Mark Lazerus

2 weeks ago | dailyherald.com | Mark Lazerus

Blackhawks defenseman Kevin Korchinski clears the puck during a game earlier this season. AP A year ago, maybe Kevin Korchinski would have been caught flat-footed. Maybe he would have gotten ahead of himself and tried to break out too quickly, abandoning his post a second or two too early. Maybe he would have just lost track of Ville Koivunen entirely. A year ago, Pittsburgh got a prime scoring chance off that Blackhawks turnover. But not Sunday night at the United Center.

2 weeks ago | nytimes.com | Mark Lazerus

Watching Wayne Gretzky highlights can be like peering into another universe, one that closely mirrors our own but in which everything is just a little bit off. Yes, it's hockey. All the hallmarks are there - the ice is the same, the dimensions of the rink are the same, even most of the jerseys are the same. But everything's a tick slower, enough so that some shifts casually bleed into two minutes, three minutes or more. There's time and space enough for old-school slap shots, even in transition.

2 weeks ago | nytimes.com | Mark Lazerus

CHICAGO - A year ago, maybe Kevin Korchinski would have been caught flat-footed. Maybe he would have gotten ahead of himself and tried to break out too quickly, abandoning his post a second or two too early. Maybe he would have just lost track of Ville Koivunen entirely. A year ago, Pittsburgh gets a prime scoring chance off this Chicago Blackhawks turnover. But not on Sunday night at the United Center. On this night, Korchinski was playing smart and safe. He knew exactly where the puck was.

2 weeks ago | nytimes.com | Mark Lazerus

Washington Capitals winger Alex Ovechkin made NHL history on Sunday, scoring the 895th goal of his 20-year career and passing the iconic Wayne Gretzky for first place on the all-time list. It's the hockey equivalent of Barry Bonds passing Hank Aaron with his 756th home run, or LeBron James passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with his 38,388th point - a modern legend chasing down one of the most revered records in sports, held by one of the most revered athletes of all time.

2 weeks ago | nytimes.com | Mark Lazerus

WASHINGTON - Perhaps even more than the awe, the gratitude, the fun, the can-you-really-believe-we-get-to-be-a-part-of-this sensation, it's the sound that's going to stick with Dylan Strome. The way the droning din of 18,000 people suddenly merges into a unison crescendo of audible anticipation a split second before anything even happens. These days, nobody's looking at their phones when Alex Ovechkin is on the ice.