PITTSBURGH — Sidney Crosby would not take the bait, even though the smile on his face and the gleam in his eye hinted that maybe the Pittsburgh Penguins captain kind of wanted to. Told that Philadelphia Flyers coach Rick Tocchet — an assistant with the Penguins when Pittsburgh won ...

PITTSBURGH — Sidney Crosby, his face cleanly shaven for now, settled into the bench inside the Pittsburgh Penguins dressing room on Thursday and pulled a black baseball cap over his head. For the first time in what felt like a long time, Crosby didn’t have to spend part of a mid-April ...

As playoff races were raging down the stretch, Commissioner Gary Bettman pointed out that the NHL in years past has had first-round matchups decided on the final day of the season. Needing until the final day is true once again, with three matchups yet to be determined before the playoffs ...

The field for the Stanley Cup Playoffs is set with the first series set to begin on Saturday. Six of the 16 teams did not qualify a year ago, including Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Boston in the East. It’s the 10th time in 12 seasons under the divisional wild card format that there ...

WASHINGTON — Logan Thompson stopped 24 shots, and the Washington Capitals kept their slim playoff hopes alive by beating the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-0 Sunday in perhaps the final home game of Alex Ovechkin’s brilliant career. To reach the postseason, the Capitals must defeat Columbus in the ...

NEWARK, N.J. — For the first time in four years, it will soon be a great day for playoff hockey in Pittsburgh. The Penguins clinched a playoff spot Thursday night by beating New Jersey, 5-2, ending their postseason drought that lasted three seasons. They had made 16 postseason appearances in ...