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The Philadelphia Union and New England Revolution will begin their best-of-three MLS Cup Playoff first-round series on Saturday in Southeast Pennsylvania armed with plenty of recent knowledge about their opponents. New England defeated Philadelphia 2-1 at home on Oct. 21, the final day of the regular season, to split the regular-season series and move into a virtual tie on points for fourth place in the Eastern Conference The Union kept a hold of the fourth

The Pittsburgh Penguins just got it. The visiting Ottawa Senators want it. Something will have to give Saturday when the teams face off. The Penguins ended a three-game losing streak and got the complete-game, rousing win they had been craving Thursday when they knocked off the previously undefeated Colorado Avalanche 4-0. Pittsburgh and goaltender Tristan Jarry not only shut down Colorado’s dynamic offense, including snuffing all five Avalanche power plays, but also got strong play

The Toronto Maple Leafs are vying for their fourth straight win when they wrap up their road trip with a visit to the Nashville Predators on Saturday. The Maple Leafs are 3-1-0 thus far on the five-game trip after a 4-1 victory against the Dallas Stars on Thursday. It was their fifth win in seven games, their best start to a season since the 2020-21 campaign. “It starts with our first period,” defenseman Morgan Rielly

The Winnipeg Jets appear to have overcome their rough start. Meanwhile, the young Montreal Canadiens seem to be overachieving out of the gate. The visiting Jets will aim for a fourth consecutive victory on Saturday night against the pesky Canadiens, who have won three of their last four. Winnipeg allowed 19 goals while losing three of its first four games but has surrendered just five in winning three straight since that dismal beginning. Connor Hellebuyck

The top two teams in the Eastern Conference meet for an early-season showdown as the Boston Bruins host the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday night. Boston was one of three teams with an unblemished record entering Thursday, when it surrendered a two-goal lead with two minutes remaining in a 4-3 overtime loss to Anaheim. The Bruins could have set a new franchise record with seven consecutive wins to begin a season. Instead, it’s back to

The Philadelphia Flyers look to remain undefeated at home when they battle the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday afternoon. The Flyers posted a 6-2 win over the Minnesota Wild on Thursday and improved to 3-0-0 at home. Bobby Brink scored the first two goals of his career and Travis Sanheim collected one goal and two assists. Sean Couturier and Travis Konecny each had one goal and one assist while Owen Tippett contributed one goal for the

Panthers center Sam Bennett, who has yet to play this season, has returned to practice and could be back in the lineup when Florida hosts the Seattle Kraken in Sunrise on Saturday night. Bennett, who scored 44 goals over the past two years, sustained a lower-body injury against the Tampa Bay Lightning in an Oct. 5 preseason game. “It feels great,” Bennett said of his recovery. “When you’ve been out for a while, you really

Anyone familiar with head coach Shaka Smart is not surprised No. 5 Marquette is ready to get defensive. The Golden Eagles begin their Big East title defense on Nov. 6 when Northern Illinois makes the two-hour trek from DeKalb, Ill. After winning the Big East regular-season championship and conference tournament, Marquette lost in the round of 32 to Michigan State. At the conference preseason media day in October, the Golden Eagles were picked to repeat

After winning three times on a five-game road trip, the Vancouver Canucks believe their game is in a good place as they return home. They carry momentum into opening their three-game homestand, which begins Friday against the St. Louis Blues. The Canucks enter the matchup off back-to-back victories at Florida and Nashville. “We ended up having a really great road trip, and we’ve got a great blueprint on how to play to be successful,” Canucks

The Washington Capitals have something positive to build upon when they open a five-game homestand against the Minnesota Wild on Friday. After scoring only six goals, not counting a shootout winner, in their first five games of the season, the Capitals snapped a three-game losing streak with a 6-4 road victory over the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday. “Through a couple of games here where we haven’t been playing our best, we kind of carried