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.

After a rather short offseason, the National Hockey League returns on Tuesday night, with the two-time defending Stanley Cup Champions kicking things off, as the Tampa Bay Lightning get set to host the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Lightning are the second team to win back-to-back Stanley Cups since the beginning of the salary cap era in 2005. The only other team to win back-to-back Cups in the last 15 years was the Pittsburgh Penguins, when they achieved the feat during the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons. What: NHL HockeyWho: Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Tampa Bay LightningWhen: Tuesday, October 12Time: 7:30 p.m. ETWhere: Amalie Arena (Tampa, Fla.)Channel: ESPNStream: FuboTV (7-day free trial), Sling, DirecTV Stream, ESPN+Check out the NHL standings and results here

NHL players are going back to the Olympics.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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).

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.

TORONTO, ONT Brayden Point scored 10:27 into the fifth overtime, and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2 on Tuesday in the fourth-longest game in Stanley Cup playoff history. Point scored from just above the left circle, beating Joonas Korpisalo after the goaltender made an NHL-record 85 saves. Point also scored way back in the first period of Game 1 of the best-of-seven series. The teams combined for 151 shots most in a NHL game since the league began officially tracking the statistic in 1955-56. Its tiring for sure but then it gets fun at some point," Point said.

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.

TORONTO Goalie Joonas Kirpisalo and the Columbus Blue Jackets proved how they learned their lesson about holding three-goal leads. Korpisalo stopped 33 shots, Zach Werenski's floater from the left point in the first period held up as the winner, and the Blue Jackets defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-0 win in a decisive Game 5 on Sunday night. The Maple Leafs ran out of offense with captain John Tavares misfiring by hitting the post while facing a wide-open side in the first period. The Maple Leafs continued their one-and-done playoff woes in making their fourth straight postseason appearance, and fifth since the 2004-05 NHL lockout. NOTES: Maple Leafs LW Andreas Johnsson returned to play after being activated off injured reserve earlier in the day.

Tampa's Steven Stamkos tries to score past Buffalo's Rasmus Dahlin and goalie Carter Hutton during a NHL Global Series hockey match between the Buffalo Sabres and Tampa Bay Lightning at the Globen Arena, in Stockholm Sweden, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2019. ( Jessica Gow/TT News Agency via AP)STOCKHOLM Pat Maroon scored twice, and the Tampa Bay Lighting beat the Buffalo Sabres 5-3 on Saturday for a sweep of their two regular-season games in Sweden. Victor Hedman also scored for the Lightning, delighting the home crowd, and Curtis McElhinney made 37 saves. Tampa Bay also beat Buffalo 3-2 on Friday. Marcus Johansson, another Swede, was in the penalty box when Hedman scored his third goal of the season.