PETE DEBOER

NHL forward Jack Eichel arrives in Vegas with a set of questions for the Golden Knights.

The Vegas Golden Knights have traded reigning Vezina Trophy-winning goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury to the Chicago Blackhawks.

The New York Rangers have reached an agreement to hire Gerard Gallant as their next coach, a person with knowledge of the move tells The Associated Press.

Jonathan Marchessault, Max Pacioretty and William Karlsson came through with timely goals for the Vegas Golden Knights in their 4-2 series win over Colorado.

APTOPIX Golden Knights Avalanche Hockey Colorado Avalanche players congratulate Mikko Rantanen after his overtime goal against the Vegas Golden Knights during Game 2 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup second-round playoff series Wednesday, June 2, 2021, in Denver. That’s what you need if you want to win the Cup.”The Golden Knights weren't pleased with the slashing call. The Avs and Golden Knights split the eight games in the regular season and finished tied for the most points in the league. “If we keep playing the way we did tonight, we all have confidence in our team that we can come back in the series,” Fleury said. AROUND THE RINKColorado is 14-1 in a best-of-seven playoff series when winning the first two games since relocating to Denver in 1995-96.

Mikko Rantanen scored a power-play goal 2:07 into overtime, Philipp Grubauer outdueled fellow Vezina Trophy finalist Marc-Andre Fleury and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Vegas Golden Knights 3-2 to take a 2-0 lead in their second-round playoff series.

Mikko Rantanen found himself in the middle of an on-ice swarm from teammates after scoring the winner. Wonderful and all, but he wanted to make sure the real star of the show received his fair share of the credit, too — goaltender Philipp Grubauer. Rantanen scored a power-play goal 2:07 into overtime, Grubauer outdueled fellow Vezina Trophy finalist Marc-Andre Fleury and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Vegas Golden Knights 3-2 on Wednesday night to take a 2-0 lead in their second-round playoff series.

Wild Golden Knights Hockey Minnesota Wild center Joel Eriksson Ek (14) defends against Vegas Golden Knights right wing Ryan Reaves (75) during the second period of Game 1 of a first-round NHL hockey playoff series Sunday, May 16, 2021, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/David Becker) (David Becker)DENVER — (AP) — Vegas forward Ryan Reaves was suspended two games by the NHL on Monday for his roughing and unsportsmanlike conduct on Colorado's Ryan Graves during the Golden Knights' 7-1 loss in Game 1 of their second-round series Sunday. The league also noted Reaves' actions — the roughing and unsportsmanlike conduct — were "retaliation" for an earlier hit by Graves on Mattias Janmark. “Reaves and the Golden Knights acknowledged that, angered by the earlier hit, he takes this opportunity to send a message to Graves as payback,” the league said in the video. The Golden Knights had one day off following a grueling first-round series with Minnesota.

Vegas forward Ryan Reaves was suspended two games by the NHL for his roughing and unsportsmanlike conduct on Colorado’s Ryan Graves during the Golden Knights’ 7-1 loss in Game 1 of their second-round series Sunday.

Mattias Janmark notched his first career hat trick as the Vegas Golden Knights eliminated the Minnesota Wild with a 6-2 win in Game 7 of their opening-round series.

Players testing positive for the coronavirus late in the NHL's regular season and at the start of the playoffs affected multiple teams.

“You just don’t throw experience on the ice and experience wins the game. You still have to play the game,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “We’ve had 2-1 leads before in playoff series and know how to deal with that,” Cooper added. “I think Game 1 could have went either way, so we were close in all the games,” Florida’s Jonathan Huberdeau said. A look at other games on Saturday:PENGUINS at ISLANDERS, Penguins lead series 2-1 (3 p.m. EDT, NBC)The Penguins have been successful in stopping the Islanders from building much momentum.

Postseason experience can be a valuable asset in the NHL playoffs.

Reilly Smith capped a three-goal second-period surge by the Vegas Golden Knights with the go-ahead score in a 5-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild.

Vegas Golden Knights goalie Marc-Andre Fleury has stopped 63 of 65 shots from the Minnesota Wild over the first two games of their West Division playoff series.

The first-ever playoff game between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers could be tough to top.

(AP Photo/Nick Wass)WASHINGTON – Capitals players and coach Peter Laviolette sounded as if they'd lost after holding on to beat the New York Rangers 5-4 Sunday. Washington has won 10 of 11 games to move two points up on the second-place New York Islanders and looks primed for another deep playoff run. “If there’s a trend, we want to address it,” said Wilson, who has five points in four games since returning from a seven-game suspension. And their best players are producing: Ovechkin has 11 goals in 11 games and leads the team with 18; Kuznetsov has 12 points in 10 games and Jakub Vrana picked up his first point in five games. Keith Kinkaid made 17 saves for the Rangers, who have lost back-to-back one-goal games after a three-game winning streak.

Workers put the finishing touches on the temporary ice rink, Friday, Feb. 19, 2021, built at the Edgewood Tahoe Resort, that will host two NHL games, this weekend at Stateline, Nev. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)STATELINE, Nev. – Some players snapped pictures of Lake Tahoe and the majestic Sierra Nevada mountains as they came out for their first look at the picturesque outdoor rink that will host a pair of NHL games this weekend. This is a drop the mic type outdoor rink. The guys really, really enjoyed it today. The only thing we’re missing is fans.”AdWith the COVID-19 pandemic limiting attendance at games, the NHL took the opportunity to hold a pair of outdoor games at a unique setting unlike the 30 previous outdoor games at stadiums.

“I’m feeling quite well but, of course, scarred by the experience.”The first month of the NHL's pandemic-shortened season has been a bumpy one. From Jan. 13 through Saturday, 120 players from 26 of 31 teams have spent at least one day on the COVID-19 list. Minnesota and New Jersey are scheduled to return Tuesday, while the Philadelphia Flyers, who currently have seven players on the NHL COVID-19 list, are on pause until at least Thursday. AdThe NHL had 22 players on the COVID-19 list on Jan. 30, and that number ballooned to a season-high 59 on Friday. Rapid tests return results within a half hour and augment the PCR daily tests which were already taking place.

Vegas Golden Knights right wing Mark Stone (61) reacts after scoring a goal against the San Jose Sharks during the second period of an NHL hockey game in San Jose, Calif., Saturday, Feb. 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Josie Lepe)SAN JOSE, Calif. – Jonathan Marchessault scored the first of Vegas’ three power-play goals and the Golden Knights spoiled San Jose’s first home game in nearly a year with a 3-1 victory over the Sharks on Saturday. San Jose was given the unbalanced schedule because of local restrictions that banned contact sports and practices, forcing the Sharks to hold training camp in Arizona. He was hired last January by Vegas but hadn’t faced San Jose until Saturday. SIMEK SIDELINEDSharks D Radim Simek left in the second period after taking two hard hits from Marchessault.

CORRECTS TO SHOOTOUT, INSTEAD OF OVERTIME - St. Louis Blues center Brayden Schenn (10) scores on Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Robin Lehner (90) in the shootout of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)LAS VEGAS – Missing all their coaches, Max Pacioretty and the Vegas Golden Knights still managed to earn a point. David Perron and Brayden Schenn scored in a shootout Tuesday to give the St. Louis Blues a 5-4 victory over Vegas. Pacioretty got his seventh career hat trick for the Golden Knights, who were without their entire coaching staff because of COVID-19 concerns. The Golden Knights were 1 for 6 with a man advantage and are 3 of 26 (11.5%) this season.

FILE - In this Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2020, file photo, San Jose Sharks' Erik Karlsson, of Sweden, skates during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the St. Louis Blues in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File)A disappointing 2019-20 season kept the San Jose Sharks out of the NHL bubble when the season restarted following the long break for the coronavirus. The Sharks are set to open the season on an eight-game road trip before their first two scheduled home games Feb. 1 and 3 against Vegas. San Jose has six of eight games on the road after the opening two home games, hosting Anaheim on Feb. 13 and 15. The Sharks then come back home Feb. 26 and are scheduled to play 24 of their last 38 games in San Jose.

FILE - In this March 9, 2020, file photo, St. Louis Blues' Alex Pietrangelo (27) and Florida Panthers' Aleksi Saarela (28) chase after the puck during the first period of an NHL hockey game in St. Louis. The Vegas Golden Knights have agreed to terms on a $61.6 million, seven-year contract with top free agent Pietrangelo, a person with direct knowledge of the move tells The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File)Alex Pietrangelo heard it can snow in Las Vegas and wasn't worried about bundling up his four children if necessary. After leaving the Blues he led to the 2019 title to sign a $61.6 million contract with the Golden Knights, Pietrangelo hopes to play a big role in getting the young franchise to the top of the NHL. Talking with Foley and seeing the other moves the Golden Knights have made to move into perennial Cup contention convinced Pietrangelo to put St. Louis in his past and sign with Vegas.

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.