The two-time defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning staved off elimination against the Colorado Avalanche in Game 5, largely due to late-game heroics from Ondrej Palat. Palat’s go-ahead goal saved Tampa Bay’s season with 6:22 remaining in regulation helped the Lightning escape Colorado with a 3-2 win. Now, the series is back on the Bolts’ home ice at Amalie Arena. Despite coming off of its second loss in a potential series-clinching game this postseason, both of which have come at home […]

Joined ESPN in 2014 Journalist covering gambling industry since 2008 It was Super Bowl Sunday in Las Vegas, and drinks were flowing at a private party for VIPs inside a Japanese restaurant at the Bellagio. High-rollers were betting shots of Fireball on whether the next play in Super Bowl LV between the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers would be a run or pass. Things were getting sloppy. In the middle of it all, Tanner Flynn, a tech salesman […]

Greg Wyshynski is ESPN’s senior NHL writer. There are different ways for teams to enter the NHL free-agent pool. There are big splashes for star players. Other teams methodically wade in, making sure their feet (and their finances) remain grounded. Some just dip their toes in. The Tampa Bay Lightning and Colorado Avalanche, currently playing in the Stanley Cup Final, were both active in the pool last summer. The Lightning signed veteran forwards Corey Perry and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare — the […]

Kristen Shilton is a national NHL reporter for ESPN. DENVER — NHL commissioner Gary Bettman says the league will generate record revenues of more than $5.2 billion this season. And that total may be conservative. Holding court Wednesday with deputy commissioner Bill Daly before Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final between the Colorado Avalanche and the Tampa Bay Lightning, Bettman praised the league and its partners at large for completing the first 82-game regular season in two years. That […]

Kristen Shilton is a national NHL reporter for ESPN. Greg Wyshynski is ESPN’s senior NHL writer. The 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs are down to the final two teams. The Western Conference champion Colorado Avalanche will host the Eastern Conference champion Tampa Bay Lightning for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET, ABC and ESPN+). Tampa Bay can become the first three-peat Cup champion since the New York Islanders won their third of four straight in […]

The 2022 NHL Eastern Conference finals matchup between the Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Rangers has reached Game 6, with the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Lightning holding a 3-2 advantage. The Colorado Avalanche await the winner of the series, which could be the Lightning following Saturday night’s game. What does Tampa Bay have to do to close it out? What will New York do to counterpunch? We break it all down here. What do the Lightning need to […]

Timothée Chalamet has been having an incredible run as of late — he’s played Henry V in “The King,” Willy Wonka in the upcoming film “Wonka” and perhaps most notably, Paul Atreides in “Dune” and its future sequel. But sometimes, you know, even the current Duke of House Atreides, crysknife expert and Lisan al-Gaib just wants to watch a game of hockey without calling too much attention to himself, you know? Chalamet was in attendance during Game 5 of the […]

Hajducky is a reporter/researcher for ESPN. He has an MFA in creative writing from Fairfield University and played on the men’s soccer teams at Fordham and Southern Connecticut State universities. Wayne Gretzky’s final Edmonton Oilers jersey, worn in Edmonton’s 1987-88 playoff run that saw them win their fourth of five Stanley Cup titles, sold for $1.452 million (including buyer’s premium) with Grey Flannel Auctions on Sunday night. It was the most ever paid for a hockey jersey. The previous record […]

Kristen Shilton is a national NHL reporter for ESPN. EDMONTON, Alberta — Edmonton Oilers left wing Evander Kane has been suspended one game for boarding Colorado Avalanche center Nazem Kadri in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals on Saturday. Kane will miss Game 4 of the series on Monday, when the Avalanche, who hold a 3-0 series lead, can complete a sweep and secure a berth in the Stanley Cup Final. Kane was assessed a five-minute major for the […]

Greg Wyshynski is ESPN’s senior NHL writer. NEW YORK — Jacob Trouba doesn’t spend time thinking about his perceived villainy. Many NHL fans do, as they watch the New York Rangers defenseman pulverize opponents with his signature open-ice checks, sometimes with injurious results. They call for penalties that aren’t whistled. They call for suspensions that aren’t handed out. They boo him when he touches the puck on the road, which Trouba claims he doesn’t hear. Well, with one exception. “I […]