1:40 PM ET Associated Press TORONTO — Rod Brind’Amour wasn’t going to risk another $25,000 fine from the NHL. The Carolina Hurricanes coach provided a four-word answer Thursday when asked whether he had anything more to add a day after being fined for calling the league “a joke” in criticizing an officials’ ruling on a
NHL
2:24 PM ET Montreal Canadiens coach Claude Julien was admitted to a Toronto hospital after experiencing chest pains following his team’s game on Wednesday night. Montreal GM Marc Bergevin said he does not believe the issue is related to COVID-19, but Julien was undergoing tests on Thursday. “He’s for sure in really good hands,” Bergevin
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.
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
8:54 PM ET ESPN News Services New York Islanders captain Anders Lee knocked Washington Capitals forward Nicklas Backstrom out of Wednesday night’s first-round series opener, setting the tone with a big hit that Washington coach Todd Reirden called “late” and “predatory.” Reirden didn’t have an update afterward on Backstrom, who appeared to be looking the
6:48 PM ET Carolina Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour was fined $25,000 by the NHL after he criticized the officiating in Wednesday’s 4-3 double-overtime loss to the Boston Bruins in Toronto. In a statement, the league also assessed a conditional fine of $25,000 to Brind’Amour “which will be collected, in addition to any subsequent discipline, in
11:41 AM ET Associated Press PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Penguins‘ qualifying-round loss to the Montreal Canadiens cost assistant coaches Sergei Gonchar, Jacques Martin and Mark Recchi their jobs. The team announced on Wednesday that it would not renew the contracts of all three assistants. The move came less than a week after the fifth-seeded Penguins
6:58 AM ET The start of the NHL’s Stanley Cup quarterfinals set the bar rather high. Like, five overtimes high. Before the next day of competition, please check out our staff picks for each series, including the uncomfortable number of us predicting that the best team in the NHL during the regular season will get
7:00 AM ET The fans’ volume increased as Vegas Golden Knights forward Alex Tuch raced into the Colorado Avalanche zone during overtime. They let out a jubilant roar when he snapped a shot over goalie Philipp Grubauer to win the game and earn his team the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference half of