NHL

7:38 AM ET The first night of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs set the bar high for the postseason. We had drama, with the Washington Capitals losing their starting goalie in the first period. We had intensity, as the Capitals and Boston Bruins had a spirited affair. Finally, we had a surprise, as the Caps

8:00 AM ET NHL Insiders Welcome to the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs! The first round gets rolling on Saturday with Game 1 of the Washington Capitals–Boston Bruins series. There’s plenty of history in many of these matchups, as the NHL is using an intradivisional format for the first two rounds, before rebracking the final four

8:00 AM ET NHL Insiders The 2021 NHL season was a campaign the likes of which we’ve never seen — and hope to never see again. The game schedule was limited (both in overall volume and variety of opponents). The fan capacity was limited. Thankfully, the permutations of how the Stanley Cup Final might play

7:03 AM ET NHL Insiders Playoff hockey is back! The first-round matchups for the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs are set, which means betting options galore. Here are some of the bets we like throughout the postseason. Our panel includes ESPN betting analyst Doug Kezirian and ESPN NHL writers Emily Kaplan and Greg Wyshynski. Check out

10:05 PM ET Associated Press FRISCO, Texas — Dallas Stars center Roope Hintz will have surgery next week in New York to repair a tendon issue in his groin area that bothered him throughout the season while he was a point-a-game player. General manager Jim Nill said Friday that Hintz played through “an avulsion injury

12:25 PM ET Associated Press The Professional Women’s Hockey Players’ Association is forging ahead with its bid to establish an economically sustainable professional league in North America with or — for now — without the NHL’s full financial backing. In response to a Sportsnet report that the NHL was not in a position to operate

7:00 AM ET We’ve come a long way since the Tampa Bay Lightning won the 2020 Stanley Cup in a bubble in Edmonton, Alberta. New protocols were agreed upon, and many surprises unfolded — both good and bad — as the NHL embarked on a season like no other. Playoff darlings from last year like

12:09 AM ET Associated Press DENVER — Tyson Jost scored two of Colorado’s five second-period goals as the Avalanche clinched the West Division and the top overall seed in the NHL playoffs with a 5-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday night. Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Joonas Donskoi and Andre Burakovsky also scored in the

7:00 AM ET Goaltenders are known as “the great equalizers” in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. They give every underdog a chance at an upset. They give every favorite the cold sweats, knowing one bad round from their goalie could be their ultimate undoing. As the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs arrive, which teams are in the

7:00 AM ET After the NHL staged a 24-team, bubble-based tournament to determine the Stanley Cup winner in 2020, we’re back to a more traditional 16-team event in 2021 — with a significant twist. The first two rounds of the 2021 playoffs will be intradivisional. After a winner is crowned from the four divisions, the

7:00 AM ET The 2021 NHL season was — hopefully — the most unique campaign that any of us will witness. Arenas had reduced numbers of fans — or no fans — and as a result of the U.S.-Canada border being closed, the divisions had to be realigned to sequester the Canadian teams; that decision

7:00 AM ET The 2021 NHL season was — hopefully — the most unique campaign that any of us will witness. Arenas had reduced numbers of fans — or no fans — and as a result of the U.S.-Canada border being closed, the divisions had to be realigned to sequester the Canadian teams; that decision

6:53 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 reached the final three games to determine the winner of the West Division and the Presidents’ Trophy as the team with the best regular season record for the 2021 NHL season. The

11:44 PM ET ESPN News Services WASHINGTON — The Washington Capitals got Alex Ovechkin back on the ice feeling “100%” heading into the playoffs. Winning was just a bonus. Michael Raffl scored from a tight angle with 1.8 seconds remaining, Ovechkin saw his first extended action since April 22 and the Capitals beat the short-handed

6:55 AM ET Tim KavanaghESPN.com Close Tim Kavanagh is a senior NHL editor for ESPN. He’s a native of upstate New York. We had a good feeling about Monday’s NHL calendar providing quite a bit of clarity in the playoff races, and it delivered. The Montreal Canadiens clinched the final North Division playoff spot, and

7:00 AM ET If there’s anything we know about NHL hiring practices, it’s that they can be predictable. Since 2005-06, there have been 171 head coaching changes in the NHL — more than the NFL, NBA or MLB. However, 101 of the 171 new hires had previous head-coaching experience, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

8:49 PM ET Jeremy WillisESPN.com The Philadelphia Flyers will not be going to the Stanley Cup playoffs and their season ends Monday night. Gritty, the Flyers’ mascot, is using the occasion to reflect on the season “I got naked (a lot), played in a ball pit, rode a mechanical bull, vacationed in Tahoe, hired (and

1:22 PM ET Star center Jack Eichel said there’s a “disconnect” between himself and the Buffalo Sabres over how his neck injury was handled this season, leaving his future with the franchise very much unsettled. Eichel missed the Sabres’ final 33 games of the season due to a herniated disk in his neck, an injury