Technologies
NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs: How to Watch the Conference Finals Tonight
Only four teams are left vying for the Stanley Cup. Florida and Carolina kick off the Eastern Conference finals tonight.
Hockey’s final four is set, with the Florida Panthers taking on the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference finals and the Dallas Stars facing off against the Vegas Golden Knights in the West.
The Stars are looking to win their first Cup since 1999 and hoping to return to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since they lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2019-20 season. The Vegas Golden Knights have also been to the Stanley Cup Final recently, losing to the Washington Capitals in the team’s inaugural season of 2018.
Meanwhile, the underdog Florida Panthers are attempting to make their second Stanley Cup Final appearance and their first since they were swept by the Colorado Avalanche in 1995-96. The Carolina Hurricanes last won the Stanley Cup in the 2005-06 season, when current coach Rod Brind’Amour was the captain of the team.
Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals between the Florida Panthers and the Carolina Hurricanes will be played tonight, Wednesday May 18, at 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT) on TNT.
Thanks to live TV streaming services, cord-cutters can stream all the action with no cable subscription required. Here’s everything you need to know about how to watch or stream the 2023 NHL Stanley Cup playoffs.
The Carolina Hurricanes and the Florida Panthers meet in the Eastern Conference finals.
NHL playoffs FAQ
What is the 2023 Conference finals schedule?
Here’s the schedule for the first four games of each series in the NHL Conference finals, including the series status. See NHL.com for the full schedule.
Thursday, May 18
- Florida Panthers vs. Carolina Hurricanes, Game 1, 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT) on TNT
Friday, May 19
- Dallas Stars vs. Vegas Golden Knights, Game 1, 8:30 p.m. ET (5:30 p.m. PT) on ESPN
Saturday, May 20
- Florida Panthers vs. Carolina Hurricanes, Game 2, 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT) on TNT
Sunday, May 21
- Dallas Stars vs. Vegas Golden Knights, Game 2, 3:30 p.m. ET (12:30 p.m. PT) on ABC
Monday, May 22
- Carolina Hurricanes vs. Florida Panthers, Game 3, 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT) on TNT
Tuesday, May 23
- Vegas Golden Knights vs. Dallas Stars, Game 3, 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT) on ESPN
Wednesday, May 24
- Carolina Hurricanes vs. Florida Panthers, Game 4, 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT) on TNT
Thursday, May 25
- Vegas Golden Knights vs. Dallas Stars, Game 4, 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT) on ESPN
What does the full bracket look like?
An updated look at the Stanley Cup Playoffs bracket 👀 pic.twitter.com/o4sp5lF764
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) May 16, 2023
What channels will broadcast playoff games?
The NHL playoffs air on a collection of networks, including ABC, ESPN, ESPN 2, TNT and TBS.
The Stanley Cup Final will air on TNT in the US and on Sportsnet in Canada.
How can I stream the games on my phone?
If you have a live TV streaming service (like Sling TV, YouTube TV or one of the ones below), you can use its app. If you have cable or satellite, you can use your provider’s app or one of the following, after logging in with your cable provider’s credentials:
- For ABC games, use the ESPN app. Click the gear icon in the upper right and then select Manage TV provider.
- For TNT games, use the TNT app. Click the person icon to sign in with your TV provider.
How to watch, livestream the 2023 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs
As these games all air nationally, the best way to catch all the hockey action live, without cable, is with a live TV streaming service.
ESPN Plus is the home of hockey’s out-of-market coverage and will air all Stanley Cup playoff games simultaneously with ABC and ESPN.
While the $10 a month, $100 per year service is best suited for die-hard fans of the sports it covers well — mainly hockey, soccer and UFC — more casual fans might find themselves with an ESPN Plus subscription anyway through the Disney bundle, which also includes Hulu and Disney Plus with ads for $13 total.
Sling TV’s Orange plan includes ESPN and TNT. ABC, however, is only available in eight markets (Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Fresno, Houston and Raleigh) and requires the Orange and Blue combo plan if you want ESPN too. That combo plan costs $65 per month in all of those cities except Fresno, Houston and Raleigh, where it costs $60. Even if ABC isn’t available in your area, you can watch those games using the simulcast stream available on ESPN3.
Hulu Plus Live TV costs $70 a month and carries ABC, ESPN and TNT.
DirecTV Stream is expensive. It’s the priciest of the five major live TV streaming services. Its cheapest, $65-a-month Entertainment package includes ESPN, ABC, and TNT. You can use its channel lookup tool to see which local channels and RSNs are available in your area.
It is worth noting that DirecTV has an additional $15 «advanced receiver service» fee that automatically applies and is added on to the sticker price, which makes the Entertainment package $80 per month.
FuboTV costs $75 a month and also includes ABC and ESPN but not TNT.
Most live TV streaming services offer a free trial or discounts during the first month and allow you to cancel anytime. All require a solid internet connection. Looking for more information? Check out our live TV streaming services guide.
Technologies
Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Saturday, April 18
Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for April 18
Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.
Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? It’s the super-long one as always on Saturdays, and a few of the clues are tricky. But if you play all the other New York Times games, 13-Across will be easy. Read on for all the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.
If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.
Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword
Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.
Mini across clues and answers
1A clue: What people pay Extra for?
Answer: GUM
4A clue: Pre-meal prayer
Answer: GRACE
6A clue: Physicist Bohr
Answer: NIELS
7A clue: Line up a shot
Answer: AIM
8A clue: Photo ___ (P.R. events)
Answer: OPS
10A clue: «Zootopia,» but not «Zoolander»
Answer: PGMOVIE
12A clue: TV show with the initials «TV»
Answer: THEVIEW
13A clue: New York Times game with weaving, interconnected answers
Answer: STRANDS
Mini down clues and answers
1D clue: More bleak
Answer: GRIMMER
2D clue: Dubai’s country, for short
Answer: UAE
3D clue: Nickname of Seth and Evan’s friend in «Superbad»
Answer: MCLOVIN
4D clue: «See you in the mornin’!»
Answer: GNIGHT
5D clue: Fancy term for «noticed»
Answer: ESPIED
7D clue: Many N.Y.C. addresses: Abbr.
Answer: APTS
9D clue: Uses a needle and thread
Answer: SEWS
11D clue: Egg cells
Answer: OVA
Technologies
AI Trusted Less Than Social Media and Airlines, With Grok Placing Last, Survey Says
More Americans are concerned about the loss of personal interaction from AI than they are about potential job loss.
Google Gemini is the most trusted AI platform among its competition, but many people still have concerns about the technology, according to an American Customer Satisfaction Index poll released Thursday.
In ACSI’s results, AI scored an overall customer satisfaction score of 73 on a scale of 0 to 100, which the authors noted was slightly below social media (74), airlines and mortgage lenders, but in line with energy utilities.
Of the five platforms mentioned in the survey, Google Gemini led with 76, followed by Microsoft Copilot (74), Claude and ChatGPT (both 73), and Grok and Perplexity (both 71). Meanwhile, TikTok (77) and YouTube (78) both scored better than the AI platforms.
Gemini is one of the most prolific AI services, with access via smart speakers, TVs, phones and computers, while most ChatGPT users access the AI tool via the ChatGPT website or mobile app, and Grok via social media platform X.
The ACSI poll found that 43% of respondents said reduced human-to-human interaction is their main concern, followed by job loss for future generations (37%) and their own job risk (31%), based on interviews with 2,711 US adults.
Baby Boomers were the most skeptical generation in the poll, with 35% saying they are very concerned about AI’s effects, compared to just 6% who view it extremely favorably.
Disconnect between AI adoption and perception
While platforms such as ChatGPT have up to 1 billion weekly users, there is still a disconnect between AI’s adoption and public perception of it, which is driven by concerns over privacy, the spread of misinformation and the loss of jobs.
«Consumers spent the last decade learning to distrust how social media platforms handle their data, and AI’s privacy scores suggest they’re carrying that skepticism forward,» said Forrest Morgeson, associate professor of marketing at Michigan State University and director of research emeritus at the ACSI.
21% reported an «extremely favorable» outlook toward AI, while an equal 21% said they are «very concerned about the consequences.»
These results were in line with another poll published by YouGov this week, which found that only 29% think the positive effects of AI outweigh the negative ones, while 36% think its net effects are negative.
It’s worth noting that more than half of the people interviewed (56%) had no recent experience with AI, but of the 44% who did, half of them use AI at least once a day, and the usage went up with people who earned over $100,000 a year.
Last month, an NBC poll suggested that AI was one of the least-liked things in America, but it was still more popular than the Democratic Party.
Technologies
Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for April 18, #1042
Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for April 18, No. 1,042.
Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.
Today’s NYT Connections puzzle features a fun purple category that’ll require you to spot certain beverage names. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.
The Times has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.
Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time
Hints for today’s Connections groups
Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.
Yellow group hint: Wow!
Green group hint: Plug it in.
Blue group hint: Cinderella team.
Purple group hint: Drink up.
Answers for today’s Connections groups
Yellow group: Look at with awe.
Green group: Basic electricity terms.
Blue group: Unexpected winner.
Purple group: Starting with soda brands.
Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words
What are today’s Connections answers?
The yellow words in today’s Connections
The theme is look at with awe. The four answers are goggle, marvel, stare and wonder.
The green words in today’s Connections
The theme is basic electricity terms. The four answers are AC, DC, power and voltage.
The blue words in today’s Connections
The theme is unexpected winner. The four answers are dark horse, long shot, sleeper and underdog.
The purple words in today’s Connections
The theme is starting with soda brands. The four answers are crushworthy, Fantagraphics, frescade and pepsinogen.
