Mike Brehm

6 days ago | usatoday.com | Mike Brehm |Jace Evans |Jason Anderson

The Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers are back in the playoffs after their seesaw 2024 Stanley Cup Final that Florida won in Game 7, but this time they will have to start on the road. Every champion since 2018 is in this year's field and there are also several teams returning after long absences such as the Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens. Who will survive the four playoff rounds and come out on top?

1 week ago | usatoday.com | Mike Brehm |Jace Evans

The Edmonton Oilers clinched the NHL's 13th playoff berth on Friday night, giving them a chance for another run after last season's trip to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final. The Minnesota Wild and Montreal Canadiens came up short Friday in their efforts to clinch, but they get another shot on Saturday. The Wild will need help. Also, the Vegas Golden Knights (Pacific) and Winnipeg Jets (Central) can clinch division titles. If they do, two more playoff series (Dallas Stars vs.

1 week ago | usatoday.com | Mike Brehm

The National Hockey League regular season will end in less than a week. So far 12 teams have clinched a playoff berth and the Washington Capitals have clinched the Metropolitan Division title and the best record in the Eastern Conference, giving the team home-ice advantage through three rounds of the playoffs. They're still alive in the race for the Presidents' Trophy race as the top regular-season team. The only confirmed first-round series is the Carolina Hurricanes vs.

2 weeks ago | usatoday.com | Mike Brehm

Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin received a sculpture, an engraved golden hockey stick and a Rolex watch on Thursday as gifts for becoming the NHL’s leading goal scorer. The Capitals captain was honored before his first home game since he broke Wayne Gretzky’s longtime record by scoring his 895th goal on Sunday at the New York Islanders. He had tied the record last week at home by scoring two goals.

2 weeks ago | usatoday.com | Mike Brehm

The Minnesota Wild tied the St. Louis Blues with 93 standings points Wednesday night when they beat the San Jose Sharks and the Blues lost to the Edmonton Oilers. As a result, the Wild moved past the Blues into the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference. Part of that is because the Wild have played 79 games to the Blues' 80, so Minnesota has the better points percentage.