PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Penguins are sticking with Casey DeSmith, signing the team's No. 2 goaltender to a two-year contract extension on Tuesday that carries an average annual value of $1.8 million.
BOSTON (AP) — The Boston Bruins have hired Jim Montgomery as their new coach, giving the hockey lifer another chance at an NHL head-coaching job less than three years since he lost his first one.
BOSTON (AP) — All those wins and playoff appearances weren't enough for Bruce Cassidy to keep his job as Boston Bruins coach.
But they earned general manager Don Sweeney a contract extension.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Bruce Cassidy is the third coach of the Vegas Golden Knights in the franchise's sixth year, and he said the decision was a “no-brainer” from a hockey perspective.
After all, Vegas has been one of the NHL's most successful teams since entering the league in 2017, making the playoffs four times, including a trip to the Stanley Cup Final in its inaugural season.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Bruce Cassidy wasn’t out of a job for long after being hired to coach the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday, little more than a week after being fired by the Boston Bruins.
Cassidy becomes the Golden Knights’ third coach and replaces Peter DeBoer, who was fired after Vegas missed the playoffs for the first time in its five-year history.
Matt Murray stepped on the ice on the first day of the 2017 NHL playoffs ready to lead the defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins to the Stanley Cup once again. He didn't make it to puck drop.
An injury during warmups sidelined him for a month and turned the job over to Marc-Andre Fleury.
BOSTON (AP) — The Boston Bruins have fired coach Bruce Cassidy, who led them to the Stanley Cup Final in 2019, the best record in the league the next year and at least 100 points in each of his four full non-pandemic seasons behind the bench.
Patrice Bergeron is the Selke Trophy winner as the NHL's best defensive forward for a record-breaking fifth time.
The big question now is whether the Boston Bruins captain will go for a sixth.
BOSTON (AP) — Boston Bruins leading scorer Brad Marchand had surgery on both hips on Friday and is expected to be out six months, meaning he would miss the start of next season.
The team said Marchand had arthroscopic surgery to repair the cartilage in his hips.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The Carolina Hurricanes are getting the offensive production they need so far from their blue liners in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The Hurricanes outlasted the Boston Bruins in a seven-game series with defensemen Jaccob Slavin and Tony DeAngelo leading the team in points.
BOSTON (AP) — Patrice Bergeron led the Boston Bruins through the end-of-series handshake line, wishing the Carolina Hurricanes luck in the conference semifinals.
Then he waited around to give each of his own teammates a hug as well as they left the ice — perhaps saying goodbye for the final time.
TORONTO (AP) — Nick Paul scored twice, including an incredible individual effort on the tiebreaking goal late in the second period, and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-1 in Game 7 on Saturday night to win their first-round playoff series.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Twice before, the Carolina Hurricanes had reached the playoffs only to see their ascent to becoming a serious Stanley Cup contender blocked by the Boston Bruins.
Two newcomers helped the Hurricanes finally push past their playoff bully — and in a Game 7, at that.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — It was a Jordan Binnington type of game.
The St. Louis Blues goalie has earned a reputation as a clutch performer when the team has a chance to close out a playoff series. And he proved it again Thursday night.
BOSTON (AP) — The Boston Bruins earned themselves a seventh game with another dominating performance at home.
The problem: The clincher will be at Carolina, where the Hurricanes have been just as unbeatable.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Connor McDavid has stood on this precipice several times before, and he does not care for the view.
The Edmonton Oilers are one loss away from their third consecutive opening-round playoff exit after back-to-back losses to the upstart Kings.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Boston Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy made a surprise return to the playoff lineup in Tuesday night's loss to the Carolina Hurricanes after missing a game due to COVID-19 protocols.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The Carolina Hurricanes swore they’d be fine after losing a two-game lead and momentum in their first-round playoff series. It was just a matter of cutting down on mistakes and staying out of the penalty box.
Kevin Fiala has often let his frustration show if he's not producing up to his star potential, and the Minnesota Wild left wing was in a tense mood after another flat performance in St. Louis.
Four games into the first round against the Blues, with the teams tied at two games, Fiala has not scored.
BOSTON (AP) — Brad Marchand had two goals and three assists, including the tiebreaker early in the third period, and the Boston Bruins beat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-2 on Sunday to even their first-round playoff series at two games apiece.
BOSTON (AP) — Brad Marchand raced toward the empty net, and there was nothing Carolina defenseman Tony DeAngelo could do except throw his stick at the puck.
BOSTON (AP) — Boston Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy was scratched from Sunday's playoff game against the Carolina Hurricanes less than an hour before the opening faceoff and placed in the NHL's COVID-19 protocol.
BOSTON (AP) — Brad Marchand had a goal and two assists on Friday night to help the Boston Bruins take their first lead against the Hurricanes all season — and hold onto it for a 4-2 victory over Carolina in Game 3 of their first-round playoff series.
BOSTON (AP) — For 16 periods over six games, the Carolina Hurricanes dominated the Boston Bruins.
Five straight wins — including two in the playoffs. Twenty-six goals to three. Never did the Hurricanes even trail the Bruins over 325 minutes, 41 seconds.
The physicality of the NHL playoffs is creeping into the crease.
There has already been a huge goal disallowed due to goaltender interference, a starting goalie was knocked out of a game after taking a shot to the head and one rookie netminder confronted an opposing star forward over unwanted contact.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Carolina goalie Antti Raanta left the Hurricanes' playoff game victory over the Boston Bruins in the first period Wednesday night after David Pastrnak struck him in the head with a gloved hand.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The Carolina Hurricanes didn't flinch after losing yet another goaltender. Instead, they responded with a physical and even confrontational edge against a team that has twice bullied them out of recent NHL playoffs.
So much for the notion that goals are hard to come by in the playoffs. If the opening night of the chase for the Stanley Cup is an indication of what’s to come, the NHL is in for another wildly unpredictable postseason.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Even a nine-year NHL veteran like Antti Raanta couldn't help but feel anxious before his first playoff start.
“Obviously a little butterflies here and there,” Raanta said.
Two months after the eight playoff teams in the Eastern Conference were locked in before the NHL even reached the All-Star break, Rod Brind’Amour set Carolina’s lineup for a game against Pittsburgh with the future in mind.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The Carolina Hurricanes are coming off their best regular season in franchise history along with another division title and the third-best record in the NHL.
Yet so much about how the Hurricanes will be remembered comes with what happens in the NHL playoffs, starting with a first-round series against a familiar postseason opponent in the Boston Bruins.
It took until the final game on the final night of the NHL regular season to set the matchups for the first round of the playoffs.
Naturally, the battle for the Stanley Cup starts in less than 72 hours.