Jake Oettinger did not have a contract with Dallas for much of the summer, but as a restricted free agent he knew he would be playing for the Stars this season.
With that certainty in mind, Oettinger watched with fascination as other goaltenders shuffled around the NHL.
TORONTO (AP) — Aaron Judge and the New York Yankees held a lively clubhouse party to cheer another AL East title. A celebration for home run history, that's still on deck.
Judge walked four times and stayed at 60 homers, one shy of Roger Maris’ American League record, as the Yankees clinched the division by beating the Toronto Blue Jays 5-2 Tuesday night.
LONDON, Ontario (AP) — Calgary Flames forward Nazem Kadri brought the Stanley Cup to his hometown mosque on Saturday.
It was a day filled with pride and joy for the 31-year-old Kadri, who won the title with the Colorado Avalanche this past season.
TORONTO (AP) — Former Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Borje Salming has been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease, the team announced Wednesday.
“I have received news that has shaken my family and me,” Salming said in a statement.
ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — The champagne had barely stopped flowing from the Colorado Avalanche's Stanley Cup celebration when they traded for a new goaltender, signaling that Darcy Kuemper would not be back.
MONTREAL (AP) — Joe Sakic didn’t want to make the call to Darcy Kuemper telling him the Colorado Avalanche were not bringing back their goaltender who was in net when they won the Stanley Cup.
CHICAGO (AP) — Luke Richardson is the new coach of the Chicago Blackhawks, stepping into a tricky rebuilding process for one of the NHL's marquee franchises.
General manager Kyle Davidson announced the move on Monday.
DENVER (AP) — Keep the champagne chilled. It's back to the slushy ice of Amalie Arena for the Colorado Avalanche after they failed to close out the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Stanley Cup Final.
“It's not supposed to be easy, and it's not going to be easy,” Avs captain Gabriel Landeskog said after Colorado's 3-2 loss in Game 5 sent this sensational series back to Tampa, where the Lightning can even things up Sunday night.
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Toronto’s Auston Matthews won the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player on Tuesday night, becoming only the third Maple Leaf to win the award and the first since Ted Kennedy in 1954-55.
TORONTO (AP) — Veteran Maple Leafs forward Jason Spezza announced his retirement Sunday after a 19-season NHL career.
The 38-year-old is moving into the Maple Leafs’ front office as a special assistant to GM Kyle Dubas.
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Jon Cooper had every reason to be confident the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning could keep their bid for a three-peat alive.
“Our story is not finished being written,” the coach said earlier this month with his team on the brink of elimination in the first round against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
TORONTO (AP) — The Toronto Maple Leafs signed veteran defenseman Mark Giordano to a two-year contract extension Sunday.
The average annual value of the contract is $800,000.
Giordano, 38, had eight goals and 27 assists in 75 games last season split between Toronto and the Seattle Kraken.
TORONTO (AP) — Brendan Shanahan got his housekeeping out of the way quickly.
In the wake of another playoff failure, the president of the Toronto Maple Leafs told reporters at the team’s annual post-elimination media availability — once again far earlier on the calendar than anyone associated with the organization hoped — that general manager Kyle Dubas and head coach Sheldon Keefe would keep their jobs.
As soon as the NHL expanded to more than six teams, and television sets started showing games in color, the Toronto Maple Leafs were in trouble.
Once again, the hockey playoffs are moving on to the second round without the Maple Leafs, who will be watching the rest of the postseason from a familiar spot.
A few minutes after his New York Rangers moved on to the second round of the NHL playoffs by beating the Pittsburgh Penguins, Gerard Gallant had not mentally moved on to what’s next.
“I don’t even know who we play,” Gallant said with a chuckle.
TORONTO (AP) — Nick Paul scored twice, including an incredible individual effort on the tiebreaking goal late in the second period, and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-1 in Game 7 on Saturday night to win their first-round playoff series.
TORONTO (AP) — Nick Paul came through with the best playoff performance of his career when the Tampa Bay Lightning needed it most and the two-time defending champions are moving on again.
Paul scored twice, including an incredible individual effort on the tiebreaking goal late in the second period, and the Lightning beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-1 in Game 7 on Saturday night to win their first-round playoff series.
WASHINGTON (AP) — When the Florida Panthers faced their first real adversity of the season trailing their playoff series against the Washington Capitals, players held a meeting to set things straight.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Jonathan Huberdeau couldn't remember what it was like to be on the smiling side of a handshake line.
The feelings were so strong after he and the Florida Panthers beat the Washington Capitals 4-3 in overtime Friday night to win Game 6 and move on to the second round that Huberdeau wants to replicate it over and over.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jordan Binnington made 25 saves and the St. Louis Blues beat the Minnesota Wild 5-1 on Thursday night in Game 6 of their series to advance to the second round of the Western Conference playoffs.
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — The Tampa Bay Lightning saved their season, keeping their bid for a three-peat alive.
The two-time defending Stanley Cup champions rallied to beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3 in overtime on Thursday night, staving off elimination and forcing a winner-take-all Game 7 in the first round playoff series between the Atlantic Division rivals.
NEW YORK (AP) — Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews and Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid are two of the finalists for the Hart Memorial Trophy, the NHL’s most valuable player award.
New York Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin is also in contention for the prize awarded “to the player adjudged to be the most valuable to his team.”
Kori Cheverie reflects fondly on the conversations she had with her grandfather growing up in Nova Scotia, where he encouraged her to believe anything was attainable in sports.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Connor McDavid has stood on this precipice several times before, and he does not care for the view.
The Edmonton Oilers are one loss away from their third consecutive opening-round playoff exit after back-to-back losses to the upstart Kings.
TORONTO (AP) — Auston Matthews scored the tiebreaking goal with 6:06 left in the third period and the Toronto Maple Leafs rallied from an early two-goal deficit to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3 on Tuesday night and take a 3-2 lead in the first-round playoff series.
TORONTO (AP) — Jason Spezza stood up in the Toronto locker room in the wake of another disastrous start.
The veteran forward — potentially in the midst of a final Stanley Cup shot in his 19th NHL season — spoke about the margin for error getting smaller and smaller against two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay.
Kevin Fiala has often let his frustration show if he's not producing up to his star potential, and the Minnesota Wild left wing was in a tense mood after another flat performance in St. Louis.
Four games into the first round against the Blues, with the teams tied at two games, Fiala has not scored.
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Talk about resilience.
The two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning haven't lost consecutive playoff games in nearly three years, rattling off 17 consecutive victories following a postseason loss since the start of their 2020 title run.
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Jack Campbell didn't flinch.
Not when the Tampa Bay Lightning began cutting into a three-goal deficit, and especially not when the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions made a late push to really put some heat on the Toronto Maple Leafs.
NHL teams are taking different approaches to crossing the U.S.-Canada border during the first round of the playoffs with the U.S. still requiring a negative COVID-19 test for all passengers arriving on international flights.
TORONTO (AP) — Victor Hedman had a goal and three assists for his first four-point playoff game and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-3 on Wednesday night in Game 2 to even the first-round series.
TORONTO (AP) — Victor Hedman had a goal and three assists for his first four-point playoff game and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-3 on Wednesday night in Game 2 to even the first-round series.
TORONTO (AP) — Toronto Maple Leafs forward Kyle Clifford has been given a one-game suspension for a boarding incident in Toronto’s playoff-opening win over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The NHL’s department of player safety issued the suspension on Tuesday following a hearing with Clifford.
So much for the notion that goals are hard to come by in the playoffs. If the opening night of the chase for the Stanley Cup is an indication of what’s to come, the NHL is in for another wildly unpredictable postseason.
TORONTO (AP) — Auston Matthews had two goals and an assist and Jack Campbell made 23 saves in the second playoff shutout of his career as the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning 5-0 Monday night in Game 1 of their first-round playoffs series.
TORONTO (AP) — Toronto coach coach Sheldon Keefe predicted a “borderline violent” playoff series against Tampa Bay.
That turned out to be the case early and late in Monday's opening game of the teams' first-round playoff series.
Steven Stamkos and the Tampa Bay Lightning understand the difficult challenge that lies ahead for the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions.
The team’s quest for a third straight NHL title begins on the road Monday night against the Auston Matthews-led Toronto Maple Leafs, who had a terrific regular season but have yet to prove they have what it takes to be successful in the playoffs.