NASHVILLE — Killing penalties hasn't always been a strength for the Vancouver Canucks. The team's penalty kill struggled through much of 2022-23 and threatened to be the worst in NHL history. After rebounding slightly late in the regular season, Vancouver still finished with a league-worst 71.6 per cent success rate. Now the special teams unit has become a strength for the Canucks, particularly in the first-round playoff series against the Nashville Predators which the Canucks lead 2-1 heading i

Nine players have already scored for the New York Rangers and Edmonton Oilers, 10 for the Colorado Avalanche. That depth of scoring early in the NHL playoffs has the Rangers on the verge of sweeping Washington, while Edmonton and Colorado are looking to take 3-1 leads Sunday in their respective first-round series against Los Angeles and Winnipeg. “You’re going to need that more throughout the course of the playoffs,” said Rangers coach Peter Laviolette, whose team could next face Carolina 18 yea

LOS ANGELES — Kris Knoblauch is five months into watching Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl go to work. The Oilers rookie head coach witnessed the dynamic duo drag Edmonton back from a disastrous start to the regular season, and they've elevated their game even further this spring. McDavid leads the playoffs with nine points, joining Wayne Gretzky as the only players in NHL history with eight assists through the first three games of a post-season. Draisaitl, meanwhile, has three goals and four a