Tim Benz: Robert Morris hockey coaches must help players to transfer while maintaining hope programs can return
As supporters of Robert Morris ice hockey hold out hope that some sort of 11th-hour development may save the recently eliminated men’s and women’s programs, the coaches are taking on a gut-wrenching job. Men’s head coach Derek Schooley and women’s head coach Paul Colontino are tasked with dismantling their rosters,...
Canadiens rout Jets, take commanding 3-0 series leadVideo
MONTREAL — Joel Armia had two goals and an assist, Carey Price made 26 saves and the Montreal Canadiens defeated the Winnipeg Jets, 5-1, on Sunday night to take a 3-0 lead in their second-round playoff series. Corey Perry, Artturi Lehkonen and Nick Suzuki also scored for the Canadiens, who...
Canada grants NHL cross-border travel exemption for playoffs
The NHL received an exemption from Canadian health officials allowing cross-border travel for teams starting in the semifinal round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, the league announced on Sunday. When in Canada, teams will be required to stay in a bubble and be tested daily for COVID-19, similar to the...
Mathew Barzal makes difference as Islanders even series with BruinsVideo
UNIONDALE, N.Y. — Mathew Barzal broke a tie late in the third period, and the New York Islanders beat the Boston Bruins, 4-1, on Saturday night to even the second-round playoff series at two games apiece. Kyle Palmieri, Casey Cizikas and Jean-Gabriel Pageau also scored for New York, and Semyon...
Lightning take commanding series lead over HurricanesVideo
TAMPA, Fla. — Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos each had two goals and an assist, and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Carolina Hurricanes, 6-4, on Saturday to open a commanding lead in their second-round playoff series. The defending Stanley Cup champions improved to 10-0 in games following a playoff...
Islanders’ new home arena on horizonVideo
NEW YORK — On a rainy morning at Belmont Park, boots are an absolute necessity to trudge through the mud at the construction site of the New York Islanders’ new arena. It’s been a slog to get to this point, but brighter days are ahead. After more than a decade...
Jets’ Mark Scheifele won’t appeal ‘excessive’ 4-game suspension
WINNIPEG, Manitoba — Winnipeg Jets forward Mark Scheifele won’t appeal his four-game suspension for a crushing blow to the head and shoulder of Montreal’s Jake Evans. Scheifele called the NHL’s decision “excessive” but said Friday he doesn’t want to be a distraction for his team. He added that he did...
Jordan Staal scores in OT, Hurricanes beat Lightning in Game 3
TAMPA, Fla. — Jordan Staal scored on a power play at 5:57 of overtime to give the Carolina Hurricanes a 3-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night in Game 3 of the second-round series. Staal deflected Sebastien Aho’s shot with Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov serving a penalty...
Mark Madden: Mark Scheifele’s hit has polarized hockey fans, but the incident has shades of gray
Near the conclusion of Wednesday’s NHL playoff game between Montreal and Winnipeg, the Canadiens’ Jake Evans scored a game-clinching empty-net goal on a wraparound. The Jets’ Mark Scheifele chugged into Evans just after he scored and knocked him flying. Evans received on-ice medical treatment for 10 minutes, then got stretchered...
First Call: Can the Maulers return in the new USFL?; a snag in Robert Morris hockey talks already; Jordan Staal comes up big
Friday’s “First Call” wonders if a return of the Pittsburgh Maulers could be coming. Brandon Saad and Jordan Staal are keeping Pittsburgh hockey fans interested in the NHL playoffs. Gerrit Cole gets burned by an ex-Pirates teammate. And things may already be going backward in the Robert Morris hockey negotiations....
Brad Marchand scores in OT, Bruins beat Islanders in Game 3
UNIONDALE, N.Y. — Brad Marchand knew he didn’t have a great angle on his shot in overtime. He just fired the puck at the net and it got past Islanders goalie Semyon Varlamov. Marchand scored 3:36 into overtime and the Boston Bruins beat New York 2-1 Thursday night in Game...
Jets’ Mark Scheifele suspended 4 games for late hit on Canadiens’ Jake EvansVideo
NEW YORK — Winnipeg Jets forward Mark Scheifele was suspended for four games by the NHL on Thursday night for a crushing late hit on Montreal’s Jake Evans in Game 1 of the second-round series. Evans was taken off the ice on a stretcher with 57 seconds left Wednesday night...
Canadiens’ Game 1 win tempered by late hit on Jake Evans
WINNIPEG, Manitoba — Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Eric Staal scored early goals and Montreal beat the Winnipeg Jets, 5-3, on Wednesday night in Game 1 of the second-round series, a victory tempered by a scary late-game hit on Canadiens center Jake Evans. Playing on his 25th birthday, Evans was taken off...
Last-place Sabres win draft lottery; Kraken get No. 2 pick
BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Buffalo Sabres won the NHL Draft lottery, and the expansion Seattle Kraken jumped up the order to take the No. 2 pick Wednesday night. The Sabres have the No. 1 pick for the fourth time in franchise history and second in three years. It marks a...
Andrei Vasilevskiy, Tampa Bay top Carolina for 2-0 series lead
RALEIGH, N.C. — Andrei Vasilevskiy has spent two games turning nearly every shot away for the Tampa Bay Lightning. A couple more, and the reigning Stanley Cup champions could be headed to the next round. Alex Killorn and Anthony Cirelli scored while Vasilevskiy carried a shutout into the final minutes,...
Golden Knights’ Marc-Andre Fleury, Avalanche’s Philipp Grubauer to face offVideo
DENVER — On one end of the ice will be Philipp Grubauer, a recently named Vezina Trophy finalist. At the other end will be Marc-Andre Fleury, who’s up for the same award. Now that’s quite a goaltender faceoff for Game 2 on Wednesday in a second-round series between Colorado and...
Casey Cizikas’ OT goal lifts Islanders past Bruins in Game 2
BOSTON — Casey Cizikas saw the open ice ahead. And he knew the Boston defense would be coming on quickly. “I knew that D-man was going to be tracking me hard,” Cizikas said Monday night after his breakaway goal with 14:48 gone in overtime gave the Islanders a 4-3 victory...
Price has 29 saves as Canadiens top Maple Leafs, 3-1, in Game 7Video
TORONTO (AP) — Carey Price made 29 saves, and the Montreal Canadiens advanced to the second round by beating the Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-1, in Game 7 on Monday night. Brendan Gallagher, Corey Perry and Tyler Toffoli scored for the Canadiens, who stormed back from a 3-1 deficit for the...
Vegas’ Ryan Reaves suspended 2 games for hit vs. Avalanche
DENVER — Vegas forward Ryan Reaves was suspended two games by the NHL on Monday for his roughing and unsportsmanlike conduct on Colorado’s Ryan Graves during the Golden Knights’ 7-1 loss in Game 1 of their second-round series Sunday. The NHL’s Department of Player Safety announced earlier in the day...
Lightning beat Hurricanes 2-1 in series opener
RALEIGH, N.C. — Andrei Vasilevskiy turned away almost everything, while Barclay Goodrow came through with an opportunistic go-ahead goal midway through the third period. And just like that, the Tampa Bay Lightning responded to another road environment with the confidence forged amid last year’s Stanley Cup championship run. Goodrow beat...
Avalanche blaze past Knights 7-1 in penalty-filled Game 1
DENVER — The book on Nathan MacKinnon and the Colorado Avalanche: They’re extremely speedy. An overlooked chapter in that book: They can turn physical, too, when push comes to shove. MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog each scored twice and the well-rested Avalanche made quick work of Vegas with their speed, beating...
CP: NHL working on Canadian travel exemption for playoffs
OTTAWA — The NHL and health authorities reportedly are working on a travel exemption that would let the winner of the all-Canadian North Division and an American opponent cross the border during the final two rounds of the playoffs, including the Stanley Cup Final. The exemption would let teams enter...
Pastrnak has hat trick as Bruins blast Islanders 5-2
A six-day layoff in between games did nothing to slow the Boston Bruins and David Pastrnak. Pastrnak got his second career playoff hat trick and the Bruins opened the second round of the playoffs with a 5-2 win over the New York Islanders on Saturday night. “I think our guys...
Canadiens beat Maple Leafs 3-2 in OT to force Game 7
MONTREAL (AP) — Jesperi Kotkaniemi scored at 15:15 of overtime and the Montreal Canadiens beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 on Saturday night to force Game 7 in the first-round series. Corey Perry and Tyler Toffoli also scored and Carey Price made 41 saves in front of the first Canadian...
Trade-deadline acquisitions making big difference in NHL playoffsVideo
Just when the New York Islanders got finished with Jeff Carter lighting it up against them with Pittsburgh, they face another significant trade deadline pickup in Taylor Hall and the Boston Bruins. The Islanders might not even be in the second round if not for a trade to get Kyle...
