BARRY TROTZ

The Nashville Predators, defensive defenseman Ryan Graves and some top goaltenders are among the winners in NHL free agency.

The Carolina Hurricanes and New York Rangers are taking their on-ice Metropolitan Division rivalry to paper.

The New York Islanders have hired longtime Barry Trotz assistant and right-hand man Lane Lambert to succeed him as coach.

The New York Islanders have fired coach Barry Trotz after missing the playoffs in his fourth season with the team.

Andrei Vasilevskiy had 18 saves and Yanni Gourde scored a short-handed goal to help the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the New York Islanders 1-0 in Game 7 of their NHL playoff semifinal series.

The Tampa Bay Lightning haven’t lost consecutive postseason games in over two years and haven’t faced a winner-take-all challenge since 2018.

Semyon Varlamov made 30 saves and the New York Islanders got goals from Mathew Barzal and Ryan Pulock to beat the defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 on Sunday in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup semifinals.

Experience is an invaluable ally in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

The NHL has fined Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy $25,000 for his criticism of the officials after Game 5 of Boston’s second-round playoff series against the New York Islanders.

Mathew Barzal scored one power-play goal and assisted on another, and Semyon Varlamov stopped 40 shots to give the New York Islanders a 5-4 victory over the Boston Bruins and a 3-2 lead in their second-round playoff series.

Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy knew it wasn't his team's night when David Pastrnak missed a wide open net with the potential go-ahead goal.

The Boston Bruins feel like they're playing themselves in a way against the New York Islanders in the second round.

Trade deadline acquisitions are already paying big dividends for teams that have advanced to the second round of the NHL playoffs.

The New York Islanders have evened their series with Pittsburgh by keeping Penguins star Sidney Crosby in check.

Ilya Sorokin stopped 29 shots, Oliver Wahlstrom and Ryan Pulock each had a goal and an assist and the New York Islanders beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-1 in Game 4 Saturday to even the first-round series.

Vegas Golden Knights goalie Marc-Andre Fleury has stopped 63 of 65 shots from the Minnesota Wild over the first two games of their West Division playoff series.

Kyle Palmieri’s second goal of the game 16:30 into overtime lifted the New York Islanders to a 4-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 1 of their first-round series.

There used to be a thing called the Governor’s Cup, a trophy presented to whichever team won the annual regular season series between the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Pittsburgh Penguins will face a familiar foe as they begin their pursuit of the Stanley Cup.

Anthony Beauvillier scored twice and Semyon Varlamov stopped 28 shots for his league-leading seventh shutout of the season as the New York Islanders beat the New York Rangers 3-0 to clinch a playoff spot for the third straight season.

Daniel Sprong scored twice in injured Alex Ovechkin's place on Washington’s top line , Ilya Samsonov made 21 saves and the Capitals beat the New York Islanders 6-3.

Mathew Barzal had three goals and two assists, Jordan Eberle scored twice, and the New York Islanders beat the Washington Capitals 8-4.

Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8) celebrates his goal with the bench during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the New Jersey Devils, Friday, March 26, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)WASHINGTON – Alex Ovechkin scored twice, Ilya Samsonov made 24 saves and the Washington Capitals rode their best players to a 4-0 victory Friday night and two-game sweep of the New Jersey Devils. Ovechkin has scored 10 times in his past 10 games and has a team-best 17 goals this season. “He’s probably the hottest guy in the league now, but it seems like every shot he takes is dangerous. Thank you, team.”With Ovechkin rolling, the Capitals have won nine of their past 10 games and are back atop the East Division.

UNIONDALE, N.Y. – Mathew Barzal and Scott Mayfield each had a goal and an assist and the New York Islanders beat the Buffalo Sabres 5-2 on Saturday for their fourth straight victory. New York beat Buffalo for the fifth straight time this season, outscoring the Islanders 19-7 in those five meetings. Cal Clutterbuck extended the lead at 8:45, sending a wrist shot past Hutton for his second goal this season. AdMayfield made it 4-1 with his second goal of the season at 15:29, firing another high shot past Hutton. IRON MENThe Islanders have three players with consecutive game streaks of last 250 games: Lee 292, Brock Nelson 269 and Barzal 256.

San Jose's Erik Karlsson (65) handles the puck against Minnesota Wild's Nick Bjugstad (27) in the third period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, Jan. 24, 2021, in St. Paul, Minn. San Jose won 5-3. (AP Photo/Stacy Bengs)With an outbreak delaying the Dallas Stars' opener, Rick Bowness got to watch a lot of hockey in the first couple of nights of the NHL season. “It was entertaining hockey, but it was a little sloppy,” Bowness said. “We’re staying in 5-star hotels, get to play hockey, so I can’t complain,” defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic said. Ad___Follow AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno on Twitter at https://twitter.com/SWhyno___More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

TORONTO, ONT Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper took exception to the Columbus Blue Jackets being referred to as a blue-collar team. Is that a positive or a negative? Cooper said Monday, a day before his Eastern Conference second-seeded Lightning open the first round of the NHL playoffs against the seventh-seeded Blue Jackets. Thats in the history books forever, Cooper said, noting how both teams have made various changes to their lineups. Id call them a really good team.Familiarity is breeding respect among the East opponents entering the first round. The Islanders hold a 5-2 playoff series edge over Washington.

TORONTO, ONT Anthony Beauvillier scored twice, and the New York Islanders beat the Florida Panthers 5-1 to clinch an NHL best-of-five preliminary round playoff series in four games on Friday. Brock Nelson and Mathew Barzal had a goal and assist each in a game the Islanders never trailed. The 10th-seeded Panthers wound up one-and-done for their fifth consecutive postseason appearance, and eliminated for the second straight time by the Islanders. New York needed six games to eliminate the Panthers in a best-of-seven first-round series in 2016. Florida hasnt won a playoff series since making its first postseason appearance in 1996, when the team reached the Stanley Cup Final only to be swept by Colorado.

TORONTO, ONT Semyon Varlamov stopped 27 shots and the New York Islanders opened their best-of-five playoff series with a 2-1 win over the Florida Panthers on Saturday in the NHLs return following a 4 1/2-month break. Islanders trade deadline addition Jean-Gabriel Pageau opened the scoring re-directing in Derick Brassards centering pass 12 minutes into the game. The Islanders beat Florida for the fifth straight time, dating to the 2018-19 regular season, and continued keeping the high-scoring Panthers in check. NOTES: Panthers Joel Quenneville coached his 216th career playoff game, which ranks second on the all-time list. This is the second playoff meeting after the Islanders eliminated the Panthers in six games of a first-round series in 2016.

FILE - In this Sept. 29, 2016 file photo, Canada's Sidney Crosby hoists the trophy following his team's victory over Europe in the World Cup of Hockey finals, in Toronto. The closest comparison to the NHL's summer restart is the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. You kind of have a short, abbreviated training camp and then youre right into it. It was early September 2016, and the Pittsburgh Penguins captain stepped on the ice in Ottawa for Canadas training camp ahead of the World Cup of Hockey. New York Islanders coach Barry Trotz, who was an assistant when Canada won the World Cup, considers that tournament the closest comparison because he anticipates the same frantic shifts of momentum.

In this photo provided by the Dallas Stars NHL hockey team, interim head coach Rick Bowness watches practice in Frisco, Texas, Tuesday, July 14, 2020. You get out there and you miss it, the Dallas Stars coach said. You realize how much you enjoy being out there.The NHLs oldest head coach still worries about COVID-19 but not enough to stop doing his job. Im going to have to adjust to it, there is no question. The average age of the 24 head coaches in the playoffs is just under 54, the second-oldest behind the NBA among North Americas four major professional sports leagues.

Voluntary player workouts have been going on for more than a month, but full NHL teams will be together Monday for the first time since March. (Its about) trying to make sure that when you come back your hips and groins are all right, Copp said. Its a two-week sprint from home cities to Toronto for Eastern teams and Edmonton, Alberta, for their Western counterparts. The NHL is prohibiting teams from revealing injury or illness information as a way to project player privacy with the novel coronavirus. But I think everyone is just kind of amped and ready to go.___For more AP NHL coverage: https://apnews.com/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

On Friday, the NHLPA Executive Board voted in favor of authorizing further negotiations with NHL executives on a format that would include 24 teams returning to play this season. The remaining 16 teams, eight per conference, would participate in a play-in round, with each series being best-of-five. 7 seed, which, as fate would have it, is a familiar foe in the local lore of recent playoff appearances; the New York Islanders. Florida Panthers coach Joel Quenneville handles bench duties during the first period against the New York Islanders at NYCB Live's Nassau Coliseum on October 12, 2019 in Uniondale, New York. Ross Johnston of the New York Islanders fights with Josh Brown of the Florida Panthers during the third period at NYCB Live's Nassau Coliseum on October 12, 2019 in Uniondale, New York.

(AP Photo/Nick Wass)WASHINGTON, D.C. – Preventing Alex Ovechkin from reaching 700 career goals was high on the Philadelphia Flyers' priority list Saturday night. Claude Giroux recorded three points to reach 800 for his career, Sean Couturier scored twice and Brian Elliott made 25 saves to help Philadelphia blow out the first-place Washington Capitals 7-2. The Flyers held Ovechkin to two shots and kept him stuck on 698 goals in one of their best all-around games of the season. Really detailed and strong effort from a lot of guys.”Reirden called timeout and lit into his players after the Flyers' goal spree. Taking the play to the Capitals in such dominant fashion could restore some confidence that the Flyers are indeed a playoff team.