Maple Leafs rally, top Lightning in OT for 3-1 series lead
The Toronto Maple Leafs wiped out a three-goal deficit in the third period, then beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-4 on Alexander Kerfootโs power-play goal at 4:14 of overtime to take a commanding 3-1 series lead in their first-round NHL playoff matchup.
Kucherov leads Lightning over Canadiens 5-1 in Game 1
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.
Bucs, Lightning, Rays transform Tampa Bay into Titletown
Many partied while defying a local order mandating masks even be worn outdoors during Super Bowl week, and drawing sharp criticism from some public officials. The Lightning won the Stanley Cup and the Rays went to the World Series. Those guys had our backs throughout the season, both the Tampa Bay Rays and the Tampa Bay Lightning. They were rooting us on.โAdSome of the Lightning players wore Bucs jerseys on the teamโs flight to Nashville, too. โWe try to watch the Super Bowl every year.
Bucs fans set to cheer inside, outside Super Bowl stadium
(AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack, File)TAMPA, Fla. โ Warren Sapp wishes fans of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers could pack the stands for the first Super Bowl played in a host teamโs home stadium. The Bucs won three straight playoff games on the road to become the first team to advance to a Super Bowl in its home stadium. โThe Bucs in the Super Bowl with the game at home doesnโt even seem real. "Tom Brady comes to town and itโs basically: `You want to go to the Super Bowl? Super Bowl Sunday will be a travel day for the hockey champions, so they wonโt be in town during the game.
'Sloppy' hockey is the name of the game early in NHL season
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. โIt was entertaining hockey, but it was a little sloppy,โ Bowness said. โWeโre staying in 5-star hotels, get to play hockey, so I canโt complain,โ 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
Stanley Cup visits children's cancer center in Tampa
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 Heberleinโs grandmother joked he shouldnโt touch the Stanley Cup with chocolate on his hands. This wasnโt like any other year when the NHL champions could take the Stanley Cup wherever they want. Officials from the team and Childrenโs 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.
The Latest: Wentz has early interception against 49ers
(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 Allenโs 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.
Bubble hockey champions: Tampa Bay Lightning win Stanley Cup
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 thatโs 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).
Neighbor calls 911 when Florida hockey fans yell, โShoot! Shoot!โ
TAMPA, Fla. โ A neighbor called sheriffโs deputies on some rabid Tampa Bay Lightning fans who were screaming, โShoot! The call prompted several Hillsborough County sheriffโs deputies to show up at Devon Garnettโs apartment door. He and two friends had gathered to watch the game at Garnettโs Radius Palms apartment. โSo they came to the door and thought there were guns in the house,โ Garnett, 26, told the Tampa Bay Times. โBut they thought it was serious because I was screaming, โShoot!โ as in โShoot the puck.โโTampa beat Dallas 5-2 in Game 3 and lead the best-of-seven series 2-1.
Tampa Bay takes momentum into back-to-back Cup games
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.
Familiarity breeds respect among NHL East playoff teams
TORONTO, ONT Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper took exception to the Columbus Blue Jackets being referred to as a blue-collar team. Is that a positive or a negative? Cooper said Monday, a day before his Eastern Conference second-seeded Lightning open the first round of the NHL playoffs against the seventh-seeded Blue Jackets. Thats in the history books forever, Cooper said, noting how both teams have made various changes to their lineups. Id call them a really good team.Familiarity is breeding respect among the East opponents entering the first round. The Islanders hold a 5-2 playoff series edge over Washington.
Illness and injury uncertainty abound as NHL camps open
Voluntary player workouts have been going on for more than a month, but full NHL teams will be together Monday for the first time since March. (Its about) trying to make sure that when you come back your hips and groins are all right, Copp said. Its a two-week sprint from home cities to Toronto for Eastern teams and Edmonton, Alberta, for their Western counterparts. The NHL is prohibiting teams from revealing injury or illness information as a way to project player privacy with the novel coronavirus. But I think everyone is just kind of amped and ready to go.___For more AP NHL coverage: https://apnews.com/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Lightning's Stamkos injured again at start of training camp
Stamkos will be limited at the start of Tampa training camp because of a new lower-body injury, general manager Julien BriseBois said Saturday, July 11, 2020. (AP Photo/Nick Wass, File)Captain Steven Stamkos will be limited at the start of Tampa Bay Lightning training camp because of a new lower-body injury. Stamkos is expected to be ready for the start of the NHL's expanded 24-team Stanley Cup playoffs in early August. Hes here, hes skating, hes been getting treatment, hes been coming to Amalie (Arena) doing his dry land work. But he will not be a full participant on Day One of training camp."