NHL

8:54 PM ET ESPN News Services New York Islanders captain Anders Lee knocked Washington Capitals forward Nicklas Backstrom out of Wednesday night’s first-round series opener, setting the tone with a big hit that Washington coach Todd Reirden called “late” and “predatory.” Reirden didn’t have an update afterward on Backstrom, who appeared to be looking the

6:48 PM ET Carolina Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour was fined $25,000 by the NHL after he criticized the officiating in Wednesday’s 4-3 double-overtime loss to the Boston Bruins. In a statement, the league also assessed a conditional fine of $25,000 to Brind’Amour “which will be collected, in addition to any subsequent discipline, in the event

7:00 AM ET NHL Insiders The 2020 NHL playoffs have advanced past the awkward yet delightful qualification round, and we are now on to the tried-and-true, 16-team tournament with which we’re all familiar. One twist this time around: Instead of a bracket, the teams will be re-racked after each round so that the highest seed

10:22 PM ET After six hours, five overtimes and a combined 151 shots on goal, the Tampa Bay Lightning won an epic Game 1 against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday night. Brayden Point scored 150 minutes, 27 seconds into the contest to give Tampa Bay a 3-2 win. “It was very special,” Lightning forward

6:40 PM ET Tim KavanaghESPN.com Close Tim Kavanagh is an editor for ESPN, including NFL and NHL coverage. He’s a native of upstate New York. The 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs are being played without fans in the building — well, the human kind of fans — so some NHL teams are getting creative in how

10:00 AM ET ESPN.com staff The NHL’s return has been a success, and we’ve now reached the first round of the playoffs. We’ve got odds for the Round of 16 matchups, as well as futures bets. Who will advance from the East? From the West? And who will hoist the Stanley Cup? Here are the

8:00 PM ET The New York Rangers won the second lottery for the 2020 NHL draft, which determined which team would have the opportunity to pick at No. 1 overall. That first selection is widely expected to be phenom Alexis Lafreniere of Rimouski Oceanic in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. In June, a placeholder

6:40 PM ET The New York Rangers won Monday’s NHL draft lottery, and the right to select consensus No. 1 pick Alexis Lafreniere. The Rangers committed to a rebuild in 2018, but that has been expedited after an exciting 14 months. New York’s selected No. 2 overall in the 2019 draft, picking Finnish winger Kaapo

8:18 AM ET Associated Press The Florida Panthers will have a new general manager next season, making the announcement early Monday that Dale Tallon is leaving the franchise after 10 years. Tallon’s contract as president of hockey operations and general manager expired July 1, and was extended by Panthers owner Vincent Viola to get through

11:13 PM ET Associated Press TORONTO — Joonas Korpisalo stopped 33 shots and the Columbus Blue Jackets advanced to the first round of the NHL playoffs with a 3-0 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs in a decisive Game 5 on Sunday night. Zach Werenski‘s floater from the left point in the first period held

7:08 AM ET The Round of 16 matchups in the 2020 NHL playoffs are coming into focus. After the No. 1 seeds were determined on Saturday — the Philadelphia Flyers in the East and the Vegas Golden Knights in the West — Sunday’s two round-robin games will give us the Nos. 3 and 4 seeds,

6:34 PM ET ESPN News Services With a shootout looming to determine the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference and time ticking away, Alex Tuch scored 4:44 into overtime as the Vegas Golden Knights outlasted the Colorado Avalanche 4-3 to win the round-robin tournament in Edmonton on Saturday. The Golden Knights, who made a

12:21 AM ET Associated Press TORONTO — Tampa Bay Lightning star defenseman Victor Hedman left the team’s round-robin finale Saturday night, after it appeared he twisted his right ankle midway through the first period against the Philadelphia Flyers. Following the 4-1 loss that secured the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference for the Lightning,

7:56 AM ET The NHL postseason bubble is officially bonkers. Friday featured three series upsets being completed, and a stunning late-game rally by the Toronto Maple Leafs against the Columbus Blue Jackets that pushed their series to a fifth and final game. On Saturday, we’ll find out who the Montreal Canadiens and Chicago Blackhawks will

11:11 PM ET The third time Jonathan Toews lifted the Stanley Cup for the Chicago Blackhawks was in 2015, which also marked the last time they advanced in the NHL postseason. That was until Friday night, when they shocked the Edmonton Oilers and won their qualifying round series in four games. No. 12-seeded Chicago eliminated

8:20 PM ET ESPN News Services TORONTO — The Pittsburgh Penguins entered their qualifying round matchup against Montreal healthy but wary. Optimistic but guarded. While they’d shown plenty of grit during a regular season that featured extended absences by high-profile names on their star-laden roster, in a short series facing a goaltender like Carey Price,

7:45 AM ET Friday’s NHL slate features the highest stakes we’ve seen yet, with six teams facing elimination. Auston Matthews, Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby could all potentially go home. Oh, and the teams ranked 22nd (Arizona Coyotes) 23rd (Chicago Blackhawks) and 24th (Montreal Canadiens) in regular season points percentage can all clinch a playoff

9:00 AM ET Kevin Fiala was frustrated. The Minnesota Wild were trailing the Vancouver Canucks by two goals in Game 3 of their qualification-round series. The winger’s shot had missed its target, one of 10 wayward attempts for the game. As the whistle sounded to stop play, he buzzed Vancouver goalie Jacob Markstrom‘s crease, stuck