john tortorella

Brooks Orpik called it a career Tuesday after 15 bruising NHL seasons in which he established himself as a big-hitting, shutdown defenseman.

Surprise, surprise, all four division champions lost in the first round for the first time in major four North American pro sports history, the teams that played in last year's Cup Final are out and the team that finished 21 points ahead of the rest of the NHL got swept.

Nicklas Backstrom scored his second goal of the game 11:53 into overtime to give the Washington Capitals a 4-3 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on

A winner was determined in regulation for the first time in the NHL Eastern Conference quarterfinal series as the Washington Capitals won their second straight game to pull even with the Columbus Blue Jackets at two games apiece.

The Capitals blew a two-goal lead for the third straight game. They went to overtime for a third straight game. This time, they won.

The Blue Jackets have stunned the Metropolitan Division-champion Washington Capitals with back-to-back overtime wins.

Artemi Panarin scored 6:02 into overtime to give the Blue Jackets a 4-3 victory over the Capitals on Thursday night in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series.

New York Rangers forward Taylor Pyatt initially thought the team's equipment managers might not like him as much as Rick Nash.