Anders Lee stakes Islanders to series lead over CapitalsVideo
TORONTO — New York Islanders coach Barry Trotz isn’t surprised the Washington Capitals, his former team, is unhappy with Anders Lee. Trotz didn’t see anything wrong with Lee’s play in a 4-2 first-round series playoff-opening victory in which the New York captain set the tone with a big hit on...
Bruins win opener against Hurricanes in double overtimeVideo
TORONTO — After being told to come back the next morning because another game lasted five overtimes, the Boston Bruins didn’t want to repeat history so quickly. “We talked about trying to end this before the fifth overtime,” Patrice Bergeron said. Bergeron accomplished that by scoring early in double overtime,...
Avalanche score 3 third-period goals to shut out CoyotesVideo
EDMONTON, Alberta — Nazem Kadri and J.T. Compher scored 10 seconds apart in the third period, Philipp Grubauer stopped 14 shots and the Colorado Avalanche opened the Stanley Cup playoffs with a 3-0 victory over the Arizona Coyotes on Wednesday. Colorado dominated the Coyotes through the first two periods, outshooting...
NHLPA’s Donald Fehr buoyed by zero positive tests; ‘So far so good’
TORONTO — Zero players testing positive for covid-19 in the two weeks since NHL teams arrived at their two respective playoff hub cities. And a powerful opening night statement on social and racial justice issues made by the league and its players. Given the uncertainty professional hockey faced in placing...
Robin Lehner, Golden Knights shut down Blackhawks in opener
EDMONTON, Alberta — Robin Lehner had more trouble with one of his skates than he did with his former team. Reilly Smith, Shea Theodore and the Vegas Golden Knights took good care of their goaltender Tuesday night. Theodore and William Carrier scored 2:17 apart midway through the second period, Lehner...
Dillon Dube scores twice as Flames beat Stars in Game 1Video
EDMONTON, Alberta — Rasmus Andersson snapped a tie after Dillon Dube scored twice in the first period for the confident Calgary Flames, who beat the Dallas Stars, 3-2, in Game 1 of their best-of-seven Western Conference playoff series Tuesday. “It feels good. You can feel the chemistry in the room...
Lightning outlast Blue Jackets in 5-OT series openerVideo
TORONTO — Brayden Point scored 10 minutes, 27 seconds into the fifth overtime, and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 3-2, on Tuesday in the fourth-longest game in Stanley Cup playoff history. Point scored from just above the left circle, beating Joonas Korpisalo after the goaltender made...
Familiarity breeds respect among NHL East playoff teamsVideo
TORONTO — Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper took exception to the Columbus Blue Jackets being referred to as “a blue-collar” team. “Is that a positive or a negative?” Cooper said Monday, a day before his Eastern Conference second-seeded Lightning open the first round of the NHL playoffs against the...
‘Heavy lifting:’ NHL’s West is big, tough, deep and wide openVideo
The top of the Western Conference features the defending Stanley Cup champion, a 2018 finalist with even more talent and an MVP front-runner. Good luck picking a favorite. The Vegas Golden Knights earned the top seed in the West by winning all three of their games in a round-robin tournament...
First Call: Steelers facing 2021 cap trauma. Will Flyers win the Stanley Cup? MLB brawl.
Monday’s “First Call” profiles an ugly situation for the Steelers salary cap. We also get some fantasy football insight on JuJu Smith-Schuster and James Conner. Plus, we’ll show you a baseball brawl. The Flyers are in prime position to end a 45-year Stanley Cup drought. And questions remain about Marc-Andre...
‘Wild’ NHL playoffs move into next stage with final 16 teamsVideo
Derek Stepan gave some words of advice to his Arizona Coyotes teammates not used to the bright lights of playoff hockey. “It’s the best time of the year to be playing,” he said. The time of year is different than usual, but the NHL’s Stanley Cup playoffs haven’t lost any...
Stars beat Blues to draw Flames; St. Louis to face CanucksVideo
EDMONTON, Alberta — Joe Pavelski tied it with 31.4 seconds left in the third period, Anton Khudobin stopped all three shots he faced in the shootout and the Dallas Stars beat the St. Louis Blues, 2-1, in round-robin play Sunday to clinch the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference....
Capitals beat Bruins to earn 3rd seed in East, face Islanders nextVideo
TORONTO — T.J. Oshie and Tom Wilson scored, Braden Holtby made 30 saves and the Washington Capitals beat the Boston Bruins, 2-1, in round-robin play Sunday to clinch the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference and set up a first-round matchup against former coach Barry Trotz’s New York Islanders....
Flyers clinch top seed in East with 4-1 win over Lightning
TORONTO — Rookie Nicolas Aube-Kubel scored twice, and the Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-1 on Saturday night to clinch the Eastern Conference’s top seed through the playoffs. The Lightning not only dropped the game in completing preliminary round-robin play with a 2-1 record, Tampa Bay’s star defenseman...
Tuch scores in OT; Knights beat Avs for top seed in WestVideo
EDMONTON, Alberta — Alex Tuch scored 4 minutes, 44 seconds into overtime, Jonathan Marchessault had two goals and the Vegas Golden Knights beat the Colorado Avalanche, 4-3, on Saturday to earn the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. The Golden Knights will face Chicago in the first round of...
Fighting significantly up during unique NHL playoffsVideo
The Toronto Maple Leafs’ season was hanging by a thread from one of Jason Spezza’s gloves when he dropped them to the ice to fight Dean Kukan. “I just tried to spark the guys, just trying to show some desperation and have some push-back,” Spezza said after Toronto’s emotional comeback...
Coyotes top Predators, win playoff series for 1st time in 8 yearsVideo
EDMONTON, Alberta — Brad Richardson scored on a rebound in overtime, Darcy Kuemper stopped 49 shots and the Arizona Coyotes advanced in the postseason for the first time in eight years with a 4-3 win over the Nashville Predators on Friday. The Coyotes, the Western Conference’s No. 11 seed, took...
Islanders advance with 5-1 win over Panthers
TORONTO — Anthony Beauvillier scored twice, and the New York Islanders beat the Florida Panthers 5-1 to clinch an NHL best-of-five preliminary round playoff series in four games on Friday. Brock Nelson and Mathew Barzal had a goal and assist each in a game the Islanders never trailed. Defenseman Ryan...
Vegas takes big step toward clinching top seed in WestVideo
EDMONTON, Alberta — Mark Stone scored the go-ahead goal on a deflection with under 7 minutes left, and the Vegas Golden Knights took a big step toward clinching the top seed in the Western Conference by beating the St. Louis Blues, 6-4, in round-robin play Thursday night. Vegas would be...
Flyers clinch at least No. 2 seed with win over CapitalsVideo
TORONTO — Scott Laughton had two goals and an assist to help the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Washington Capitals, 3-1, on Thursday. Travis Sanheim also scored, and Brian Elliott stopped 16 shots to keep the Flyers rolling as one of the hottest teams in the NHL. The Flyers won nine...
Brock Boeser, Elias Pettersson help Canucks top Wild for series leadVideo
EDMONTON, Alberta — Brock Boeser and Elias Petterson each had a power-play goal and an assist, Jacob Markstrom made 27 saves for his first postseason shutout and the Vancouver Canucks beat the Minnesota Wild, 3-0, to take a 2-1 lead in their best-of-five qualifier series Thursday. Antoine Roussel also scored...
Fantasy Sports: Which Pirates player may heat up? Early NHL, NBA trends. Warnings about Rob Gronkowski?
Fantasy sports aren’t all about regular-season baseball and football. Jeff Erickson and I start this week’s fantasy sports podcast talking about results in the two “bubble sports,” as the NBA and NHL are underway in Orlando, Toronto, and Edmonton. In the hockey playoffs, Evgeni Malkin is off to a slow...
Rookie Cale Makar, Avs cruise to round-robin win over StarsVideo
EDMONTON, Alberta — High-scoring 21-year-old rookie defenseman Cale Makar connected on an early power-play goal, 30-year-old Pavel Francouz recorded a shutout in his postseason debut and the Colorado Avalanche cruised to a 4-0 round-robin win over the Dallas Stars on Wednesday night. Joonas Donskoi, Vladislav Namestnikov and Andre Burakovsky also...
Lightning beat Bruins, improve to 2-0 in seeding roundVideo
TORONTO — Tyler Johnson scored the winning goal with 87 seconds left to lead the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 3-2 victory over Boston on Wednesday and send the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Bruins to their second straight loss in the NHL’s playoff seeding round. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 25 shots for the...
Leafs’ Jake Muzzin out of the hospital, will not return in seriesVideo
TORONTO — Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Jake Muzzin has been discharged from the hospital and is back at the team’s hotel, and he will not return to the lineup during Toronto’s playoff qualification series with the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Maple Leafs said in a statement Muzzin will remain in...