Longtime forward Claude Lemieux, one of hockey’s fiercest competitors and greatest agitators during a memorable 21-year NHL career that included four Stanley Cup championships and a one-year stint in the San Jose Sharks organization, died unexpectedly on Thursday. He was 60.

The NHL Alumni Association announced Lemieux’s death on social ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — When Pittsburgh Penguins president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas spoke with local media earlier this month, one statement he made stood out far more than the others.

The question pertained to Evgeni Malkin. Dubas was asked for the team’s plan as the franchise icon was set to hit free agency.

“We would love to have him back...Read more

DENVER — Fire everybody. Into the sun, if possible.

The 2026 Western Conference final was played anywhere Vegas wanted it. The corners. The boards. The neutral zone. In between the Avalanche players’ ears, mostly.

The Golden Knights turned the NHL’s fastest team into a Corvette on cinder blocks. This wasn’t just a sweep. It was ...Read more

MONTREAL — The Carolina Hurricanes are one win away from playing for the Stanley Cup.

The Canes reeled off three rapid-fire goals in the opening period and kept the Montreal Canadiens mostly flustered and frustrated Wednesday in a 4-0 victory in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference final at Bell Centre.

The Canes, with goalie Frederik Andersen ...Read more

LAS VEGAS — He skated around the T-Mobile ice screaming and pumping his fist. Maybe it was a way for Mitch Marner to let go of all past frustrations. Maybe he was just overjoyed in the moment.

Maybe it was both.

Whatever the reason, you couldn’t have found a happier member of the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday night, Marner’s euphoric ...Read more

LAS VEGAS — The Vegas Golden Knights are heading to the Stanley Cup Final after completing a four-game sweep of the Colorado Avalanche with a 2-1 win in Game 4 of the Western Conference final at T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday.

The Knights will play for the Stanley Cup for the third time in their nine year history and for the second time in four ...Read more

LAS VEGAS — Colorado Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon will play in Game 4, coach Jared Bednar said Tuesday morning.

MacKinnon will play despite getting injured in Game 3. Valeri Nichushkin, who was also injured in a 5-3 loss Saturday night that put the Avs at the brink of elimination, remains a game-time decision.

“I think we’ll be able ...Read more

MONTREAL — Carolina Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal said he expected a tight game between two good teams Monday in the Eastern Conference final.

How about another overtime game? How tight is that? Staal was right.

The Hurricanes evened the series Saturday on an overtime goal by Nikolaj Ehlers at Lenovo Center. The move to the Bell Centre ...Read more

LAS VEGAS — At first, it looked like maybe just a bad stinger, like getting hit really hard on the funny bone.

That happens in hockey. A player blocks a shot, a part of their body goes numb for a bit and then eventually, things go back to normal.

That wasn’t the case Sunday night for Nathan MacKinnon. In a Western Conference final where a ...Read more

PARKER, Colo. — When they talked about three parades, we didn’t mean the kind with a hearse at the front.

“Looking at it from that perspective,” Tanner Roush sighed late Sunday night after Vegas 5, Colorado 3, “it’s been a pretty rough year to be a Denver fan.”

Welcome to 2026, the year when stars went on the shelf and seasons ...Read more

LAS VEGAS — The Vegas Golden Knights are one win away from going back to the Stanley Cup Final after rallying from three goals down to defeat the Colorado Avalanche 5-3 in Game 3 of the Western Conference final at T-Mobile Arena on Sunday.

Center Tomas Hertl broke the tie at 8:21 of the third after the Knights trailed 3-0 at the end of the ...Read more

The Carolina Hurricanes were after two things Saturday in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Montreal Canadiens: a 60-minute effort and a victory.

Disappointed by their play in the opening game of the series, determined not to repeat it, the Canes took a 3-2 overtime victory Saturday to square the series at Lenovo Center.

It ...Read more

Carter Hart knew the best word to describe the Vegas Golden Knights: Resilient.

It is what they have been in this Western Conference Final against Colorado, a best-of-seven series the Knights lead 2-0 heading to Game 3 on Sunday night at T-Mobile Arena.

“We’ve stuck in games and grinded it out and just battled,” said Hart, the goalie who...Read more

DENVER — The Vegas Golden Knights scored twice in just over two minutes in the third period to come back and win 3-1 over the Colorado Avalanche in Game 2 of the Western Conference final at Ball Arena on Friday.

Center Jack Eichel scored his first goal since Game 3 of the first round at 9:15 to tie it 1-1, then Ivan Barbashev scored the go-...Read more

DENVER — Cale Makar remains out of the Western Conference final.

Colorado Avalanche coach Jared Bednar confirmed that Makar will miss a second straight contest Friday night when his club faces the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 2 of this series at Ball Arena.

When Makar missed Game 1, it was his first Stanley Cup Playoffs absence since he was ...Read more

RALEIGH, N.C. — The Carolina Hurricanes looked like a team that had been sitting around for 12 days and not playing hockey.

The Montreal Canadiens looked like a team coming off a Game 7 victory, sharp, confident and ready for more in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

For the Canes, that was a bad combination Thursday in Game 1 of the Eastern ...Read more

DENVER — The Colorado Avalanche led from the front all season in the NHL. Now the Avs need to come back to reach the Stanley Cup Final.

The Vegas Golden Knights got goals from a journeyman defenseman and the top two shooters in this postseason en route to an 4-2 victory Wednesday night at Ball Arena in Game 1 of the Western Conference final. ...Read more

DENVER —The Golden Knights are easy not to like.

As the NHL’s Western Conference final opens Wednesday night against the Colorado Avalanche at Ball Arena, two countries should be united in rooting against Las Vegas.

The queue of reasons is longer than a hockey stick. And not just because of the juxtaposition to the Avalanche, who, you ...Read more