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Hurricanes forward Justin Williams added to his storied history in series-deciding contests Wednesday with a game-winning assist in double overtime as Carolina defeated the Washington Capitals 4-3 in Game 7 of their first-round series. Williams entered Wednesday’s game with the most career points in Game 7s, and he waited for the best possible time to add to his considerable haul. With the game still tied past the midway point of the second overtime period, Williams whipped the puck toward the Washington net and through a crowd....

The rookie netted two goals in his first taste of postseason hockey to give Dallas a 2-1 lead. The 19-year-old is the first teenage defenseman to score multiple goals in a postseason game. Heiskanen tied the game in the second period with some help from Nashville defender Mattias Eckholm. Heiskanen’s shot was redirected by Eckholm’s knee and sneaked past goaltender Pekka Rinne. The goal made Heiskanen the youngest defenseman in franchise history to score in the postseason....

The league is set to postpone its remaining five matchups on Thursday, extending the break that was initially supposed to start after the Golden Knights face the Kings on Thursday night. MORE: NHL introduces enhanced COVID-19 protocols: What do they mean for season, Olympics? All team facilities are shutting down from Wednesday through Saturday in an effort to combat the recent wave of COVID-19. Players are slated to return to facilities on Sunday for daily testing, and the league plans on resuming the schedule on Dec....

The Rangers are moving closer to becoming sellers before the Feb. 26 trade deadline. Reports emerged Monday indicating veteran winger Rick Nash submitted his 18-team no-trade list. Over the weekend, the New York Post’s Larry Brooks reported the Rangers were willing to absorb up to half of the remainder of Nash’s $7.8 million salary cap hit. He speculated the Predators, Stars, Blues, Sharks, Penguins and Blue Jackets (Nash’s former club) could be interested in the 33-year-old winger....

Between now and July 1, Sporting News will examine the NHL’s top RFA players. This week, we look at the Pacific Division: Matthew Tkachuk - Calgary Flames Since his NHL debut in 2016-17, Tkachuk established himself among the league’s elite power forwards. Following two seasons with at least 48 points each, the 21-year-old left wing enjoyed a 34-goal, 77-point breakout performance in 2018-19. He finished third among Flames scorers in goals and fourth in points....

The league's best is on display in the way it strives for equality, tolerance and compassion for LGBT athletes. Commissioner Gary Bettman, as part of TSN's "ReOrientation" series on changing attitudes towards homosexuality in professional sports, spoke about the NHL's efforts to promote tolerance and end homophobia, which includes a partnership with You Can Play, an advocacy group dedicated to doing just that. All 30 teams have now lent public support to the cause....

This year, NBC will carry 109 NHL regular-season games — the most since it acquired NHL rights prior to the 2005-06 season — with the majority airing on NBCSN, the network’s cable sports station. The weekly offering, now called “Wednesday Night Hockey,” includes scheduled doubleheaders for 17 of 25 Wednesday nights. All games broadcast on NBC or NBCSN also are available to be live streamed via fuboTV on your favorite devices (sign up here for a seven-day free trial)....

The Florida Panthers, a day after acquiring Thomas's past sparring partner from the Vancouver Canucks, sent Thomas to the Dallas Stars. They'd looked at Thomas when he was looking to return to the NHL after a yearlong sabbatical. He gives them a legitimate backup option for starter Kari Lehtonen. NHL trade deadline live blog | Trade tracker Lehtonen has a .916 save percentage in 51 appearances already. He needs a day off from time to time....

One team that was expected to make some moves stayed fairly quiet on Monday. The Coyotes had been shopping both defenseman Jakob Chychrun and forward Phil Kessel, however, both players remain members of the Coyotes organization post-deadline. While keeping hold of Chychrun isn’t a huge surprise, the fact that general manager Bill Armstrong did not move Kessel is a bit of a head-scratcher. He is a pending free agent and the Coyotes could have used him in a trade to get some draft capital....

But boy, was he happy when he found out. “I was excited and happy about coming to Buffalo, and then it was actually one of my buddies that told me, ‘Man, you guys are playing in that,’” Pominville told Sporting News. “And I was like, ‘Sweet.’ I had no idea about it.” This story actually begins 10 years ago, on a snowy New Year’s Day in Orchard Park. In 2008, the Buffalo Sabres were coming off consecutive trips to the Eastern Conference finals....

How to Get to Serene Forest To get to the Serene Forest in Ni no Kuni: Cross Worlds, players should press on the mini-map in the top-right corner. If the mini-map isn’t there, click on the little globe icon to bring it up. From here, press World Map, and then select Serene Forest. The recommended player level is 40-48, so make sure to come prepared with adequate gear if players are planning on engaging in battles....

Indiewire reported on a recent interview he gave in which Refn, ostensibly there to promote his new show opening January 5, 2023, wasn’t shy about sharing his opinion on the current state of Hollywood filmmaking and if he felt he’d be able to make a movie like Drive these days. His answer was pretty damning for an industry he saw as “falling apart desperately.” Refn having an opinion about Hollywood that isn’t exactly pretty shouldn’t be news to anyone who’s seen Drive, an angry Los Angeles set noir, but even more so his Elle Fanning vehicle, The Neon Demon....

A number of celebrities have spoken out to condemn West over antisemitic statements he recently made on social media, but Kroll, 44, opted to make it seem like he had no idea about the controversary surrounding West during an interview with Jimmy Kimmel. During the interview, Kimmel, 54, recalled how Charlize Theron had drafted in singer Michael Bolton to put on a surprise performance for a friend at a party....

The Orioles balked at handing Markakis a long-term deal, in part because of concerns over a lingering neck injury, but they indicated that wasn’t the primary issue. That led to a rather messy divorce with the former franchise cornerstone, who wound up signing a four-year, $44 million contract in Atlanta as a free agent. “Don’t believe a word they say,” Markakis told USA Today on Wednesday. “It was all because of my neck....

Alabama’s been there — Nick Saban has been there — and this is how you act like it. MORE: Playoff field set | HAYES: When will Saban get tired of winning all these titles? Saban and the Crimson Tide were reacting to getting the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff. It was no surprise, but the reaction falls in line with Saban’s business-first, fun-later (maybe much later) attitude that has been so successful in Tuscaloosa....

The fourth quarter was crucial Sunday as several high-profile games gave us nail-biting endings. Gardner Minshew couldn’t quite get the Jaguars past the Texans as he made his first career start in place of injured quarterback Nick Foles, while the Colts defense helped Jacoby Brissett get his first win of the season since Andrew Luck retired. But setbacks weren’t inescapable, as Pittsburgh was plagued by injuries in its home opener against Seattle....

Speaking of going winless, I went 0-3 last week, thanks to the offensive ineptitude of the Titans, inability of the Bears defense to limit the Raiders offense, and Baker Mayfield’s dud against the aforementioned 49ers. But I’m totally not bitter. This is a new week, so let’s continue to trust the process. WEEK 6 FANTASY RANKINGS:Quarterback | Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end | D/ST | Kicker...

“I’ve never seen a wild-card weekend like this where we have two games around -7 and yet have hardly any teaser risk,” said Osborne. “The overall action has been good, but it’s kind of weird to be booking the games straight-up where teasers don’t come into the equation at all. I can guarantee it won’t be like this next week with Green Bay, Seattle, Denver and New England playing.“...

This time the focus is on Western Conference defensemen; they’re divided into three tiers based on their five-on-five ice-time this past regular season, then compared to their team as a whole. The possession proxy used is zone-adjusted cors; that’s the typical shot attempt differential you’re accustomed to with a wrinkle; everything that happened within 10 seconds of an offensive or defensive zone faceoff has been wiped from the total. In theory, this should help account for some of the extreme deployment that various players have because of their particular skillsets, or the ways in which their coaches have decided to utilize them....

With all 32 teams getting underway, the clubs are beginning their journey towards making the playoffs and pushing for the Stanley Cup. But there are also individual awards that are up for grabs as well. Honors like the Norris, Vezina and Hart are always hot topics throughout the season and the start of the year is not different. There already have been questions circling around previous winners. Will Cale Makar win a second consecutive Norris Trophy?...