Stanley Cup Playoffs Central: Conference final highlights, schedule

Published

2 years ago

May 22, 2023

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The 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs are here, as 16 teams compete for the most magnificent trophy in sports.

The record-setting Boston Bruins were the No. 1 overall seed, but they were ousted in Round 1 by the Florida Panthers. Out West, the defending Cup champion Colorado Avalanche hoped to continue their reign atop the league, but they were upset by the Seattle Kraken in the latter club’s first trip to the postseason.

And now, we’re down to the final four: the Carolina Hurricanes vs. Florida Panthers in the East, while the Dallas Stars take on the Vegas Golden Knights in the West.

What will happen next? Read on for the full playoff coverage from every first-round series all the way through the Stanley Cup Final.

More: Playoff schedule
Conference final preview
Conn Smythe Watch
Top 50 players in the playoffs
Wyshynski’s bracket
Experts picks

Conference final round

Jump to:
East: CAR-FLA
West: VGK-DAL

Eastern Conference

Deja Vu! Panthers win on Matthew Tkachuk’s OT goal again

Matthew Tkachuk scores his second overtime winner in a span of two games as the Panthers take a 2-0 series lead vs. the Hurricanes.

Earlier results:

Hurricanes: Defeated Islanders in six, Devils in five
Panthers: Defeated Bruins in seven, Maple Leafs in five

Leading scorers:

Schedule:

Game 1 (at CAR): Panthers 3, Hurricanes 2 (4OT) | Recap | Replay
Game 2 (at CAR): Panthers 2, Hurricanes 1 (OT) | Recap
Game 3 (at FLA): Mon., May 22: 8 ET (TNT)
Game 4 (at FLA): Wed., May 24: 8 ET (TNT)
Game 5 (at CAR): Fri., May 26: 8 ET (TNT)
Game 6 (at FLA): Sun., May 28: 8 ET (TNT)
Game 7 (at CAR): Tue., May 30: 8 ET (TNT)

Western Conference

Chandler Stephenson’s OT winner gives Golden Knights 2-0 series lead

Chandler Stephenson nets the winning goal in overtime as the Golden Knights take a 2-0 series lead vs. the Stars.

Earlier results:

Golden Knights: Defeated Jets in five, Oilers in six
Stars: Defeated Wild in six, Kraken in seven

Leading scorers:

Schedule:

Game 1 (at VGK): Golden Knights 4, Stars 3 (OT) | Recap | Replay
Game 2 (at VGK): Golden Knights 3, Stars 2 (OT) | Recap | Replay
Game 3 (at DAL): Tue., May 23: 8 ET (ESPN/ESPN+)
Game 4 (at DAL): Thu., May 25: 8 ET (ESPN/ESPN+)
Game 5 (at VGK): Sat., May 27: 8 ET (ABC/ESPN+)
Game 6 (at DAL): Mon., May 29: 8 ET (ESPN/ESPN+)
Game 7 (at VGK): Wed., May 31: 9 ET (ESPN/ESPN+)

Second round

Jump to:
Atlantic: TOR-FLA
Metro: CAR-NJ
Central: DAL-SEA
Pacific: VGK-EDM

Atlantic Division

Nick Cousins’ OT winner advances Panthers to East finals

Nick Cousins scores in overtime to eliminate the Maple Leafs as the Panthers advance to the East finals.

First-round results:

Leading scorers:

Results:

Keys to the offseason for the Maple Leafs

Consensus pick: Maple Leafs

Metro Division

Canes advance to East finals with OT winner

The Hurricanes eliminate the Devils with an OT winner by Jesper Fast in Game 5.

First-round results:

Leading scorers:

Results:

Keys to the offseason for the Devils

Consensus pick: Devils

Central Division

Stars defeat the Kraken in Game 7 to advance to the WCF

Stars take care of business at home to defeat the Kraken in Game 7 as they advance to take on the Vegas Golden Knights.

First-round results:

Leading scorers:

Results:

Keys to the offseason for the Kraken

Consensus pick: Stars

Pacific Division

Marchessault’s natural hat trick sends Vegas to Western Conference final

Jonathan Marchessault scores three consecutive goals for the natural hat trick as the Golden Knights advance to the Western Conference finals.

First-round results:

Leading scorers:

Results:

Keys to the offseason for the Oilers

Consensus pick: Oilers

First round

Jump to:
Atlantic: BOS-FLA | TOR-TB
Metro: CAR-NYI | NJ-NYR
Central: COL-SEA | DAL-MIN
Pacific: VGK-WPG | EDM-LA

Atlantic Division

Carter Verhaeghe ends Bruins’ season in OT

The Florida Panthers end the Boston Bruins’ season with a stunning OT goal from Carter Verhaeghe.

Regular-season records:

Bruins: 65-12-5, 135 points
Panthers: 42-32-8, 92 points

Leading scorers:

Results:

Keys to the offseason for the Bruins

Consensus pick: Bruins (28 of 29 picks)

Maple Leafs advance for 1st time in 19 years off Tavares’ OT winner

John Tavares scores in overtime as the Maple Leafs advance to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since 2004.

Regular-season records:

Maple Leafs: 50-21-11, 111 points
Lightning: 46-30-6, 98 points

Leading scorers:

Results:

Keys to the offseason for the Lightning

Consensus pick: Maple Leafs (22 of 29 picks)

Metro Division

Canes eliminate Islanders with OT winner

Paul Stastny nets the game-winner in overtime to move the Hurricanes on to Round 2.

Regular-season records:

Hurricanes: 52-21-9, 113 points
Islanders: 42-31-9, 93 points

Leading scorers:

Results:

Keys to the offseason for the Islanders

Consensus pick: Tied (14 of 28 picks for each team)

Erik Haula slaps home one-timer to pad the Devils’ lead

Erik Haula puts the Devils up 3-0 in the third period of Game 7.

Regular-season records:

Devils: 52-22-8, 112 points
Rangers: 47-22-13, 107 points

Leading scorers:

Results:

Keys to the offseason for the Rangers

Consensus pick: Rangers (18 of 29 picks)

Central Division

Kraken knock off defending champion Avs to advance

The Kraken become the first expansion franchise to win their first playoff series against a defending champion with a 2-1 win vs. the Avalanche in Game 7.

Regular-season records:

Avalanche: 51-24-7, 109 points
Kraken: 46-28-8, 100 points

Leading scorers:

Avalanche: C Nathan MacKinnon, 111 points (42 G, 69 A)
Kraken: LW Jared McCann, 70 points (40 G, 30 A)

Schedule:

Keys to the offseason for the Avalanche

Consensus pick: Avalanche (27 of 29 picks)

Mason Marchment beats the buzzer to extend Stars lead

Mason Marchment scores a goal on the breakaway with 0.5 seconds remaining in the second period as the Stars lead 3-0.

Regular-season records:

Stars: 47-21-14, 108 points
Wild: 46-25-11, 103 points

Leading scorers:

Results:

Keys to the offseason for the Wild

Consensus pick: Stars (22 of 29 picks)

Pacific Division

Golden Knights defeat Jets with ease to advance in Stanley Cup playoffs

The Vegas Golden Knights defeat the Winnipeg Jets 4-1 and advance to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Vegas wins series, 4-1

Regular-season records:

Leading scorers:

Results:

Consensus pick: Golden Knights (25 of 29 picks)

Keys to the offseason for the Jets

Kostin’s 2nd goal puts the Oilers ahead

Klim Kostin nets his second goal of the game as the Oilers take a 4-3 lead vs. the Kings.

Regular-season records:

Oilers: 50-23-9, 109 points
Kings: 47-25-10, 104 points

Leading scorers:

Results:

Keys to the offseason for the Kings

Consensus pick: Oilers (27 of 29 picks)

Sports

Burnham Square wins Blue Grass for Derby spot

Published

1 hour ago

April 9, 2025

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Burnham Square wins Blue Grass for Derby spot

Associated Press

Apr 8, 2025, 07:12 PM ET

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Burnham Square chased down East Avenue from the back of the pack and won by a nose in the storm-delayed $1.25 million Blue Grass at Keeneland on Tuesday, earning enough points to qualify for next month’s Kentucky Derby.

The 101st running of the Blue Grass was postponed from Saturday because of heavy rain and deadly flooding in Kentucky. The upcoming Lexington Stakes on Saturday is the final derby qualifying race.

Burnham Square, ridden by Brian Hernandez, covered the 1 1/8 miles in 1:51.33 and paid $10.48, $5.18 and $3.34 at 4-1 odds.

The Ian Wilkes-trained gelding also earned 100 points from the Grade I race and has 130 overall toward the 151st Derby on May 3 at Churchill Downs in Louisville. Sandman is one point behind, and Santa Anita Derby winner Journalism is third with 122.5.

“I’ll watch him. He’ll tell me what I need to do,” Wilkes said. “But we have to keep the foot on the gas — got to keep the foot down on the pedal — because we’ve got to get a little better again. It’s going to be very deep waters, and we’ve got to get a lot better.”

East Avenue returned $6.42 and $4.26 for second and earned 50 Derby points, while Todd Pletcher-trained favorite River Thames finished third, paying $3.24 and receiving 25 points.

Admiral Dennis (15 points) was fourth beneath substitute jockey Manny Franco, who took the mount after veteran Luiz Saez was injured from a fall in the second race. Saez was in stable condition at a hospital after Fateful Lightning on Keeneland’s turf course.

Burnham Square lagged far behind as East Avenue led seven horses entering the backstretch before steadily moving up and saving his best after rounding the final turn. He stalked East Avenue from the outside and the horses were even in the final yards before Burnham Square edged East Avenue at the line for his second stakes victory in three starts this year.

“When we turned for home my horse had a full head of steam, and I was pretty confident we were going to able to run (pacesetter East Avenue) down,” Hernandez said. “So right at the wire I had an idea that we got our neck in front of him.”

He won the Grade III Holy Bull at Gulfstream by 1 3/4 lengths in February before running fourth in the Grade II Fountain of Youth on March 25.

Sports

Jockey Saez hospitalized after fall from horse

Published

2 hours ago

April 8, 2025

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Jockey Saez hospitalized after fall from horse

Associated Press

Apr 8, 2025, 06:07 PM ET

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Veteran jockey Luis Saez, who earned his second Belmont Stakes victory in June aboard Dornoch, is in stable condition at a hospital after falling from his mount at Keeneland on Tuesday.

The multiple graded stakes winner was injured after falling from Fateful Lightning in the second race on Keeneland’s turf course. The horse tripped over the rider but was uninjured, a statement from the track said. Saez lay on the track for several minutes before being placed on a board and into an ambulance.

The statement added that Saez was being evaluated by UK HealthCare Medical Services and removed from remaining mounts on Tuesday including Brad Cox-trained colt Admiral Dennis in the Grade 1, $1.25 million Blue Grass feature, which awards qualifying points toward next month’s 151st Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville.

Jockey Manny Franco was scheduled to replace Saez aboard Admiral Dennis in the Blue Grass.

Saez won the Belmont in 2021 aboard Essential Quality before riding Dornoch to a half-length victory over Mindframe last year in the 1½-mile third jewel of the Triple Crown. He was a three-time Blue Grass winner, mostly recently aboard Tapit Trice in 2021.

Sports

Ex-MLB pitcher Dotel dies in nightclub tragedy

Published

4 hours ago

April 8, 2025

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Ex-MLB pitcher Dotel dies in nightclub tragedy

ESPN News Services

Apr 8, 2025, 04:40 PM ET

Former major league pitcher Octavio Dotel was among those who died after the roof of an iconic nightclub collapsed in the Dominican Republic early Tuesday morning, the Dominican National Police confirmed.

At least 44 people were killed, including Nelsy Cruz, the governor of the northwestern province of Montecristi and sister of seven-time MLB All-Star Nelson Cruz. Another 160 people were injured.

The collapse occurred around 1 a.m. during a merengue concert, which drew athletes, politicians and others to the Jet Set nightclub in Santo Domingo, the Dominican capital. It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the roof to collapse.

The Professional Baseball League of the Dominican Republic also confirmed Dotel’s death on social media.

Dotel, who logged 36 saves for the Houston Astros and the Athletics in 2004, was pulled from the rubble about six hours after the collapse and was transported to a hospital.

“Dotel was taken to one of the designated hospitals. On the way there, his condition worsened and he died,” Dominican National Police spokesman Diego Pesqueira said.

Dotel, 51, started his major league career in 1999 with the New York Mets. In 2011, he helped the St. Louis Cardinals win a World Series. During his 15 years in the majors, Dotel recorded 109 saves and logged a 3.78 ERA.

Nelsy Cruz had called President Luis Abinader at 12:49 a.m. saying she was trapped and that the roof had collapsed, First Lady Raquel Abraje told reporters. Officials said Cruz died later at the hospital.

“This is too great a tragedy,” an emotional Abraje said.

President Abinader, who was at the scene, wrote on X that all rescue agencies are “working tirelessly” to help those affected.

Nearly 12 hours after the top of the nightclub collapsed down onto patrons, rescue crews were still pulling out survivors from the debris. At the scene, firefighters removed blocks of broken concrete and sawed planks of wood to use them as planks to lift heavy debris as the noise of drills breaking through concrete filled the air.

“We have faith in God that we will rescue even more people alive,” Abinader told reporters.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.