NHL News

6:45 AM ET The Montreal Canadiens are going to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1993. Who will they face? We’ll all find out tonight, because we have the two best words in hockey coming up: Game 7. Check out the ESPN NHL Playoffs Daily to catch up every day of the

6:26 PM ET Associated Press CHICAGO — An unidentified former Chicago Blackhawks player says in a lawsuit against the team that a then-assistant coach sexually assaulted him in 2010 during a playoff run to a Stanley Cup title and that the team did nothing after he informed a now-retired employee. After leaving the Blackhawks, former

9:30 AM ET Tell me you know NHL playoff officiating is atrocious without telling me that you know NHL playoff officiating is atrocious. “We’re going to have situations where things don’t go our way. We can’t control what their thought process or decision-making is,” said Montreal Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher, when asked his thoughts about

12:21 AM ET UNIONDALE, N.Y. — The Tampa Bay Lightning had no update on the health of leading scorer Nikita Kucherov, who was injured on his first shift of their Game 6 loss on Wednesday night. The Islanders won the game, 3-2 in overtime, to force Game 7 on Friday night in Tampa. “It sucks

6:36 AM ET The New York Islanders need to win tonight against the Tampa Bay Lightning to keep their season alive — and they’ll get to do it at Nassau Coliseum, the building to which they’ll bid adieu when this playoff run is over. Meanwhile, the Vegas Golden Knights laid an egg at their home

New York Islanders’ Mathew Barzal draws fine, but eligible to play in Game 6 after dodging suspension Mathew Barzal, who has 12 points this postseason, was fined $5,000 Tuesday, the maximum allowable under the NHL CBA, for cross-checking Tampa Bay defenseman Jan Rutta in Game 5, but the Islander was not suspended, and will play

7:00 AM ET There are two major factors that will shape NHL free agency when it officially begins on July 28. The first takes place a week before the market opens for business: the Seattle Kraken expansion draft, in which every team not named the Vegas Golden Knights offers up a player to the NHL’s

12:30 AM ET TAMPA, Fla. — After the Tampa Bay Lightning steamrolled his New York Islanders 8-0 in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup semifinals, coach Barry Trotz had a simple message for his players in the locker room: They’ll have to earn the right to keep playing because another effort like the one Monday

6:44 AM ET The New York Islanders and Tampa Bay Lightning are deadlocked at 2-2. Who takes control of this series in a pivotal Game 5? Meanwhile, Vegas Golden Knights coach Peter DeBoer made a gutsy decision switching goalies in Game 4, and it paid off in a big way, as they knotted up their

1:02 AM ET Robin Lehner knew the Vegas Golden Knights‘ decision to start him in Game 4 against the Montreal Canadiens would be viewed by some as controversial. So he decided to relish in the moment. “Not many people know, I come to the game four hours early, I get my own bus,” Lehner said.

7:16 AM ET The Vegas Golden Knights had Game 3 in their hands until one bad mistake from goalie Marc-Andre Fleury opened the door for the Montreal Canadiens to win in overtime. As their goalie moves past that gaffe, the Knights are wondering how to get pucks past the opposing goalie to avoid a huge

12:13 AM ET UNIONDALE, N.Y. — New York Islanders coach Barry Trotz had his vision blocked by his players, who were standing at the bench in the final seconds of Game 4, clinging to a 3-2 lead over the Tampa Bay Lightning. So, he watched on the Jumbotron as Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh executed a

7:25 AM ET The New York Islanders are back to underdog status after losing two straight to the Tampa Bay Lightning. But they’re not in real trouble until they lose two straight at the Nassau Coliseum. Meanwhile, the Vegas Golden Knights let Game 3 slip away after a late gaffe. It’s time to stop sleeping

12:47 AM ET The Vegas Golden Knights were less than two minutes away from victory in Game 3 on Friday night — and then goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury tried playing the puck behind his net. With his team leading 2-1 late in the third period, Fleury collected a Montreal dump-in behind his own net but accidentally

7:00 AM ET The Carolina Hurricanes would like to re-sign unrestricted free-agent defenseman Dougie Hamilton. But Hamilton and his reps believe the market will produce a contract offer richer than what the Hurricanes want to spend on the talented 28-year-old. In an unorthodox move, the Hurricanes gave Hamilton their blessing to find out if that

12:43 PM ET NHL players said they’d like to see the “homestand” scheduling from this season continue but are against the concept of geographically aligned divisions going forward, according to an NHLPA poll released Thursday. Around 68% of the 447 players polled said they do not want to see regional divisions carried forward beyond this

6:49 AM ET Once Cole Caufield saw the tweet, he immediately texted it to his brother, Brock. Caufield, the rookie Canadiens winger, had been a healthy scratch for Game 1 of Montreal’s first-round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs. That didn’t sit well with some fans, including one with 5.6 million Twitter followers: this Canadiens-Leafs

5:12 PM ET Associated Press TORONTO — Jason Spezza re-signed with the Maple Leafs on Wednesday, agreeing to the NHL-minimum $750,000 for next season. The 38-year-old Spezza had 10 goals and 20 assists in 54 regular-season games for his hometown team and added three goals and two assists in seven playoff games. Spezza has 351