Who's Hot And Cold In The NHL Playoffs: Hertl Heats Up For Vegas, But Canadiens' Dobson Doesn't
The Stanley Cup playoffs are full of surprises.
The Colorado Avalanche and Carolina Hurricanes surprised when they lost a combined one game in the first two rounds, and yet, the Avs are on the brink of elimination, and the Canes lost home-ice advantage in the Eastern Conference final.
Players on the Vegas Golden Knights and Montreal Canadiens deserve credit for their teams being in this position right now. Vegas has gotten contributions from up and down the lineup and is nearly in the Stanley Cup final. But not every player on Montreal is firing on all cylinders right now.
Canadiens: Channelling The Crowd's Euphoria To Bounce Forward
The Montreal Canadiens will host the Carolina Hurricanes at the Bell Centre on Monday night to play pivotal Game 3 or their best-of-seven series.
Hot: Tomas Hertl, C, Vegas Golden Knights
The Golden Knights are surprising the hockey world by going up 3-0 on the Avalanche in the Western Conference final, and Hertl's contributions are a significant driver of Vegas' success.
This past week, Hertl had the game-winning goal in Game 3 on Sunday, and he's posted three points in three games.
Entering this season, the 32-year-old had limited post-season success with the Golden Knights. Last year, he had only two assists and five points in 11 playoff games. The year before that, Hertl had just one point in seven post-season games. But after his efforts this week, Hertl has six assists and nine points in 15 games.
Hertl's been cold at times this season, but we have to give credit where it's due.
The crazy thing is, Hertl has been generating offense despite his ice time being significantly reduced. Hertl averaged 17:02 of ice time in the regular season, and his playoff career average is 17:58. But Hertl is averaging only 12:50 in these playoffs.
Vegas coach John Tortorella is using a less-is-more tactic with Hertl, and it's working.
Is It Time For The Avalanche To Make A Coaching Change This Summer?
The Colorado Avalanche are down 3-0 to the Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference Finals. If/When they are eliminated from the playoffs, does a change behind the bench need to be made, and could the replacement be closer than they think?
Cold: Brock Nelson, C, Colorado Avalanche
To be clear, the Avalanche trail Vegas 3-0 in their Western Conference final series because many Avs players aren't getting the job done. However, one of Colorado's highest-paid players – Nelson, at $7.5 million per season – is standing out due to his lack of production.
In three games this past week, Nelson failed to put up any points despite firing five shots on net, and he was a minus-four. The 34-year-old's points drought has extended to four games, and he has only two goals and three points in 12 playoff games.
Last year, Nelson had four points in seven post-season games with the Avs, so his struggles on offense this year are obvious. Prior to this season, Nelson had 54 points in 85 playoff games, so he's functioning well below his career playoff point average.
If the Avalanche have any hope of getting back into their series against Vegas, Nelson needs to be considerably better than he's been thus far.
For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.
The Hockey News
This story was originally published May 25, 2026 at 5:03 PM.