Detroit Downs Devils, 5-2

The Detroit Red Wings extended their winning streak to three games with a 5-2 victory at New Jersey last night. The Red Wings win the season series, two games to one.

Detroit's Dylan Larkin (Michigan) scored his 30th goal of the season, which turned out to be the game-winner, and added an assist. He has now scored at least 30 goals in four straight seasons. J.T. Compher (Michigan) also scored for the Red Wings, while Alex Lyon (Yale) made 28 saves. Erik Haula (Minnesota) notched a goal and an assist for the host Devils, with Seamus Casey (Michigan) assisting on Haula's goal. Devils defenseman Brian Dumoulin (Boston College) logged a game-high time on ice of 26:17 before a crowd of 16,514 at the Prudential Center in Newark.

The Devils, who will face Carolina in the first round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, closed out their regular season with a 42-33-7 overall record, and finished third in the Eastern Conference's Metropolitan Division. The Red Wings (39-35-7), who have been eliminated from NHL postseason consideration for the ninth consecutive year, will close out their 2024-25 campaign tonight at Toronto.

Former NCAA Players Changing NHL Places (2023)

Former NCAA players have been changing places lately in the National Hockey League, since the start of June. Listed below are those players, in alphabetical order by last name, along with their school, former NHL club, and new NHL club, per sportsnet.ca:

• Shane Bowers (Boston University) - Boston to New Jersey 

• Ross Colton (Vermont) - Tampa Bay to Colorado

• J.T. Compher (Michigan) - Colorado to Detroit 

• Kevin Hayes (Boston College) - Philadelphia to St. Louis

• Alex Iafallo (Minnesota-Duluth) - Los Angeles to Winnipeg

• Steven Kampfer (Michigan) - Detroit to Arizona

• Alex Newhook (Boston College) - Montreal to Colorado

• Cal Petersen (Notre Dame) - Los Angeles to Philadelphia

• Jonathan Quick (UMass) - Vegas to New York Rangers 

• Reilly Walsh (Harvard) - New Jersey to Boston 

• Sean Walker (Bowling Green) - Los Angeles to Philadelphia

NOTE: List may not be all inclusive.

Players in bold won the Stanley Cup while with their last NHL club. 

Makar, Avs Rout Lightning in Game Two

Cale Makar (UMass) made up for not having a point or a shot on goal in the opener of the 2022 Stanley Cup Final. by scoring two goals in Colorado's 7-0 rout of two-time defending champion Tampa Bay tonight in Denver. The Avalanche now lead the best-of-seven series, two games to none.

Makar tallied both shorthanded and power-play goals in the third period, after the host Avalanche raced out to a 3-0 lead after 20 minutes on the visiting Lightning, an advantage which ballooned to 5-0 after two periods of play. Alex Newhook (Boston College) and Andrew Cogliano (Michigan) each had two assists on the evening for Colorado, which is now 14-2 in the playoffs so far this spring.

The Avs had won the series opener, 4-3, on Wednesday at Ball Arena, on an overtime goal that was assisted by J.T. Compher (Michigan). Game Three is slated for Monday night at Amalie Arena in Tampa (8 p.m. ET, ABC, CBC).

Avalanche Win NHL's Western Conference Final

The Colorado Avalanche are going to the Stanley Cup Final, for the first time in 21 years.

Colorado defenseman Cale Makar (UMass) scored the game-opening goal and then set up four others, including the game-winner in overtime, as the Avalanche rebounded from a two-goal deficit to defeat the host Edmonton Oilers, 6-5, in Game Four of the NHL's 2002 Western Conference Final tonight. Colorado swept the best-of-seven series, four games to none. 

The Avalanche are now 7-0 on the road in this year's playoffs. They had won Game Three on Saturday, 4-2, in Edmonton, with J.T. Compher (Michigan) scoring the game-winner in the third period, to take a stranglehold on the series. 

Makar, 23, now has five goals and 17 assists for 22 points in 14 Stanley Cup Playoff contests so far this spring, and 12-41—53 points in 49 career NHL postseason appearances, all with Colorado, after being drafted fourth overall by the Avs in 2017 prior to beginning his college career. In his second and final season at UMass in 2018-19, the Calgary native led the Minutemen to their first-ever NCAA title game, and also won the Hobey Baker Memorial Award as the nation's top college player after tallying 16-33—49 points in 41 outings.

Dylan Holloway (Wisconsin) made his NHL debut tonight for the Oilers, and had one hit and was a plus-one in seven shifts. The 20-year-old Calgary native collected 19-33—52 points in two seasons at Wisconsin, and also helped the Badgers to the 2021 NCAA tournament before turning pro.

The Avs, who won the Stanley Cup in 1996 and 2001 in their only previous Final appearances, will face the winner of this year's Eastern Conference Final between the New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning. New York currently leads that series, two games to one.

Michigan's Compher Helps Avs Oust Blues

J.T. Compher (Michigan) scored two goals, and the Colorado Avalanche added another with less than six seconds remaining in regulation to edge the host St. Louis Blues, 3-2, in a Stanley Cup Playoff contest. Colorado wins the best-of-seven second-round series, four games to two.

Compher pulled the Avalanche into 1-1 and 2-2 ties with his pair of goals. The first came just over five minutes into the second period, while his second came midway through the third stanza on a power play and was assisted by Devon Toews (Quinnipiac). Erik Johnson (Minnesota) then assisted on Darren Helm's winning goal with time winding down to send Colorado to its first conference final in exactly 20 years.

Compher, 27, from Northbrook, Ill., has 71 goals and 71 assists for 142 points in 341 NHL regular-season games, all with Colorado, to go with 10-13—23 points in 53 career Stanley Cup Playoff outings with the Avalanche. He played three seasons at Michigan (2014-2016), where he recorded 39-79—118 points in 107 appearances. He also helped the Wolverines to a Big Ten playoff title and NCAA tournament berth in his final campaign, when he led them with 47 assists.

Colorado will now face Edmonton, a five-game series winner over Calgary, in the Western Conference final.

U.S. Women's Hockey Still Undefeated at 2022 Olympics

The United States women's hockey team is off to a 3-0 start at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, China. Team USA just added an 8-0 win over Switzerland this weekend to earlier triumphs over the Russian Olympic Committee (5-0) and Finland (5-2).

The Americans, who have outshot their opponents so far by an incredible 180-36 margin, have been led in scoring by Hilary Knight (Wisconsin), Amanda Kessel (Minnesota) and Savannah Harmon (Clarkson), who have each tallied five points through three outings. Knight scored two goals in the shutout victory over Switzerland, as did Jesse Compher (Boston University) and Kelly Pannek (Minnesota).

Team USA will now face rival Canada, which is also 3-0, in its next contest (tonight, 11 p.m. ET, USA Network, TSN 2). It will be a rematch of the 2018 gold medal game in Pyeongchang, South Korea, which the U.S. won, 3-2, in a shootout to earn its first Olympic women's hockey title since the inaugural one was awarded in 1998 in Nagano, Japan. 

The Americans will be playing the rest of the way without one of their staples from four years ago in alternate captain Brianna Decker (Wisconsin). The 2012 winner of the Patty Kazmaier Award as the top NCAA women's hockey player has been sidelined for the rest of this year's Olympic tournament after she suffered a leg injury in the win over Finland.

ADDENDUM: Despite being outshot by almost a two-to-one-margin, Canada strung together three goals in the second period to defeat the U. S., 4-2. and finish first in Group A, while the Americans placed second. Veteran forward Brianne Jenner (Cornell) scored twice for the Canadians, who also got goals from Jamie Lee Rattray (Clarkson) and Marie-Philip Poulin (Boston University). Ann-Renee Desbiens (Wisconsin) finished with 51 saves in net for Team Canada.

Gaudreau Powers U.S. to Win Over Sweden

Johnny Gaudreau (Boston College) of the NHL's Calgary Flames scored two goals and was named the American player of the game as the U.S. Men's National Team edged Sweden, 4-3, before a crowd of 18,398 in a preliminary-round contest at the 2017 IIHF World Championship in Cologne, Germany.

J.T. Compher (Michigan) of the Colorado Avalanche tallied the game-winning goal in the third period for the U.S., which outshot Sweden by a 39-23 margin and rebounded from three one-goal deficits. Jack Eichel (Boston University) of the Buffalo Sabres registered two assists while Clayton Keller (Boston University) scored the other U.S. goal, and Jimmy Howard (Maine) of the Detroit Red Wings made 20 saves for the Americans.

The win improved Team USA's record in the annual tournament to 2-1-0, including an earlier 2-1 loss to Germany followed by a 7-2 win over Denmark. The U.S. will next face Italy on Wednesday at Lanxess Arena.