Sergei Bobrovsky made 26 saves, Matthew Tkachuk scored twice and the Florida Panthers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-3 on Thursday night to take a 3-0 lead in the first-round playoff series.

Defensemen Brent Burns and Dmitry Orlov got Carolina off to a fast start and the Hurricanes held on to beat the New York Islanders 3-2 on Thursday night for a 3-0 lead in the first-round series.

Alex Ovechkin has just one shot on goal through two games of the Washington Capitals’ first-round playoff series against the New York Rangers, which they trail 2-0.

Anze Kopitar fired a wrist shot past Stuart Skinner's glove and into the top corner on a breakaway to give the Los Angeles Kings a 5-4 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday night in Game 2 of the first-round playoff series.

Noah Hanifin broke a tie with an unassisted goal late in the second period and the Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights beat the top-seeded Dallas Stars 3-1 on Wednesday night to take a 2-0 lead in the first-round series.

Brad Marchand broke a tie midway through the third period and the Boston Bruins beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 on Wednesday night to take a 2-1 lead in the first-round playoff series.

The San Jose Sharks have fired coach David Quinn after two rough seasons as part of a massive rebuilding project.

In the moment, The Save kept the game tied.

Florida’s Sergei Bobrovsky might have had the save of the year.

Vincent Trocheck and Mika Zibanejad each had a goal and an assist and the Presidents’ Trophy-winning New York Rangers held on to beat the Washington Capitals 4-3 Tuesday night for a 2-0 lead in their first-round playoff series.

Defenses around the NHL playoffs have been depleted by existing and new injuries, from Tampa Bay’s Mikhail Sergachev and Colorado’s Samuel Girard being out long term to Carolina’s Brett Pesce going down Monday night and Washington being down to minor leaguers to fill its many voids.

Sebastian Aho and Jordan Martinook scored 9 seconds apart late in the third period to help the Carolina Hurricanes complete a comeback from three goals down to beat the New York Islanders 5-3.

Lindy Ruff is returning to Buffalo for a second stint as coach of the Sabres.

A slew of big NHL names will be heading back onto NHL playoff ice on Tuesday night with 1-0 series leads.

Carter Verhaeghe tapped in a pinpoint pass from Aleksander Barkov for the lead 58 seconds into the third period, Matthew Tkachuk added a goal and an assist and the Florida Panthers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 in Game 1 of their NHL playoff series opener.