NHL

7:50 PM ET ESPN staff The 2023 NHL All-Star Weekend will take place on Feb. 3 and 4, hosted by the Florida Panthers in Sunrise, Florida. The All-Star Skills competition is scheduled for Friday and will be broadcast on ESPN, with the All-Star Game slated for Saturday, broadcast on ABC with a simulcast on ESPN+.

8:15 AM ET Over the past two seasons, Nicklas Backstrom faced conversations that frankly, he had no interest in having. The Washington Capitals center’s nagging left hip had deteriorated to the point where he had a hard time putting on his socks and shoes. He struggled to play with his kids (ages 9, 6 and

7:02 PM ET The NHL revamped its All-Star Game roster selection process to include more influence from fans than ever before, NHL chief marketing officer Heidi Browning told ESPN on Wednesday. The NHL Hockey Operations Department has selected the first 32 All-Stars — one representative from each team, including four goalies (one from each division).

7:39 PM ET Ottawa Senators goalie Cam Talbot decided to use his new mask to send a not-so-subtle message to actor Ryan Reynolds about his potential ownership stake in the team. Of course, a lack of subtlety is expected when it comes to Deadpool, the Marvel character Reynolds had embodied for two films. Latest mask

9:00 AM ET The NHL season is nearing its midpoint, which means teams separating out into the hopeful and the hopeless. Here are the Stanley Cup Hope Tiers as they are currently constituted. The projected points and playoff probabilities are through Monday’s games and provided by FiveThirtyEight. The Stanley Cup champion probabilities are via Money

11:29 PM ET ESPN News Services WASHINGTON — Damar Hamlin was at the forefront in the minds of the Buffalo Sabres from the time they woke up on a game day through the end of their 5-4 overtime victory at the Washington Capitals on Tuesday night. It was evident from the “LOVE FOR 3” shirts

3:08 PM ET The Detroit Red Wings placed forward Jakub Vrana on waivers Tuesday, less than three weeks after he returned to the team following a stint in the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program. Vrana is midway through a three-year, $15.75 million deal that carries a $5.25 million cap hit. Vrana, 26, sought treatment through the

6:53 PM ET ESPN News Services MONCTON, New Brunswick — Logan Cooley had three goals, and Red Savage and Cutter Gauthier had two each, as Team USA cruised past Germany 11-1 in the world junior championship Monday, securing a spot in the tournament’s semifinals. The win was the Americans’ third straight after a surprising loss

5:32 PM ET BOSTON — The Boston Bruins defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 2-1 to win this year’s Winter Classic in front of 39,243 fans at Fenway Park on Monday. Winger Jake DeBrusk scored two third-period goals, including the game-winner with 2:33 left to break a 1-1 tie. “This is an event that’s a dream come

5:25 PM ET The NHL Winter Classic on Monday featured the Pittsburgh Penguins against the Boston Bruins at Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox. The hometown team came out on top, 2-1, courtesy of two late-game goals from Jake DeBrusk. It was the NHL’s second time playing in front of the Green Monster,

10:36 AM ET Associated Press The St. Louis Blues put captain Ryan O’Reilly and winger Vladimir Tarasenko on injured reserve Monday, the latest blows to a Western Conference contender looking to remain in the playoff race. The team said O’Reilly has a broken foot and Tarasenko an injured hand. O’Reilly is expected to be out

1:38 PM ET The Dallas Stars have signed 38-year-old center Joe Pavelski to a one-year contract extension through the 2023-24 season. The contract is worth a base salary of $3.5 million and includes $2 million in potential performance bonuses. Pavelski has 12 goals and 25 assists in 38 games this season. Since signing with Dallas

6:53 PM ET ESPN News Services MONCTON, New Brunswick — Captain Luke Hughes and forward Jimmy Snuggerud each had a goal and an assist and Team USA secured the Group B title at the world junior championship Saturday night with a 6-2 victory over Finland. The Americans improved to 3-1 at the tournament and won

8:16 PM ET ESPN News Services WASHINGTON — Alex Ovechkin scored almost at will against the Montreal Canadiens and moved a few steps closer to Wayne Gretzky’s NHL goal record. Ovechkin recorded his 30th career hat trick to speed up his pursuit of Gretzky’s mark, Charlie Lindgren made 31 saves against his first NHL team

12:21 PM ET The Colorado Avalanche have activated star center Nathan MacKinnon off injured reserve ahead of Saturday’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. MacKinnon has not played since Dec. 5 because of an upper-body injury that forced him out of a loss to the Philadelphia Flyers. He was placed on IR the following day.

Dec 29, 2022 Associated Press MONCTON, New Brunswick — Minnesota freshman Jimmy Snuggerud scored twice and the United States rebounded from a loss to beat Switzerland 5-1 on Thursday in the world junior hockey championship. Logan Cooley had a goal and an assist, captain Luke Hughes and Tyler Boucher also scored, and Trey Augustine made

7:00 AM ET The calendars are poised to flip from 2022 to 2023, and while it’s not precisely the midpoint of the NHL regular season, it’s a good time to take stock of where teams fall short. For this week’s edition of the Power Rankings, we identify a New Year’s resolution for all 32 clubs.

7:01 AM ET There’s always that one surprise NHL team. The success story we don’t see coming. They’ve gone from missing the playoffs — usually by a sizable margin — to beginning the following season so well that it forces an inevitable question: Are they for real? This season’s Cinderella turn has belonged to the