2:28 PM ET Associated Press The NHL has paused the Boston Bruins after four more players entered the league’s COVID-19 protocol. Bruins games Saturday against the Buffalo Sabres and Tuesday against the New York Islanders were postponed and team facilities closed until at least Wednesday. They’re the 36th and 37th games to be postponed this
NHL News
7:00 AM ET Handing out midseason grades in a 56-game season presents its own sample-size challenges. Handing them out in a season in which some teams have yet to actually hit the midpoint, due to postponed and rescheduled games, only complicates things. That established, here are the 2021 NHL midseason report cards for all 31
7:00 AM ET For the first two and a half years of the Vegas Golden Knights‘ existence, Malcolm Subban was Marc-Andre Fleury‘s backup, with plenty of ups and downs, and a not-so-great .397 quality start percentage. Vegas wanted to fortify its tandem, and traded for Chicago Blackhawks netminder Robin Lehner in February, 2020. Subban came
9:00 AM ET Hockey fans always approach the NHL trade deadline hoping for exhilaration but end up with several hours of inertia. High prices scare away otherwise thirsty general managers. The rumors of what could happen are ultimately more entertaining than what actually does. That’s a shame, because a great deadline can lead to great
7:00 AM ET Time is a warp these days, but believe it or not, we’re at the halfway mark of the NHL’s abridged 56-game 2021 season. For this week’s ESPN Power Rankings, we identified the MVP on every team at the midseason point. How we rank: The ESPN hockey editorial staff submits selections ranking teams
10:43 AM ET The Buffalo Sabres finally fired head coach Ralph Krueger on Wednesday, having gone 6-18-4 in this cursed season for them. That included a 3-2 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night, who snapped an 11-game home losing streak (0-10-1) while pushing Buffalo’s losing streak to 12 games (0-10-2). Krueger finally
8:44 PM ET Associated Press NEWARK, N.J. — New Jersey Devils captain Nico Hischier is expected to miss three weeks following surgery Monday to repair a frontal sinus fracture. Hischier was injured in a 5-2 loss to the Washington Capitals on Feb. 27, when he was struck in the visor by a deflected puck. Hischier
7:00 AM ET Some rookie stars arrive in the NHL with their own gravitational pull, knocking a franchise out of its orbit. Minnesota Wild coach Dean Evason saw it happen first hand while with the Washington Capitals when Alex Ovechkin arrived. He was a player whose pulsating lifeforce, on and off the ice, infused every
4:53 PM ET Associated Press LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Kings‘ game against the St. Louis Blues on Monday night has been postponed because of weather conditions that kept the Kings in Denver on Sunday. The NHL didn’t immediately announce a makeup date Monday. The Kings’ plane couldn’t leave after their 4-1 loss to
7:00 AM ET Death, taxes, and discounting the New York Islanders until they go on a run that forces you to pay attention. It’s been a yearly tradition for the Isles in the Lou Lamoriello and Barry Trotz era. But as a rival player told me recently: “The Islanders have the strongest team identity in
Mar 10, 2021 Artemi Panarin returned to Rangers practice Wednesday, more than two weeks after he took a personal leave of absence from the team. Panarin will not play Thursday in Boston. Coach David Quinn said the Rangers want to get Panarin a few more skates in to put him in the best position to
4:39 PM ET Associated Press COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday acquired defenseman Mikko Lehtonen from the Toronto Maple Leafs for goaltender Veini Vehvilainen. Lehtonen, 27, skated in his first NHL game on Jan. 18 against Winnipeg and earned his first career assist on Jan. 30 at Edmonton. He will join Columbus’
5:09 PM ET ESPN News Services BOSTON — Chris Kreider scored his team-leading 14th goal, Artemi Panarin had an assist in his first game back since leaving the team, and the New York Rangers beat the Boston Bruins 4-0 Saturday to halt a three-game losing streak. Panarin left Feb. 22 after a Russian tabloid printed
12:25 PM ET ESPN News Services BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Buffalo Sabres will be without captain Jack Eichel for what coach Ralph Krueger called “the foreseeable future” in delivering yet another blow to a team in the midst of a nine-game skid. The injury is not considered season-ending, though Krueger on Saturday was unable to
5:00 PM ET Washington Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan didn’t rule out goalie Henrik Lundqvist returning to the team this season after undergoing open-heart surgery in January. “It would be pretty incredible if he was able to come back. I guess we’ll see where he is at the end here,” said MacLellan on Friday. “Probably
7:15 AM ET It was March 11, 2020, and the Winnipeg Jets were holding their morning skate before a game at the Edmonton Oilers. Coach Paul Maurice had just stepped onto the ice when his captain, Blake Wheeler, skated over with a concerned expression. “You think they’re going to shut us down tonight?” asked Wheeler.
7:44 PM ET Jordan Binnington bet on himself and won a lucrative new contract with the St. Louis Blues. The 27-year-old goalie agreed to a six-year contract extension worth $36 million on Thursday. His average annual contract value of $6 million is a jump up from his current AAV of $4.4 million. His cap hit
10:17 PM ET The Detroit Red Wings‘ most recent Stanley Cup championship was 13 years ago, even if their multiyear residency in the NHL’s basement makes that memory feel protractedly distant. There were 23 players who appeared for Detroit in the 2008 playoffs. Twenty of them are retired, with three having been subsequently enshrined in