Steven Stamkos scores twice and Andrei Vasilevskiy makes 21 saves as Lightning rout Islanders to take 3-2 series lead
Islanders #Islanders
Steven Stamkos had two goals and an assist and Andrei Vasilevskiy notched his fourth career playoff shutout, helping the Tampa Bay Lightning rout the New York Islanders 8-0 in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup semifinal series on Monday night in Tampa.
The defending NHL champions improved to 13-0 in games following a postseason loss since launching their 2020 title run and will take a 3-2 series lead over the Islanders into Game 6 of their best-of-seven matchup Wednesday night in Uniondale, N.Y.
Stamkos ignited a three-goal opening period — the first against the Islanders all season — by scoring just 45 seconds into the game. His power-play goal at 5:42 of the second began another three-goal period that made it 6-0.
Alex Killorn finished with two goals, Brayden Point delivered his 13th of the playoffs, and postseason scoring leader Nikita Kucherov extended his career-best playoff points streak to eight games with three assists for Tampa Bay, which hasn’t lost consecutive playoff games since being swept by Columbus in the first round in 2019.
Point has scored a goal in eight straight games, the second-longest stretch within a single postseason in NHL history.
Vasilevskiy, meanwhile, stopped all 21 shots he faced for his third playoff shutout this year. The Vezina Trophy finalist also blanked Florida and Carolina in series-clinchers in the first two rounds.
Essentially taking up where the Lightning left off in a furious third-period rally that just fell short in a 3-2 loss in Game 4, Stamkos, Yanni Gourde and Killorn scored in the first 15:27 to make quick work of Islanders goaltender Semyon Varlamov, who was replaced by Ilya Sorokin after yielding three goals on just 16 shots.
The Islanders held on to win Game 4, evening the series at two games apiece, when defenseman Ryan Pulock’s diving stop in the closing seconds prevented the Lightning from forcing overtime. But since using a three-goal period of its own to take command Saturday night, New York has been outscored, 10-0, over the last four periods of the series.
JT Brown joins Kraken broadcast team
The Seattle Kraken have hired former NHL forward JT Brown as the television analyst for their inaugural season.
Brown has not played in the NHL since the 2018-19 season with Minnesota. He spent the past year playing with Bjorkloven in Sweden. His announcement that he is joining the broadcast team in Seattle was made simultaneously with his announcement that he’s retiring from playing.
Brown will be paired with veteran television announcer John Forslund on Kraken broadcasts.
Wild’s Tom Kurvers dies of cancer
Former NHL player and Minnesota Wild assistant general manager Tom Kurvers died Monday after a battle with lung cancer, the team and University of Minnesota-Duluth said. He was 58.
Kurvers served as Minnesota’s assistant general manager since 2018. Minnesota-Duluth athletics spokesman Brian Nystrom said the hockey program there was informed of Kurvers’s death by Kurvers’s family. The Wild said Kurvers died at his home Monday morning.
Kurvers won the Hobey Baker Award as the top college player at Minnesota Duluth in 1984. He played 11 NHL seasons from 1984-1995 with the Canadiens, Sabres, Devils, Maple Leafs, Canucks, Islanders, and Mighty Ducks before going into management.
Kurvers was diagnosed in January 2019 with adenocarcinoma, a small cell lung cancer that was deemed inoperable.
Stars sign Blake Comeau to 1-year deal
The Dallas Stars are bringing back veteran forward Blake Comeau on a $1 million, one-year contract.
The 35-year-old Comeau led Dallas forwards with 106 hits while scoring 14 points (four goals, 10 assists) last season. Comeau has spent three of his 15 seasons with the Stars.
Islanders sell out season tickets
In the midst of the New York Islanders’ second straight trip to the semifinal round of the Stanley Cup playoffs and nearly 4½ months before the opening of their new arena, season tickets for the first season in their new home are sold out.
UBS Arena, under construction next to the racetrack at Belmont Park and expected to open in November with a capacity of around 17,000 for hockey, has sold its allotment of about 15,000 season tickets, the Islanders announced Monday.