NHL Previews

As the Vegas Golden Knights celebrated their 5-4 overtime victory at the far end of the rink Tuesday at Seattle, Kraken forward Oliver Bjorkstrand stood on the ice just outside the door to the bench. Bjorkstrand derisively clapped his gloves together five times and then flung his stick across the ice. The Kraken, who play host to the Washington Capitals on Thursday night, weren’t eliminated from playoff contention with the loss, but their hopes were

Optimism has pretty much given way to a philosophical approach for the Pittsburgh Penguins, who host the San Jose Sharks on Thursday. Making the playoffs is such a long shot at this point that the Penguins are looking for smaller rewards — like, perhaps, winning a game. Any game. And scoring a few goals. Pittsburgh has lost four straight games (0-3-1) and seven of its past eight. There have been three shutout losses in that

Despite ups and downs that were virtually nonexistent during last season’s President’s Trophy run, the Boston Bruins have still found their way to second in the Eastern Conference standings with 15 games to go. How? Bouncing back from losses has been a key reason. The Bruins had been 3-0-1 over a four-game span before a lackluster 5-1 loss on Monday against the St. Louis Blues, and now have a chance to respond in a Thursday

Woeful starts have led to unpleasant endings for the Detroit Red Wings during their six-game losing streak. With its confidence shaken, Detroit returns home to face Arizona on Thursday night. During the slide, the Red Wings have been outscored 13-4 in the first period. They gave up four first-period goals while getting thumped 7-3 at Buffalo on Tuesday night. After coming up empty during a four-game road trip, the Red Wings find themselves tied with

The Columbus Blue Jackets will try for a repeat performance with a better result when they host the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night. The Blue Jackets were shut out 3-0 in their most recent game on Tuesday night at Montreal, but they unleashed 41 shots on goal — their most in a shutout loss since Nov. 2, 2019, when David Rittich made 43 saves for the Calgary Flames in a 3-0 win against the Blue

There’s no let-up in this week’s schedule for the Carolina Hurricanes. They host the Florida Panthers, the NHL’s top team after Tuesday’s action, in Raleigh, N.C., on Thursday, just two nights after tangling with the Metropolitan Division-leading New York Rangers. The Panthers are being challenged, as well, with back-to-back road tests, passing the first of those with Tuesday night’s third-period comeback to win 4-3 at Dallas in a matchup of divisional leaders. “A real character

The two hottest teams in the NHL will square off Wednesday night when the Colorado Avalanche visit Vancouver to take on the Western Conference-leading Canucks. Both teams are riding four-game winning streaks. It will be the second contest of a marathon nine-game homestand for Vancouver, which won’t play another road contest until April 2 in Las Vegas against the reigning Stanley Cup champion Golden Knights. The Canucks will be rested after having last played on

The Edmonton Oilers open a four-game homestand when they host the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night. The Oilers, who hold a four-point edge over the Los Angeles Kings and Vegas Golden Knights for second place in the Pacific Division, are 6-1-1 in their past eight games after completing a 2-1-1 road trip with a 4-0 win at Pittsburgh on Sunday. “Obviously we don’t love the two losses, but we’ve played a lot of hockey lately,”

It’s a fitting time for a showdown between the New York Rangers and Carolina Hurricanes. The top two teams in the Metropolitan Division will meet Tuesday night in Raleigh, N.C. “There’s no question there are some (important) games coming up here,” Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said. Before the showdown with the Hurricanes, the first-place Rangers beat visiting New Jersey 3-1 on Monday night, giving New York 88 points. “Now we move on to Carolina,” Rangers