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Defenseman Charlie McAvoy is one of the foundational players for the Boston Bruins, who have shown how sturdy their foundation is this season. After setting regular-season records for wins and points in 2022-23, the Bruins have overcome some offseason adversity to challenge for the league lead in points again.

McAvoy joined ESPN’s “The Drop” podcast this week to talk about the Bruins, potentially playing for Team USA in the upcoming Four Nations tournament and chasing gold at the Olympics, his Super Bowl pick for this Sunday and his history with football as a die-hard New York Giants fan. Enjoy!

Note: The interview has been lightly edited for clarity.

Q. The Bruins have been one of the best stories of the season so far: Pressing for the President’s Trophy again after losing some key players and suffering that devastating loss in the playoffs in the first round. Has this season been a surprise for you at all? Or were you confident that the Bruins still had this kind of season in them?

McAvoy: I was definitely surprised. I’ll say it. I won’t hide it. We lost a lot of guys. Maybe it was the outside noise, but I think I embraced an underdog role this year. I think our team did as well. As we started stringing together our identity and winning more and more hockey games, I was kind of like, how are we doing this? And then it sort of clicked. Like, okay, this isn’t luck. We’re a really good hockey team again.

Are we built like last year? No, not at all. We’re more of a “put it in deep” team now vs. line rush. We’re more of a “wear you out behind the net” than cycling, making skill plays high. We’re doing it a completely different way this year.

But the goalie stayed the same. The defense stayed the same. We’ve got new guys up front, but those two pillars were there. There was familiarity with our structure. So it worked out really well.

Q. You’re a USA hockey guy. Big international hockey news at the NHL All-Star Game. Let’s start with the Four Nations Face-Off next season, with the U.S., Canada, Sweden and Finland. What are your thoughts on that tournament?

McAvoy: I thought it was really cool. Just really excited at the prospect of playing hockey for Team USA again. Those have been some of the best memories I’ve had in hockey, and it’s always an honor. I’ve had the dream of being an Olympian since the first time I ever watched it. In 2010, when they almost won the gold medal, I remember sitting on the couch watching that with my family and how special that tournament was. You internalize that and you’re like, “That’s where I wanna be.”

We thought we had it last go around [at the Olympics in 2022]. That was equally as exciting and then kind of equally as disappointing when it got pulled. Hopefully there’s no unforeseen stuff that could throw a wrench in this. Hopefully as long as I do everything I can, I’ll be able to play on that team.

Q. People don’t understand how close it came with Beijing. You told me you had to submit your measurements for your Ralph Lauren opening ceremonies or closing ceremonies gear, right?

McAvoy: We had gone as far as having a long list [of players]. We got on a Zoom call with the coaching staff and the general manager. So you have all these guys that are in the player pool with the prospect of making the team. We gave home addresses so they can come and drug test you — and take your measurements for ceremonies.

We made it all the way into the season, into the winter time. We were getting kind of close to February, and then I think they called it when all those [COVID] outbreaks happened. It was just cool because you’re doing all these things, and you’re getting excited about it. But it’ll be equally as exciting this time around if we get to do it. I hope we can.

As far as the Four Nations, you have Boston and Montreal, two of the best cities in the league. If I get to play, that little bit of home ice for me would be awesome.

I know it’s only four teams. [David Pastrnak] was kind of upset because the Czechs have a great hockey country. But as I understood, it was sort of just what they put together in a short time. It’ll be a first step toward World Cup of Hockey again, where everybody will be able to play.

Q. All right, here’s your chance: Please tell myself and the rest of the Americans that we’re finally going to beat Canada and win gold in one of these tournaments.

McAvoy: I’m not gonna throw that on the bulletin board right now. [Laughs] But I’ve had these conversations recently with the player pool and with the talent that USA Hockey has. You look around and there’s stars all over the league that are American, at every single position. So I think that kind of changes now. I think instead of being like, “I wonder how far they could go,” it looks like, “Hey, you know, why not us, to go over there and make some real noise?”

Q. Charlie, you were our NFL playoff prognosticator on ESPN’s hockey podcast The Drop, going 7-5 this postseason.

McAvoy: Oh, we’re plus money. [Laughs] I love football. Football was always my favorite sport besides hockey. I played it for as long as I could. I love watching college football. I love that the NFL coincides with our season. I don’t think there’s any better time in the year than that. Late August, September when you’re getting ready for football, hockey season.

Q. When you say you played it, did you play in school growing up?

McAvoy: I played Pop Warner, and then I played up until seventh grade. So when I had to go out for the middle school team, that was kind of when it was just too much. We had games every weekend for hockey all through the fall. So you’re missing those games anyway and practice doesn’t coincide with it either. I played lacrosse the longest, honestly.

Q. Was there ever a point in the multiverse where you could have been [Giants tight end] Mark Bavaro? Like, you were always going to be better at hockey, right?

McAvoy: I would imagine I would have never been Mark Bavaro. [Laughs] I was big as a kid and played like a running back and linebacker. I actually went to a Giants game with my dad, and I bought him a Mark Bavaro jersey. But I wish I could have played longer because you never know. I gave up on it too early, but I don’t think that I would’ve … I don’t know if I had the intangibles to be a football player.

Q. Okay, don’t keep the people waiting, Charlie: What’s your Super Bowl 58 pick?

McAvoy: I don’t understand how you could go against [Patrick] Mahomes in this situation. I really don’t understand how they’re underdogs to be honest. He’s just been there too many times. The record is the record. I think I picked them to lose in the divisional round, and then I find out the guy is 7-0 in the divisional round, and you’re just like “he’s a shoo-in for the conference championship every single year.” So now I’m just gonna let the numbers work for me. I think it’s really hard to go against the Chiefs here, and their defense is probably the best they’ve had — even better than last year.

I looked at the Niners. They tried every way to lose their playoff games, and they somehow got through. That’s obviously a good test. Maybe now they flip the switch, and now they’re just gonna run Kansas City out. But I don’t know. You’re gonna have to show it to me. The Chiefs had to go the hard way. So they went into Baltimore, they went into Buffalo, and they won both those games. You’re gonna have to give me Mahomes on Super Bowl Sunday.

Q. Finally, what do you think about the whole Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce thing?

McAvoy: I think it’s pretty cool. We were joking about it the other day because my wife loves Taylor Swift, and I’m not ashamed to say that I listen to Taylor Swift, too. She’s an icon. But I was saying like, man, she couldn’t have dated a hockey player? [Laughs] Someone said the revenue she’s brought to the NFL is incredible, and she’s helped her own brand along the way. But I was like, man, we couldn’t have gotten, like Jack Hughes or somebody to slide into her DMs?

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Stars’ Hintz remains game-time call for Game 4

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Stars' Hintz remains game-time call for Game 4

EDMONTON, Alberta — Dallas Stars forward Roope Hintz remains a game-time decision ahead of Game 4 of the Western Conference Final on Tuesday.

The club’s top skater has been sidelined since Game 2 in the series when he took a slash to the left leg from Edmonton Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse. Hintz took part in warmups before Game 3 on Sunday but exited early and was ruled out. He was back on the ice for Dallas’ optional practice on Monday and told reporters he was “feeling good” and “trying to do everything I can” to get back in for Game 4.

It was early in the third period of Game 2 when Hintz — parked in front of the Oilers’ net — shoved Nurse from behind, and the Oilers’ blueliner responded by swinging his stick at Hintz’s leg. Hintz was down on the ice for several minutes after that before being helped off by Lian Bichsel and Mikael Granlund.

Nurse received a two-minute penalty for the slash on Hintz but no supplementary discipline from the league. The blueliner addressed the incident for the first time Tuesday, explaining it didn’t come with malicious intent.

“I was backing up to net and I got shot in the back. And I think it was just a natural reaction [to respond],” Nurse said. “It’s probably a play that everyone in this room, whether you’re a net-front guy or D man, probably happens a dozen, two dozen times in a year. It’s unfortunate that I must have got [Hintz] in a bad spot. You don’t want to go out there and hurt anyone. But it was just one of those plays that happens so often.”

Having Hintz unavailable hurt the Stars in Game 3, a 6-1 drubbing by the Oilers that put Dallas in a 2-1 hole in the best-of-7 series. Hintz is the Stars’ second-leading scorer in the postseason, with 11 goals and 15 points through 15 games. He was hopeful when taking warmups Sunday that he’d feel good enough to get back in but a quick discussion with the training staff made it clear he wasn’t ready.

Coach Pete DeBoer has since classified Hintz’s status as day-to-day.

“Of course you want to go every night, but sometimes you just can’t,” said Hintz. “I don’t know how close I [was to playing]. But I have played many years [and I] know when it’s good and when it’s not. I should be good to know that [when] it comes to that decision.”

The Oilers will have some lineup changes of their own to sort through in Game 4. Connor Brown is out after he took a hit from Alexander Petrovic in Game 3; he’ll be replaced by the incoming Viktor Arvidsson. Calvin Pickard — injured in Edmonton’s second-round series against Vegas — will return to back up for Stuart Skinner. And Edmonton continues to wait on defenseman Mattias Ekholm, who is getting closer to coming back from a lower-body injury.

Puck drop for Game 4 is 8 p.m. ET on Tuesday.

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‘That’s wonderful’: Canes finally see ECF skid end

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'That's wonderful': Canes finally see ECF skid end

SUNRISE, Fla. — Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin is happy to never get another question about his team’s record-setting NHL playoff losing streak.

“Wonderful. That’s wonderful,” he said after Carolina’s 3-0 win over the Florida Panthers in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals on Monday night. “The guys in here worked hard tonight and that’s all you can ask for.”

The Hurricanes avoided a sweep by the Panthers, sending the series back to Raleigh, North Carolina, for Game 5 on Wednesday night. In the process, Carolina snapped a 15-game losing streak in the conference finals — the longest losing streak by a team in a playoff round other than the Stanley Cup Final in NHL history.

The Hurricanes’ last win in the Eastern Conference finals was in Game 7 against the Buffalo Sabres in 2006, a game that saw current Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour score the winning goal.

“It’s been a story. So, yeah, it’s nice to not have to talk about that [anymore],” Brind’Amour said.

When the streak began in 2009, Carolina captain Jordan Staal was helping the Pittsburgh Penguins to a conference finals sweep of the Hurricanes. He said the win over Florida in Game 4 showed how much pride was in the Canes’ locker room, as they refused to allow the Panthers to end their season.

“There’s a lot of guys that didn’t want to go home,” Staal said. “We know we have a huge hill to climb here. We’ve got a great team on the other side that is going to come back with a better effort. It’s a great challenge.”

Florida coach Paul Maurice, whose team had a chance to advance to a third straight Stanley Cup Final with a victory, gave credit to the Hurricanes for a solid and disruptive game while acknowledging that his team could have gotten to its own game better.

“I haven’t been nearly as down on that hockey team as you fine people have been over the last three games, and I won’t be as down on my team tonight,” he said. “[The Hurricanes] were good. They had good sticks. They had good quickness. You see that happen more often when the possessor of the puck’s feet are not moving.”

Three factors changed the vibe for Carolina in Game 4.

Goalie Frederik Andersen had his second shutout of the postseason after being pulled in Game 2 and benched for Game 3. Andersen was 7-2 with a .937 save percentage and a 1.36 goals-against average in nine playoff games before facing Florida. In two games against the Panthers, he gave up nine goals on 36 shots (.750, 5.54). Andersen had given up just 12 goals in his previous nine postseason games.

In Game 4, he was a great last line of defense, stopping all 20 shots.

After the game, Andersen declined to discuss being benched.

“I don’t really want to talk about my feelings. It’s not about that. It’s about the team and trying to put the best lineup on the ice that they feel like gets the job done. So I’m ready for when I’m called upon and glad to be able to play,” he said.

Andersen played a key role in another factor: the Carolina penalty kill. The Panthers were 4-for-5 on the power play in the first two games of the conference finals. The Hurricanes killed off four power plays in each of the past two games.

“Our goalie was great when he needed to be. The penalty kill was phenomenal,” Brind’Amour said. “We gave ourselves a chance, and that’s all we can ask.”

Perhaps most crucially, the Hurricanes scored the first goal. Carolina is now 6-0 when scoring first and 3-5 when it trails first in these playoffs. In the regular season, the Hurricanes were 30-7-2 when scoring first and 17-23-3 when trailing first.

They scored first and then played the type of close, low-scoring game they excel at. As winger Taylor Hall said before Game 4: “We’re thinking about winning the game 1-0. If it’s close, then we’re in a good spot.”

“It’s been a story. So, yeah, it’s nice to not have to talk about that [anymore].”

Rod Brind’Amour on Carolina snapping 15-game losing streak in conference finals

Forward Logan Stankoven opened the scoring at 10:45 of the second period, giving Carolina its first lead of the series. Rookie defenseman Alexander Nikishin made a terrific backhand pass across the neutral zone to spring Stankoven ahead of the Panthers’ defense, and he beat goalie Sergei Bobrovsky for his fifth goal of the playoffs.

Stankoven said he called for the pass from Nikishin, who was playing in his third postseason game.

“The play happened so fast and it was a great feed by him to make that play off the turnover. It all starts with him,” said Stankoven, who was acquired from the Dallas Stars in the Mikko Rantanen deadline trade.

It remained 1-0 until Sebastian Aho and Staal added empty-net goals in the last 2:11 for the 3-0 win.

Slavin said Game 4 was in the Carolina’s comfort zone.

“A thousand percent. It was 1-0 up until the end there. You can’t get any tighter than that,” he said.

With that, the Hurricanes ended their historic losing streak and turned their attention to making more NHL history. Only four teams in the history of the Stanley Cup playoffs have rallied to win a best-of-seven series after trailing 3-0, although two have done it in the past 15 years (Philadelphia Flyers in 2010 and Los Angeles Kings in 2014).

“You watched the way we played tonight. Everyone put their heart on the line,” Slavin said. “We know we’ve got a good group in here. We know we’ve got all the pieces. We just have to bring it every night.”

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Stars-Oilers Game 4 preview: Can Dallas punch back to even it up?

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Stars-Oilers Game 4 preview: Can Dallas punch back to even it up?

The good news for the Dallas Stars is that if the Western Conference finals get to a Game 7, they have the NHL’s master of Game 7s behind their bench.

The bad news is that they need to get to Game 7 for that to matter. And after going down 2-1 in the series to the Edmonton Oilers via a 6-1 loss in Game 3, another defeat could make that difficult.

Can they punch back in Game 4 to knot the matchup at 2-2 heading back home to Dallas for Game 5?

Here are notes on the matchup from ESPN Research, as well as betting intel from ESPN BET:

More from Game 3: Recap | Grades

Matchup notes

Dallas Stars at Edmonton Oilers
Game 4 | 8 p.m. ET | ESPN/ESPN+

Following the Oilers’ win in Game 3, ESPN BET has adjusted the series winner odds to Oilers -375 (previously -140) and Stars +280 (previously +120). The Oilers’ Cup winner odds are now +140, while the Stars’ are +700. Connor McDavid is atop the Conn Smythe odds leaderboard at +175.

The Oilers are now 10-2 in their past 12 games, after losing the first two games of the first round vs. the Los Angeles Kings, and are 20-3 at home in the playoffs since 2017 when leading after two periods.

The Stars lost consecutive games for the first time in the 2025 playoffs, and have one goal total in their past three road games (Games 2 and 5 of the second round against the Winnipeg Jets and Game 3 against Edmonton).

McDavid powered the Oilers to a Game 3 win with his 44th multipoint and sixth multigoal game of his playoff career. McDavid has as many playoff games with multiple points (44) as he does with no points (20) or one point (24).

Teammate Evan Bouchard opened the scoring with his sixth goal this postseason, tying Leon Draisaitl for the team lead. Bouchard is the first defenseman with six goals in consecutive postseasons since Rob Blake in 2001 and 2002. Bouchard also recorded an assist, marking his 24th career multipoint playoff game, which extended his record for defensemen in a four-postseason span.

Stuart Skinner was remarkable in goal once again, stopping 33 of 34 shots to earn his fourth win this postseason. It was his first win of these playoffs that didn’t end in a shutout, as the Stars’ goal with 4:25 left in the second period ended Skinner’s shutout streak at 99 minutes, 33 seconds. With the win, Skinner tied Andy Moog for the third-most playoff wins by a goaltender in Oilers history (23); Bill Ranford is next on the list at 25, and Grant Fuhr is well ahead at No. 1 with 74.

Dallas’ Mikko Rantanen recorded an assist on the goal from Jason Robertson, but has gone without a goal in his past six games. In his previous six games before the drought, he scored nine goals, which remains tied for the NHL lead this postseason.

Jake Oettinger allowed six goals in the loss, tied for the most in a playoff game in his career; the previous occasion was Game 6 of the 2023 Western Conference finals against the Vegas Golden Knights.


Scoring leaders

GP: 14 | G: 5 | A: 17

GP: 16 | G: 9 | A: 12

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