NHL

6:59 AM ET Fare thee well, Chicago Blackhawks. We’ll always have your qualification round upset of the Edmonton Oilers. Hence, the Vegas Golden Knights are the first team to advance to the conference semifinals. Four other teams have a chance to join them on Wednesday, with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Boston Bruins, Colorado Avalanche and

10:23 AM ET Emily Kaplan Close ESPN Emily Kaplan is ESPN’s national NHL reporter. Jeff Passan Close ESPN ESPN MLB insiderAuthor of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports” Major League Baseball is in the early stages of drafting an operating manual for a playoff bubble, the same initial

9:30 AM ET The relaxed dress code in the NHL’s bubble-based postseason has produced some memorable fashion choices. Like, for example, when Dallas Stars defenseman John Klingberg wore a T-shirt featuring teammate Joe Pavelski‘s smiling face digitally edited onto the body of infamous former zookeeper Joe Exotic as he hugged a Bengal tiger. The origin

7:00 AM ET This is it. It’s win or go home for the Chicago Blackhawks and Washington Capitals on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the defending champions can’t be counted out just yet, as the St. Louis Blues have tied their series at 2. And how about those Boston Bruins? A four-goal onslaught in the third period gave

9:27 PM ET The Arizona Coyotes‘ 7-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche in Game 4 of their quarterfinal series was the most lopsided defeat of the Western Conference postseason tournament. Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet had another phrase for it. “It was just a total debacle,” he said moments after the Avalanche took a 3-1 series

7:00 AM ET Colorado Avalanche defenseman Ian Cole is a 10-year NHL veteran, two-time Stanley Cup champion with the Pittsburgh Penguins, and he already has one of the best beards in the 2020 NHL playoffs. He also was kind enough to spend some time on his off day in the bubble answering questions from fans,

6:46 AM ET The St. Louis Blues won their first game of the NHL restart and the Washington Capitals were pushed to the brink of elimination by the New York Islanders on a day that featured three overtime games. Thanks to the Blues’ win, no teams face elimination Monday, but that doesn’t make the games

9:49 PM ET ESPN News Services EDMONTON, Alberta — The Chicago Blackhawks were in deep trouble. That’s when Corey Crawford took over. Crawford made 48 saves in a stellar performance, and the Blackhawks beat the Vegas Golden Knights 3-1 on Sunday night to stay alive in their first-round playoff series. “It’s probably as good as

2:36 PM ET Associated Press Oskar Lindblom heard the sound of his Philadelphia Flyers teammates tapping the ice with their sticks as he returned to practice and knew — after months of fear and fight in his battle with bone cancer — he was home. Lindblom turned 24 on Saturday, and a day later he

7:45 AM ET It’s a big day for some recent Stanley Cup champions. The Chicago Blackhawks face elimination, while the Washington Capitals and St. Louis Blues look to avoid falling into 0-3 holes. Also, are the Vegas Golden Knights the new Stanley Cup favorites? Check out the ESPN Stanley Cup Playoffs Daily every day of

7:45 AM ET The Stanley Cup champions from 2018 (Washington Capitals) and 2019 (St. Louis Blues) are both in an 0-2 hole after Friday. The team that won in 2016 and 2017 (Pittsburgh Penguins) has already been eliminated. It sure feels like there’s going to be some new blood winning this summer. We also got

11:53 PM ET One the St. Louis Blues‘ defining traits in their Stanley Cup run last season was an ability to bounce back after losses. They were 8-2 after defeats, including their Game 7 win over Boston on the road for the championship. In this postseason, the Blues lost Game 1 of their Western Conference

6:55 PM ET It’s no surprise that a majority of sports fans are happy to see sports return amid the coronavirus pandemic. However, while they are pleased to see games again, they’re not sure how long it will last, a survey conducted for ESPN found. A little more than 60% agree that they are “happy

7:00 AM ET Rick Tocchet was disgusted. The Arizona Coyotes, riding high after upsetting the Nashville Predators in the Stanley Cup qualification round, had squandered a chance to pull another shocker in Game 1 of their quarterfinal series against the Colorado Avalanche. “You gotta be able to make a 5-foot pass and support it. It

6:46 AM ET For many series, this is a critical juncture: Teams with a 2-0 lead in a seven-game playoff series are 324-51 (86.4 percent) in those series. The Vegas Golden Knights are already there. Four more teams — the Colorado Avalanche, Philadelphia Flyers, New York Islanders and Vancouver Canucks — have a chance to

7:00 AM ET For Robin Lehner, the situation would have been comical had it not been so maddening. The blade popped off the Vegas Golden Knights goaltender’s skate — twice — against the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 1 of their quarterfinal series on Tuesday night. At one point, he was scrambling on the ice to

9:00 AM ET The worst thing about the New York Rangers winning the Alexis Lafrenière draft lottery is how their fans are going to absolutely mangle his name. My father grew up in the city. His first attempt at a pronunciation was “Lufthansa.” The Canadian hamlet of Saint-Eustache produced an exquisite French Canadian moniker —

7:25 AM ET Wednesday didn’t bring us any five-overtime games. But it did bring us brunch hockey, double overtime, two unreal saves, a $25,000 fine and a lot of heat in postgame Zoom calls. Check out the ESPN Stanley Cup Playoffs Daily every day of the postseason until the Cup is handed out in October.