NHL

11:14 PM ET Columbus Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella benched newly acquired winger Patrik Laine during Monday night’s game against Carolina, acknowledging afterward that although sitting a player is “the last thing I want to do,” it was something he felt was needed. The Blue Jackets acquired Laine two weeks ago in a trade for

4:33 PM ET The NHL is extending the postponements for the Buffalo Sabres, Minnesota Wild and New Jersey Devils as those teams recover from COVID-19 outbreaks among players. The league announced Monday that two additional Sabres games (Feb. 11 and Feb. 13 against the Capitals); three more Devils games (Feb. 11 and Feb. 13 against

3:06 PM ET Associated Press FRISCO, Texas — Anton Khudobin was back at practice with the Dallas Stars on Monday, a day after their starting goaltender wasn’t in uniform for a game as discipline for being late to a weekend practice. Khudobin said he was late to practice Saturday after not sleeping well throughout the

7:00 AM ET On Feb. 28, Maddie Rooney will play at Madison Square Garden as part of the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association Dream Gap Tour. For the 23-year-old goalie, it’s “an incredible opportunity” to play in New York City at the world’s most famous arena. Unfortunately, her preparation for the game hasn’t exactly been

10:56 PM ET Associated Press WINDSOR, Colo. — Ralph Backstrom, a six-time Stanley Cup winner with the Montreal Canadiens, college coach and founder of a minor league team, died Sunday. He was 83. The Colorado Eagles announced the death of Backstrom, who founded the minor league franchise in northern Colorado in 2002. He served as

1:52 AM ET Associated Press FRISCO, Texas — Dallas Stars goaltender Anton Khudobin will miss Sunday’s game against Chicago because of an undisclosed “internal issue.” After practice Saturday, Stars coach Rick Bowness refused to say specifically why the goaltender will not play. He said Khudobin will be listed as day to day. “I have very

8:04 PM ET Associated Press COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Columbus Blue Jackets have lost one of their most valuable defensemen with Zach Werenski being placed on injured reserve Saturday. The 23-year-old All Star suffered an unspecified lower body injury in Thursday’s win over Dallas and is expected to miss at least a week. Werenski limped

4:37 PM ET Associated Press RALEIGH, N.C. — The Carolina Hurricanes have hired retired captain and three-time Stanley Cup winner Justin Williams as special adviser to the general manager. “The knowledge that he brings just getting off the ice a short time ago is going to be very valuable for us,” team president and general

9:54 PM ET Associated Press The NHL has postponed the Colorado Avalanche‘s games through Feb. 11. Colorado becomes the fifth team shut down, joining Vegas, New Jersey, Buffalo and Minnesota. Dallas and Carolina were put on pause in January because of outbreaks. The Avalanche currently have two players on the league’s COVID-19 list: captain Gabriel

8:13 PM ET The NHL has revised a COVID-19 protocol on arena access just one day after it was established, following emphatic protests from the players. On Wednesday night, the NHL sent a memo to all of its teams and COVID-19 compliance officers that detailed a handful of new safety protocols. The additional measures came

2:15 PM ET Associated Press COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Blue Jackets placed goaltender Elvis Merzlikins on injured reserve after he was injured during practice. The move came hours before Merzlikins was scheduled to start Thursday night’s game against the Dallas Stars. Joonas Korpisalo likely will start in his place. The Blue Jackets said Merzlikins, who

11:47 AM ET Buffalo Sabres coach Ralph Krueger has tested positive for the coronavirus and is entering the league’s COVID-19 protocol. It’s the latest setback for a team that has had its games postponed at least through Monday. The team has four players on the COVID-19 list, including star winger Taylor Hall. Two other teams

8:00 AM ET If the offer is “all or nothing,” the Toronto Maple Leafs have inevitably settled for the latter. They haven’t won the Stanley Cup since 1967, which also was their most recent appearance in the Stanley Cup Final. Their seasons either end with the muted disappointment of air slowly seeping out of their

7:30 AM ET The most important word when it comes to young NHL players is one that long-suffering fan bases don’t want to hear: patience. Expectations have undoubtedly been skewed for highly drafted players of late in part because Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews destroyed the development curve for everyone else. Young talents just aren’t

8:40 PM ET The Minnesota Wild on Wednesday became the third team this week to postpone multiple games due to the NHL’s COVID-19 protocols, while adding five players to the league’s growing list of absent players. Minnesota postponed Thursday night’s game at the Colorado Avalanche, two games at home against the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday

7:00 AM ET The 2021 NHL season has officially begun to take form, as the February schedule gets rolling. For this week’s power rankings, we identified the biggest disappointment so far for every team. How we rank: The ESPN hockey editorial staff submits selections ranking teams 1 to 31 — taking into account past results

9:00 AM ET When the NHL Awards are handed out each year, there are accusations of geographic bias. Sometimes it’s due to the size of a market. More often it’s complaints about how one division or conference is covered by a larger press corps than another — the storied “East Coast bias” that always seems

6:13 PM ET The Buffalo Sabres and New Jersey Devils played a game on Sunday in Buffalo. By Tuesday, the next week of games for both teams had been postponed, and 16 players were on the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol-related absences list. The Sabres were scheduled to fly to New York for a two-game series against