NHL

AP Sports WriterDevils, Golden Knights off to surprising strong startsBy VIN A. CHERWOOAfter finishing at the bottom of the Eastern Conference last season, the New Jersey Devils have been among the NHL's surprise teams.The Devils have been atop the Metropolitan Division for most of the opening weeks and are...

Wild lose Spurgeon for at least a month to hamstring tearST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) Minnesota Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon will miss a minimum of four weeks due to a partial tear of his right hamstring, a big blow to a team trying to maintain control of a playoff...

Thornton reaches 1,500 points, Sharks beat Flames 3-1CALGARY, Alberta (AP) Joe Thornton had two assists to reach 1,500 career points and the San Jose Sharks beat the Calgary Flames 3-1 Tuesday night.Evander Kane, Brent Burns and Kevin Labanc scored for the Sharks, who have just two wins in...

Flyers F Lindblom skates with team, recovering from cancerPHILADELPHIA (AP) Philadelphia Flyers forward Oskar Lindblom skated with team Tuesday in one of the few times he’s hit the ice since he was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer.The 23-year-old Lindblom, a native of Sweden, has been...

AP Hockey WriterSabres fire GM Botterill in series of cost-cutting movesBy JOHN WAWROWBUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) Buffalo Sabres owners Terry and Kim Pegula reversed course by firing general manager Jason Botterill on Tuesday as part of a drastic cost-cutting purge of front-office staff and scouts on a team preparing...

Watson's girlfriend takes blame for causing suspensionNASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) Austin Watson's girlfriend is taking blame for the incident that led the NHL to suspend the Nashville Predators' forward for 27 games, a punishment reduced to 18 games by an arbitrator on appeal.Jenn Guardino issued a statement Saturday said...

AP Sports WriterNutivaara's second-period goal lifts Columbus past OttawaBy MITCH STACYCOLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) Just three games back after an injury that sidelined him for nearly a month, Markus Nutivaara played in place of injured star Seth Jones on the power-play unit. His second-period goal ended up being the...

AP Hockey WriterLightning, Blue Jackets face off again after 5-overtime gameBy LARRY LAGEThe Tampa Bay Lightning and Columbus Blue Jackets are facing one more challenge than the rest of the teams in the pandemic-altered NHL playoffs.Tampa Bay and Columbus will be back on the ice less than 48 hours...

Coyotes sign Garland to 2-year contract extensionGLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) The Arizona Coyotes have signed forward Conor Garland to a two-year contract extension through the 2020-21 season.Terms of the deal announced Wednesday were not disclosed.Garland started the season with Tucson of the AHL and was called up when a...

AP Sports WriterUnlikely scorers for Stars again to win Stanley Cup openerBy STEPHEN HAWKINSJoel Hanley had never scored a goal in the NHL until Game 1 of the Stanley Cup for the Dallas Stars.Just another unlikely scorer this postseason for the Stars, like rookie Joel Kiviranta.''That's how you win...

ST. LOUIS (AP) Ottawa's Bobby Ryan scored twice, including the overtime winner, to lift the Senators to a 3-2 win at St. Louis, dropping the Blues further off the pace in the NHL Central Division.The Blues have lost three straight and are nine points behind Central leader Dallas,...

Vancouver signs defenseman Alex Edler to 2-year extensionVANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) Defenseman Alex Edler signed a two-year extension with the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday at an average salary of $6 million. The 33-year-old Swede could have become a free agent July 1.''I've said from the beginning that if...