The two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning have not lost consecutive playoff games in nearly three years, rattling off 17 consecutive victories following a post-season loss since the start of their 2020 title run.
“Usually a good recipe come playoff time is to not lose two in a row,” captain Steven Stamkos said on Sunday after a 7-3 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs that evened the first-round series between the Atlantic Division rivals at two games apiece.
“This group has proven it knows what it takes at this time of the year, and we know how to respond,” Stamkos added. “Now that we’ve done that twice now in this series, let’s go out and grab the series lead. That’s got to be the mentality.”
Ross Colton scored twice, Andrei Vasilevskiy had 22 saves, and the Lightning got off to a fast start with three goals in the first eight minutes to deny the Maple Leafs an opportunity to take a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven matchup.
In Boston, Brad Marchand had two goals and three assists, including the tiebreaker early in the third period, to help the Boston Bruins beat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-2 to even their first-round playoff series at two games apiece.
In Los Angeles, Jonathan Quick tried to make a couple of his 31 saves without his glove during a masterful performance, Carl Grundstrom scored two third-period goals and Los Angeles also evened their first-round playoff series.
American rugby sevens star Ilona Maher is to join 15-a-side club Bristol next month in a bid to play in next year’s Women’s Rugby World Cup, the English club announced on Monday. Maher, 28, helped the US to a bronze medal at this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris and is the seven-a-side sport’s most popular player on social media. “This is a huge coup to be able to bring Ilona Maher to Bristol Bears on a short-term deal,” Bristol head coach Dave Ward said. “She is one of the biggest names in women’s sport, let alone rugby, and we believe she will
New Taipei Kings guard Jeremy Lin on Friday was named the Taiwan Professional Basketball League’s (TPBL) Player of the Month, the first domestic player to win the award, while the Hsinchu Toplus Lioneers are to welcome their third head coach in less than a year. Lin averaged 22 points, 5.4 rebounds and 6.6 assists over five games in October and last month, helping the Kings to second in the standings with a 4-2 record as of Friday. The Kings last night defeated the Lioneers 96-78 to move level with the top-of-the-table Formosa Dreamers (5-2), while in the night game, the New Taipei
LeBron James is in quite the shooting slump — especially from long distance, highlighted by his zero-for-four effort from three-point range for the Los Angeles Lakers in their 109-80 loss against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday. That return stretched the nearly-40-year-old’s skid to zero-for-19 from deep over his past four games. James’ birthday is on Dec. 30. After going four-for-16 from the floor overall with six of his team’s 20 turnovers for a season-low 10 points against the Timberwolves, James was asked to reflect on the Lakers reaching the quarter mark of their 2024-2025 schedule under rookie coach J.J. Redick at 12-9. “I
TSG (Taiwan Steel Group) Tainan won the Taiwan Football Premier League (TFPL) title for a fifth straight season on Sunday, while the Kaohsiung Attackers a week earlier emerged as champions for the first time in the women’s league. In the final round of the TFPL, TSG rested most of their important players for the home match at Yonghua Stadium in Tainan. They had 46 points prior to the game and were already guaranteed to finish in first place. Their opponent, Hang Yuan FC, were led by midfielder Chen Po-ying, who scored two goals, first with a curving shot just inside
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