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Before Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final, every seat in T-Mobile Arena had a rally towel with Mitch Marner's face printed on it. By the end of the second period, the Vegas Golden Knights star had made it his night with a record-setting hat trick. With his natural hat trick in the second period, Marner recorded the fastest three goals by a single player in Cup finals history. He needed six minutes and 10 seconds to score thrice and give Vegas a 4-0 lead. The previous record was three goals in 6:21 in Game 1 of the 1957 Cup...

Shea Theodore was credited with a goal at 5:38 of the second overtime, avoiding what could have been a potentially devastating loss for the Golden Knights after they blew a four-goal lead, and Vegas defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 5-4 on Saturday night in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final. Vegas took a 2-1 series lead after Theodore's shot was gathered by Carolina forward Jordan Martinook who banked it in off goaltender Brandon Bussi's skate. Since Theodore was the last Golden Knight to touch the puck, he was awarded the goal. "At that point, you are just trying to get...

The Brett Howden shoe is in full swing here. Seconds after Carolina kills a penalty and gets the crowd going, Howden comes in and scores a gorgeous goal, not only beating all-world defenseman Jaccob Slavin to the net, but using his body to shield off his check and then beating Freddy Andersen with a slick move. That's now 13 goals for Howden - yes, you read that right. The guy is on fire. Vegas now has two goals on six shots. Carolina needs a spark here. They look a step behind Vegas.

Claude Lemieux, a four-time Stanley Cup champion and one of the fiercest playoff performers in NHL history, has died, the NHL Alumni Association said Thursday. He was 60. Lemieux played 21 years in the NHL, winning the 1995 Conn Smythe Trophy and the four Cups — two with the New Jersey Devils and one each with the Colorado Avalanche and Montreal Canadiens. His 80 playoff goals rank ninth in NHL history and his 158 points are tied for 27th. Lemieux played 1,215 regular-season games, scoring 379 goals and 786 points and amassing 1,777 penalty minutes. “Today is a dark day...

'm all about respect and sportsmanship, but I also love a healthy dose of gamesmanship, and that seems to be what we're getting from the Vegas Golden Knights. Vegas is still in the playoffs and currently tied with the Anaheim Ducks 2-2. However, they were the talk of hockey at the end of the regular season when they fired then-head coach Bruce Cassidy with just eight games left in the season and the team on track to make the playoffs. It was a shocker — especially after Cassidy led the team to a Stanley Cup in 2023 — and the...

Auston Matthews’ triumphant return to Toronto could have gone a lot worse. The Maple Leafs recognized their three Olympians during Saturday’s 5-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators, their first home game since the conclusion of the 2026 Winter Olympics. At the first TV timeout of the contest, fans erupted in applause for Sweden’s William Nylander and Oliver Ekman-Larsson — before giving a mixed reaction toward the Maple Leafs captain. Of course, the star center had more recently captained Team USA to its first men’s hockey Olympic gold medal since 1980 at Canada’s expense. Jeers sprouted from the crowd as the...

Watching Florida Panther forward Matthew Tkachuk gush over U.S. president Donald Trump at the White House while donning the Commander-in-Chief’s signature red tie may have been a hint, but a new report gleaned from publicly available voter registration data finds that the NHL’s American players are among the most right-leaning in professional sports. Only one league, Major League Baseball, had a higher percentage of American players who were registered as Republican at 53.7 per cent compared to just 7.8 per cent Democratic and 36.4 Independent. The NHL came second at 43.9 per cent Republican, 5.6 per cent Democratic, and 48.6...

Kane became the highest-scoring United States-born player in NHL history, passing Mike Modano with an assist for his 1,375th point Thursday night for the Detroit Red Wings against the Washington Capitals. "It's nice to have it over with in some ways and worry about the rest of the season," Kane said after Washington's 4-3 shootout win. Kane passed the puck from the boards to Alex DeBrincat in the left circle, and DeBrincat set up Ben Chiarot for a tying goal from the point midway through the second period.

Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin may not be the most liked player in the NHL, but he found a way to endear himself to a lot of the game's fans. On Saturday night, the Capitals and Florida Panthers faced off, with Washington holding its annual Pride Night before the game. (Cue the justified boos and eye rolls). That means that many players decided to put rainbow tape on their sticks as a show of support. But Ovechkin, and several others, decided not to. They skated onto the ice with their sticks looking normal as most reasonable people would do. Martin...

The San Jose Sharks have apologized after an apparent offensive message seeming to praise Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was displayed on the arena’s scoreboard during the team’s Hispanic heritage celebration on Saturday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Video shared with CNN showed the scoreboard displaying: “SJ SHARKS FANS LOVE ICE !! GET ‘EM BOYZ !” Some fans at SAP Center in San Jose, California, can be heard booing in response. Sharks fan Jessica Clark told CNN she and her group were “appalled” by the message. “They’re my favorite team — I even have tattoos — but this was something...

Comebacks. Milestones. One farewell, maybe more. Not one, but two outdoor games in Florida. The first Olympics featuring NHL players in a dozen years. A wide-open race for the Stanley Cup, with one team trying to become the first to three-peat in 43 years.

A year after NHL hockey star Johnny Gaudreau and his brother were struck and killed as they bicycled in Salem County, the case against the man charged in their deaths is continuing in court. Defense attorneys have filed a string of as-yet unsuccessful motions to dismiss some charges and bar evidence against driver Sean M. Higgins from trial. They will be in court again next month with a bid to suppress statements prosecutors say their client made to police. Four New Jersey State Police troopers involved in the case are expected to testify during the Sept. 18 hearing, according to...

FORT LAUDERDALE — Florida Panthers coach Paul Maurice added another gem to his long collection of golden quotes on Sunday morning after being asked about his team’s humility off of the ice despite their ferociousness on it. The Panthers are, to be sure, one of the most hated teams in the NHL due to their aggressive, take-no-prisoners style. They certainly are not popular in some parts of their own state, much less in Canada or North Carolina. Yet after Saturday’s 6-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes to pull within a game of a third straight trip to the Stanley Cup...

The posts were apparently made on Sunday, as the Panthers evened the series at 2-2 with a 2-0 win over the Leafs.A Florida Panthers executive and team minority owner has been suspended by the National Hockey League for what they called "unacceptable and inappropriate" social media posts. Douglas Cifu, the team's vice chairman, partner, and alternate governor, was suspended by the NHL for posts he allegedly made on X. "The NHL has concluded that Mr. Cifu’s X posts were unacceptable and inappropriate. As a result, Mr. Cifu has been suspended indefinitely from any involvement with the Club and the NHL,”...

SALEM, N.J. (AP) — The family of NHL hockey player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew listened in pain Tuesday as lawyers debated whether the men's own drinking contributed to their deaths when they were hit by an allegedly drunken and enraged driver as they cycled at night. After nearly two hours of argument, a judge agreed the issue was moot under New Jersey criminal law — upholding all of the charges against the driver, including manslaughter and vehicular homicide. “There’s no credence in the argument there was contributory negligence on the part of the cyclists,” said Superior Court Judge...

Professional sports are all about mom, apple pie and the flag, right? Baseball is our “national pastime,” football is our national religion, basketball is…well…marketing for athletic shoes? And hockey is an advertisement for restorative dentistry? Anyway, these leagues are supposed to be red, white and blue. Apart, that is, from some knee taking and refusing to stand for the National Anthem, buying into the whole “America is systemically racist” thing, supporting trans this and that, and OK, the Budweiser debacle, which is at least sort of associated with them. Sigh. Sports used to be so simple. Players were expected to...

Ray Shero, a longtime NHL executive who constructed the Penguins’ Stanley Cup-winning roster in 2009 and assembled the Devils’ current star-filled core, died Wednesday, the league announced. He was 62 years old. No cause of death was announced.

Alex Ovechkin breaks Wayne Gretzky's NHL record with career goal #895 The Washington Capitals’ captain made history Sunday against the New York Islanders by beating fellow Russian Ilya Sorokin on a power play with 12:34 left in the second period

Alex Ovechkin tied the NHL record for most career goals, putting him side-by-side with The Great One, Wayne Gretzky. The Capitals star scored the history-tying goal — the 894th of his career — on Friday when he found the back of the net at the 6:13 mark in the third period against the Blackhawks on home ice at Capital One Arena. It was his second goal of the night after he notched No. 893 in the first period. With Washington on the power play in the final frame, the Capitals entered the zone with Ovechkin skating down the left side....

The fists flew when Team USA faced off against Canada on Saturday night, and the war of words continued. Now, President Trump is weighing in.In a Thursday post on Truth Social, Trump not only once again suggested that Canada should become the “51st State,” he even invited “Governor Trudeau” to watch the game with him.“I’ll be calling our GREAT American Hockey Team this morning to spur them on towards victory tonight against Canada, which with FAR LOWER TAXES AND MUCH STRONGER SECURITY, will someday, maybe soon, become our cherished, and very important, Fifty First State,” the future president of Canada...