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...
Coyotes storm past Predators in Game 3 of qualifying roundVideo
EDMONTON, Alberta — Conor Garland and Taylor Hall each scored in the third period, and the Arizona Coyotes beat the Nashville Predators, 4-1, on Wednesday. Now the Coyotes, seeded 11th in the West in the NHL’s restart, can eliminate the sixth-seeded Predators in Game 4 on Friday in this best-of-five...
Panthers avoid elimination, beat Islanders in Game 3Video
TORONTO — Brian Boyle and the Florida Panthers turned the tables on the New York Islanders by playing with more discipline and patience to avoid being swept from the playoffs. Boyle and Mike Hoffman scored goals 2 minutes, 47 seconds apart, and the Panthers took advantage of several miscues in...
Carolina completes sweep, makes Rangers 1st team sent home from NHL playoff bubble
TORONTO — Sebastian Aho scored twice in the third period while James Reimer was strong in net to help the Carolina Hurricanes beat the New York Rangers 4-1 on Tuesday night and sweep the Stanley Cup qualifier series. Warren Foegele scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period for...
Maple Leafs shut out Blue Jackets to even playoff seriesVideo
TORONTO — Auston Matthews and John Tavares scored and the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 3-0, on Tuesday to even their best-of-five qualifying series at one game. Toronto defenseman Jake Muzzin was taken off the ice on a stretcher with 1 minute, 52 seconds left in the...
Juuse Saros sharp as Predators even series with win over CoyotesVideo
EDMONTON, Alberta — The Nashville Predators stumbled in their postseason opener by falling into an early hole, putting themselves in a must-win situation for Game 2. Behind steady goaltending and a dedication to clogging shooting lanes, the Predators snatched the momentum back less than 24 hours before Game 3. Ryan...
Jordan Eberle scores 2 as Islanders take 2-0 series lead over PanthersVideo
TORONTO — Jordan Eberle scored twice, including the go-ahead goal, and the New York Islanders rallied to a 4-2 win over the Florida Panthers to take a 2-0 lead in their best-of-five NHL preliminary-round playoff series on Tuesday. Ryan Pulock and Matt Martin also scored, and Semyon Varlamov stopped 26...
Golden Knights rally for round-robin win over StarsVideo
EDMONTON, Alberta — Will Carrier scored the tiebreaker with 5 minutes, 12 seconds left in the game, Robin Lehner had 24 saves and the Vegas Golden Knights beat the Dallas Stars, 5-3, in Western Conference round-robin play Monday. Carrier backhanded a rebound off the back wall through his legs to...
Penalties aplenty are common theme early in NHL playoffsVideo
The morning after Phillip Danault’s first career three-penalty game, agitating Montreal teammate Brendan Gallagher turned to him and joked, “I’m rubbing off on you.” Judging from the first few days of the NHL’s restart, it looks as if Gallagher is rubbing off on a lot of players. Referees’ arms must...
Nikita Kucherov, Lightning beat Capitals in East round-robin playVideo
TORONTO — Nikita Kucherov scored the shootout winner to give the Tampa Bay Lightning a 3-2 victory against the Washington Capitals on Monday in Eastern Conference round-robin play. The teams played 5 minutes of 3-on-3 overtime before going to a shootout because the games for seeding are following regular-season rules....
Jets slip past Flames to even qualifying seriesVideo
EDMONTON, Alberta — Nikolaj Ehlers scored a third-period power-play goal to give the Winnipeg Jets a 3-2 win over the Calgary Flames on Monday and draw even in their qualifying-round series. Adam Lowry led the Jets with a goal and an assist in Game 2 of the best-of-five series. Rookie...
Andrei Svechnikov’s hat trick gives Hurricanes 2-0 leadVideo
TORONTO — Andrei Svechnikov kept on the attack, both in skating with a physical edge and continuing to fire pucks at the net. Now he has a franchise first, and the Carolina Hurricanes are a win away from a sweep. The 20-year-old scored three times for the first postseason hat...
Stanley Cup winner shares dark moments confronting dyslexiaVideo
Tears streamed down Brent Sopel’s face as he watched himself on screen, summoning the courage to detail the darkest moments of his lifelong struggles with dyslexia. The stinging memories of being taunted by classmates. The empty feelings of worthlessness that drained Sopel even while winning the Stanley Cup as a...
First Call: Antonio Brown’s NFL return still cloudy, Marc-Andre Fleury won’t start Monday
The NFL may have given Antonio Brown a road map for his reinstatement. But plenty of questions remain before he steps onto a field again. The result of Penguins-Canadiens in Pittsburgh wasn’t exactly a hit. But the NBC ratings were. Marc-Andre Fleury won’t start in goal for Las Vegas Monday....
Nazem Kadri scores buzzer-beating goal as Avalanche beat BluesVideo
EDMONTON, Alberta — Nazem Kadri scored a buzzer-beating power-play goal to give the Colorado Avalanche a 2-1 comeback victory over the defending Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues in Western Conference round-robin play Sunday night. Kadri’s shot crossed the goal line with 0.1 seconds on the clock. The NHL reviewed...
Carter Hart has 34 saves in Flyers’ win over BruinsVideo
TORONTO — Carter Hart and the Philadelphia Flyers sure didn’t look stale following a 4 1/2-month pause to the NHL season. Hart stopped 34 shots, and the Flyers got a balanced and opportunistic attack in opening the expanded playoffs seeding round with a 4-1 win over the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Boston...
Phil Kessel helps Coyotes hold off Predators in series openerVideo
EDMONTON, Alberta — Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored the first of Arizona’s three first-period goals, former Pittsburgh Penguins forward Phil Kessel had two assists and the Coyotes held on to beat the Nashville Predators, 4-3, on Sunday to open their Stanley Cup qualifier series. The Coyotes made the most of their first...
