National Hockey

DENVER (AP) — Joe Sakic was so busy relishing and reminiscing that he nearly missed the team photo with the Stanley Cup before racing over just in time to join the on-ice celebration at Amalie Arena.

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly presented the Stanley Cup to Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog on Friday night because Commissioner Gary Bettman was sidelined by the coronavirus.

Playing hockey on fast forward, the Colorado Avalanche blazed their way to the Stanley Cup championship with a mix of speed and high-end skill that needed only a defined focus to get over the top.

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — The Tampa Bay Lightning didn’t relinquish their grip on the Stanley Cup without a fight. Andrei Vasilevskiy rejected shot after shot, keeping the two-time defending champions’ quest for a threepeat alive.

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Nathan MacKinnon could not find the words. Gabriel Landeskog cracked a smile and a joke.

Cale Makar has won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP after leading the Colorado Avalanche to their first Stanley Cup title since 2001 and third in franchise history. Makar is the second defenseman to win the award over the past three years.

Colorado Avalanche (56-19-7, first in the Central Division) vs. Tampa Bay Lightning (51-23-8, third in the Atlantic Division) Tampa, Florida; Sunday, 8 p.m.

One of the biggest stories in the NHL this season has been the increase in viewers in the league's first year of its television contracts with ESPN and TNT.

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — If this is Ondrej Palat’s final playoff run with the Tampa Bay Lightning, he’s certainly making it count. Soon he could be counting in the tens of millions of dollars on a new contract.

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Josh Manson still had his bags half-packed from the Colorado Avalanche’s last time on the road, when they returned home with the chance to win the Stanley Cup.