Kayla Douglas

Lindy Ruff has already spent a combined 25 seasons with the Buffalo Sabres as a player and head coach, but his latest stint with the franchise is personal."I think I understand ... how great this city is when you have a successful hockey club. ... It would mean a lot to have this group of players experience what I was able to experience as a player and as a coach," the bench boss said Tuesday during his introductory press conference. "This building shook in some of the playoff series." Ruff played 608 games with the Sabres from 1979-89, then returned to serve as head coach from 1997 to 2013. Buffalo made the playoffs eight times with him at the helm, including three trips to the conference finals and one to the Stanley Cup Final. The Sabres extended their playoff drought to 13 seasons after missing out on the postseason by seven points. The last time they played beyond the regular season was in 2011 when Ruff was nearing the end of his first tour behind Buffalo's bench.Ruff, whom the New Jersey Devils fired in early March, made it clear he didn't say yes right away when the Sabres called."I was questioning myself, 'Why would I do this?'" he said. "Then I came to a point, 'Why wouldn't I?' Because I'm a risk-taker. I think if there's no risk, there's no reward. I'm putting myself in that position." Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams spoke to double-digit candidates after firing Don Granato last Tuesday but soon landed on Ruff as the right person for the job."I truly believe that he's the person to take us to the next level," Adams said. "Our players are craving it, we're excited about it, and the hard work begins now."Ruff knows that shifting the Sabres' culture to a winning one won't be easy, but he believes he's a "much better coach" now than when he first left Buffalo."The only thing we can say is, when we hit camp, we're going to prove that we're going to get to the next level," Ruff said. "I want (the players) to love playing here," he added. "I want them to love playing for each other, and I want them to love being a Buffalo Sabre for Sabres fans that I think are some of the greatest in the league. How are we gonna get there? We're going to have to earn it from Day 1. ... We're gonna have to step on the ice when the season starts and earn the respect of everybody."

Marchand: Maple Leafs 'built different' than past years

The Islanders will turn to goalie Ilya Sorokin for Thursday's Game 3 against the Carolina Hurricanes with New York down 2-0 in the series, head coach Patrick Roy announced Wednesday, per the New York Post's Ethan Sears. Semyon Varlamov has started the first two games of the opening-round clash and has surrendered six goals on 63 shots, good for a .905 save percentage. The Hurricanes beat him twice in a span of nine seconds to seal the comeback victory in Game 2. The 35-year-old has saved 2.2 goals above expected at all strengths in the series so far, per Natural Stat Trick. Sorokin posted a .909 save percentage and a 25-19-12 record during the regular season - a bit of a down year by his standards. He's appeared on the Vezina Trophy ballot in each of the past two campaigns and was the runner-up last season.The Islanders leaned on Varlamov down the stretch as they forced their way into the playoff picture. He posted a sterling 8-1-1 record, .930 save percentage, and 2.09 goals against average in his last 10 games of the regular season. He had won his last five starts heading into the postseason.Sorokin owns a career .925 save percentage, 2.70 goals against average, and 6-5 record across two playoff runs in 2021 and 2023. The Hurricanes, meanwhile, are expected to be without defenseman Brett Pesce for the remainder of the series.

Hurricanes defenseman Brett Pesce is expected to miss the rest of Carolina's first-round clash against the New York Islanders, head coach Rod Brind'Amour confirmed Wednesday, per the Raleigh News & Observer's Chip Alexander.

The San Jose Sharks fired head coach David Quinn after two campaigns at the helm, the team announced Wednesday.

The Stars found themselves in awe of Wyatt Johnston after the 20-year-old forward's dominant Game 3 performance prevented Dallas from going down 3-0 in its first-round series against the Vegas Golden Knights. "What a player," head coach Pete DeBoer said after his team's 3-2 overtime victory Saturday night, according to The Associated Press. "He still can't get in the casino and play cards - he's not old enough. It's unbelievable.""Really incredible play by one of ... the great young players, the next generation of stars of this league. I thought he was just outstanding tonight for a kid to be under 21 years old and be on that ice with that level of player and look like he did all night tonight, just an outstanding player."Johnston scored a pair of goals, including the overtime winner, to get the Western Conference's top seed on the board in the series. He's the youngest player in franchise history to score an OT postseason goal, surpassing Steve Ott, who was 21 years old when he played the hero during Game 3 of the 2004 Western Conference quarterfinals.Johnston's excellent night wasn't limited to just the final scoresheet, either: He was credited with a team-high eight shots, nine scoring chances, and a whopping 15 shot attempts at all strengths, according to Natural Stat Trick. "Maybe he's gotta pass one of them, I don't know," veteran forward Tyler Seguin joked, per Bally Sports Southwest. He added, "Seeing (Johnston) last year, and then how much he's evolved to this year - it's one thing being elite in the regular season but to do it in playoffs, at his age, that's great."This is Johnston's second NHL campaign. He led the Stars with 32 goals and tied for third with 65 points in 82 contests during the regular season.The Stars were up 2-0 at the midway mark of the middle frame Saturday, but the Golden Knights scored twice before the second intermission to tie things up. Vegas netminder Logan Thompson was outstanding, turning aside 43 of 45 shots before Johnston scored the dagger late in the extra frame."We have a kid here that's elite and won the game for us," Seguin said.

Washington Capitals veteran T.J. Oshie offered some advice to his teammates ahead of Sunday's do-or-die Game 4 against the New York Rangers: "Just let it all hang out there.""We can't do anything about the first three games," he said. "The worst thing you can do is wake up tomorrow and regret not blocking a shot, or regret not backchecking as hard as you absolutely can."He continued: "Your back's against the wall, you gotta throw everything at them. There's really no reason to be nervous, we don't got any time for it." The Rangers hold a 3-0 chokehold on the first-round clash. Washington has never recovered from such a deficit, though it did pull off a 3-1 series comeback in the opening round of the 2009 playoffs against the Blueshirts.New York has outscored the Capitals 11-5 in the series, but where the underdogs have struggled the most is on special teams. The Rangers capitalized on three of their 12 power-play opportunities. Washington has converted twice on 15 chances while allowing two shorthanded goals.The play has been more even at five-on-five, with the ice tilting slightly in the Capitals' favor everywhere but the scoreboard:Team CF% SCF% xGF% GF GACapitals 50.6 52.6 55.7 3 6Rangers 49.4 47.4 44.3 6 3Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin has saved 1.76 goals above expected at five-on-five, per Natural Stat Trick. Connor McMichael is the only forward to score an even-strength goal for Washington.Five players from the Capitals team that won the Stanley Cup in 2018 remain on the roster: Alex Ovechkin, John Carlson, Tom Wilson, Oshie, and the injured Niklas Backstrom. Meanwhile, eight of Washington's players are getting their first taste of the playoffs this spring.Though Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery acknowledged that this experience is "really valuable" for his younger players, he dismissed the notion that his team is just happy to have made the postseason."We will never be satisfied if we gained experience, got into the playoffs," he said. "To me, that's a loser's mindset."He added: "It doesn't mean we're gonna win a Stanley Cup, but you should have a mindset that you expect to win, you expect to get into the playoffs, and you expect to beat the New York Rangers in the first round, and anything short of that is a failure." Puck drops on Game 4 at 8 p.m. ET in Washington.

The Los Angeles Kings will turn to David Rittich in net for Game 4 against the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday night, according to team beat reporter Zach Dooley.Cam Talbot started the first three games, posting a 5.30 goals-against average and an .861 save percentage. He ranks last among all netminders in the postseason in both goals saved above average (minus-3.74) and goals saved above expected (minus-3.08) at all strengths, according to Evolving-Hockey.Edmonton currently holds a 2-1 series lead. Rittich went 13-6-3 in the regular season with a stellar .921 save percentage and 2.15 goals-against average. His last appearance came on April 13 in a 3-1 victory against the Anaheim Ducks.The 31-year-old made two starts against the Oilers in the regular season - a 4-0 shutout victory and 4-2 loss - and registered a .930 save percentage while turning aside 53 of 57 shots. Rittich only has two games of playoff experience; he appeared in one contest as a member of the Calgary Flames in 2020 and one with the Nashville Predators two years later. It's a severely limited sample size, but he owns a postseason save percentage of .636.Puck drop is scheduled for 10:30 p.m. ET in Los Angeles.

The Vancouver Canucks' crease just keeps getting thinner. Rookie Arturs Silovs started Game 4 against the Nashville Predators on Sunday while Casey DeSmith deals with an injury.

The Vancouver Canucks' crease just keeps getting thinner, but they keep finding ways to win.