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• Predators fire John Hynes, reportedly hire Andrew Brunette as new coach

  The Nashville Predators have suddenly made a change at coach, firing John Hynes on Tuesday and reportedly replacing him with Andrew Brunette.

  The Predators announced Hynes' firing, as well as assistant coach Dan Lambert, and multiple media outlets are reporting Brunette will take over.

  Hynes, 48, spent part of the last four seasons with the Predators, replacing Peter Laviolette in 2019-20 and helping the team to the playoffs the first three years.

  Each of those playoff trips ended with first-round exits, however, and Nashville missed the playoffs this season for the first time since 2013-14.

  "John Hynes is a good man and a good hockey coach," incoming general manager Barry Trotz said. "He did an outstanding job after the trade deadline with our team, especially with our young players, and he is a well-prepared, hard-working coach who will continue to grow in the NHL. After our year-end meetings and some additional evaluation, it was time to change the voice and time to go in a different direction."

   

   

  Brunette’s only previous head coaching experience came in 2021-22, when he served as interim head coach of the Florida Panthers following the resignation of Joel Quenneville.

  The 49-year-old led the Panthers to a 51-18-6 record and the Presidents’ Trophy as the NHL’s top regular-season club, but after the team was swept in the second round of the playoffs by the Tampa Bay Lightning, GM Bill Zito decided to hire Paul Maurice as the full-time coach.

  Brunette spent this past season as an associate coach for a New Jersey Devils team that advanced to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 2011-12.

  A 16-year NHL veteran as a player, Brunette will be Nashville's fourth coach in franchise history and serve under Trotz, who will take over when longtime GM David Poile retires in July.

  Poile has been the only GM in franchise history, while Trotz served as the club’s first coach, working behind the bench from 1998-2014.

  Brunette played under Trotz for the 1998-99 expansion Predators, and scored the franchise’s first goal.

  Brunette, who made his NHL debut in 1995-96, scored 268 goals and registered 733 points in 1,110 career games before retiring in 2011-12.

• Washington Capitals name Spencer Carbery head coach

  The Washington Capitals hired Spencer Carbery as the 20th head coach in franchise history on Tuesday.

  "We are extremely pleased to name Spencer as our new head coach," Capitals senior vice president and general manager Brian MacLellan said. "Spencer is one of the best young coaches in the game who's had success at every level at which he has coached.

  “We feel his leadership, communication skills, ability to develop players and familiarity with our organization will be a tremendous asset as he makes this next step in his coaching career."

  Carbery, 41, was the head coach of the Capitals’ American Hockey League affiliate – the Hershey Bears – from 2018-21 and went 104-50-9-8 overall.

  Hershey led the AHL with a 24-7-2-0 record in his final season behind the bench in 2020-21, earning Carbery the Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award as the AHL's most outstanding coach.

  Following that season, Carbery joined the Toronto Maple Leafs as an assistant coach.

  "It's a tremendous honor and privilege to be named the head coach of the Washington Capitals," Carbery said.

  "I would like to thank the Capitals organization for affording me the opportunity to lead this team. I look forward to working with this group of talented players and building upon the winning culture in place.

  “I would also like to thank the Toronto Maple Leafs organization for all their support over the past two years and wish them all the best in the future."

  Washington did not bring Peter Laviolette back as head coach after going 35-37-10 this season and missing the playoffs for the first time since the 2013-14 campaign.

• Dellandrea powers Stars past Golden Knights in Game 5

  Ty Dellandrea picked the perfect time for his first career multigoal game, scoring two quick goals in the third period to lift the Dallas Stars to a 4-2 win over the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 5 of the Western Conference final.

  Luke Glendening and Jason Robertson had the other goals as the Stars escaped elimination again and trimmed the series deficit to 3-2.

  Game 6 is in Dallas on Monday and Stars captain Jamie Benn will return after he served a two-game suspension for cross-checking Vegas skipper Mark Stone in Game 3.

  The Stars are attempting to become the fifth team in NHL history to rally from a 3-0 series deficit. Current Knights defenseman Alec Martinez was a member of the last team to accomplish that – the 2014 Los Angeles Kings.

  Stars' game-winner Dellandrea, who had just one point in his first 13 games this postseason, snapped a 2-2 tie at 10:35 of the third period when he ripped a shot under Adin Hill's arm from the right circle.

  Dellandrea put a loose puck past Hill from the slot 87 seconds later to extend the lead.

  Jake Oettinger was solid with 27 saves and has stopped 64 of 68 shots since he was pulled early in a Game 3 loss.

  Ivan Barbashev and Chandler Stephenson scored for Vegas.