BRUCE CASSIDY

Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Antti Raanta has proven critical to the team's chances as they advance in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Rookie Seth Jarvis scored twice and Antti Raanta finished with 34 saves to help the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Boston Bruins 5-1 to take a 3-2 lead in the first-round playoff series.

Comebacks are hard to come by so far in the NHL playoffs after they were so commonplace during the regular season.

The NHL playoffs are missing the close games and comebacks that seemingly comes annually with all the postseason intensity.

Brad Marchand had a goal and two assists to help the Boston Bruins take their first lead against the Hurricanes all season and hold onto it for a 4-2 victory over Carolina in Game 3 of their first-round playoff series.

The physicality of the NHL playoffs is creeping into the crease.

Sebastian Aho and Nino Niederreiter each scored twice and the Carolina Hurricanes overcame the early loss of goalie Antti Raanta to beat the Boston Bruins 5-2 on Wednesday night for a 2-0 lead in the first-round series.

So much for the notion that goals are hard to come by in the playoffs.

Gabriel Landeskog tied the game with 36.5 seconds left in regulation and Cale Makar scored a power-play goal 3:01 into overtime as the Colorado Avalanche rallied past the Boston Bruins 4-3 for their 17th straight home victory.

Goalkeeper Tuukka Rask is getting closer to returning to the Boston Bruins after signing a professional tryout agreement with Providence of the American Hockey League.

Charlie Coyle scored on a wrist shot from the slot 34 seconds into overtime and Boston completed a 4-3 comeback victory over the Buffalo Sabres in the Bruins’ first game in 16 days.

The NHL has postponed all games for the Colorado Avalanche and Florida Panthers through at least the Christmas weekend amid worsening COVID-19 test results across the league.

The Montreal Canadiens and Philadelphia Flyers played in an empty Bell Centre on Thursday night because of a spiraling rise of COVID-19 cases.

A person with direct knowledge of discussions tells The Associated Press that the NHL is reintroducing enhanced COVID-19 protocols.

Marc Staal's first goal of the season was the tiebreaker with just over eight minutes remaining in the third period, and Alex Nedeljkovic made 41 saves, leading Detroit to a 2-1 win over the Boston Bruins on Tuesday night, the Red Wings' 3,000th victory.

Alex Nedeljkovic made 41 saves and Marc Staal snapped a tie in the third period Tuesday, lifting the Detroit Red Wings past the Boston Bruins 2-1 at TD Garden. The Red Wings (11-9-3) equaled a season-high three-game winning streak despite being outshot 42-16. The Red Wings were 1-11-2 in their previous 14 games in Boston, including the playoffs. The Red Wings had done a good job killing the two-man advantage until Pastrnak, from the slot, one-timed a pass from Taylor Hall past Nedeljkovic. More: Red Wings remain vigilant as COVID concerns grow around league

On Tuesday, Boston Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy went into COVID protocol and will miss tonight’s game against the Detroit Red Wings at TD Garden (7 p.m., Bally Sports Detroit). The Red Wings and the rest of the league continue to be on alert. “It’s something we had hoped we wouldn’t have to be in these spots as a league,” Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. If that happens, we’ll have to deal with it at that moment.”Detroit defenseman Danny DeKeyser has been in COVID protocol since Wednesday and will miss his third consecutive game tonight. More: Red Wings outline ways to end road woes

Brad Marchard scored twice and Jeremy Swayman made 27 saves and the Boston Bruins beat New Jersey 5-2, ending the Devils’ three-game winning streak.

Brock Nelson scored twice in another big second period by New York, Semyon Varlamov stopped 23 shots and the Islanders beat the Boston Bruins 6-2 in Game 6 on Wednesday night to advance to the Stanley Cup semifinals for the second straight year.

The NHL has fined Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy $25,000 for his criticism of the officials after Game 4 of Boston’s second-round playoff series against the New York Islanders.

Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy knew it wasn't his team's night when David Pastrnak missed a wide open net with the potential go-ahead goal.

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.

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.

Brad Marchand scored 39 seconds into overtime and the Boston Bruins rallied to beat the Washington Capitals 4-3 and even the East Division first-round series at a game apiece.

David Krejci and Brad Marchand each had a goal and an assist, and the Boston Bruins beat the Buffalo Sabres 5-2 on Thursday night.

Brad Marchand had two of his three goals and set up another in Boston’s five-goal second period.

New York Rangers' Chris Kreider celebrates his goal during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Boston Bruins, Saturday, March 13, 2021, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)BOSTON – Chris Kreider scored his team-leading 14th goal, Artemi Panarin had an assist in his first game back since leaving the team, and the New York Rangers beat the Boston Bruins 4-0 Saturday to halt a three-game losing streak. Ryan Strome, Pavel Buchnevich and K’Andre Miller each had a goal for New York, which lost 4-0 in Boston on Thursday. The Rangers called the story about Panarin fabricated and designed to intimidate him for his political views against Russian President Vladimir Putin. He also robbed Kreider’s two close chances on a Rangers power play midway into the second.

Boston Bruins' Brandon Carlo is helped off the ice after an injury in the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Washington Capitals, Friday, March 5, 2021, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)BOSTON – Boston Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo “is feeling better” but remains week-to-week from the head hit that earned Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson a seven-game suspension, coach Bruce Cassidy said Sunday. Cassidy called the hit “predatory” but declined to go into details on the suspension. ... I’ve kind of moved on and getting ready for New Jersey.”The Bruins return to the ice Sunday night against the Devils. “The guys are in a good place," Cassidy said, adding that he texted Carlo on Sunday morning.

Boston Bruins' Brandon Carlo is helped off the ice after an injury in the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Washington Capitals, Friday, March 5, 2021, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)BOSTON – Boston Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo was released from the hospital Saturday after spending the night following a head hit from Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson. Later Saturday, Wilson was suspended for seven games by the NHL without pay after an Zoom hearing to discuss the incident. Carlo left Friday night's game against the Capitals after Wilson hit him late in the first period, smashing his head into the glass with his hands and stick. Boston's Trent Frederic and Jarred Tinordi both fought Wilson later in the game, which the Bruins won 5-1.

The Bruins' high level of play matched the picturesque setting with the lake and snow-covered mountains in the background. Joel Farabee, Sean Couturier and James van Riemsdyk scored for the short-handed Flyers, who have six players on the COVID-19 list. AdThere were plenty of goals as well, starting with Pastrnak’s 34 seconds into the game. The Flyers responded with two goals and took the lead when Couturier came out of the penalty box and took advantage of McAvoy’s broken stick. There were even more on Sunday, including some waving Flyers flags and others with Bruins paraphernalia.

Boston Bruins right wing David Pastrnak (88) celebrates his goal with the bench during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Washington Capitals, Monday, Feb. 1, 2021, in Washington. Buoyed by their top scorer's first two goals of the season and a big rookie's fight against one of the toughest players in hockey, the Bruins erased a three-goal deficit to beat the Washington Capitals 5-3 on Monday night. “In the box, I was like a little kid in there just jumping around when we scored,” Frederic said. The Capitals had front-row seats for Pastrnak's breakout performance in his second game after undergoing offseason hip surgery. Former Bruins captain Zdeno Chara scored in his second game against his old team.

Sharks general manager Doug Wilson formally retained Boughner as San Jose's coach Tuesday, removing the interim tag to make him the ninth full-time head coach in franchise history. He’s very open-minded in looking to find solutions.”Boughner also hired Rocky Thompson as his associate coach and John Madden as an assistant coach. Mike Ricci, the former Sharks forward who became an assistant under Boughner, will be an NHL development coach. Thompson succeeded Boughner as the head coach at Windsor in 2015, and he won the Memorial Cup in 2017. He spent the past three seasons as head coach of the AHL's Cleveland Monsters, Columbus' top affiliate.

TORONTO, ONT Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper took exception to the Columbus Blue Jackets being referred to as a blue-collar team. Is that a positive or a negative? Cooper said Monday, a day before his Eastern Conference second-seeded Lightning open the first round of the NHL playoffs against the seventh-seeded Blue Jackets. Thats in the history books forever, Cooper said, noting how both teams have made various changes to their lineups. Id call them a really good team.Familiarity is breeding respect among the East opponents entering the first round. The Islanders hold a 5-2 playoff series edge over Washington.

When the Boston Bruins boarded their flight bound for Toronto, they thought of it as just another long road trip. NHL players from the 24 playoff teams woke up to their new reality Monday in the hub cities of Toronto and Edmonton, Alberta. Columbus coach John Tortorella won't name his starting goaltender for Game 1 against Toronto until the day before. It's just the start, and it'll take almost a week of daily testing to be sure the NHL can pull this off. But getting into the Toronto and Edmonton bubbles represented an important stride toward playing during a pandemic.

In this photo provided by the Dallas Stars NHL hockey team, interim head coach Rick Bowness watches practice in Frisco, Texas, Tuesday, July 14, 2020. You get out there and you miss it, the Dallas Stars coach said. You realize how much you enjoy being out there.The NHLs oldest head coach still worries about COVID-19 but not enough to stop doing his job. Im going to have to adjust to it, there is no question. The average age of the 24 head coaches in the playoffs is just under 54, the second-oldest behind the NBA among North Americas four major professional sports leagues.