7:47 PM ET Associated Press DALLAS — Florida Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad was taken off the ice on a stretcher with a left leg injury midway through the second period against the Dallas Stars on Sunday. An aircast was applied to Ekblad’s left leg. Minutes earlier, Ekblad got caught up with Stars defenseman Esa Lindell
NHL News
12:18 PM ET Associated Press ST. LOUIS — Former St. Louis Blues defenseman Bob Plager likely died of a “cardiac event,” not injuries from a highway accident, the St. Louis medical examiner said Friday. Plager, 78, an original member of the Blues whose long association with the team continued until his death, was alone in
11:51 PM ET Associated Press BOSTON — Lexie Laing and Taylor Wenczkowski scored power-play goals, and the Boston Pride became the first two-time winners of the Isobel Cup with a 4-3 win over the defending champion Minnesota Whitecaps on Saturday night. It was an NWHL championship the Pride, who were regular-season champions, had hoped to
2:19 PM ET Associated Press Buffalo Sabres interim coach Don Granato and assistant Matt Ellis are headed back to work after being cleared from the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol. The Sabres announced Granato and Ellis are traveling to join the team in Boston after spending a night in self-isolation in Pittsburgh. Both were placed in the
4:06 PM ET The Buffalo Sabres traded center Eric Staal to the Montreal Canadiens for two draft picks on Friday, ending a brief and disappointing run for the veteran star in Buffalo. The Canadiens sent 2021 third- and fifth-round draft picks to Buffalo for Staal. The Sabres retained 50% of Staal’s salary: $1.625 million of
8:50 AM ET The NHL trade deadline owes a debt of gratitude to the Canadian government. On Thursday, a league source confirmed to ESPN that the 14-day quarantine for NHL players traded from U.S. teams to Canadian teams would be reduced to seven days, with additional COVID-19 testing. This removes a roadblock for North Division
7:00 AM ET As Carolina Hurricanes top-line center Sebastian Aho explained to ESPN in 2019: “Our team’s identity comes from Rod [Brind’Amour].” The team’s coach, who captained the Canes to their only Stanley Cup in 2006, is demanding, but he empowers his players. At 50, Brind’Amour still lives up to his nickname “Rod the Bod,”
8:35 AM ET “You were the chosen one!” Every time I look at the stats for Philadelphia Flyers goalie Carter Hart this season, I think of Obi-Wan Kenobi screaming that line at Anakin Skywalker in “Revenge of the Sith,” and not just because Gen Xers like myself incessantly relate everything back to Star Wars. (It
7:00 AM ET Francesco Pinelli had been looking forward to the 2020-21 hockey season his entire life. Pinelli, a 17-year-old from Hamilton, Ontario, is a top prospect for the 2021 NHL draft. In October, NHL Central Scouting named Pinelli to its preliminary players to watch list; the Kitchener Rangers (Ontario Hockey League) center was one
7:00 AM ET We’re past the midseason mark of this abridged 56-game 2021 NHL season, and the April 12 trade deadline is just around the corner. For this week’s NHL Power Rankings, we offer up bold predictions for all 31 teams. How we rank: The ESPN hockey editorial staff submits selections ranking teams 1 to
1:06 AM ET The NHL is investigating an incident in which one of its referees was caught saying he “wanted to give” the Predators a penalty in their win over the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night in Nashville, Tennessee. With 15:04 left in the second period, Predators forward Viktor Arvidsson was called for tripping
7:00 AM ET The coach on the other end of the phone scanned ESPN’s 2021 NHL position-by-position ranking player pools, his stress level increasing. “We’re talking about the best of the best,” he said, sighing. “Now you’re asking me to vote for the best of ‘the best of the best.'” Well, yeah, that’s sort of
10:39 PM ET ESPN News Services NEW YORK — Rasmus Asplund, Dylan Cozens and Jeff Skinner scored for Buffalo, on a rare night where the Sabres showed some offensive skill, but it wasn’t enough in a 5-3 loss to the New York Rangers Monday. The defeat dropped Buffalo to a miserable 0-12-2 in their last
7:00 AM ET Joe Pavelski is having one of the best seasons of his 15-year NHL career. Though the Dallas Stars are off to a slower-than-expected start after making it to the 2020 Stanley Cup Final, Pavelski is carrying the load — especially as the team weathers early injury-related absences of Tyler Seguin, Ben Bishop
5:34 PM ET The entire New York Rangers coaching staff is unavailable for Wednesday’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers due to COVID-19 protocols. The team’s AHL coach, Kris Knoblauch, will fill in for Rangers coach David Quinn. Associate GM Chris Drury and Hartford Wolf Pack associate head coach Gord Miller will also be on the
11:51 PM ET The Philadelphia Flyers, scuffling for most of March, knew they already had an uphill battle to reclaim their early-season form and get back into playoff position. The hill seems even larger now. The New York Rangers, inconsistent themselves most of the season, woke up in a major way Wednesday night, trouncing the
3:41 PM ET Associated Press PITTSBURGH — The Penguins say center Evgeni Malkin is out indefinitely with a lower-body injury. The team placed the Russian star on injured reserve Thursday, two days after Malkin appeared to hurt his right knee in a loss to the Boston Bruins. Head coach Mike Sullivan described Malkin as “week
2:06 PM ET Associated Press DENVER — The Colorado Avalanche acquired Jonas Johansson from the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday in a bid to shore up their shaky backup goaltending. The Sabres received Colorado’s sixth-round draft pick in a trade agreed to a day earlier. The Sabres had to wait for COVID-19 testing results after the