Islanders advance; Tavares slays Panthers NEW YORK (AP) The New York Islanders' long playoff drought is over. John Tavares tied the score in the final minute of regulation and got the winner at 10:41 of the second overtime, leading the Islanders past the Florida Panthers 2-1 Sunday night and into the second round for the first time since 1993. ''It's time we had to get over this hump and push … [Read more...]

John Tavares, the new King of New York hockey All hail John Tavares, the new king of New York hockey.  The coronation occurred on Sunday night in Brooklyn. Tavares scored the goal that tied Game 6 against the Florida Panthers at 1-1 with 53.2 seconds left in regulation. Tavares then scored the series-winning goal at 10:41 of the second overtime on a brilliant individual effort, giving the … [Read more...]

Capitals close out Flyers in 6; Penguins await The Washington Capitals are breathing a sigh of relief as they prevented a Game 7 and wrapped up their series with a 1-0 win over the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 6 Sunday. It wasn't an easy series to close out, but now the Presidents' Trophy winners have set a date with Pennsylvania's other hockey team, the Pittsburgh Penguins. A few hours after the … [Read more...]

Tarasenko vs. Hitchcock friction in spotlight ahead of Game 7 When the best player on a team appears to blow off his coach as they leave for the locker room, it’s going to get noticed. So as the St. Louis Blues stagger into a Game 7 against the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday night, the hockey world asks:  What’s up with Vladimir Tarasenko and Ken Hitchcock? At the end of the second period of … [Read more...]

Blackhawks rally to force Game 7 against Blues Two days after the Chicago Blackhawks saved their season with an overtime goal off the stick of Patrick Kane in Game 5, they were on the ropes once again in Game 6 against the St. Louis Blues. St. Louis had rattled off three goals in quick succession in the first period, making it look as though Chicago had run out of gas. Their Stanley Cup title … [Read more...]

NHL Three Stars: Rust, Penguins eliminate Rangers No. 1 Star: Bryan Rust, Pittsburgh Penguins  The Penguins forward sparked their four-goal second period with two goals and an assist on Matt Cullen’s tally. The Penguins eliminated the New York Rangers, 6-3. No. 2 Star: Dale Weise, Chicago Blackhawks The key deadline pickup finally made a playoff impact, as Weise scored the go-ahead goal for … [Read more...]

Blackhawks force Game 7, as Blues see series slipping away The champs are off the mat. The contenders, having assumed an emphatic and cathartic knockout, have hopelessly backpedalled into a Game 7.  The Chicago Blackhawks rallied to defeat the St. Louis Blues, 6-3, on Saturday night, sending their divisional semifinal into a final game back in St. Louis on Monday. The Blues’ 3-1 series lead … [Read more...]

Playing 'Ducks hockey' means doing things the hard way all season ANAHEIM -- "It's Ducks' hockey," said Ryan Kesler with a grin after the Game 5 win. "We don't do things the easy way around here. We do things the hard way." He's only partially kidding. "We started off in a hole. We dug ourselves to even," said Bruce Boudreau before Game 5. "Now we’ve got to dig ourselves even more out. We … [Read more...]

Nashville Predators near elimination with offensive drought ANAHEIM. Calif. – Nashville Predators defenseman Roman Josi sounded shocked that his team couldn't muster more goals in their Game 5 loss.  After the 5-2 defeat, a subdued Josi kept pointing out his team had multiple opportunities to score against the Anaheim Ducks defense but just couldn’t bury them. “We’re playing well. I thought … [Read more...]

San Jose Sharks 'stick it back' at 'disrespectful' Kings LOS ANGELES – Logan Couture could hardly hide his glee after his San Jose Sharks disposed of the Los Angeles Kings in the first-round of the Stanley Cup playoffs with a 6-3, Game 5 win.  After hearing what he believed was trash talk by the Kings for two years after his Sharks blew a 3-0 lead to LA in the 2014 playoffs, Couture … [Read more...]