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A sea of blue and white filled the seats inside Benchmark International Arena as the puck dropped for Game 1 of the NHL playoffs between the Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday.
Darren Raddysh and Brandon Hagel scored 29 seconds apart as the Tampa Bay Lightning will take a one-goal lead over the Montreal Canadiens into the third period of Game 1.
Josh Anderson has the game's only goal, and the Montreal Canadiens lead the Tampa Bay Lightning 1-0 after one period in Tampa Bay.
Logan O’Connor scored for the first time in more than a year, Scott Wedgewood stopped 24 shots in his first Stanley Cup playoffs start and the top-seeded Colorado Avalanche beat the Los Angeles Kings 2-1 in Game 1 on Sunday.
The Ottawa Senators expected an early surge from the Hurricanes to open their first-round playoff series and can expect the same when the teams meet Monday for Game 2.
After making a surprising push for the playoffs that lasted to the final week of the season, the young Sharks now appear poised to make that next step back to the postseason behind budding superstar Macklin Celebrini.
The Edmonton Oilers climbed a playoff mountain the last two years, but didn’t plant their flag on the summit. They reached the Stanley Cup final, only to fall to the Florida Panthers in a Game 7 in 2024 and in a Game 6 in 2025.
Edmonton Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch won’t yet say whether Leon Draisaitl will play in Game 1 of a first-round playoff series against the Anaheim Ducks.
So much for the Philadelphia Flyers being too inexperienced for all this. Too young for that matter.
The Ottawa Senators have recalled six players from AHL Belleville on Sunday afternoon, including rookie defenceman Carter Yakemchuk and AHL goal-scoring leader Arthur Kaliyev.
The Tampa Bay Lightning announced on Sunday morning that they have recalled forward Conor Geekie and goaltender Brandon Halverson from the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch ahead of Game 1 of their first-round playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens.
Frederik Andersen finished with 22 saves after Logan Stankoven and Taylor Hall got pucks past Linus Ullmark at the other end as the Hurricanes picked up a 2-0 victory to take a 1-0 lead in the teams’ best-of-seven playoff series.
Travis Sanheim scored the go-ahead goal midway through the third period and the Philadelphia Flyers announced their return to the playoffs with a 3-2 win over Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night.
Jesper Wallstedt made 27 saves in his NHL playoffs debut as the Wild beat the Dallas Stars 6-1 in Game 1 of the Western Conference playoffs Saturday.
Matt Boldy had two goals with an assist, Joel Ericksson Ek scored two power-play goals and rookie goalie Jesper Wallstedt stopped 26 shots in his postseason debut to help the Minnesota Wild beat the Dallas Stars 6-1 on Saturday in Game 1 of their Western Conference playoff series.
Martin St. Louis isn’t concerned with labels. The Montreal Canadiens coach knows his team is facing a perennial contender in the Tampa Bay Lightning. He’s also confident his group can match up.
The Tampa Bay Lightning have to beat one of the franchise’s greatest players to get where they want to go. Hall of Fame forward Martin St. Louis, whose No. 26 hangs in the rafters at Benchmark International Arena, leads the Montreal Canadiens against the Lightning in a first-round series that begins Sunday.
The meeting with Boston will be a franchise record-tying ninth for Buffalo, and the first since the Bruins eliminated the Sabres in a six-game, first-round series in 2010.
The Anaheim Ducks have signed forward prospect Roger McQueen to a three-year, entry-level contract beginning in the 2026-27 season.
Frederik Andersen stopped all 22 shots he faced and the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Ottawa Senators 2-0 in the opening game of the first round.
Key defensemen Miro Heiskanen and Quinn Hughes were active for Game 1 of the Western Conference playoff series between the Dallas Stars and Minnesota Wild on Saturday after both had missed the end of the regular season for different reasons.
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