RYAN MCDONAGH

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 Tampa Bay Lightning have won the Stanley Cup for the second consecutive season.

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.

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 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.

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 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.

Thomas Greiss made 27 stops to lead the Detroit Red Wings to a 5-1 victory over Tampa Bay for their first road win against the Lightning in the regular season in more than 10 years.

Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman (77) watches his goal get past Detroit Red Wings goaltender Thomas Greiss (29) during the first period of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)TAMPA, Fla. – Alex Killorn had a goal and an assist, and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Detroit Red Wings 5-1 on Wednesday for their third consecutive win. Victor Hedman, Ryan McDonagh, Anthony Cirelli and Brayden Point also scored for Tampa Bay, which remained unbeaten in five home games this season. The Lightning stretched their home win streak against the Red Wings to 15 dating to Dec. 12, 2013. Mantha scored on a breakaway at 9:49 before Killorn deflected a Mikhail Sergachev shot to make it 5-1 at 11:32. “I thought after the second period we didn’t really give them too much.’’MILESTONEDetroit captain Dylan Larkin appeared in his 400th game, all with the Red Wings.

Alex Killorn had a goal and an assist, and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Detroit Red Wings 5-1 on Wednesday for their third consecutive win. Victor Hedman, Ryan McDonagh, Anthony Cirelli, and Brayden Point also scored for Tampa Bay, which remained unbeaten in five home games this season. The Lightning stretched their home win streak against the Red Wings to 15 dating to Dec. 12, 2013. The Lightning also scored three times in the first period of Monday night’s 5-2 victory over Nashville. “I thought after the second period we didn’t really give them too much.”MILESTONEDetroit captain Dylan Larkin appeared in his 400th game, all with the Red Wings.

TAMPA, Fla. — Alex Killorn had a goal and an assist, and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Detroit Red Wings 5-1 on Wednesday for their third consecutive win. Victor Hedman, Ryan McDonagh, Anthony Cirelli and Brayden Point also scored for Tampa Bay, which remained unbeaten in five home games this season. The Lightning stretched their home win streak against the Red Wings to 15 dating to Dec. 12, 2013. Overall, Tampa Bay has won 17 of the past 18 games between the teams, including the playoffs. MILESTONEDetroit captain Dylan Larkin appeared in his 400th game, all with the Red Wings.

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.

EDMONTON, AB – As soon as Steven Stamkos scored on his first shot since February, his Tampa Bay Lightning celebrated on the ice and the bench with 211 days of pent up excitement. The Lightning were just fine with Stamkos offering moral support sitting in the middle of the bench. The game was everything that has made Tampa Bay one of the best teams in hockey for more than half of the last decade. While Tampa Bay got a significant talent back, Dallas was without a key veteran role player. ... To make room for Stamkos, Tampa Bay scratched Carter Verhaeghe.

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.