Home-ice advantage seems to be a real thing so far in the NHL playoffs

Home-ice advantage hasn’t really existed over the past couple of years in the Stanley Cup playoffs. In 2023 and 2024, visiting teams won more games than the home teams did.

That’s not the case so far in 2025.

Entering Wednesday, home teams were 10-3 in this postseason. And the teams at home on Thursday in the NHL — Tampa Bay, Ottawa, St. Louis and Minnesota — are surely hoping that trend continues. The Senators are down 2-0 to Toronto, the Blues are down 2-0 to Winnipeg, the Lightning are down 1-0 to Florida and the Wild can take a 2-1 lead in their series over Vegas if they successfully protect home ice on Thursday.

It’s not must-win time for any of them, but there’s certainly some urgency.

“I know it’s been a long time coming for Sens fans,” Ottawa forward Brady Tkachuk said, looking ahead to what will be the first home playoff game for the Senators since May 23, 2017. “We’re going to really need them and I’m looking forward to getting out there in Game 3 in front of our fans.”

St. Louis had chances; it led Game 1 in the third period and went into the third period of Game 2 tied. The Blues hope being at home provides the little extra boost that wasn’t there for Games 1 and 2 in Winnipeg.

“We’re going to have the last line change now,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. “We’re going to go home. We’re going to be in front of our frenzied crowd. And we’re going to have an opportunity to hold serve at home.”

The Lightning are trying to avoid dropping Games 1 and 2 of a series at home for the first time since Round 1 in 2019, when they were the top overall seed but wound up getting swept by Columbus — and goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, who now stars for Florida.

“The bottom line is we lost,” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said after Game 1. “Whether you lose 6-2 or you lose 1-0 in overtime, we lost the game. Turn the page and move on.”

Minnesota can take a 2-1 series lead, after a 5-2 win in Game 2 at Vegas. The NHL said when a best-of-seven playoff series has been tied 1-1, 66% of the Game 3 winners have eventually won the series.

When/Where to Watch: Game 2, 6:30 p.m. EDT (TBS, truTV, Max)

Series: Panthers, 1-0.

Florida got Matthew Tkachuk (two goals, one assist) back for Game 1, a 6-2 road win on Tuesday that gave the Panthers the early upper hand in the series.

Don't tell Panthers coach Paul Maurice that it'll mean much going into Game 2.

“Don't mean to be a downer here, but not a huge believer in momentum,” Really not. Puck drops. That's your opportunity to change momentum and it's going to happen at the opening face-off. Both teams will look at the game and find things they can do better."

Tampa Bay did a lot of things right in Game 1, particularly hold Florida to 16 shots. Problem was, only 10 of them got stopped.

When/Where to Watch: Game 3, 7 p.m. EDT (ESPN2)

Series: Maple Leafs, 2-0.

Toronto is in total control of the Battle of Ontario.

This is the 11th time — first since 2002 — that the Maple Leafs grabbed a 2-0 series lead by winning Games 1 and 2 on home ice. In the previous 10 instances, Toronto went on to win the series.

And there's this: Ottawa has never won a series when trailing 2-0. It has happened nine previous times, the Senators lost all nine of those matchups.

To their credit, the Senators are not panicking. “We’ve got to play a little better next game,” coach Travis Green said.

When/Where to Watch: Game 3, 9 p.m. EDT (TBS, truTV, Max)

Series: Tied, 1-1.

If the Wild’s top line has been dominant through the first two games of this series, the opposite is true for the Golden Knights. The line of Jack Eichel, Ivan Barbashev and Mark Stone has not registered a point.

Eichel didn’t even have a shot on goal in Tuesday night’s 5-2 loss to the Wild. He had just two in the opener, a 4-2 Vegas victory.

“They’re elite, world-class players and they’ve got to get going,” Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said. “We’ve got to help them. We’re trying to help them.”

Cassidy believes they could still make a strong impact. So does Minnesota.

“Their top line, frustrated a little bit, but they’re special players,” Wild forward Marcus Foligno said. “They’re going to find ways. ... We’ve got to respect them, but not too much, and play the way we’ve been playing.”

When/Where to Watch: Game 3, 9:30 p.m. EDT (ESPN2)

Series: Jets, 2-0.

St. Louis has successfully come back from a 2-0 series deficit in a best-of-seven once before — 1972 against Minnesota.

So, it is possible. The Blues have to be encouraged that Games 1 and 2 were close. But finding a way to beat the Jets four times in five games will be daunting. And Winnipeg is vowing to keep a simple, effective approach going into Game 3.

“It's just about beating the man across from you, competing every single shift,” Jets forward Kyle Connor said.

A potential boost for the Jets: Gabriel Vilardi will be with the team in St. Louis. Vilardi missed the final 11 games of the regular season with an upper-body injury; he had 27 goals for Winnipeg this season.

AP Sports Writer Mark Anderson in Las Vegas contributed to this report. Information from The Canadian Press was also utilized.

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Brayden McNabb (3) and Minnesota Wild center Gustav Nyquist (41) fall to the ice during the third period of Game 2 of a first-round NHL hockey playoff series Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/David Becker)

St. Louis Blues head coach Jim Montgomery talks to media at a post NHL round one playoff game press conference in Winnipeg on Saturday, April 19, 2025. (John Woods/The Canadian Press via AP)

Florida Panthers players celebrate after defeating the against the Tampa Bay Lightning during Game 1 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Toronto Maple Leafs' Oliver Ekman-Larsson (95) rides on top of Ottawa Senators' Ridly Greig (71) during the third period of an NHL hockey playoff game in Toronto, on Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (Cole Burston/The Canadian Press via AP)

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks hit records Friday following a mixed report on the U.S. job market, one that may delay another cut to interest rates by the Federal Reserve but does not slam the door on it.

The S&P 500 climbed 0.6% and topped its prior all-time high set earlier in the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 237 points, or 0.5%, and likewise set a record, while the Nasdaq composite led the market with a 0.8% gain.

The moves came after the U.S. Labor Department said employers hired fewer workers during December than economists expected, though the unemployment rate improved and was better than expected. It reinforced how the U.S. job market may be in a “ low-hire, low-fire” state and may hopefully avoid a recession.

On Wall Street, power company Vistra soared 10.5% to help lead the market after signing a 20-year deal to provide electricity from three of its nuclear plants to Meta Platforms. Big Tech companies have been signing a string of such deals to electrify the data centers powering their moves into artificial-intelligence technology.

Oklo jumped 7.9% after saying it also signed a deal with Meta Platforms that will help it secure nuclear fuel and advance its project to build a facility in Pike County, Ohio.

Homebuilders and other companies involved in the housing market were strong in their first trading after President Donald Trump announced a plan to lower mortgage rates. Trump on late Thursday called for the purchase of $200 billion in mortgage bonds, similar to how the Fed in the past has bought bonds backed by mortgages to bring down mortgage rates.

Builders FirstSource, a supplier of building products, jumped 12% for one of the biggest gains in the S&P 500 along with Vistra. Among homebuilders, Lennar rallied 8.9%, D.R. Horton climbed 7.8% and PulteGroup rose 7.3%.

They helped offset a 2.7% drop for General Motors. The auto giant said it will take a $6 billion hit to its results for the last three months of 2025 related to its pullback from electric vehicles. That’s on top of the $1.6 billion in charges GM took in the prior quarter. Fewer tax incentives and easier fuel-emission regulations have been eating into demand for EVs.

WD-40 tumbled 6.6% after reporting a weaker profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Chief Financial Officer Sara Hyzer said the soft numbers were primarily because of timing issues, not weaker demand from end customers, and the company stood by its financial forecasts for the upcoming year.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 44.82 points to 6,966.28. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 237.96 to 49,504.07, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 191.33 to 23,671.35.

In the bond market, Treasury yields were mixed.

Friday’s improvement in the unemployment rate was enough to get traders to ratchet back expectations for a cut to interest rates at the Fed’s next meeting, which is scheduled for later this month. Traders are now forecasting just a 5% chance of that, down from 11% a day before, according to data from CME Group.

But traders nevertheless still largely expect the Fed to cut rates at least twice this upcoming year.

Whether they’re correct carries high stakes for financial markets. Lower interest rates can goose the economy and push up prices for investments, though they can also worsen inflation at the same time. And inflation has stubbornly remained above the Fed’s 2% target.

“Until the data provide a clearer direction, a divided Fed is likely to stay that way,” according to Ellen Zentner, chief economic strategist for Morgan Stanley Wealth Management. “Lower rates are likely coming this year, but the markets may have to be patient.”

The yield on the 10-year Treasury eased to 4.16% from 4.19% late Thursday. It tends to track expectations for longer-term economic growth and inflation.

The two-year Treasury yield, which more closely tracks forecasts for what the Fed will do with short-term interest rates in the near term, rose to 3.53% from 3.49%.

A separate report released Friday morning suggested sentiment among U.S. consumers is strengthening, particularly among lower-income households. Perhaps more importantly for the Fed, the preliminary report from the University of Michigan also said expectations for inflation in the coming 12 months may be at their lowest level in a year. That could give it more freedom to cut interest rates.

Hopes for both lower interest rates and a solid economy have helped other areas of the stock market climb recently, wresting leadership away from the Big Tech and AI stocks that dominated the market for years. The smaller stocks in the Russell 2000, for example, climbed 4.6% this week, much more than the 1.6% rise of the S&P 500.

In stock markets abroad, indexes rose across much of Europe and Asia.

The French CAC 40 climbed 1.4%, and Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped 1.6% for two of the world’s bigger gains.

AP Business Writers Chan Ho-him and Matt Ott contributed.

Christopher Lagana and James Denaro work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Aman Patel works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Daniel Kryger works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Specialist Anthony Matesic works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Trader Anthony Confusione works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

A dealer walks past near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A dealer watches computer monitors at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A board above the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange displays the closing number for the Dow Jones industrial average, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

A dealer walks past near the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A dealer walks past near the screens showing the foreign exchange rates at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)