TAMPA, Fla. — Steven Stamkos knows what it’s like having to watch while teammates chase greatness.

“The worst feeling as an athlete is not being able to perform, especially at this time of the year,” said Stamkos, who missed all but 2 minutes, 47 seconds of the Lightning’s 2020 run to the first of back-to-back Stanley Cup ...Read more

In trying to put a cosmic Game 5 collapse behind them, the Avalanche has at least one thing going for it:

Heading into a potential close-out Game 6 against the St. Louis Blues at The Enterprise Center on Friday night, the Avs are a perfect 4-0 on the road this postseason.

Of course, none of those wins were preceded by a historic meltdown with ...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. — The Lightning’s power play has been known as a threat throughout the NHL for years.

It’s hard to find a weakness on Tampa Bay’s top man-advantage unit, with Victor Hedman at the point, Steven Stamkos in the left circle, Nikita Kucherov in the right, a rotation of players around the net and Brayden Point in the slot.

So, ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Claude Giroux had begun to acknowledge the inevitability of his situation years ago. It was the summer of 2018, just before the Flyers’ first day of training camp. Dave Hakstol had helped him revitalize his career the season before, moving him from center to left wing. With the position change, Giroux had gone from 58 points ...Read more

HARTFORD, Conn. — A new cluster of fans is tuning in to playoff hockey with its exciting games and series and star players unfolding on ESPN, TNT and ABC. Ratings are high, up 15% from the pre-pandemic playoffs of 2019, setting records during the first round.

All this bodes well for the NHL’s new television arrangement, and in the middle of...Read more

The NHL is awfully quick to throw the book at Nazem Kadri. But where the heck are they when some idiot throws an elbow at him?

Or a water bottle? Or something worse?

David Perron, Blues forward by day and tactless goon by night, should be suspended. Now. If not for Game 5 of Avs-Blues on Wednesday night at Ball Arena, when Colorado likely ...Read more

NEW YORK — Try as they might, the Carolina Hurricanes can’t win a road game in the playoffs.

The Canes have tried — five times. All have ended in losses.

Unbeaten at home in the playoffs, the Canes fell again outside of PNC Arena, taking a 4-1 beating from the New York Rangers on Tuesday in Game 4 of their second-round Stanley Cup ...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. — All these years later, how do they do it?

Not just the winning. That’s explained easily enough with a stat here and an Andrei Vasilevskiy there.

No, after all the records, awards, championships, farewells, arrivals, injuries, slumps, salary caps, grudges and community heroes, how do they pull off the most remarkable feat in ...Read more

MIAMI — Where do you look for belief when there doesn’t seem to be any? How do you claim confidence when the words feel hollow even as they leave your lips? Where do you find resilience when the world is laughing at your chances?

When you know even your most loyal fans have likely resigned themselves to reality, not allowing hope in, so ...Read more

ST. LOUIS — Nazem Kadri scored a goal on Monday night in Game 4 — the second of four consecutive for the Avalanche and the first of three for him in the game — and the St. Louis Blues couldn’t stand it.

The hosts were being dominated by Colorado at Enterprise Center and Kadri’s first of two goals in a stretch of 3:30 caused two St. ...Read more

NEW YORK — A five-word message was waiting Sunday for the Carolina Hurricanes at Madison Square Garden: “No Quit in New York.”

It was on white rally towels and T-shirts left in the seats and shown on the massive scoreboard. And displayed on the ice by the New York Rangers.

In another tight, low-scoring game that again featured the two ...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. — There’s no number on the stat sheet that quantifies killing an opponent’s confidence, but the Lightning put a Panthers team with the best record in the regular season on the brink of elimination Sunday afternoon by taking away their will to win.

Their 5-1 victory over Florida means the Lightning can advance to the Eastern ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — His season began with COVID-19, which forced him to miss five games in November.

"It hit me pretty hard," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan was saying last week. "It was a tough few days."

It continued with the NHL's decision to skip the Beijing Olympics in February, denying him the chance to live out his dream of coaching the U.S. ...Read more

ST. LOUIS — You didn’t think the Avalanche would go away quietly, did you? Of course not. Colorado avenged Thursday’s home loss to the Blues, defeating St. Louis, 5-2, Saturday in Game 3 of their second-round playoff series.

They are now halfway home to advancing to the Western Conference finals, up two games to one in the best-of-seven ...Read more