One city. Two top playoff seeds eliminated. Welcome to Miami. Last Wednesday, the No. 8 seed Miami Heat, behind titanic games from Jimmy Butler, eliminated the Milwaukee Bucks from the 2023 NBA playoffs. The Bucks were the top seed in the Eastern Conference and had the best record in the league. Four days later, the Florida Panthers, an 8-seed in […]

The New Jersey Devils have a very particular set of skills. After their 4-0 shellacking of the New York Rangers in Game 7 of their first round Stanley Cup Playoffs series, the Devils were in a trolling mood. They harkened back to the Rangers’ playoff hype video, which featured actor Liam Neeson reprising his famous speech from “Taken.” The Devils […]

Cale Makar sat silent in full uniform. The young face of the Colorado Avalanche revealed no expression on his face, only a blank stare toward the middle of the losing locker room where teammates’ jerseys had already been discarded into the laundry heap. His jersey remained attached to him for 15 extra minutes. He didn’t want to part with it […]

Initial observations from the Avalanche’s 2-1 loss to the Seattle Kraken in Game 7 of their first-round Stanley Cup playoff series. 1. Great Wall of Gruby returns Many of the players wearing Burgundy and Blue for the Avs over the last four years have a championship ring for their blood, sweat and tears. Philipp Grubauer doesn’t, so after watching Colorado […]

LOS ANGELES — Kailer Yamamoto scored his first playoff goal with 3 minutes, 2 seconds remaining, and the Edmonton Oilers defeated the Los Angeles Kings 5-4 on Saturday night to advance to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Klim Kostin had two goals and an assist as the Oilers eliminated the Kings (4-2) for the second straight season. […]

The Dallas Stars patiently await their challenger. Colorado and Seattle have battled it out for six games without a solution in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, so Ball Arena will host a winner-take-all Game 7 on Sunday (7:30 p.m. MT, TNT). Here are three keys for the Avs to advance. 1. No more time for “almost” on […]

Greg Wyshynski is ESPN’s senior NHL writer. NEWARK, N.J. — The last time the New York Rangers played in New Jersey, they established a 2-0 series lead and had many wondering if the upstart Devils weren’t ready for the Stanley Cup playoffs spotlight. But after Thursday night’s Game 5 at Prudential Center, the Devils had a 4-0 win and a […]

SEATTLE — Unfriendly greetings thundered in the Avalanche’s ears and an unsightly ending threatened their minds. But vanquishing a champion — no matter how depleted — is not that simple. Before hopping on a charter plane to Seattle, Avalanche coach Jared Bednar reflected that he couldn’t recall a season in his playing or coaching career with obstacles as constant as […]

SUNRISE, Fla. — Matthew Tkachuk scored twice, Eetu Luostarinen put Florida ahead to stay with 5:38 left in what was a wild third period, and the Panthers forced a Game 7 in their Eastern Conference first-round series by beating the Boston Bruins 7-5 on Friday night. Aleksander Barkov, Brandon Montour, Zac Dalpe and Sam Reinhart also scored for the Panthers, […]

Ryan S. Clark is an NHL reporter for ESPN. Front offices throughout the NHL are willing to invest what amounts to a miniature fortune on travel so their amateur scouting staffs can find the players they believe can help them have a brighter future. And that’s not even including additional scouting costs such as salaries or the investment that comes […]