5:54 PM ET Nashville goaltender Juuse Saros will not be available for Games 1 and 2 of the Predators’ first-round Stanley Cup playoff series against the Colorado Avalanche. Predators coach John Hynes confirmed the decision Monday, putting Nashville without its top netminder until at least Game 3 on Saturday. Saros suffered a lower-body injury last
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7:00 AM ET As a service to fans who have a general interest in the National Hockey League but have no idea what’s happened since the Tampa Bay Lightning raised the Cup for the second straight postseason, we’re happy to provide this FAQ as a guide to the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs. And for you
6:26 PM ET ESPN News Services NEW YORK — Leading scorer Artemi Panarin was back at practice on Sunday and will return to the New York Rangers lineup on Tuesday, when they open up their first-round series with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Panarin left the Rangers’ 4-3 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes last Tuesday at Madison
7:00 AM ET ESPN staff The matchups and storylines are set as the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs get underway this week, with the last team standing hoisting the cherished chalice sometime in late June. Will that be the Tampa Bay Lightning, who are looking to become the first team to win the Cup in three
7:10 AM ET Before I reveal every series winner in the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs and the exact number of games in which the series will be won, I’d like to just offer a small reminder to establish a baseline for your expectations: I picked the New York Islanders to win the Cup before the
12:31 PM ET ESPN News Services The Detroit Red Wings celebrated the return of Steve Yzerman three years ago, expecting one of their all-time greats to turn around the franchise as general manager. It hasn’t happened yet. Detroit was 32-40-10 and won 39% of its games, barely faring better than last year’s rate after bottoming
2:26 PM ET The Detroit Red Wings will not renew the contract of Jeff Blashill, who just completed his seventh season as head coach. Detroit finished with a 32-40-10 record (.451 points percentage) and were 26 points out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, missing the playoffs for the sixth straight season. The
1:20 AM ET ESPN staff The 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs represent a return to normalcy, after a bubble-encased postseason in 2020 and a 2021 tournament that featured realigned intradivisional play, followed by a rebracketing for the final two rounds. Sixteen teams have qualified for a shot, but only one will get to skate the sacred
12:43 AM ET Brianna Williams The box score doesn’t always tell the full story in professional sports, and such was the case in the regular-season finale between the Dallas Stars and Anaheim Ducks. Emergency backup goalie Tom Hodges, who played college hockey at SMU, stole the show in what ended up being a 4-2 Stars
7:55 PM ET Associated Press EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Dustin Brown didn’t want a distracting farewell tour, so he waited until just before the final game of the Los Angeles Kings‘ regular season to announce his impending retirement. Because the Kings are headed back to the playoffs after a three-year absence, Brown is grateful his
8:45 AM ET Tim KavanaghESPN.com Close Tim Kavanagh is a senior NHL editor for ESPN. He’s a native of upstate New York. We’ve made it to the final day of the regular season — save for a makeup game between the lottery-bound Winnipeg Jets and Seattle Kraken on Sunday — with a number of questions
12:19 AM ET The Florida Panthers are Presidents’ Trophy winners for the first time in franchise history, finishing the regular season with 122 points. Florida claimed the NHL’s top spot in the standings on Thursday after defeating Ottawa 4-0 and seeing Colorado lose to Nashville 5-4 in a shootout. This was just the second season
8:30 AM ET Tim KavanaghESPN.com Close Tim Kavanagh is a senior NHL editor for ESPN. He’s a native of upstate New York. After the Vegas Golden Knights‘ elimination from playoff contention last night, the 16-team field for the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs is set — we just have to wait to see which teams fit
8:00 AM ET As the Tampa Bay Lightning celebrated their second straight Stanley Cup championship last summer, my eyes were drawn to one player: defenseman David Savard. He had played 597 NHL regular-season games and 37 more in the playoffs before the Columbus Blue Jackets traded him to the Lightning at the deadline. He walked
11:40 PM ET It’s official: Vegas will miss the NHL postseason for the first time in franchise history. The Golden Knights’ second-half collapse to this season left them with wafer-thin playoff hopes, and those were snuffed out entirely on Wednesday in a 4-3 shootout loss to host Chicago. To stay alive, Vegas would have had
7:00 AM ET Tim KavanaghESPN.com Close Tim Kavanagh is a senior NHL editor for ESPN. He’s a native of upstate New York. Tuesday night was of tremendous importance as the races for the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs wind down. The Dallas Stars‘ shootout win over the Vegas Golden Knights pushed the latter to the precipice
8:40 AM ET The Northern Lights appear in the sky over Hay River, Northwest Territories, during the 2022 Polar Pond Hockey tournament. Amber Bracken for ESPN HAY RIVER, Northwest Territories — It is a frigid Saturday afternoon in mid-March, cold enough that the breath coming from the small faces pressed up against the panoramic window in
12:25 AM ET New York star forward Artemi Panarin left the Rangers’ 4-3 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes Tuesday night with an upper-body injury. Linemate Andrew Copp (lower-body) also left in the second period and did not return for the Rangers, who settled for the No. 2 seed in the Metropolitan Division as a result