MINNEAPOLIS — It’s time for the Minnesota Wild to go deeper.

Deeper with their roster, then go deeper in the postseason.

Despite encouraging signs that the arrow is pointing upward for this franchise — it does have a decent mix of savvy veterans and developing young talent — the first-round exit at the hands of the Vegas Golden Knights...Read more

MORRISVILLE, N.C. — Jesperi Kotaniemi was lying on his back with his eyes closed in the training room, trying to hold still as a team doctor put the top of his right eyelid back together. He could only tell what was going on out on the ice by the noise of the crowd.

Then he heard the roar, and he knew, and it was just a question whether he ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — Late in Monday's press conference, which was called so Kyle Dubas could attempt to explain why he changed course behind the bench, Dubas was asked if he is concerned Sidney Crosby will want to leave the Penguins following Mike Sullivan's dismissal.

Dubas, who usually is wordier than my wife's Starbucks order, simply replied "no."...Read more

ST. LOUIS — The Blues continued to be kings of their own domain, clobbering the Winnipeg Jets at the Enterprise Center for the third time in their first-round series, winning Game 6 5-2 on Friday night and sending the series back to Manitoba for Game 7 on Sunday. That game will start at 6 p.m.

The Blues tied the series at 3-3 with a blast of ...Read more

EDMONTON, Canada — Stop me if you've heard this before, but the summer is starting early for the Kings after a first-round playoff loss to the Edmonton Oilers.

This one is a little different, though, because this was a season that had inspired rare promise before it ended Thursday in the same painful monotony as the last three, with the ...Read more

DENVER — Talk about the Pete calling the kettle black.

Dallas forward Roope Hintz did stuff to Nathan MacKinnon in Game 5 that would be a felony in 17 states. Jamie Benn and Mason Marchment spent the first week of this series trading Greg Louganis impressions.

The Dallas Stars aren’t so much a hockey team as a bunch of theater majors on ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — For years, there was a common refrain among fans and the local media that if the Penguins moved on from Mike Sullivan, he would find a new job the following day.

As it turns out, they weren't too far off.

Just four days after the Penguins announced they were "parting ways" with Sullivan, who won two Stanley Cup titles during a ...Read more

EDMONTON, Alberta, Canada — For the fourth time in as many years, the Los Angeles Kings’ season came to an end with a first-round playoff loss to the Edmonton Oilers. The coup de grace came Thursday in a 6-4 Oilers’ win at a raucous Rogers Place, which has become a house of horrors for the Kings.

Edmonton got goals from (take a deep ...Read more

DENVER — One of the wildest Stanley Cup Playoffs nights in the history of Ball Arena turned on one of the craziest own goals any hockey fan is ever going to see.

Nathan MacKinnon was credited with the go-ahead goal at 9:04 of the third period, and the Colorado Avalanche staved off elimination with a chaotic 7-4 victory in Thursday night’s ...Read more

ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Golden Knights are moving on to the second round after defeating the Minnesota Wild, 3-2, in Game 6 of their first-round series Thursday at Xcel Energy Center.

The Knights will next face the winner of the Los Angeles Kings-Edmonton Oilers series. The Oilers lead the series 3-2 entering Thursday’s Game 6 in Edmonton.

...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — The Flyers don’t have a head coach and may not have one for a while, and their search could be building to a conclusion that will feel familiar.

Rick Tocchet had roughly two months left on his contract with the Vancouver Canucks before Tuesday, when he and the team parted ways, as the phrasing goes in these situations. The ...Read more

WINNIPEG, Manitoba — The home team remains undefeated in the Blues-Jets series through five games, which puts the Blues in a precarious position.

The Blues lost to Winnipeg 5-3 on Wednesday night at Canada Life Centre, putting them down 3-2 in the best-of-seven series and on the brink of elimination.

Next up is Game 6 on Friday night at ...Read more

Sam Bennett had just been freed from the penalty box late in the second period Wednesday and broke for the net. It was the second time he was in the box in the frame, and the Florida Panthers lost their lead to the Tampa Bay Lightning the first time he was called for a penalty. He made up for it the second time around.

Anton Lundell, who had ...Read more

ANAHEIM, Calif. — For pro sports in Orange County, these are the worst of times. The Angels last appeared in the playoffs 11 years ago, the Ducks seven years ago.

The Ducks, embracing a full rebuild, scored more points last season than they had in six years. They still posted a losing record and fired their coach. The Angels, declining a full...Read more

The Golden Knights’ season was hanging by a thread. But video coach Dave Rogowski came to save the day.

One video challenge gave the Knights new life.

Minnesota Wild center Ryan Hartman appeared to score a go-ahead goal with 1:15 remaining in Game 5 of the first-round playoff series between the two teams at T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday. But ...Read more

RALEIGH, N.C. — Among the handmade signs by the ice Tuesday at the Lenovo Center was one that read simply: “Finish them.”

Meaning the New Jersey Devils. Meaning the Carolina Hurricanes finishing off the Devils, winning their Stanley Cup playoff series in five games and moving on.

The Hurricanes did do that but it was anything but simple....Read more

Florida Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad has been suspended two games for elbowing Tampa Bay Lightning forward Brandon Hagel in Monday’s 4-2 Panthers win in Game 4 of the teams’ first-round Stanley Cup playoffs series, the NHL’s Department of Player Safety announced Tuesday.

Ekblad, who scored the game-tying goal on Monday as part of a ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — With a raucous celebration unfolding all around him, Mike Sullivan stopped for a moment on the ice at Bridgestone Arena that muggy June night in 2017.

The Penguins had just won the Stanley Cup for a fifth time. They had also become the first team in the National Hockey League's salary cap era to earn back-to-back championships, ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — The Mike Sullivan era in Pittsburgh is over after a decade spent behind the bench.

The Penguins announced Monday morning the team and the two-time Stanley Cup-winning coach had "agreed to part ways" with two years remaining on Sullivan's contract.

However, president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas made it clear in a Monday press...Read more