NHL

1:24 PM ET Associated Press PITTSBURGH — The rest of the Penguins‘ playoff run won’t include goaltender Casey DeSmith. Coach Mike Sullivan said DeSmith underwent core surgery Friday morning and will miss the rest of the postseason. The surgery comes three days after DeSmith exited in the second overtime of Pittsburgh’s 4-3, triple-overtime victory over

7:00 AM ET After back-to-back Stanley Cup championships for the Tampa Bay Lightning, coach Jon Cooper still couldn’t believe he was uttering these words: “We’re going for three.” The last time an NHL team won three straight Stanley Cups was from 1981-83, as part of the New York Islanders‘ run of four straight championships. “‘We’re

11:49 PM ET NEW YORK — Goalie Louis Domingue was the hero of the Pittsburgh Penguins‘ Game 1 win, stopping all 17 shots he faced after entering the game during the second overtime. But Thursday night in Game 2, there were no storybook endings — just a 5-2 loss to the New York Rangers to

4:20 PM ET The Boston Bruins have ruled out defenseman Hampus Lindholm for Friday’s Game 3 of their first-round Stanley Cup playoff series against the Carolina Hurricanes, who might be without starting goaltender Antti Raanta. Lindholm was injured during the second period of Wednesday’s Game 2 in a violent collision with Hurricanes forward Andrei Svechnikov.

9:30 AM ET Have we ever discussed how the Conn Smythe Trophy might be the NHL’s weirdest award? Let’s start with the hardware itself. In 1964, the trophy was donated to the NHL by Maple Leaf Gardens, to be awarded to the Stanley Cup playoffs MVP and as a bauble to honor Hockey Hall of

7:58 PM ET Carolina goaltender Antti Raanta left Game 2 of the Hurricanes’ first-round Stanley Cup playoff series against Boston on Wednesday following a collision with Bruins’ forward David Pastrnak. Raanta was playing the puck midway through the game’s opening frame when Pastrnak charged in and, while trying to avoid Raanta’s clearing attempt, collided with

6:14 PM ET ESPN News Services A day after stepping up with a stunning relief effort in Pittsburgh’s wild Game 1 win of their Stanley Cup playoffs opening-round series against New York, Penguins backup goaltender Louis Domingue said he will likely follow that up with his first career playoff start. Domingue, Pittsburgh’s well-traveled 30-year-old journeyman

8:00 AM ET The 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs are off to a wild start, including a triple-overtime thriller, two fights in one game, multiple upsets … and also multiple blowouts. After seeing the postseason version of all 16 playoff teams once, what are the key takeaways? And how does it all help us predict what

12:01 AM ET NEW YORK — Evgeni Malkin scored on a deflection in the third overtime and the Pittsburgh Penguins outlasted the New York Rangers, 4-3, in Game 1 of an Eastern Conference quarterfinal series that captivated the league in just the second day of the postseason. Malkin deflected a wristshot from defenseman John Marino,

4:47 PM ET Toronto Maple Leafs forward Kyle Clifford has been suspended one game by the NHL’s Department of Player Safety for boarding Tampa Bay Lightning forward Ross Colton. The decision makes Clifford unavailable for Game 2 of the Leafs and Lightning first-round playoff series on Wednesday. This is the first time in his 12-year

7:00 AM ET ESPN staff The Stanley Cup playoffs are when the spotlight shines the brightest on the NHL. Not coincidentally, they’re also when hockey’s star players shine the brightest, too. Every preseason, we publish the ESPN NHL Rank, which rates the top 100 players based on how good they’re expected to be in the

11:37 PM ET The Boston Bruins were routed in Game 1 of their first-round series against the Carolina Hurricanes, 5-1, but coach Bruce Cassidy wasn’t about to pin that on Linus Ullmark. “I am not faulting our goaltender for this,” Cassidy said Monday night. “We had some opportunities we needed to finish. Like they did.”

11:05 AM ET ESPN staff The NHL’s 32 teams have completed their 82-game schedules, and now 16 of them have a chance to take home the most glorious trophy in all of sports. Yes, the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs are upon us. And this year, they’re back on the networks of ESPN and ABC, including

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