DOUGIE HAMILTON

Jack Hughes scored his second goal of the game less than a minute into overtime and the New Jersey Devils beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-3 after blowing a late two-goal lead.

The end of the NHL draft only ushers in more questions about what's coming next this offseason.

Expect a fast and furious NHL offseason to unfold in the coming days and weeks.

Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos each had two goals and an assist, and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Carolina Hurricanes 6-4 to open a commanding lead in their second-round playoff series.

Sebastian Aho scored his second goal of the game 1:06 into overtime to send the Carolina Hurricanes to the second round with a 4-3 comeback victory over the Nashville Predators on Thursday night in Game 6.

Luke Kunin scored his second goal at 16:10 of the second overtime,and the Nashville Predators beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 Sunday to tie the first-round series 2-2.

Adam Erne scored in the seventh round of the shootout as the Detroit Red Wings beat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-4.

Carolina Hurricanes center Jordan Staal (11) and Detroit Red Wings center Dylan Larkin (71) battle for the puck in the first period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, March 14, 2021, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)DETROIT – Dougie Hamilton and Nino Niederreiter scored, Alex Nedeljkovic made 25 saves and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Detroit Red Wings 2-1 on Sunday night for their eighth consecutive victory. Carolina moved into the Central Division lead at 20-6-1, a point ahead of idle Tampa Bay and Florida. “I think he’s feeling good about his game and when Anthony feels good about his game, good things happen,” Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said. “I think puck management is going to be crucial Tuesday night.”ON THE MOVEThe Red Wings recalled forward Mathias Brome from the taxi squad.

DETROIT – One game after their largest scoring outburst in nearly two years, the Detroit Red Wings struggled to find the back of the net on Sunday. Alex Nedeljkovic made 25 saves and narrowly missed recording a shutout in a 2-1 victory for the Carolina Hurricanes at Little Caesars Arena. Anthony Mantha’s team-leading eighth goal with 9.4 seconds remaining in the third period was all the offense Detroit generated. The Red Wings (8-17-4) were coming off a 6-4 victory over Tampa Bay on Thursday. Red Wings have been outscored 42-22 in the third period this season.

The Red Wings, who were easily the NHL's worst team last season, played for the first time since they lost to Carolina at home on March 10, 2020. “Once you started playing, you stopped thinking about it as much and it wasn’t quite as weird,” Red Wings center Dylan Larkin said. “It was a good step in the right direction.”ROUGH STARTLarkin made his debut as captain of the Red Wings, and his giveaway helped the Hurricanes score first. Playing the rebuilding Red Wings eight times in 56 games in the pandemic-altered Central Division should help Carolina's chances. The Red Wings’ No.

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.