The puck stops here: Way out of West may rest on goaltenders
DENVER — Beyond the marquee matchup featuring Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon there’s another just as intriguing — the goaltenders responsible for stopping two of the best scorers in the world. They’re each embracing the challenge, too, as the Western Conference final starts Tuesday night in Denver. Colorado goaltender Darcy...
West final boasts Nathan MacKinnon versus Connor McDavid, 2 speedy teams
DENVER — The headline act for the Western Conference final: Connor McDavid against Nathan MacKinnon. The show is about to get real good. This is a series sure to generate lots of end-to-end, fast-paced, goal-scoring entertainment as McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers meet MacKinnon and the Colorado Avalanche starting Tuesday...
Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin new king of New YorkVideo
Igor Shesterkin pulls the mask up on top of his head, takes a sip of water and looks around. Instead of squirting the bottle through the cage and shuffling back into position, he takes a few seconds to soak in the atmosphere. “He has that grin like he’s loving every...
McDavid, Oilers eliminate Flames in OT, on to West finals
CALGARY, Alberta — Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl dominated the first playoff Battle of Alberta in 31 years. It was fitting Edmonton’s dynamic duo combined to end it. McDavid scored at 5:03 of overtime and the Oilers defeated the Calgary Flames 5-4 on Thursday night in Game 5 of the...
First Call: Who is Steelers most underappreciated player; Pittsburgh connections help Hurricanes beat Rangers
Friday’s “First Call” debates the Steelers most “underappreciated player.” We also look ahead to the Pirates game against Joe Musgrove. And some Pittsburgh connections played a role in the Carolina Hurricanes win over the New York Rangers on Thursday night. Plus, a happy anniversary for the Penguins, but a sad...
Hurricanes win Game 5, push Rangers to brink of eliminationVideo
RALEIGH, N.C. — Upper St. Clair’s Vincent Trocheck buried a short-handed goal, Teuvo Teravainen had a rare power-play score for Carolina and the Hurricanes beat the New York Rangers, 3-1, on Thursday night to take a 3-2 lead in the second-round playoff series. Andrei Svechnikov also scored, beating Igor Shesterkin...
Mike Sielski: Claude Giroux’s star-crossed career adds another missed Stanley Cup chapter
PHILADELPHIA — Claude Giroux had begun to acknowledge the inevitability of his situation years ago. It was the summer of 2018, just before the Flyers’ first day of training camp. Dave Hakstol had helped him revitalize his career the season before, moving him from center to left wing. With the...
Capitals’ Tom Wilson out 6-8 months after knee surgeryVideo
ARLINGTON, Va. — Washington Capitals right winger Tom Wilson is expected to miss six to eight months after undergoing surgery to reconstruct the torn ACL in his left knee. The team announced Wednesday that Wilson had a successful ACL replacement procedure a day earlier — four weeks after injuring the...
Rangers power past Hurricanes in Game 4 to even series
NEW YORK — Andrew Copp had a goal and two assists, and Frank Vatrano and Adam Fox each had a goal and an assist as the New York Rangers beat the Carolina Hurricanes, 4-1, in Game 4 on Tuesday night, evening the second-round series. Mika Zibanejad also scored, Ryan Lindgren...
For Panthers, regular season success didn’t lead to Stanley Cup runVideo
SUNRISE, Fla. — There will be a Presidents’ Trophy banner hanging over the Florida Panthers’ home ice next season. The team’s media relations department will spend its summer rewriting the record book because tons of pages need updating. And the earliest that the Panthers will again have to hear about...
First Call: Aaron Donald not at OTAs yet; NFL free agents at positions of need for Steelers; ex-Penguin stays hot in playoffs
Tuesday’s “First Call” updates the Aaron Donald situation in Los Angeles. We check in on potential free agents the Pittsburgh Steelers may want to investigate. A rematch of an ex-Pirate pitching duel takes a turn. And a former Penguin stays hot in the postseason. A.D.’s day Los Angeles Rams star...
Andrei Vasilevskiy, Lightning blank Panthers to complete sweep
TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Lightning are running out of superlatives to describe Andrei Vasilevskiy’s dominance. The reigning Conn Symthe Trophy winner delivered another stellar playoff performance for the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions Monday night, stopping 49 shots to beat the Florida Panthers, 2-0, and finish a four-game...
NHL, St. Louis police looking into threats made toward Nazem Kadri
The NHL said Monday that St. Louis police are investigating threats made toward Colorado Avalanche forward Nazem Kadri, who has been the subject of racist social media posts since he was involved in a collision that ended the season of Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington. Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly told The...
Mika Zibanejad leads Rangers to 1st win over Hurricanes in Game 3
NEW YORK — After two tough losses on the road put them in another series deficit, the New York Rangers again bounced back with a big home win. Mika Zibanejad had a goal and an assist, Igor Shesterkin stopped 43 shots and the Rangers beat the Carolina Hurricanes, 3-1, on...
Mike Sielski: Why the Flyers’ 47-year Stanley Cup drought won’t end soon
PHILADELPHIA — As of Friday, May 27, it will have been 47 years since the Flyers last won the Stanley Cup. If you have a fondness for the sadomasochistic, you can continue parsing that number to illustrate just how long that drought has been: 17,168 days, 411,744 hours, and on...
Ross Colton scores late, Lightning beat Panthers in Game 2
SUNRISE, Fla. — Ross Colton scored with 3.8 seconds remaining, giving the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning a 2-1 victory over the Florida Panthers in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals on Thursday night. The stunning finish put the Lightning up 2-0 in the best-of-seven series...
Predators extend coach John Hynes, assistants through 23-24Video
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Nashville Predators extended the contracts of coach John Hynes and his assistants through the 2023-24 season, trying to build on a season with several individual successes for a franchise that wound up being swept in the playoffs for the first time. General manager David Poile announced...
Maple Leafs say Mitch Marner was victim of carjackingVideo
TORONTO — Maple Leafs winger Mitch Marner was the victim of a carjacking in Toronto, the team said Tuesday as city police investigated. Marner was not hurt in the carjacking that took place in east Toronto on Monday evening, the team said. “He was unharmed in the incident and the...
Expect more traditional playoff hockey in NHL’s 2nd round
With full arenas around North America buzzing for the NHL playoffs for the first time in three years, the first round overflowed with energy that sometimes amounted to blowouts and full penalty boxes. By the time almost every series reached Game 6 — and five got to Game 7 —...
Golden Knights fire Peter DeBoer after missing playoffs
LAS VEGAS — The Vegas Golden Knights fired coach Peter DeBoer on Monday in the aftermath of missing the playoffs for the first time in their five-year franchise history. General manager Kelly McCrimmon made the announcement and thanked DeBoer for his work with the organization. “Since joining the organization, Pete...
Islanders promote longtime Barry Trotz assistant Lane Lambert
When the New York Islanders fired coach Barry Trotz, general manager Lou Lamoriello believed the team needed a new voice. That new voice is coming from inside the same coaches’ room. The Islanders on Monday named Lane Lambert as Trotz’s replacement, giving his longtime assistant his first head coaching job...
Rematch round: Blues-Avalanche, Panthers-Lightning up nextVideo
Florida Panthers deadline addition Brandon Montour might not have had a rooting interest in Game 7 between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night. Many of his teammates who got eliminated by the Lightning were happy to see the back-to-back defending Stanley Cup champions win to...
Capitals out in 1st round for 4th time since winning Cup in 2018
WASHINGTON — Alex Ovechkin thinks it’s pretty messed up that the Washington Capitals haven’t won a playoff series since hoisting the Stanley Cup in 2018. This time, they have only themselves to blame. “We have it, but we just blow it away,” Ovechkin said Friday night after his team’s Game...
Max Domi, Antti Raanta help Hurricanes close out Bruins in Game 7
RALEIGH, N.C. — Max Domi scored twice in the second period, and Antti Raanta had 27 saves to help the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Boston Bruins, 3-2, on Saturday to win the deciding Game 7 of their first-round playoff series. Teuvo Teravainen also scored for the Hurricanes, who finally put...
Panthers beat Capitals in OT, win 1st playoff series since 1996Video
WASHINGTON — On the wrong side of a comeback effort this time, the Florida Panthers rebounded in overtime and made sure they wouldn’t need to go home to finish their first-round series. Carter Verhaeghe scored the OT winner to send the Panthers to the second round by beating the Washington...
