ROSS COLTON

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.

The Tampa Bay Lightning don’t want to get ahead of themselves in their bid to become the first team in 40 years to win three consecutive Stanley Cup titles.

Ross Colton scored with just under four seconds remaining, giving the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning a 2-1 victory in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Pierre-Edouard Bellemare scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period, Andrei Vasilevskiy remained red-hot with 34 saves and the Tampa Bay Lightning topped the Florida Panthers 4-1 in Game 1 of an Eastern Conference semifinal series.

Corey Perry and Ondrej Palat also scored, and Brandon Hagel and Nikita Kucherov each had two assists for the Lightning. William Nylander scored twice and Jake Muzzin also had a goal for the Maple Leafs. Tampa Bay put the finishing touches on a dominant performance with empty-net goals by Palat and Colton in the final 5:20. They were all over the Maple Leafs from the start Sunday night, with Stamkos beating Campbell from just inside the blue line exactly one minute into the game. The Maple Leafs, meanwhile, were 0 for 2 in man-advantage situations before finally breaking through against Vasilevskiy with the first of Nylander’s two goals at 2:27 of the third.

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.

So much for the notion that goals are hard to come by in the playoffs.

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.

Ondrej Palat scored with 2:17 left in overtime, lifting the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 7-6 comeback win over the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night.

(Gerry Broome/Associated Press )TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Lightning became the first team since 2017 to win back-to-back Stanley Cup titles, defeating the Montreal Canadiens 1-0 in Game 5 of the Finals on Wednesday night. The Lightning became the first home team to raise the Stanley Cup since 2015, when they lost to the Blackhawks in Chicago. It was the third Stanley Cup in franchise history for Tampa Bay, and the first on home ice after winning last season’s in the “bubble” in Edmonton, ESPN reported. Tampa Bay goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy had a series-ending shutout for an NHL-record fifth consecutive time dating to the 2020 Stanley Cup final. Tampa Bay is now 15-0 in the playoffs after a loss since the opening round of the 2020 tournament.

APTOPIX Stanley Cup Hockey Tampa Bay Lightning left wing Ross Colton (79) reacts after scoring on Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price during the second period in Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup finals, Wednesday, July 7, 2021, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome) (Gerry Broome)TAMPA, Fla. — (AP) — Ross Colton scored off a pass from David Savard to put the Tampa Bay Lightning 20 minutes away from their second straight Stanley Cup title. Savard set up Colton's goal with 6:33 left in the second to give the Lightning a 1-0 lead over the Montreal Canadiens after two periods in Game 5 of the final Wednesday night. Colton stunted the momentum Montreal had built in the second period and put more than 17,000 fans at Amalie Arena one step closer to party time. Colton and Savard are the only two players in the Tampa Bay lineup without their names engraved on the Stanley Cup. But the second belonged to the Canadiens until Colton scored.

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.

(AP Photo/Gerry Broome) (Gerry Broome)TAMPA, Fla. — (AP) — Experience is an invaluable ally in the Stanley Cup playoffs. There’s little the defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning haven’t encountered during deep postseason runs five of the past seven years. The New York Islanders haven’t achieved as much but have progressed enough in three seasons under Barry Trotz to not feel like heavy underdogs in the Stanley Cup semifinals. Mathew Barzal (three goals, six assists) centers the top line with Leo Komarov and Jordan Eberle (three goals, five assists), followed by Brock Nelson (six goals, four assists) centering veteran Josh Bailey (five goals, six assists) and the speedy Anthony Beauvillier (four goals, seven assists). However, New York held the rest of the Bruins to just seven goals.

Experience is an invaluable ally in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

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 Florida Panthers entrusted their season to a rookie goalie making his playoff debut.

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