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The NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs begin Saturday. Here's what to watch for
Oliver Ekman-Larsson of the Florida Panthers celebrates with the Stanley Cup following their victory over the Edmonton Oilers in Game Seven of the 2024 NHL Stanley Cup Final on June 24, 2024. The 2025 playoffs begin Saturday with hopes of an equally thrilling ending.
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Bruce Bennett/Getty Images
WASHINGTON — Hockey’s Stanley Cup Playoffs begin Saturday.
It’s a tall order to live up to last year’s dramatic seven-game final. But the pieces are in place for an entertaining playoffs, with contenders for first-time Stanley Cup winners and generational stars looking for a last trophy to cap off their career.
The puck drops on the first round with a pair of games on Saturday and three more to follow Sunday. And with no New York, no Boston and no Chicago in the mix, it’s a chance for smaller(-ish) markets to shine — including the NHL’s smallest market, Winnipeg, whose Jets finished with the best record in the league and head into the playoffs with a top seed.
Here’s who to watch for:
The Washington Capitals
Pre-season expectations were low, low, low for the Washington Capitals last fall.

In October, the Athletic gave the Caps only an 18% chance of making the playoffs — and less than a 1% likelihood of earning more than 110 points. Franchise cornerstone Alex Ovechkin turned 39 and had just posted the second-lowest goal-scoring season of his career. The only two other remaining pieces of the roster that won the Stanley Cup in 2018 — winger Tom Wilson and defenseman John Carlson — also looked to be past their primes.
Instead, Washington has blown those expectations out of the water.
The Capitals have the best record in the Eastern Conference. Ovechkin has the fourth-most goals in the league, and his chase for Gretzky’s all-time career goals record energized the whole team. Younger players like Dylan Strome, Connor McMichael and Aliaksei Protas have all played the best seasons of their careers.
Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals scores a goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins Thursday. Coming into the season, the expectations for the Capitals were low. But the team has the best record in the Eastern Conference.
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Justin Berl/Getty Images
Yet now that the Ovi-Gretzky chase is over and the playoffs are nigh, there is cause for concern. The Caps have slumped. Injuries and perhaps a post-chase energy comedown have contributed to losses in eight of their last 12 games.
“It’s like, has this chase drawn too much out of them, or has this raised their game to another level and they’re just kind of patiently waiting now to start playing playoffs and ramp it back up again?” said ESPN analyst P. K. Subban, who played 13 seasons in the NHL.
No team ever wants to enter the playoffs on a cold streak, yet that’s exactly where the Capitals are. Now they’ll look to shake it off in a first-round matchup against the Montreal Canadiens.
The Tkachuks
Whether you see Tkachuks as the heroes or the villains might depend on your national allegiance … or your political persuasion. But it’s undeniable that last February’s 4 Nations Face-Off, the NHL’s wildly successful replacement for an All-Star Game, propelled the two brothers from hockey stars into actual stars.
Both Tkachuks — Matthew, of the Florida Panthers, and Brady, of the Ottawa Senators — were already big names in the hockey world. And as Americans with six NHL All-Star Game appearances between them, they were locks for Team USA.

The 4 Nations Face-Off began just a couple weeks after President Trump’s inauguration. When Team USA traveled to Montreal to play Canada, the Canadian fans showered the arena with boos as the Star-Spangled Banner was sung. And Matthew Tkachuk “didn’t like” that, as he said later, and the moment the puck hit the ice, he dropped his gloves to fight a Canadian player. Brady did the same moments later. It was an electric moment for hockey. (The U.S. won that game, which was the most-viewed non-Olympic hockey game ever in the U.S. But Canada got the last laugh when it won the final in overtime.)
Ahead of the final, Matthew Tkachuk told ESPN that he viewed 4 Nations as more important than the previous year’s Stanley Cup Final between his Panthers and the Edmonton Oilers, which went to seven games. “Even comparing it to last year’s game, this feels bigger. It feels bigger than Game 7,” he said.
For both Tkachuk brothers, the spring has been a bit of a comedown since then. Matthew sustained a lower-body injury during the 4 Nations event that has sidelined him for the past 25 games. And Brady has dealt with an injury of his own that has caused him to miss eight games.
But both are set to return in the playoffs. Matthew’s Panthers open with a first-round matchup against fellow Floridians, the Tampa Bay Lightning. And Brady’s Senators will take on the Toronto Maple Leafs in a “battle for Ontario.”
No matter the results, get ready to see them back with Team USA next February in the 2026 Winter Olympics.
The Winnipeg Jets celebrate a win against the New York Rangers last month. Winnipeg is a long-suffering hockey town. But this year, the Jets finished 56-22-4, the best record in hockey. And the pressure is on to deliver.
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Winnipeg’s first Stanley Cup?
Winnipeg is a long-suffering hockey town.
The first iteration of its NHL team, the Jets, played in town from 1979 to 1996 — and never won a Stanley Cup, or even advanced past the second round of the playoffs. Then, the team packed up and moved to Arizona, and Winnipeg went without an NHL team until 2011. When the new version of the Jets arrived in town, local fans were so hungry for an NHL team that tickets to the home opener went for $1,000 or more.
Yet this new version of the Jets hasn’t won a Stanley Cup, either. And it’s not because the team has been bad: They’ve reached the playoffs in seven of the past eight seasons.

This year, the Jets finished 56-22-4, the best record in hockey. And the pressure is on to deliver. A mere appearance in the Stanley Cup Final would be the best result in franchise history, new or old.
One player to know: The Jets’ hopes rest, in large part, on the shoulders of goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, who leads the NHL in both wins and save percentage. No team allowed fewer goals all season than the Jets. (Hellebuyck was another star for Team USA in the 4 Nations Faceoff.)
“The kind of year that he’s stitched together for himself this year is really, really, really impressive,” said Mark Messier, the six-time Stanley Cup champion who is now an analyst for ESPN. “And it hasn’t been all Hellebuyck. They’ve played excellent structurally. They’ve got great scoring, timely scoring, depth at position.”
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Man Charged With Posting Bomb Instructions Used in New Orleans Attack
Federal prosecutors have filed charges against a former Army serviceman they accused of distributing instructions on how to build explosives that were used by a man who conducted a deadly attack in New Orleans on New Year’s Day last year.
The former serviceman, Jordan A. Derrick, a 40-year-old from Missouri, was charged with one count of engaging in the business of manufacturing explosive materials without a license; one count of unlawful possession of an unregistered destructive device; and one count of distributing information relating to manufacturing explosives, according to a criminal complaint unsealed on Wednesday. The three charges together carry a maximum sentence of 40 years in federal prison.
Starting in September 2023, the authorities said, Mr. Derrick was using various social media sites to share videos of himself making explosive materials, including detonators. His videos provided step-by-step instructions, and he often engaged with viewers in comments, sometimes answering their questions about the chemistry behind the explosives.
The authorities said that Mr. Derrick’s videos were downloaded by Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar, 42, who was accused of ramming a pickup truck into a crowd on Bourbon Street in New Orleans on Jan. 1, 2025, in a terrorist attack that killed 14 people and injured dozens. Mr. Jabbar was killed in a shootout with the police. Before the attack, Mr. Jabbar had placed two explosives on Bourbon Street, the authorities said, but they did not detonate.
The authorities later recovered two laptops and a USB drive in a house that Mr. Jabbar had rented. The USB drive contained several videos created by Mr. Derrick that provided instructions on making explosives. The authorities said the explosives they recovered were consistent with the ones Mr. Derrick had posted about.
Mr. Derrick’s lawyers did not respond to requests for comment.
Mr. Derrick was a combat engineer in the Army, where he provided personnel and vehicle support, the authorities said. He also helped supervise safety personnel during demolitions and various operations. He was honorably discharged in February 2013.
The authorities did not say whether Mr. Derrick had any communication with Mr. Jabbar, or whether the men had known each other. In some of Mr. Derrick’s videos and comments, he indicated that he was aware that his videos could be misused.
“There are a plethora of uh, moral, you know, entanglements with topics, any topic of teaching explosives, right?” he asked in one video, according to the affidavit. “Of course, the wrong people could get it.”
The authorities also said that an explosion occurred at a private residence in Odessa, Mo., on May 4, and the occupant of the residence told investigators that he had manufactured explosives after watching online tutorials from Mr. Derrick.
Mr. Derrick’s YouTube account had more than 15,000 subscribers and 20 published videos, the affidavit said. He had also posted content on other platforms, including Odysee and Patreon. Some videos were accessible to the public for free, while others required a paid subscription to view.
“My responsibility to my countrymen is to make sure that I serve the function of the Second Amendment to strengthen it,” Mr. Derrick said in one of his videos, according to the affidavit. “This is how I serve my country for real.”
Outside of the income he received through content creation, Mr. Derrick did not have any known employment. He did receive a monthly disability check from Veterans Affairs, the affidavit stated.
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Chud the Builder, Known for Racist Confrontations, Charged With Attempted Murder
A streamer known for hurling racist slurs in public settings under the nickname “Chud the Builder” was charged with attempted murder after a shooting outside a Tennessee courthouse on Wednesday, the authorities said.
The streamer, Dalton Eatherly, 28, was involved in a confrontation with an unidentified man that escalated to gunfire outside the Montgomery County Court in Clarksville, about 50 miles northwest of Nashville, the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. Both men sustained gunshot wounds and were in stable condition, the office said.
In addition to attempted murder, Mr. Eatherly was charged with employing a firearm during dangerous felony, aggravated assault and reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon, the sheriff’s office said.
Mr. Eatherly, who is white, has accumulated an online audience by livestreaming confrontations in which he uses racist language toward Black people in public.
Law enforcement did not provide any details about the second man involved in Wednesday’s shooting. Mr. Eatherly posted an audio recording online of paramedics treating his wounds in which he claims he shot the man in self-defense.
A video posted by the website Clarksville Now shows Mr. Eatherly on a stretcher with a microphone attached to his lapel.
Mr. Eatherly is being held at the Montgomery County Jail, pending arraignment, the sheriff’s office said.
According to court records, Mr. Eatherly was scheduled to appear for a court hearing on Wednesday morning in an unrelated case brought by Midland Credit Management, a collections agency.
A lawyer listed in court records from a separate harassment case in which Mr. Eatherly was a defendant in November did not respond to a request for comment.
On Sunday, three days before the shooting in Clarksville, Mr. Eatherly was arrested in Nashville. According to a police affidavit, Mr. Eatherly live streamed his meal at a restaurant, Bob’s Steak and Chop House, on Saturday even though the restaurant had asked him ahead of time not to do so.
When he was confronted, Mr. Eatherly “became disruptive and started making racial statements, yelling, screaming and otherwise creating a scene,” according to the affidavit.
He then refused to pay for his $370 meal. Mr. Eatherly was charged with theft of services, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. He was released on $5,000 bond.
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