PAT MAROON

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

Stamkos, Paul, Maroon and Perry scored in the second period, when the Lightning chased Colorado goalie Darcy Kuemper while pulling away to trim their series deficit to 2-1. The defending champs became the first team since 1919 to win a Stanley Cup Final game after losing by seven-plus goals the previous game. The Avalanche lifted Kuemper after Maroon scored a soft goal that put the Lightning up 5-2 with 8:45 remaining in the second. The Lightning became the third team in NHL history score six goals in a Stanley Cup Final after yielding at least seven the previous game. Paul scored for the Lightning after sitting out a portion of the first period with what appeared to be a right leg injury.

Darcy Kuemper, after rarely being tested in a 7-0 win in Game 2 Saturday night that put the Avalanche up 2-0 in the series, was pulled midway through the second after giving up five goals on 22 shots. Kuemper left Game 1 of the Western Conference Final against Edmonton with an upper-body injury and was replaced by Pavel Francouz, who was in net for a four-game sweep over the Oilers. The end for Kuemper came when Tampa Bay tough guy Pat Maroon made it 5-2 with an in-close backhander 11:15 into the second. The goal came after Colorado defenseman Josh Manson made an errant pass from behind the net. Despite Kuemper posting an 8-3 mark in the playoffs this year, there was immediate speculations about which goalie would start Game 4 on Wednesday night.

Colorado not only failed to take a stranglehold in the Stanley Cup Final after a 6-2 loss to Tampa Bay in Game 3 but also wound up with goaltending questions.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

The Tampa Bay Lightning regained credibility in last night’s game, defeating the New York Rangers 4-1 in Game 4. AdvertisementNikita Kucherov picked up the pace in the second period. Stamkos’ goal advanced the Lightning to 3-0. AYE AYE CAPTAIN 🫡 pic.twitter.com/8nCWJo9SnM — Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) June 8, 2022To put icing on the cake, Palat scored the last goal for the Lightning with nine seconds left on an empty Rangers net. The Rangers will now take on the Lightning for Game 5 in New York City this Thursday.

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.

The Tampa Bay Lightning are headed to the Eastern Conference finals for the sixth time in eight years after sweeping the Florida Panthers in four games.

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.

“That’s why playoff hockey is a lot of fun.”It wasn't a lot of fun early on, when the team that scored first won 26 times out of 32. “The standard is the standard: It’s not a regular-season standard, it’s not a playoff standard,” Commissioner Gary Bettman said at the start of the playoffs. They’re especially careful to uphold that because 20 work the first round, with eight sent home before the second begins. “If you’re not calling the NHL standard, there’s a good possibility that you won’t be moving on to the second round,” Peel said. ___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 2022 The Associated Press.

The start of the NHL playoffs included more penalties called than any other first round in almost a decade.

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.

The Montreal Canadiens have finally earned respect during a remarkable playoff run that has them in the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in 28 years.

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.

Florida was second in the Central Division, Tampa Bay third. “I think we made giant strides over the course of the year, from this year to last year,” Panthers coach Joel Quenneville said. He missed the entire regular season with a hip injury. “The big thing for me is to not sit here and say ‘Kucherov is coming back, like all problems are solved,’” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. “We haven’t had our full team,” Tampa Bay defenseman Ryan McDonagh said.

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.

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

Rewind to 2019 and early 2020 and that description fits the Tampa Bay Lightning, who added some grit and toughness to their talented core and went on to win the Stanley Cup. The Lightning effect was clear as soon as NHL free agency opened. “You need guys that are going to have a little bit of sandpaper. “We maybe have taken a little bit of a step back from the most skillful lineup we’ve ever had to more of a balance between the will and the skill," Poile said. We certainly have a little bit more physicality, a little bit more grit and I think it’s probably and hopefully a better mix than we had last year.”___More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports