NHL

Stanley Cup Final: Predictions, schedule, odds for Lightning vs. Stars
NHL

It’s finally here. After a truncated regular season and a more than four-month gap between meaningful games, the culmination of the 2019-20 NHL season has arrived. Two teams that many pundits had in their preseason predictions — the Western Conference’s Dallas Stars and the Eastern Conference’s Tampa Bay Lightning — will now battle it out.  The Stars advanced to their first Stanley Cup appearance since 2000 on Monday after an overtime win

Predictions, stats and schedule for the Stanley Cup Final
NHL

Emily Kaplan is ESPN’s national NHL reporter. Greg Wyshynski is ESPN’s senior NHL writer. The 2020 NHL playoffs have nearly reached their final conclusion. The Dallas Stars are your champions of the Western Conference, while the Tampa Bay Lightning have joined them from the Eastern Conference. It was a season with lots of twists and turns — including a nearly five-month pause due to the coronavirus pandemic — but the

NHL Playoffs Today: Islanders, Lightning both under pressure in Game 6
NHL

Greg Wyshynski is ESPN’s senior NHL writer. There has been only one NHL playoff team to rally and win after facing a 3-1 series deficit in the round immediately preceding the Stanley Cup Final: The New Jersey Devils in 2000, who went on to win the Stanley Cup. The architect of that team? New York Islanders GM Lou Lamoriello. Can history be made again with New York now down 3-2

NHL Playoffs Today: How far can the Isles push the Lightning?
NHL

Emily Kaplan is ESPN’s national NHL reporter. The Dallas Stars are in the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in 20 years … and they’ll have to wait a little bit longer to find out who they are playing. The New York Islanders kept their season alive by besting the Tampa Bay Lightning in a double-overtime Game 5. I wish I could say this game was a thriller, but

Flyers tweet image of Oskar Lindblom, who may skate in warmups for Game 4
NHL

The Flyers will play Game 4 of their second-round series against the Islanders at 8 p.m. ET Sunday. Earlier in the day, coach Alain Vigneault was asked if there would be lineup changes. “We’re still in the process,” he said, almost foreshadowing what may be to come. “Obviously because of the NHL protocol here, I can’t comment on player availability. I would say (to) tune in tonight and find out.” Well, with the

Dumba: NHL's call to play games 'disheartening'
NHL

Greg Wyshynski is ESPN’s senior NHL writer. The National Hockey League held a moment of reflection before the Stanley Cup playoff game between the Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday night, while games in the NBA, WNBA and MLB were postponed as teams from those sports protested the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Before Game 3, video screens in the Toronto arena had large graphics

Braden Holtby set to become UFA with Caps eliminated; five potential landing spots
NHL

The Washington Capitals were eliminated from the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs by the New York Islanders on Thursday night, and along with their move out of the Toronto bubble comes the expectation that a team that won the franchise’s first Cup just two years ago will be dismantled. “I think that this core and what they’ve been able to do certainly in the six years I’ve been a part of this organization,

Canucks vs. Blues: Four key moments in Vancouver's Game 5 win
NHL

The Canucks are now one win away from sending the defending Stanley Cup champion Blues packing. Coach Travis Green’s young squad battled back from a two-goal deficit in the second period to beat St. Louis 4-3 and take a 3-2 series lead on Wednesday night. Here are four key moments in the Canucks’ critical Game 5 win. 1. and 2. Motte opens and closes the scoring With Vancouver short-handed in the first period,

2020 NHL Playoffs Central: Bracket, schedule, scores, highlights, analysis
NHL

After months of a pandemic-induced pause, the NHL returned in earnest on Saturday, Aug. 1. Players hit the ice again as the NHL’s return-to-play plan hit Phase 4. Unlike the traditional playoff format, the league is running a 24-team tournament, with 12 teams from each conference playing in fan-less arenas in Toronto (for the East) and Edmonton (for the West). The top four teams in each conference are in the

NBC analyst Mike Milbury critical of Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask for opting out of NHL playoffs
NHL

NBC analyst Mike Milbury criticized Boston Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask for his decision to opt out of the Stanley Cup playoffs to be with his family.  Rask announced Saturday he would be leaving the team amidst the Bruins' quarterfinal series with the Carolina Hurricanes, with the matchup tied 1-1. The news came less than two hours before Game 3. Rask said he wanted to be his wife, two girls and newborn baby.