BRAYDEN POINT

The Tampa Bay Lightning didn’t relinquish their stronghold on the Stanley Cup without a fight.

The Colorado Avalanche have won the Stanley Cup after dethroning the two-time defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning.

If this is Ondrej Palat's final playoff run with the Tampa Bay Lightning, he's certainly making it count.

The Colorado Avalanche got a key player back with the return of Nazem Kadri for Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Same for the Colorado Avalanche with Gabriel Landeskog going second in 2011, Nathan MacKinnon first in 2013 and Cale Makar fourth in 2017. The Lightning and Avalanche started from the bottom, and now they’re here in the Stanley Cup Final, in large part to nailing those high picks. “There’s no question that talent is a commodity that’s hard to come by,” said six-time Stanley Cup champion Mark Messier, who’s working the final as an analyst for ESPN. The Canadiens, New Jersey Devils or wherever he lands probably won’t be in the Stanley Cup Final right away, but he's ready to take that ride. “Tampa and Colorado both had first overall picks a number of years back and now they’re finally contenders.

The Stanley Cup Final between the Colorado Avalanche and Tampa Bay Lightning shows the value of hitting on top picks in the NHL draft.

The Colorado Avalanche are expected to stick with goaltender Darcy Kuemper in goal for Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final.

Stanley Cup Lightning Avalanche Hockey Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy gives up goal on a shot from Colorado Avalanche left wing Andre Burakovsky, not seen, during overtime in Game 1 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final on Wednesday, June 15, 2022, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) (David Zalubowski)DENVER — (AP) — Andre Burakovsky scored 1:23 into overtime and the Colorado Avalanche opened the Stanley Cup Final with a 4-3 victory over the two-time defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday night. Burakovsky is one of only two Avalanche players who have won the Cup. The arena was rocking from the start of warmups for the first Stanley Cup Final game in the city in 2001 — also the last year the Avalanche won the Stanley Cup, with Sakic serving as captain. If anything, Game 1 against the Lightning showed this series won't be easy for either team.

Andre Burakovsky scored 1:23 into overtime and the Colorado Avalanche opened the Stanley Cup Final with a 4-3 victory over the two-time defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday night.

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

At 32 and wrapping up his 14th season, Steven Stamkos is no longer one of the NHL’s most prolific scorers or even the second- or third-best player on his own team.

Mikhail Sergachev scored his second goal of the game with 1:50 remaining to break a tie and lead the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 3-1 victory over the New York Rangers on Thursday night for a 3-2 lead in the Eastern Conference final.

Nikita Kucherov scored on a breakaway and Andrei Vasilevskiy had 33 saves , helping the Tampa Bay Lightning shut down the New York Rangers 4-1 and even the NHL’s Eastern Conference final at two games apiece.

Ondrej Palat scored with 42 seconds left and the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning beat the New York Rangers 3-2 on Sunday to cut their deficit in the Eastern Conference finals to 2-1.

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 Florida Panthers are on the brink of getting swept out of the second round of the playoffs by the back-to-back defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning.

Steven Stamkos scored two goals and Nikita Kucherov had a goal and three assists and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Florida Panthers 5-1 to move to the brink of another trip to the Eastern Conference final.

Lightning Maple Leafs Hockey Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nicholas Paul celebrates his second goal of the night against the Toronto Maple Leafs, during the second period in Game 7 of a first-round series in the NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs Saturday, May 14, 2022, in Toronto. The Maple Leafs were once again unable to push through and finally flip a long, ugly narrative of playoff failures for a franchise that has now lost its last seven series, including six straight dating back to 2017. William Nylander then missed high on a breakaway and the Tampa goaltender robbed Matthews with the Maple Leafs buzzing. The Maple Leafs, however, just couldn’t find a way through with Campbell on the bench for an extra skater to complete another chapter of playoff disappointment. The forward — in agony as he headed down the tunnel to the locker room — tried to return for the second period, but shut it down after a brief shift.

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.

Ross Colton scored twice, Andrei Vasilevskiy had 22 saves and the Tampa Bay Lightning got off to a fast start and beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 7-3 in Game 4 to even their first-round playoff series.

Jack Campbell had 32 saves — including three to protect the lead on a late power play — and the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-2 in Game 3 of their first-round playoff series.

Artemi Panarin and Frank Vatrano each had a goal and two assists and the New York Rangers beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-2 in Game 2 on Thursday night to even the best-of-seven first-round series.

Tanner Jeannot and Filip Forsberg each scored a power-play goal for Nashville, which dropped to 0-2 in outdoor games. This was the outdoor game the Predators, and Nashville, had wanted for years at Nissan Stadium, the home of the NFL's Tennessee Titans, across the Cumberland River from their own arena. Nine players remain from Nashville’s first outdoor game in the 2020 Winter Classic in Dallas. Andrei Vasilevskiy came in tied for the league-lead with 27 wins for Tampa Bay with Juuse Saros’ 25 victories tying him for fifth. DRESS FOR THE MOMENTBoth Tampa Bay and Nashville made to sure to coordinate their wardrobes before heading to this game.

Steven Stamkos had a goal and two assists as the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Nashville Predators 3-2 to spoil the first outdoor game in Music City.

Anthony Duclair scored twice, Jonathan Huberdeau had a goal and four assists, and the Florida Panthers romped to a 9-3 rout of the NHL-leading Tampa Bay Lightning.

It was the first NHL game since the Lightning won 4-3 at Vegas on Dec. 21 in the only game played that night. Tampa Bay had six players and coach Jon Cooper unavailable in COVID-19 protocols. Tampa Bay center Brayden Point had two goals and an assist in his return after missing 14 games with an upper-body injury. With goalies Andrei Vasilevskiy and Brian Elliott both out, Maxime Lagace made 27 saves in his first NHL game since May 8, 2021, with Pittsburgh. Colton gave Tampa Bay a 3-2 lead at 8:11 of the second just after a Montreal minor penalty expired.

Ondrej Palat scored 36 seconds into overtime after Tampa Bay teammate Corey Perry tied it late in the third period, and the Lightning beat the Montreal Canadiens 5-4 in the first NHL game following an extended holiday break.

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.