No matter which side you might find yourself rooting for, it’s always interesting to see who is one step away from winning a championship that also happens to have some kind of tie to our great state of Michigan. Vegas stole Game 1 on Tuesday night, but for the rest of the series, here is who you can secretly support.

Logan Stankoven scored twice to continue his postseason tear and the Carolina Hurricanes smothered the Philadelphia Flyers in a 3-0 victory Saturday night to open the second-round series.

Jordan Staal and the Carolina Hurricanes have put together one of the most improbable comebacks in NHL history.

William Carrier and Eric Robinson scored 4 1/2 minutes apart late in the second period, and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the San Jose Sharks 5-1.

Carolina Hurricanes forward Taylor Hall and Florida Panthers defenseman Seth Jones have gone from playing for a rebuilding team in Chicago to battling in the Eastern Conference final.

The Florida Panthers showed their championship mettle from last year's run to the Stanley Cup by taking control early in their 5-2 win against the Carolina Hurricanes to open the Eastern Conference final Tuesday night.

Carter Verhaeghe and Aaron Ekblad scored two tone-setting first-period goals while Sergei Bobrovsky remained strong in net as the reigning Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers beat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-2 in Tuesday night’s opener of their Eastern Conference final series.

The Carolina Hurricanes are known around the NHL for shooting the puck on net from every angle and piling up the shots.

Sean Walker scored late and Andrei Svechnikov added an empty-net clincher to help the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Washington Capitals 5-2 on Monday night for a 3-1 lead in their second-round playoff series.

The Carolina Hurricanes return home for Game 3 of their second-round playoff series against the Washington Capitals having split the first two games on the road.

Connor McMichael and John Carlson scored, Logan Thompson made 27 saves and the Washington Capitals beat the Carolina Hurricanes 3-1 in Game 2 to tie the second-round playoff series.

David Perron scored twice on the power play, including his 300th career goal, and the Detroit Red Wings defeated the Minnesota Wild 4-1.

James Reimer stopped 23 shots in his first start for Detroit, and the Red Wings scored three times in the second period in a 4-0 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The flurry of movement around the NHL continues well ahead of the trade deadline Friday.

Nick Schmaltz followed his franchise-record seven-point game with two goals and two assists as the Arizona Coyotes overwhelmed the Detroit Red Wings 9-2 on Tuesday.

Nick Schmaltz scored twice and had five assists for a franchise-record seven points as the Arizona Coyotes recovered from a five-goal Ottawa rally to beat the Senators 8-5.

NHL teams wasted little time making moves once the roster freeze for the Seattle expansion draft was lifted.

Buffalo Sabres celebrate a goal by center Curtis Lazar (27) during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Philadelphia Flyers in Buffalo, N.Y., Wednesday, March 31, 2021. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)BUFFALO, N.Y. – Linus Ullmark stopped 31 shots and the Buffalo Sabres snapped an 18-game skid — the NHL’s longest in 17 years — with a 6-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday night. It was the first win for Buffalo since a 4-1 victory at New Jersey on Feb. 23, and ended an 0-15-3 streak. The Sabres also snapped a 0-9-2 home skid, one short of matching a franchise record set during the 1990-91 season. After Philadelphia’s Ivan Provorov scored 3:50 into the second period, Buffalo responded by closing the period with goals from Fogarty and Casey Mittelstadt.

Kapanen scored two goals and the Penguins defeated the Flyers 5-2 on Tuesday night. Penguins’ players raised their sticks and saluted the fans in attendance following the win. Following a scoreless first period, Farabee and Kapanen scored 1:07 apart to open the second period. The Flyers will welcome fans back to the Wells Fargo Center on Sunday against Washington. The Penguins scored three goals and outshot the Flyers 13-3 to start the second period.

The Flyers were spurred by a replenished lineup in which four players returned after spending two weeks in the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol. They included Scott Laughton, who scored a breakaway goal to make it 3-0 late in the second period. Elliott improved to 5-1 this season and upped his career record to 15-2-2 with four shutouts against the Sabres, including a 40-save outing in a 3-0 win on Jan. 19. Elliott chalked up his dominance to opening his career with Ottawa, Buffalo’s traditional Atlantic Division rival. The Sabres dropped to 2-6-1 in their past nine and played their second game without captain Jack Eichel, listed as day to day with a lower body injury.

Philadelphia Flyers' James van Riemsdyk celebrates his goal with teammates during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2021, in Philadelphia. Joel Farabee had a goal and three assists, Michael Raffl, James van Riemsdyk and Patrick also scored to lead the Flyers to a 6-3 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday. Jankowski, who scored just five goals last season, scored the first one of this season 5:12 into the game. Farabee had assists on van Riemsdyk, Patrick and Hayes’ goals. UP NEXTThe Penguins and Flyers play again Friday in Philly as part of a packed, 56-game schedule necessitated by the pandemic.