Alex Ovechkin's pursuit of Wayne Gretzky's NHL goals record became the talk of the league a time of the season usually reserved only for playoff races.

Alex Ovechkin has broken Wayne Gretzky’s record for the most goals in NHL history by scoring the 895th of his career.

Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals finished his record-breaking season with 897 goals.

Defensemen Brent Burns and Dmitry Orlov got Carolina off to a fast start and the Hurricanes held on to beat the New York Islanders 3-2 on Thursday night for a 3-0 lead in the first-round series.

Artemi Panarin scored 10 seconds into overtime and the New York Rangers rallied from three goals down to beat the rival Islanders 6-5 in a Stadium Series game at MetLife Stadium.

Marc-Andre Fleury took sole possession of second place with his 552nd career win in the NHL.

Kris Letang became the first defenseman in NHL history to record five points in a period with five assists in the second for the Pittsburgh Penguins in a 7-0 win over the New York Islanders.

Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored 13 seconds into overtime and Ilya Sorokin stopped 34 shots as the New York Islanders ended the Los Angeles Kings’ record 11-game season-opening road winning streak with a 3-2 victory.

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

Paul Stastny scored 6:01 into overtime, and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the New York Islanders 2-1 in Game 6 to advance to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Jesper Fast took a cross-ice pass from Jordan Staal and buried it past Ilya Sorokin at 5:03 of overtime to lilft the Carolina Hurricanes past the New York Islanders 4-3.

Patric Hornqvist scored the tiebreaking goal in the third period, Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 31 shots and Florida beat the New York Islanders 3-1 Thursday night to give Paul Maurice a win in his first game as Panthers coach.

Sergei Bobrovsky made 24 saves to earn his fourth straight win and 37th of the season.

Steven Stamkos had two goals and an assist and Andrei Vasilevskiy notched his fourth career playoff shutout, helping the Tampa Bay Lightning rout the New York Islanders 8-0 in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup semifinal series.

Brayden Point and Ondrej Palat delivered early goals and NHL playoff scoring leader Nikita Kucherov had three more assists to help the Tampa Bay Lightning rebound from a series-opening loss and beat the New York Islanders 4-2 in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup semifinals.

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.

Mathew Barzal broke a tie late in the third period and the New York Islanders beat the Boston Bruins 4-1 on Saturday night to even the second-round playoff series at two games apiece.

Brad Marchand scored 3:36 into overtime and the Boston Bruins beat the New York Islanders 2-1 in Game 3 to take the lead in the second-round playoff series.

Casey Cizikas scored on a breakaway with 14:48 gone in overtime and Semyon Varlamov returned to the net to make 39 saves to lead the New York Islanders to a 4-3 victory over the Boston Bruins and knotting their second-round playoff series at one game apiece.

David Pastrnak scored his second career playoff hat trick, David Krejci had three assists and the Boston Bruins beat the New York Islanders 5-2.

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

Brock Nelson scored twice in New York’s three-goal second period and the Islanders advanced to the second round of the playoffs with a 5-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 6.

Josh Bailey scored 51 seconds into the second overtime to lift the New York Islanders to a 3-2 victory over Pittsburgh in Game 5 of their first-round series.

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.

The first-ever playoff game between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers could be tough to top.

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.

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

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.