DETROIT -- The Penguins have plowed through all kinds of obstacles while posting one of the NHL's top records since the start of December. They've lost important players. They've erased big leads. They've snapped back after bad breaks.

During this torrid stretch, they also haven't had two sluggish games in a row.

That changed Friday against ...Read more

DENVER -- All of the work the Sharks have put in over the last month to establish some semblance of an identity was nowhere to be found Thursday night in a blowout loss to the Colorado Avalanche.

The Sharks fell behind early and never recovered, allowing two goals in the first period and two more in the second in what became a 4-0 loss to the ...Read more

BOSTON -- Twenty-four seconds.

Those quick ticks off the clock were all it took for the Penguins to take a one-goal lead over the Boston Bruins on Thursday night at TD Garden. In just his second game back from core muscle surgery, Sidney Crosby ripped a slap shot from the left circle past Jaroslav Halak.

Twenty-four seconds. Those fleeting ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA -- After winning three of their previous four games against NHL heavyweights, the Flyers got decked by a lightweight Thursday night at the Wells Fargo Center.

Montreal 4, Flyers 1.

So much for the apparent momentum gained from the Flyers' 4-3 overtime win Wednesday in St. Louis, the defending Stanley Cup champion.

Goalie Carey ...Read more

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Chris Driedger stretched out his right leg to protect the net from an incoming Los Angeles Kings shot attempt that ultimately went wide midway through the first period.

The puck cleared well past the Florida Panthers' goaltender, but Driedger remained down. A trainer checked on him before he was ultimately helped off the ice.

...Read more

DENVER -- The Sharks knew that Pete DeBoer would find another job as an NHL head coach at some point.

They just didn't think it would be with their most bitter rival.

DeBoer replaced Gerard Gallant on Wednesday morning as the coach of the Vegas Golden Knights, who have lost four straight games and entered the day in fifth place in the Pacific ...Read more

ST. LOUIS -- The Flyers continued to show they can play with the NHL big boys on Wednesday night.

They got goals from Tyler Pitlick, Michael Raffl, Travis Konecny, and Jake Voracek, and jolted the defending Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues in overtime, 4-3, at the Enterprise Center.

Voracek scored from the high slot with 1:27 left in ...Read more

ST. LOUIS -- The Flyers will be without their No. 1 goalie for a handful of games.

Carter Hart will be sidelined two to three weeks because of a lower abdominal strain, and the Flyers demoted winger Joel Farabee to the Phantoms on Wednesday to open cap space and recall Alex Lyon as their backup goalie Wednesday.

Hart suffered the injury while ...Read more

The tight, defensive brand of hockey the Sharks played with on their two-game homestand last week didn't make it to Gila River Arena in Glendale, Ariz., on Tuesday.

The Sharks allowed two goals by Phil Kessel and another to Taylor Hall in the first two periods as their three-game road trip began with a 6-3 loss to the Arizona Coyotes.

Kevin ...Read more

PITTSBURGH -- He's back. And he's still pretty good.

Sidney Crosby made his much-awaited return Tuesday, scoring a goal and piling up four points in a 7-3 win over the Minnesota Wild at PPG Paints Arena.

Crosby had not played since Nov. 9 and had sports hernia surgery Nov. 14, exactly two months to the day before the captain returned to the ...Read more

OTTAWA, Ontario -- By a stroke of scheduling luck, Blackhawks coach Jeremy Colliton won't have to make what could have been a very difficult decision.

While it's hard to imagine Corey Crawford not starting when the Hawks come to his hometown of Montreal to face the Canadiens, the current situation is different than in years past.

Crawford is ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA -- Bad coverage. Poor defensive gaps. Another awful first period.

That pretty much describes how the Flyers played for the first half of Monday's wildly entertaining game at the reverberating Wells Fargo Center.

At the time, little did anyone believe they could overcome a 5-2 deficit against the mighty Boston Bruins.

But they ...Read more

MIAMI -- The Florida Panthers had already put the game out of reach on Sunday, but the two moments down the stretch were just as meaningful.

Jonathan Huberdeau scored a goal late in the second period and assisted on a Mike Hoffman power-play goal in the third period to break Olli Jokinen's franchise record for career points as the Panthers ...Read more

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The road-weary Penguins in the third period Sunday let the Arizona Coyotes take their first lead of the evening. And after that, for the first time in a while, they didn't show much push with the game on the line.

Leave it to Brandon Tanev and their obnoxious third line to provide a jolt.

The spark-plug winger emerged with ...Read more