The United States men’s hockey team has faced backlash after a call with President Donald Trump after their gold medal victory on Sunday.

FBI Director Kash Patel was in attendance and video-called Trump in the locker room. Trump congratulated the team on their victory and invited them to his State of the Union address on Feb. 24. He also joked that he’d need to invite the women’s team as well, or he’d face impeachment, which prompted most of the players to laugh. 

Some people felt this joke was out of line, and that the male hockey players should’ve defended their female counterparts. Critics felt the joke implied that the women’s accomplishments weren’t worthy of celebration on par with the men’s.

However, fans argue that the joke wasn’t meant to be taken seriously. They argued that the joke was more about Trump facing constant criticism and impeachment cries rather than a shot at the women’s accomplishment. 

Jack Hughes made a public statement explaining his side of the situation.

“They are just trying to find a reason to put people down and make something out of almost nothing,” Hughes said.

For the critics, this damage control only made the situation worse. His statement didn’t acknowledge the real feeling of hurt that many women hockey fans felt. 

Hughes, along with his brother Quinn, was raised by their mother, Ellen Weinberg-Hughes. She won a silver medal in hockey in the 1992 Winter Olympics. She was a consultant for Team USA hockey and was responsible for convincing several players, including her children, to participate in the Winter Olympics. 

Both the men’s and women’s teams were invited to the State of the Union address. However, only the men’s team accepted the invitation. Even then, several members of the men’s team were absent. 

The NHL season will resume Feb. 25. 

Team USA Hockey defeated Team Sweden to advance to the semifinals of the 2026 Winter Olympics.

In the second period, Dylan Larkin of Team USA scored a goal. Larkin was the No. 15 pick by the Detroit Red Wings in the 2014 NHL Draft. He has played in three NHL All-Star Games, his most recent in 2023.

With less than two minutes left in the third period, Mika Zibanejad of Team Sweden scored a goal to tie the game at 1-1. Zibanejad was the No. 6 pick by the Ottawa Senators in the 2011 NHL Draft. He has played for the New York Rangers since 2016-17. He made the NHL All-Star Game in 2022.

Quinn Hughes secured the win for Team USA with a goal in overtime. Hughes was the No. 7 pick by the Vancouver Canucks in the 2018 NHL Draft. He was traded to the Minnesota Wild earlier this season. He’s made the NHL All-Star Game two times, including most recently in 2024. 

Team USA is currently 4-0 in the 2026 Winter Olympics. They defeated both Latvia and Germany by 5-1 scores in the preliminary round. Team USA has won thanks to Auston Matthews and Connor Hellebuyck. Matthews has scored five points, while Hellebuyck has a .952 save percentage. 

Team Sweden went 2-1 in the preliminary round. They defeated Latvia 5-1 in a qualification game to advance to the quarterfinals. Team Sweden was led by defensemen Victor Hedman and Rasmus Dahlin. 

Team USA will play Slovakia in the semifinals on Feb. 20. The men’s hockey team last won gold in the 1980 Winter Olympics. This was the infamous “Miracle on Ice” game, where the U.S. upset the Soviet Union to advance to the finals. This upset sparked a movie and an ESPN documentary. 

U.S. Olympic hockey star Kendall Coyne revealed her winning habits exclusively to uSports ahead of competing at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics. “My everyday habits, it’s recognizing the habits that have made me successful, whether it’s eating, sleeping, training, just emptying the tank every single day to be the best that I can be and being willing to do that every single day,” she said. “As we know, the Olympics are not every four years; they’re every day, and the grind is every day, and just being willing to embrace that grind.”

The Canadian hockey team celebrated in style following their victory over the United States in the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament in Boston on Thursday. Footage shows the teams shaking hands on the ice following the game, as well as the Canadian team’s victorious spraying of champagne to celebrate. Canada defeated the US 3-2, marking the team’s fourth consecutive best-on-best international tournament win. (Credit: Nadia Vocaturo via Storyful)

Canada defeated Team USA to win women’s ice hockey gold Thursday at the Beijing Olympics, while Marie-Philip Poulin had two goals and an assist and goalie Ann-Renee Desbiens made 38 saves in the 3-2.

Hilary Knight and Amanda Kessel scored for the U.S.

This was the sixth meeting between the two countries for Olympic women’s ice hockey gold since the event was added in 1998. The Americans won twice (1998, 2018) while Canada has won gold five times (four against the U.S. and once vs. Sweden in 2006; U.S. took bronze).

Canada finished the tourney with an Olympic-record 57 goals; the Canadians previously defeated the Americans 4-2 in the preliminary round.

The Canadians appeared to take the lead about seven minutes into the game on a Natalie Spooner goal, but a challenge by U.S. coach Joel Johnson reversed the call to offside.

However, Sarah Nurse deflected a Claire Thompson point shot past goalie Alex Cavallini just 54 seconds later. Poulin then extended the lead to 2-0 with 4:58 left in the period. She stole the puck from forward Kelly Pannek and floated a shot that snuck under Cavallini’s arm for her fifth goal of the tournament.

It was the fourth straight game for the U.S. without a first-period goal. The shots were 11-11 in the first period, with Canada carrying most of the play.

“It’s obviously not the start we wanted,” said Team USA captain Kendall Coyne-Schofield.

Poulin extended the lead to 3-0 at 10:52 of the second period. She became the only hockey player—male or female—to score in four Olympic gold-medal games. Seven of the 17 goals she’s scored in the Olympics have come in gold-medal games. Nurse passed Hockey Hall of Famer Hayley Wickenheiser for most points in a single Olympics (18) with her assist.

But the U.S. showed signs of life courtesy of Knight and her linemate Brandt. They were killing a Megan Keller holding penalty when Brandt forced a turnover in the defensive zone. Knight, playing in her U.S. hockey record 22nd Olympic game, skated into the zone, had a shot blocked, stayed with the rolling rebound, and scored to cut it to 3-1.

The U.S. continued its push in the third period, but Alex Carpenter hit the post with a shot and then was stopped by Desbiens on a partial breakaway.

Cavallini was pulled with over three minutes remaining in the game. Poulin took a tripping penalty with 1:25 to play, and the U.S. was playing 6-on-4. With 12.5 seconds left, Kessel slapped a rebound from the top of the crease to make it 3-2. That’s as close as they would get, though.

The previous two gold-medal games between these teams went to overtime.

Jalen Smereck is taking an indefinite leave of absence from the Ukrainian Hockey League (UHL) after being the target of a racist gesture during a stoppage in play.

The 24-year-old Detroit native is a defenseman for HC Donbass, based in Druzhkivka, Ukraine. In the second period, he was taunted by Andrey Deniskin of HC Kremenchuk, who mimicked peeling a banana and eating it.

On his IG account, Smereck called for the UHL to remove Deniskin from the league

“Therefore I have been putting a lot of thought into what comes next for me in my career but as of right now I have decided that I will be taking a personal leave of absence from HC Donbass and I will not play another game in the (UHL) until Andrey Deniskin is suspended and removed from the league.”

The Montreal Canadiens sparked a great deal of controversy in the NHL over their selection of Logan Mailloux, a Swedish hockey player who shared an intimate photo with a woman without her consent.

Logan Mailloux Photo

Mailloux released a statement prior to speaking to reporters. “During an intimate moment with a young woman, I took a picture of us without her consent. I sent it to my teammates to impress them. It was a totally irresponsible and stupid act that I committed without thinking twice …  know I caused a lot of harm to this person and their family, and I regret doing this stupid and egotistical act. I deeply regret it. What I did is now unfortunately a part of both her life and mine. I’ve apologized to her, but nonetheless, this will follow her for the rest of her life, and for that, I deeply and sincerely regret it,” the statement read.

Even though he had asked teams in the league not to draft him, believing he was not deserving of playing professional hockey in the United States, the Canadiens still selected him 31st overall.

The team said that they would provide Mailloux with the necessary tools to mature as a player and as a person.

“I am really sorry. It’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever done and I know that it impacted her life, and I just hope that she knows how remorseful I feel and that I do feel sorry about it,” Mailloux later said in his interaction with the press.

Mailloux hopes to prevent future incidents like his from occurring with others. “I think if I can help people to not make the same mistake that I did, or something along those lines, then I definitely think that I’d be able to make a positive impact,” he said.

The Tampa Bay Lightning‘s celebrations after their second consecutive Stanley Cup victory resulted in a damaged trophy. The incident occurred during Tampa Bay’s boat parade, resulting in the trophy being sent north to Montreal for repair.

The 128 year-old trophy has been damaged before such as in 2018 when the Washington Capitals did “cup stands” while celebrating their first-ever Stanley Cup in franchise history. The cup is believed to be ready for the players’ summer of Stanley, a summer full of celebration with the cup that they were unable to enjoy after their last championship win due to the pandemic.

The Lightning’s second boat parade in 10 months showcased the city’s desire to celebrate. Unlike the first parade, the global pandemic’s burden was nonexistent, allowing thousands of fans to gather.

This years parade took place five days after the Lightning’s series victory versus the Montreal Canadiens, which took just five games. The scene was the opposite of last year’s celebration as the team no longer had to play in front of an empty arena due to Covid-19 restrictions.

Fans enjoyed the parade on their own boats/watercrafts and received an up-close view of the boats carrying Lightning players and coaches. Celebrations downtown were delayed for over an hour as a massive thunderstorm traveled through the area. Lightning owner, Jeff Vinik, as well as the players, took the podium eventually to address the fans, even in the poor weather conditions.

The excitement within the team was on full display despite the conditions, as Yanni Gourde slid across the stage and coach Jon Cooper joined players in interacting with the fans.

Playoff MVP Andrei Vasilevskiy got a rise out of the drenched crowd when he thrust the Conn Smythe Trophy onto his head.

The parade marked the third time in 10 months that Tampa Bay was able to celebrate a professional sports championship, utilizing a special parade system designed to allow the Lightning and Tampa Bay Buccaneers a method to celebrate their accomplishments with fans during the pandemic.

The Buccaneers celebrated with thousands of fans downtown five months ago after winning their first Super Bowl in 18 years. The celebration taking place in February was a dream come true after the team’s phenomenal performance led by Tom Brady.

The Buccaneers’ parade also involved excitement with the trophy as Brady shocked the fans by throwing the Lombardi Trophy from one boat to another.

The Tampa Bay Lightning are champions of the NHL for a second straight year, defeating the Canadiens in five games. The momentous feat was recognized by analysts and personalities across Twitter, who acknowledged the incredible nature of this 2021 Stanley Cup victory.

Tampa Bay had won a staggering 62 games in 2018-19 before being swept by the Blue Jackets in the first round. Since then, the Lightning have effectively been untouchable in the playoffs. Pierre LeBrun, a staff member of The Athletic, highlighted this: “The 62-win Lightning of 2018-19 got swept by Columbus in the first round. Since then, Tampa Bay has won eight straight playoff series, never trailed in a series, never lost back-to-back playoff games en route to winning back-to-back Stanley Cup championships. That’s something.”

The Stanley Cup win could not have been accomplished without the stalwart effort in the cage by Andrei Vasilevskiy. Vasilevskiy won the Conn Smyth Trophy, only allowing eight goals through the five games against Montreal.

Many mused that Tampa purposely lost their fourth game in Montreal, so they could seal the Stanley Cup victory in Tampa Bay in the fifth matchup. Once this came true, Tampa Bay Mayor Jane Castor claimed she was the one who spurred this happening. “Now didn’t I tell you all that winning at home would feel great?!” she tweeted.

With the win, the Lightning are looking to become the first team since the 1980-1983 Islanders to win the Stanley Cup at least three straight times.

The Tampa Bay Lightning are 60 minutes of play away from hoisting a Stanley Cup above their heads, however, they will need to wait at least another game before doing so, as the Canadiens defeated them in overtime by a final line of 3-2.

Josh Anderson netted his second overtime goal of the playoffs, finishing off a rebound in front and keeping Montreal’s season alive. “We didn’t want to end it tonight in front of our fans. We expected to go to Tampa tomorrow,” Anderson said after the game.

Defensively, Carey Price continued his fantastic play in the net, turning aside 32 shots, good enough for a .941 save percentage. His foe in the opposite cage, Andrei Vasilevskiy, only managed to stop 18 shots, arguably his most mediocre performance this playoff run.

Tampa is 13-0 after losing, so Montreal will need to break what appears to be an unbreakable streak in Game 5 in order to keep the Stanley Cup out of the hands of the Lightning. Should Tampa win, they would become the second team in the salary-cap era to win back-to-back championships (the first being the Penguins in 2016 and 2017).

With the win, the Canadiens avoid being the first team since 1998 to be swept in the Stanley Cup Finals (that “honor” belongs to the Washington Capitals, defeated by Detroit in four straight games).

Game 5 was a welcomed correction for Montreal, who had been outscored 14-5 in the first three games of the series. Ironically, while Tampa has been nearly unstoppable in the 2021 playoffs, they are 0-4 in overtime. They are also 0-5 when ceding the first goal of the game.

“We have confidence in the power play. We had some good looks throughout the game, but at the end of the day you want to bear down and score one there, but it didn’t happen,” said Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman.

The Canadiens have overcome adversity in all three rounds of the playoffs thus far – if any team is going to do the impossible, leave it to Montreal. In fact, they are 8-1 when facing elimination on home ice in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Nonetheless, history is not on the side of the Canadiens. Only four teams have ever overcome a 3-0 deficit in the playoffs, the last time being in 2014.

Game 5 will be in Tampa on Wednesday.

Matiss Kivlenieks, the goaltender for the Columbus Blue Jackets, has tragically died at the age of 24. Kivlenieks died after slamming his head on concrete during a fireworks-related activity, according to local police.

“There appears to have been a fireworks malfunction, which caused a group of people to flee from the hot tub, including the deceased, who slipped and hit his head on the concrete,” said Lieutenant Jason Meier of the Novi, Michigan Police Department.

Kivlenieks was mostly a backup in his brief time suiting up in the NHL, but was widely expected to compete for a larger role in the 2022 season.

“Kivi was an outstanding young man who greeted every day and everyone with a smile and the impact he had during his four years with our organization will not be forgotten,” said Blue Jackets President of Hockey Operations John Davidson in a public statement.

“On behalf of the NHL family, we extend our deepest sympathies to his family, friends and teammates in both the Blue Jackets organization and his native country of Latvia,” said current NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman.

Kivlenieks was signed in 2017 and made his NHL debut in 2020. He had been spending his offseason in the U.S.

For the first time since 1993, the Montreal Canadiens have a chance to hoist Lord Stanley’s cup. With an overtime victory over the Knights in Game 6, the Canadiens clinched a spot in the NHL Stanley Cup. An Atturi Lehkonen one-timer off a cross-ice feed sealed the victory for Montreal.

The Canadiens are the last Canadian team to claim victory in the Stanley Cup final; since then, every team north of the border that has reached the final plateau over the past 28 years has failed to defeat their opponent. Ironically, the Canadiens had the worst regular-season record of any playoff team, and yet they are the first team to clinch a spot in the final round.

Interim head coach Luke Richardson noted the excitement of his players at this opportunity. “It’s hard to put into words how proud we are of them, but they deserve it and they’re not done yet,” he said. “Like, they still have fire in their eyes, they’re already talking about it.”

The victory held even greater significance as it was on the same day as Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, one of Quebec’s most significant holidays.

The road to the Stanley Cup has been unique for the Canadiens. They overcame a 3-1 series deficit against the Canucks in the first round, then swept a strong Winnipeg team. Montreal lost one of its top defensemen in the first game of the semifinals against the Knights, had limited fans due to COVID-19, and was without their head coach due to a positive COVID-19 test.

Captain Shea Weber, a longtime veteran of the league, will finally play in his first Stanley Cup Final. He will play in front of goaltender Carey Price, a shining star on the Canadiens during this playoff run. He has turned in a .934 save percentage, alongside a 12-5 record. Offensively, the Canadiens have a fantastic, young core of goalscorers, with 14 goals being scored by players on the team younger than 21.

The Canadiens await the winner of Game 7 in the series between the Lightning and the Islanders.

The Lightning wanted to make a statement after losing a heartbreaker against the Islanders in Game 4 – and they did so with authority, notching a whopping 8-0 victory.

Steven Stamkos led the charge with two goals and one assist, while defensively Andrei Vasilevskiy turned in another standout performance with a shutout, turning aside 21 shots. Brayden Point extended his playoff goal streak to eight straight games, the second-longest such streak in NHL playoff history. Stamkos was complimentary of the aid he and his teammates received on the defensive side of the puck from their netminder. “He was outstanding, made some big saves early, settles us down, we get some goals and get some confidence,” Stamkos said.

Tampa Bay is now 13-0 after losing a game in the playoffs, an unmatched streak in the league. They reached their most recent win by putting up three goals in each of the first two periods, adding two more in the final frame. The last time the team lost two playoff games in a row was in 2019, coming in a sweep dealt out by the Blue Jackets.

New York will look to avoid elimination tonight after being outscored 10-0 in the past four periods of the series. They will have a home crowd to gain energy from, but they will need an equal level of skill if they hope to beat the red-hot Lightning.

Tampa Bay Lightning star Brayden Point continued his heroics from Game 2 of their playoff series against the New York Islanders, helping lead Tampa to a 2-1 series advantage in the Stanley Cup semifinals.

Point capitalized on a second-period opportunity to give his team a 2-1 lead in Game 3, and lights-out goalkeeping by Andrei Vasilevskiy locked down the victory. Vasilevskiy turned away 27 shots, good for a .964 save percentage.

Shockingly, the Islanders pulling their goaltender in the third period – with 1:48 left in the final frame – wasn’t enough to produce a shot on goal, and the Islanders went down in the series with a whimper.

The ability to stop the Islanders from worthwhile scoring opportunities was a consistent theme in the third game of the series between the two heavyweights. The staunch defense has been a key for the defending Stanley Cup winners, who are now 6-1 on the road in the 2021 playoffs.

The Islanders are keenly aware of the Lightning’s ability to sneak out wins.

Matt Martin, an Islanders winger, commented on Tampa Bay’s knack for winning. “They’re the defending Stanley Cup champions and they know what it takes to win,” he said. “They know what they have to do in their D zone.”

The initial flurry of Islander shots was turned aside by Vasilevskiy, which stunted New York’s offense for the rest of the night. The only goal the Islanders managed to sneak by Vasilevskiy was a lucky one, with a bouncing puck pushed through the goaltender’s legs after a sustained scrum in front of the net – a “garbage goal” that felt less predicated on skill and more on the uneven surface of the ice gifting New York a tie.

Point then went on to score in the final minute of the second frame of action, and lacking the luck that gave them their first goal, the Islanders remained scoreless the rest of the way. Point’s streak of consecutive games with a goal in the playoffs is reaching historic markers; should he score next game, he will be tied with Mario Lemieux, Pat LaFontaine, Joe Sakic and Claude Lemieux at seven, the most in the past 30 years.

The Islanders will look for a quicker start to their offense next game. the Lightning have lost this postseason the most when the opponent scores first (they are 0-3 in these instances). Conversely, they are 10-1 when scoring first.

The Islanders have fallen down 2-1 in their previous three playoff series, but have yet to play a team as good as the Lightning. Nonetheless, they will look to replicate their pattern of victory again.

Game 4 is Saturday night in New York. Game 5 will take place in Tampa on Monday.

The Tampa Bay Lightning closed out their series in spectacular fashion and are moving closer and closer to defending their title. Andrei Vasilevskiy, Brayden Point and Ross Colton starred in their 2-0 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. Vasilevskiy was especially crucial, as the goalie posted his third straight shutout in a series-clinching victory.

The game was an even fight until the second period when Point’s power-play goal put Tampa Bay up. Colton scored in the third period and that was all the cushion the defending champions needed. That was more than enough for Vasilevskiy, who finished with 29 saves and stumped the homesteading Hurricanes for the third time in as many series games at PNC Arena.

Point summed up nicely how the team was feeling. “We’ve got a lot of confidence in our group,” Point said. “I thought we had a pretty good regular season where we were kind of building to this… Yeah, it’s just a belief in our group. We’ve got four lines and all the D and great goaltending. So we just feel confident.”

The craziest thing about the game was that it could have been an even bigger blowout. The Lightning nearly added another goal when captain Steven Stamkos scored a buzzer-beater, but a review determined the puck didn’t cross the goal line in time.

The Hurricanes could seemingly never cease momentum or make the big play and their captain Jordan Staal recognized the outstanding play of Valsilevskiy. “He made some big saves, timely saves,” he said. “Good goaltenders do that. He did a good job of not letting us get some momentum and get the crowd into it.”

The next matchup the Lightning have will be with the New York Islanders, who come in after closing out their series against the Boston Bruins on Wednesday night. The Islanders have been the underdog in every series they’ve been in thus far and managed to surprise teams anyways, meaning this series will certainly be competitive and not a runaway for either side.

The greatest hockey player of all time, Wayne Gretzky, announced a major move in his professional career as Vice Chairman of the Edmonton Oilers. A day after they were swept in the first round of the NHL Playoffs by the Winnipeg Jets, Gretzky left his post with the team, effective immediately.

In a statement posted to social media, Gretzky cited an inability to give the role the attention it requires. “With great appreciation, I wanted to let everyone know that I have decided to step away as Vice Chairman of the Edmonton Oilers, effective today. The Oilers, their fans and the city of Edmonton have meant the world to me and my family for over four decades and that will never end. Given the pandemic and other life changes, I realize I will not be able to dedicate the time nor effort needed to support this world class organization. I want to thank Daryl and Renee Katz, their family and the entire team for all the support and friendship these last several years and wish them nothing but success.”

Gretzky seemingly already has his next job lined up, as an analyst. Andrew Marchand of the New York Post reported that Gretzky would join TNT as a lead analyst on the network’s studio show after agreeing to a deal that will pay him around $3 million per season. This is Gretzky’s first gig as an analyst, and he should do phenomenally well. TNT does a wonderful job of finding talent within the retired player ranks in other sports, such as basketball. Former players like Shaq and Charles Barkley have provided life to pregame shows, and TNT even grabbed guys like Dwyane Wade and Draymond Green as they headed into the twilight of their careers.

Although this will be Gretzky’s first foray into the TV analyst world, he has plenty of television experience, after previously appearing on many television shows, including The Young and the Restless, Saturday Night Live and The Simpsons.

Gretzky, 60, rejoined the Oilers in 2016 after previously spending 10 seasons with the team from 1978-1988.

Alex Ovechkin has no plans of leaving the team that drafted him 17 years ago.

The captain of the Washington Capitals announced that he believes he will reach a new contract with the team soon. Ovechkin is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, as his previous contract with the Capitals, for 13 years and $124 million ends this season. Ovechkin has been in conversations with team owner Ted Leonsis as well as general manager Brian MacLellan, and believes that a deal is imminent.

The Capitals were just eliminated from the NHL Playoffs in the first round on Sunday, when the franchise lost to the Boston Bruins by a score of 3-1, losing the series 4-1. This marks the third consecutive year that the Capitals have lost in the first round of the playoffs, a decline from their Stanley Cup championship in 2018. This season also marks the first time in his career that Ovechkin scored fewer than 30 goals, though the NHL did only play a 56-game regular season.

Ovechkin also faced a number of injuries throughout the season, including a leg injury just before the start of the playoffs which will prevent him from joining Team Russia at the IIHF World Championships in Latvia. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ovechkin was asking for around $12.5 million per year, which would match the most expensive contract in the league, held by Edminton’s Conor McDavid. Nevertheless, Leonsis has made it clear that they have every intention of resigning Ovechkin, regardless of the length of contract he desires. “Alex knows that if he plays five more years, 10 more years, whatever it is, we’ve got his back,” Leonsis said. “Our commitment to him is to continue to have great teams. We’ll spend to the cap; we’ll try to win championships. And that’s what he’s focused on, because that will be his legacy.”

The Buffalo Sabres’ season couldn’t get much worse at this point, yet somehow they continue to receive bad news. Sabres captain Jack Eichel will miss the remainder of the NHL season due to a herniated disc in his neck. The team announced the injury on Wednesday, but did add that Eichel is “expected to be healthy and ready to play at the beginning of the 2021-22 season.”

The captain has been sidelined since March 7 and the Sabres were forced to endure an 18-game losing streak, the longest in the salary-cap era. They finally snapped that winless streak against Philadelphia, but it’s hard to imagine that going through that wasn’t embarrassing for the players. The team fired head coach Ralph Krueger, but things haven’t gotten much better since the change in coaching staff. 

Buffalo’s chances of making the playoffs are basically nonexistent. The team is currently 10-25-7 with 27 points. They are in last place in the MassMutual East Division, and aren’t even remotely within striking distance. 

The Sabres also went into sell-mode ahead of Monday’s trade deadline, shipping off some of their best players including Taylor Hall, Brandon Montour and Eric Staal. While Buffalo did receive some draft picks and somewhat valuable assets for these veteran players, it may be a few years before the Sabres are competitive again. They are about to miss the playoffs for the 10th consecutive year.

In 24 games this season, the 24-year-old Eichel produced 18 points (two goals and 16 assists). He has just gotten hot prior to going down with the injury, as he was on a four-game point streak before being forced to miss time. Interim coach Don Granato had told ESPN earlier this month that he was “hopeful” Eichel would eventually return this season. It appears the coach was wrong about that prediction.

“I had Jack in the U.S. program when he was 16,” Granato told ESPN. “I got to know him then, and I thought the world of him then. It’s something I’m excited to be a part of when he’s back — because we expect him back, we’re hopeful he’ll be back before the end of the year — and I look forward to that, now in the position of head coach.

“He means a lot to me personally. I love the fact that he has such strong and visible emotions of the game. I’ve reminded him numerous times that he’s got to make sure he finds the fun in all of this, too. Sometimes a lot of these great athletes are so intense, and there’s so much demand on them that they feel like they can’t have fun. It becomes such a business. They’re judged on different levels. I’m speaking generally now, but when you lose that, or you stop being aware of that, it becomes even harder.”

The Sabres will need to nail their draft picks and make some otherworldly offseason moves if they intend on moving in the right direction next year. At least they will have their captain back though.

On Wednesday night, the Buffalo Sabres snapped an 18-game winless streak as they beat the Philadelphia Flyers at home at KeyBank Center by a score of 6-1.

Sam Reinhart and Curtis Lazar both scored in the first period and gave Buffalo an early 2-0 lead. Steven Fogarty and Casey Mittelstadt also scored goals in the second period to increase Buffalo’s lead to 4-1 going into the third period.

Then, Brandon Montour scored two short-handed goals on the same third-period penalty kill. They were 37 seconds apart from each other, and he helped the team secure the win.

“Tonight was a full 60 minutes where everyone was moving and feeling good,” Montour said. “It was a tough stretch. You never want to lose. The streak we had, everyone was talking about it. Everyone had something to say, But the guys have been positive through the tough time we’ve been dealing with here.”

Buffalo interim coach Don Granato earned his first NHL victory (1-5-1) with the Sabres’ victory on Wednesday evening.

The Sabres went 0-15-3 since February 25. They own the record for the longest winless streak of the shootout era (since 2005-2006) and tied the 2003-2004 Pittsburgh Penguins for the most consecutive losses (including overtime and shootout defeats) in the 21st century.

Buffalo is 7-23-5 on the season and is in the last place in the NHL.

On Sunday, the New York Rangers placed defenseman Tony DeAngelo on waivers. The decision to place the 25-year-old on waivers stems from an altercation following the team’s loss on Saturday.

New York faced off against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday. The Rangers were able to stall and match the Penguins in the game. The game was even as the score was tied at four and went into overtime. During overtime, it was Penguins’ star Sidney Crosby that scored the game-winning goal as it slipped past Rangers’ goaltender Alexandar Georgiev.

The altercation occurred immediately after the loss. As the teams were heading into their respective tunnels, DeAngelo started the altercation by saying remarks towards the goalie following the loss. It is believed that the two had a miscommunication on the ice, prior to Crosby’s game-winning goal. The defenseman made a remark to the goalie that caused the altercation to become physical between the two players. Luckily, the two were broken up by teammate K’Andre Miller.

The Rangers responded to this incident by placing the 25-year-old defenseman on waivers the following day. The decision to waive the young player goes beyond Saturday’s incident. The 25-year-old has had prior issues regarding his behavior on and off the ice and recent poor performances did not help his cause. It goes without saying that this latest incident was the breaking point for the Rangers.

While playing for the Arizona Coyotes in 2017, the defenseman was suspended for abuse of an official. Furthermore, he was suspended twice in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) for violating the league’s harassment, abuse and diversity policy. New York already disciplined him in the past for social media behavior that drew criticism.

DeAngelo’s waivers clause expire on Monday. If no team claims him, he would remain with New York. If that were the case, then it is likely the team would demote him to their affiliated development team, the Hartford Wolf Pack of the AHL.