Alex Ovechkin melts down during Capitals’ Game 6 loss to Hurricanes
After having an apparent third-period goal waved off by officials, Alex Ovechkin was sent to the locker room early as the Washington Capitals suffered a 5-2 loss in Game 6 of a first-round playoff series against the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday night. With the Hurricanes leading 3-2 with less than...
First call: Steelers take CB in this mock draft; Marc-Andre Fleury to Game 7; wild MLB plays
In “First Call” Monday, the NFL Network has the Steelers thinking cornerback in Round 1. Three head-scratching plays over the wall across baseball on the same afternoon. And Marc-Andre Fleury falters in double overtime. Maybe Murphy The NFL Network had a big mock draft party over the weekend. Network host...
Jake Muzzin, Maple Leafs eye elimination of Bruins in Game 6
BOSTON — Maple Leafs defenseman Jake Muzzin has extra motivation to beat Boston on Sunday and eliminate the Bruins in six games: It would mean extra time to spend with his baby daughter. Muzzin’s wife, Courtney, gave birth to a girl, Luna, on Thursday, the off day between Games 4...
Red Wings to name Steve Yzerman general manager
DETROIT — The Captain is coming home. Hockey Hall of Famer Steve Yzerman will be named general manager of the Detroit Red Wings, two people familiar with the decision told The Associated Press on Friday. Ken Holland will become the team’s senior vice president after being its general manager for...
Maple Leafs fans wondering whether ‘Drake Curse’ is to blame for loss
The Toronto Maple Leafs dropped Game 4 in their playoff series against the Boston Bruins on Wednesday night, losing 6-4. But was it the Bruins’ hard hitting, their solid goalie, or was it something else. Something sinister, something celebrity? Some fans are wondering whether their team suffered from the “Drake...
First call: Le’Veon Bell gets Jets bobblehead; top-seeded Flames on the ropes
Thursday’s “First Call” features NFL schedule-reveal creativity. The Le’Veon Bell bobblehead. And a Major League Baseball statistic you’ve never seen before. Bell bobblehead Well, it’s official now. It wasn’t before. But it is now. Le’Veon Bell is no longer a Pittsburgh Steeler. He is a New York Jet. Why is...
NHL-best Lightning ousted in record speed by Columbus
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Tampa Bay Lightning ended up on the wrong side of NHL history, getting swept in the first round of the playoffs after one of the best regular seasons ever. The Columbus Blue Jackets capped a stunning sweep of the Presidents Trophy winners with a 7-3 victory...
Flyers hire Alain Vigneault as coach in pursuit of turnaround
PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia Flyers hired Alain Vigneault as coach, hoping the veteran can help lead them to their first Stanley Cup since 1975. Vigneault has led the New York Rangers and Vancouver Canucks to the Stanley Cup Final and takes over a Flyers team that missed the playoffs for...
First call: Miles Sanders to Steelers?; Tiger wrecks bookies; Lightning nearly fried
In “First Call” Monday, there’s a chance the Steelers could draft Miles Sanders. Le’Veon Bell continues to illustrate Twitter schizophrenia. Tiger Woods killed bookies. The Lightning are about to fall just as hard as the Penguins. Sounds good to me USA Today’s Draft Wire site updated its five-round mock draft....
Sharks’ Logan Couture thought he lost a testicle on shot block
Losing to the Vegas Golden Knights might not have been the most painful part. San Jose Sharks forward Logan Couture, sacrificing his body in the way only hockey players can this time of year, blocked a shot by the Golden Knights’ Cody Eakin during Game 2 of their Western Coference...
Blue Jackets rally from 3-goal deficit to beat Lightning in Game 1
TAMPA, Fla. — Seth Jones scored the go-ahead goal on the power play to cap Columbus’ three-goal third period, and the Blue Jackets rallied to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 4-3, in Game 1 of the teams’ first-round Eastern Conference playoff series Wednesday night. Jones made it 4-3 from the...
Champion Capitals face fresh-faced Hurricanes in 1st round of playoffs
WASHINGTON — When the Carolina Hurricanes take the ice for Game 1 of their first-round series against the Capitals on Thursday, their blue line will have less playoff experience than top Washington defenseman John Carlson. Of their 342 games of NHL postseason experience, captain Justin Williams and second-line center Jordan...
Panthers hire 3-time Stanley Cup winner Joel Quenneville as coach
SUNRISE, Fla. — Dale Tallon and Joel Quenneville are together again, and the Florida Panthers are ready for them to recreate their magic. Quenneville — who is second on the NHL’s all-time victory list — was hired Monday to coach the Panthers, who started their offseason with a splash. It’s...
NHL playoff matchups set for ‘best time of year’
The team expected to win it all faces an opponent that loaded up for the same thing, the defending champions go up against a playoff newcomer and the wild West is wide open in the quest for the Stanley Cup. The NHL playoffs open Wednesday when the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Tampa...
Inside the life of the Capitals’ Tom Wilson, hockey’s most hated man
ARLINGTON, Va. — Tom Wilson tries not to read everything about him on social media. You’d think being on the receiving end of endless tweets and messages that are, well, not suitable for work would be reason enough to skip them. But Wilson can’t just ignore it all because sometimes...
Robin Lehner stops 31 shots as Islanders blank Coyotes 2-0
UNIONDALE, N.Y. — Jordan Eberle and Brock Nelson scored to back Robin Lehner’s fifth shutout of the season as the New York Islanders beat the Arizona Coyotes 2-0 Sunday. Lehner stopped 31 shots to help the Islanders win for the second time in two days and keep pace with first...
Marc Andre Fleury and wife welcome third baby, son James
The “Flower” and family welcomed a son. Marc Andre Fleury, the former Pittsburgh Penguins goalie, who now guards the net for the Vegas Golden Knights, and his wife Veronique Larosee welcomed their third child this weekend. Son James was born Friday weighing 9.3 pounds. He is the Fleurys’ third child,...
Capitals accept differences of opinion on White House visit
WASHINGTON — The news is constantly on television at the Washington Capitals’ practice facility, and like any workplace, there’s no shortage of opinions. “We’re human beings, and people share different opinions and different political views,” veteran team leader Brooks Orpik said. “It’s no different than anybody else. People that are...
NHL: Maple Leafs’ Morgan Rielly didn’t utter gay slur at official
TORONTO — Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly didn’t direct a gay slur at referee Brad Meier during the game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, the NHL said Tuesday after an investigation. Television cameras picked up what sounded like a slur with 1 minute, 51 seconds left in the second...
Marc-Andre Fleury nearly gets into goalie fightVideo
The “Fleury! Fleury! Fleury!” chants were going strong in Vegas Wednesday night for former Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury. No, not because of a good save. And, no, he didn’t finally get that empty-net goal he has been endlessly searching to score. He almost got engaged in a goalie fight! There...
Red Wings great, NHL union pioneer Ted Lindsay dies at 93
DETROIT — Detroit Red Wings great and Hall of Famer Ted Lindsay has died at 93. His death was confirmed Monday by son-in-law Lew LaPaugh, president of the Ted Lindsay Foundation, which raises money for autism research. Lindsay died Monday at his home in Michigan. Lindsay was a nine-time All-Star...
First call: Blue Jackets jump Penguins; Carolina fans mad about Antonio Brown
In “First Call” Friday, the Penguins are back outside of the playoff bracket again. Pitt has a huge road challenge. A little perspective on the Bryce Harper signing. Carolina fans are mad at me. Back outside Columbus’ 4-3 win over the Flyers caused some shuffling in the Eastern Conference standings....
John Tavares gets showered with boos and profanities in return to Long IslandVideo
John Tavares’ return to Nassau Coliseum did not go as expected. Or maybe it did? The former captain for the New York Islanders made his first appearance to Long Island as a Toronto Maple Leaf and was showered with boos, expletives and projectiles. Leafs hit the ice at the Coliseum....
New-look Blue Jackets all in on Stanley Cup run
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Columbus Blue Jackets have made it clear they don’t want to wait any longer to make a serious Stanley Cup run. In a series of moves before Monday’s trade deadline, the Blue Jackets dealt mostly draft picks and prospects for players who can contribute and also...
NHL trade deadline: Blue Jackets load up; Stone lands with Vegas; Simmonds to Predators
The West got wilder, and the Columbus Blue Jackets are all in on their late-season NHL playoff push. The Blue Jackets followed up last week’s addition of Ottawa forwards Matt Duchene and Ryan Dzingel by acquiring New York Rangers defenseman Adam McQuaid and New Jersey goalie Keith Kinkaid as Monday’s...
