Canada

UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP) — After keeping up his scoring touch to help Tampa Bay get a big road victory its Stanley Cup semifinal series, Brayden Point was especially proud of the Lightning’s defensive effort. Point got the tiebreaking goal late in the second period, Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 27 shots and the Lightning beat the New

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. Yanni Gourde also scored to help Tampa Bay improve to

Montreal Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin is one of three finalists for the Jim Gregory Award. Bergevin goes up against Lou Lamoriello of the New York Islanders and Bill Zito of the Florida Panthers for the honour presented annually to the GM who has best excelled in his role during the regular season. The Canadiens

Jason Spezza will once again be sporting blue and white next season. The Toronto Maple Leafs announced Wednesday the 38-year-old forward has re-signed with his hometown team at the league minimum US$750,000 for the 2021-22 campaign. Spezza registered 10 goals and 20 assists in 54 contests for Toronto during the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 season before adding

LAS VEGAS – Montreal Canadiens netminder Carey Price made 29 saves Wednesday in a 3-2 win over the Vegas Golden Knights that gave new life to Canada’s Stanley Cup hopes. The win lets the Habs go back to Montreal for Game 3 Friday with their best-of-seven semifinal battle tied at one game apiece. Joel Armia

Montreal Canadiens netminder Carey Price made 29 saves Wednesday in a 3-2 win over the Vegas Golden Knights that gave new life to Canada’s Stanley Cup hopes. The win lets the Habs go back to Montreal for Game 3 Friday with their best-of-seven semifinal battle tied at one game apiece. Joel Armia notched his fifth

Tampa Bay Lightning (36-17-3, third in the Central Division during the regular season) vs. New York Islanders (32-17-7, fourth in the East Division during the regular season) Uniondale, New York; Thursday, 8 p.m. EDT FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Islanders +117, Lightning -140; over/under is 5.5 NHL PLAYOFFS THIRD ROUND: Series tied 1-1 BOTTOM LINE: The New

Cancer survivor Oskar Lindblom of the Philadelphia Flyers was named Tuesday as the winner of the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey. Lindblom returned to play in the NHL after undergoing treatment for a rare form of bone cancer. Lindblom was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma in December 2019 and played

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — The Anaheim Ducks have hired Geoff Ward and Mike Stothers to replace assistant coaches Mark Morrison and Marty Wilford. The Ducks announced the overhaul of head coach Dallas Eakins’ staff Tuesday. Morrison and Wilford both could end up in other jobs in the organization. Anaheim (17-30-9) elected to keep general manager

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 on Tuesday night. Kucherov had his fourth game with three

Nikita Kucherov would have much rather grinded through the season with his Tampa Bay Lightning teammates than sit out all 56 games while recovering from hip surgery. “Missing a whole year, you ask any player, you don’t want to be that guy,” Kucherov said. Kucherov was that guy. The leading scorer on Tampa Bay’s 2020

The uphill climb facing the Montreal Canadiens just got a little steeper. The only Canadian team with a shot at the Stanley Cup gave up a 4-1 loss Monday in their first of a best-of-seven semifinal battle against the top-seeded Vegas Golden Knights. It was Montreal’s first game outside of Canada in 2021, and it

The New York Rangers have reached an agreement to hire Gerard Gallant as their next coach, a person with direct knowledge of the decision told The Associated Press on Monday. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the team had not announced the agreement. Gallant was a highly sought-after coaching candidate three years after

Nashville Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne has won the King Clancy Memorial Trophy that annually honours an NHL player for leading on the ice and off it with humanitarian work. The league announced Monday night that the National Hockey League Foundation is giving Rinne $25,000 US to donate to a charity or charities. New Jersey Devils

LAS VEGAS – A difficult challenge awaits the Montreal Canadiens tonight as they enter their Stanley Cup semifinal as underdogs against the host Vegas Golden Knights. The top-ranked Golden Knights won an NHL-best 40 games in the shortened 56-game regular season and tied Colorado for the highest point total in the league – 23 points

Brendan Gallagher grew up hearing a constant chorus of doubt surrounding his dream of making it to the National Hockey League – mainly due to his lack of size and, later, draft pedigree. The Vancouver Giants product refused to waste energy on his critics, choosing instead to focus on proving correct the people who believed

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Semyon Varlamov and the New York Islanders are on a roll. The veteran goaltender made 30 saves to outplay Andrei Vasilevskiy, and the Islanders got goals from Mathew Barzal and Ryan Pulock to hold off defending champion Tampa Bay 2-1 in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup semifinals. The Lightning lost

Mathew Barzal and Ryan Pulock both scored goals to give the visiting New York Islanders a 2-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday and first blood in their Stanley Cup semifinal series. Semyon Varlamov stopped 30 shots for the Islanders, who have won four straight games. Game 2 of the best-of-seven semifinal series