NHL

2020 NHL All-Star Game odds, line: Expert picks, bracket predictions, best bets from hockey guru The Metropolitan Division goes for its third win in four years when many of the top players in hockey meet on Saturday for the 2020 NHL All-Star Game at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis. The puck drops for the first game of the three-on-three tournament at 8:15 p.m. ET. For the fifth consecutive year, the NHL is showcasing a tourney-style event that pits division against division in two 20-minute mini-games, with the winners facing off in the final for a $1 million prize. The Metropolitan, which erupted for 10 goals in the final to win last year, meets the Atlantic in the first semifinal game, while the Central takes on the Pacific afterward in the 2020 NHL All-Star Game bracket. In the latest 2020 NHL All-Star Game odds, sportsbooks list the Atlantic and Metropolitan at -112 (risk $112 to win $100) in the opener. The Pacific is a -125 favorite (risk $125 to win $100) in the second game..

Wayne Gretzky hopes that Alex Ovechkin breaks his goals record one day Wayne Gretzky truly believes in the idea that "records are made to be broken," so much so that he's actively rooting for Alex Ovechkin to break his all-time goal scoring record. Rather than get crotchety when asked to make comparisons with modern players, as veterans in all sports like to do from time to time, Gretzky expressed his admiration for Ovechkin's talent and applauded where he's gotten so far in his 15 NHL seasons. "What I accomplished, I'm very proud of," Gretzky told NHL.com on Friday. "It's hard to do what I did, and it's really hard to do what he's doing now. But there's no question in my mind that he has a real legitimate chance of doing it. The two things that you need; you've got to stay healthy, and he's proven that over his career. He plays hard and he stays healthy. And, secondly, you've got to be on a good team -- and he plays on a good te..

Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews to miss All-Star game with wrist injury Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews's wrist injury will keep him out of Saturday's All-Star game, the NHL announced Wednesday. Taking his place on the Atlantic Division roster will be Senators forward Brady Tkachuk, who began his career playing for the St. Louis AAA Blues U16 team, in the city where the weekend's festivities are taking place. Matthews is listed as day-to-day while he receives treatment for the wrist injury he's had for some time now. His agent, Judd Moldaver, told TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger that the injury has persisted for about three weeks now, and that while he won't be doing anything on the ice, Matthews is more than happy to represent his team in any capacity off of it. This lingering injury had not resulted in the 22-year-old missing any games this year. Through the Maple Leafs' 49 games this season, he's put up 34 goals and 57 points -- lea..

Gritty being investigated by Philadelphia police for punching young fan in back at team eventOne fan claims Gritty assaulted his 13-year-old son at the Wells Fargo Center Philadelphia police are currently investigating a fan's claim that Flyers mascot Gritty punched his 13-year-old son in the back during a photo opportunity at a game. According to CBS Philly, Chris Greenwell said his 13-year-old son Brandon was physically assaulted by the orange icon at the Wells Fargo Center in November 2019. He filed a complain with police on December 21, 2019. BREAKING: @GrittyNHL is apparently under police investigation for allegations of physical assault, per Philadelphia Police. @CBSPhilly pic.twitter.com/aWdlIIDMtn — Joe Holden (@JoeHoldenCBS3) January 22, 2020 Chris explained that he was at a game with his son when season ticket holders were invited for a photo with the famous mascot and they of course headed over for the chance. Gritty has been a national phenomenon since its debut l..

The rise of Elvis Merzlikins, Alex Ovechkin still isn't aging and what to love about the NHL this weekLet's enjoy the hockey! Welcome to Please Like My Sport, the weekly column in which we find various things that can (and should) make you excited about hockey this week. Whether you're already a hockey enjoyer or someone who is looking for reasons to become one, the goal is to deliver reasons for you to appreciate the NHL right now. Here are some things to enjoy about hockey this week: Elvismania in OhioHeading into this season, we didn't know if the Columbus Blue Jackets even had a real goalie. Sergei Bobrovsky just departed in free agency, going to the Florida Panthers on a monster $70-million contract, and Columbus' starter was projected to be Joonas Korpisalo. With all due respect to Korpisalo, that seemed less than ideal considering he had never been a full-time starter and was coming off back-to-back seasons with a below-.900 save percentage. But now he..

Gritty trolls Astros by banging on trash can during Flyers gameEven the Flyers' mascot is getting in on the jokes The MLB world has been rocked by controversy in recent weeks with the Houston Astros being heavily penalized for their sign-stealing scandal. Quite a few people have taken time to mock the Astros for their involvement in the ordeal and now you can add the Philadelphia Flyers to that list. During Tuesday's game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Flyers, Philly's mascot Gritty was seen banging on a trash can that had an Astros logo on it. The video also shows a sign next to Gritty that reads, "Gritty learnt this from the Astros." Am I doing this right? pic.twitter.com/p3EQZzvYbD — Gritty (@GrittyNHL) January 22, 2020 Gritty normally bangs on a drum at points during Flyers home games, but this is just a hilarious turn of events. Of course, the Astros had a system where someone would bang on a trash can as a signal to alert batters what type of pitch was co..

NHL Power Rankings: Lightning's surge lifts them to top spot, Islanders continue to slideWho (or what) has been the No. 1 star for each team heading into the All-Star break? It's time for another installment of the CBS Sports NHL Power Rankings -- the final edition before the league hits its annual All-Star break, which marks the unofficial end of the season's first "half." A bunch of the league's best will cash in on an impressive start to the year and head to St. Louis for the All-Star festivities this weekend, and it will be a well-deserved honor for plenty of those players. But the All-Star rosters sometimes don't reflect the true stars for each team heading into the break, and so that will be the focus of this week's rankings. As we go through the league's 31 teams, we ask a simple question: Who, or what, is the No. 1 star for that club through the first portion of this season? In some cases, it's a guy who can actually be found on the A..

Florida Panthers selected as host of 2021 NHL All-Star GameThe All-Star Game is headed to south Florida The 2021 NHL All-Star Game will be hosted by the Florida Panthers at BB&T Center, according to multiple reports. An official announcement from the league is expected in the next few days, but both The Athletic and Sportsnet have confirmed the news. This will be the second time the Panthers have held the All-Star Game, with the first and only other time coming in 2003. The Las Vegas Golden Knights and Arizona Coyotes were reportedly two other options for next year's festivities. Overall, it's the fourth time Florida will host the event, as the Tampa Bay Lightning hosted back in 1999 and in 2018. Players seem excited that the Sunshine State is the backdrop for the weekend. Panthers center Vincent Trocheck reacted to the news and looks forward to what it will bring for their city. From Yahoo Sports: "An All-Star Game on the beach? That is awesome. With the sun and our wea..

KHL All-Star game packed so much weird hockey into one night The best hockey of this past weekend apparently belonged to the Russians. In the NHL, Alexander Ovechkin passed Mario Lemieux for 10th on the all-time goals scored list while leading the Capitals to a 6-4 comeback win over the Islanders. But In the KHL, the league's All-Star game took place in Moscow with a collection of shenanigans that one has to see to believe. Like the NHL's All Star Weekend, the KHL's main event goes beyond a run-of-the-mill exhibition game between teams made up of the league's top stars. Nothing is taken seriously and every gimmick just adds to the entertainment. Things started to get quirky quickly when the toss to decide who gets the puck to start the game was done with a piece of paper curreny instead of a coin. Should stick to the 'coin toss' next time. #KHLAllStar pic.twitter.com/d4FowdxziG — KHL (@khl_eng) January 19, 2020 Then there was the decision that coach B..

NHL DFS: Patrick Kane and top FanDuel, DraftKings daily Fantasy hockey picks for Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2020 The 2019-20 NHL season is more than half gone and with the 2020 NHL All-Star Game coming up on Saturday, teams are looking to finish strong before the break. The Chicago Blackhawks have won five games in a row to get themselves back into the thick of NHL playoff picture, and on Tuesday they'll take on the Florida Panthers in a game where the over-under is set at 6.5. That's the highest total of any game on Tuesday night and that will make stars like Jonathan Toews, Alex DeBrincat, Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau popular picks for NHL DFS lineups. The Vegas Golden Knights will also be in action and their power-play currently ranks eighth in the NHL. But they're going up against the third-ranked penalty kill of the Boston Bruins, so including Mark Stone, Paul Stastny, Max Pacioretty, Alex Tuch and Shea Theodore in your NHL DFS stacks could be a risky move. Bef..