ANTHONY CIRELLI

Nathan MacKinnon saved his best performance in the Stanley Cup Final for when it mattered most.

TAMPA — So is this how it ends? With a frame-by-frame breakdown of the fatal goal, as if Abraham Zapruder was filming from the grassy knoll? After all the good times, all the memories, all the glory, are we supposed to raise our voices in collective anger? Is it possible the Lightning finally were done in by a conspiracy of silence? Let’s hope not. Let’s hope the ever-so-vague grievance coach ...

Nazem Kadri scored at 12:02 of overtime — perhaps with too many Colorado players on the ice — and the Avalanche beat Tampa Bay 3-2 on Wednesday night in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final to move within a victory of dethroning the two-time defending champion Lightning.

Steven Stamkos, Pat Maroon and Ondrej Palat each had a goal and an assist, and the Tampa Bay Lightning scored four times in the second period and beat the Colorado Avalanche 6-2 in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final.

Steven Stamkos, Pat Maroon and Ondrej Palat each had a goal and an assist, and the Tampa Bay Lightning scored four times in the second period and beat the Colorado Avalanche 6-2 in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final.

Stanley Cup Lightning Avalanche Hockey Tampa Bay Lightning center Anthony Cirelli (71) looks up after a fight during the third period in Game 2 of the team's NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final against the Colorado Avalanche, Saturday, June 18, 2022, in Denver. "And so when you get to the end, even though it doesn’t look like they’re banged up, they’re missing guys, we’re missing guys. Listen, they've played a lot of hockey, but once you get this far in the playoffs, you're running mostly on adrenaline right now. It rejuvenated us, it got us going again and now we’re going home.”The Avalanche are already rejuvenated. “This time of year there’s only two teams and this is the best time of the year to play hockey and it’s the finals,” Perry said.

It’s no secret Tampa Bay has played more hockey over the past two years than any other team in the NHL.

Stanley Cup Lightning Avalanche Hockey Tampa Bay Lightning center Anthony Cirelli (71) looks up after a fight during the third period in Game 2 of the team's NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final against the Colorado Avalanche, Saturday, June 18, 2022, in Denver. “He’s been our backbone for years and years and years and we owe it to him to have a better game next game. And this marked the biggest shutout in a Stanley Cup Final since Pittsburgh's 8-0 win over the North Stars in 1991. “This is a championship-caliber team,” Avalanche defenseman Josh Manson said of the Lightning. I think they’re patient and they’ll adjust and they kind of let things go and I think that’s what’s made them so successful.

The Tampa Bay Lightning shrugged off their overtime loss to Colorado in the opener of the Stanley Cup Final.

Lightning Avalanche Hockey Tampa Bay Lightning players skate during an NHL hockey practice before Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals against the Colorado Avalanche, Tuesday, June 14, 2022, in Denver. The Colorado Avalanche present a unique challenge for the Lightning, but they already got past the offensively potent Toronto Maple Leafs and Florida Panthers to reach the Cup final. “You have to play the game different ways at times. Tampa Bay's 2.41 goals against this postseason is the lowest of any team that made it past the first round. “We have enough skill and talent to score offensively, but we focus on our defensive game,” winger Alex Killorn said.

The Stanley Cup Final is a showdown between the two-time defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning and the high-scoring Colorado Avalanche.

Mika Zibanejad scored in the third period, Igor Shesterkin stopped 29 shots and the New York Rangers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 to take a 2-0 series lead in the Eastern Conference finals.

Andrei Vasilevskiy had 49 saves and the Tampa Bay Lightning completed a four-game sweep of the Florida Panthers with a 2-0 victory that sends the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions back to the Eastern Conference final for the sixth time in eight years.

The NHL is wrapping up the first round of the playoffs with a rare treat.

Jack Campbell stopped 32 of 36 shots for the Maple Leafs, who are chasing their first playoff series win in 18 years. The Maple Leafs, who've been eliminated in the first round each of the past five seasons, are 0-for-their-last-8 in close-out games. The Maple Leafs rallied to win Game 5 at home, overcoming an early two-goal deficit and scoring three times in the third period to win 4-3 and take a 3-2 series lead. It looked like one goal might stand through the end of the period until the Maple Leafs mounted a another charge in the final minute. His second goal gave the Maple Leafs the lead with just eight seconds left before the second intermission.

Brayden Point scored on a rebound with 1:56 remaining in overtime to give the Tampa Bay Lightning a 4-3 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs and force a Game 7 in the first round playoff series between the Atlantic Division rivals.

Mika Zibanejad had his eighth career hat trick, Igor Shesterkin stopped 38 shots for his second shutout of the season and the New York Rangers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-0.

Steven Stamkos scored the tiebreaking goal on a third-period power play and the Tampa Bay Lightning rallied past the Vegas Golden Knights 4-3 in the final NHL game before an extended holiday break.

(AP Photo/Michael Dwyer) (Michael Dwyer)The Montreal Canadiens and Philadelphia Flyers were to play in an empty Bell Centre on Thursday night due to a spiraling rise of COVID-19 cases. Montreal says it has been assured it will be allowed to return to partial capacity at the Bell Centre beginning in January. The Bruins placed forwards Anton Blidh and Trent Frederic and goalie Jeremy Swayman in the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol Thursday. Bergeron, Marchand and fellow forward Craig Smith went on the protocol list earlier this week. Hard-hit Calgary added two more players and another member of the team’s support staff to its COVID-19 protocol list.

Lightning Bruins Hockey Boston Bruins' Jeremy Swayman (1) blocks a shot by Tampa Bay Lightning's Anthony Cirelli (71) as Connor Clifton (75) defends during the third period of an NHL hockey game, Saturday, Dec. 4, 2021, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer) (Michael Dwyer)The Boston Bruins placed forwards Anton Blidh and Trent Frederic and goalie Jeremy Swayman in the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol on Thursday. With the number of coronavirus cases and game postponements rising across the league, the addition of Blidh, Frederic and Swayman gave the Bruins six players in the protocol. Patrice Bergeron, leading scorer Brad Marchand and fellow forward Craig Smith went on the protocol list earlier this week. The Nashville Predators also have been hit hard, announcing Thursday that assistant coach Dan Hinote had been added to the protocol list.

The Montreal Canadiens and Philadelphia Flyers played in an empty Bell Centre on Thursday night because of a spiraling rise of COVID-19 cases.

Tampa Bay also got goals from Alex Killorn and Brayden Point. Taylor Raddysh picked up his first NHL point, coming in his eighth game, by assisting on Point's goalBrett Leason got his first NHL goal and Conor Sheary also scored for the the Capitals, who came in 5-0-3. Washington star Alex Ovechkin had his season-opening eight-game point streak (nine goals, six assists) end. Killorn and Cirelli had second-period goals as Tampa Bay took a 2-1 lead. Leason scored 1:13 into the game when his shot from the right wing boards was redirected past Vasilevskiy off Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman’s stick.

Andrei Vasilevskiy made 31 saves, Anthony Cirelli had a goal and two assists, and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat Washington 3-2 to end the Capitals’ eight-game season-opening point streak.

Tristan Jarry had 26 saves, Danton Heinen and Brian Boyle scored early second-period goals, and the short-handed Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning 6-2 in the regular-season opener.

(Gerry Broome/Associated Press )TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Lightning became the first team since 2017 to win back-to-back Stanley Cup titles, defeating the Montreal Canadiens 1-0 in Game 5 of the Finals on Wednesday night. The Lightning became the first home team to raise the Stanley Cup since 2015, when they lost to the Blackhawks in Chicago. It was the third Stanley Cup in franchise history for Tampa Bay, and the first on home ice after winning last season’s in the “bubble” in Edmonton, ESPN reported. Tampa Bay goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy had a series-ending shutout for an NHL-record fifth consecutive time dating to the 2020 Stanley Cup final. Tampa Bay is now 15-0 in the playoffs after a loss since the opening round of the 2020 tournament.

But the Lightning showed again why they're the champs and favorites to repeat by taking blow after blow and responding. Suzuki tied it for Montreal after Anthony Cirelli put the Lightning on the board a few minutes earlier. Carey!” at Price, and the Lightning improved to 13-2 this postseason when leading at the second intermission. JOSEPH INMathieu Joseph replaced Killorn in Tampa Bay's lineup, skating 6:23 in his first game since May 20. BATTERED CANADIENSThe Lightning were not the only team on the ice to have some attrition of injuries add up.

Suzuki tied it for Montreal after Anthony Cirelli put the Lightning on the board a few minutes earlier. Cirelli's seemingly harmless point shot found its way through traffic and beat Carey Price on the Lightning's sixth shot of the night. The Lightning are 13-2 this postseason when leading and the Canadiens 0-5 when trailing after two. Getting Joel Armia back helped the Canadiens find a different gear in Game 2 and take the play to the Lightning, but Coleman's late goal put them in comeback mode again. ___Follow AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno on Twitter at https://twitter.com/SWhyno___More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_SportsCopyright 2021 The Associated Press.

The Tampa Bay Lightning lead the Stanley Cup Final two games to none after beating the Montreal Canadiens 3-1on Wednesday night.

Andrei Vasilevskiy had 18 saves and Yanni Gourde scored a short-handed goal to help the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the New York Islanders 1-0 in Game 7 of their NHL playoff semifinal series.

Lightning Islanders Hockey New York Islanders' Mathew Barzal (13) celebrates with Anthony Beauvillier (18) after Beauvillier scored a goal during the overtime period of Game 6 of an NHL hockey semifinals against the Tampa Bay Lightning Wednesday, June 23, 2021, in Uniondale, N.Y. Jordan Eberle and Scott Mayfield scored for the Islanders, who rallied from two goals down in the second period. Brayden Point scored for the ninth straight game and Anthony Cirelli had a goal and an assist for the Lightning. The Lightning scored twice in that period in a 3-2 loss and then won 8-0 in Game 5 on Monday night. The Islanders scored the last three in this one to even the series.

Anthony Beauvillier scored 1:08 into overtime and the New York Islanders rallied to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 to force a deciding Game 7 in their Stanley Cup semifinal series.

Alex Killorn and Anthony Cirelli scored while Andrei Vasilevskiy was strong in net once again, helping the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Carolina Hurricanes 2-1 for a 2-0 lead in their second-round playoff series.

Lightning Hurricanes Hockey Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Brady Skjei (76) and Tampa Bay Lightning center Anthony Cirelli (71) chase the puck during the first period in Game 1 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup second-round playoff series in Raleigh, N.C., Sunday, May 30, 2021. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome) (Gerry Broome)RALEIGH, N.C. — (AP) — Barclay Goodrow beat Alex Nedeljkovic for the go-ahead goal at 12:39 of the third period to help the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Carolina Hurricanes 2-1 on Sunday night to open their second-round playoff series. Instead, the Lightning won a road series opener for the second straight round. The Lightning swept the first two games at Florida in that six-game first-round series. The Hurricanes, who have home-ice advantage after winning the Central Division, also got another solid performance from Nedeljkovic with 28 saves.

Alex Killorn scored a pair of second-period goals and the Tampa Bay Lightning rebounded from its first postseason loss to rout the Florida Panthers 6-2 and take a commanding 3-1 lead in the first-round Central Division playoff matchup.

Ryan Lomberg scored on a breakaway 5:56 into overtime to cap a furious comeback and give the Florida Panthers a 6-5 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 3 of their first-round playoff matchup.

(AP Photo/Tony Avelar)The Latest on Week 4 in the NFL (all times EDT)___8:35 p.m.Carson Wentz has thrown his NFL-worst seventh interception of the season for the Philadelphia Eagles. ___7:05 p.m.Bills quarterback Josh Allen’s 1-yard sneak that gave Buffalo a 23-16 lead over Las Vegas early in the fourth quarter. ___7:20 p.m.Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen is back guiding the Bills offense after injuring his left shoulder late in the first half at Las Vegas. ___6:40 p.m.Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen headed to the locker room after falling on his left wrist. The high-scoring start to the 2020 NFL season continued Sunday with several games featuring lots of points and very little defense.