Top Line: Questions loom for Canadiens; Sidney Crosby ripped; more links

Martin St. Louis scored the first of seven goals in the Rangers' dominant win over the Canadiens. (Minas Panagiotakis/Icon SMI)

By Allan Muir

An annotated guide to this morning's must-read hockey stories:

• The shell-shocked Canadiens are looking for answers after that Game 1 debacle. Even if you saw the game, Cathal Kelly's piece is worth reading for the first five grafs alone.

• Somewhere in New York is an editor who should be very happy with him/herself.

• Was the decision to yank Carey Price a mercy pulling or was Montreal's most important player injured in a goal mouth collision with Chris Kreider?

• The support for Martin St. Louis in Montreal is unconditional, writes Jack Todd. So how do you go from that to wanting to kick his butt?

• Montreal GM offered a vote of confidence for coach Michel Therrien in the wake of the Game 1 blowout loss. Man, that's a tough town.

• How easy did the Habs make it for the Rangers? Even Rick Nash scored, fer cryin' out loud!

• Mark Lazerus offers up five X-factors that could tilt a Western Conference Final that looks too close to call.

• The big question for the Kings as they head into the opener of the WCF: how do they handle the quick turnaround after a tough seven-game set against their arch-rivals from Anaheim?

• Yes, they float during the regular season, and at times during the playoffs, but Tony Gallagher says the Blackhawks can find the switch when it matters most.

• Los Angeles GM Dean Lombardi set a goal for the Kings back in 2009. He's on the verge of achieving it.

• Rob Tychkowski lists five things to watch for in the Western Conference Final.

• Joe Starkey eviscerates Sidney Crosby for his role in the failure of the Penguins this spring and the firing of Pittsburgh GM Ray Shero. You don't want to miss this one.

• Could Shero wind up in Vancouver as the next GM of the Vancouver Canucks? Jason Botchford tempers the enthusiasm for the idea by laying out his best, and worst, decisions in Pittsburgh.

• Fluto Shinzawa breaks down the tweaks needed to return Boston to Stanley Cup contention next season.

• Ron Hextall doesn't expect to make major changes in his first summer as the GM in Philadelphia, but he has identified one area that could use an upgrade.

• General managers will tell you they've never seen as much off-ice desperation as they have in this craziest of NHL seasons.

• R.J. Umberger reportedly wants out of Columbus and it sounds like the Blue Jackets are willing to accommodate him. That $4.6 million cap hit might make it tough though to move a player who would slot in as a depth forward on most clubs.

• The perception of the Dallas Stars has changed both locally and nationally, but is that enough to satisfy team owner Tom Gagliardi?

• Mike Keenan talks about the KHL’s standard of play, Russia’s crazy drivers, karaoke and the possibility of an NHL return in this wide-ranging interview with Matt Larkin.

• Let's close it up with a video from the IIHF in which former NHL official Dan Marouelli and retired tough guy Shane Hnidy talk about the place of fighting in the NHL: