8:20 PM ET ESPN News Services TORONTO — The Pittsburgh Penguins entered their qualifying round matchup against Montreal healthy but wary. Optimistic but guarded. While they’d shown plenty of grit during a regular season that featured extended absences by high-profile names on their star-laden roster, in a short series facing a goaltender like Carey Price,

7:45 AM ET Friday’s NHL slate features the highest stakes we’ve seen yet, with six teams facing elimination. Auston Matthews, Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby could all potentially go home. Oh, and the teams ranked 22nd (Arizona Coyotes) 23rd (Chicago Blackhawks) and 24th (Montreal Canadiens) in regular season points percentage can all clinch a playoff

9:00 AM ET Kevin Fiala was frustrated. The Minnesota Wild were trailing the Vancouver Canucks by two goals in Game 3 of their qualification-round series. The winger’s shot had missed its target, one of 10 wayward attempts for the game. As the whistle sounded to stop play, he buzzed Vancouver goalie Jacob Markstrom‘s crease, stuck

6:54 PM ET Associated Press ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Anaheim Ducks have re-signed defenseman Jacob Larsson to a two-year, $2.4 million deal. The Ducks announced the return of their restricted free agent Thursday. Larsson will make $1.1 million next season and $1.3 million in the 2021-22 campaign. The 23-year-old Swede has two goals and 14

8:10 AM ET For Ken Daniels, the longtime play-by-play voice of the Detroit Red Wings, it was a moment of elation. “F—, yeah! Finally,” he thought to himself. Ken’s ex-wife, Lisa, says she started “shaking and crying” when she heard. Their emotional reaction came after hearing the news last week that Michael Ligotti, a Delray

8:40 AM ET Alarm. Breakfast. Hockey. Dinner. Sleep. Repeat. This is the life cycle in the NHL’s restarted season, for the 24 teams involved in the two hub cities and the bleary-eyed fans watching from home. It’s like a housebound hockey Coachella — a “Couch-ella,” if you will — as the made-for-TV tournament runs all

9:44 PM ET The Boston Bruins finished with the NHL’s best record (44-14-12) when the regular season was cut short in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet when the 16-team Stanley Cup Playoff tournament starts next week, the Bruins will not be the top seed in the Eastern Conference. As part of the NHL’s

3:10 PM ET The 2019-20 NHL season will be remembered for quite some time, thanks to a pause because of the coronavirus pandemic that kept players off the ice for months and ended seven teams’ seasons. As we bear witness to the first 24-team postseason tournament, we continue to look ahead to what’s next. As

7:00 AM ET When it became clear that Kirby Dach, the No. 3 pick of the 2019 NHL draft, was going to make the Chicago Blackhawks‘ roster this season, the 19-year-old wanted to make the most of the opportunity. Sure, Dach was viewed as the long-term heir apparent to Jonathan Toews at center, but he

11:25 PM ET Sebastian Aho had two goals and James Reimer won in his restart debut as the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the New York Rangers, 4-1, in Game 3 of their qualifier series in Toronto to become the first team to advance out of this round. Teuvo Teravainen and Warren Foegele also scored for the