RALEIGH, N.C. — The Carolina Hurricanes retired Eric Staal’s jersey Sunday, then put him to work.

Staal was the siren sounder at the Lenovo Center as the Canes took the ice to face the Anaheim Ducks. Batting leadoff, with former teammates Mike Commodore and Cam Ward to follow on the siren, Staal gave it a long, determined crank.

The ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — Nikita Kucherov scored twice Sunday, including the winner late in the third period, to push the Tampa Bay Lightning past the Penguins, 5-2, at PPG Paints Arena.

The Penguins scored early in the third to tie the score, but Kucherov stole the puck from Noel Acciari at the Pittsburgh blue line and beat Tristan Jarry on a breakaway. ...Read more

DETROIT — The Red Wings have won in different ways during this, what is now, a seven-game winning streak.

On Sunday, they did it in a relatively quick and easy fashion.

The Wings breezed to a 6-2 victory over the Seattle Kraken at Little Caesars Arena, exploding for four first-period goals and coasting the final 40 minutes.

The last time ...Read more

SAN JOSE, Calif. – How did the Minnesota Wild combat the speed, skill and spunk of the much younger San Jose Sharks?

By having their 40-year-old goalie school the kids.

In the age-old battle of youth vs. experience, future Hall of Famer Marc-Andre Fleury prevailed to backstop the Wild to a 3-1 victory Saturday night at SAP Center for their ...Read more

LAS VEGAS — The Vegas Golden Knights have dropped consecutive games for the first time in almost two months after a 2-1 loss to the New York Rangers at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday.

Captain Mark Stone scored, but the Knights (28-11-3) couldn’t generate any offense on Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin, who finished with 27 saves.

Goaltender ...Read more

ST. LOUIS — It's probably a good thing the Columbus Blue Jackets are in the Eastern Conference.

That way, the Blues can only lose to them twice a season.

The Blues lost 2-1 to Columbus on Saturday night at Enterprise Center, marking the fourth straight game that they've lost to the Blue Jackets. St. Louis hasn't beaten the Jackets since ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — The Flyers stuck to the script.

In front of a raucous crowd, the Flyers dominated the visiting Anaheim Ducks from the opening faceoff to the final buzzer, winning 6-0 and snapping a four-game losing streak.

And it was a script Hollywood couldn’t have written any better.

With Cutter Gauthier at the Wells Fargo Center for the...Read more

If Colorado has another trip to Winnipeg this season, it will be during the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Avalanche will have to hope it can find its mojo from the 2024 postseason.

The Avs made the second of two regular-season appearances at Canada Life Centre on Saturday, and for the second time, they did not score a goal. Connor Hellebuyck ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — The Penguins hoped to follow up their impressive win over the Edmonton Oilers by taking care of business Saturday against a fellow wild card hopeful in the East.

Instead, in the words of Erik Karlsson, the Penguins “lay an egg” on their home ice.

In their worst performance since their Thanksgiving upswing, they got smacked ...Read more

David Pastrnak failed on several attempts to end the Bruins' six-game losing streak, but with two seconds left in overtime, he finally got the job done.

He got some help, too.

After the B’s coughed up a late lead to extend the game to OT, Sam Bennett high-sticked Charlie McAvoy with 1:42 left and, on the power play, the B’s won it — ...Read more

RALEIGH, N.C. — In the second game of a back-to-back in the NHL, it’s often more about the grit and grind than anything fun or flashy.

So it was Friday as the Carolina Hurricanes battled the Vancouver Canucks at the Lenovo Center. It was 60 minutes of board battles, hard hits, blocked shots and men at work as the Canes took a 2-0 victory ...Read more

DETROIT — The Red Wings continue to win games and are doing it in increasingly impressive fashion.

They stretched their win streak to six games Friday, defeating Chicago, 5-3.

Alex DeBrincat, Lucas Raymond (power play), Andrew Copp and Albert Johansson (first NHL goal) scored goals, and Patrick Kane assisted on three goals, as the Wings ...Read more

LAS VEGAS — Vegas Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy made sure to note that the New York Islanders are most effective when keeping the game at five-on-five.

That would normally play into the Knights’ hands, being a terrific five-on-five team themselves.

But when bounces don’t go the Knights’ way, like they didn’t on Thursday, the New...Read more

LAS VEGAS — The Vegas Golden Knights were shut out at home for the second time this season in a 4-0 loss to the New York Islanders at T-Mobile Arena on Thursday.

Adin Hill made 17 saves for the Knights (28-10-3) to end their three-game winning streak.

Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin made 28 saves, and center Brock Nelson had a goal and an ...Read more

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Trying to diagnose the true ceiling of this Colorado Avalanche team has been a season-long challenge, but anyone who wants to believe this club can win 16 playoff games in the spring should point to a sequence Thursday night in the second period.

It was also the turning point of a 6-1 victory against the Minnesota Wild at ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — Evgeni Malkin’s absence might have tripped the Penguins up their last time out, but such a fate wasn’t in store for game No. 2 of the year without the future Hall of Famer.

Thanks to a sensational start, the Penguins were able to hang on for a 5-3 victory against the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night at PPG Paints Arena. It ...Read more

The Kraken began the second half of the season on Thursday night in Columbus with a performance that looked unsurprisingly similar to plenty of other games over the past few weeks.

Defensive breakdowns. Sloppy turnovers. A goalie under siege. And an offense unable to finish its own chances.

The result was a 6-2 loss to the Blue Jackets that ...Read more

With the rut that the luckless Bruins are stuck in, even their mothers can’t pull them out of it.

With the Moms along for the ride on the annual family trip, the B’s furious third-period comeback attempt fell short and their losing streak stretched to six (0-5-1) with a 4-1 loss to the Lightning in Tampa.

The B’s goal scoring woes and ...Read more