MIKHAIL SERGACHEV

The New Jersey Devils have agreed to terms with left winger Ondrej Palat on a $30 million, five-year contract.

Stanley Cup Lightning Avalanche Hockey Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon (29) moves the puck against Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Mikhail Sergachev (98) during the second period in Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final, Friday, June 24, 2022, in Denver. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey) (Jack Dempsey)TAMPA, Fla. — (AP) — Josh Manson still had his bags half-packed from the Colorado Avalanche’s last time on the road, when they returned home with the chance to win the Stanley Cup. Manson said the Avalanche learned some desperation from that sequence, but the stakes are higher in the final with the Stanley Cup in the building. He was glad the Lightning stood in Colorado’s way of winning the Cup because it was a fitting test of a champion. One source of confidence for the Avalanche is their road success this postseason: 8-1, including a win and a loss at the Lightning.

The Colorado Avalanche face their biggest task yet in the Stanley Cup Final looking to close out the back-to-back defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 6 on the road.

Stanley Cup Lightning Avalanche Hockey Tampa Bay Lightning left wing Ondrej Palat (18) celebrates a goal against the Colorado Avalanche with Mikhail Sergachev (98) and Steven Stamkos (91) during the third period in Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final, Friday, June 24, 2022, in Denver. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey) (Jack Dempsey)DENVER — (AP) — The Tampa Bay Lightning spoiled Colorado's party to stay in the hunt for a third straight Stanley Cup title, beating the Avalanche 3-2 on Friday night in Game 5. Tampa Bay regrouped after an emotional Game 4 loss at home on a overtime goal from Colorado forward Nazem Kadri. Tampa Bay has played in 67 postseason games since the start of the first round in 2020. Makar said leading into the game this was the “toughest one that we’ve had so far.”The Avalanche are 2 for 2 in their visits to the Stanley Cup Final.

The Tampa Bay Lightning spoiled Colorado’s party and they are still in the hunt for a third straight Stanley Cup title after beating the Avalanche 3-2 in Game 5.

The Tampa Bay Lightning say they are unfazed after losing Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final to the Colorado Avalanche.

For much of the game it looked as if the Colorado Avalanche and not the Tampa Bay Lightning were the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions.

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 Rangers, down 3-2 to the Lightning in the Eastern Conference final, have been especially resilient this postseason. The Lightning won Games 3 and 4 on home after dropping the first two on the road. The Lightning, who’ve won 10 consecutive series dating to the start of the 2020 postseason, aren’t taking anything for granted. Our mindset has got to be the same as the last three games,” veteran Lightning forward Pat Maroon said. “We don’t care when we win it, we just want to win it,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said.

The Tampa Bay Lightning know what type of effort it will take to finish off the New York Rangers.

Vasilevskiy also gloved a shot by Kevin Rooney with about eight minutes left. After a Lightning turnover, Motte fired a long shot that was gloved and smothered by Vasilevskiy with just under three minutes left to keep it a one-goal game. New York had the only shot on goal of first 5 1/2 minutes, a slap shot by Braden Schneider 1:42 into the game. Chytil left Tuesday night’s game just past the midpoint of the second period after a hit by Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman. The Lightning were without forward Brayden Point (lower body injury) for a ninth straight game.

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.

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.

President Joe Biden avoided politics in honoring the NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning for winning the Stanley Cup in each of the past two seasons.

Victor Hedman scored twice, Mikhail Sergachev had a goal and two assists and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Chicago Blackhawks 6-3 on Sunday night. Hedman, Corey Perry and Sergachev scored Tampa Bay's last three goals in a 32-second span in the third. “We were shooting pucks, and good things happen,” Hedman said.

(AP Photo/Rich Schultz) (Rich Schultz)NEW YORK — (AP) — 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 Sunday. The Rangers beat the Lightning for the second time in three days after a 4-2 shootout victory at Tampa, Florida, on Friday night. Zibanejad, who had the only goal of the shootout Friday, completed his hat trick late in the second period to put the Rangers up 4-0. Nearly five minutes later, the Rangers were on a 4-on-3 power play when Zibanejad got his second of the night. STATUSSergachev went to the Lightning locker room just past midway through the second period with an apparent lower back/side injury.

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.

The NHL will emerge from an extended holiday break with taxi squads and other roster revisions to guard against more disruptions to the season.

The New York Islanders have evened their series with Pittsburgh by keeping Penguins star Sidney Crosby in check.

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.

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 next two George Washington men’s basketball games have been postponed due to the continued pause on basketball activities after positive tests within Tier 1 personnel. ___Boston College has postponed two men’s basketball games this week because of positive COVID-19 tests, prompting the Atlantic Coast Conference to juggle its schedule. Carolina, Dallas, Florida, Nashville and Tampa Bay have all had games postponed because of the pandemic. ___The Chattanooga Mocs have postponed a pair of men’s basketball games after a positive COVID-19 test among the team’s Tier 1 personnel. ___The Southern Conference postponed three games because of positive COVID-19 tests within the Furman and Chattanooga men’s basketball programs.

FILE - In this June 15, 2015, file photo, Chicago Blackhawks' goalie Corey Crawford kisses the Stanley Cup Trophy after defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final series in Chicago. The past few weeks have seen several recent Stanley Cup winners get rid of members of their championship core. The Blackhawks moved on from Corey Crawford, the Washington Capitals did the same with Braden Holtby, the Pittsburgh Penguins traded fellow goalie Matt Murray and forward Patric Hornqvist and the St. Louis Blues signing Torey Krug means captain Alex Pietrangelo will sign elsewhere. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)

FILE - In this June 15, 2015, file photo, Chicago Blackhawks' goalie Corey Crawford kisses the Stanley Cup Trophy after defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final series in Chicago. The past few weeks have seen several recent Stanley Cup winners get rid of members of their championship core. Hornqvist was “blindsided” the Pittsburgh Penguins wanted to trade him. The past several weeks have featured several recent Stanley Cup winners breaking up their championship core by saying goodbye to a key player with his name on the trophy. The agitating, go-to-the-net winger helped Pittsburgh win the Cup in 2016 and 2017.