First Call: Steely McBeam shunned, case for Cam Heyward, NFL playoff bubble talk, typical Torts and Tom Wilson
Thursday’s “First Call” looks at the prospect of an NFL playoff bubble. Some stats to back up Cameron Heyward’s call for a contract extension. Bad news for Steely McBeam. And a pair of Penguins fan favorites do what they do best. NFL playoff bubble? The NFL won’t be played in...
Canadiens beat Flyers in Game 5 to avoid elimination
TORONTO — Nick Suzuki buried the winner 22 seconds after Philadelphia tied it in the third period, Brendan Gallagher snapped a goal drought and the Montreal Canadiens beat the Flyers 5-3 on Wednesday night in Game 5 to stave off elimination in the first-round playoff series. Joel Armia scored twice...
Avalanche rout Coyotes in Game 5 to win 1st-round series
EDMONTON, Alberta — Nathan MacKinnon had two goals and two assists, Nazem Kadri also scored twice and the Colorado Avalanche routed the Arizona Coyotes, 7-1, on Wednesday to close out the first-round playoff series in five games. Colorado, the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference, took control of the...
Patrice Bergeron, Bruins beat Hurricanes to advance in playoffs
TORONTO — Patrice Bergeron broke a tie with 3.5 seconds left in the second period, David Pastrnak returned with two assists and the Boston Bruins beat the Carolina Hurricanes, 2-1, on Wednesday to win the first-round playoff series in five games. The Bruins trailed 1-0 entering the final 5 minutes...
Lightning send Blue Jackets home with OT win in Game 5
TORONTO — The Tampa Bay Lightning eliminated Columbus from the Stanley Cup playoffs in five games Wednesday, rallying from a two-goal, third-period deficit before beating the Blue Jackets, 5-4, on Brayden Point’s goal 5 minutes, 12 seconds into overtime. Point also delivered the winner in Game 1 of the best-of-seven...
Golden Knights eliminate Blackhawks with 4-3 win in Game 5
EDMONTON, Alberta — Facing an early deficit, the Vegas Golden Knights were sparked by their stars, setting the stage for Alex Tuch to send the top seed in the Western Conference into the next round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Tuch scored the tiebreaking goal 1 minute, 34 seconds into...
Alex Ovechkin helps Capitals rally past Islanders to avoid sweep
TORONTO — Alex Ovechkin scored twice, including the go-ahead goal early in the third period, as Washington rallied from two goals down to beat the New York Islanders 3-2 Tuesday night and avoid a sweep in their first-round series. Evgeny Kuznetsov also scored for the Capitals and Braden Holtby stopped...
John Klingberg gets winner, Stars beat Flames for 3-2 lead
EDMONTON, Alberta — John Klingberg didn’t have the decisive goal taken away this time. The Dallas defenseman scored his first goal since the NHL’s restart early in the third period, and the Stars held on for a 2-1 win over the Calgary Flames in a crucial Game 5 of their...
Carter Hart’s 2nd straight shutout leads Flyers to victory
TORONTO — Carter Hart is making postseason history and has the Flyers on the brink of advancing to the second round of the playoffs for the first time in nearly a decade. Hart stopped 29 shots for his second straight shutout, Michael Raffl and Phil Myers each scored and the...
Hockey Hall of Famer Dale Hawerchuk dies of cancer at 57Video
Dale Hawerchuk, a hockey phenom who became the face of the Winnipeg Jets en route to the Hall of Fame, died at the age of 57 after a battle with cancer. The Ontario Hockey League’s Barrie Colts, a team Hawerchuk coached, confirmed the death on Twitter on Tuesday. “After an...
Ryan O’Reilly scores 2, Blues beat Canucks to tie series
EDMONTON, Alberta — Ryan O’Reilly had two goals and an assist as the St. Louis Blues beat the Vancouver Canucks, 3-1, in Game 4 on Monday night to even in their first-round playoff series. Alex Pietrangelo also scored and had an assist and David Perron had two assists for the...
DeBrusk, Bruins rally in 3rd to beat Hurricanes 4-3Video
TORONTO — Jake DeBrusk scored twice in Boston’s dominating third period to help the Bruins rally and beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 on Monday to take a 3-1 lead in their first-round playoff series. Brad Marchand and Connor Clifton also scored in the third, helping Boston erase a 2-0 deficit...
Avalanche overwhelm Coyotes, 7-1, to take 3-1 series leadVideo
EDMONTON, Alberta — Nazem Kadri had two goals and an assist, Philipp Grubauer stopped 14 shots and the Colorado Avalanche overwhelmed the Arizona Coyotes, 7-1, on Monday to take a 3-1 lead their first-round playoff series. The Avalanche jumped on Arizona after losing 4-2 in Game 3, scoring three first-period...
NHL goaltenders putting on puck-stopping clinic in playoffs
Nearly 20 years ago, Kevin Weekes and goaltending coach Sudarshan Maharaj rented some ice time at a Toronto arena with a Chinese food buffet above them and worked on the fundamentals of the position. It took Weekes’ game to a new level and he was reminded of the extra work...
Mark Madden: There’s a lot of randomness with these NHL playoffs
The last two Stanley Cup winners trail in their first-round playoff series. The team that won the Cup in the two seasons before is long since eliminated. Given the four-month break because of covid, then starting the postseason cold after a brief training camp, there seems an element of randomness...
Brayden Schenn scores in OT, Blues beat Canucks in Game 3
EDMONTON, Alberta — Brayden Schenn scored 15:06 into overtime to give the St. Louis Blues a 3-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday night. Schenn, circling in the neutral zone, took a stretch pass, raced in and fired a shot high past Vancouver goalie Jacob Markstrom for the defending...
Carter Hart shuts out Canadiens in Flyers’ 1-0 Game 3 victory
TORONTO — Jake Voracek scored and Carter Hart stopped 23 shots to lead the Philadelphia Flyers to a 1-0 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday night and grab a 2-1 lead in their Eastern Conference playoff series. Game 4 is Tuesday. The top-seeded Flyers got another sensational performance from...
Corey Crawford leads Blackhawks past Golden Knights to stay in seriesVideo
EDMONTON, Alberta — Corey Crawford made 46 saves in a stellar performance, and the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Vegas Golden Knights 3-1 on Sunday night to stay alive in their first-round playoff series. Drake Caggiula and Matthew Highmore scored first-period goals for the Blackhawks, and Alex DeBrincat added an empty-netter...
Stars win 5-4 in OT to even series with FlamesVideo
EDMONTON, Alberta — Dallas scored 16 minutes, 5 seconds into overtime after Joe Pavelski forced the extra period by completing a hat trick in the final seconds of regulation, and the Stars beat the Calgary Flames, 5-4, on Sunday to even their Western Conference playoff series. John Klingberg’s hard shot...
Islanders beat Capitals 2-1 in OT, take 3-0 lead in seriesVideo
TORONTO — Mathew Barzal slipped behind the defense, swooped in front of the net and beat Braden Holtby with a backhander that put the 2018 Stanley Cup champions on the brink of another early exit. Barzal scored 4 minutes, 28 seconds into overtime shortly after Semyon Varlamov made two saves...
Lindblom joins Flyers for playoffs after cancer treatmentVideo
Oskar Lindblom heard the sound of his Philadelphia Flyers teammates tapping the ice with their sticks as he returned to practice and knew — after months of fear and fight in his battle with bone cancer — he was home. Lindblom turned 24 on Saturday, and a day later he...
Marc-Andre Fleury, Golden Knights beat Blackhawks for 3-0 series lead
EDMONTON, Alberta — Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 26 shots and the Vegas Golden Knights held off the Chicago Blackhawks 2-1 on Saturday night to take a 3-0 lead in the first-round series. William Karlsson and Patrick Brown scored for the Golden Knights. Vegas is 6-0 in the postseason, having also won...
Lightning beat Blue Jackets to seize 2-1 series lead
TORONTO — Andrei Vasilevskiy made 16 saves, and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 3-2, on Saturday night to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven playoff series. Alex Killorn, Brayden Point and Victor Hedman scored, and the Lightning held off a 6-on-5 push by the Blue...
Tuukka Rask-less Bruins defeat Hurricanes, take series lead
TORONTO — Jaroslav Halak stopped 29 shots after goaltender Tuukka Rask opted out of the NHL playoffs, and Charlie Coyle provided plenty of offense, scoring once and setting up another goal to help the Boston Bruins beat the Carolina Hurricanes, 3-1, and take a 2-1 lead in their first-round series....
Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask opts out of NHL playoffs to be with family
BOSTON — Boston Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask has opted out of the team’s playoff run to be with his family. The defending Eastern Conference champions announced the decision Saturday morning, less than two hours before Game 3 of their playoff series against the Carolina Hurricanes. “I want to be with...
