RICK BOWNESS

Stars Wrapup Hockey Dallas Stars NHL team head coach Rick Bowness walks after speaking to reporters about the hockey season during a media availability at the team's headquarters in Frisco, Texas, Tuesday, May 17, 2022. (AP Photo/LM Otero) (LM Otero)Rick Bowness will not return as head coach of the Dallas Stars after nearly three seasons in which he led them to the Stanley Cup Final and the playoffs again this season. Rick Bowness has been on an NHL bench for a record 2,562 regular-season games as a head coach or an assistant over nearly four decades. He became the interim coach in December 2019 after Jim Montgomery was fired for off-ice issues. There was then a shortened, 56-game season when the Stars had an NHL-high 14 losses after regulation and missed the playoffs.

Rick Bowness will not return as the coach of the Dallas Stars.

The New York Rangers were on the brink of elimination when they came back from Pittsburgh earlier in the week after two bad losses on the road.

The pressure is squarely on the Florida Panthers, New York Rangers and Calgary Flames down two games to one in their respective first-round series.

Joe Pavelski scored twice and got the game-winner on the first power-play goal in the series for Dallas as the Stars beat the Calgary Flames 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round Western Conference playoff series.

Injuries are threatening to tip the balance of a handful of first-round series around the NHL playoffs.

Stars Canucks Hockey Dallas Stars' Jamie Benn, left, and Vancouver Canucks' Luke Schenn fight during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Vancouver, British Columbia, Monday, April 18, 2022. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP) (Darryl Dyck)FRISCO, Texas — (AP) — Things got wild in a matter of seconds for Western Conference teams still trying to get into the NHL playoffs — for those on the ice and those watching at home. It’s why you play the full 65 minutes,” Dallas Stars coach Rick Bowness said Monday, a day after playoff-contending teams Vegas and Nashville both gave up last-second goals to lose home games after regulation. A ll eight playoff teams for the Eastern Conference are set and things are getting closer in the West. If Dallas beats Vegas, Nashville could wrap up the other wild-card spot with a win at home against Calgary.

The NHL playoff race is going into its final few days with both Western Conference wild-card slots still unsettled.

Penguins Stars Hockey Dallas Stars left wing Roope Hintz (24) celebrates his goal with teammates Joe Pavelski (16) and Miro Heiskanen (4) during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Dallas, Saturday, Jan. 8, 2022. (AP Photo/LM Otero) (LM Otero)DALLAS — (AP) — Roope Hintz and Joe Pavelski scored 1:15 apart late in the third period and the Dallas Stars stopped Pittsburgh’s winning streak at 10 games, beating the Penguins 3-2 on Saturday. “In the first (period), we were just giving them a little bit too much respect,” Stars coach Rick Bowness said. “Then I think in the second and the third, we started to play Dallas Stars hockey.”Denis Gurianov also scored and Jake Oettinger stopped 27 shots for Dallas. “That’s not my job description.”WORTH NOTINGGurianov’s goal followed a career-best three-point game (one goal, two assists) Thursday in a 5-4 shootout win over Florida.

Roope Hintz and Joe Pavelski scored 75 seconds apart late in the third period, and the Dallas Stars stopped Pittsburgh’s 10-game win streak with a 3-2 victory over the Penguins.

Stars Bishop Hockey FILE - Dallas Stars goaltender Ben Bishop (30) defends the goal during an NHL hockey practice in Frisco, Texas, Thursday, Sept. 23, 2021. Dallas Stars goalie Ben Bishop's career is over because of a degenerative knee condition, general manager Jim Nill said Saturday, Dec. 11, 2021. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File) (LM Otero)DALLAS — (AP) — Dallas Stars goalie Ben Bishop's career is over because of a degenerative condition in his right knee, general manager Jim Nill said Saturday. The Stars recalled Bishop from a conditioning assignment with the Texas Stars of the AHL after he allowed eight goals on 34 shots in his only game. Battling the knee injury, Bishop played once in each of the first three playoff series.

Dallas Stars goalie Ben Bishop’s career is over because of a degenerative condition in his right knee.

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.

New York Rangers coach David Quinn of the New York Rangers stands behind the bench during the team's NHL hockey game against the Washington Capitals on Thursday, Feb. 4, 2021, in New York. (Bruce Bennett/Pool Photo via AP)The NHL revised its virus protocols in a bid to keep the shortened season on track, but not before a fifth team was idled by COVID-19 problems. Hours after the league announced changes visible in arenas and important behind the scenes, Colorado joined the growing list of U.S.-based teams shut down for virus concerns. Colorado captain Gabriel Landeskog joined teammate Tyson Jost on the league's COVID-19 unavailable list Thursday. Bettman said fewer than half the players in protocol have been because of a confirmed positive test and many of those were asymptomatic.

San Jose's Erik Karlsson (65) handles the puck against Minnesota Wild's Nick Bjugstad (27) in the third period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, Jan. 24, 2021, in St. Paul, Minn. San Jose won 5-3. (AP Photo/Stacy Bengs)With an outbreak delaying the Dallas Stars' opener, Rick Bowness got to watch a lot of hockey in the first couple of nights of the NHL season. “It was entertaining hockey, but it was a little sloppy,” Bowness said. “We’re staying in 5-star hotels, get to play hockey, so I can’t complain,” defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic said. Ad___Follow AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno on Twitter at https://twitter.com/SWhyno___More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

The Stars' return comes after 17 players tested positive for COVID-19, even though most were asymptomatic. Their first four scheduled games, all on the road and including an early Stanley Cup Final rematch with Tampa Bay, were postponed. “Right now, listen, we're all ready for a game,” Stars coach Rick Bowness said after practice Thursday at their home arena. Now the Stars are the last team to open the NHL's 56-game, division-only regular season. About 5,000 fans will be allowed for Stars games, well below the hockey capacity of 18,532, though the NBA's Dallas Mavericks are playing their home games there without fans.

For Peter Laviolette, his Washington Capitals will keep playing for the next week without four prominent players who broke the rules. There's no indication the Capitals are being shut down, though they will have to play the next four games without captain Alex Ovechkin, No. The NHL defers to local authorities, and the minimum four games for the Capitals players relates to the District of Columbia's quarantine regulations. The Hurricanes have so far had three games postponed because of their outbreak and won't play for at least a week. I think that’s really what we’re going to find out.”___AP Sports Writers Aaron Beard and Stephen Hawkins contributed.

The NHL did not specify which team prompted the postponement, though four Hurricanes players were added to the COVID-19 list Tuesday. The NHL already postponed the start of the Dallas Stars' season after six players and two staff members tested positive for the virus. Hurricanes players Warren Foegele, Jordan Martinook, Jaccob Slavin and Teuvo Teravainen joined captain Jordan Staal on the unavailable list because of COVID-19 protocols. The teams aren’t scheduled to play again in Nashville until the end of the season with back-to-back games on May 7-8. Now the Predators, who gave players Tuesday off after the postponement, are scheduled to visit Dallas on Friday night for the Stars' season opener.

The Stars are still Bowness' team. Dallas officially removed the interim tag Thursday and gave the 65-year-old Bowness a two-year contract, making him the franchise's 24th head coach, and ninth since moving to Dallas in 1993. Bowness was 20-13-5 after becoming their interim head coach. The Stars made it to the Stanley Cup final even while dealing with a plethora of significant injuries. That would have been a lot more interesting if we had been a healthy team,” Bowness said.

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).

After consecutive games with three-goal periods, Tampa Bay has all of the momentum and a 2-1 series lead. Dallas' top line is without a goal against Tampa Bay. Tampa Bay then went ahead in Game 3 with two goals in an 85-second span before three goals in the second period of a 5-2 win. The NHL is playing Stanley Cup Final games on back-to-back nights for the first time since 2009, when Detroit won each of the first two games against Pittsburgh, which eventually won the series in seven games. In its only back-to-back this postseason, Tampa Bay won Games 2 and 3 in the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs against Boston.

In this photo provided by the Dallas Stars NHL hockey team, interim head coach Rick Bowness watches practice in Frisco, Texas, Tuesday, July 14, 2020. You get out there and you miss it, the Dallas Stars coach said. You realize how much you enjoy being out there.The NHLs oldest head coach still worries about COVID-19 but not enough to stop doing his job. Im going to have to adjust to it, there is no question. The average age of the 24 head coaches in the playoffs is just under 54, the second-oldest behind the NBA among North Americas four major professional sports leagues.