VICTOR HEDMAN

Andrei Vasilevskiy made 31 saves, Anthony Cirelli had a goal and two assists, and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat Washington 3-2 to end the Capitals’ eight-game season-opening point streak.

National Hockey League players are set to return to the Olympics in Beijing this winter after reaching an agreement with international officials. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File) (Matt Slocum)NHL players are set to return to the Olympics in Beijing this winter after reaching an agreement with international officials. As long as that does not happen, NHL players will compete in the Olympic men's hockey tournament for the sixth time in seven chances dating to 1998. It is similar to the 1998 Nagano Games when the All-Star festivities in Vancouver led into the first Olympics with NHL players. NHL players at the Olympics became commonplace in the years after that, with the IOC agreeing to pay travel and insurance costs and owners willing to pause the season for players to take part in the tournament.

NHL players are going back to the Olympics.

... And we’re not satisfied until that’s done.”The quick-strike Lightning took one major step closer on Friday night with a resounding 6-3 rout of the Montreal Canadiens in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final. Tampa Bay caught the Canadiens flat-footed by scoring twice in the opening minutes of each of the first two periods to take a 3-0 series lead. Jan Rutta and Blake Coleman, with an empty-netter, also scored for the Lightning, who also won the Cup in 2004. Phillip Danault and Corey Perry also scored for a Montreal team that felt disrespected in making its deepest playoff run since winning its 24th Cup. One of Ducharme’s first moves was to spend Montreal’s only timeout after the Lightning scored 1:35 apart to build a 2-0 lead 3:27 in.

(Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press via AP) (Paul Chiasson)MONTREAL — (AP) — The quick-strike Tampa Lightning struck for two early second-period goals to build a 4-2 lead over the Montreal Canadiens entering the third period Friday night in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final. Nikita Kucherov and Tyler Johnson scored on early odd-man rushes 1:53 apart for the defending champion Lightning, who have a 2-0 series lead. The Lightning have scored the first goal in each of the three games of a series in which the Canadiens have yet to hold a lead. Kucherov scored 1:40 into the second period after Lightning defenseman Erik Cernak caught the Canadiens sleeping on a line change. The Lightning were without forward Alex Killorn, who missed his second game with an undisclosed injury.

Stanley Cup Hockey Tampa Bay Lightning's Jan Rutta (44) celebrates his goal against the Montreal Canadiens with Ondrej Palat (18) and Victor Hedman (77) during the first period of Game 3 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final, Friday, July 2, 2021, in Montreal. (Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press via AP) (Paul Chiasson)MONTREAL — (AP) — Jan Rutta and Victor Hedman scored in an early 1:35 span and the defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning led the Montreal Canadiens 2-1 after one period Friday night in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final. The Canadiens responded with Phillip Danault scoring with 8:44 left in the period in the first Stanley Cup Final game in Montreal since the Canadiens won their 24th title in Game 5 against the Wayne Gretzky-led Los Angeles Kings on June 9, 1993. The Lightning lead the series 2-0 and have scored the first goal in each of the three games. The Lightning were without forward Alex Killorn, who missed his second game with an undisclosed injury.

Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid ran away in the voting to win his second Hart Trophy as NHL MVP after leading the league in points.

The defending champions advanced to a Stanley Cup Final matchup against the surprising Montreal Canadiens, who upset the Vegas Golden Knights in the other semifinal. Vasilevskiy turned away seven shots in the final period to post his fifth career playoff shutout — fourth this postseason. The Islanders, who were aiming for their first Stanley Cup Final berth in 37 years, forced a winner-take-all showdown by rallying to win Game 6 on Anthony Beauvillier’s overtime goal. GAME 7sThe Islanders fell to 4-6 all-time in Game 7s, 4-5 on the road. The Islanders were trying to earn their first Stanley Cup Final berth since 1984.

Andrei Vasilevskiy had 18 saves and Yanni Gourde scored a short-handed goal to help the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the New York Islanders 1-0 in Game 7 of their NHL playoff semifinal series.

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.

Brayden Point kept up his scoring touch with a tiebreaking goal late in the second period, Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 27 shots and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the New York Islanders 2-1 on Thursday night to take a 2-1 lead in the Stanley Cup semifinals.

Kucherov had his fourth game with three or more points this postseason, assisting on goals by Point, Palat and Victor Hedman. Point scored a goal for the fifth straight game, hiking his league-leading playoff total to 10. ON POINTPoint has 10 goals in 13 games this postseason after setting a Lightning franchise playoff record with 14 during last year’s Stanley Cup run. The 25-year-old center scored off a nifty no-look pass from Kucherov, who delivered the puck from behind the net. Kucherov’s three assists boosted his league-leading playoff point total to 21 after missing the entire regular season while recovering from hip surgery.

Brayden Point and Ondrej Palat delivered early goals and NHL playoff scoring leader Nikita Kucherov had three more assists to help the Tampa Bay Lightning rebound from a series-opening loss and beat the New York Islanders 4-2 in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup semifinals.

(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.

Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid, Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews and Colorado Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon have been named finalists for the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP.

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.

Alex Killorn and Anthony Cirelli scored while Andrei Vasilevskiy was strong in net once again, helping the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Carolina Hurricanes 2-1 for a 2-0 lead in their second-round playoff series.

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.

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.

... We kind of sat back a little bit too much I thought” in the third period," said Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman, who had three assists. Anthony Cirelli, Ross Colton and Steven Stamkos scored in the first nine minutes of the second period. “Obviously not the second period we were looking for, but we know how good of a team we are. We were down 5-3 after that second period and we get the W,” Bobrovsky said. NICE TO BE HOMEThe Lightning played a playoff game at home for the first time since April 12, 2019, vs. Columbus.

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.

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.

The defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning went into the NHL trade deadline without much money to make a move.

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

Columbus Blue Jackets players celebrate their goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning during the first period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Jan. 23, 2021, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)COLUMBUS, Ohio – Hours after trading disgruntled center Pierre-Luc Dubois, the Columbus Blue Jackets got three first-period goals and beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-2 Saturday. Nick Foligno, Mikhail Grigorenko, Vladislav Gavrikov, Zach Werenski and Eric Robinson scored, and Elvis Merzlikins had 30 saves as the Blue Jackets played their most explosive game of the season. The Blue Jackets tied it 17 seconds later when Foligno knocked in a rebound off Vasilevsky's stick. The Blue Jackets host the Florida Panthers on Tuesday and Thursday.

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).

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.

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.