BRAYDEN POINT

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.

Six years later, he’s a two-time Stanley Cup champion at the peak of his career after backstopping the Tampa Bay Lightning to a second consecutive title. Continuing to validate the organization’s faith in him, Vasilevskiy had a shutout in all four series clinchers, never lost back-to-back games and won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. “It’s all about experience and how the team is playing in front of you,” he said before the Game 5 clincher. “Night in, night out (the) backbone of this team.”That was Bishop’s role in 2015 before a torn groin derailed his Cup final. Vasilevskiy had started a total of 13 NHL games at that point and had the spotlight on him at age 20 on hockey’s biggest stage.

Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy has won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP after backstopping the Tampa Bay Lightning to the Stanley Cup for a second consecutive year.

The defending champion Lightning outshot the Canadiens 13-4 in a dominant start to their second opportunity to wrap up the series and win the Cup for the second time in 10 months. But they couldn't crack Price, who seems to have found his groove in the final after a rough first three games. Forward Blake Coleman, a pending free agent who's likely playing his final series with the Lightning, had a dominant first period on the forecheck, frazzling the Canadiens and drawing a penalty. At the other end of the ice, Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy made four saves and sticked away the puck from a danger area with the Canadiens buzzing. ___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 have won the Stanley Cup for the second consecutive season.

Nikita Kucherov has led the Tampa Bay Lightning to the verge of a second consecutive Stanley Cup championship by doing a little bit of everything.

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

Of course, the Canadiens have felt this way before, looking outclassed in the semifinal opener against Vegas before roaring back and winning in six games. Cooper and his team will also need to adjust to Montreal's adjustments and will rely on a mature approach to playoff hockey. “(We are) trying to get to the strength of our game as much as possible and wear teams down over the course of a long series,” Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh said. They did last year in the final falling behind to Dallas and last round against the New York Islanders. Tampa Bay players have said on multiple occasions the Canadiens are “here for a reason” and that they won't underestimate the opponent standing in their way of a second Cup championship.

The Montreal Canadiens need more from their best offensive line in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Playoff goals leader Brayden Point also assisted for Tampa Bay, which has never won Game 1 of a Stanley Cup Final. Price is making his Stanley Cup Final debut in his 14th season with the Canadiens. He is the first goaltender in league history to win more than 400 regular-season and playoff games combined before appearing in a Cup Final. Meanwhile, center Jake Evans is in the Canadiens lineup after missing nine games due to a concussion. The Lightning are in the Stanley Cup Final for the third time since 2015.

Playoff scoring leader Nikita Kucherov had two goals and an assist and Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 18 saves to outplay Carey Price and lead the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 5-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final.

The defending champions advanced to a Stanley Cup Final matchup against the surprising Montreal Canadiens, who upset the Vegas Golden Knights in the other semifinal. Vasilevskiy turned away seven shots in the final period to post his fifth career playoff shutout — fourth this postseason. The Islanders, who were aiming for their first Stanley Cup Final berth in 37 years, forced a winner-take-all showdown by rallying to win Game 6 on Anthony Beauvillier’s overtime goal. GAME 7sThe Islanders fell to 4-6 all-time in Game 7s, 4-5 on the road. The Islanders were trying to earn their first Stanley Cup Final berth since 1984.

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.

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.

Stamkos ignited a three-goal opening period — the first against the Islanders all season — by scoring just 45 seconds into the game. Point has scored a goal in eight straight games, the second-longest stretch within a single postseason in NHL history. Vasilevskiy, meanwhile, stopped all 21 shots he faced for his third playoff shutout this year. It’s the longest such streak in NHL history, and Vasilevskiy has been the goaltender in each of the victories. QUICK STARTERSThe Lightning are 11-1 when scoring the first goal this postseason, 0-4 when they haven't.

Steven Stamkos had two goals and an assist and Andrei Vasilevskiy notched his fourth career playoff shutout, helping the Tampa Bay Lightning rout the New York Islanders 8-0 in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup semifinal series.

Matt Martin capped New York’s three-goal second period, Ryan Pulock made a diving stop in front of an open goal in the closing seconds and the Islanders held on to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 to even their Stanley Cup semifinal series at two games apiece.

The New York Islanders are facing a familiar scenario again, trailing 2-1 in a series after a narrow loss in Game 3 at home.

Lightning Islanders Hockey Tampa Bay Lightning center Brayden Point (21) brings the puck up the ice against the New York Islanders during the third period of Game 3 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup semifinals, Thursday, June 17, 2021, in Uniondale, N.Y. Tampa Bay won 2-1. Yanni Gourde also scored to help Tampa Bay improve to 6-1 on the road in the playoffs. The Islanders outshot the Lightning 8-5 in a tight third period, but couldn't tie it. GAME 3 FORTUNESThe Islanders have lost Game 3 at home in each of their three playoff series to fall into a 2-1 series deficit. However, those were at home after Tampa Bay won each of the first two games on the road.

Brayden Point kept up his scoring touch with a tiebreaking goal late in the second period, Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 27 shots and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the New York Islanders 2-1 on Thursday night to take a 2-1 lead in the Stanley Cup semifinals.

Brayden Point and Ondrej Palat delivered early goals and NHL playoff scoring leader Nikita Kucherov had three more assists to help the Tampa Bay Lightning rebound from a series-opening loss and beat the New York Islanders 4-2 in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup semifinals.

Experience is an invaluable ally in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Andrei Vasilevskiy closed another postseason series by turning away every shot.

Brayden Point and Ross Colton scored and Andrei Vasilevskiy controlled the crease, helping the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Carolina Hurricanes 2-0 on Tuesday night to win the second-round playoff series in five games.

The star-studded Tampa Bay Lightning beam when talking about the contributions of Barclay Goodrow, a physical third-line forward playing a largely unheralded role in the team’s bid to repeat as Stanley Cup champions.

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 to open their second-round playoff series.

Panthers Lightning Hockey Florida Panthers right wing Patric Hornqvist (70) leads the team to congratulate the Tampa Bay Lightning after the Lightning defeated the Florida Panthers during Game 6 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series Wednesday, May 26, 2021, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara) (Chris O'Meara)TAMPA, Fla. — (AP) — Andrei Vasilevskiy wrapped up a series with a Game 6 shutout for the second straight time, stopping 29 shots in the Tampa Bay Lightning's 4-0 victory over the Florida Panthers on Wednesday night. Tampa Bay advanced to the second round for the fifth time in the past seven years. The Panthers have not won a playoff series since the 1996 Eastern Conference Finals. The roughing penalty led to Tampa Bay’s second power-play chance of the game and second goal.

Andrei Vasilevskiy wrapped up a series with a Game 6 shutout for the second straight time, stopping 29 shots in the Tampa Bay Lightning’s 4-0 victory over the Florida Panthers on Wednesday night.

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.

Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 32 shots, Steven Stamkos and Ondrej Palat had first-period goals and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Florida Panthers 3-1 on Tuesday night to take a 2-0 lead in their Central Division first-round playoff series.

Nikita Kucherov scored two power-play goals in his first appearance of the season, and Blake Coleman scored a short-handed goal. Point tied it at 4 with seven minutes to go on his power-play goal and then got the winner when he skated in on a breakaway and backhanded the puck past Bobrovsky. The Lightning took a 1-0 lead on Coleman’s short-handed goal 16 seconds later. The Panthers tied it at 1 on Barkov’s power-play goal at 9:41, and Verhaeghe put them ahead with 3:29 left in the first. The second period ended with a fighting scrum in front of the Tampa Bay net.

Brayden Point scored two late goals, including the game-winner with 1:14 left in the third period, to lift the defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning over the Florida Panthers 5-4 to take Game 1 of their playoff series.

There used to be a thing called the Governor’s Cup, a trophy presented to whichever team won the annual regular season series between the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning.

Chris Driedger stopped 30 shots to record his third shutout of the season, Juho Lammikko scored a short-handed goal, and the Florida Panthers secured home-ice advantage for the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs with a 4-0 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning in the regular season finale for both clubs.

Blake Coleman converted a short-handed penalty shot and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 20 shots for his 26th career shutout to lead the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 3-0 victory against the Dallas Stars on Thursday night.

Quarantine requirements are making the trade deadline drastically different for teams around the NHL this year.

Andrei Vasilevskiy made 25 stops to move to 12-0 lifetime against Detroit and lead the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 2-1 victory.

The triumph of winning the NHL championship in a bubble was certainly no less sweet for the Tampa Bay Lightning. He played 964 regular-season and 137 playoff games to get to this point, losing in the final twice before. Tampa Bay had Point and No. Coach Jon Cooper thought the attitude needed to change from wanting to beat every opponent 9-0 because that’s not realistic in playoff hockey. ... Alexander Volkov made his NHL playoff debut for Tampa Bay, which also saw Patrick Maroon become just the eighth player to win the Cup in back-to-back seasons with different teams (St. Louis).

This is a Stanley Cup matchup for all of those who like their games to be a bit defensive. “In today’s NHL you need that for your team to be successful,” Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh said Friday. “We're not surprised,” Stars defenseman John Klingberg said. ... He’s doing it all right now.”The Stars signed 14-year veteran Andrej Sekera as a free agent last summer, and he is finally in his first Stanley Cup Final with his fifth team. “Everyone is obviously very hungry to go all of the way,” said Hedman, part of Tampa Bay's loss to the Chicago Blackhawks in the Stanley Cup Final five years ago.