PHILADELPHIA — The NHL’s TV ratings are soaring. Are fans tired of watching Netflix? Hungrier for hockey after the pandemic delayed the season? A combination of both?

With no hockey in October, November and December, the withdrawal, apparently, was painful.

That helps explain why a record number of folks watched NHL openers on TV in both ...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. — With all the pomp of opening night — their Stanley Cup banner unveiling to go along with the anticipation of a new season — behind them, the Lightning’s concentration could squarely be on the ice Friday night against the Chicago Blackhawks at Amalie Arena.

Leading into this abbreviated 56-game campaign, players and coaches...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Beating their king tormentor, Sidney Crosby, and the Pittsburgh Penguins twice in a row to start the season wasn’t an easy task.

And it was made more difficult Friday night when Sean Couturier, the Flyers’ star center, left the game with an injury early in the first period and did not return.

But even without Couturier, ...Read more

The Carolina Hurricanes opened a new season Thursday with the kind of effort that should please their coach, Rod Brind’Amour.

The Canes took the early lead against the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit. They were physical. They got their shots and limited the Wings’ opportunities in helping goalie Petr Mrazek face just 14...Read more

CHICAGO — It looks like Jonathan Toews is going to be on the shelf for a while.

The Chicago Blackhawks captain and top-line center, who missed all of training camp and the season opener with an unspecified illness, was officially placed him on long-term injured reserve Thursday.

The Hawks also placed Kirby Dach on LTIR. The center broke his ...Read more

As they begin the 2021 season playing in empty arenas with a young and unproven team, the Chicago Blackhawks will be trying to stave off irrelevance until the rebuild turns a corner.

When that will be is anyone’s guess, but coach Jeremy Colliton on Tuesday was awarded an extension through the 2022-23 season, so if they’re not there by then,...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. — The Lightning claimed the Stanley Cup under the most unusual of circumstances — isolated and far from home — but their first game back in their home arena, a night set for celebration as they unveiled their championship banner and started their title defense, was even more atypical.

With no fans in the stands, Amalie Arena ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — With a shortened training camp and no exhibition games, there will be rust, no doubt, in the first few weeks of the NHL season.

The special teams didn’t get much work in camp, so they figure to be especially out of sync.

The Flyers didn’t get the memo.

Their power play, under scrutiny in the offseason because of its awful...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Did somebody call a taxi squad?

Anticipating that coronavirus cases will disrupt an already abbreviated schedule — and that vaccination won’t soon occur widely — teams will be allowed to keep four to six extra players on hand when the NHL season opens Wednesday. The taxi squad is designed to help teams navigate the perils ...Read more

For the sake of his team, a remarkable streak, and his status among the NHL’s best defensemen, Ivan Provorov travels nearly 10,000 miles each offseason, from Philadelphia to his home city in Russia and back again, for a training regimen that would put Ivan Drago to shame. In Yaroslavl, 160 miles northeast of Moscow, Provorov reunites with a ...Read more

Boom or bust, this season will be historic for the Wild.

The NHL has never had teams compete solely within their division until now, a specialized setup for 2021 that simplifies the road to the playoffs without easing up on the pressure. And the Wild should sense that urgency as soon as it debuts in the West Division on Thursday against Los ...Read more

The NHL will lose more than a billion dollars by staging the 2020-21 season in largely empty arenas, Commissioner Gary Bettman said Monday, but owners and players are intent on playing a 56-game schedule to provide diversion for fans and keep hockey on the sports map.

The delayed and shortened season, scheduled to begin Wednesday, already has ...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. — The Lightning initially had grand plans to raise their Stanley Cup championship banner into the rafters before Wednesday night’s season opener. There would be fewer than 4,000 fans inside Amalie Arena because of social distancing protocols, but at the time, it was still the best-case scenario given the coronavirus pandemic.

It...Read more

In his first season, the new coach took the first steps to establish a meritocracy based on accountability. In his second season, emboldened by a playoff berth and with the team completely in his grasp, he is free to squeeze.

Alain Vigneault is already squeezing Jakub Voracek.

“When we went into the bubble and into the playoffs, I thought ...Read more