NHL

7:18 AM ET Game 5 between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the New York Islanders was an absolute blowout, with Tampa taking a 3-2 series lead in an 8-0 win. Hopefully, Game 5 between the Vegas Golden Knights and Montreal Canadiens back in Sin City is a more competitive affair. Check out the ESPN NHL

7:00 AM ET There are two major factors that will shape NHL free agency when it officially begins on July 28. The first takes place a week before the market opens for business: the Seattle Kraken expansion draft, in which every team not named the Vegas Golden Knights offers up a player to the NHL’s

12:30 AM ET TAMPA, Fla. — After the Tampa Bay Lightning steamrolled his New York Islanders 8-0 in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup semifinals, coach Barry Trotz had a simple message for his players in the locker room: They’ll have to earn the right to keep playing because another effort like the one Monday

2:17 PM ET Associated Press ST. PAUL, Minn. — Former NHL player and Minnesota Wild assistant general manager Tom Kurvers died Monday from lung cancer, the team and University of Minnesota Duluth said. He was 58. Kurvers served as Minnesota’s assistant general manager since 2018. Minnesota Duluth athletics spokesperson Brian Nystrom said the hockey program

6:44 AM ET The New York Islanders and Tampa Bay Lightning are deadlocked at 2-2. Who takes control of this series in a pivotal Game 5? Meanwhile, Vegas Golden Knights coach Peter DeBoer made a gutsy decision switching goalies in Game 4, and it paid off in a big way, as they knotted up their

1:02 AM ET Robin Lehner knew the Vegas Golden Knights‘ decision to start him in Game 4 against the Montreal Canadiens would be viewed by some as controversial. So he decided to relish in the moment. “Not many people know, I come to the game four hours early, I get my own bus,” Lehner said.

2:54 PM ET The Vegas Golden Knights are turning to Robin Lehner as their Game 4 starter, multiple sources confirmed to ESPN. Lehner was the first goalie off the ice at Sunday’s morning skate, which is typically an indicator of who will start that night’s game. According to sources, the goalies were notified of the

7:16 AM ET The Vegas Golden Knights had Game 3 in their hands until one bad mistake from goalie Marc-Andre Fleury opened the door for the Montreal Canadiens to win in overtime. As their goalie moves past that gaffe, the Knights are wondering how to get pucks past the opposing goalie to avoid a huge

12:13 AM ET UNIONDALE, N.Y. — New York Islanders coach Barry Trotz had his vision blocked by his players, who were standing at the bench in the final seconds of Game 4, clinging to a 3-2 lead over the Tampa Bay Lightning. So, he watched on the Jumbotron as Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh executed a

8:18 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — Florida Panthers center Aleksander Barkov has won the Selke Trophy as the NHL’s best defensive forward for the first time in his eight-year career. Barkov was announced as the winner of the award Friday night before the Vegas Golden Knights faced the Montreal Canadiens in Game 3

7:25 AM ET The New York Islanders are back to underdog status after losing two straight to the Tampa Bay Lightning. But they’re not in real trouble until they lose two straight at the Nassau Coliseum. Meanwhile, the Vegas Golden Knights let Game 3 slip away after a late gaffe. It’s time to stop sleeping

12:47 AM ET The Vegas Golden Knights were less than two minutes away from victory in Game 3 on Friday night — and then goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury tried playing the puck behind his net. With his team leading 2-1 late in the third period, Fleury collected a Montreal dump-in behind his own net but accidentally

7:00 AM ET The Carolina Hurricanes would like to re-sign unrestricted free-agent defenseman Dougie Hamilton. But Hamilton and his reps believe the market will produce a contract offer richer than what the Hurricanes want to spend on the talented 28-year-old. In an unorthodox move, the Hurricanes gave Hamilton their blessing to find out if that

6:50 AM ET The Vegas Golden Knights have four players who were born in Quebec, including goalie Marc-Andre Fleury. Game 3 against the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre on Friday will be a special one for sure, even if there won’t be as many fans in the stands as there were in Vegas. In

12:43 PM ET NHL players said they’d like to see the “homestand” scheduling from this season continue but are against the concept of geographically aligned divisions going forward, according to an NHLPA poll released Thursday. Around 68% of the 447 players polled said they do not want to see regional divisions carried forward beyond this

9:25 AM ET Nathan MacKinnon was understandably surly. The Colorado Avalanche had been eliminated by the Vegas Golden Knights with four straight losses following two wins to open the series. He was being asked a series of questions from the media — some salient, some startlingly incoherent — about what went wrong and what happens

6:49 AM ET Once Cole Caufield saw the tweet, he immediately texted it to his brother, Brock. Caufield, the rookie Canadiens winger, had been a healthy scratch for Game 1 of Montreal’s first-round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs. That didn’t sit well with some fans, including one with 5.6 million Twitter followers: this Canadiens-Leafs

5:12 PM ET Associated Press TORONTO — Jason Spezza re-signed with the Maple Leafs on Wednesday, agreeing to the NHL-minimum $750,000 for next season. The 38-year-old Spezza had 10 goals and 20 assists in 54 regular-season games for his hometown team and added three goals and two assists in seven playoff games. Spezza has 351