Defenses around the NHL playoffs have been depleted by existing and new injuries, from Tampa Bay’s Mikhail Sergachev and Colorado’s Samuel Girard being out long term to Carolina’s Brett Pesce going down Monday night and Washington being down to minor leaguers to fill its many voids.

The Philadelphia Flyers have signed veteran defenseman Marc Staal to a $1.1 million contract for next season.

Chris Kreider scored twice and the New York Rangers ended Carolina’s perfect postseason run at home by beating the Hurricanes 6-2 in the decisive Game 7 of their second-round playoff series.

The Carolina Hurricanes and New York Rangers are set for a Game 7 in their second-round series in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Andrew Copp had a goal and two assists, and Frank Vatrano and Adam Fox each had a goal and an assist as the New York Rangers beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-1 in Game 4 to even their second-round series.

Ian Cole beat Igor Shesterkin at 3:12 of overtime to help the Carolina Hurricanes beat the New York Rangers 2-1 to take Game 1 of their second-round playoff series.

Rookie Seth Jarvis scored twice and Antti Raanta finished with 34 saves to help the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Boston Bruins 5-1 to take a 3-2 lead in the first-round playoff series.

Sebastian Aho and Nino Niederreiter each scored twice and the Carolina Hurricanes overcame the early loss of goalie Antti Raanta to beat the Boston Bruins 5-2 on Wednesday night for a 2-0 lead in the first-round series.

Seth Jarvis and Jordan Staal scored third-period goals and Frederik Andersen made 28 saves as the Carolina Hurricanes beat the New York Rangers 4-2 in a showdown for first place in the Metropolitan Division.

Tony DeAngelo had a goal and two assists against his former team as the Carolina Hurricanes beat the New York Rangers 6-3.

Nino Niederreiter's second goal of the game 18 seconds into the third period was the tiebreaker, and the short-handed Carolina Hurricanes beat the Detroit Red Wings 5-3.

Frederik Andersen made 33 saves for his first shutout with Carolina, giving the Hurricanes their best six-game start in franchise history with a 3-0 win over the Boston Bruins.

New York Rangers left wing Alexis Lafrenire (13) scores a goal past Washington Capitals goaltender Vitek Vanecek (41) during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Saturday, Feb. 20, 2021, in Washington. Also seen are Capitals defenseman John Carlson (74) and Rangers center Mika Zibanejad (93). Lafrenière scored his second NHL goal, Panarin had two assists and the Rangers made the best of a new-look lineup, beating the Washington Capitals 4-1 Saturday for their second consecutive victory. Panarin set up Lafrenière on the doorstep late in the second period, and his shot provided the rebound for Chris Kreider's power-play goal in the first. Zibanejad's goal was just his second since last season after scoring 41 in 57 games in 2019-20.

FILE - In this Jan. 22, 2021, file photo, New York Rangers' Tony DeAngelo gets off a pass during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Pittsburgh. General manager Jeff Gorton says DeAngelo has played his final game for the Rangers despite going unclaimed on waivers. The Rangers assigned DeAngelo to their taxi squad, but the 25-year-old defenseman won't be around the team moving forward. The NHL's other 30 teams passed on the opportunity to add DeAngelo when New York put him on waivers Sunday. "I feel like this is the necessary move that we had to make.”The Rangers just re-signed DeAngelo to a $9.6 million, two-year contract in October.

The Rangers defeated the Capitals 6-5 in overtime; Zibanejad scored five goals. And, the last put him in the New York Rangers' record books and delivered them a big-time victory. Zibanejad is the first Rangers center with at least 35 goals in a season since Hall of Famer Eric Lindros in 2001-02. Zibanejad joined Don Murdoch (Oct. 12, 1976) and Mark Pavelich (Feb. 23, 1983) as Rangers with five goals in a game. That came after Zibanejad scored on a rebound with 1:42 remaining to give New York a brief 5-4 lead.