This isn’t the first time Evander Kane has been a pain to the Golden Knights, and he has helped bring a physicality to the Edmonton Oilers that has them one game from eliminating Vegas.
It's similar in the Florida-Toronto series, where the heat is rising as the stakes get higher.
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Florida Panthers players clash with Toronto Maple Leafs players after Game 4 of a second-round NHL hockey playoff series, Sunday, May 11, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Michael Laughlin)
Florida Panthers center Evan Rodrigues (17) lies on the ice during the third period of Game 4 of a second-round NHL hockey playoff series against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Sunday, May 11, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Michael Laughlin)
Vegas Golden Knights and Edmonton Oilers rough it up during the first period of Game 4 of a second-round NHL hockey playoff series in Edmonton, Alberta, Monday, May 12, 2025. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press via AP)
Edmonton Oilers' Evander Kane (91) and Zach Hyman (18) celebrate after a goal against the Vegas Golden Knights during the second period of Game 4 of a second-round NHL hockey playoff series in Edmonton, Alberta, Monday, May 12, 2025. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press via AP)
In other words, it's the NHL playoffs.
For the Golden Knights, this is like a throwback — but not in a good way. Former Vegas enforcer Ryan Reaves had a long-running feud with Kane when the latter played for San Jose, which helped bleed into contempt between the teams.
The fact they were Pacific Division rivals that also met in the playoffs in 2018 and 2019 took their games up a level. The Golden Knights won the 2018 series and the Sharks got revenge in a memorable seven-game victory the following year.
So, of course, Kane is playing another big role role against the Golden Knights. He has two goals and two assists and has helped bring a key physical element to the Oilers, especially in Monday night's 3-0 Game 4 victory.
“It wears other teams down and it keeps guys on their toes,” Kane said of the physicality. “We got some turnovers off of that. I thought we were able to create some offensive opportunities. We didn't take our foot off the gas."
Kane missed the entire regular season because of two surgeries to repair a number of issues, but hasn't needed much time to transition his way back into the lineup.
“He likes the competition,” Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch said. “He likes the level of intensity, and the game means more this time of the year. He rises to that occasion where you see other guys maybe wilt.”
The Florida-Toronto series is tied — and heated.
The Maple Leafs won Games 1 and 2 on their home ice, the Panthers won Games 3 and 4 on their home ice, and that span has seen both good play and bad blood. The Panthers are waiting to see if forward Evan Rodrigues — the recipient of a high hit from former teammate Oliver Ekman-Larsson in Game 4 — will be cleared to play in Game 5.
That wasn’t the end of the Game 4 shenanigans, either. Toronto’s Max Domi appeared to blindside the Panthers’ Aleksander Barkov with a hit at the end of regulation that led to four misconduct penalties, along with a suggestion from Florida’s Matthew Tkachuk to the Leafs’ William Nylander that a response would be coming from the defending Cup champions on Wednesday.
“He probably didn’t even hear him,” Leafs coach Craig Berube said of Nylander. “He doesn’t hear me.”
When/Where to Watch: Game 5, Wednesday, 9:30 p.m. EDT (ESPN)
Series: Oilers leads 3-1
Edmonton goalie Stuart Skinner was benched after the first two games in the opening round series against Los Angeles before Calvin Pickard came to rescue before reeling off six consecutive victories.
That included the first two games of this series.
But with Pickard day to day with a lower-body injury, it's Skinner's turn to play hero. He recorded a 23-save shutout on Monday to put the Oilers on the brink of advancing to the Western Conference final.
“Stuart made some big saves, especially early in the game when there were some times Vegas had the opportunity to get back in the game,” Knoblauch said. “He has a lot of pride. He puts pressure on himself to have success, and it was nice to see him get that shutout.”
When/Where to Watch: Game 5, Wednesday, 7 p.m. EDT (ESPN)
Series: Series tied 2-2.
The series is tied. Games, 2-2. Goals, Florida leads 14-13. The Panthers are delivering more hits, the Maple Leafs are blocking more shots. Add hits and blocks up, and it comes out basically even — 60 a game for Toronto, 59 a game for Florida.
“It’s a best-of-three now,” Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky said.
Welcome to the swing game. In NHL history, when a best-of-seven series is tied 2-2, the Game 5 winner has gone on to prevail 79% of the time.
That goes up to 100% so far this postseason; four series were tied 2-2, and the Game 5 winner has won them all — all in Round 1 in the Western Conference. The Vegas-Minnesota, Edmonton-Los Angeles, Winnipeg-St. Louis and Dallas-Colorado series were all tied 2-2; Vegas, Edmonton and Dallas all won Game 5 and closed those matchups out in six games, while Winnipeg won Game 5 and went on to win Game 7 in an overtime thriller.
Maple Leafs goalie Anthony Stolarz, who was injured in Game 1 of the series, returned to practice Tuesday. Berube, however, said he didn't know when Stolarz would play again.
AP Sports Writer Tim Reynolds contributed to this report.
AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Florida Panthers players clash with Toronto Maple Leafs players after Game 4 of a second-round NHL hockey playoff series, Sunday, May 11, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Michael Laughlin)
Florida Panthers center Evan Rodrigues (17) lies on the ice during the third period of Game 4 of a second-round NHL hockey playoff series against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Sunday, May 11, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Michael Laughlin)
Vegas Golden Knights and Edmonton Oilers rough it up during the first period of Game 4 of a second-round NHL hockey playoff series in Edmonton, Alberta, Monday, May 12, 2025. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press via AP)
Edmonton Oilers' Evander Kane (91) and Zach Hyman (18) celebrate after a goal against the Vegas Golden Knights during the second period of Game 4 of a second-round NHL hockey playoff series in Edmonton, Alberta, Monday, May 12, 2025. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press via AP)
NAKHON RATCHASIMA, Thailand (AP) — A construction crane crashed onto a moving passenger train in northeastern Thailand on Wednesday, triggering a fiery derailment that killed at least 32 people and injured dozens more.
The crash occurred in Nakhon Ratchasima, some 200 kilometers (135 miles) northeast of Bangkok, on a section of a planned high-speed rail project that is intended to eventually connect China with much of Southeast Asia.
The province's Public Health Provincial Office said there were 32 fatalities and 64 injured victims, including seven with severe injuries. There were still three passengers missing among the 171 believed to have been on board the train, it said in a statement issued as night fell.
Authorities said the crane was being used to build an elevated part of the railway when it fell as the train was traveling from the capital, Bangkok, to Ubon Ratchathani province. Thailand's Rail Transport Department said the crane was what is called a launching gantry crane, a self-supporting structure with vertical legs that usually runs on rails or wheels for mobility, allowing it to progress along with the construction project that it straddles. Such cranes are often used to help build elevated roads.
Images published in Thai media showed plumes of white, then dark, smoke rising from the crash site, with construction equipment dangling from girders between two concrete support pillars.
Rescue workers stood on top of overturned railway carriages, some of them with gaping holes torn on their sides, video from public broadcaster ThaiPBS showed. What appeared to be sections of the crane were scattered along the track.
Sixty-two year-old Samai Teechantuek, whose house is about 100 meters (yards) from the site of the accident, told The Associated Press of the horror of witnessing the accident, and hearing “the noises screeching, and then bam, bam, bam, all the way over there.”
“When the dust settled, I saw the top of the train carriage. I heard people shouting ‘save the children first!’” she said. "A conductor pulled people out. I saw them pulling many people out. People from the shop over there also ran out to help.”
“My legs were shaking. I was standing there shaking. I didn’t dare going any closer,” she said.
Transport Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said he ordered an investigation.
In August 2024, a railway tunnel on the planned route, also in Nakhon Ratchasima, collapsed, killing three workers. Days of heavy rainfall were believed to have been a factor in the collapse.
The elevated segment that collapsed is a part of a Thai-Chinese high-speed railway project linking the capital to the northeastern province of Nong Khai, bordering Laos. The two-stage rail project has a total investment cost of more than 520 billion baht ($16.8 billion) and is associated with an ambitious plan to connect China with Southeast Asia under Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative. The section where the accident took place had a budget of more than 179 billion baht ($5.7 billion) and according to its original plans was expected to start operating in 2027.
Anan Phonimdaeng, acting governor of the State Railway of Thailand, said the project's contractor is Italian-Thai Development, with a Chinese company responsible for design and construction supervision.
He said authorities will examine the responsibilities of both parties, and the Railway Department plans to take legal action against the contractor as a first step. Damage to the train was estimated to be more than 100 million baht ($3.2 million), while construction equipment suffered limited damage, said Anan.
A statement posted on the company's website expressed condolences to the victims and said the company would take responsibility for paying compensation to the families of the dead and hospitalization expenses for the injured.
The main contractor for the route's first stage between Bangkok and Nakhon Ratchasima, Italian-Thai Development, was also the directly responsible for construction of the segment where Wednesday's accident occurred.
The rail accident sparked outrage because the company, also known as Italthai, was also the co-lead contractor for the State Audit Building in the Thai capital Bangkok, which collapsed during construction in March during a major earthquake.
About 100 people were killed in the collapse, which was the only major structure in Thailand to suffer such serious damage. Dozens of executives were indicted in connection with the disaster but none have yet been tried.
The involvement of Chinese companies in both projects has also drawn attention, as has Italthai's and Chinese companies' involvement in the construction of several expressway extensions in and around Bangkok where several accidents, some fatal, had occurred.
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, who was interior minister when the State Audit Building collapsed, said that the Comptroller General’s Department and Transport Ministry are responsible for blacklisting contractors, and the laws could not be amended in the brief time he was interior minister to expedite the matter.
In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said the government was aware of the reports about the accident and had expressed condolences.
“The Chinese government attaches great importance to the safety of projects and personnel, and we are also learning about the situation,” he said. “At present, it appears that the relevant section is being constructed by a Thai company, and the cause of the accident is still under investigation.”
Wasamon reported from Bangkok.
Rescuers try to lift the wreckage after a construction crane fell into a passenger train in Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand, Wednesday, Jan.14, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit))
Rescuers work amid the wreckage after a construction crane fell into a passenger train in Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand, Wednesday, Jan.14, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit))
A rescuer stands near the wreckage after a construction crane fell into a passenger train in Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand, Wednesday, Jan.14, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit))
Rescuers try to lift the wreckage after a construction crane fell into a passenger train in Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand, Wednesday, Jan.14, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit))
Rescuers work amidst the wreckage after a construction crane fell into a passenger train in Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand, Wednesday, Jan.14, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit))
Rescuers work amidst the wreckage after a construction crane fell into a passenger train in Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand, Wednesday, Jan.14, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit))
An aid workers at the scene after a construction crane fell into a passenger train in Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Nathathida Adireksarn)
The wreckage after a construction crane fell into a passenger train in Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Nathathida Adireksarn)
This photo released from Thailand's Ministry of Transport, shows a scene after a construction crane fell into a passenger train in Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (Ministry of Transport via AP)
This photo released from State Railway of Thailand, shows aid workers after a construction crane fell into a passenger train in Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (State Railway of Thailand via AP)
This photo released from State Railway of Thailand, shows a scene after a construction crane fell into a passenger train in Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (State Railway of Thailand via AP)
This photo released from State Railway of Thailand, shows a scene after a construction crane fell into a passenger train in Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (State Railway of Thailand via AP)
This photo released from State Railway of Thailand, shows aid workers after a construction crane fell into a passenger train in Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (State Railway of Thailand via AP)
This photo provided by State Railway of Thailand shows a scene after a construction crane fell into a passenger train in Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (State Railway of Thailand via AP)
