Edmonton Oilers forward Evander Kane suffered a scary injury Tuesday after a skate sliced him in the wrist in a game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. He will miss three to four months after receiving surgery to repair the damage.

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Kane suffered the injury early in the second period after falling during a scrap with Tampa Bay defenseman Philippe Myers. As players converged for the puck, Tampa Bay forward Pat Maroon skated past and sliced Kane in an exposed area between his glove and jersey. The 14-year veteran bolted to his bench immediately, clutching his wrist in obvious pain while Maroon signaled frantically behind him for medical attention.

Kane was taken to a nearby hospital soon after and required surgery to repair the damage. The Oilers announced Wednesday that he will miss three to four months.

“Obviously last night was an extremely scary moment for me and I’m still in a little bit of shock,” Kane said on Twitter. “I would like to thank the entire training staff of the Edmonton Oilers and Tampa Bay Lightning, along with the all the doctors and paramedics who rushed to help treat and repair my injury. Without all of you, I know things would’ve been much worse and I’m sincerely grateful.”

In 14 games this season, Kane scored five goals and compiled eight assists after signing a four-year deal with Edmonton in the offseason. He was a solid contributor for the team in the postseason last year, scoring 13 goals. the most by any player in the playoffs. Before Edmonton, he played for the Atlanta Thrashers, Winnipeg Jets, Buffalo Sabres and San Jose Sharks.

The Oilers went on to defeat the Lightning 3-2 Tuesday to improve to 8-6 on the season and inch closer to the top of the standings in the competitive Pacific Division.

The Tampa Bay Lightning’s run has ended. The reigning back-to-back champions gave up the Stanley Cup on their ice on Sunday night. The Colorado Avalanche defeated the Lighting 2-1 for a 4-2 series-clinching win in the Stanley Cup Final.

The Avalanche have not claimed the Stanley Cup since 2001 when they defeated the New Jersey Devils. Colorado ended a seemingly unbeatable Tampa Bay dynasty. Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar said the last few moments of the game were nerve-wracking. “I was nervous as I could be,” he recalled. “I didn’t even know what the time was when it was ending. I saw guys starting to celebrate on the bench and I was like, ‘there’s still seven seconds left; what are they celebrating for?’ That’s the kind of intensity we had back there.”

Bednar also achieved a spectacular fear of winning a championship in every single league. He led the South Carolina Stingrays to the ECHL title in 2009 and the Monsters to an AHL title in 2016.

The Avalanche’s final win on the road is fitting as the team has been amazing on the road during the playoffs. They’ve gone 9-1 on away ice with their only loss being to the Lightning during Game 3 of this series. Those nine road wins are a franchise record for most in a playoff year and the second-highest in NHL history. The only other team to have more is the St. Louis Blues in 2019 with ten.

Defenseman Cale Makar was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Stanley Cup’s Most Valuable Player after scoring 29 points during the playoffs. Makar, who also won the 2021-22 Norris Trophy said that he was thrilled to celebrate in the final moments of the game. “I was trying not to look at the clock too much. Just trying to stay in the moment. Pure joy being able to throw the gloves off and experience that again. As I said, it’s so amazing to experience it with such a great group of guys,” he said.

The Lighting are still amongst the favorites for the 2023 Stanley Cup.

Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper, 54, went under NHL Covid-19 protocol hours before Tuesday night’s 4-3 win over the Las Vegas Golden Knights.

It was the only game of the night, as nine others were postponed due to Covid-19 issues.

Also, it was the team’s last game before the Christmas Break, and the Lightning are now among the 26 teams—of 32—that have members in the protocol.

Assistant coach Derek Lalonde ran the forwards, while co-assistants Jeff Halpern and Rob Zettler and goalie coach Frantz Jean sat on the bench.

The Golden Knights faced COVID challenges too, with Evgenii Dadonov and Alex Pietrangelo testing positive earlier in the day.

It’s unclear how long Cooper will be out.

Joe Thornton will play the 24th season of his career after signing a one-year deal with the Florida Panthers. The 42-year-old center will earn $750,000 on the deal with no bonuses or incentives.

“I see their team on paper, I watched their team last year, I love their team, and that’s it,” Thornton said of his new team. “I love what they’re building, and I’m excited to be part of it. But everything is about ultimately winning the Stanley Cup, and the Panthers are right there, in my opinion.”

The star center is one of the highest-scoring centers of all time. He is ninth in all-time points by a center with 1,529 points, is seventh in career assists with 1,104, 14th all-time for points and only five points away from becoming 12th.

Thorton said that he was impressed by the Panthers during their playoff series with the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Panthers contacted the center weeks ago to bring him on the team.

“The energy these guys bring every day, they want to work every day, they want to get better every day,” Thornton said. “I’m just really looking forward to joining them on the journey.”

“The body feels good, the mind feels good, and I knew pretty much after the season, I started training right away and I felt good,” Thornton said. “Here we go again.”

The star center spent 15 seasons of his career with the San Jose Sharks. Last season, he spent one season with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

“His drive to succeed is unmistakable, and we are thrilled that he chose to sign with our club,” Panthers general manager Bill Zito said.

The Tampa Bay Lightning‘s celebrations after their second consecutive Stanley Cup victory resulted in a damaged trophy. The incident occurred during Tampa Bay’s boat parade, resulting in the trophy being sent north to Montreal for repair.

The 128 year-old trophy has been damaged before such as in 2018 when the Washington Capitals did “cup stands” while celebrating their first-ever Stanley Cup in franchise history. The cup is believed to be ready for the players’ summer of Stanley, a summer full of celebration with the cup that they were unable to enjoy after their last championship win due to the pandemic.

The Lightning’s second boat parade in 10 months showcased the city’s desire to celebrate. Unlike the first parade, the global pandemic’s burden was nonexistent, allowing thousands of fans to gather.

This years parade took place five days after the Lightning’s series victory versus the Montreal Canadiens, which took just five games. The scene was the opposite of last year’s celebration as the team no longer had to play in front of an empty arena due to Covid-19 restrictions.

Fans enjoyed the parade on their own boats/watercrafts and received an up-close view of the boats carrying Lightning players and coaches. Celebrations downtown were delayed for over an hour as a massive thunderstorm traveled through the area. Lightning owner, Jeff Vinik, as well as the players, took the podium eventually to address the fans, even in the poor weather conditions.

The excitement within the team was on full display despite the conditions, as Yanni Gourde slid across the stage and coach Jon Cooper joined players in interacting with the fans.

Playoff MVP Andrei Vasilevskiy got a rise out of the drenched crowd when he thrust the Conn Smythe Trophy onto his head.

The parade marked the third time in 10 months that Tampa Bay was able to celebrate a professional sports championship, utilizing a special parade system designed to allow the Lightning and Tampa Bay Buccaneers a method to celebrate their accomplishments with fans during the pandemic.

The Buccaneers celebrated with thousands of fans downtown five months ago after winning their first Super Bowl in 18 years. The celebration taking place in February was a dream come true after the team’s phenomenal performance led by Tom Brady.

The Buccaneers’ parade also involved excitement with the trophy as Brady shocked the fans by throwing the Lombardi Trophy from one boat to another.

The Tampa Bay Lightning are champions of the NHL for a second straight year, defeating the Canadiens in five games. The momentous feat was recognized by analysts and personalities across Twitter, who acknowledged the incredible nature of this 2021 Stanley Cup victory.

Tampa Bay had won a staggering 62 games in 2018-19 before being swept by the Blue Jackets in the first round. Since then, the Lightning have effectively been untouchable in the playoffs. Pierre LeBrun, a staff member of The Athletic, highlighted this: “The 62-win Lightning of 2018-19 got swept by Columbus in the first round. Since then, Tampa Bay has won eight straight playoff series, never trailed in a series, never lost back-to-back playoff games en route to winning back-to-back Stanley Cup championships. That’s something.”

The Stanley Cup win could not have been accomplished without the stalwart effort in the cage by Andrei Vasilevskiy. Vasilevskiy won the Conn Smyth Trophy, only allowing eight goals through the five games against Montreal.

Many mused that Tampa purposely lost their fourth game in Montreal, so they could seal the Stanley Cup victory in Tampa Bay in the fifth matchup. Once this came true, Tampa Bay Mayor Jane Castor claimed she was the one who spurred this happening. “Now didn’t I tell you all that winning at home would feel great?!” she tweeted.

With the win, the Lightning are looking to become the first team since the 1980-1983 Islanders to win the Stanley Cup at least three straight times.

Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Matiss Kivlenieks died in a fatal fireworks accident on July 4.

Kivlenieks was at the team’s goaltending coach Manny Legace‘s Michigan home. He and teammate Elvis Merzlikins traveled to Legace’s home to celebrate the holiday and Legace’s daughter’s wedding ceremony over the weekend.

It was initially reported Kivlenieks suffered a fatal head injury when he fell out of a hot tub during the incident. An autopsy later revealed that wasn’t the case, and instead, his cause of death was chest trauma.

Michigan police stated that a fireworks mortar was properly lit and began firing at people, including Kivlenieks, who was in the hot tub. The goalkeeper was attempting to shield himself from the mortar when he was struck in the chest. Police said that the goalkeeper was 10 feet away from the mortar when he was struck. He died from a percussive injury caused by the blast, causing major damage to his heart and lungs.

Paramedics and firefighters arrived at Legace’s home at 10:15 p.m. Sunday. Kivlenieks told one teammate not to get into the ambulance with him.

“[Kivlenieks] didn’t want him to have to see that,” the late goalie’s agent, Jay Grossman, said.

Kivlenieks was pronounced dead later at the hospital. The Blue Jackets announced his death on Monday. “It’s with a very heavy heart that we share the news that goaltender Matiss Kivlenieks passed away last night at the age of 24,” the team said on Twitter. “We are heartbroken. Please keep his family in your thoughts and prayers. Rest in peace, Kivi.”

A moment of silence was held for Kivlenieks before Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals on Monday between Tampa Bay and Montreal. The Canadiens won Game 4, but trail the Lightning 3-1 in the series. Tampa Bay’s coach, Jon Cooper, addressed Kivlenieks’ family after his team’s overtime loss.

“It’s an awful tragedy for anybody, any family to go through that,” Cooper told reporters. “But somebody in the NHL family, as close as we all are as the teams even battling out there, from all the Lightning, our condolences.”

The Tampa Bay Lightning are 60 minutes of play away from hoisting a Stanley Cup above their heads, however, they will need to wait at least another game before doing so, as the Canadiens defeated them in overtime by a final line of 3-2.

Josh Anderson netted his second overtime goal of the playoffs, finishing off a rebound in front and keeping Montreal’s season alive. “We didn’t want to end it tonight in front of our fans. We expected to go to Tampa tomorrow,” Anderson said after the game.

Defensively, Carey Price continued his fantastic play in the net, turning aside 32 shots, good enough for a .941 save percentage. His foe in the opposite cage, Andrei Vasilevskiy, only managed to stop 18 shots, arguably his most mediocre performance this playoff run.

Tampa is 13-0 after losing, so Montreal will need to break what appears to be an unbreakable streak in Game 5 in order to keep the Stanley Cup out of the hands of the Lightning. Should Tampa win, they would become the second team in the salary-cap era to win back-to-back championships (the first being the Penguins in 2016 and 2017).

With the win, the Canadiens avoid being the first team since 1998 to be swept in the Stanley Cup Finals (that “honor” belongs to the Washington Capitals, defeated by Detroit in four straight games).

Game 5 was a welcomed correction for Montreal, who had been outscored 14-5 in the first three games of the series. Ironically, while Tampa has been nearly unstoppable in the 2021 playoffs, they are 0-4 in overtime. They are also 0-5 when ceding the first goal of the game.

“We have confidence in the power play. We had some good looks throughout the game, but at the end of the day you want to bear down and score one there, but it didn’t happen,” said Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman.

The Canadiens have overcome adversity in all three rounds of the playoffs thus far – if any team is going to do the impossible, leave it to Montreal. In fact, they are 8-1 when facing elimination on home ice in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Nonetheless, history is not on the side of the Canadiens. Only four teams have ever overcome a 3-0 deficit in the playoffs, the last time being in 2014.

Game 5 will be in Tampa on Wednesday.

The Tampa Bay Lightning are off to a very strong start in their title defense, and it’s thanks to Nikita Kucherov. The Lightning star continued his spectacular postseason, recording two goals and an assist in a 5-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final on Monday night. All of Kucherov’s points came in the third period, breaking the game open for Tampa Bay.

“That’s one of the best players in the world,” said Lightning captain Steven Stamkos, who was set up by Kucherov on the power play for Tampa Bay’s final goal. “He’s playing like a beast right now. He’s so, so good.”

While there were concerns over Kucherov’s health just last week, the star downplayed them the entire time,  going as far as saying, “There was no injury. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Head coach John Cooper even implied Kucherov might miss Game 7 against the Islanders last round, but thankfully he was able to suit up for the series finale against the Islanders, before dominating the Canadiens in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup. Cooper’s tone was different this week. “Guys are battling through injuries; it’s kind of an inspiration to others, and so it’s uplifting, watching what guys fight through, especially at this time of year,” he said. “And [Kucherov is] doing that and clearly he was rewarded for it tonight and in how he played and some of the results. It’s Finals time, and everybody’s playing banged up and fortunately for this group, why we probably had some success because everybody’s fighting through it.”

Kucherov has already reached 30 points in only 19 playoff games. The only player to reach that mark faster over the past 25 years was Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin in 2009. Kucherov is also running away with the playoff scoring race. The next closest player is teammate Brayden Point, who has 23 points. It has been all the more impressive since Kucherov spent the entire regular season sidelined as he rehabbed from a hip surgery in late December.

“It was tough mentally not being able to play, but that’s all in the past,” Kucherov said Monday. “I’m just really enjoying the moment and happy to be with the boys and just excited to play in the Final.”

Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final is slated to be played in Tampa Bay on Wednesday night before the series shifts north of the border to Montreal.

The Lightning wanted to make a statement after losing a heartbreaker against the Islanders in Game 4 – and they did so with authority, notching a whopping 8-0 victory.

Steven Stamkos led the charge with two goals and one assist, while defensively Andrei Vasilevskiy turned in another standout performance with a shutout, turning aside 21 shots. Brayden Point extended his playoff goal streak to eight straight games, the second-longest such streak in NHL playoff history. Stamkos was complimentary of the aid he and his teammates received on the defensive side of the puck from their netminder. “He was outstanding, made some big saves early, settles us down, we get some goals and get some confidence,” Stamkos said.

Tampa Bay is now 13-0 after losing a game in the playoffs, an unmatched streak in the league. They reached their most recent win by putting up three goals in each of the first two periods, adding two more in the final frame. The last time the team lost two playoff games in a row was in 2019, coming in a sweep dealt out by the Blue Jackets.

New York will look to avoid elimination tonight after being outscored 10-0 in the past four periods of the series. They will have a home crowd to gain energy from, but they will need an equal level of skill if they hope to beat the red-hot Lightning.

Tampa Bay Lightning star Brayden Point continued his heroics from Game 2 of their playoff series against the New York Islanders, helping lead Tampa to a 2-1 series advantage in the Stanley Cup semifinals.

Point capitalized on a second-period opportunity to give his team a 2-1 lead in Game 3, and lights-out goalkeeping by Andrei Vasilevskiy locked down the victory. Vasilevskiy turned away 27 shots, good for a .964 save percentage.

Shockingly, the Islanders pulling their goaltender in the third period – with 1:48 left in the final frame – wasn’t enough to produce a shot on goal, and the Islanders went down in the series with a whimper.

The ability to stop the Islanders from worthwhile scoring opportunities was a consistent theme in the third game of the series between the two heavyweights. The staunch defense has been a key for the defending Stanley Cup winners, who are now 6-1 on the road in the 2021 playoffs.

The Islanders are keenly aware of the Lightning’s ability to sneak out wins.

Matt Martin, an Islanders winger, commented on Tampa Bay’s knack for winning. “They’re the defending Stanley Cup champions and they know what it takes to win,” he said. “They know what they have to do in their D zone.”

The initial flurry of Islander shots was turned aside by Vasilevskiy, which stunted New York’s offense for the rest of the night. The only goal the Islanders managed to sneak by Vasilevskiy was a lucky one, with a bouncing puck pushed through the goaltender’s legs after a sustained scrum in front of the net – a “garbage goal” that felt less predicated on skill and more on the uneven surface of the ice gifting New York a tie.

Point then went on to score in the final minute of the second frame of action, and lacking the luck that gave them their first goal, the Islanders remained scoreless the rest of the way. Point’s streak of consecutive games with a goal in the playoffs is reaching historic markers; should he score next game, he will be tied with Mario Lemieux, Pat LaFontaine, Joe Sakic and Claude Lemieux at seven, the most in the past 30 years.

The Islanders will look for a quicker start to their offense next game. the Lightning have lost this postseason the most when the opponent scores first (they are 0-3 in these instances). Conversely, they are 10-1 when scoring first.

The Islanders have fallen down 2-1 in their previous three playoff series, but have yet to play a team as good as the Lightning. Nonetheless, they will look to replicate their pattern of victory again.

Game 4 is Saturday night in New York. Game 5 will take place in Tampa on Monday.

The Tampa Bay Lightning closed out their series in spectacular fashion and are moving closer and closer to defending their title. Andrei Vasilevskiy, Brayden Point and Ross Colton starred in their 2-0 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. Vasilevskiy was especially crucial, as the goalie posted his third straight shutout in a series-clinching victory.

The game was an even fight until the second period when Point’s power-play goal put Tampa Bay up. Colton scored in the third period and that was all the cushion the defending champions needed. That was more than enough for Vasilevskiy, who finished with 29 saves and stumped the homesteading Hurricanes for the third time in as many series games at PNC Arena.

Point summed up nicely how the team was feeling. “We’ve got a lot of confidence in our group,” Point said. “I thought we had a pretty good regular season where we were kind of building to this… Yeah, it’s just a belief in our group. We’ve got four lines and all the D and great goaltending. So we just feel confident.”

The craziest thing about the game was that it could have been an even bigger blowout. The Lightning nearly added another goal when captain Steven Stamkos scored a buzzer-beater, but a review determined the puck didn’t cross the goal line in time.

The Hurricanes could seemingly never cease momentum or make the big play and their captain Jordan Staal recognized the outstanding play of Valsilevskiy. “He made some big saves, timely saves,” he said. “Good goaltenders do that. He did a good job of not letting us get some momentum and get the crowd into it.”

The next matchup the Lightning have will be with the New York Islanders, who come in after closing out their series against the Boston Bruins on Wednesday night. The Islanders have been the underdog in every series they’ve been in thus far and managed to surprise teams anyways, meaning this series will certainly be competitive and not a runaway for either side.

With two-thirds of the season finished for the NHL, we’re in the final stretch until playoffs that start on April 8th.

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The Boston Bruins are first in the NHL standings with 39-13 record with a total of 90 points on the season. The Bruins are led this season by the six-year veteran, right-wing David Pastmak who has a total of 88 points this year. He has 45 goals and 43 assists. Trailing the Bruins are the Tampa Bay Lightning with a 40-18 record and 85 points on the season and the Washington Capitals right behind them with a 39-18 record and 84 total points. With another third of the season left, all the playoff spots are up for grabs as teams continue to fight for the top 16.

Here are the dates, times, and locations of upcoming NHL games.

Edmonton Oilers forward Zack Kassian has been suspended for seven games after an incident on Thursday night. The NHL Department of Player Safety handed down the punishment after Kassian kicked Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Erik Cernak with his skate blade.

The incident happened in the first period when Kassian was caught up in a pile of players, including Cernak. It was observed that Kassian drew his right leg back and kicked Cernak in the chest with his skate blade.

Kassian admitted to using the skate blade to push off from an opponent as he tried to “disentangle from a pile of players,” according to the NHL. They continued by saying that it did not, however, justify the action.

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“While we agree with Kassian that his play is not malicious, any player that intentionally uses the blade of his skate to contact an opponent, no matter the amount of force used, is putting his opponent in immediate risk of serious injury,” the NHL said in its ruling.

This is not Kassian’s first suspension. His latest suspension was two games after a one-sided fight with Calgary Flames forward Matthew Tkachuck on Jan. 13. This is his fourth suspension in a 518-game career.

Kassian will serve out the suspension, with the option to appeal, as well as forfeit $166,463.43 in pay.

The NHL trade deadline started off slowly. However, before the deadline at 3 p.m. EST on Monday, 35 different players and 18 picks were shuffled around the league as some teams hoped to rebuild and others tried to reload.

Rangers, Sharks Win Big At Deadline

The 23 swaps this year are up from 18 in 2018 and 2017, 17 in 2016, and just below the 24 trades in 2015.

The Ottowa Senators, New York Rangers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Columbus Blue Jackets and the San Jose Sharks came out on top of the deadline.

The Senators were dealt a poor hand. After not resigning any of their soon-to-be free agents, general manager Pierre Dorion prevented them from walking away empty-handed. Erik Karlsson, Mark Stone, Matt Duchene and Ryan Dzingel all rejected the idea of sticking around in Ottowa. Though the organization is a mess and the team is without their 2019 draft pick, they got back a monster haul. This year, they hold seven draft picks and in 2020 they’ll have 13, including three in the first round alone.

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Meanwhile, the New York Rangers continued on with their fire sale. After Ottowa shipped off Duchene, center Kevin Hayes‘ value shot up. The Rangers flipped him to the Winnipeg Jets for a first-round pick and a decent forward. Then, they were able to turn 32-year-old defender Adam McQuaid into two late-round draft picks. Though King Henrik Lundqvist is all alone on a dismal team, they’ve got 10 picks in the upcoming draft and only $61 million on the books for next season.

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The Lightning didn’t have to do anything to win. They pulled in their talent early with Ryan McDonagh and J.T. Miller joining the team last year from the Rangers. Instead, they’ve got 98 points in 62 games and much less competition as all of the talent in the east went out west.

The Blue Jackets found themselves in a weird spot. They could’ve imploded after Artemi Panarin demanded out along with the possibility that Sergei Bobrovsky wouldn’t be on the team. Instead, they added Duchene and Dzingel and are hoping to make a deep run into the playoffs. While it’s left the team depleted with picks and betting on free agents, for a team that hasn’t even sniffed the second round of the playoffs, these are the right moves to make.

Any fan of the San Jose Sharks can’t complain about the deals they’ve made. While sitting on second place in the Pacific Division, they doubled down and added Gustav Nyquist. He’s been good for 49 points in 63 games and could be the piece that catapults them over the top. He’s been shaky in the playoffs but as a third option, no team would complain.

Now, with the dust settling, all that matters for these teams is hoisting the Stanley Cup come June.

The Tampa Bay Lightning will continue their home-stand Friday night by hosting the Chicago Blackhawks.

Lightning Host Blackhawks On Black Friday

The game will start at 7:30 p.m. EST and will air on NBC Sports.

Tampa Bay head coach Jon Cooper revealed this week that two minor changes were made to the team’s top two lines: powerful pair Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos will now be on different lines. Since this change was made, the Lightning (15-6-1, 1st in Atlantic Division) beat the Florida Panthers 7-3 at home on Wednesday behind a combined two goals and seven points.

“We shook the lines up a little bit and it seemed to give everybody a little energy,” Cooper told Fox Sports. “But (Stamkos) was seeing it, he was feeling it a little bit. He earned all the breaks he was getting, and he was making some fabulous plays out there and that’s probably why he ends up with four points.”

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Meanwhile, the Blackhawks (8-9-5) are sixth in the Central Division. Chicago replaced its head coach on Nov. 6: Jeremy Colliton took over for Joel Quenneville. Since then, the team has only won two of their seven games.

Despite boasting top players like Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Brandon Saad, the Blackhawks are one of the lowest-scoring teams in the NHL (2.64 goals per game on average).

Chicago is coming off a 4-2 road loss to the Washington Capitals on Wednesday, which started with them trailing 1-0 just 54  seconds into the game. Corey Crawford made 23 saves for the Blackhawks that day.

The Washington Capitals defeated the Lightning 4-0 in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals in Tampa Bay on Wednesday night, which means the Stanley Cup Finals are now set.

Capitals Beat Lightning 4-0 In Game 7

On Thursday, the NHL released the full schedule for the Finals, which will feature the Capitals facing off against the Vegas Golden Knights.

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Here is the schedule: (all times are in EST)

• Game 1: Capitals at Golden Knights — Monday, May 28, 8 p.m.
• Game 2: Capitals at Golden Knights — Wednesday, May 30, 8 p.m.
• Game 3: Golden Knights at Capitals — Saturday, June 2, 8 p.m.
• Game 4: Golden Knights at Capitals — Monday, June 4, 8 p.m.
• Game 5: (if necessary) Capitals at Knights — Thursday, June 7, 8 p.m.
• Game 6: (if necessary) Golden Knights at Capitals — Sunday, June 10, 8 p.m.
• Game 7: (if necessary) Capitals at Golden Knights — Wednesday, June 13, 8 p.m.

The Caps are in the Stanley Cup Finals for only the second time in franchise history. They last reached the final round of the playoffs in 1998, when they got swept by the Detroit Red Wings.

The Golden Knights defeated the Capitals twice during the regular season.

Braden Holtby was excellent in Game 7 against the Lightning, making 29 saves for his second straight shutout of the series. Alexander Ovechkin opened the scoring just 1:02 into the first period, then Andre Burakovsky had two goals in the second period. Nicklas Backstrom scored the empty-netter.

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Wednesday’s victory was a big moment for Ovechkin, as the 32-year-old Russian had never before advanced further than the second round of the playoffs.

The Lightning also played Game 7 in the 2015 Eastern Conference Final, when they routed the New York Rangers. Tampa Bay also played Game 7 of the semifinals in 2016, when they fell 2-1 to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Tampa Bay Lightning will host the Washington Capitals for a decisive Game 7 on Wednesday, and here is what you need to know.

Lightning vs. Capitals Game 7 Preview

This is the fourth consecutive year that the Eastern Conference Final series has been decided in seven games. The winner will take on the Vegas Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup Finals.

Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy has been excellent this series: the 23-year-old Russian has allowed just nine goals in the last four games. Tampa Bay bounced back after losing the first two games of the Conference Finals. Braden Holtby made 24 saves for the Capitals in Game 6.

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According to Sports Illustrated, the Lightning finished first in the NHL in scoring this past regular season, and the Capitals were also in the top 10.  The magazine also states that Tampa Bay is 5-7 in Game 7s in their franchise’s history, which is the greatest record for any team that has played in five or more winner-takes-all games.

Washington’s Evgeny Kuznetsov boasts a series-high nine points, and also set a franchise record with a postseason-high 23.

Wednesday’s game will begin at 8pm EST and will air on NBC Sports Network.

The Washington Capitals will host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday night for Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals, and here is what you need to know.

Lightning vs. Capitals Game 6 Preview

The Lightning could reach the Stanley Cup Playoffs after winning 3-2 in Game 5 on Saturday to lead the series 3-2. Ryan Callahan and Cedric Paquette both scored in Game 5.

Monday’s game will begin at 8pm EST and will air on NBC Sports Network. It can also be streamed on NBC Sports Live.

Should the Capitals win and tie the series 3-3, Game 7 would be held Wednesday in Tampa Bay.

On the Western Conference side, the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Jets 2-1 in Winnipeg on Sunday to clinch the series 4-1 and become just the sixth NHL team to ever reach the Stanley Cup Finals in their first season.

The Washington Capitals will host the Tampa Bay Lightning for Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final on Thursday night, and here is what you need to know.

Lightning Vs. Capitals Game 4 Preview

Washington leads the series 2-1 after Tampa Bay’s 4-2 victory on Tuesday. Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 36 saves in Game 3.

Thursday’s game in Washington will begin at 8pm EST and will air on NBC Sports Network and can be live-streamed on NBC Sports Stream. The Capitals are 3-4 at home in this year’s playoffs.

Here is the schedule for the rest of the series:

Game 5, Saturday, May 19

Capitals at Lightning, 7:15 p.m.

Game 6, Monday, May 21 (if necessary)

Lightning at Capitals, 8 p.m.

Game 7, Wednesday, May 23 (if necessary)

Capitals at Lightning, 8 p.m.