EDMONTON, Alberta — The Florida Panthers were in their comfort zone Wednesday — leading after two periods, ready to lock things down defensively. They’ve done it so many times during these Stanley Cup playoffs on their way to this point, a rematch with the Edmonton Oilers in the Stanley Cup Final.

The Oilers had other plans.

Mattias ...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. — Inside the Lightning dressing room, there was no doubt Nikita Kucherov was the NHL’s most valuable player this season. This week, the star right winger received the ultimate endorsement from his peers across the league, winning the Ted Lindsay Award.

Commonly known as the “players’ MVP,” the Lindsay is the only award ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — After vetting dozens of candidates in a lengthy search to try to find the right coach to lead the Penguins into the future, Kyle Dubas settled on a dark-horse selection.

The Penguins announced Wednesday that Dan Muse has been hired as their next coach. The 42-year-old is the 23rd coach in team history, replacing Mike Sullivan.

...Read more

PITTSBURGH — It didn't need to be a household name. In fact, when it comes to the NHL and its weird addiction to retread coaches, it's often more exciting when it's not.

It just has to work.

The subject at hand, of course, is Dan Muse, the 42-year-old the Penguins hired to become their next head coach on Wednesday afternoon. I didn't predict...Read more

MIAMI — Sam Bennett came to the Florida Panthers a little over four years ago in need of a change of scenery and a fresh chance. He wasn’t living up to the expectations of a top-five pick through his first five-plus seasons in the NHL with the Calgary Flames, who traded him to Florida in April 2021.

Little did Bennett know how much things ...Read more

MIAMI — Sergei Bobrovsky knows what’s ahead of him and the Florida Panthers. They’re about to play in their third consecutive Stanley Cup Final with a chance to repeat as champions after winning it all for the first time last year. It’s the biggest stage of the NHL season.

Bobrovsky also knows that, at its core, what’s ahead is just ...Read more

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Would the sports world be shocked to hear Sam Bennett helps abandoned dogs find homes — and adopted one such dog, Billy, from the Broward Humane Society himself?

Would it be shocked that Brad Marchand treated teammates to ice cream after a practice, like some Little League dad — and, well, he is 37, after all?

...Read more

RALEIGH, N.C. — The system isn’t the problem. The Carolina Hurricanes didn’t exit the playoffs with another loss to the Florida Panthers because of the way they play. Full stop.

The difference between the teams, the reason the Hurricanes have lost to the Panthers twice in the conference finals in three years, isn’t style. It’s talent....Read more

MIAMI — The Florida Panthers returned to the ice for practice at the Baptist Health IcePlex in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Saturday ahead of their Stanley Cup Final rematch against the Edmonton Oilers, which begins Wednesday at Rogers Place (8 p.m. ET, TNT, truTV, Max).

They did so without three regulars in forwards Anton Lundell, Eetu ...Read more

MIAMI — The NHL has its dream Stanley Cup Final in a Florida Panthers-Edmonton Oilers rematch: Reigning champion Cats out to break Canadian hearts again as the great Connor McDavid tries to exact his revenge and win the one prize that has eluded him.

Lots to unpack. Let’s dig right in as we savor Game 1 on Wednesday in the northwest:

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SEATTLE — The Kraken named Lane Lambert the third coach in franchise history on Thursday. Lambert guided the New York Islanders for a season and a half, his only prior NHL head coaching experience.

Lambert, 60, was associate coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs last season. The Kraken presumably had to wait until the Maple Leafs were eliminated ...Read more

RALEIGH, N.C. — It ended in ridiculous fashion, but the Carolina Hurricanes sealed their own fate before that. Their last-gasp power play to keep their season alive came to nothing, and the puck came to Sam Bennett right out of the box with the home net empty.

Bennett ended their season with 54 seconds to go, with the easiest goal of the ...Read more

CHICAGO — Former Chicago Blackhawks captain and three-time Stanley Cup champion Jonathan Toews is eyeing a return to the NHL in the fall, according to a report Thursday.

TSN analyst Pierre LeBrun posted on social media that Toews “reached out to his agent Pat Brisson yesterday to inform him he’s 100 percent committed to coming back to the...Read more

RALEIGH, N.C. — They came slowly, even quietly, off the bench late Wednesday night, easing toward goalie Sergei Bobrovsky with quick nods and half-smiles that spoke of their good night’s work.

But there were no hugs, no shouts, certainly no celebratory sticks thrown in the air like back when they started all this winning two springs ago. So...Read more

SEATTLE — We’re waiting.

More than a month after the Kraken missed the playoffs and fired their coach for a second consecutive season, Dan Bylsma’s seat has yet to be filled. Meanwhile, incoming coaches have been hired by the Kraken’s competitors. Mike Sullivan to the Rangers. Rick Tocchet to the Flyers. Joel Quenneville to the Ducks. ...Read more

The Florida Panthers are heading back to the Stanley Cup Final.

Florida used a three-goal second period to negate a horrid first period and then Carter Verhaeghe scored the game-winner with 7:39 left to play for a 5-3 win over the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference final on Wednesday at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh, N.C., ...Read more

MIAMI — The warranted narrative of this Florida Panthers’ postseason had been the team’s stellar play away from home -- airports and hotels somehow foretelling unlikely magic on ice.

That narrative faced an ill-timed dead-end Wednesday night ... but it lives on.

And the repeat-championship dream moves a big step closer.

Florida ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Tired of it yet? Why wouldn’t you be? It’s become a tradition: another deep playoff run by the Florida Panthers, another terrific postseason for Sergei Bobrovsky, and another reason to revisit the worst trade that any Philadelphia franchise has made this century.

It would be cruel to bring up Bobrovsky apropos of nothing, ...Read more