OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Logan Stankoven scored the go-ahead goal in the third period as the Carolina Hurricanes defeated Ottawa 4-2 to sweep the first-round series.

Taylor Hall added a goal and an assist before Sebastian Aho buried two pucks into the empty net. Frederik Andersen made 25 saves. Seth Jarvis chipped in two assists.

Drake Batherson, with a goal and an assist, and Dylan Cozens replied for the Senators, who put up just five goals in four games and never led against the Hurricanes. Linus Ullmark stopped 26 shots. Rookie defenseman Carter Yakemchuk added two assists in his playoff debut.

Of the 213 NHL teams to fall behind 3-0 in a seven-game series, just four have come all the way back to win — the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs, 1980 New York Islanders, 2010 Philadelphia Flyers and 2014 Los Angeles Kings.

Ottawa also trailed last spring’s first-round matchup with Toronto 3-0 after seven years outside the postseason tournament before eventually falling in six games.

Stankoven scored his fourth goal in as many games at 9:10 of the final period on a power play off a rebound from the end boards.

Batherson came close to equalizing again with six minutes to go before Carolina was whistled for too many men. But Ottawa’s anemic power play again couldn’t generate any quality looks against a high-pressure penalty kill.

Aho scored into the empty net before Cozens made it 3-2 with 1:49 left on the clock. Aho then sealed the series for good with another empty netter.

Carolina opened the scoring in a physical, nasty second period when Hall beat Ullmark five-hole at 15:15 after Mark Jankowski made a big shot block at the other end.

Ottawa’s power play — 0-for-12 in the series entering play and without much going Saturday — finally broke through when Batherson tipped a Tim Stutzle one-timer.

WILD 3, STARS 2, OT

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Matt Boldy scored on a deflection with 28.9 seconds left in the first overtime and Minnesota beat Dallas in Game 4 to tie the first-round NHL playoff series.

Jared Spurgeon took a shot that Boldy, unmarked in front of the net, tipped with his stick shaft to guide the puck past goalie Jake Oettinger after the Wild lost Game 3 in double overtime.

Boldy, who had a goal waved off in regulation when teammate Joel Eriksson Ek pushed Miro Heiskanen into Oettinger and another discounted in overtime because he made a kicking motion at the puck, has three goals in the series.

Game 5 is in Dallas on Tuesday night.

Marcus Foligno tied it for the Wild on a second-effort tip-in with 5:20 left in the third period, and Jesper Wallstedt made 43 saves.

Jason Robertson and Heiskanen scored on the only two regulation power plays for the Stars, who continued their special teams mastery of the Wild and are 8 for 19 in the series.

Oettinger stopped 40 shots in another steely performance in his home state.

PENGUINS 4, FLYERS 2

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang each scored goals and the three-time Stanley Cup champion teammates are headed back to Pittsburgh after they helped the Penguins avoid a first-round series sweep with a win over Philadelphia.

Game 5 is Monday in Pittsburgh.

Rickard Rakell also scored, and Connor Dewar sealed the win with a late empty-netter for the Penguins. Penguins coach Dan Muse made the right call with the season on the line to bench starting goalie Stuart Skinner in favor of Arturs Silovs.

The 38-year-old Crosby, a career-long foil for the Flyers, not only scored his first goal of the series, but he also set a savvy screen in the third period on defenseman Travis Sanheim that allowed Letang to have a clean look when he ripped his first goal of the series past Dan Vladar for a 3-1 lead.

The goal was crucial after Travis Konecny scored to make it 3-2 and ignite the “Let’s go Flyers!” chants that had largely been dormant with the Flyers down early.

Pregame

The Penguins mix it up a bit, the old second line is back, Elmer Soderblom is back, Ilya Solovyov and Arturs Silovs makes his Penguin playoff debut in a do or die situation.

How we're lining up for Game 4 👇 pic.twitter.com/CF9w57HAkc

— x – Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) April 25, 2026

The Flyers don’t have any changes from what has gotten them the 3-0 series lead.

#Flyers lines in warmups vs. PIT 🐧

Foerster-Zegras-Tippett
Konecny-Dvorak-Martone
Barkey-Cates-Michkov
Glendening-Couturier-Hathaway

Sanheim-Ristolainen
York-Drysdale
Seeler-Juulsen

Vladař

— Jackie Spiegel (@jackiespiegel93) April 25, 2026

First period

Pittsburgh gets off to a good start, the period is defined by each team taking an offensive zone penalty and the results of the power play. Anthony Mantha keeps up his inglorious playoff run by headed to the boc, but his team kills it off.

A short time later, Denver Barkey gets his stick up on Sam Girard to send the Pens to a power play. It’s short work, Sidney Crosby wins the faceoff to Erik Karlsson then slips into a quiet area. Karlsson feeds Crosby the puck and it’s a trickier-than-it-looks one-timer for a puck coming at him at a weird angle. The whole thing throws Dan Vladar off and the puck sails by him into the net.

SIDSATIONAL ON THE POWER PLAY 🤩 pic.twitter.com/4Rx3SG237V

— x – Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) April 26, 2026

Blake Lizotte takes a post-whistle penalty late in the period, the Pens steer it home. Shots are 9-5 PHI, one of those shots coming from 180 feet away that wasn’t a real shot at all so that doesn’t tell the whole story. Solid opening 20 for the visitors.

Second period

Pittsburgh kills off the rest of the Lizotte penalty and then Rickard Rakell takes advantage of a Vladar miscue behind the net, wins the puck back and knocks it into the abandoned net. 2-0 game.

RAK CITY > EASTERN PA pic.twitter.com/xpvpN7hJPv

— x – Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) April 26, 2026

The Pens get another chance off the rush, throwing the puck to the net. Mantha can’t quite get it in and a desperation kick by Christan Dvorak to angle the puck away from the goal-line saves the day.

Next shift, Evgeni Malkin gets tripped and the Pens get another power play, and for the first time in the series look like they have the Flyers on the ropes. They can’t take advantage of the opportunity, and soon after Solovyov takes a false step back to the ice instead of changing and Pittsburgh gets rung up for a too many men penalty, which they kill.

Pittsburgh is the next to get a power play after Crosby gets dumped, nothing happening and they even give up a breakaway that Silovs makes a big save on. The momentum is slipping away and the Flyers catch Pittsburgh on a long shift after the power play. Trevor Zegras makes a pass across the crease that Barkey just has to keep his stick on the ice to knock it in. 2-1 game with 4:20 to play in the period.

BARK BARK BARK. 🐶🐕#PITvsPHI | #IgniteTheOrangepic.twitter.com/XzxBWjceCk

— x – Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) April 26, 2026

Sanheim hits the crossbar from right in front of the net in the last minute. It’s now the Pens who are on the ropes and they get bailed out by the horn for intermission.

Third period

Garnet Hathaway elbows Karlsson in the face during a wall battle, Karlsson stops playing and gives Hathaway a few uppercuts and they both get called. On the 4v4, the Pens get a huge goal. Crosby fights off a check and kicks the puck to Kris Letang. Letang has the extra space to keep walking up in the zone, so he takes it. Then he takes a big slapper from the top of the circles in the middle of the ice and hammers it home. 3-1 game with 15:33 to go in regulation.

KRISTOPHER LETANG, FOLKS. pic.twitter.com/4frF1OWsfm

— x – Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) April 26, 2026

The Flyers get a pretty quick answer to close the gap. Travis Konecny finds a soft spot and gets a pass from down low that he one-times over Silovs’ shoulder. 3-2, 12:57 to go.

TRAVIS KONNECTS.#PITvsPHI | #IgniteTheOrangepic.twitter.com/534CxifaEv

— x – Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) April 26, 2026

The Flyers push continues but their aggressiveness opens up some opportunities the other way for the Pittsburgh rush offense to finally make an appearance. Crosby and Bryan Rust get away on a 2-on-1 but Rust’s forced pass doesn’t connect. The best thing for Pittsburgh is they get what any team with a lead wants in the third period – a long stretch between whistles where lines roll, play continues and time drains away.

That’s too good to be true and is with about 5 minutes to go as the game gets bogged down with a few stoppages, TV timeouts and each team icing the puck. Philadelphia pulls Vladar for an extra attacker with just under two minutes to play. Connor Dewar ices the puck, then gets redemption to chase it down a little later and deposit it into the empty net. 4-2, 56 seconds to go.

The Pens win and survive to play another day.

Some thoughts

• Crosby only won 2/8 faceoffs in the first period. One of the wins was the most important, starting the goal sequence. One major sign of Crosby’s struggles has been in the faceoff circle, entering tonight winning only 45.5% of his draws (coming off another regular season of winning 55% of them).
• The Penguins had such a great opportunity in the second period to if not put the game out of reach then at least build themselves a comfortable lead up 2-0 and getting a couple of power plays. It was back to the ‘bad’ power play of making poor decisions with the puck and static player placement very nearly coming back to bite them. It’s a small wonder it didn’t. They were playing with fire big time in a careless way.
• And yet, for the scoreboard, each team scored in the second period. It wasn’t truly an even period, with the Flyers controlling play and building a lot of momentum throughout, but it was one that was survived. Silovs deserves a lot of credit for that, the other point that stood out is that Vladar coughed up a cheapie. That downplays the effort that Rakell had to show to earn it, but the Flyer goalie was practically flawless through the first three games. It had to be nice for the Pens to see that the guy who had been shutting them down is still capable of making a major mistake.
• Silovs came up with a great performance. He had to be really good in the second period and he was just that. Thought some of his rebound control slipped after giving up the second goal but despite a little shakiness he kept the puck out from there on out. This was the first game the Pens had better goaltending in the series (which says more about Vladar’s down night than anything else) and it showed in the result.
• Vladar’s play at the moment might be the biggest x-factor on the ice. Was he just rusty from missing two days practice? He out and out created a goal against with a misplay, which isn’t going to happen every game. Even then, that was the only gave up one 5v5 goal he gave up today (the Pens scored at 4v4 for the first time all season on Letang’s goal, got Crosby’s PPG and an empty net goal). On one hand, it’s not like Vladar was in full collapse and he may well shrug off his issue and find better form in Game 5. On the other hand, he showed some cracks today and Pittsburgh forced the door open enough to keep their season alive. Vladar’s status (not like he’ll miss a game now) and maybe his form is one of the more intriguing storylines to watch for in the next one.
• The Pens still had 21 missed shots, equaling the number of shots on goal. It’s not like they’ve figured everything out and are rolling. Egor Chinakhov had five shots miss target just by himself, in a tough development. If this series is to be extended much longer they’re going to need him to start firing true much sooner than later.
• Special teams had to be a battle the Pens won tonight, and they did. The PK going 3/3 was very strong. The power play was 1/3, which looks nice enough even though it belies how close they came to giving up a goal and possibly sinking everything as a result. But, it is a results-oriented business and they took care of business – which counts for something. Something big in this case, a Game 5.
• In a must win situation, the Pens had no choice but to ride Karlsson (26:48 icetime), Wotherspoon (23:49) and Letang (23:19). Solovyov only took 13 shifts for a total of 8:45 played, he wasn’t bad but even despite the mental lapse to cause a too many men situation this was a game that the Pens clearly were going to lean on their top guys all the way.
• Mantha took another penalty and again had a tough go. He played the third least minutes of any Penguin forward, joining Soderblom and Ben Kindel as the lowest TOI forwards. The ‘fourth’ line of Dewar-Lizotte-Acciari is essentially the third line, especially in situations late in games for needing a reliable defensive group to help protect a lead.

Well, it won’t be a sweep. The Pens now get to go home and have to focus on just winning more shifts, periods and hopefully another game to extend the series again and really make it interesting.

W

The Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Ottawa Senators by a 4-2 final score on Saturday. With it, the Hurricanes have officially swept the Senators and have moved on to the second round. 

A former Chicago Blackhawks forward helped the Hurricanes complete their sweep over the Senators, as Taylor Hall had a strong Game 4 for the Metropolitan Division club.

First, Hall scored the game-opening goal at the 15:15 mark of the second period to give the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead. He then recorded an assist on Logan Stankoven's third-period goal that gave the Hurricanes a 2-1 lead. 

With this, there is no question that Hall came up clutch for the Hurricanes in their series-clinching win. It was just the latest strong game from the former Blackhawks winger, though, as he has been on fire throughout the early stages of the postseason.

In four playoff games so far for the Hurricanes, Hall now has two goals, five assists, seven points, and a plus-5 rating. The former Hart Memorial Trophy winner is turning back the clock at the perfect time for Carolina, and it will be fascinating to see if he can stay hot in round two. 

Dallas Stars defenseman Nils Lundkvist left Saturday's Game 4 with a deep facial cut after being hit by a skate.

The incident happened at 13:15 of the second period of the April 25 game in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Lundkvist had tripped Michael McCarron and the skate of the Minnesota forward came up and hit the defenseman in the face. Lundkvist had to go to the dressing room for repairs.

Lundkvist didn't return to the game, leaving the Stars one person short on the blue line as the team and the Wild went to overtime for a second consecutive game. The Wild won 3-2 to even up the series at two games apiece.

Warning: Graphic video

Scary moment as Nils Lundkvist takes Michael McCarron's skate to the face 🤕

Lundkvist was cut and has gone to the room for repairs. pic.twitter.com/Y74rRMsWwV

— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) April 25, 2026

Nils Lundkvist injury update

Stars coach Glen Gulutzan told reporters that Nils Lundkvist suffered a deep facial cut and would be examined further when the team returns to Dallas.

The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Stars' Nils Lundkvist leaves game after skate hits him in face

Golden Knights coach John Tortorella believes there is one player who gives Vegas the upper hand in its series with the Utah Mammoth, despite being down 2-1 in their opening-round series.

"If there's one player I have an advantage with here - I'm still trying to figure out the guys - but if there's one player I do know very well, it's him," Tortorella said of his goaltender, Carter Hart.

After watching his starting netminder allow the first four goals of Friday night's Game 3 loss in Salt Lake City, Tortorella said he never flinched and never considered replacing Hart with former starter Adin Hill, who led the Knights to the Stanley Cup in 2023.

"I know Carter well enough; he wants to work through it," Tortorella said, after the Golden Knights lost 4-2 to the Utah Mammoth. "I have faith in him. There was no thought of taking him out."

Credit a long-standing and deep relationship between Tortorella and Hart, from their days in Philadelphia, as it's crystal clear the confidence the veteran coach has in his 27-year-old netminder.

It's understood, Tortorella has Hart's back and nothing will change that.

During his Flyers tenure, Hart was 9-5-0 allowed just 2.3 goals per start, while turning in a .926 save percentage in 14 playoff appearances. He also stopped an average of 28.5 shots per game.

What should be most important to the Knights is the fact that Hart was 4-0 after a playoff loss in Philadelphia, including two times he allowed four goals, just like Friday in Salt Lake City, where he suffered his first setback after a playoff loss during his career.

"I think he cares," Totorella said. "I know there (weren't) a lot of shots on goal, and there (were) four goals, but it was a weird game. They were very opportunistic. When they had chances, they scored."

To say the least.

In reference to Tortorella's comments, the Mammoth finished with just 12 shots on goal, leaving Hart with eight saves.

And despite the Mammoth scoring on a third of their shots, Tortorella's confidence remains in place as the Golden Knights approach a must-win situation in Game 4 on Monday.

"I don't look at his game as being a real bad game; it was a weird game for him," Tortorella said. "But I know him so well. He has an attitude and a mental toughness about him at that position. He's smart enough, strong enough, to push that away, have a good practice (Sunday), and get ready for Game 4.

"He'll be fine."

PHOTO CAPTION

Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Carter Hart (79) tends the net against the Utah Mammoth during the third period in game three of the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Delta Center.

Former Vancouver Canucks Head Coach Travis Green and the Ottawa Senators have officially become the first team eliminated from the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Earlier today, the Carolina Hurricanes completed their first-round sweep of the Senators by winning their fourth consecutive game. 

While Ottawa was unable to find the back of the net during Game 1 of their series against the Hurricanes, they made things close in a deadlocked Game 2 that saw both teams make the push to double-overtime. A disallowed goal and denied penalty shot opportunity for Carolina gave the Senators a little extra hope, though Jordan Martinook ultimately won Game 2 for the Hurricanes. Game 3 was one-again separated by only one goal, though Carolina managed to squeeze out a regulation win. While today’s game was another close one, Ottawa ultimately wasn’t able to secure a single win this post-season. 

Green has been the Senators’ Head Coach for the past two seasons, taking up the role in the 2024–25 season after spending part of the 2023–24 season as Head Coach of the New Jersey Devils. Ottawa has made the post-season in both of the years that Green has been their Head Coach. In nearly five years as the Head Coach of the Canucks, Green’s team only made playoffs once in 2019–20. 

While the Senators have no former Canucks on their player roster, Green isn’t the only member of the organization to have worked for Vancouver. Senators Assistant Coaches Nolan Baumgartner and Mike Yeo also spent time with the Canucks in the same roles, while former player Sam Gagner also serves as Ottawa’s Director of Player Development. 

On Carolina’s side, Jalen Chatfield, a former Canucks defenceman who spent four seasons in the organization but only one with Vancouver, will be advancing to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Chatfield has been a member of the Hurricanes organization since parting ways with Vancouver after the 2020–21 season and has been with them for their past three post-season runs. 

Carolina will now take on the winner of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers’ series. The Flyers, led by former Canucks Head Coach Rick Tocchet, are currently up 3–0 on the Penguins in the series and could also clinch a spot in the second-round tonight. 

Make sure you bookmark THN's Vancouver Canucks site and add us to your favourites on Google News for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more. Also, don't forget to leave a comment at the bottom of the page and engage with other passionate fans through our forum. This article originally appeared on The Hockey News.

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Nathan MacKinnon was the league’s best goal scorer during the regular season but he’s yet to open his account in the playoffs.

My Avalanche vs. Kings predictions expect MacKinnon to get on the board in a potential series-clinching game against Los Angeles.

Let’s dive into my NHL picks for Sunday, April 26.

Avalanche vs Kings Game 4 prediction

Avalanche vs Kings best bet: Nathan MacKinnon anytime goal (-105)

Nathan MacKinnon leads the Colorado Avalanche in scoring chances and high-danger opportunities through three games. He just hasn’t converted.

That spells trouble for the Los Angeles Kings as MacKinnon is a ticking time bomb. He led the league in goals and only went more than three straight without scoring twice during the regular season.

He is in the perfect situation to find the net Sunday. He will be working on two days of rest, and he has feasted under those circumstances.

MacKinnon has 10 goals over his last nine games following two days off, and scored in seven of them.

Avalanche vs Kings Game 4 same-game parlay

Martin Necas is attached to the hip of MacKinnon at even-strength and on the power play. Given how intertwined they are, it should come as no surprise Necas assisted in seven of the last nine games MacKinnon scored in. Colorado’s top duo has been quiet (relatively speaking) but I expect their best in Game 4.

The Kings are allowing more than 82 attempts per 60 minutes of 5-on-5 play with Cody Ceci on the ice. That’s the highest mark of any defender on the roster, meaning Ceci is spending a ton of time in the defensive zone and there’s plenty of volume to jump in front of.

Avalanche vs Kings SGP

• Nathan MacKinnon anytime goal
• Martin Necas Over 0.5 assists
• Cody Ceci Over 1.5 blocked shots

Avalanche vs Kings odds for Game 4

• Moneyline: Colorado -160 | Los Angeles +140
• Puck Line: Colorado -1.5 (+155) | Los Angeles +1.5 (-180)
• Over/Under: Over 5.5 (-120) | Under 5.5 (+100)

Avalanche vs Kings trend

Martin Necas has averaged 1.1 assists through 14 games following two days off. Find more NHL betting trends for Avalanche vs. Kings.

How to watch Avalanche vs Kings Game 4

Avalanche vs Kings latest injuries

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.

No sweep for Flyers as rally falls short, series shifts back to Pittsburgh originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Flyers are headed back to Pittsburgh.

They were unable to sweep the Penguins in this best-of-seven first-round playoff matchup as they suffered a 4-2 loss Saturday night at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

Travis Konecny and Denver Barkey provided the Flyers’ goals.

Konecny drew the Flyers to within 3-2 in the third period on a snap shot from the circle. Christian Dvorak and Travis Sanheim made aggressive plays to set it up.

Barkey cut Pittsburgh’s lead to 2-1 in the second period off a feed from Trevor Zegras.

But the Penguins never relinquished their advantage after striking first.

Rick Tocchet’s club had its series lead trimmed to 3-1. In the days leading up to Game 4, the Flyers’ head coach stressed the challenge of trying to eliminate a team like Pittsburgh.

“They’ve been down before,” Tocchet said Thursday. “It’s a group that you’re going to have to stick a fork in them. I’m sure they’re reading clippings of teams that have come back from 3-0. I’d be doing the same thing. It can happen.”

The last time the Flyers swept a playoff series was 1995, when they took out the Rangers in the second round.

Tocchet’s club won Games 1 and 2 at PPG Paints Arena. It’ll try to win one more there with Game 5 next.

The scene in Philly for Flyers-Penguins Game 4. pic.twitter.com/sOwWdfrFKK

— Jordan Hall (@JHallNBCS) April 26, 2026

• Despite an injury scare in the third period of Game 3, Dan Vladar was good to go for Saturday night.

The 28-year-old denied 17 of 20 shots.

He had a rare blemish 1:03 minutes into the second period when he turned the puck over behind his net. Rickard Rakell forced Vladar into the mistake and scored a second later with an impressive effort. That put the Flyers in a 2-0 hole.

Vladar had given up just four goals over the first three games of the series. He entered Game 4 with 70 saves on 74 shots.

Arturs Silovs was in Pittsburgh’s net for his first start of the series. The 25-year-old stopped 28 of the Flyers’ 30 shots.

The Flyers cracked him with 4:20 minutes left in the second period when Zegras found his roommate Barkey. The goal cut the Flyers’ deficit to 2-1 and gave the building life.

But the Flyers went 0 for 3 on their power play. They pulled Vladar with around 1:50 minutes left, but couldn’t net the equalizer. The Penguins finished things off with an empty-netter from Connor Dewar.

• Tocchet’s club has really wanted to keep this series at 5-on-5 as much as possible.

The Flyers won Game 2 despite giving Pittsburgh five power plays. They won Game 3 despite surrendering two power play goals. But they allowed another power play goal in Game 4 and one at 4-on-4. They don’t want the series to turn into a special teams battle.

• After being held to no goals and one assist over the first three games, Sidney Crosby opened the scoring Saturday night.

On a first-period power play, the Penguins’ future Hall of Fame center won a faceoff and then scored five seconds later with a quick release. Vladar got a piece of the shot with his glove, but it still snuck past him.

In the third period, Crosby showed his savviness to win a puck battle and set up Kris Letang’s 3-1 goal.

This was No. 87’s best game of the series. The ultimate Flyers killer had been pretty quiet up until now.

But he owns 139 points (60 goals, 79 assists) in 93 career regular-season games against the Flyers. And in the playoffs, he has put up 39 points (16 goals, 23 assists) in 27 career meetings with the Flyers.

• The series picks back up Monday at PPG Paints Arena with Game 5 (7 p.m. ET/NBCSP).

The best way to climb a mountain is one step at a time.

Especially when you’re wearing skates.

And the Kings will be wearing skates and staring at a very large mountain when they take the ice Sunday for Game 4 of their best-of-seven Stanley Cup playoff series with the Colorado Avalanche, a loss away from elimination.

“You’ve just got to start with the first one,” defenseman Mikey Anderson said after a fast-paced 45-minute practice Saturday. “You try to win the first one, and then reset and go from there.”

Since the Kings trail 3-0 a win in Sunday’s matinee at Crypto.com Arena will do little more than extend the series one game, sending the teams back to Denver. To advance to the second round, the Kings need to win four in a row against the team that posted the NHL’s best record in the regular season.

How big a mountain is that? Well, the Avalanche haven’t lost four in a row since October and the Kings haven’t won a first-round playoff series since 2014.

Read more:'We're right there.' Frustrated Kings on the brink of another first-round playoff exit

One step at a time.

“You just have to win one, that's first off. And then the hardest one will be the next one,” Kings interim coach D.J. Smith said. “And then, you know, it's just momentum changes. But you can't think about that without winning one, and you can't think about winning one without winning the first period.

“You're up against it, but I don't think you can think about winning the series. You just got to think about winning one game.”

The series has been a lot closer than the deficit would indicate. The Kings have won the battle of the special teams, with their penalty kill shutting out the NHL’s highest-scoring team on nine chances. They’ve also scored a power-play goal in each of three games and held Nathan MacKinnon, the league’s top goal-scorer, to one assist in three games.

MacKinnon didn’t even take a shot in Game 3, yet Colorado won 4-2 with two goals bouncing in off the skates of Kings forward Adrian Kempe and goalie Anton Forsberg while another was scored into an empty net.

“You still lose the game,” Anderson said. “This time of year doesn't really matter. You can say it feels good, you do all these good things. But if you don't win the game, it's kind of it's the only thing that matters right now.”

Added forward Scott Laughton, “Sometimes you get the bounce, sometimes you don't. You have to have a very-narrow minded focus. We’ve got to stick to the process.”

The Kings have only four goals in the series and have scored just once at even strength, so Smith scrambled his bottom two forward lines in practice Saturday in a search for speed in the offensive end. But he said he doesn’t plan any major changes for Game 4, adding the Kings just need to check harder, move the puck better and get to the net more.

“I think that the game plan is correct,” he said.

However the Kings have taken just 76 shots in the three games, making things far too easy for Avalanche goalie Scott Wedgewood, who has been brilliant.

“We’ve got to find ways to put the puck in the net, whether that's crashing the nets, making the play for an empty netter. It doesn't matter at this point,” said Kings’ captain Anze Kopitar, whose 20-year NHL career ends when his team’s season does. “We’ve got to find a way.”

Smith, who rallied the Kings into the playoffs after taking over for Jim Hiller with 23 games left in the regular season, is making his Stanley Cup playoff debut as a head coach. But he’s been in this position before. As an assistant with Windsor in the Ontario Hockey League, Smith coached a team that overcame a 3-0 deficit and went on to win the league title.

That was a big mountain. And they climbed it one step at a time.

“We’ve just got to play our best game one time, and then we'll worry about the next game,” Smith said. “But we have to find a way to score more while playing the exact same defense.

“Is it hard? Yes. Are we going to give it everything we got? Yes. I think you're going to see our best game in the series.”

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

*Deep breath*
*Exhales*
*Cracks knuckles*

The Carolina Hurricanes are officially heading to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the sixth consecutive year after completing a sweep of the Ottawa Senators with a 4-2 win in Kanata on Saturday afternoon.

A vicious, violent game came to an end with a regulation win thanks to a valiant effort from a Carolina penalty kill that was asked to dig deep again and again as well as goals from Taylor Hall and Logan Stankoven, who put an exclamation mark on their respective excellent efforts in the series.

So too did Frederik Andersen, who surrendered just five goals in his four starts against a team that came into the postseason as one of the hottest in the NHL.

The first period went by without any goals or much in the way of incident before the second period became an absolute circus.

The shenanigans began when Tyler Kleven hit Alexander Nikishin hard enough to knock Nikishin out of the game. Andrei Svechnikov was assessed four minutes worth of roughing penalties. Brady Tkachuk received two, so Ottawa got a power play.

I’ll spare the details on the remainder of the penalties in the second period, but one that was not called was a sucker punch from Ridly Greig to Sean Walker while Walker was already engaged with Warren Foegele.

Hall got the scoring started with a nice shot along the ice to beat Linus Ullmark, and Drake Batherson answered for Ottawa with his third of the series to tie the game at a goal apiece heading into the third.

Carolina killed a partial 5-on-3 to start the third, and eventual the power play came through when Stankoven buried his fourth of the series to make it 2-1 and really put the pressure on Ottawa.

Sebastian Aho got his second of the series with an empty-net goal with over two minutes to go. The Sens weren’t done just yet, though, as Dylan Cozens got them one back with his second of the series.

With the game in question again, Jordan Martinook made one of the plays of the series when he stepped into a Tim Stutzle shot that might have been labeled for the net.

That allowed Aho to score his second of the game on an open net, and Ottawa had no further push from there.

Carolina will await the winner of the series between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia to determine its second round opponent. The Flyers have a 3-0 lead and are going for a sweep of their own Saturday night.

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Gwyneth Philips stopped 41 shots as the Ottawa Charge defeated the Toronto Sceptres 3-0 on Saturday to capture the final Professional Women’s Hockey League playoff berth.

Fanuza Kadirova, Sarah Wozniewicz and Alexa Vasko scored for Ottawa, which will make its second playoff appearance.

Raygan Kirk had 28 saves for Toronto.

Ottawa will now wait to find out if it will play either the Boston Fleet or Montreal Victoire in the playoffs.

The Sceptres came into the game needing a regulation win to leapfrog the Charge for the final playoff spot but came up short for the second straight year.

Leading 1-0, Ottawa extended its advantage just 1:03 into the third when Toronto’s Kali Flanagan turned the puck over at her own blue line. That allowed Charge captain Brianne Jenner to find Wozniewicz all alone and beat Kirk off her backhand.

Vasko added an empty-net goal with just over four minutes remaining to seal the victory.

The Charge opened the scoring early in the second.

With a battle in front for the puck Michela Cava made a cross-crease pass to Kadirova, who took the pass off her skate to her stick to beat Kirk to the short side.

The goal changed the momentum of the game. Toronto dominated play early in the contest but the Charge fed off the energy of the goal and had sustained pressure numerous times throughout the period.

Ottawa thought it had opened the scoring near the seven-minute mark when Brooke McQuigge fired a shot that initially looked like a goal. But the review showed the puck hit the crossbar and never crossed the goal line.

Up next

Charge: Playoff game against a yet to be determined opponent.

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AP women’s hockey: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-hockey

The Carolina Hurricanes will more than likely be without defenseman Alexander Nikishin for the foreseeable future after the Russian blueliner absorbed a huge hit from Ottawa Senators defenseman Tyler Kleven.

In the second period of Game 4, Nikishin was leaned over attempting to play a puck in his own defensive end when Kleven came charging in with a gigantic hit.

Kleven caught Nikishin square in the body, but the force of it alone was enough to make you think a concussion is likely.

Alexander Nikishin had to be helped off the ice after being hit by Tyler Kleven.

The play was reviewed, and Kleven did not receive a penalty. pic.twitter.com/YO2KAW1xuD

— Walt Ruff (@WaltRuff) April 25, 2026

The Hurricanes defenseman had to be helped off the ice and immediately went to the locker room.

The hit on Nikishin also set off a chain of events throughout the period with tempers rising more and more.

Andrei Svechnikov went after Kleven immediately, pummeling him to the ice and the Senators responded in kind with big hits from Brady Tkachuk.

Carolina looks to advance to the second round while Ottawa is fighting for their season.

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With a commanding 3-0 series lead, the Philadelphia Flyers are about to face a desperate Pittsburgh Penguins team doing anything it can to stay alive in the stanley Cup playoffs.

The Flyers just got some important news for their own hopes, as it was announced Saturday afternoon that goalie Dan Vladar would start after an injury scare kept him off the ice for the last two days.

Penguins forward Bryan Rust landed on Vladar's hand during Game 3, but after a brief conversation with trainer Tommy Alva, the Flyers goalie carried on and finished out the contest.

Vladar, 28, is 3-0-0 this postseason with a 1.33 GAA, .946 save percentage, and one shutout.

As for the Penguins, they're making further lineup changes in an effort to keep this series going.

NHL Star Admiring Flyers' Porter Martone From AfarTop <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/philadelphia-flyers">Philadelphia Flyers</a> prospect Porter Martone has impressed his teammates, the organization, and fans with how well he's played so far, but he's quickly earning the respect of his peers, too.

Pittsburgh head coach Dan Muse announced Saturday that goalie Arturs Silovs would start for the Penguins, replacing the incumbent Stuart Skinner, who backstopped the Edmonton Oilers to back-to-back Stanley Cup finals.

The problem for them, though, is that Silovs was one of the worst goalies in the NHL this season, going 19-12-8 in spite of a porous 3.07 GAA and .888 save percentage.

According to MoneyPuck, Silovs, 25, allowed 11.9 goals over expected this season, ranking 89th out of 98 goalies.

Comparatively, Vladar saved 13.8 goals above expected for the Flyers, which was 10th-best in the NHL.

Further complicating matters is the fact that Silovs played under Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet for parts of three seasons with the Vancouver Canucks, so if anyone knows what Silovs' weaknesses are, it's him.

Unsung Hero Noah Juulsen Giving Flyers Tough MinutesThe <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/philadelphia-flyers">Philadelphia Flyers</a> only turned to Noah Juulsen due to injury, but the veteran journeyman has responded in an encouraging way despite coming into a tough spot cold.

The Latvian played 10 games for Tocchet and the Canucks last year, going 2-6-1 to the tune of a 3.65 GAA and .861 save percentage--the former was fourth-worst in the league among goalies with at least 10 games played, and the latter was second-worst  under the same parameters.

This is all to say that Tocchet has seen Silovs at his worst and should know better than most how to get the 6-foot-4 netminder off his game and what strategies are most effective against him.

Muse and the Penguins might be looking for a spark, they might think Skinner deflated the team after a bad goal allowed to Rasmus Ristolainen in Game 3, or they might be waving the white flag and want their younger goalie to get playoff reps.

In any case, Silovs is just 5-5-0 in his career in the Stanley Cup playoffs and owns a .898 save percentage.

The numbers don't lie, and the Flyers must take advantage of a vulnerable young player on a desperate team.

When the 2026 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs opened, the Presidents' Trophy-winning Colorado Avalanche were widely viewed as the team to beat. One week into the postseason, that opinion has only strengthened.

Avalanche Still Set the Standard

Despite leading the NHL with 298 goals during the regular season, Colorado has already shown it can win in a far different style when the stakes rise. The Avalanche now hold a commanding 3-0 lead over the Los Angeles Kings after Thursday’s 4-2 win, moving within one victory of the second round. Artturi Lehkonen led the charge with a goal and an assist, while Scott Wedgewood earned his third straight win to begin the playoffs.

Just as impressive is how Colorado has done it without needing nightly fireworks from every star in the lineup. Maurice Richard Trophy winner Nathan MacKinnon, who scored a career-best 53 goals this season, has not been forced to carry the offense because the Avalanche have leaned on their depth, defensive structure, and steady goaltending.

Colorado is now 13 wins away from becoming the first Presidents’ Trophy winner to lift the Stanley Cup since the 2012-13 Chicago Blackhawks. History has not always been kind to regular-season juggernauts, but this Avalanche team appears equipped to buck that trend.

Updated Stanley Cup Odds

According to the latest FanDuel Stanley Cup futures odds, Colorado remains the clear favorite at +240, followed by the Carolina Hurricanes at +320. The Tampa Bay Lightning sit next at +850, while the Dallas Stars are listed at +1200. The Buffalo Sabres have climbed into the conversation at +1400, with both the Edmonton Oilers and Montreal Canadiens close behind at +1500.

Further down the board, the Vegas Golden Knights are +1900, followed by the Philadelphia Flyers at +2000 and the Utah Mammoth at +2200. The Minnesota Wild check in at +2500, while the Anaheim Ducks are +3000. Longer shots include the Boston Bruins at +6000, Ottawa Senators at +10000, Pittsburgh Penguins at +17500, and the Kings at +25000.

While Colorado has tightened its grip on the Western Conference picture, Edmonton still looms as a potential obstacle as it chases a third consecutive Stanley Cup Final appearance. Dallas remains dangerous, Vegas carries championship pedigree, and Utah has quickly become one of the postseason’s most intriguing stories.

In the East, Carolina has only strengthened its standing as Colorado’s top challenger. The Hurricanes were elite defensively all season and now appear to be finding enough offense to match. Tampa Bay’s experience keeps it firmly in the mix, while Buffalo and Montreal have emerged as compelling dark-horse threats.

For now, though, the road to the Stanley Cup still runs through Denver. Colorado has taken complete control of its opening-round series, received outstanding play from Wedgewood, and shown it can win even when the offense is not operating at full speed.

That balance is exactly why the Avalanche remain the favorite.