The Ottawa Senators have placed Bobby Ryan on unconditional waivers in order to buy him out, according to Sportsnet's Chris Johnston.Ryan released the following statement Friday afternoon, per TSN's Ian Mendes."While the news this morning came as a bit of a shock, I understand the decision. The Sens are an upcoming young team with so many bright years ahead of them. I'm excited to follow along as a fan of all the young players with the rest of you," Ryan said."Ottawa will have a special place in our families heart forever. See you around the ice."Ryan has two seasons remaining on his current deal, which includes a $7.25-million cap hit per campaign. The 33-year-old winger is owed $11 million in salary over the next two seasons.Ryan will count for $3.83 million per season on Ottawa's books for the next two years following the buyout, and $1.83 million per season for the two years after, according to CapFriendly.With Ryan in the mix, the Senators needed to spend $18 million to get to the salary-cap floor, per The Athletic's Hailey Salvian.Ottawa currently has 10 players under contract for next season.The Senators acquired Ryan from the Anaheim Ducks via trade prior to the 2013-14 season. He registered 266 points in 455 games with Ottawa.Ryan won this season's Masterton Trophy as the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey. He left the Senators to enter the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program in November and later revealed his struggle with alcohol abuse. Ryan rejoined the club in February and registered a hat trick in his first home game.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper announced captain Steven Stamkos will not play in Friday's Game 4 against the Dallas Stars, according to The Athletic's Thomas Drance.Cooper did not rule Stamkos out for the remainder of the series, however.Stamkos made a brief but memorable appearance in Game 3. In his first meaningful game action since February, he scored a goal in Tampa Bay's 5-2 victory. He played just 2:47 across five shifts in the opening period before suffering an apparent setback. Stamkos stayed on the bench for the remainder of the game but didn't take another shift.The 30-year-old tallied 66 points in 57 regular-season games.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Find line reports, best bets, and subscribe to push notifications in the Betting News section.We dropped our first pick in awhile in Game 3, falling to 9-3-1 since the start of Round 3. It sure would have been nice to know about Steven Stamkos' return at the time of writing.Let's bounce back in Game 4.Tampa Bay Lightning (-160) at Dallas Stars (+140)While the return of Stamkos had a galvanizing effect on the Lightning offense - he scored the game's second goal in a 5-2 win - it was also clouded by yet another injury. The forward managed just five shifts on 2:47 of ice time before leaving the game at the end of the first period and not returning.That's put a cloud of doubt over his Game 4 status, which makes it tough to appropriately pick a side here. Obviously if Stamkos is deemed healthy enough to participate tonight we have to assume he's going to be a full go - this isn't the time to trot out decoys on the ice.What we do know though is that if the Stars want to get into a run-and-gun affair with the Bolts, they're going to lose the Stanley Cup Final. That's not a slight to Dallas' forward group, but rather a testament to just how deep this Tampa team is. The Stars will need to focus on tightening things up again in Game 4 and playing to their strong suit.It was also an off night for Anton Khudobin, who allowed 2.83 goals above expected. With a bounce back from the determined Stars netminder, and a shift in approach from the team in front of him, we can expect a much tighter contest on Friday night.Pick: Under 5 (+115)(Odds source: theScore Bet)Alex Moretto is a sports betting writer for theScore. A journalism graduate from Guelph-Humber University, he has worked in sports media for over a decade. He will bet on anything from the Super Bowl to amateur soccer, is too impatient for futures, and will never trust a kicker. Find him on Twitter @alexjmoretto.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Patrik Laine is one of the league's most intriguing young stars. He's still just 22 years old and has shown the potential to be one of the league's most dangerous goal-scorers, ranking seventh in the league with 138 tallies since his NHL debut in 2016.After signing a two-year bridge deal last season, Laine showed up in 2019-20 with an improved 200-foot game and registered a career-high 35 assists while potting 28 goals. However, the Winnipeg Jets are reportedly considering trading Laine to address other needs on their roster.Here's a look at some of the teams that could try to acquire the 2016 second overall pick.Colorado Avalanche Brian Babineau / National Hockey League / GettyWith a stacked crop of young talent and plenty of cap space, the Avalanche can't be ruled out as players in any scenario. It wouldn't be a surprise to see general manager Joe Sakic pursue Taylor Hall in free agency, but Laine would certainly make sense if the team looks to add a younger winger at a lower cost.The Avalanche have over $22 million in projected cap space but have several players in line for new deals, including restricted free-agent rearguards Nikita Zadorov and Ryan Graves. Both players would add some much-needed size and grit to the Jets' back end, but a potential swap would likely be contingent on either agreeing to a new contract.Tyson Jost and Nazem Kadri are intriguing options at center and could interest Winnipeg with veteran pivot Bryan Little's career in jeopardy. Jost would replace Laine's youth, while Kadri would give the Jets a strong two-way center who's in his prime.What a deal could look like:Avalanche acquireJets acquireF Patrik LaineD Ryan Graves/Nikita ZadorovD Connor TimminsF Tyson JostCarolina Hurricanes Mark Blinch / National Hockey League / GettyThe Hurricanes have one of the deepest defensive corps in the NHL - and now depth down the middle, too, with Vincent Trocheck's arrival - so it's no surprise they've reportedly expressed an interest in acquiring Laine. The Hurricanes can easily fill the Jets' needs.Trocheck is two seasons removed from recording 31 goals and 75 points with the Florida Panthers and has proven he has what it takes to serve as a team's dependable No. 2 center. The 27-year-old has two seasons remaining on his deal with an annual cap hit of $4.75 million, and he fits Winnipeg's win-now mentality.It would be tough for the Hurricanes to part ways with defenseman Brett Pesce, but the 25-year-old has played increasingly well since his debut in 2015 and would surely be an attractive player to the Jets. With a deep defensive group that includes Dougie Hamilton and Jaccob Slavin, the Hurricanes would be able to withstand the loss and continue moving forward as one of the league's more exciting teams.What a deal could look like:Hurricanes acquireJets acquireF Patrik LaineF Vincent TrocheckD Brett PesceColumbus Blue Jackets Andre Ringuette/Freestyle Photo / Getty Images Sport / GettyThe Blue Jackets have also reportedly shown interest in Laine already, and we saw last postseason what the club's core is capable of when paired with high-end offensive talent.Columbus still managed to knock out the high-powered Toronto Maple Leafs in the qualifying round this year despite losing Artemi Panarin and Matt Duchene to free agency last offseason, and adding a winger of Laine's ilk could be what the team needs to make a deep playoff run.Seth Jones isn't going anywhere, nor is Zach Werenski, but the Blue Jackets still have a couple of blue-liners who could serve as a serious upgrade for Winnipeg. David Savard would be the most realistic starting point, but the 29-year-old is set to become an unrestricted free agent after 2020-21, which adds an element of risk for the Jets. Columbus could work out a sign-and-trade to give the Jets some assurance, and also add another impact player or a draft pick.What a deal could look like:Blue Jackets acquireJets acquireF Patrik LaineD David SavardF Josh Anderson2021 3rd-round pickNew Jersey Devils Andy Marlin / National Hockey League / GettyThe Devils boast one of the league's youngest teams, headlined by No. 1 picks Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier. The 22-year-old Laine could be the player who helps propel the Devils back to their former status as a perennial contender.New Jersey has two defensemen who can fill Winnipeg's needs. The first is P.K. Subban, who's coming off his worst season but is also a past Norris Trophy winner. Despite carrying an annual cap hit of $9 million, Subban is owed only $10 million in actual money over the next two seasons, which makes his high cap hit easier to swallow.The second option is Damon Severson. The 26-year-old has proven he can contribute offensively - he recorded 19 goals and 70 points in 151 games over the past two seasons - and could settle in nicely on Winnipeg's second pairing.New Jersey would ultimately have Pavel Zacha to offer as a center. Still just 23 years old, Zacha was selected with the sixth pick in the 2015 draft but has failed to find his footing in the NHL, as he has just 37 goals and 108 points in 266 games.The Devils are an intriguing landing spot for Laine, but they'd likely need to part with one of their three first-round picks in 2020 to sweeten the deal.What a deal could look like:Devils acquireJets acquireF Patrik LaineD Damon SeversonF Pavel Zacha2020 1st-round pick (via Vancouver)Minnesota Wild Dave Sandford / National Hockey League / GettyThe Wild are one of the most adept defensive teams in the league, and adding a lethal scorer such as Laine would undoubtedly take them to the next level. General manager Bill Guerin has made it known that the club wants to add a first- or second-line center, but Minnesota has only two right-shot forwards in its lineup, so acquiring another player with that tendency wouldn't be an awful Plan B.Matt Dumba's name has been tossed around in trade rumors, and the 26-year-old would make for a strong starting point in Guerin's bid. Dumba has three years remaining on his current deal, which carries an annual cap hit of $6 million. Perhaps adding a second-round pick that converts to a first-rounder if Laine signs with the Wild beyond 2020-21 could sweeten the pot.What a deal could look like:Wild acquireJets acquireF Patrik LaineD Matt Dumba2021 2nd-round pickF Joel Eriksson EkConditional 2021 1st-round pick (from Pittsburgh)Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Winnipeg Jets are entertaining the possibility of trading star forward Patrik Laine, TSN's Darren Dreger reported during Thursday's edition of "Insider Trading.""Absolutely they're serious. ... The Winnipeg Jets know what their needs are," Dreger said. "They need a No. 2 center and they need to bolster the top four on their blue line. Kevin Cheveldayoff, the general manager there, can't solely rely on free agency.""One way or another, Kevin Cheveldayoff is listening on Patrik Laine," Dreger added.The Jets selected the winger with the No. 2 pick in the 2016 NHL Draft. Since his debut as a rookie during the 2016-17 season, he ranks seventh in the league in goals with 138.The Columbus Blue Jackets and Carolina Hurricanes are two teams that have expressed an interest in Laine, TSN's Pierre LeBrun reports.Laine inked a two-year bridge deal last season that carries an average annual value of $6.5 million. He'll be a restricted free agent at the conclusion of the 2020-21 campaign.During the 2019-20 regular season, Laine recorded 28 goals and a career-high 35 assists in 68 games.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Pittsburgh Penguins have traded veteran winger Patric Hornqvist to the Florida Panthers in exchange for blue-liner Mike Matheson and forward Colton Sceviour, the team announced Thursday.Hornqvist, 33, has three years remaining on his current deal, which carries an annual cap hit of $5.3 million.The gritty Swede was on pace to eclipse the 20-goal mark over 82 games for the eighth time of his career this season after recording 17 goals and 32 points through 52 contests. Hornqvist captured back-to-back Stanley Cups with the Penguins in 2016 and 2017, scoring the championship-clinching goal in the latter year.Matheson, 26, is under contract through the 2025-26 campaign and carries an annual cap hit of $4.88 million. The 6-foot-2 rearguard recorded eight goals and 12 assists through 59 games this season.The Penguins' acquisition of Matheson comes just weeks after general manager Jim Rutherford said the club would be moving on from defenseman Justin Schultz. The pending unrestricted free agent's latest deal was worth $5.5 million annually.Sceviour, 31, contributed six goals and 16 points while ranking third on the Panthers with 91 hits in 69 games this season. He has one year remaining at $1.2 million on his current deal.The trade marks Bill Zito's first splash as the Panthers' GM. Florida hired the 56-year-old on Sept. 2 after mutually parting ways with Dale Tallon in August.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Despite a playoff run full of off-ice drama and an uncertain future with the club, goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury hopes to remain with the Vegas Golden Knights for the rest of his NHL tenure."I want to stay in Vegas," Fleury told The Athletic's Jesse Granger. "I don’t know what the future holds, but I've loved every moment since I got here."He added: "This team means a lot to me, and the city has been so good to me. The fans, and (owner Bill Foley) have been so awesome. It's a great team, and I thought when I came here that maybe I could retire here. I wanted to end my career here."Fleury has been the Golden Knights' backbone since joining the expansion franchise from the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2017. He signed a three-year, $21-million contract with Vegas the following summer, but his future in Sin City grew murky when the Golden Knights acquired Robin Lehner prior to this season's trade deadline.Lehner eventually took over as the club's postseason starter, and the dynamic between the two netminders came into question after Fleury's agent, Allan Walsh, tweeted a picture of a sword inscribed with head coach Peter DeBoer's name stabbing his client through the back.Vegas reportedly plans to sign Lehner, a pending unrestricted free agent, to a new deal this offseason - potentially making Fleury expendable in a trade. Fleury hopes that isn't the case."I get along great with Robin, so I think it would be all right," he said of another time-share in goal next season. "I still love to play. I don't think I just want to be a backup, but I'll practice hard, try to play well, and hopefully get some games, but it always comes down to the coach's decision."Whatever happens, happens. And that's fine. I'll just try my best to come to camp in good shape and do well from there."Fleury, who turns 36 on Nov. 28, has posted a 91-50-14 record along with a .915 save percentage and 2.51 goals-against average in three seasons with the Golden Knights.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The postseason is for cliches. Regardless of the level of competition, those well-worn hockey catchphrases take on practical meaning when everything is on the line.Play a full 60 minutes? You better, or your season will be over. Get pucks in deep? You must if you plan to wear down the opposition over the course of a series. Traffic in front? It's a time-tested way to score playoff goals.In the 2020 Stanley Cup Final, one of the greatest cliches of all time is firmly rooted."If you're going to win," Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said Wednesday after his team took a 2-1 series lead over the Dallas Stars. "Your best players have to be your best players."Cooper, who's known for his thoughtful, non-cliche quotes, is spot-on. Through three games, the body of work from each team's stars has tilted the scales in Tampa's favor. There's a giant gap between the accomplishments of Cooper's top guns and those of Dallas' best players. Bruce Bennett / Getty ImagesThe Lightning are a deadly outfit because they boast an abundance of star power coupled with enviable role-player depth. When both groups are humming, as they have been over the past week, Tampa is a treat to watch. A clinical juggernaut.Nikita Kucherov, the club's most dangerous offensive threat, leads the playoffs with 30 points in 22 games. He's played with a certain moxie against Dallas, battling through various painful moments - especially in Game 2 - to produce four points in three games, including a goal and an assist in Wednesday's 5-2 Game 3 victory. In a word, he's been dominant.Victor Hedman, Tampa's all-world defenseman, has laid waste to the Stars. With Hedman on the ice, the Lightning have controlled 56% of the shot attempts and 53% of the expected goals (2-2 in actual goals) in 46 minutes of five-on-five action against Dallas' top players. The big Swede also has a series-leading five points.Center Brayden Point and goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy, meanwhile, continue to make playoff MVP cases of their own. Point, who's battled injury throughout Tampa's two-plus months in the bubble, has 28 points in 20 games. Vasilevskiy has started all 22 of the Lightning's games and ranks second in goals saved above average (7.24) among goalies who've played at least 500 minutes this postseason. Bruce Bennett / Getty ImagesEven captain Steven Stamkos - who until Wednesday had been sidelined since Feb. 25 - has authored a defining moment. Despite being limited to 2:47 of ice time, Stamkos impacted Game 3 greatly. His lone shot on goal, a bullet of a wrister off the rush, zoomed past Dallas goalie Anton Khudobin's right shoulder to put Tampa up 2-0."He only had five shifts, but they were as efficient five shifts as you're ever going to see in a National Hockey League game," Cooper said of Stamkos. "We're with these players day in, day out, all year. This is the season that never seems to end. To do what he did on the biggest stage at the biggest time of the year, you had to marvel at it. It was pretty damn cool."Contrast Stamkos' fairytale cameo with what's happening on the Stars' side of things. Their No. 91, Tyler Seguin, hasn't scored a goal in a month - his last tally came on Aug. 26 in Game 3 of Dallas' second-round series against the Colorado Avalanche - and he's registered one lonely assist since. Seguin is playing fine overall, and he certainly can't complain about ice time; he's logged more than 21 minutes in two of three games in the final. But the $9.85-million man needs to start producing."Do we need more from him? Yes," Stars interim head coach Rick Bowness said Tuesday. "Do we need more from a lot of other players? Yes. I know (Seguin) gets all the attention - and, OK, that comes with the territory, so he's got to deal with that. But, as a coach, I'm after a few more guys to give us more." Andy Devlin / Getty ImagesSeguin's longtime linemates, Jamie Benn and Alexander Radulov, haven't exactly taken the postseason by storm either. Benn's been buzzing of late, but he's yet to record a point in this series. Radulov has a trio of assists against the Lightning and 17 total playoff points, but he took two boneheaded penalties in Game 3, one of which resulted in Tampa's eventual game-winning goal. Dallas' top line isn't getting top-line results."They've got to figure it out," Bowness said. "It's as simple as that."Defensemen Miro Heiskanen and John Klingberg round out Dallas' list of stars. Both have been solid against the Lightning and far from the problem, though Heiskanen did get burned Wednesday on Tampa's opening goal. "Tonight we made some errors," Klingberg said. "That's hockey. That's sports. It's 2-1, they're up one. We're going to even the series on Friday."Therein lies another trusty cliche: Take it one game at a time. Really, it's the only mentality to hone right now if you're a member of the Stars. Seguin can't focus on the fact he's scored twice on 61 shots on goal in these playoffs. Radulov must put those penalties behind him. Heiskanen can't dwell on one mistake in an otherwise brilliant, Conn Smythe-worthy postseason. The list goes on.Ironically, the first three games of this series have shown that Dallas, despite being outmatched on paper, can hang with Tampa. The final has been nastier than predicted, creating an environment and atmosphere that can most definitely play into the Stars' hands. Bruce Bennett / Getty ImagesWhen Dallas limits the Lightning's grade A chances in the offensive zone, as it did in its 4-1 win in Game 1, Khudobin can take care of the rest. When the Stars stay out of the penalty box and find a rhythm for an entire game, they size up pretty well stylistically. When they produce some semblance of offense - rather than going long stretches without recording a shot on goal, as they did in Games 2 and 3 - they absolutely can scratch and claw their way to a victory, or two, or three. It's not an impossible task.In Game 4, Bowness and the Stars will again have the luxury of last change as the "home" team. Also of note: Dallas hasn't logged as many miles as the Lightning have in the month of September. Heading into Friday, the first day of a back-to-back scenario, the Stars will have played eight hard-fought games in 19 days, while Tampa will have played nine contests in 18 days. These small differences can add up.It's fair to wonder, too, what kind of impact the currently unfit-to-play Ben Bishop might have on the series - good or bad - if Bowness taps him as the Stars' starting goalie for an upcoming game. Mind you, none of it will matter if, to expand on Cooper's thoughts, one team's best players embarrass the other team's best players at the most important time of year.Both Kucherov and Hedman noted this week that Tampa's players couldn't care less about padding personal statistics or challenging long-held records. They're worried about winning the Cup and absolutely nothing else.It was grossly cliche. And, to be honest, perfectly said.John Matisz is theScore's national hockey writer.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Newly minted Arizona Coyotes general manager Bill Armstrong admitted keeping pending unrestricted free agent Taylor Hall in the desert won't be a straightforward process."It'd have to be very creative to keep him (in Arizona)," Armstrong said, per NHL.com's Brian Compton. "That's something we're going to explore. We're never going to turn our eye to talent like that. He's a heck of a player, but we've got to explore. These are (things that are) going to happen between now and free agency. We're going to explore everything."The Coyotes have made numerous pitches to Hall, but the 28-year-old winger is the top free-agent forward on the market this offseason and has stated several times his top priority at this stage of his career is winning.Arizona made the playoffs for the first time since 2012 this summer by virtue of the expanded field. Since being drafted first overall in 2010, Hall has only played in 14 postseason contests.Hall is coming off a seven-year, $42-million contract signed with the Edmonton Oilers in 2012. He should receive a considerable raise from his $6 million average annual value on his next deal, which hurts Arizona's odds of keeping the star player; the club has a projected $1.1 million in available cap space for next season, according to Cap Friendly.Hall has notched 563 points in 627 career games and won the Hart Trophy as league MVP in 2018.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos couldn't make it past the first period Wednesday in his return to the team's lineup during Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final.Stamkos finished the game with just five shifts and 2:47 minutes of ice time after suffering an apparent setback in the opening frame."There's an issue that I've been working through," Stamkos said when asked if he tweaked something, according to team writer Bryan Burns. "We'll see what happens from here."Stamkos added that it's too early to tell if he'll be available for Game 4 on Friday, according to Burns.The 30-year-old hadn't played since Feb. 25. He underwent core muscle surgery in early March and sustained a lower-body injury during Phase 2 of the NHL's return-to-play protocol in July.Stamkos scored a goal before leaving Wednesday's action. He initially didn't come out to start the second period but later joined his teammates on the bench for the remainder of the game."It was an amazing experience to share with my teammates," Stamkos said, according to The Athletic's Thomas Drance. "There's been a lot of hard work going on behind the scenes, so to get into a game and have an impact on a game when a month ago that might not have been possible ... I was just happy to contribute."Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) Steven Stamkos scored on his first shot since February, left with injury and the Tampa Bay Lightning kept dominating without him, blowing the Dallas Stars out of an empty arena with a 5-2 rout in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final on Wednesday night to take the lead in the series.Even though he only skated five shifts for 2:47, the Lightning captain making his 2020 playoff debut 211 days after he last played in an NHL game gave the Lightning a jolt. He made the most of that time with a vintage Stamkos goal going around Esa Lindell and sniping a shot past Anton Khudobin.''We were really excited,'' forward Alex Killorn said. ''He told us he was ready, he comes out, gets a shot on net and scores a goal. It really elevated our team. So happy for him to be back and be a part of this.''Stamkos skated off gingerly at the end of his final shift in the first period and was not on the bench for the start of the second. He returned to the bench and took a few twirls to test out the injury but did not return.The Lightning were just fine with Stamkos offering moral support sitting in the middle of the bench.They got goals from all three of their first-line forwards, their top defenseman and their captain and big saves from their Vezina Trophy finalist goaltender, while the Stars' best players were quiet once again or made big mistakes to contribute to the loss. Nikita Kucherov, Stamkos, Victor Hedman, Brayden Point and Ondrej Palat all scored for Tampa Bay, which was the better team from the start of the second period on.Khudobin was under pressure most of the night and allowed five goals on 29 shots before coach Rick Bowness replaced him at the start of the third with rookie Jake Oettinger. At the other end, Andrei Vasilevskiy made a few big saves among his 31, including a brilliant left pad stop on Corey Perry early in the game.The game was everything that has made Tampa Bay one of the best teams in hockey for more than half of the last decade. That included the return of Stamkos, the Lightning's leader who has been forced to watch while rehabbing a core muscle injury.''He's a threat, so he's just another thing for a team to think about when he's out there,'' coach Jon Cooper said Wednesday morning. ''Whether that's on the power play or 5-on-5, you get another player that the puck gets on his stick in the offensive zone, it might go in the net - especially in a series where goals are at a premium.''Stamkos, who last played Feb. 25, had surgery in early March and aggravated the injury at least once over the summer, showed that on his goal. As soon as teammates saw Stamkos scored, the bench into a spontaneous celebration perhaps unlike any goal during the playoffs.But goals were not at a premium for the Lightning on Wednesday night. Minutes after Hedman prevented a breakaway goal by speedy Stars forward Denis Gurianov, Kucherov took advantage of a brutal turnover by 21-year-old budding star Miro Heiskanen and scored on a breakaway of his own.Hedman scored his own goal in the second, his 10th to put him third all-time in goals by defenseman during a single postseason. Only Paul Coffey and Brian Leetch have more.Meanwhile, Dallas' stars were not close to being their best players. Beyond Heiskanen's turnover, top-line winger Alexander Radulov took two bad penalties and was demoted in the lineup, while Tyler Seguin's goal drought reached a career-worst 12 games and Khuodbin was shaky.Fourth-liner Jason Dickinson scored the Stars' only goal before the game was out of hand, and Heiskanen's in the third period didn't make up for putting the puck right on Kucherov's stick for the breakaway.While Tampa Bay got a significant talent back, Dallas was without a key veteran role player. Forward Blake Comeau was ruled unfit to play after appearing to injure his right shoulder on a hit by Ryan McDonagh in Game 2.Nick Caamano made his NHL playoff debut in Comeau's place. He also last played - in the minors - 196 days ago.NOTES: Oettinger stopped the two shots he faced in relief. ... To make room for Stamkos, Tampa Bay scratched Carter Verhaeghe. ... Along with Comeau being out, goalie Ben Bishop, forward Radek Faksa and defenseman Stephen Johns remained unfit to play.UP NEXTGame 4 is Friday night with Game 5 on a back to back Saturday night.---More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP-SportsCopyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Steven Stamkos has gotten the green light.The Tampa Bay Lightning captain is in the lineup for Game 3 against the Dallas Stars on Wednesday. Stamkos, who hasn't played since Feb. 25 after requiring core muscle surgery, has been dealing with a lower-body injury since the club entered the bubble in July.Stamkos ranked second on the Lightning in both goals (29) and points (66) through 57 regular-season contests. He scored points in 15 consecutive games before being injured.The 30-year-old sniper led the team with 10 power-play goals during the regular season. His presence on the man advantage should boost a unit that's been struggling as of late. Tampa Bay buried a pair of power-play markers in Game 2 but hadn't scored on its 15 previous opportunities.Stamkos has contributed 23 goals and 53 points over 70 career playoff outings.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Ottawa Senators will not offer goaltender Craig Anderson a contract for 2020-21, general manager Pierre Dorion told reporters, including Postmedia's Bruce Garrioch, on Wednesday."He's the best goalie we've ever had," Dorion said. "It's time for us to take another direction and we thank him for everything he did."The pending unrestricted free agent is the Senators' all-time leader in games played by a netminder. He's also tied with Robin Lehner atop the club's save percentage list with a .914 mark while having played 349 more contests with Ottawa than his fellow soon-to-be UFA.Anderson, 39, spent nine-plus seasons of his 17 NHL campaigns with the Senators. Ottawa traded goaltender Brian Elliott to the Colorado Avalanche for him in 2011.The Senators signed Anderson to a two-year, $9.5-million extension in September 2017.He struggled while backstopping a rebuilding team in 2019-20, posting a .902 save percentage and minus-7.95 goals saved above average in 34 games.Anderson won the Masterton Trophy in 2016-17 after taking several leaves of absence that season to spend time with his wife, Nicholle, who was diagnosed with throat cancer.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Find line reports, best bets, and subscribe to push notifications in the Betting News section.No harm, no foul in Game 2, as a push on the under 5 takes our current run to 9-2-1 since the start of Round 3.There's only so much money left to make in these playoffs, so let's get after it.Tampa Bay Lightning (-155) at Dallas Stars (+135)The Stanley Cup Final is now a best-of-five after the teams split the first two games, leading to a pressure-packed Game 3. Historically, clubs that win in this spot take the series 67.5% of the time.To avoid joining the 32.5% there, the Stars need to get off to a better start. Down 1-0 in the series, the Lightning came out firing on all cylinders in Game 2. The Stars simply weren't prepared, falling into a 3-0 hole by just the 4:44 mark of the first period. Dallas allowed precious little after that, but the damage was done and the team's comeback fell short in a 3-2 loss.With a better first period in that contest, the Stars could be holding a 2-0 series lead, but they came out a step behind the Bolts and it cost them dearly. The ice was tilted for the duration of the first period, resulting in three Dallas penalties and two power-play goals for Tampa. The Lightning built a three-goal lead over the first 20 minutes despite producing just 1.09 expected goals for, and a pedestrian 0.55 at five-on-five.That game will serve as a wake-up call for the Stars, who should enjoy a much better start in the series-defining Game 3. Through two games they've shown their ability to suppress Tampa's offense, allowing just two goals and 17 high-danger chances at five-on-five. With Anton Khudobin still on top of his game, Dallas' defense in control, and the Stars getting last change for the first time in this series, I'll gladly scoop up the generous price of +135.Pick: Stars (+135)(Odds source: theScore Bet)Alex Moretto is a sports betting writer for theScore. A journalism graduate from Guelph-Humber University, he has worked in sports media for over a decade. He will bet on anything from the Super Bowl to amateur soccer, is too impatient for futures, and will never trust a kicker. Find him on Twitter @alexjmoretto.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Montreal Canadiens signed forward Jake Evans to a two-year contract extension, the team announced Wednesday.The first year of the deal is a two-way agreement and will pay Evans $700,000 at the NHL level. The second season is worth $800,000 and will be a one-way contract.Evans was drafted in the seventh round in 2014, and made his NHL debut this past season after four years at Notre Dame and two with the AHL's Laval Rocket. The 24-year-old notched three points in 13 games with the Habs before adding an assist in six postseason contests.Evans was one of several restricted free agents Montreal needs to sign this offseason. Max Domi, Victor Mete, Charles Hudon, and Xavier Ouellet require new deals as well.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

After winning two of the NHL's most prestigious personal awards on Monday, Edmonton Oilers star Leon Draisaitl still has his eyes on hoisting the Stanley Cup."No, this doesn't make up for it," Draisaitl said of Edmonton's early exit from the postseason, according to Sportsnet's Mark Spector. "It's a nice personal award for myself, but there's nothing that comes ahead of the Stanley Cup. If I could hand those two awards back in for a Stanley Cup I would do it in a heartbeat, and so would everyone else."It's a nice day, I am proud and happy for sure. But my goal in my career is to win the Stanley Cup."Draisaitl took home both the Hart Trophy as the league's most valuable player and the Ted Lindsay Award as the league's most outstanding player as voted on by his peers.The 24-year-old was the most dominant offensive player throughout the 2019-20 season, recording 43 goals and 67 assists in 71 games. He was the only player in the league who eclipsed the 100-point mark.Edmonton entered the postseason as the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference and fell to the 12th-seeded Chicago Blackhawks in the qualifying round. The Oilers have now failed to make the Round of 16 during the past three seasons.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Bill Armstrong wants to make it clear he didn't take the job as Arizona Coyotes general manager to soak up some rays.

The San Jose Sharks have named Bob Boughner as the ninth head coach in franchise history.Boughner was promoted from assistant coach to interim bench boss during the 2019-20 season after Peter DeBoer was relieved of his duties.The 49-year-old guided the Sharks to a 14-20-3 record. The team dealt with some key injuries during his time behind the bench, with Erik Karlsson, Logan Couture, and Tomas Hertl all missing significant time.Boughner previously served as the head coach of the Florida Panthers, accumulating an 80-62-22 record across two seasons.The Sharks also named Rocky Thompson as an associate coach and John Madden as an assistant coach. Evgeni Nabokov holds his position as the club's goalie coach, and Mike Ricci will serve as an NHL developmental coach after spending the end of the 2019-20 campaign as an assistant coach.Boughner and his staff all signed three-year deals, reports TSN's Pierre LeBrun.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Pittsburgh Penguins may try to add a second Tanev brother to the fold this offseason.Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford is expected to pursue Vancouver Canucks defenseman Christopher Tanev by attempting to shed enough cap space to sign him, league and team sources told The Athletic's Rob Rossi and Josh Yohe. Pittsburgh has reportedly made adding a right-shooting blue-liner a priority.Rutherford isn't opposed to offering the rearguard a five-year contract that would last as long as the pact he agreed to with Tanev's younger brother, Brandon, a team source told Rossi and Yohe.The elder Tanev, who will turn 31 in December, is a pending unrestricted free agent. The 2019-20 campaign was the final season of the five-year, $22.25-million deal he inked with the Canucks in 2015. That agreement carried a $4.45-million cap hit, and the defenseman is reportedly seeking a raise. However, the Penguins would prefer not to sign off on a deal with a cap hit over $5 million.Tanev said in June that he'd love to play his whole career with Vancouver. He's spent all 10 of his NHL campaigns with the Canucks, who signed him as an undrafted free agent in 2010.The Penguins reeled in Brandon Tanev with a six-year, $21-million contract in July 2019. The 28-year-old forward posted 11 goals and 25 points in his first campaign with the club.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

New York Islanders goaltender Thomas Greiss will likely be available when the NHL's free-agency period opens in October."At this point, I do expect he's headed to the market," Greiss' agent, Ray Petkau, told The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun on Monday.But Petkau added that the pending unrestricted free agent "loves being a New York Islander" and would consider re-signing with the team if given the chance.Greiss shared the crease with Semyon Varlamov this season but was ultimately relegated to a backup role. Greiss posted a .913 save percentage and 2.77 goals saved above average across 31 regular-season games before authoring a .929 save percentage in four playoff appearances.The Islanders also boast a puck-stopper of the future in highly touted prospect Ilya Sorokin, who's expected to carve out a role after inking a pact through 2020-21 in July.Greiss has been dependable in recent years, producing a .915 save percentage and 17.6 GSAA over five campaigns with New York.The 34-year-old carried a $3.33-million cap hit in 2019-20, finishing off the three-year, $10-million contract he signed with the Islanders in January 2017.The goalie market could include fellow pending UFAs Robin Lehner, Jacob Markstrom, Anton Khudobin, Corey Crawford, and Braden Holtby. It's also expected to feature Detroit Red Wings netminder Jimmy Howard, who said Sunday he's "probably not" re-signing with the club.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Tampa Bay Lightning topped the Dallas Stars 3-2 in Game 2 on Monday to even the Stanley Cup Final at one game apiece.More to come.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The NHL announced the first and second All-Star teams, as well as the All-Rookie team, following Monday's awards. The teams were voted on by members of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association.All six members of the first All-Star team received the honor for the first time in their careers. The only other time that happened was in 1930-31.First All-Star team:PositionPlayerTeamGConnor HellebuyckWPGDJohn CarlsonWSHDRoman JosiNSHCLeon DraisaitlEDMLWArtemi PanarinNYRRWDavid PastrnakBOSSecond All-Star team:PositionPlayerTeamGTuukka RaskBOSDVictor HedmanTBDAlex PietrangeloSTLCNathan MacKinnonCOLLWBrad MarchandBOSRWNikita KucherovTBAll-Rookie team:PositionPlayerTeamGElvis MerzlikinsCBJDCale MakarCOLDQuinn HughesVANFDominik KubalikCHIFVictor OlofssonBUFFNick SuzukiMTLCopyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Nashville Predators defenseman Roman Josi won his first Norris Trophy as the league's top blue-liner on Monday.Josi amassed career highs in goals (16) and points (65) through 69 games this season to earn the award over Washington Capitals rearguard John Carlson and Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman.

The 2019-20 Art Ross Trophy, and Ted Lindsay Award winner will add another piece of hardware to his collection.Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl won the Hart Trophy as the NHL's most valuable player, the league announced Monday. Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche and Artemi Panarin of the New York Rangers were the other finalists.Draisaitl led the league with 110 points and ranked fourth with 43 goals in 71 games this season. Along with fellow superstar Connor McDavid, he helped lead the Oilers to a 37-25-9 record and a berth in the play-in round, though the Chicago Blackhawks upset them to advance to the round of 16.The German dynamo is the first Oiler to win the Hart since McDavid did so in 2016-17. Tampa Bay Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov claimed the honor last season.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Winnipeg Jets netminder Connor Hellebuyck was awarded the 2019-20 Vezina Trophy as the NHL's top goalie, the league announced Monday.Hellebuyck edged out Tuukka Rask of the Boston Bruins and Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Edmonton Oilers star forward Leon Draisaitl won the Ted Lindsay Award on Monday as the NHL's Most Outstanding Player, which was voted on by members of the NHLPA.Draisaitl edged out New York Rangers forward Artemi Panarin and Colorado Avalanche pivot Nathan MacKinnon. The three talents are also the finalists for the Hart Trophy.The 24-year-old phenom also captured the Hart Trophy as league MVP and the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer with a career-best 110 points in 71 games this season.Draisaitl was an absolute force in 2019-20. He led the league with 67 assists and was the only player to eclipse the 100-point mark. The 6-foot-3 German recorded nearly as many three-plus-point outings (14) as zero-point games (15) during the regular season.The award has now been won by an Oilers player in three of the previous four seasons, with co-star Connor McDavid earning the honors in both 2017 and 2018.

Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar won the Calder Trophy as the NHL's top rookie, the league announced Monday.Makar edged out Vancouver Canucks phenom Quinn Hughes and Chicago Blackhawks forward Dominik Kubalik.

Welcome to Puck Pursuit, an interview-style podcast hosted by John Matisz, theScore's national hockey writer.Subscribe to the show on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher, and Spotify.Puck Pursuit · Former NHLer Paul BissonnetteFormer NHL forward and current Spittin' Chiclets co-host Paul Bissonnette joins the show to discuss a variety of topics, including:

Blake Wheeler wants something done in his team's city amid a resurgence of COVID-19 cases.The outspoken Winnipeg Jets captain expressed that sentiment in a tweet to Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister on Sunday.

The bubble remains effective, as the NHL did not record a single positive COVID-19 test for the eighth consecutive week since resuming play.It's the ninth straight week overall for the league without any new cases. Testing began in the week before the return as players began reporting to the hub cities.During the most recent period, from Sept. 13-19, the NHL conducted 1,127 daily tests on everyone in the teams' 52-member traveling parties, including the players.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Find line reports, best bets, and subscribe to push notifications in the Betting News section.We built on the momentum of our 8-2 record during Round 3 in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final, nailing the Dallas Stars (+140) in one of my favorite situational bets of the playoffs.We'll look to get that win column into double digits in Game 2.Dallas Stars (+130) at Tampa Bay Lightning (-150)After all the misguided talk about how much better the big, bad Lightning are now, the Stars certainly didn't look out of place in Game 1. Dallas was the better team on Saturday night and fully deserved the victory.Doubters will point to the Lightning's dominant third period and suggest they were unlucky, but that sort of discrepancy is expected when a club enters the final frame down two goals. The Stars did what any other team would do, but they did it better, largely limiting the Lightning's quality third-period chances and holding them to just 0.77 expected goals at five-on-five.Stars netminder Anton Khudobin has picked the best time to get hot, but although he was excellent while saving 1.96 goals above expected and stopping 35 of 36 shots in Game 1, the quality of chances he faced left a lot to be desired from the Lightning's perspective. He made a couple of big saves to deny Alex Killorn and Zach Bogosian, but Dallas' defense protected him well otherwise, with the unit keeping Tampa's offense to the periphery.With a dialed-in Khudobin the last line of defense behind a Stars team playing on top of its game, the Lightning will need to fight for every inch in this series. Goals will be scarce throughout, and Dallas will want it that way. The teams combined for just 3.18 expected goals at five-on-five in Game 1, and with Khudobin and Andrei Vasilevskiy in net, the under is an automatic bet.Pick: Under 5 (+110)(Odds source: theScore Bet)Alex Moretto is a sports betting writer for theScore. A journalism graduate from Guelph-Humber University, he has worked in sports media for over a decade. He will bet on anything from the Super Bowl to amateur soccer, is too impatient for futures, and will never trust a kicker. Find him on Twitter @alexjmoretto.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

In Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final, as the Tampa Bay Lightning built what proved to be an insurmountable series lead, Brayden Point passed the puck in the neutral zone and beelined to the foot of the New York Islanders' crease. Ondrej Palat's return feed found him there, and Semyon Varlamov splaying to cover his glove side was the only resistance Point met. He whacked the disc over the goal line, then skated away with his arms raised.As Bruce Bennett sees it, the NHL playoffs are unfolding inside two kinds of bubbles. One is the stronghold that has housed Point and Varlamov's squads during their time in Toronto and, from the conference finals onward, Edmonton. The second is the scene Bennett observes from his perch in the uppermost deck at Rogers Place, where a camera he positioned high above the visitors' net captured Point's jubilance - and the Islanders' corresponding angst - 200 or so feet across the rink.Brayden Point celebrates his Game 4 goal. Bruce Bennett / Getty ImagesBennett, 65, is the prolific Getty Images photographer whose work appears atop and throughout this story, like it has in most every publication that's covered hockey over his 45 seasons in the game. He's used to shooting from ice level, risking the odd cracked rib or head wound from an errant puck - more so in the old days, before protective plexiglass was omnipresent - to record history in real time from point-blank range.But few precedents have persisted in 2020. Bennett isn't staying in the league's secure zone, and strict coronavirus protocols govern movement inside the arena. That's why Getty's Edmonton operation is based at center ice far above the fray, as if Bennett is watching and chronicling table hockey matchups from an impassable remove."Instead of playing bubble hockey with rods, and twisting those rods, I'm playing (with) cameras, twisting and contorting myself shooting from a photo position that's not conducive to the kind of photography that I like to produce," Bennett said in a recent phone interview."There's a lack of intimacy when you shoot from a higher angle. You don't have what I always stress in hockey photography: the faces. You don't have a good look at what the players are going through. Here, I look at the top of a lot of helmets. Occasionally, I can get a face. But it's a very different form of photography - a very different way of seeing the sport."Bruce Bennett. Supplied by Getty ImagesFew people have witnessed more NHL action than Bennett since the dawn of the league's expansion era. The mustachioed Long Island resident has shot, to be painstakingly precise, 5,157 games in dozens more arenas than are now in use, though primarily from the nearby home barns of the Islanders, New York Rangers, New Jersey Devils, and Philadelphia Flyers.Bennett's bio isn't all hockey - he's shot everything from baseball to basketball to surfing to pro wrestling - but it does account for the lion's share of his career highlights. His marquee assignments include five Olympic tournaments (Lillehammer, Nagano, Vancouver, Sochi, and PyeongChang), eight World Hockey Association games in the 1970s (some involving Wayne Gretzky, then a prodigy on the verge of debuting in the NHL), and 39 matchups that decided the Stanley Cup champion. A milestone 40th beckons at Rogers Place within the next 10 days.Tampa's Ryan McDonagh checks Dallas forward Joe Pavelski in Game 1 on Saturday night. Bruce Bennett / Getty ImagesOnly a handful of photographers, two of whom the league hired to stay in the bubble and shoot from ice level, are on site in Edmonton, where Bennett emerged from a two-week hotel quarantine early in the second round. Tapped by Getty to work the playoff stretch run solo, he employs four cameras to supply diversified imagery to the agency's worldwide clientele: his handheld Canon 1DX Mark III, plus remote devices stationed around the rafters that focus on points of interest, including one goal line, the team benches, and the net at the opposite end.Bennett couldn't make use of that last angle if a crowd was present; the netting that usually rises from the back glass would obstruct the camera's sightline on plays such as the Point goal. The confines of his vantage point necessitated creativity, and the result is a lot of shots from a bird's-eye view.Bruce Bennett's map of his camera positions at Rogers Place. Via Bennett's Instagram, here's William Karlsson (goal-line cam) celebrating a goal; the Dallas Stars (bench cam) toasting John Klingberg; the Lightning (bench cam aimed instead at the nearest net) soaking in another recent win. If those pictures each told a night's story, another snap got at the larger spirit of this bizarre postseason.Conversations with Bennett about his craft can cover wide ground. In a call with theScore not long before the Stanley Cup matchup was set, he lamented his inability to stick a camera in either net - that right has been reserved for Dave Sandford and Andy Devlin, the NHL Images lensmen in Edmonton - and reflected on his encounters with a few compelling and legendary subjects.Here's Bennett's take on Sandford's iconic shot of Nazem Kadri's round-robin buzzer-beater: "Stellar frame. I envy him being able to put that net cam in almost every night. There are times when people ask me about my net-cam shots and I minimize the amount of work that goes in there by saying, 'You hold that button down for 12 frames a second, hoping that something's going to happen.' But Dave's (not only) an extraordinarily talented photographer, but also has a tremendous sense of timing. It's setting up the camera correctly and giving yourself the best chance to succeed in an image like that. That will go down as a very historic frame."Kadri beats the buzzer. Dave Sandford / NHL / Getty ImagesBennett on the unique appeal of photographing Scott Stevens and Mark Messier up close: "Both those guys, you would see the fire in their eyes. You would be able to tell whether those players or even others were motivated to play the game - whether they were in the zone."Scott Stevens in 2003. Bruce Bennett / Getty ImagesMark Messier holds the Stanley Cup in 1994. Bruce Bennett / Getty ImagesBennett on photographing Gretzky in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1979: "He was a scrawny kid once. Look what he (went on to do) … It was key for me that year to photograph Gretzky because the following year, (he and the Edmonton Oilers) were going to be entering the NHL. I wanted to make sure I had something of him in a WHA uniform."Gretzky in the WHA in 1979. Bruce Bennett / Getty ImagesBennett on the chaos of Stanley Cup celebrations in the 1980s: "Here in Edmonton, I came off the ice one year, and I had a flash on the top of a camera that was broken off. My watch was missing. It was a vicious, vicious time. … I couldn't tell you which year that was, but I was right in front of (Gretzky), and he's looking with fear in his eyes and just going, 'Back up! Back up!' I'm going, 'I'm trying to back up.' There was so much pressure and force behind us. There were 30 guys at that time running around the ice, trying to get exactly the same image."Gretzky with the Cup in 1987. Bruce Bennett / Getty Images The task of shooting the on-ice merriment that caps every postseason has become less physical and more civilized, Bennett said, thanks to the NHL limiting the number of people with cameras allowed over the boards. Victorious players can skate without bumping into bodies or tripping on wires, and Bennett has leeway to block out the noise and focus on preserving the scene in its entirety. "Every single guy who holds up that Cup is important," he said, be they a first-liner, Black Ace, or besuited staffer he identifies by their name tag.Bennett has experience snapping Cup celebrations from upstairs: He sought out that angle in two past go-rounds in a bid to get creative but came away unsatisfied. Consider it a welcome possibility, then, that he might be permitted to descend from high above when the Lightning or Stars clinch this year's title. The NHL confirmed to theScore that its medical team is helping devise a plan to let all photographers present cover the trophy handoff from the ice.The Lightning celebrate the Anthony Cirelli (center) goal that sent them to the final. Bruce Bennett / Getty ImagesThe Stars reached the final via an OT goal from Denis Gurianov (right). Bruce Bennett / Getty ImagesBennett operated independently for a few decades before he joined Getty in 2004, when the agency obtained his studio's trove of 2 million hockey images - originals and many more archival acquisitions - that date as far back as the early 1900s. No game in that comprehensive historical span has looked quite like what's gone down in the bubble, where simulated crowd noise has alternately helped Bennett lock into the action and provided a laugh when the roar arrives a beat late.It's another reminder that these playoffs have no precedent. Bennett said he's been happy to be there, familiarizing himself with Western clubs he doesn't often see and managing any attendant irritation."At times it's quite frustrating, shooting from the position that we're shooting from," he said. "But it's a challenge, as well. If you don't rise to the challenge, you might as well just quit the business. The goal is always to get the best photos, and a good photographer should be able to do that from anywhere they're placed in a hockey arena."Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly said Bennett photographed George Brett's pine-tar incident in 1983. He purchased the image via his studio, which Getty later acquired.Nick Faris is a features writer at theScore.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Dallas Stars head coach Rick Bowness believes Tampa Bay Lightning superstar Steven Stamkos will return from injury at some point in the Stanley Cup Final."We're expecting Steven to play at some point," Bowness said, according to The Associated Press' Stephen Whyno. "Listen, he's a great player. He changes the whole look on the power play. So that's a big factor."Lightning head coach Jon Cooper told reporters on Sunday that the team is hopeful the captain plays but he's "not exactly sure when that's going to be." Cooper added that "as of now I don't think" Stamkos will play in Game 2 on Monday.Stamkos has missed the entire postseason with an undisclosed injury and hasn't suited up for a game since Feb. 25. He ranked second on the team behind Nikita Kucherov in both goals and points during the regular season.The Stars lead the series 1-0 following a 4-1 victory on Saturday.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Ottawa Senators head coach D.J. Smith doesn't foresee the club sewing the "C" on anyone's jersey in 2020-21."It's not going to happen (next) season," Smith told Postmedia's Bruce Garrioch. "I can't say 'not,' but as of right now we're not planning on it. We're going to transition some of the younger guys into a leadership role."Budding stars Thomas Chabot and Brady Tkachuk are possible candidates but Smith doesn't anticipate either one becoming the captain anytime soon."I think everyone knows Chabot and Tkachuk are the guys pushing from the bottom," he added. "I don't see that happening this year. I see more of a group mentality where you're going to have to have people with leadership up front and leadership on the back end. Part of being a young team is maybe the coach has to be a leader maybe for one more year."Smith doesn't feel the need to put added pressure on a relatively inexperienced player for a team that isn't contending."It's real tall order for a young guy to be a captain in a rebuild situation," he said. "You're constantly being asked the questions and you may not have the answers (because) you haven't been through it. It's not fair for a 21-, 22-, 23-year-old kid to have to answer those questions. That's why I think you see a lot of times these guys who are captains have been through it and have been through the experience."They've been through a rebuild, been through winning and losing, and they know what's possibly coming next. It's unfair to rush that on a guy and that's where we're at."Chabot led Ottawa in average ice time this season with 26 minutes per game. The 23-year-old also paced the team in assists and ranked second in shots on goal and fifth in points. The 2019-20 campaign was his third in the NHL after the Senators selected him 18th overall in 2015.Tkachuk led all Senators skaters with 44 points in 2019-20. He also topped the team and ranked eighth in the league with 259 shots on goal. Tkachuk played his second NHL campaign this past season after Ottawa drafted him fourth overall in 2018.The Senators haven't had a captain since trading superstar Erik Karlsson to the San Jose Sharks in September 2018.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Jimmy Howard is leaning toward leaving the only NHL franchise he's ever played for.The Detroit Red Wings goaltender will "probably not" play for the club next season, he told Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman on Sunday.Howard, who's a pending unrestricted free agent, added that he's not planning to retire."Someone is going to have to tell me I can't play anymore," he said, adding that 2019-20 isn't the way he wants to end his career.The 36-year-old also said he's been training for the last two months and that he talked to his family about relocating for a year if he can't play for a team close to home.Howard struggled mightily this past season, posting a save percentage of .882 (the worst mark in the league among goalies who played at least 27 contests) and minus-22.12 goals saved above average to go with his 2-23-2 record.He's spent his entire 14-year NHL tenure with the Red Wings, who drafted him 64th overall in 2003.If Howard elects to hit the market, he'll join a crop of free-agent goaltenders that could include Anton Khudobin, Robin Lehner, Jacob Markstrom, Thomas Greiss, Corey Crawford, and Braden Holtby.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Gary Bettman says it's still far too early to determine when the NHL's next season will begin."Anything that anybody suggests or reads or writes or commentates about next season is nothing more than speculation," the NHL commissioner told reporters at his annual state of the league address before Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final on Saturday.Bettman added he could imagine the campaign starting later than the initial target date, but reiterated nothing is close to being decided."We're still focused on getting through the conclusion of the 2019-20 season," Bettman said. "Obviously, we've started informally thinking about what optionality is. Dec. 1 has always been a notional date. I will not be surprised if it slips into later December, it could slip into January, but there's no point right now in making any definitive comments on our plans, because there's still too much we don't know."Nobody can tell me whether or not the border between Canada and the United States is going to be open by a (certain date), nobody can tell me what the state of COVID-19 is going to be, nobody can tell me whether or not our arenas will be able to have either socially distanced or fully occupied buildings, and we're going to have to do the same thing we did to get ready for the return to play: explore all the options, (and) be flexible and agile enough to implement when the appropriate time comes."In terms of the logistics for 2020-21, Bettman said it's possible games start without fans before allowing socially distanced spectators and then potentially opening things up to more full arenas."How we start isn't necessarily how we'll finish," he told reporters, according to ESPN's Greg Wyshynski.As for the conclusion of next season, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly noted in earlier September that playing games in the summer worked for the league and it's possible the league revisits that plan if necessary. However, Bettman said Saturday he hopes it doesn't come to that.

Dallas Stars netminder Anton Khudobin continued to bolster his Conn Smythe Trophy case with another incredible performance against the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final.The 34-year-old turned aside 35 shots - including all 22 he faced in the third period - to secure his fourth straight victory and sixth in his previous seven starts."He's been a rock for us all playoffs, it was no different tonight," Stars forward Blake Comeau said following the 4-1 win, according to NBC Sports' Sean Leahy."We got into penalty trouble there in the third and he was there to bail us out, and that's been the storyline this playoffs," he added. "Every time we've needed a big save, he's been there for us."Khudobin is now 9-1 with a .930 save percentage when facing 30 or more shots in a game this postseason, according to Sportsnet Stats.His biggest save of Saturday's contest came in the final minutes of the second period, as he reached back to deny Lightning forward Anthony Cirelli during a mad scramble in front of the net. The Stars would add a goal to make it 3-1 just moments later.

Tampa Bay Lightning forward Patrick Maroon was forced to sit out the opening 10 minutes of the third period after letting his frustration get the best of him during Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final on Saturday night.The officials handed Maroon a 10-minute misconduct after he shot the puck into the Dallas Stars' bench just before the intermission.

Joe Pavelski says the Dallas Stars' style of play was a major reason he signed with them instead of the Tampa Bay Lightning in free agency last summer."I liked the goalies here," Pavelski told reporters Friday. "I liked the structure defensively. They played a lot of one-goal games (and) they didn't give up a lot of goals, and I always believe ... you need that, especially in the playoffs, to find those types of wins. So that was one of the reasons I kind of identified them, and there's also some high-end talent on this team as well."The 36-year-old inked a three-year, $21-million contract with the Stars on July 1, 2019 after meeting in-person with representatives of both Dallas and Tampa Bay, the two clubs now facing off in the Stanley Cup Final.On Thursday, Pavelski told The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun there were important off-ice considerations that factored into his decision as well.“There were different things, hockey was one of the big ones obviously, but with (my son) Nate and his hockey and schooling, and (my wife) Sarah and I have been on the West Coast for 13 years, so if there was an option to get closer to home (Madison, Wisconsin), maybe in the same time zone, where the games don’t start at 9:30 every night for the parents, just try to experience something closer to home," the veteran forward said."So, can you get a team that you believe can contend, and then hope all the other boxes line up," he added. "We definitely had a few good options with good teams and places we could live in."Before joining the Stars, Pavelski spent his entire 13-year career with the San Jose Sharks, including serving as captain over the final four seasons of his tenure.Dallas boasted the NHL's second-best goals against per game rate during the regular season, thanks in large part to netminders Ben Bishop and Anton Khudobin, as well as blue-liners Miro Heiskanen and John Klingberg.Pavelski entered the Cup Final tied for the league lead among players still competing in 2019-20 with nine goals in 21 playoff games. He produced 14 goals and 31 points in 67 regular-season games in his first campaign with the Stars.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Following a report the St. Louis Blues cut off contract talks with Alex Pietrangelo on Friday, the pending unrestricted free agent acknowledged he'll likely be testing the open market this October."There was a discussion today, and I guess the best way to sum it up, we haven’t really made much progress," Pietrangelo said Friday, according to The Athletic's Jeremy Rutherford."We just think right now, with where things are at, that maybe it’s best for both sides to see what’s going on in free agency, what the team can explore, what I can explore and if there are better fits for each side."The Blues are among many teams that have been significantly impacted by the flat $81.5-million salary cap in 2020-21. St. Louis has $5.15 million in projected cap space for next season and Pietrangelo is due for a big payday after making $6.5 million annually on his latest deal.Pietrangelo, 30, admitted he's unhappy with the way contract talks have gone to this point, but said he hasn't yet ruled out re-signing with the team he's spent all 12 years of his NHL career with."We’re a little disappointed that we’re in this situation," he said. "We weren’t able to hammer out the details what we wanted in a deal. There was some work that we tried to get done that we couldn’t get done, so both sides agreed that maybe it’s in the best interest."We’re two weeks away. Not saying anything can’t change, but as of right now, that’s kind of our plan, and we’ll see where things go."Free agency is set to open Oct. 9, and Pietrangelo would easily be the most coveted blue-liner on the market.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Following Friday's report that the St. Louis Blues broke off contract talks with Alex Pietrangelo and advised their captain to pursue free agency, we look at five sensible landing spots for the star defenseman.Toronto Maple Leafs Andrew Francis Wallace / Toronto Star / GettyCan a star player hailing from the Greater Toronto Area hit free agency and not be linked to the Maple Leafs? We can hear the groans from non-Leafs fans, but this list wouldn't feel complete without at least mentioning a potential Leafs pursuit of the native of King City, Ontario.With just over $6 million in cap space, the Leafs have the least amount of flexibility of any team to crack this list. However, they may also be more desperate for an impact right-handed defenseman than any club in the league. The addition of a bona fide No. 1 blue-liner like Pietrangelo would turn Toronto's defense from a weakness to a strength.LDRDMorgan RiellyAlex PietrangeloJake MuzzinJustin HollTravis DermottMikko LehtonenRasmus SandinIn order to afford Pietrangelo, who will likely command at least $8 million per season, Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas will have to make changes throughout the lineup. He wouldn't necessarily need to move someone as important as William Nylander, but fellow forwards Alexander Kerfoot ($3.5 million) and Andreas Johnsson ($3.4 million) would have to be traded and replaced with players making less than $1 million. He'd also have to deal goaltender Frederik Andersen ($5 million) and pursue a cheaper option.It would really thin out Toronto's bottom-six forward group and create some uncertainty between the pipes, but Pietrangelo could be accommodated if the Leafs are that desperate. It also remains to be seen whether Dubas would want to make a significant long-term commitment to a 30-year-old after signing John Tavares two years ago.Boston Bruins Bruce Bennett / Getty Images Sport / GettyA right-handed defenseman isn't an area of need for the Bruins, who have Charlie McAvoy, Brandon Carlo, and Connor Clifton in the fold. However, the team's Stanley Cup window is closing quickly, and Pietrangelo would better position Boston to contend with the Tampa Bay Lightning and make another deep playoff run.Even after re-signing RFAs Jake DeBrusk and Matt Grzelcyk, the Bruins will likely have nearly $9 million to offer. Remember, Torey Krug is a UFA and Zdeno Chara could retire, so there's some money to go around on Boston's blue line. If GM Don Sweeney were to sign Pietrangelo, he could easily trade Carlo or Clifton for a left-handed defenseman or some help up front to relieve the logjam on the right side.LDRDMatt GrzelcykAlex PietrangeloJeremy LauzonCharlie McAvoyJohn MooreCarlo/CliftonUrho VaakanainenTaylor Hall would seem to be a more logical fit for the Bruins, but don't rule out the possibility of the Bruins making a splash for Pietrangelo.Colorado Avalanche Dave Sandford / National Hockey League / GettyThe Avalanche are consistently linked to big-name free agents thanks to their cap flexibility and legitimate Stanley Cup aspirations. Colorado has over $22 million in projected cap space, albeit with RFAs Valeri Nichushkin, Tyson Jost, Andre Burakovsky, Nikita Zadorov, and Ryan Graves all in need of new contracts.General Manager Joe Sakic could easily trade Ian Cole, who's entering the last year of his deal, and Erik Johnson, who can submit a list of 19 teams he'll accept a trade to. Moving both blue-liners would allow Sakic to not only afford Pietrangelo but put the GM in a position to comfortably re-sign Cale Makar and Gabriel Landeskog next offseason.Adding Pietrangelo would give Colorado one of the best blue lines in the league even before the arrival of 2019 No. 4 pick Bowen Byram.LDRDSamuel GirardAlex PietrangeloRyan GravesCale MakarNikita ZadorovConor TimminsIssues would arise at the 2021 expansion draft, where the Avs would risk losing Graves if they opt to use the 7-3-1 format. But those same risks exist if they keep Johnson in the fold, who has expansion protection with a no-movement clause.Calgary Flames NHL Images / National Hockey League / GettyCalgary isn't typically the most desirable destination for premier free agents, and the club often has to overpay on the open market. However, GM Brad Treliving is in a great position to make a run at Pietrangelo. His team is in need of some sort of shake-up, and with five pending UFA D-men, there are openings on the blue line and significant cap space to burn.The Flames have nearly $17 million in projected cap space, and RFAs Andrew Mangiapane, Mark Jankowski, and Oliver Kylington won't break the bank. The team could allow UFAs T.J. Brodie, Travis Hamonic, Erik Gustafsson, Derek Forbort, and Michael Stone to walk. Adding Pietrangelo is a viable option thanks to the organization's youthful depth on D.LDRDMark GiordanoAlex PietrangeloNoah HanifinRasmus AnderssonJuuso ValimakiOliver KylingtonAssuming Giordano still has another year or two left of quality play, this would be one of the best blue lines in the league.Edmonton Oilers Dave Sandford / National Hockey League / GettyEdmonton has also struggled to lure marquee free agents, but an opportunity to play on a team with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl could be awfully tantalizing for Pietrangelo.The Oilers have $10.5 million in projected cap space this offseason. The contracts of RFAs Ethan Bear and Andreas Athanasiou will eat into that, and GM Ken Holland has to sign a backup goalie, too. This means a contract - or maybe two - would need to be moved.Adam Larsson would make sense as the odd man out. He's entering the final year of his deal that carries a $4.16-million cap hit, and there would be no shortage of suitors. Pietrangelo would then take his spot in the lineup.LDRDOscar KlefbomAlex PietrangeloDarnell NurseEthan BearCaleb JonesKris RussellSigning Pietrangelo would likely require Edmonton to protect four defensemen - eight total players - at the expansion draft instead of protecting seven forwards and three rearguards. However, the Oilers are pretty top-heavy up front, so they're one of the few teams that could manage it.Having a horse like Pietrangelo to complement Edmonton's star forwards would vastly increase the team's Stanley Cup hopes.(Salary source: CapFriendly)Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Find line reports, best bets, and subscribe to push notifications in the Betting News section.We closed out Round 3 with an 8-2 record to continue what's been a very profitable postseason. Now, we're about to be treated to a terrific Stanley Cup Final between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Dallas Stars.The Lightning entered the postseason as betting favorites in the Eastern Conference and have shown why by losing just four times en route to the finals.Dallas took a much different path. The Stars began the playoffs with +1600 odds to win the Stanley Cup, which were only the fourth-best in the Western Conference and more than double that of the Vegas Golden Knights (+550) and Colorado Avalanche (+650), both of whom Dallas beat to secure a date with the Lightning.The Stars were doubted every step of the way, being offered at longer than 2-1 to beat out the Avalanche and Golden Knights, as well as at plus-money in every game in those series. Oddsmakers are now offering them at +160 to lift the Stanley Cup for the second time in franchise history.Here's how these teams have fared at five-on-five so far in the bubble, including round-robin play.METRICTAMPA BAY LIGHTNINGDALLAS STARSxGF/602.35 (6th)2.16 (11th)xGA/601.75 (1st)2.23 (19th)xGF%57.30 (4th)49.18 (13th)HDCF/6011.35 (9th)10.68 (11th)HDCA/608.16 (3rd)10.93 (16th)HDCF%58.17 (4th)49.42 (14th)SH%8.11 (9th)8.48 (8th)SV%94.09 (5th)91.80 (15th)The Lightning hold an edge in almost every category, but these numbers don't tell the whole story.Dallas faced two of the league's best possession teams, with the Golden Knights and Avalanche sitting first and second, respectively, among playoff teams in offense generated. Those matchups will prepare the Stars for a similar opponent in the Lightning.The Stars have also significantly improved throughout the playoffs and enter the finals playing their best hockey. They did well to limit the Golden Knights to just 2.08 expected goals for per 60 minutes, well below their overall playoff rate of 2.80. Goalie Anton Khudobin found his form at the perfect time, too, posting a .950 save percentage in five games against Vegas, and the Stars' offensive consistency hasn't wavered.Injuries will also play a significant role. Conn Smythe favorite Brayden Point is far from 100% as he continues to nurse a lower-body injury, and based on how the Lightning are monitoring his usage, it's safe to assume he'll miss at least one game and play at less than full strength when he is out there. Add in the fact that Steven Stamkos remains unavailable, and the needle shifts significantly in the Stars' direction.Tampa Bay is still the favorite in this series, but much less so than the betting line indicates. For those considering a series bet on the Lightning, perhaps wait until after Game 1 for a potentially much better price.Game 1 being played Saturday night is a significant disadvantage for the Lightning, who've played nearly nine periods of hockey in the last four nights while the Stars have been idle.That's especially concerning for Point, whose status is up in the air after he played nearly 26 minutes in Game 6 against the New York Islanders. With the Lightning having less than 48 hours to recover from a grueling series, the Stars are excellent value to take Game 1 and move within three wins of lifting the Stanley Cup.Should that happen, you'll get the Lightning at close to even money to win the series from down 1-0. But anything +140 or longer warrants a bet on the Stars to win it all.Pick: Stars to win series (+160), Stars to win Game 1 (+140)(Odds source: theScore Bet)Alex Moretto is a sports betting writer for theScore. A journalism graduate from Guelph-Humber University, he has worked in sports media for over a decade. He will bet on anything from the Super Bowl to amateur soccer, is too impatient for futures, and will never trust a kicker. Find him on Twitter @alexjmoretto.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Tampa Bay versus Dallas is all that's left to be played in the NHL's bubbled postseason. Here, theScore's Nick Faris and John Matisz preview the series and predict who will hoist the Stanley Cup. Elsa / Getty ImagesPredictionFaris: Lightning in 6Resilience has been the Stars' defining postseason trait. They're in the final despite a minus-2 overall goal differential that hardly befits a conference champion. Eight of Dallas' 13 playoff victories have come via comeback, and maybe that shouldn't surprise anyone. Earlier this season, coach Rick Bowness' charges won five straight games after trailing in them.How the Stars manufactured their run is a great story, but let's not allow their tightrope act to overshadow Tampa's pluck.The Lightning won a five-overtime game in the first round, triumphed in five of six OT affairs, and just beat Dallas' Eastern Conference doppelganger, the stingy Islanders. No NHL club has won more postseason games in Jon Cooper's seven seasons behind the bench, and now his team is the favorite to win this year's Cup showdown after rebounding from four gutting setbacks - Game 7 defeats in the 2016 and 2018 conference finals; a missed postseason in 2017; and that first-round sweep against Columbus last year.Dallas won a lot of close games in earlier rounds by outgunning Calgary and Colorado and by restraining Vegas' offense, but neither chore will come easy in the final. The Lightning have peerless star power, depth, and a Vezina Trophy finalist whose playoff save percentage is .931. Where other powerhouses faltered, Tampa has spent its stay in the bubble backing up how good it is on paper.Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, and Victor Hedman have credible Conn Smythe Trophy cases entering the final. Even with Steven Stamkos sidelined, the Lightning form an enviable vanguard in front of Andrei Vasilevskiy, the only goalie among the conference finalists to bear his team's entire playoff load.To get a sense of the authoritativeness of how Tampa has controlled play, consider this nugget from Natural Stat Trick: of the 17 Lightning skaters who've appeared in at least 17 games, everyone but Tyler Johnson and Alex Killorn has positive shot attempt and expected goals percentages. Hedman has been on the ice at five-on-five for 22 Lightning goals and only four against. The big defenseman averages 26:31 of ice time, so opponents have a little over half the game to make up the difference.No one's done that yet because the Lightning tick every box. Past dominance is no harbinger of success to come, but the series can be distilled to this: Tampa's playoff goal differential is 59-42, and it'll take Dallas' greatest trick yet to negate that imbalance. Tom Pennington / Getty ImagesMatisz: Lightning in 7This matchup boils down to a team of destiny meeting a team of undeniable talent. And though it's tempting to bet on the feel-good Stars, the darlings of the postseason, this is the Lightning's series to lose.Let's face it: Dallas is a strong but flawed squad surfing an exhilarating wave. The Stars must play flawless hockey to win four of seven games against a juggernaut like the Lightning. While that certainly could happen in spurts - hence why I'm calling for seven games - it seems highly unlikely it'll combine for a series victory.Why? Well, Dallas' postseason has unfolded in a way that's a little too good to be true.For starters, Anton Khudobin has started 18 of 21 games because No. 1 goalie Ben Bishop has been injured. A 34-year-old career backup, Khudobin has played fabulously, posting a .926 even-strength save percentage. He's a serious contender for the Conn Smythe Trophy should the Stars pull off the upset. But it's fair to wonder if the dam is about to break with Khudobin facing such a stiff test.Tampa's attack, led by a dialed-in former Hart Trophy winner in Kucherov and the transcendent Point, is uber skilled, versatile, and tenacious. The Lightning boast more natural finishers than the Golden Knights and Tampa can throw quality forwards over the boards for a full 60 minutes, even with Point hurt and Stamkos' continued absence confirmed for Game 1. Khudobin will require plenty of help from Dallas' five skaters almost every shift of this series.The Stars beat Western giants Vegas and Colorado fair and square, but they also hit a streak of good fortune. The Golden Knights uncharacteristically failed to capitalize on a boatload of scoring chances, and the Avalanche dealt with a rash of injuries. In both series, the Stars were outplayed and outshot at even strength. They won thanks to timely snipes, which is fantastic and often necessary to advance far in the playoffs. But relying on the likes of Joel Kiviranta and Denis Gurianov for clutch scoring is less than ideal and not exactly sustainable, especially against a good defensive club like Tampa.Standout blueliners Miro Heiskanen and John Klingberg have been stellar and dependable during this run. However, you can't say the same about the team's stud forwards, Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin. Benn broke out in the third round, and Seguin's stat line of two goals in 20 games doesn't tell the full story, but, overall, the Stars' best players up front haven't been their best players. This is a major cause for concern heading into a Cup Final in which Dallas is facing a mismatch at forward. The Stars need everybody playing their best.Inspired by Bowness' quest for his first Stanley Cup, Dallas is a worthy conference champion. No doubt. But the other conference champion barely leaves any room for error, and the Stars have proven time and again this postseason that they're prone to error, in some way or another.Series X-factors Bruce Bennett / Getty ImagesFaris: Seguin and KhudobinAs I see it, two developments could optimize Dallas' shot to steal the series.It's a testament to the outlandishness of this Stars run that they've gotten this far with Seguin, their only player to clear 40 points in the regular season, stuck on two playoff goals and tied with Radek Faksa for eighth in team scoring. Seguin's production in 2019-20 was a disappointment - he finished well below the point-per-game pace he perennially flirts with - yet he was easily Dallas' most potent creator.Seguin's playoff shooting percentage at five-on-five (5.7) barely differs from his regular-season mark of 5.6, but he's about the only key Stars player not riding a hot shooting streak right now. Without knowing if he's playing hurt, it's evident Dallas could use his offensive juice to counteract Kucherov and Point.The other scenario that could boost the Stars' fortunes: Khudobin standing tall enough to usurp Vasilevskiy as the postseason's best goalie. Khudobin was money against the Golden Knights - his save percentage was .950 across five games - and his recent performances suggest he's peaking at the ideal time. Just as Carey Price shut down Pittsburgh in the play-in stage and Thatcher Demko nearly eliminated Vegas in Round 2, the blueprint is there for a sterling netminder to get into the heads of a superior offensive team.Matisz: Point and CirelliStamkos' availability for the series remains up in the air. That sucks for the Lightning, but the captain's return would be found money for Cooper considering the forward has been absent all postseason.Stamkos, then, is not much of an X-factor. Tampa has proven it can win without him. Can they beat the Stars without top-six centers Point and Anthony Cirelli, though? Hard to say, which is why the health of Point, the 24-year-old with 25 points in 17 games, and Cirelli - who scored the game-winning goal Thursday to clinch the Eastern Conference title - is so important to the flow and feel of this series. Even if one is 80% healthy, it matters.Point is ostensibly dealing with a groin injury. Thursday's Sportsnet broadcast showed him using what looked like a massager to ease the pain between shifts as the Lightning finished off the Islanders. He missed two games in that series. He's hurt. It's a matter of how much he's hurting.Cirelli, meanwhile, missed a portion of Thursday's game with what appeared to be a knee injury. He collided with Islanders forward Anders Lee in the second period, left, but returned for the third period and overtime. Re-entering a heated contest doesn't necessarily mean he's at full health.Tampa's extremely deep at forward, but if whatever's ailing Point and Cirelli worsens, forcing one or both out of the lineup, the Lightning could be in trouble. Including Stamkos, that's three of their top four forwards.Talk about a potential opening for the underdog Stars.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Rick Bowness sat in the coaches' office after practice and listened intently. It was December 1992, and Jim Thomson, a journeyman forward on the expansion Ottawa Senators, needed his bench boss's undivided attention.Bowness had just informed Thomson that he was going to be sent down to the Senators' AHL affiliate in New Haven, Connecticut. The player could accept the demotion itself, but one element troubled him."I absolutely cannot go to New Haven," Thomson recalled telling Bowness.Two seasons earlier, Thomson's mother died of cancer and his brother was killed in a car accident. He was playing for the New Haven Nighthawks at the time of both deaths.Bowness on the Senators' bench in 1992 Rick Stewart / Getty ImagesBowness, then in his late 30s and at the helm of a team that would go on to lose 70 of 84 games in its inaugural season, told Thomson he understood."He almost got a tear in his eye," Thomson remembered. "He definitely felt my pain. He said, 'Leave it with me.'"Days later, the Senators shipped Thomson to the LA Kings."I'll never forget that," Thomson said of Bowness' empathy. "In the world of hockey, there's no favors. It's pretty ruthless, especially then, in the '90s. You're a piece of meat.""Rick Bowness is the ultimate team guy, ultimate glue guy," added Darrin Madeley, Thomson's teammate in Ottawa. "He just happens to be a coach."Thomson and Madeley are far from the only ones rooting for Bowness right now. The Dallas Stars interim head coach, whose pro hockey career spans multiple generations, has a golden opportunity to win his first Stanley Cup in his 45th year as a player or coach. Eight weeks into a bubbled-up playoff run, the third Cup final of Bowness' career is here, his first as the head man."When you watch a team play, you can tell who they're playing for," Stars general manager Jim Nill said Tuesday while Dallas awaits the conclusion of the Eastern Conference final. "This team is playing for the coach, and the coach is coaching for the players. That's a great reflection on everybody."––––––––––Earlier this postseason, Bowness shrugged at the suggestion that he's a player's coach. The man nicknamed "Bones" doesn't like labels. "I don't believe in all that stuff," he told reporters. "I'm just me. I just do it my way."Bowness is, at the very least, somebody who fits the profile of a player's coach. By all accounts - including more than a dozen interviews with retired and active NHL players and coaches - the 65-year-old possesses a high level of emotional and social intelligence. He's authentic and selfless, treating equipment managers, security guards, role players, and superstars with equal amounts of respect. He's extremely passionate about the game, thorough in his preparation, and always evolving, never losing sight of the ultimate goal: Winning titles."He's a hockey lifer," Vegas Golden Knights head coach Pete DeBoer said of the longtime rival who helped end the Knights' season Monday. "He loves the game, has made a great impression on everybody he's come in contact with. He's going to leave that legacy behind, which is really rare.""He's a coach you just want to do everything for, lay your body on the line for," Stars captain Jamie Benn said. Teammate Joel Hanley added this common compliment about Bowness: "When he talks, you listen to what he says. Respect is probably the biggest word."Bowness with the Canucks in 2007 Jeff Vinnick / Getty ImagesNobody in NHL history has coached as many games as Bowness, who recently surpassed 2,500 after breaking Scotty Bowman's record of 2,164 in 2017. The Halifax native began his coaching odyssey as an AHL player-coach in 1982 and hasn't looked back, missing only two seasons - 1998-99, after getting fired as head coach of the New York Islanders, and 2004-05, thanks to the lockout.Over the years, Bowness has alternated between being an assistant coach, associate coach, and head coach. He's held the title of NHL bench boss, permanent or interim, six times - for the Winnipeg Jets in 1988-89, Boston Bruins in 1991-92, Senators from 1992-93 to 1995-96, Islanders for 1996-97 and 1997-98, Phoenix Coyotes in 2003-04, and the Stars since last December.Including playoffs, Bowness' all-time record as an NHL head coach is 164-317-48-8. It's an ugly winning percentage, but considering he was hired midseason four times, oversaw the expansion Senators, and got fired one year into his tenure with the Bruins, his raw record shouldn't be viewed an indictment of his coaching abilities. If anything, the fact that Bowness has remained relevant through various eras - as both a front-and-center head coach and a behind-the-scenes assistant - attests to his versatility."There's a lot of people who are good at being head coach, but they can't be an assistant coach. Or you have guys who are very good at being an assistant coach but you wouldn't trust them to be a head coach," former Coyotes forward Danny Briere noted. "It's impressive that Rick's able to take on either role, whatever's needed from whomever he's working with."Cody Hodgson, who played under Alain Vigneault and Bowness in Vancouver, took Briere's train of thought a step further: "You get some coaches who are very talented and not necessarily good people," he said. "But Rick's a great coach and also a good person. So I can see why he's lasted so long in the game and will be able to stick around as long as he wants to."Bowness' tenure covers four labor disputes between the league and the players' union, several facelifts for the on-ice product, and plenty of upheaval in the coaching ranks. He's a walking, talking, story-telling hockey encyclopedia who's been coaching so long that he's gone from being a peer to his players to being old enough to be their grandfather. Which raises the question: How often does he tap into this reservoir of experiences?"Everything depends on the situation and the individual involved and your rapport with them. Some guys, when you're talking to them, you know they need a pat on the back. Some guys, they need a good kick," Bowness said. "A lot of it depends on the situation, the timing, but over the years you learn to read people better. Communication with my players has always been the top priority for me, so I get to know them and I make sure I talk to everybody pretty much every day."Even though Bowness was a forward for nine years as a pro, including 178 NHL games split between the Atlanta Flames, Detroit Red Wings, St. Louis Blues, and Jets, he's made the blue line his area of expertise as a coach. He's widely credited with helping transform Victor Hedman into arguably the best defenseman on the planet. Bowness rarely discussed hockey-related topics within the first few weeks of meeting Hedman, a promising rearguard drafted second overall by the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2009. Instead, he chose to build trust via a personal connection and slowly transitioned into teaching."He cares about his players. You can just see it in his actions. Not only in what he says but also in his actions too," said George Gwozdecky, who worked as an assistant with Bowness for Lightning head coach Jon Cooper from 2013-15. "He will never chastise them; he will never embarrass them in front of his peers or in front of other people. If there is a tough conversation to have, he always does it behind closed doors."Bowness hugs Victor Hedman in 2015 Scott Audette / Getty ImagesBowness can game plan for difficult opponents, make savvy lineup changes, and knows as well as anyone when to challenge a contentious call. He's a smart hockey mind. However, his true value is reflected in his relationships. Stars defensemen Miro Heiskanen, Esa Lindell, and John Klingberg are better players because Bowness has taken the time - first as an assistant, now as the boss - to get to know them over the past two years.Stephen Johns, another key member of Dallas' deep blue line, leaned on various members of the organization during a harrowing 22-month absence from hockey. At one point, Johns considered suicide as he experienced post-traumatic headaches and post-concussion syndrome from injuries he suffered in the 2017-18 season. Bowness was among those who offered unconditional love and support throughout. "I can't thank him enough for that," Johns told The Athletic's Sean Shapiro in June. "He cared about me, not just Stephen, the hockey player.""The leader doesn't have to be General George Patton. The leader doesn't have to be Bill Belichick," said Madeley, the former Senators goalie. "This is a weird thing to say, but I would have taken a bullet for Rick during those times because he always treated me with respect.""Xs and Os are one thing, but if you don't have the communication skills or the ability to connect with people, then I don't think the Xs and Os matter anymore," added University of North Dakota head coach Brad Berry, who played for Bowness in Winnipeg and years later worked with him in the Canucks organization as an NHL scout and AHL coach.Bowness' willingness to be open, honest, and vulnerable was on display in August when he became the first person inside an NHL bubble to speak at length about the mental strain of this most abnormal playoff tournament. He said what was on the minds of not only some of his players but his rivals.Bowness at the 2020 Winter Classic Eliot J. Schechter / Getty ImagesThe 24-team postseason provides a window into Bowness' reach. He has coached at least one player on 18 teams, according to research by The Associated Press' Stephen Whyno. Plus, he coached three current GMs: Nill, Boston's Don Sweeney, and Columbus' Jarmo Kekalainen, as well as two coaches, Arizona's Rick Tocchet and Vancouver's Travis Green. The freshest coach-to-coach connection is Cooper, Bowness' boss in Tampa for five seasons."When I came into the NHL, I was a little green. I was comfortable as a coach, but I wasn't comfortable with the NHL yet, and Rick really helped me with that," Cooper said of Bowness' "invaluable" counsel. "He was kind of that mentor you needed - or I needed - and the nuances of the NHL that I didn't know about, he really helped me with."Bowness was 16 when he met his wife Judy, a hockey lifer herself. Colleagues often cite Judy's warm personality as a nice complement to Bowness' fit within the team structure. She often contacts incoming wives and girlfriends to make them feel welcome. The couple has three adult children: Kristen, who is the manager of diversity development and sled hockey for the Lightning; Ryan, a 2001 eighth-round pick of the Columbus Blue Jackets, who is the director of pro scouting for the Pittsburgh Penguins; and Rick Jr., the former sports information director for the University of Denver men's hockey program. The sport is in the family's DNA."At some point, if Rick decides to do his memoirs and reveal some of these stops along the way, people will marvel at it," Gwozdecky said. "You talk about organizations and businesses and why they fail, it's the inner turmoil and the lack of leadership. Yet there's one guy saying, 'Hey, hang in there, follow me, we're going to be OK,' and all of a sudden that team or business continues to succeed as everything else is falling apart around it. That's Rick. He's been that one guy. When everything's falling apart, he's able to keep things together, keep people believing, keep players believing."––––––––––"We're now joined by the Western Conference champion head coach of the Dallas Stars, Rick Bowness," an unidentified voice announced to kick off Bowness' virtual media availability following Monday's clinching win.Bowness looked to the left with a wry smile, tapped his fingers on the table, glanced toward the camera, then glimpsed to his right. It was the demeanor of a man letting it all soak in. Head coach of a conference champion, a first in a hockey coaching career like no other. He's been to two previous Cup finals, in 2011 with the Canucks and 2015 with the Lightning, but never as the leader. Bowness feels energized by this incredible Stars run."It's so rare to get to the finals, man," he said, "you've got to enjoy every minute of it."Bowness after the Stars' latest win Andy Devlin / Getty ImagesBowness took over in December for Jim Montgomery, who was fired for "unprofessional conduct" and entered rehab shortly afterward to deal with a substance abuse problem. Dallas has since stabilized as a group, found its rhythm offensively, and managed to defeat three quality squads - the Calgary Flames, Colorado Avalanche, and Golden Knights - in close-fought playoff series.Technically, Bowness still is an interim guy. But, as Nill said Tuesday, he's "earned the right to come back as the coach." The question is, once Bowness exits the bubble and exhales, will the fire inside burn brightly enough for him to continue his epic coaching journey? He's said multiple times in the bubble that he's going to stay in the present and deal with 2020-21 in the offseason."Every year, there seems to be guys on the team - whether it's guys that have been in the league for so many years and haven't won, you see the Cup passed to that older guy, older vet. For us, it's really our coach," Stars forward Tyler Seguin told a Dallas radio station in late August."He's just such a passionate man and the ultimate role model as far as a hockey guy and a father and a husband," Seguin added.Thomson, the ex-Senator, wouldn't argue. Some 28 years later, he remembers that moment in the coaches' office like it was yesterday. He can picture Bowness' body language, hear his words, and feel his empathy."The man friggin' cares," Thomson said. "Bottom line."John Matisz is theScore's national hockey writer.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Alex Pietrangelo's days with the St. Louis Blues appear to be over.The Blues have broken off contract talks with the pending unrestricted free-agent rearguard and have advised the 30-year-old to pursue free agency in October, TSN's Darren Dreger reports.Pietrangelo, whose previous deal carried an annual cap hit of $6.5 million, is one of the league's top blue-liners and is due for a big payday after helping the Blues capture the Stanley Cup in 2019 and putting together a career campaign in 2019-20.St. Louis currently has just $5.15 million in projected cap space for next season, according to CapFriendly.Pietrangelo admitted earlier this week that the lack of a new deal with the Blues was "a little disappointing." On Friday, the 6-foot-3 blue-liner said contract talks hadn't gone the way he wanted, per Dreger.The Blues' current offer apparently carries an average annual value of $7.7 million, but Pietrangelo has been asked to accept the proposal without knowing the structure of the deal, according to The Athletic's Jeremy Rutherford.Pietrangelo recorded a personal-best 16 goals this season and was on pace to crack the 60-point mark over 82 games for the first time in his career. The Ontario native ranks third in goals (58) and eighth in points (195) among all NHL defensemen over the past four campaigns.Drafted by the Blues with the fourth overall pick in 2008, Pietrangelo has spent his entire 12-year career in St. Louis.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Pittsburgh Penguins re-signed restricted free-agent forward Jared McCann to a two-year contract carrying an annual cap hit of $2.94 million, the team announced Friday.McCann tallied 14 goals and 35 points in 55 games this season while averaging 15:15 per night. The 24-year-old has been used as both a center and a winger since arriving in Pittsburgh in 2019. He's proven to be a strong defensive player, too.

Welcome to Puck Pursuit, an NHL podcast hosted by John Matisz, theScore's national hockey writer.Subscribe to the show on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher, and Spotify.Puck Pursuit · TSN hockey writer Travis YostTravis Yost, hockey writer for TSN.ca, joins the show to discuss a variety of Stanley Cup Final-related topics, including:

What's old is new again.The Ottawa Senators are going back to their roots and returning to their old '2D' logo, as the club announced Friday.The only difference between the above logo and the new one is the gold trimming on the cape instead of red, as seen below:

If Mikko Koivu plays next season, it will be for a team other than the Minnesota Wild for the first time in his career, as the club announced Friday it will not sign the veteran forward to a contract for 2020-21.The 37-year-old is a pending unrestricted free agent.Koivu has spent his entire 15-year NHL career with the Wild. He became their first full-time captain in 2009 and has been the sole player to wear the "C" for Minnesota during the last 11 campaigns.The Finnish center is the Wild's all-time leader in points, assists, and games played. He ranks second on the club's all-time goals list and became the first Wild player ever to suit up for all 1,000 of his games with the club when he hit that milestone in December 2019.Koivu registered only four goals and 21 points in 55 games this season while logging his lowest average ice time (15:34) since his 2005-06 rookie campaign. However, he did win 53.1% of his faceoffs in 2019-20 and owns a career mark of 54.2%.Minnesota drafted him sixth overall in 2001.Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

This is the third edition of theScore's rankings of the top candidates to be named 2019-20 playoff MVP. We've featured only players still competing in the postseason, which officially included the qualifying round and round-robin stage.5. Miro Heiskanen Andy Devlin / National Hockey League / GettyHeiskanen has cooled off lately, registering a lone point in five games during the Western Conference Final courtesy of an assist in Game 3. However, the Dallas Stars phenom has remained a workhorse, averaging 25:07 of ice time per game in the series and 25:43 per contest throughout the playoffs.His contributions often go beyond the scoresheet. The defenseman, who turned 21 in July, has already proven he can drive possession at an elite level, posting favorable expected goals for (55.16), scoring chances for (54.05), and Corsi For (50.61) percentages over the entire postseason.Even while struggling to produce offensively, the young blue-liner improved at the possession game, posting a 59.99 xGF%, a 58.54 SCF%, and a 50.29 Corsi For rating across the five conference final games.4. Nikita Kucherov Bruce Bennett / Getty Images Sport / GettyKucherov has been instrumental to his club's success as several of his talented Tampa Bay Lightning teammates have missed time due to injury.The dynamic forward produced an NHL-leading 26 points in 19 games through Round 3. Though only six of those were goals, the 2018-19 Hart Trophy winner scored all of them at even strength, and he leads all forwards still competing in average ice time through the postseason at 21:58.Kucherov has also driven possession at a significant clip, posting expected goals for, scoring chances for, and Corsi For percentages above 60% at five-on-five in these playoffs.3. Anton Khudobin Bruce Bennett / Getty Images Sport / GettyKhudobin has been solid throughout the postseason, but he's been absolutely unreal lately. The Stars goaltender authored an incredible .950 save percentage in the Western Conference Final against the Vegas Golden Knights, turning aside 153 of the 161 shots his opponents fired on goal.He has also faced more shots than anyone in the 2019-20 playoffs (610 in 19 games, or 32.1 per contest), and Lightning puck-stopper Andrei Vasilevskiy faced 27 fewer shots in the same number of games.Khudobin leads his counterpart with an .872 high-danger save percentage in these playoffs, compared to Vasilevskiy's mark of .836. Only two goaltenders have bested Khudobin's high-danger prowess while playing more than five games since the NHL resumed, and both appeared in four fewer contests than the Stars netminder.His postseason excellence at age 34 - with Ben Bishop having been out for most of the playoffs due to injury - is the biggest reason Dallas is playing in the Stanley Cup Final.2. Brayden Point Bruce Bennett / Getty Images Sport / GettyKucherov has registered four more assists, but Point has scored three more goals. More importantly, the 24-year-old has outperformed his Russian teammate on a per-game basis while playing through an injury in this postseason, leading all NHL players still competing with 1.47 points per contest.Point is also tied with three others for the league lead in playoff goals among those yet to be eliminated with nine, and all three have played more games than the Tampa Bay center. In addition, eight of Point's nine markers have come at even strength.When he has suited up, the younger Lightning star left little doubt that he's been one of the most valuable players in this postseason. He notched a goal and an assist in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final after missing the previous contest, and he logged nearly 26 minutes of ice time in the Game 6 clincher after sitting out Game 5.1. Victor Hedman Bruce Bennett / Getty Images Sport / GettyHedman is accustomed to producing while shouldering a heavy workload, but the towering Lightning defenseman has taken his game to an even higher level in these playoffs.He buried his ninth goal of the postseason Thursday night, and he's been on a scoring tear of late, racking up six markers in his last eight games. The veteran's remarkable endurance is on full display as well, as he leads all skaters still competing in average ice time during this postseason with 26:31 after logging 30:41 in Game 6 and a whopping 36:12 in Game 5.Considering Point's injury and the fact that Steven Stamkos has missed the entire postseason with an ailment of his own, Hedman has stepped up significantly and has clearly been the most valuable player in these playoffs.Honorable mentions: Vasilevskiy, Jamie Benn, Denis Gurianov, Joe Pavelski(Analytics source: Natural Stat Trick)Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.