Home sweet home ice? For Vegas, maybe. Nashville, not so much lately. The defending Stanley Cup champion Golden Knights return home to their "Fortress" on the Strip looking to avoid being eliminated in the first round of the playoffs after losing three in a row to Dallas. The Predators are back in "Smash...

Off the goaltender's mask, off a defenseman's back, nothing but net. Well, at least in the net. That is how Colorado's Casey Mittelstadt got his first goal of the NHL playoffs this year, and it is not the only one. Several players have scored by ricocheting the puck in off a goalie's head, including Dallas' Evgenii Dad...

TORONTO - Auston Matthews will miss the Maple Leafs' must-win Game 6 against the Boston Bruins. Head coach Sheldon Keefe said following today's morning skate the star sniper would be unavailable with Toronto down 3-2 in its first-round playoff series. Matthews was pulled from Game 4 with an illness and didn't play in T...

NEW YORK - Calgary Flames defenceman Oliver Kylington, Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Andersen and Arizona Coyotes goaltender Connor Ingram are the finalists for this season's Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy. The trophy is handed out annually to the NHL player "who best exemplifies the qualities of perseve...

EDMONTON - The Edmonton Oilers have advanced to the second round of the NHL playoffs with a 4-3 win over the Los Angeles Kings in Game 5 of their first-round series. Leon Draisaitl scored twice for the Oilers who, for the third straight year, eliminated the Kings from the playoff picture. Evan Bouchard added three assi...

DALLAS (AP) - Jason Robertson scored a power-play goal to put Dallas ahead late in the second period after Tyler Seguin took a shot to the face and the Stars beat the Vegas Golden Knights 3-2 in Game 5 on Wednesday night, becoming the first home team to win in this opening-round series that they now lead. Evgenii Dadon...

TORONTO - Natalie Spooner scored twice in leading Toronto to clinching first place in the Professional Women's Hockey League with a 4-1 win over Minnesota on Wednesday. Toronto (12-4-0-7) moved ahead of Montreal (10-3-5-5) in the standings with 44 points, while holding the tiebreaker in case of a tie by regular season'...

Forge FC and Atletico Ottawa, the top two teams in the Canadian Premier League, posted convincing victories in Canadian Championship preliminary-round play Wednesday. Forge, which tops the CPL standings at 3-0-0, dispatched York United FC 3-1 in a game that was decided in the first half, while Atletico Ottawa, second ...

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Steven Stamkos wants to hoist the Stanley Cup again with the Tampa Bay Lightning. The 34-year-old captain, who can become a free agent this summer, reiterated Wednesday that he'd like to remain with the only franchise he's played for in a stellar 16-season career. And, general manager Julien BriseBoi...

VICTORIA - Rowing Canada chief executive officer Terry Dillon will step down next month ahead of the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris. Dillon has been CEO of the country's governing body of the sport for the past seven years. His resignation is effective June 30, Rowing Canada said Wednesday in a statement p...

TORONTO - Michael Massey hit a three-run homer and drove in another run with a groundout as the Kansas City Royals earned a 6-1 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday afternoon. Bobby Witt Jr. and Salvador Perez both had RBI singles in the sixth as Kansas City (19-13) won for the second time in a row for the serie...

DORTMUND, Germany (AP) - Borussia Dortmund forward Niclas Füllkrug scored in a 1-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of their Champions League semifinal on Wednesday. Dortmund defender Nico Schlotterbeck sent a long pass over the top for Füllkrug to control brilliantly with his first touch before ...

VANCOUVER - Christian Covington is coming home. The veteran defensive lineman signed with the B.C. Lions on Wednesday. The CFL club originally drafted Covington, a Vancouver native, in the fifth round, No. 43 overall, in the 2015 CFL draft. The six-foot-two, 300-pound Covington joins the Lions after playing in 102 NFL ...

Back-to-back wins by Canadians have added a bit of maple flavour to the top of the PGA Tour Americas points list. Vancouver's Stuart Macdonald shot a 1-under 71 to finish 17-under overall for a two-stroke victory at the Diners Club Peru Open on Sunday and rocket up to third on the Fortinet Cup standings. He's 83 points...

Joel Dublanko is looking forward to calling Edmonton home. The Edmonton Elks took the rugged linebacker first overall in the CFL draft Tuesday night. There was karma with the selection, as the American-born Dublanko was able to declare for the draft because his father is from Edmonton. And the burly six-foot-three, 240...

EDMONTON - Zach Hyman is extending the invitation. If basketball legend Shaquille O'Neal needs to learn how to skate - for real this time - Hyman will hit the ice with him. "If Shaq wants lessons, no problem," the Edmonton Oilers forward said Wednesday. "For free." O'Neal, a Basketball Hall of Famer...

MONTREAL - The Montreal Alouettes released veteran American receiver/returner Chandler Worthy on Wednesday. Worthy, 30, spent two seasons with Montreal (2022-23) after starting his CFL career with the Toronto Argonauts (2017, 2019, 2021). The five-foot-nine, 173-pound Worthy came to Canada after spending time in the NF...

Matt Rempe stretched on the bench several minutes before warmups when the chants started. A chorus of "Rempe! Rempe!" emerged from nearby New York Rangers fans, sounding almost like the Yankees "Bleacher Creatures" role-calling players from the outfield. The popular 6-foot-8 rookie waved and got a b...

The Carolina Hurricanes have avoided a major injury concern for defenceman Tony DeAngelo while veteran blue-liner Brett Pesce is nearing a return from a lower-body injury suffered in the second game of the NHL playoffs. Team president and general manager Don Waddell said Wednesday that Pesce has shed a walking boot and...

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper opened his end-of-season news conference Wednesday apologizing for making what he called an inappropriate analogy of putting skirts on goalies. Cooper after the Game 5 loss that eliminated his team from the playoffs on Monday night vented about two questionable go...

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - All players and coaches were at work on Wednesday at the Florida Panthers' practice facility. Nobody was on the ice. That's a nice problem to have right now. Florida will open the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs at home. That much is certain. The opponent - Boston or Toronto - won't be ...

TORONTO - The chief executive of Rogers Communications Inc. says the company plans to pursue a renewal of its rights to broadcast NHL games when its current agreement expires in two years, but offered no hints on whether it will go it alone or seek out a partner. Speaking Wednesday at a lunch hosted by Canadian Club To...