SUNRISE, Fla. — There was Matthew Tkachuk coming back from two months off with two goals in Game 1 against Tampa Bay in a script too good to believe. There was Brad Marchand scoring in overtime in Game 3 against Toronto to avoid a 3-0 hole, and the Game 7 that sent Toronto to the coldest of summers.

There were the three thrilling games for ...Read more

CHICAGO — During Jeff Blashill’s introductory news conference Tuesday at the United Center, the new Chicago Blackhawks coach was asked the most relevant, to-the-point question in this “tough” sports town:

How long will it take to get to a championship level?

“Is that my ‘Welcome to Chicago’ moment?” Blashill said as a smile ...Read more

SUNRISE, Fla. — The Carolina Hurricanes still have hockey to play.

Faced with a win-or-else game against the Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference final, the Hurricanes responded with a 3-0 victory Monday in Game 4 behind goalie Frederik Andersen.

The Panthers, who had taken a 3-0 lead in the series, must travel back to Raleigh, N.C., ...Read more

SUNRISE, Fla. — It only took three embarrassing losses, their season pushed to the brink of elimination and a Russian rookie defenseman thrown into the deep end of the borscht finally feeling his feet under him for the Carolina Hurricanes to finally show up and make their presence felt.

And there they were Monday night, piling up shots, ...Read more

MIAMI — The Florida Panthers will go for their first chance to wrap up the Eastern Conference final down three key players.

Panthers coach Paul Maurice said wingers Sam Reinhart and A.J. Greer along with defenseman Niko Mikkola are all out for Game 4 on Monday against the Carolina Hurricanes.

All three are listed as day-to-day.

Reinhart is ...Read more

CHICAGO — Jeff Blashill didn’t make the kind of history he was looking for in Detroit.

His seven-year run as a first-time NHL head coach from 2015-22 included presiding over the Red Wings’ third-worst finish by points percentage (.275).

But Chicago Blackhawks great and TNT analyst Eddie Olczyk believes the second time can be the charm ...Read more

SUNRISE, Fla. — They finally won a period, just a single 20-minute period, for the first time in this series. A platform to build upon? No, just fool’s gold, setting the stage for even more humiliation.

The Carolina Hurricanes aren’t just staring a sweep in the face after collapsing to a 6-2 loss in Game 3 on Saturday. They’re well on ...Read more

MIAMI — This for two-thirds of the game was the Carolina Hurricanes team that had been advertised all along. The smothering, shot-blocking, in-your-face defense. The team that would aim to tough the artistry and open skating out of the Florida Panthers and turn game and series into a grind.

Didn’t see that Carolina team the first two games ...Read more

SUNRISE, Fla. — Both the Carolina Hurricanes and Florida Panthers will be missing key players Saturday for Game 3 of the Eastern Conference final.

Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said defenseman Jalen Chatfield will miss another playoff game. Chatfield has been sidelined the past three games with an undisclosed injury and did not participate in...Read more

It was 1-0 in the opening seconds, 2-0 before everyone settled in, and when it reached 3-0 still in the first period, it wasn’t so much that anything looked possible Thursday for the Florida Panthers in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference final.

Everything looked possible beyond this night, too.

A sweep-peat of Carolina?

Why not?

A little ...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. — It had been several years since Mathieu Darche first emerged as a candidate to become an NHL general manager. As the Lightning’s assistant GM, he had been Julien BriseBois’ right-hand man in leading the team’s hockey operations department.

Now, Darche, who played a major behind-the-scenes role in helping to establish the ...Read more

RALEIGH, N.C. — The Florida Panthers had just one goal in mind on Thursday. They already took the series opener in the Eastern Conference final against the Carolina Hurricanes in convincing fashion.

Why stop there?

“We want to get greedy,” defenseman Seth Jones said. “We want to come in here and not just roll over and not be OK with ...Read more

“The Happiest Team in America” continues to lift South Florida as it deep freezes opponents in its path.

The Florida Panthers are on the greatest stretch we have seen in Miami-area sports since the Heat’s Big 3 era produced four straight NBA finals and two championships from 2010 to 2014. It will take 16 playoff victories for the Cats to ...Read more

CHICAGO — The Chicago Blackhawks have found their man.

Former Detroit Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill, who spent the last three seasons as an assistant on Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper’s staff, has been named the 42nd head coach in Hawks history.

“Jeff is an incredibly smart and talented coach who boasts more than 25 years of ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — The search for a head coach has been exactly what Kyle Dubas promised: thorough and methodical, an exhaustive and indiscriminate consideration of styles, personalities and backgrounds.

How ironic, though: The best candidate isn’t hard to find, nor does he have an atypical resume for what the Penguins president of hockey ...Read more

RALEIGH, N.C. — Sam Bennett made it look easy, which is typically the one thing that’s least likely to happen when the Carolina Hurricanes are killing a penalty.

He circled around from the right side of the ice to the blue line, had plenty of time and space to shoot and rifled a shot through traffic in front of the net to, essentially, ...Read more

Alexander Nikishin, at last, has played his first NHL game for the Carolina Hurricanes — in the Stanley Cup playoffs, on the road, against the Washington Capitals.

The big Russian defenseman will have a lot of memories from a debut long awaited by Canes fans, but the best will always be it came in a 3-1 victory that lifted the Hurricanes into...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Well, that was fast. Just like that, the Flyers are finished rebuilding.

Two years ago, the club announced a “New Era of Orange,” finally admitting that both its foundation of personnel and foundational philosophy of winning now at any cost with coaches and brass who bled orange and black had been flawed for the past decade...Read more