NHL

7:00 AM ET Welcome to the second half of this 2021-22 NHL season, where hope springs eternal for all 32 teams. That’s right. Every franchise has at least one Reason For Optimism (RFO), and we’re here to highlight it alongside this week’s power rankings. From top performers to comeback stories to future considerations, there’s bound

2:30 AM ET ESPN News Services CALGARY, Alberta — Tyler Toffoli had a stirring debut with the Calgary Flames. Toffoli, acquired from Montreal a day earlier, scored, and the Flames won their season-high seventh straight game, beating the Columbus Blue Jackets 6-2 on Tuesday night. “Obviously, coming to a really good team playing really good

8:11 PM ET ESPN News Services PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby scored his 500th career goal Tuesday night, the second player in franchise history to do so. Crosby broke a 1-1 tie with the Philadelphia Flyers 16:34 into the first period, scoring on the power play with an assist from Evgeni Malkin. Perhaps

9:00 AM ET The fields for some NHL awards are narrowing and solidifying as the league heads deeper into its playoff races. The fields for other NHL awards … not so much. “I have no clue on the Hart Trophy at this point. I change my mind frequently,” lamented one voter we surveyed. Welcome to

2:23 AM ET ESPN News Services SAN JOSE, Calif. — Stuart Skinner made 20 saves in his first career shutout and the Edmonton Oilers beat the San Jose Sharks 3-0 on Monday night in Evander Kane’s return to San Jose Kane was booed every time he touched the puck. He did not have a point

2:06 PM ET The Montreal Canadiens traded top-line winger Tyler Toffoli to the Calgary Flames in exchange for a 2022 first-round draft choice (which is lottery-protected), a 2024 fifth-round pick, forward Tyler Pitlick and prospect Emil Heineman, the latter of whom landed in Calgary in the Sam Bennett trade last season. With the trade deadline

1:31 PM ET Tyler Toffoli is on his way to Calgary. The Montreal Canadiens traded top-line winger Toffoli to the Flames on Monday in exchange for a 2022 first-round draft choice (which is top-10 protected), a 2024 fifth-round pick, forward Tyler Pitlick and prospect Emil Heineman. There was no salary retained in the trade. Toffoli

6:55 AM ET We’re more than halfway through the third straight pandemic-affected NHL season — but it finally feels like we’re tracking toward normalcy. We have (mostly) full arenas again, and a (mostly) typical 82-game schedule — save for those few weeks in December where a flurry of postponements threatened to wreak havoc on everything.

5:27 PM ET ESPN News Services DALLAS — Nathan MacKinnon had an assist in his return game and the Colorado Avalanche defeated the Dallas Stars 4-0 on Sunday, padding their lead atop the NHL. MacKinnon, 26, out since Jan. 26 with a concussion and a facial fracture, took his rightful place on Colorado’s top line,

3:47 PM ET ESPN News Services OTTAWA, Ontario — Ottawa Senators forward Austin Watson has been suspended two games for a hit on Boston’s Jack Ahcan. The NHL announced the suspension on Sunday. Watson leveled Ahcan along the end boards midway through the first period of Ottawa’s 2-0 loss to the Bruins on Saturday. He

2:03 AM ET Associated Press EDMONTON, Alberta — Cody Ceci and Zach Hyman each scored a goal, Mike Smith stopped 37 shots and the Edmonton Oilers beat the New York Islanders 3-1 Friday night. Jesse Puljujarvi also scored for the Oilers and Connor McDavid had two assists to help Jay Woodcroft get a win in

2:05 PM ET Brad Marchand did not hold back when addressing his six-game suspension for roughing/high-sticking Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry. The Boston Bruins winger was banned after an incident late in Tuesday’s game between the Bruins and Penguins, where Marchand punched Jarry in the head and then, while being escorted off the ice by

11:00 AM ET NHL Insiders USA Today Sports The Edmonton Oilers have changed coaches. Again. Dave Tippett is out. Jay Woodcroft is in. But is it all too little, too late to salvage a season gone drastically off the rails? Since Dec. 3, Edmonton is 7-13-3, has been outscored 85-60, and the team once expected

12:15 PM ET Associated Press PHILADELPHIA — Flyers center Sean Couturier underwent back surgery on Friday and will miss the rest of the season. Couturier was the Flyers’ top line center but had missed the past 17 games with the injury. He ended the season with 17 points in 29 games. The Flyers are 3-11-3

9:25 AM ET If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then consider Trevor Zegras quite flattered. Ever since the Anaheim Ducks rookie sent a pass over the Buffalo Sabres’ net to teammate Sonny Milano for a goal on Dec. 7 — on a move heretofore known as “The Zegras” — he’s been inundated with

6:24 AM ET Associated Press CHICAGO — Sheldon Kennedy wants to make something clear. He isn’t here to save hockey. That’s not what he does with the Respect Group. He just wants to help. Kennedy’s Respect Group has partnered with the NHL for a training program designed to help prevent bullying, abuse, harassment and discrimination.

6:07 PM ET Associated Press BROSSARD, Quebec — Forget about that interim tag. Martin St. Louis is planning to stick around as the coach of the Montreal Canadiens. In his introductory news conference on Thursday, only hours before his first home game in the Bell Centre, St. Louis said becoming a head coach in the

4:35 PM ET Associated Press ST. PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota Wild left wing Marcus Foligno was given a two-game suspension by the NHL on Thursday for kneeing Winnipeg‘s Adam Lowry at the end of a fight. Foligno pulled Lowry down to the ice in the third period of Tuesday’s game after he had gained the