RYAN MCDONAGH

After the San Jose Sharks missed the NHL playoffs for a third straight season for the first time in franchise history, Tomas Hertl is determined to turn things around.

Johnny Gaudreau leaving Calgary for Columbus headlined a busy offseason of player movement around the NHL.

Confronted by the harsh reality of the Tampa Bay Lightning moving on from him and with memories still fresh of being on the wrong side of the Stanley Cup championship handshake line, Ryan McDonagh approved a trade to the Nashville Predators. The Predators also lost to the Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche when they were swept out of the first round. In adding McDonagh and re-signing Filip Forsberg, Nashville hopes it’s beginning to close the gap on Colorado.

The Tampa Bay Lightning traded veteran defenseman Ryan McDonagh to the Nashville Predators on Sunday, clearing significant salary cap space to make more moves this offseason. They received defenseman Philippe Myers and forward prospect Grant Mismash in the deal. Tampa Bay might also now have the room to bring back defenseman Jan Rutta, who like Palat was set to be a free agent when the market opens July 13. McDonagh, 33, was a key part of Tampa Bay winning the Stanley Cup back to back in 2020 and ’21 and reaching the final this past season. Myers has now been traded in consecutive offseason after going from Philadelphia to Nashville last summer in the deal that sent defenseman Ryan Ellis to the Flyers.

Julien BriseBois wanted to explain his plan to Ryan McDonagh in person, laying out exactly why he was asking the veteran defenseman to waive his no-trade clause. After one of the most difficult conversations in his tenure as general manager, BriseBois made perhaps his toughest move yet during the Tampa Bay Lightning’s run of success by trading a prominent member of two Stanley Cup championship teams in an effort to win it again in the coming years. The Lightning sent McDonagh to the Nashville Predators on Sunday for younger defenseman Philippe Myers and forward prospect Grant Mismash, clearing significant salary cap space to make more moves this offseason and setting up Tampa Bay to keep younger core players around for the long term.

The Colorado Avalanche overwhelmed the Tampa Bay Lightning 7-0 in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.

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 New York Rangers’ third line has been making valuable contributions all season, and the trio’s success in Game 1 against Tampa Bay is a big reason the team finally has a lead during a postseason series.

Andrei Vasilevskiy has won a Vezina Trophy and two Stanley Cups with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Panthers Lightning Hockey Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Erik Cernak (81) watches his shot get past Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky for a goal during the second period in Game 3 of an NHL hockey second-round playoff series Sunday, May 22, 2022, in Tampa, Fla. Game 4 is Monday night at Amalie Arena, where the Lightning have won three of four games this postseason. Sam Reinhart scored Florida’s lone goal in Game 3, snapping a puzzling 0-for-25 start to the playoffs for the Panthers’ power play. Kucherov and Stamkos added empty-net goals in the final four minutes after the Panthers removed Bobrovsky in favor of an extra attacker. NOTES: With his 50th career playoff goal, Perry moved ahead of Brad Marchant and Patrick Bergeron into sole possession of sixth place among active career playoff goal leaders.

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.

The eight playoff teams in the Eastern Conference have been set since before the All-Star break.

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.

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.

NHL players will not take part in the upcoming Winter Olympics in Beijing after all. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File) (Mark Humphrey)The NHL is not sending players to the Beijing Olympics over concerns that the pandemic will disrupt the league’s ability to complete a full season. The NHL's bottom line is at stake, with the league and players drawing no direct money from competing at the Winter Games. As a result, the men’s Olympic hockey tournament will go on without NHL players for the second consecutive time. Several NHL players already had expressed hesitations about participating, including Vegas goalie Robin Lehner, who pulled his name out of consideration to represent Sweden.

The NHL is not sending players to the Beijing Olympics after all.

NHL players are going back to the Olympics.

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.

Stanley Cup Hockey Montreal Canadiens right wing Josh Anderson (17) scores past Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy (88) during the first period of Game 4 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup final in Montreal, Monday, July 5, 2021. (Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press via AP) (Paul Chiasson)MONTREAL — (AP) — Ryan McDonagh’s no-look pass set up Barclay Goodrow, and the defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning evened the score at 1 against the Montreal Canadiens after two periods of Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final on Monday night. Canadiens defenseman Jeff Petry turned over the puck with a weak clearing attempt from deep in his own zone. The 33-year-old Price got a glove up to stop Nikita Kucherov’s snapshot from the right circle in the opening minute. Some 30 seconds later, Price held his ground at the right post to stop two shots from Blake Coleman.

(Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press via AP) (Ryan Remiorz)It's impossible for Nikita Kucherov to fly under the radar while leading the Tampa Bay Lightning to the verge of a second consecutive Stanley Cup championship. With a victory in Monday's Game 4, Tampa Bay would sweep the series and hoist the Cup for a second time in 10 months. Kucherov had another goal and assist in a 6-3 win in Game 3 Friday that kept open the possibility of a sweep. “We have game plan, right, and everybody’s buying in and everybody’s doing their job,” Kucherov said. Point's 14 goals are the most in the playoffs, but Kucherov has driven the bus for that line, especially this series.

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.

The Montreal Canadiens need more from their best offensive line in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The defenseman playing in his 46th playoff game beat Price from the slot off a pass from Ondrej Palat at 6:19 of the opening period. Playoff goals leader Brayden Point also assisted Cernak's goal for Tampa Bay, which had never won Game 1 of a Stanley Cup Final. Price made his Stanley Cup Final debut in his 14th season with the Canadiens. He's the first goaltender in league history to win more than 400 regular-season and playoff games combined before appearing in a Cup Final. 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.

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.

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.

The first-ever playoff game between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers could be tough to top.

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.

Kameron Bush, 3, poses with the Stanley Cup at the Children's Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla., on Oct. 16, 2020. The Tampa Bay Lightning took the Stanley Cup to the Children's Cancer Center as part of their local tour of stops after winning the National Hockey League's championship trophy Sept. 28 in Edmonton, Alberta. (Kristina Hjertkvist/Tampa Bay Lightning via AP)Remy Heberlein’s grandmother joked he shouldn’t touch the Stanley Cup with chocolate on his hands. This wasn’t like any other year when the NHL champions could take the Stanley Cup wherever they want. Officials from the team and Children’s Cancer Center and the keepers of the Cup came up with an intricate plan: a 90-minute outdoor gathering with hand sanitizer stations and families waiting in their cars until their 3 minutes with players and the trophy.

(AP Photo/Tony Avelar)The Latest on Week 4 in the NFL (all times EDT)___8:35 p.m.Carson Wentz has thrown his NFL-worst seventh interception of the season for the Philadelphia Eagles. ___7:05 p.m.Bills quarterback Josh Allen’s 1-yard sneak that gave Buffalo a 23-16 lead over Las Vegas early in the fourth quarter. ___7:20 p.m.Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen is back guiding the Bills offense after injuring his left shoulder late in the first half at Las Vegas. ___6:40 p.m.Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen headed to the locker room after falling on his left wrist. The high-scoring start to the 2020 NFL season continued Sunday with several games featuring lots of points and very little defense.

This is a Stanley Cup matchup for all of those who like their games to be a bit defensive. “In today’s NHL you need that for your team to be successful,” Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh said Friday. “We're not surprised,” Stars defenseman John Klingberg said. ... He’s doing it all right now.”The Stars signed 14-year veteran Andrej Sekera as a free agent last summer, and he is finally in his first Stanley Cup Final with his fifth team. “Everyone is obviously very hungry to go all of the way,” said Hedman, part of Tampa Bay's loss to the Chicago Blackhawks in the Stanley Cup Final five years ago.

FILE - In this Sept. 29, 2016 file photo, Canada's Sidney Crosby hoists the trophy following his team's victory over Europe in the World Cup of Hockey finals, in Toronto. The closest comparison to the NHL's summer restart is the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. You kind of have a short, abbreviated training camp and then youre right into it. It was early September 2016, and the Pittsburgh Penguins captain stepped on the ice in Ottawa for Canadas training camp ahead of the World Cup of Hockey. New York Islanders coach Barry Trotz, who was an assistant when Canada won the World Cup, considers that tournament the closest comparison because he anticipates the same frantic shifts of momentum.