8:32 PM ET Greg WyshynskiESPN San Jose Sharks coach Peter DeBoer wouldn’t rule out star captain Joe Pavelski returning to his lineup during their series against the Colorado Avalanche. Pavelski has missed the first three games of the series, which San Jose leads 2-1, following a gruesome injury he suffered when he head slammed to
NHL
6:15 PM ET Associated Press OTTAWA, Ontario — NHL commissioner Gary Bettman told the Parliament of Canada on Wednesday that it would be impossible to ban all hits to the head and maintain hockey as a physical game. Bettman said in testimony that larger players would inevitably land blows on smaller players’ heads in the
4:08 PM ET Emily KaplanESPN COLUMBUS — Boston Bruins winger Brad Marchand doesn’t regret punching Blue Jackets defenseman Scott Harrington in the back of the head at the end of Game 3, though he did say Wednesday his actions were “unnecessary.” Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy plans on having a chat with Marchand about the winger’s
2:08 PM ET Jack Hughes, the likely No. 1 pick in the 2019 NHL draft, has committed to play for Team USA at the upcoming IIHF Men’s World Championship, a source confirmed to ESPN. He will join a roster that already includes Patrick Kane, Johnny Gaudreau, Jack Eichel, Ryan Suter and Hughes’s older brother Quinn,
7:02 AM ET Greg WyshynskiESPN Great goaltending and timely scoring were the name of the games on Tuesday night, as the Columbus Blue Jackets and San Jose Sharks took 2-1 leads in their respective series. Here’s what happened in the NHL last night (check out replays of every playoff game on ESPN+) and what to
11:53 PM ET Emily KaplanESPN COLUMBUS, Ohio — Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Sergei Bobrovsky used to have a reputation as an excellent regular-season goalie who flopped in the playoffs. This postseason, Bobrovsky — and the Blue Jackets — are changing the narrative. Bobrovsky propelled the Blue Jackets to a 2-1 series lead over the Boston
6:02 PM ET Associated Press RALEIGH, N.C. — Rod Brind’Amour considers himself lucky to have two goalies he trusts. It looks like he is turning to the second one. The first legitimate goalie dilemma of the playoffs belongs to the Carolina Hurricanes, now that starter Petr Mrazek is dealing with a lower body injury that
11:57 PM ET ESPN News Services RALEIGH, N.C. — Hurricanes goaltender Curtis McElhinney, making the first playoff start of his 11-year career, helped put Carolina on the brink of an Eastern Conference final berth Wednesday night. Starting in place of Petr Mrazek, who is day-to-day with a lower body injury, McElhinney stopped 28 shots as
2:42 PM ET Greg WyshynskiESPN When highly touted Harvard defenseman Adam Fox refused to sign a contract with the Carolina Hurricanes, who had traded for his rights, there was widespread speculation that the New York Rangers were his desired NHL destination. The speculation was accurate: The Hurricanes traded Fox to the Rangers on Tuesday in
8:00 AM ET ORNSKOLDSVIK, Sweden — Inside the left faceoff circle and just below the dot, as the U.S. men’s national under-18 team finishes its warm-up, Cole Caufield stands next to a blob of pucks. He slides each puck to his stick and fires off shot after shot into the opposite corner of the net.