-Star MacKinnon after Hall connected with his shoulder in the first period.

Hall's shot to the upper body resulted in MacKinnon's own stick snapping up into his face, causing bleeding from his nose as the Avs star lay on the ice.

MacKinnon left the ice and did not return, while Hall was given a five-minute major that was reduced to two minutes after a review.

Colorado went on to win 4-3 in overtime and sit top of the Central Division in the Western Conference with 30 victories this season, the highest total in the league.

Though coach Bednar thought the right decision had been made in regard to Hall's penalty, he claimed it is the type of dangerous hit that the league is hoping to force out of the game.

"I believe they probably made the right call with the two [minutes],'' Bednar told reporters.

"But it's the type of hit, whether it's really solid or just a glancing blow, it's the kind of hit the league is trying to get rid of.''

Bednar also confirmed that MacKinnon had come around after the blow and would be assessed ahead further on Thursday, with the Avalanche in action again on Friday against the Chicago Blackhawks.

The Avalanche, who led through Kurtis MacDermid early on, were down 3-1 in the third period before Samuel Girard pulled one back. Gabriel Landeskog tied the game with 36.5 seconds remaining before Cale Makar sealed the comeback win in overtime. 

"Not fun seeing one of your best friends and obviously your top player on the ice bleeding like that,'' added Landeskog.

"We didn't want to give up. We wanted to keep going. We got the big two points, keeping this thing going at home.''

The Avs have now won 17 games straight at home, just six behind the league record set by the 2011-12 Detroit Red Wings.

"That's our biggest win of the year," Bednar said.