FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Paul Maurice, a master of the spoken word, chose an uncommon word for a coach recently about his job: Joy.

As in delight.

As in sheer happiness

Have you heard a coach use that word around a pro sports team? Ever? But doesn’t it reflect what the Florida Panthers have built when held up against words slung by the ...Read more

DENVER — If trust is a two-way street, Valeri Nichushkin needs to stop kicking Stanley Cups to the curb.

“We trust him. And that’s the management, the coaches — everybody trusts him,” Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson told me this week before Colorado’s Stanley Cup playoff opener at Dallas on Saturday.

“If his teammates can trust...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Kings were playing for history Thursday and the Calgary Flames were playing for pride. Pride won, with Nazem Kadri scoring twice and and Sam Morton, Zayne Parekh and Mikael Backlund also scoring to give the Flames a 5-1 win in the final game of the NHL regular season.

Taylor Ward, making his NHL debut, got the ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — Thursday was the 73rd matchup between longstanding rivals Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin. And health permitting, it won’t be the last time they face each other.

Ovechkin confirmed that in hilarious fashion Thursday morning in Pittsburgh. The Washington Capitals star was asked about playing against Crosby “one more time.”

...Read more

It’s been a trying few years for Flyers fans, but they got what they wanted on Thursday night, as the team lost its season finale, 5-4, in Buffalo, N.Y., to the Sabres, and with it, clinched the fourth-best odds in the upcoming NHL draft lottery. Entering the night, the Flyers knew a regulation loss would be enough to see them leapfrog the ...Read more

And that'll be it for the Red Wings' 2024-25 regular season.

Fittingly, somewhat disappointing.

Toronto defenseman Chris Tanev scored his third goal of the season with two seconds left in regulation time to force overtime, then forward Scott Laughton — who scored four goals in a game against the Wings earlier this season while in ...Read more

CHICAGO — Connor Bedard faced his share of challenges in a turbulent season for the Chicago Blackhawks.

A second straight campaign left the Hawks near the bottom of the league.

Bedard went through a coaching change, a 12-game goal drought and a self-admitted crisis of confidence.

Want to sign up for more? Apparently, yes.

Bedard also ...Read more

Eighty-two games are in the books. As Anakin Skywalker would say, this is where the fun begins.

The Golden Knights’ eighth regular season is in the books after a 4-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia.

The next time the Knights take the ice will be in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Their ...Read more

SAN JOSE – Another season in which the San Jose Sharks have finished at the bottom of the NHL standings has, perhaps mercifully, come to a conclusion.

The Sharks hoped to finish the year on a positive note. But with their 3-0 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday night at SAP Center, they ended with just 20 wins and 51 points, only ...Read more

The Red Wings aren't simply checking off the final days of the schedule, they are closing the season on a positive note.

They continued an impressive season-ending run Wednesday with a 5-2 victory in New Jersey.

The victories aren't going to get the Wings into the playoffs — they were eliminated Saturday — but it'll enable the Wings to ...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. — Looking forward to the Eastern Conference final.

It begins here this weekend.

Of course, that’s not how the NHL sees it. Nor anyone north of the Florida border. The official version is that the playoff series between Tampa Bay and Florida is no different than any other first-round matchup in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

But, c�...Read more

The Vegas Golden Knights clinched the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference in a 5-4 shootout loss against the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome on Tuesday.

Left wing Brandon Saad had a goal and two assists, and right wing Pavel Dorofeyev scored for the Knights (49-22-10).

That’s not the important news to come out of this game, however....Read more

ST. PAUL, Minn. — The journey here didn’t have to be this tough.

Had the Minnesota Wild stayed on the trajectory that lifted them to one of the best starts in franchise history and atop the NHL into mid-December while Kirill Kaprizov was the early MVP favorite, they would have reached their destination much sooner.

Instead, they were ...Read more

BOSTON — The Bruins showed some fight in their season finale on Tuesday at TD Garden, but in the end they just couldn’t finish the job.

The result was emblematic of their season.

The B’s wiped out a two-goal deficit only to see Brian Dumoulin beat Jeremy Swayman from the top of the left circle in overtime to lift the playoff-bound New ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — And so it goes, and so it goes, and so soon will the Flyers season, as you know.

Skating in Game 81, the Flyers closed out the home slate with a 3-0 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets. They finished 20-20-1 at the Wells Fargo Center and moved to 5-2-1 under interim coach Brad Shaw.

Columbus needed a win to keep their postseason...Read more