CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Brett Kulak has a confession to make. While the veteran NHL defenseman might have grown up less than 200 miles away from Calgary, he never paid much attention to the Flames until they selected him in the 2012 draft.
RED DEER, Alberta (AP) — The old Crown and Anchor bar in Red Deer was famous for its line drawn down the middle when hosting fans during the Battle of Alberta playoff games of the late 1980s.
CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Johnny Gaudreau saw the puck bouncing his way, so he raced over, slapped it toward the net — and sent the Calgary Flames to a Game 7 victory.
Gaudreau scored 15:09 into overtime to lift Calgary past the Dallas Stars 3-2 on Sunday night, giving the Flames just their second playoff series win in the last 17 years.
A few minutes after his New York Rangers moved on to the second round of the NHL playoffs by beating the Pittsburgh Penguins, Gerard Gallant had not mentally moved on to what’s next.
“I don’t even know who we play,” Gallant said with a chuckle.
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Captain Connor McDavid has seen his team through to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
McDavid a goal and an assist as the Edmonton Oilers got a nerve-racking 2-0 victory over the Los Angeles Kings in Game 7 on Saturday night.
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.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — If a picture indeed tells a thousand words, Evander Kane holding seven fingers in the air after scoring an empty-net goal told plenty about the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jordan Binnington made 25 saves and the St. Louis Blues beat the Minnesota Wild 5-1 on Thursday night in Game 6 of their series to advance to the second round of the Western Conference playoffs.
NEW YORK (AP) — Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews and Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid are two of the finalists for the Hart Memorial Trophy, the NHL’s most valuable player award.
New York Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin is also in contention for the prize awarded “to the player adjudged to be the most valuable to his team.”
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.
NEW YORK (AP) — Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse will miss Game 6 of Edmonton’s first-round playoff series with Los Angeles after the NHL suspended him one game for head-butting Kings forward Phillip Danault.
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Three-point games from Edmonton's stars wasn't enough to save the Oilers. Adrian Kempe's overtime goal moved the Los Angeles Kings within a victory of advancing in the playoffs.
TORONTO (AP) — Auston Matthews scored the tiebreaking goal with 6:06 left in the third period and the Toronto Maple Leafs rallied from an early two-goal deficit to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3 on Tuesday night and take a 3-2 lead in the first-round playoff series.
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.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jonathan Quick lost his catching glove in the second period and still kept defending Los Angeles' net, his bare left hand grasping at an Edmonton shot that went off the crossbar.
The NHL playoffs are missing the close games and comebacks that seemingly come annually with all the postseason intensity.
Excluding games with empty-netters increasing the margin, 10 of the 20 first-round games through Friday night have been decided by three or more goals.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Evander Kane is happy to be making headlines for his on-ice play instead of off-ice controversies.
Edmonton’s enigmatic forward has an NHL-best five goals in the past two games of the Western Conference first-round series against Los Angeles.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Evander Kane picked up his first hat trick in a Stanley Cup playoff game, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Zach Hyman each had two goals, and the Edmonton Oilers dominated the Los Angeles Kings for the second straight game, posting a 8-2 victory in Game 3 of their first-round playoff series Friday night.
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.
NHL teams are taking different approaches to crossing the U.S.-Canada border during the first round of the playoffs with the U.S. still requiring a negative COVID-19 test for all passengers arriving on international flights.
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) — The Los Angeles Kings raised the Stanley Cup for the second time in June 2014, punctuating a phenomenal three-year run in which the longtime NHL afterthoughts won 10 playoff series as one of the most tenacious teams in hockey.
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Mike Smith bounced back with a perfect 30-save night and the Edmonton Oilers beat the Los Angeles Kings 6-0 Wednesday to even their first-round playoff series through two games.
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.
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Phillip Danault capitalized after a miscue by Edmonton goalie Mike Smith and scored the tiebreaking goal late in the third period, leading the Los Angeles Kings to a 4-3 win over the Oilers on Monday night in Game 1 of the opening-round playoff series.
In assessing the status of his Pacific Division champion Calgary Flames, coach Darryl Sutter may have at the same time aptly captured the unpredictable state of the entire Western Conference once the playoffs open on Monday.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Edmonton Oilers have had Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl together for seven seasons. They've won exactly one playoff round in that stretch — and that was five years ago.
The Los Angeles Kings haven't won a playoff series since they raised their second Stanley Cup in 2014, and they're back in the postseason Monday night for the first time in four years.
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.
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Devin Shore scored the lone shootout goal and the Edmonton Oilers beat the Vancouver Canucks 3-2 on Friday night while resting star forwards Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl in the regular-season finale.
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Zach Hyman scored his career-high 27th goal of the season 1:37 into overtime and the Edmonton Oilers rallied to beat the San Jose Sharks 5-4 on Thursday night.
Ryan McLeod, Kailer Yamamoto, Derek Ryan and Philip Broberg also scored for the Oilers (48-27-6) who tied a franchise record for consecutive home games with a point, going 13-0-1 in their last 14 contests at Rogers Place.
TORONTO (AP) — Auston Matthews scored his NHL-leading 59th and 60th goals of the season, and the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Detroit Red Wings 3-0 on Tuesday night to clinch home-ice advantage in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Five strides. That's all it took for Connor McDavid to race by two Pittsburgh Penguins and deliver a magnificent goal in what is becoming another masterpiece of a season for the Edmonton star.
Auston Matthews leads the NHL in goals, Connor McDavid has the most points and Igor Shesterkin has been the best goaltender in the league.
It’s entirely possible none of them wins the Hart Trophy as MVP.
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Christian Dedonato doesn't see Connor McDavid much in the offseason, at least not until at least mid-afternoon. McDavid is too busy working out in the gym or staying sharp on the ice.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Rookie Nick Blankenburg scored his first NHL goal and added an assist to help the Columbus Blue Jackets beat Edmonton 5-2 on Sunday afternoon, breaking a five-game losing streak and keeping the Oilers from clinching second place in the Pacific Division.
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Evander Kane had three goals and an assist, Connor McDavid had three assists and the Edmonton Oilers clinched a playoff berth with a 6-3 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Friday night.
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Evander Kane had three goals and an assist, Connor McDavid had three assists and the Edmonton Oilers clinched a playoff berth with a 6-3 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Friday night.