April 5, 2022
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Exclusively on ABC and ESPN+ and Hulu This Week: The Rush to the Playoffs continue with Five National Hockey League Games on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday
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- Tuesday, April 5: Hurricanes at Sabres and Wild at Predators on ESPN+/Hulu
- Thursday, April 7: Penguins at Rangers and Sabres at Hurricanes on ESPN+/Hulu
- Saturday, April 9: Capitals at Penguins on ABC/ESPN+ with “Ice Cast” alternate presentation on ESPN+
- 41 out-of-market games streaming exclusively on ESPN+ this week
- Also presented in Spanish on ESPN+: Wild at Predators on Tuesday and Capitals at Penguins on Saturday
- Subscribe to ESPN+ at com, ESPNPlus.com and on the ESPN App
The National Hockey League (NHL) rush to the playoffs continues this week on ABC, ESPN+ and Hulu with five exclusive games: Tuesday and Thursday ESPN+ Hockey Night plus ABC Hockey Saturday join 41 out-of-market games streaming live on ESPN+ this week.
| Date | Time (ET) | Network | Game | ESPN Talent |
| Tuesday
April 5 |
7 p.m. | ESPN+/Hulu | Carolina Hurricanes at Buffalo Sabres
The Metropolitan Division-leading Hurricanes (45-16-8) travel north to take on the Sabres (25-34-11) at KeyBank Center in a home-and-home matchup this week with hopes of building on its lead in a tight three-team race atop its division. |
Play-by-Play: Mike Monaco
Analyst: Ryan Callahan In Studio: Arda Öcal with Hillary Knight
|
| 8 p.m. | ESPN+/Hulu | Minnesota Wild at Nashville Predators
The red-hot Wild (43-20-5), Kirill Kaprizov and recently acquired future hall-of-fame goalie Marc-Andre Fleury visit the Predators (39-25-4) and Roman Josi at Bridgestone Arena, in a compelling Western Conference matchup with Nashville fighting to make the playoffs as they currently sit in Wild Card position. |
Play-by-Play: Steve Levy
Analyst: AJ Mleczko In Studio: Arda Öcal with Hillary Knight |
|
| Thursday
April 7
|
7 p.m. | ESPN+/Hulu | Pittsburgh Penguins at New York Rangers
Plenty will be at stake as the Sidney Crosby-led Penguins (41-19-10) aim to change the tide, having lost their last two matchups against the Rangers (44-20-6) in a closely contested, back-and-forth Metro Division race for second behind the Hurricanes. |
Play-by-Play: Bob Wischusen
Analyst: Brian Boucher Reporter: AJ Mleczko In Studio: Steve Levy with Hilary Knight and Rick DiPietro |
| 7:30 p.m. | ESPN+/Hulu | Buffalo Sabres at Carolina Hurricanes
The Sabres (25-34-11) complete the home-and-home matchup with the Hurricanes (45-16-8) at PNC Arena, after facing the Metropolitan’s top team two days earlier. |
Play-by-Play: Leah Hextall
Analyst: Ryan Callahan In Studio: Steve Levy with Hilary Knight and Rick DiPietro |
|
| Saturday
April 9
|
3 p.m. | ABC/ESPN+ | Washington Capitals at Pittsburgh Penguins
ABC Hockey Saturday returns this week with an exciting matchup showcasing two of the game’s most compelling stars, with the Capitals’ (37-22-10) Alex Ovechkin facing the Penguins’ Sidney Crosby in an important Eastern Conference game with playoff seeding implications. |
Play-by-Play: Sean McDonough
Analysts: Ray Ferraro Reporter: Emily Kaplan In Studio: Steve Levy with Mark Messier and Chris Chelios
|
| 3 p.m. | ESPN+ | Ice Cast: Capitals at Penguins
A special alternate presentation of the game allows fans to see the game develop from above the ice and view additional game stats, exclusively on ESPN+ |
Play-by-Play: Sean McDonough
Analysts: Ray Ferraro Reporter: Emily Kaplan In Studio: Steve Levy with Mark Messier and Chris Chelios |
*Commentator assignments may be subject to change.
NHL en Español
Tuesday’s Minnesota Wild at Nashville Predators game at 8 p.m. ET and Saturday’s Washington Capitals at Pittsburgh Penguins game at 3 p.m. ET will be presented in Spanish on ESPN+. Kenneth Garay will call play-by-play and Carlos Rossell will serve as analyst.
NHL Out of Market games on ESPN+
ESPN+ will stream 41 out-of-market games this week. On Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET, the Vegas Golden Knights (39-28-4) welcome the Vancouver Canucks (32-28-10) as they desperately hold onto the second Wild Card position in a tight Western Conference race, and hope to add to its current five-game win streak.
Thursday night at 10:30 p.m. ET a Pacific Division showdown between the Edmonton Oilers (40-25-5) and all-star scoring duo Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaital – the first and only two players this season to reach the 100-point mark – and the Los Angeles Kings (38-24-10), who are only separated by one point in a battle for the top of the division.
A tight Central Division race between second-place Minnesota Wild (43-20-5) and third-place St. Louis Blues (39-20-10) faceoff at the Enterprise Center on Friday night 8 p.m. ET.
On Saturday, the Eastern Conference leading Florida Panthers (48-15-6) visit the Nashville Predators (39-25-4) at 8 p.m. ET. The Panthers have officially punched their ticket to the playoffs, while the Predators cling to a narrow one-point lead over the Dallas Stars for a Wild Card spot. Then at 10 p.m. ET, the Western Conference leading Colorado Avalanche (49-14-6) journey up north of the border to face the Edmonton Oilers (40-25-5), currently sitting in the Pacific Division’s third place spot.
Sunday at 5 p.m. ET features an important Western Conference matchup between the Minnesota Wild and Los Angeles Kings at Xcel Energy Center in Minneapolis as both teams play to hold onto their current playoff positions with the season winding down.
Throughout the season, ESPN+ will have exclusive coverage of more than 1,000 out-of-market games. For the latest schedule of all NHL games available to stream on ESPN+, please visit ESPN.com/espnplus/schedule. Out-of-market games are subject to local blackouts.
**How to watch NHL games on ESPN, ABC, ESPN+, and Hulu**
STUDIO SHOWS
The Point presented by Gillette
The Point presented by Gillette will air on Thursday, April 7, at 4 p.m. ET on ESPN2 – one hour later then the regularly scheduled time.
This week’s show will be hosted by Jeremy Schaap and include in-depth coverage heading into Thursday night’s Penguins-Rangers division showdown as they duel for second place, a through-the-years look at the Ovechkin-Crosby rivalry ahead of their ABC Hockey Saturday featured game, and a comprehensive preview of the 2022 Frozen Four. Hilary Knight and Rick DiPietro will be in studio offering insights and analysis.
All episodes of The Point are simulcast live on ESPN+ with replays available on-demand.
In The Crease
New episodes of In The Crease stream exclusively on ESPN+ each NHL game day, following the last game of the day, with in-depth analysis, interviews, highlights and more from all the day’s NHL game action.
PODCASTS
In the Crease – The ESPN NHL Podcast with Linda Cohn and Emily Kaplan
Hall of Fame sportscaster Linda Cohn and Kaplan continue to bring fans their insider perspectives, reporting, reactions and analysis to the latest breaking headlines and under the radar stories both on and off the ice with new episodes every Wednesday.
How to listen and episode guide.
NHL on ESPN.com
Go to ESPN.com/NHL or the ESPN App for up-to-the-minute NHL news, information and analysis, including premium editorial content by ESPN senior NHL writer Greg Wyshynski, exclusively for ESPN+ subscribers.
- NHL insiders debate the week: Must-see matchups, playoff races, players to watch (ESPN+ Premium Article)
- NHL playoff watch standings update: Previewing Maple Leafs-Lightning, Flames-Kings
- NHL Stanley Cup futures: Analyzing the top championship favorites (ESPN+ Premium Article)
- Fantasy hockey playoffs waiver watch: Hot streaks and strong matchups
- NHL Power Rankings: Players under the most pressure for all 32 teams (Wednesday)
- Guide to the NHL prospects playing in the Frozen Four (Wednesday)
- Frozen Four predictions: How each team could win (Thursday)
- Stanley Cup Final matchups we want to see (Thursday, ESPN+ Premium Article)
- NHL Awards Watch: Breaking down the Harts, Norris, Calder, Vezina and more (Friday, ESPN+ Premium Article)
- Inside Meredith Lang’s hockey journey (Friday)
- Viewer’s guide to Capitals-Penguins on ABC/ESPN+ (Saturday)
Fans can sign-up for ESPN+ any time at ESPN.com, ESPNPlus.com or on the ESPN App.
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CONTACTS:
ESPN
Danny Chi | [email protected] | 213-405-4400
Grace Coryell | [email protected] | 213-405-4402
ESPN+
Kevin Ota | [email protected] | 860-839-7834
Olivia Wilson | [email protected] | 904-303-3538
