The Carolina Hurricanes have been perfect at home in the Stanley Cup playoffs. They've had to be.
The Hurricanes are back in Raleigh for Thursday night’s Game 5 against the New York Rangers, looking once again to climb into the lead of a playoff series with the support of a rowdy home crowd.
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Joe Thornton’s career may be over. Or not.
The veteran center, who just completed his 24th season in the NHL and first with the Florida Panthers, said Wednesday that he has not decided whether to retire or continue playing.
North America’s top women’s hockey players are teaming up with former tennis star Billie Jean King and Los Angeles Dodgers chairman Mark Walter to explore launching a pro league within the next year, a person with direct knowledge of the agreement told The Associated Press on Tuesday night.
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has suffered through plenty of heartache in Edmonton.
The top pick at the 2011 draft missed the playoffs in seven of his first eight NHL seasons as the Oilers repeatedly fumbled and bumbled their way through what must have felt like a never-ending rebuild.
NEW YORK (AP) — Andrew Copp had a goal and two assists, and Frank Vatrano and Adam Fox each had a goal and an assist as the New York Rangers beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-1 in Game 4 Tuesday night, evening the second-round series.
NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Rangers got the kind of strong, all-around effort from the start they needed and stormed past the Carolina Hurricanes.
Andrew Copp had a goal and two assists, and Frank Vatrano and Adam Fox each had a goal and an assist as the Rangers beat the Hurricanes 4-1 in Game 4 Tuesday night, evening the second-round series.
DENVER (AP) — Nazem Kadri held his hand near his ear to absorb the boos from St. Louis fans after one of his three goals.
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — There will be a Presidents’ Trophy banner hanging over the Florida Panthers’ home ice next season. The team’s media relations department will spend its summer rewriting the record book because tons of pages need updating.
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Jon Cooper had every reason to be confident the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning could keep their bid for a three-peat alive.
“Our story is not finished being written,” the coach said earlier this month with his team on the brink of elimination in the first round against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Nazem Kadri had the last laugh.
Kadri scored three goals, including two during a four-goal second period barrage, and the Colorado Avalanche beat the St. Louis Blues 6-3 on Monday night to take a 3-1 lead in their Western Conference series.
Nazem Kadri had a powerful response to quiet all the haters.
Refusing to buckle in the face of death threats, racial slurs, a booing St. Louis crowd and a few post-whistle hits, the Avalanche forward scored three times — including the game-winner — in a 6-3 victory over the Blues on Monday night.
Andrei Vasilevskiy had 49 saves and the Tampa Bay Lightning completed a four-game sweep of the Florida Panthers with a 2-0 victory Monday night that sent the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions back to the Eastern Conference final for the sixth time in eight years.
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — The Tampa Bay Lightning are running out of superlatives to describe Andrei Vasilevskiy's dominance.
The reigning Conn Symthe Trophy winner delivered another stellar playoff performance for the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions on Monday night, stopping 49 shots to beat the Florida Panthers 2-0 and finish a four-game sweep that sends them to the Eastern Conference final for the sixth time in eight years.
New York Rangers coach Gerard Gallant was displeased with the skirmish at the end of his team's Game 3 win against the Carolina Hurricanes.
One day later, he was ready to put it behind them.
“Last night in the heat of the moment, you're (upset),” Gallant said Monday.
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Evander Kane was without a team in January after having his contract terminated. He's now a crucial member of Edmonton’s playoff push.
Kane had three goals in a six-minute span in the second period, Leon Draisaitl set an NHL record with four assists in one playoff period and the Oilers defeated the Calgary Flames 4-1 on Sunday night to take a 2-1 lead in their second-round playoff series.
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Steven Stamkos scored two goals and Nikita Kucherov had a goal and three assists and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Florida Panthers 5-1 to move to the brink of another trip to the Eastern Conference final on Sunday.
NEW YORK (AP) — After two tough losses on the road put them in another series deficit, the New York Rangers again bounced back with a big home win.
Mika Zibanejad had a goal and an assist, Igor Shesterkin stopped 43 shots, and the Rangers beat the Carolina Hurricanes 3-1 Sunday in Game 3 of their second-round playoff series.
DENVER (AP) — That water bottle tossed toward Colorado Avalanche forward Nazem Kadri hardly came out of nowhere.
For two straight postseasons, Kadri has been the agitator that makes Colorado go and the pest that drives the St.
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Andrei Vasilevskiy is a not-so-secret key ingredient in the Tampa Bay Lightning's recipe for success in the playoffs.
The reigning Conn Smythe Trophy recipient won his fifth straight postseason game Sunday, stopping 34 of 35 shots to help the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions beat the Florida Panthers 5-1 and move to the brink of another trip to the Eastern Conference final.
While acknowledging the Tampa Bay Lightning are showing why they are back-to-back Stanley Cup champions, the Florida Panthers know the have only themselves to blame for going down 3-0 in the second round.
TORONTO (AP) — The Toronto Maple Leafs signed veteran defenseman Mark Giordano to a two-year contract extension Sunday.
The average annual value of the contract is $800,000.
Giordano, 38, had eight goals and 27 assists in 75 games last season split between Toronto and the Seattle Kraken.
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Bryan Rust felt he deserved a raise. He just didn't necessarily want one so big it would jeopardize his chances of staying in Pittsburgh.
Sure the versatile Pittsburgh Penguins forward had a sense of what his worth would have been on the open market.
TAMPERE, Finland (AP) — Sweden picked up its fifth win in six games at the hockey world championship on Sunday by beating Norway 7-1 in group play as Switzerland stayed unbeaten and Germany extended its winning run.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Despite regaining the edge in their second-round series, the Colorado Avalanche aren't satisfied.
Artturi Lehkonen scored twice, Darcy Kuemper stopped 29 shots and the Avalanche beat the St.
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Bryan Rust is staying in Pittsburgh.
The veteran forward, who was scheduled to become a free agent this summer, agreed to a six-year contract with the Penguins that will keep him with the club through 2028.
The Tampa Bay Lightning don’t want to get ahead of themselves in their bid to become the first team in 40 years to win three consecutive Stanley Cup titles.
The two-time defending champions are up 2-0 on the Presidents Trophy-winning Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference semifinals yet understand there’s still a lot of work to do as they pursue a special place in NHL history.
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Duncan Keith had been here before.
Well, maybe not exactly here, breaking down a wild 9-6 loss to open the Oilers’ second-round playoff series against their bitter provincial rival.
CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — The Edmonton Oilers got off to another slow start. This time, they bounced back quickly.
Zach Hyman scored the go-ahead short-handed goal midway through the third period and the Oilers rallied to beat the Calgary Flames 5-3 on Friday night, evening the second-round series at one game apiece.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Brendan Smith scored a short-handed goal late in the second period while Antti Raanta finished with 21 saves to help the Carolina Hurricanes beat the New York Rangers 2-0 on Friday night, taking a 2-0 lead in their second-round playoff series.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Brendan Smith had gone nine years since last finding the back of the net in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
And Antti Raanta, well, he never had a postseason game like this.
The Carolina Hurricanes keep finding different ways to win in the playoffs.
TAMPERE, Finland (AP) — Finland got back to winning ways at the world ice hockey championship when it beat Britain 6-0, while Germany beat Italy 9-4 in the highest-scoring game of the tournament on Friday.
Nathan MacKinnon saw a team that just couldn’t get up the ice with its customary speed. Couldn’t generate quality scoring chances. Couldn’t get in a flow.
That wasn't them.
“We were bad,” the Colorado forward acknowledged after a 4-1 loss to St.