HOCKEY NHL ARTICLES

The Pittsburgh Penguins showed the heart of a champion by holding off the Washington Capitals in Game Seven on Wednesday. The win sent the defending Stanley Cup champions on to the conference finals for the second straight season and left the team with the best record in the regular season getting ready for the golf course. The only thing standing in Pittsburgh’s way of repeating as Eastern Conference champs are Canada’s last hope to hoist the Cup, the Ottawa Senators.... 

Don’t look now, but the Washington Capitals are looking to erase a decade’s worth of playoff frustration in one fell swoop. The team that has failed to make it out of the first two rounds of the postseason despite having one of the league’s most talented players has erased a 3-1 deficit and now gets a winner-take-all Game 7 on home ice. Knocking out the team that sent them home for the summer last season, the Pittsburgh Penguins, would make the win all the more significant.Don’t miss the action on the ice from the Verizon Center in the nation’s capital at 7:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday, May 10, 2017. Catch every moment of the game live on NBCSN. We will have NHL playoff hockey odds at BookMaker.eu for every postseason game.... 

The Ottawa Senators have been living on the edge this series. Ottawa’s three wins against the New York Rangers have all been by one goal, with two of those coming in overtime, but are up 3-2 regardless. Now the Senators will have the opportunity to close out the Rangers on the road on Tuesday night. A win would put them back in the conference final for the first time in 10 years and keep their hopes of bringing the Stanley Cup back to Canada alive.Don’t miss the action on the ice from the Madison Square Garden in Manhattan at 7:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, May 9, 2017. Catch every moment of the game live on NBCSN. We will have NHL playoff hockey odds at BookMaker.eu for every postseason game.... 

Game 7 is one of the most fun things for almost any hockey fan, the exception being if you are a fan of the Anaheim Ducks. In each of the last four seasons, they were up 3-2 in a series with Game 6 on the road and Game 7 at home and lost both games to go crashing out of the playoffs each time. The Edmonton Oilers are looking to become the latest team to rip out the hearts of Ducks fans in their first trip back to the postseason in a decade.... 

Alexander Ovechkin is desperate to finally lead his team to a conference finals. For all the regular season accolades the talented winger has tallied, he has yet to find much success in the postseason and that is the main argument detractors use against calling him the best player in the league. For his Washington Capitals to defeat the team that has been the thorn in their side the last few seasons, the Pittsburgh Penguins, would make his first appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals all the sweeter.... 

Oh Canada! What happened? The Edmonton Oilers have to be reeling after blowing a game that was in the bag early Saturday morning. Edmonton took at 3-0 lead into the final 3 minutes and change of its game against Anaheim before it all fell apart. The Oilers allowed 3 goals in 3:01 of play to allow the Ducks to send the game to overtime and fatigue started to set in. Edmonton allowed Anaheim to score the game-winning goal 7 minutes into the second overtime period and is now staring at a 3-2 series deficit and a must-win Game 6.... 

The St. Louis Blues stayed alive with a win on home ice Friday night, but are still behind the eight ball in this series. They trail the Nashville Predators 3-2 and will have to win in Nashville on Sunday if they want to reach the Western Conference Finals for the second straight season. Meanwhile, a Nashville victory on Sunday would send the Predators to the conference finals for the first time in the franchise’s history.... 

The Boston Bruins stayed alive with a thrilling double overtime game winner from Sean Kuraly to seal the deal against the Ottawa Senators in Game 5. It was the second goal of the game for Kuraly, who also notched the game-tying goal in the second period. Boston will travel back home for a must-win Game Six, but has to be feeling confident about being able to win on home ice. Meanwhile Ottawa will be attempting to get the clean sweep in Boston.... 

The Washington Capitals are trying to erase a history of postseason disappointment this season. With the top seed in the West summarily swept out of the playoffs, the door is wide open for the Capitals to win their first Stanley Cup in the team’s history. After falling behind 2-1 in this series, the refrain was that these were the same old Capitals, but Washington has responded with aplomb the last two games. They will have the chance to close out the series in Toronto on Sunday night.... 

It’s been great to see playoff hockey back in the Gateway to the North. The Edmonton Oilers took command of their series against the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night with a late goal to send the game into overtime followed by a winner in the extra frame to give them a 3-2 lead. San Jose will be on home ice in a bid to save their season in Game 6 on Saturday, but Edmonton has the momentum and is hungry for its first playoff series win in over a decade.... 

Home ice hasn’t meant much in the series between the Montreal Canadiens and the New York Rangers. The road team has won three of the five games in the series after the Rangers’ clutch overtime win in Game 5 in Montreal and now get the chance to close out the series on their home ice. This has been a hard fought series with the Rangers tallying just one more goal than the Canadiens and no game has been decided by more than two goals.... 

Welcome back to the postseason Edmonton! The Edmonton Oilers are back in the postseason for the first time in over a decade and the once-proud franchise is looking to win its sixth Stanley Cup. Edmonton made it all the way to the finals the last time it was in the playoffs and a thunderous ‘O Canada!’ is still reverberating around Rogers Place. The Oilers are considered Canada’s second-best hope to reclaim the Cup and are favored to get past the defending Western Conference champion San Jose Sharks in the first round.... 

The Anaheim Ducks stormed back to win the Pacific Division and now find themselves in the driver’s seat in their half of the Western Conference. They allowed fewer goals than any other team in the West and John Gibson is looking to prove that he has what it takes to lead the Ducks to some playoff wins after last year’s disappointing performance. He was hurt for most of the past six weeks but looked strong since his return and posted a shutout in his most recent appearance. Gibson will look to outduel Brian Elliott of the Calgary Flames in the first round.... 

Defense has been the name of the game for the Boston Bruins when they have been successful this decade, but there are serious concerns heading into the postseason this time around. Two of Boston’s top defensemen, Torey Krug and Brandon Carlo, will be out for at least the opening salvo of the series and this team is so thin now that it had to sign 19-year old Charlie McAvoy to provide depth. However, because of the intricacies of the NHL playoff format, the Bruins don’t have to face one of the monsters in the Metropolitan Division, but instead get an inter-division foe in the Ottawa Senators.... 

After a grueling 82-game regular season, the NHL playoffs are set and now 16 teams will try to hoist Lord Stanley’s Cup. The action is sure to be intense as although there are a few clear favorites, anything can happen during the NHL postseason. Five of the seven Canadian teams made it, so Canada is hoping that one of its teams can return the Cup to the Great White North. The squads south of the border will have something to say about that though.... 

Can the Nashville Predators finally top the Chicago Blackhawks? Chicago has ousted Nashville from the postseason twice in the last decade, including two seasons ago when the Blackhawks beat the Predators in the first round 4-2 on their way to their most recent Stanley Cup. This would be a great time for some comeuppance as no one is expecting anything from a Nashville squad that limped into the playoffs, while almost every expert is calling for Chicago to win the West.... 

Two members of the Original Six will square off in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs when the Montreal Canadiens take on the New York Rangers. This matchup has looked like a lock for the last few weeks because of the quirky structure of the NHL playoffs with both sides knowing who they were most likely to face. The winner will face a relatively easy path to the playoffs by getting to face the winner of the two top wild cards in the Atlantic Division.... 

It’s a shame that either the Pittsburgh Penguins or the Columbus Blue Jackets will be ousted from the NHL playoffs after the first round. These two teams will finish with two of the top five records in the NHL but must face each other in the first round because of the eccentricities of the NHL playoff format. However, their loss is our gain as we have one of the most captivating opening round series in years. Who will win this battle between two of the beasts in the East?... 

The Washington Capitals are going for broke this year. Washington has won the President’s Trophy for the second straight season but that isn’t enough for this year’s squad. Losing to Pittsburgh in the Eastern Conference Semifinals last season stung all offseason long and this team retooled, added some pieces at the trade deadline, and now looks poised to finally hoist the Stanley Cup for the first time in franchise history. Washington is the favorite to win it all according to Las Vegas, but first must get past the Toronto Maple Leafs in the opening round.... 

The Minnesota Wild may have lessened the bleeding, but the team that once looked like it was going to run away with the Western Conference still is searching for its form. Minnesota closed the season out with four straight wins, but three of the four were against the two worst teams in the league and the fourth was against a non-playoff team in Carolina. The Wild are just 2-6 in their last eight games against other playoff teams and that bodes well for their first-round opponent, the St. Louis Blues.... 

A potential first round playoff preview takes place on Saturday afternoon on NBC, as the Washington Capitals visit the Boston Bruins. The Capitals are going to finish with the best record in the league while the Bruins could finish second or third in the Atlantic Division or they might be the second Wild Card. If they finish as the second Wild Card they would play the Capitals in the first round of the playoffs next week. Let’s look at this Saturday matinee.... 

Atlantic Division rivals meet on Thursday night on NBCSN, as the Ottawa Senators visit the Boston Bruins. This could easily be a first round playoff preview depending on how each team finishes, but both teams must hold off Tampa Bay for the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Ottawa has dominated this series of late, winning 8 of the last 10 including all three meetings this season. Let’s take a look at Thursday’s game and NHL picks.... 

Division leaders meet on Thursday night on NBCSN, as the Chicago Blackhawks visit the Anaheim Ducks. The Blackhawks have already wrapped up the Central Division and the top seed in the Western Conference, but Anaheim is in a battle with Edmonton and San Jose for first place in the Pacific Division. The Blackhawks and Ducks have met twice this season, with each team winning on the road. Chicago won 3-2 in Anaheim in late November, while the Ducks won 1-0 in Chicago last month.... 

It is a must-win game for the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday night, as they visit the Boston Bruins on NBCSN. The Lightning trail the Bruins for the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, so this is simply a game they have to win. Boston has won three of the four meetings against Tampa Bay this season, with three of the four going over the total. The one win for the Lightning came a couple of weeks ago, as they won 6-3 in Boston.... 

The late game on Tuesday night on NBCSN has the Edmonton Oilers visiting the Los Angeles Kings. In a reversal of fortunes, the Oilers are the team headed to the playoffs, while the Kings are going to miss out. Edmonton could actually finish in first place in the Pacific Division, so this is actually a more important game for the Oilers than it is for the Kings. The Oilers have won the last three in this series after dropping the previous six....