There's never a shortage of close calls, controversy and players skating the line - occasionally going over it - in the chase for the Stanley Cup.

We're at the halfway of the point in round two. With emotion and intensity continuing to rise, Neil and Vic welcome back a voice of reason, someone to bring down the heat: former NHL referee and current rules analyst for ESPN, Dave Jackson.

Later in the show, we do the deeper dive into all four conference semi-final series and in "The Human Side of the Story," after more than four decades with different roles in hockey, relationships still manage to come full circle for both hosts.

IN THIS EPISODE:

[01:00] - "Three Things You Need to Pay Attention To" provides a quick recap of the Monday games while it appears the hunt for a new general manager is over for the Los Angeles Kings.

[06:40] - Dave Jackson joins the show and adds his take on Sunday's open-ice hit the Maple Leafs Oliver Ekman-Larsson delivered to the Panthers Evan Rodriguez.

[08:58] - Would Max Domi's late Game 4 hit on Aleksander Barkov or Nick Roy's cross check against Trent Frederic in Game 2 of the Edmonton-Vegas have warranted just fines had these infractions taken place during the regular season?

[11:36] - Neil thorizes and Dave offers his thoughts on why goaltenders appear to be getting hurt more now than ever.

[16:36] - Thoughts on why the review of the Alex Petrovic goal in Dallas Sunday appeared to take an unusually long time.

[19:09] - If someone had told you it took 61 games this post-season to have fighting penalties doled out, would you have believed them?

[24:28] - Is it real or imagined that more scrums take place earlier in series and dissipate as that series gets deeper and closer to conclusion?

[26:05] - While a referee is neutral, Dave still can share thoughts what he's seen from various teams during the post-season.

[28:27] - To be a fly on the wall...or the ice. Dave let's us in on some of the banter that takes place between players and officials...and coaches.

[30:46] - As society has changed, Dave tells us how that has affected the tolerance of what can and can't be said on the ice.

[34:43] - Before leaving, Dave sends the reminder that, while officials aren't perfect, they are driven to be their best the same way the players so...as fans it's easy to forget that.

[40:07] - Deeper dive into the Capitals-Hurricanes fourth game.

[45:16] - The Oilers learned from Game 3 not to let up off the gas as they built a similar first period lead in Game 4 with the Golden Knights.

[48:43] - The Maple Leafs look to reverse the fortunes of Games 3 and 4 against the Panthers Wednesday.

[53:16] - If the Winnipeg Jets are to see the West Final, they will have to figure out how to win a road game. They have one, maybe two, chances to do so as they try to even their second round series with Dallas Tuesday.

[56:50] - The Human Side of the Story: Relationships and re-connections are even more valuable now to both Neil and Vic even after over four decades of involvement with hockey.

X: https://twitter.com/NHLWraparound

Neil Smith: https://twitter.com/NYCNeil

Vic Morren: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vic-morren-7038737/

NHL Wraparound Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/nhlwraparound/

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