Hockey

BOSTON — Auston Matthews has closed the book on his staggering regular season. The Maple Leafs sniper came one shot — one crossbar — short of becoming just the ninth player in NHL history to reach 70 goals in a campaign.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) — It would be an understatement to say that Cam Talbot's season has been a roller coaster. The Los Angeles Kings, though, are hoping their veteran netminder's game is ascending heading into the Stanley Cup playoffs.

FRSICO, Texas (AP) — Tyler Seguin got sidetracked on his way to bed when he checked the scores from the two games on the West Coast that would determine who the Dallas Stars would face in the first round of the NHL playoffs .

Josh Morrissey remembers the city coming to life before his eyes. A nine-year-old Flames fan in the spring of 2004, he was captivated by every Jarome Iginla chance and Miikka Kiprusoff save during Calgary's run to the Stanley Cup final.

Rick Tocchet barely had a chance to get accustomed to the Pacific time zone when the newly hired Canucks coach wondered what exactly he had just gotten himself into in late January 2023.

ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — Alex Ovechkin scored a lot of goals down the stretch for the Washington Capitals, yet he is not the biggest reason they made the playoffs.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The Carolina Hurricanes and the New York Islanders are getting another postseason reunion.

VOORHEES, N.J. (AP) — Put those playoff plans on hold, Flyers fans. And not just this season. Philadelphia is stuck on the outside of the postseason for the fourth straight year after its fate was decided in Game 82.

DENVER (AP) — Colorado goaltender Alexandar Georgiev went home after a recent shaky outing and immediately watched film — the car-racing thriller “The Fast and the Furious.” Anything to keep his own mind from racing.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Ordinarily at playoff time, this would be bulletin-board material: A coach in the NHL referred to the Florida Panthers as weird. Except this time, nobody minded.