Two wins in elimination games later, and the Capitals have pushed all of that pressure back onto the Penguins. No longer is Washington trying to avoid embarrassment; now Pittsburgh is. MORE: Crosby’s head-first crash reignites concussion discussion The Caps forced a Game 7 with a dominant 5-2 win in Pittsburgh on Monday. The Penguins have now blown series leads of 2-0 and 3-1 and given all the momentum back to the Capitals, who have looked like a new team since dropping star Alex Ovechkin to the third line to help ignite the bottom six....

On Thursday night, the NHL’s Department of Player Safety suspended Drew Doughty one game for an illegal check to the head of William Carrier. The play occurred midway through the third period of the Golden Knights 1-0 victory on Wednesday, and Carrier did not return to the game after the hit. Golden Knights head coach Gerard Gallant took issue with the play, saying after the game, " … I thought it was a bad hit....

After allowing a goal to Tyler Seguin that tied the game at 2-2, Nashville’s 13th-year goaltender made a series of saves on shots taken directly in front him from both sides of the net just 20 seconds later to keep the game at a stalemate. The Predators would go on to beat the Stars 3-2. Rinne’s effort then, along with his entire 40-save performance, allowed the Nashville to take the lead a few minutes later off the stick of Mikael Granlund, who netted his first goal of the postseason to give the Predators a 2-1 series lead....

Wayne Simmonds left Nashville’s matchup with Dallas on Saturday after he took a puck to the knee off of a shot from Roman Josi. Simmonds went to the locker room with a notable limp and he did not return to the bench when the trainer came back a few minutes later. The 30-year-old winger came over to the Predators in a trade from the Flyers at the deadline. He has one goal and two assists in 17 games with Nashville, but so much of what Simmonds does doesn’t show up on the scoresheet....

That’s because before the puck dropped on the Jan. 3 games, the St. Louis Blues were dead last in the NHL. Today they are set to play the Winnipeg Jets in the first round, who by comparison was atop the Central Division and tied with Vegas for the fourth-most points in the NHL back in January. It will be interesting to see if head coach Craig Berube and the Blues can continue their Cinderella season or if Winnipeg, who is 3-6 in their last nine and 14-14-3 after Feb....

San Jose Sharks veteran Joe Thornton notched his first playoff goal in nearly three years on Friday night, scoring his team’s third in a 5-3 Game 2 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights. Thornton, 39, entered the contest with 27 goals in 161 playoff games, so the London, Ont., native wasn’t exactly a prime candidate to add to his total; however, with goals flowing freely between both teams, Thornton got in on the action to close a wild first period as the Sharks nullified Vegas’ early 3-0 lead with three straight goals of their own....

Leafs Considering Nylander Trade Options The contract standoff between the Toronto Maple Leafs and restricted free agent William Nylander has reached a new critical stage. Facing a Dec. 1 deadline to get the 22-year-old winger signed lest he become ineligible for the remainder of the season, Leafs management appears willing to consider trade options. Over the weekend, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported hearing the Leafs informed teams interested in Nylander to prepare formal offers....

He showed a lack of hockey chops as he hosted the expansion draft to stock the league’s 32nd franchise, the Seattle Kraken. If he wasn’t failing geography by calling the Islanders and Devils New York City teams, he was making a terrible Freudian slip with North Carolina’s NHL franchise. John Buccigross and Linda Cohn would never. At least Fowler didn’t call the Canes the Whalers (although he did slip in a Mighty Ducks reference to Anaheim’s team)....

Radim Vrbata is staying put in Arizona, as is Matt Duchene in Colorado. The Coyotes are sending mixed signals to the rest of the league, holding on to Vrbata, a top-50 scorer in the NHL this season. Despite fan fervor, the Colorado Avalanche decided not to deal Duchene and teammate, Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog. Jarome Iginla is on the move to the Kings, completing a very busy trade deadline for Los Angeles....

As a right of passage to the NHL, it’s expected Vegas won’t be very good in its inaugural season. But this is hockey, after all, and just because the underlying stats say they should lose 6-0 doesn’t preclude the Knights from stealing a few of those games, which was the case Friday in Dallas. WATCH: Golden Knights, Stars stand together in tribute to Vegas shooting victims The Stars, revamped with shiny, big-name offseason additions, thoroughly outplayed their fledgling opponent for about 57 minutes....

The league’s Board of Governors voted to approve the plan Tuesday, which removes final decision-making power on video reviews from on-ice officials and into the hands of its hockey operations department. A retired former referee from the NHL’s officiating management team will be added to the situation room located in Toronto, where they’ll be able to weigh in on the decision-making process. The new policy can be applied to games as of March 28....

In reality, Foles got a ton of help. And that’s what one should expect out of a contending team with its eyes set on winning the Super Bowl. MORE: Eagles-Falcons box score, stats Foles, unsettled in the first half, rebounded with a strong, mistake-free second half to put together a solid overall performance (23-of-30, 246 yards, 100.1 passer rating) in doing what he couldn’t four years ago — delivering enough plays to help his team survive its postseason opener....

Foles hurt his left sholder (non-throwing) on the final play of the first quarter in Philadelphia’s Week 9 game after being sacked for the second time by Texans edge pass rusher Whitney Mercilus. Foles later was ruled out for the game. MORE: Week 9 scoreboard | Must-see images | No Clowney, Cushing for Houston Before he left, Foles was 10-of-13 for 121 yards, with one long touchdown to Jeremy Maclin (59 yards) and one long pick six to Texans defensive back A....

A spokesperson from Twitter told Newsweek that the move was made due to “repeated violations” of the company’s rules. The controversial figure has described himself in the past as an “American nationalist” and a “paleo-conservative,” though others have condemned remarks he has made as racist and antisemitic. In February of 2020, Fuentes’ YouTube channel was permanently removed due to what the company cited as “multiple or severe violations of YouTube’s policy prohibiting hate speech....

The Australian enigma didn’t lose his serve as he outlasted the in-form Russian 6-7(1) 6-4 6-2 to set up a meeting with compatriot Alex de Minaur in the round of 16. A victory over the world no.1 at any time is an achievement, but especially when hard court is Medvedev’s favourite surface and the Russian won the Los Cabos Open on that surface last week. Kyrgios is currently ranked 37th in the world, but would have a career-high ranking of 10 if Wimbledon results carried rankings points, after a blistering 2022 season so far....

The Australian 23rd seed put on a show to remember complete with controversial moments and brain fades as he knocked out the Russian 7-6(11) 3-6 6-3 6-2 in the round of 16. Kyrgios will now meet 27th seed Russian Karen Khachanov in the quarter-finals on Wednesday (AEST) as he continues his mission to qualify for his second consecutive Grand Slam finals after just falling short of winning at Wimbledon....

The episode aired Tuesday night and featured a number of different discussions between New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and Saban. During a conversation, Saban talked about the respect he and Belichick have for each other and also touched on some of his previous assistant coaches and their hiring processes. “We’ve always had sort of a mutual respect for how we sort of take each other’s people,” Saban said to Belichick....

He even said he wished Crimson Tide fans showed the same hospitality and passion the Aggies did at Kyle Field. MORE: UT-Bama matchup | Saturday Playbook “You talk about loud. You talk about affecting the game. I mean, their fans really did affect the game, and it says a lot about our players to keep their poise and focus,” Saban said, via the Austin American Statesman . “You know, this is the first place we’ve played for a long, long time, that we never got booed when we came out....

“Blame it on the rim," he told reporters Tuesday (via ESPN’s Baxter Holmes). “The rim was tripping this year. Next year, I’ll take her on a date & treat her better.” MORE: 10 lowest moments in Lakers’ season | What’s next for LA? Young hasn’t played since Feb. 22 because of a broken kneecap, which might as well be another metaphor for the 21-60 Lakers. Young shot 36.6 percent from the field before his injury, so his frustrations with the rim are easy to understand....

At the outbreak of war in September 1939, Neville Chamberlain was the Prime Minister. Despite doing his best patriotic duty, he was replaced by Churchill in a parliamentary coup in May 1940, just as the British Army in France was on the verge of the most humiliating military defeat in our nation’s history. Over the next five years, Churchill’s Conservative government was riven by division and bitterness. Nationally, things were difficult as well....