John Tavares set up two goals and scored one of his own with 5:33 remaining to complete the Toronto Maple Leafs’ comeback in a 3-2 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Friday at the NHL’s Global Series in Sweden.

Toronto entered the third period down 2-0 but Tyler Bertuzzi scored at 3:50 and William Nylander netted the equalizer with 6:57 left before Tavares’ seventh goal of the season 1:24 later gave the Maple Leafs their first lead of the game.

Nylander also had a goal and two assists to extend his franchise-record season-opening point streak to 16 games.

Ilya Samsonov made 27 saves as Toronto won its third straight and fourth in five games.

Daniel Sprong scored on a penalty shot and Lucas Raymond had the other goal for Detroit, which dropped to 1-2-2 in its last five.

The game was the second of four over five days at Avicii Arena in Stockholm. Ottawa beat Detroit on Thursday, and Minnesota will play the Senators on Saturday and the Maple Leafs on Sunday in the first four-team series outside North America.

Perfetti scores again as Jets win

Cole Perfetti scored in a fifth straight game and the Winnipeg Jets held off the Buffalo Sabres, 3-2.

Mason Appleton and Nikolaj Ehlers had the other goals and Connor Hellebuyck stopped 25 shots as Winnipeg notched its fifth win in six games.

Alex Tuch and JJ Peterka scored for the Sabres, who have lost three in a row.

Eric Comrie made 15 saves in his first action since suffering a lower-body injury on Oct. 27.

Stolarz the difference in Panthers’ win

Anthony Stolarz stopped 33 shots to make two first-period goals hold up as the Florida Panthers held on for a 2-1 win over the Anaheim Ducks.

Stolarz allowed only Frank Vatrano’s power-play goal in the second period before turning away all 16 Anaheim shots in the third period.

Jakob Silfverberg thought he scored the tying goal midway through the third period, but there was no conclusive evidence to show that the puck crossed the goal line.

Anton Lundell set up goals by Eetu Luostarinen and Oliver Ekman-Larsson in the first period as Florida rebounded from Thursday’s loss to Los Angeles and won for the sixth time in seven games.

Sam Reinhart had two goals and two assists and the Florida Panthers withstood another standout performance by rookie sensation Connor Bedard in Sunday's 4-3 win over the Chicago Blackhawks.

Reinhart assisted on Carter Verhaeghe's power-play goal that snapped a 3-3 tie early in the third period, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 13 of his 23 saves in the final frame to help seal Florida's fourth straight win.

Bedard followed up Thursday's two-goal, two-assist effort at Tampa Bay with two more goals, giving the 2023 No. 1 overall draft pick seven in his last six games. 

Reinhart's second goal of the night gave Florida a 3-2 lead seven minutes into the second period, but Bedard answered just 1:18 later and the game remained deadlocked at 3-3 into the second intermission.

Verhaeghe put the Panthers up for good 2:44 into the third period, and Bobrovsky made the lead hold up despite the Panthers being outshot by a 13-6 margin in the final 20 minutes.

Reinhart and Oliver Ekman-Larsson had first-period goals for Florida, while Bedard and Jason Dickinson both scored for Chicago in the opening session.

Arvid Soderblom finished with 28 saves for the Blackhawks.

Stars score five power-play goals in 8-3 rout of Wild

Jason Robertson had two of five Dallas power-play goals as the Stars rolled to an 8-3 victory over the Minnesota Wild to complete a perfect three-game road trip.

Wyatt Johnston also scored twice, including a short-handed goal in the final minutes, in Dallas' first meeting with Minnesota since ousting the Wild in six games in the first round of last season's playoffs.

Both Robertson and Johnston added an assist for the Stars, whose five power-play goals tied a franchise single-game record. Dallas also received goals from Joe Pavelski, Radek Faksa, Matt Duchene and Evgenii Dadonov, while Miro Heiskanen finished with three assists to back Jake Oettinger's 23 saves.

Dallas took a 3-2 lead after one period, highlighted by Pavelski's power-play goal just 57 seconds in and a short-handed tally by Faksa, and both Johnston and Dadonov scored on the power play in the second to extend the margin to three.

Robertson's two goals came just 2:07 apart and gave Dallas a 7-3 advantage early in the third.

Brandon Duhaime, Vinni Lettieri and Mats Zuccarello had goals in the Wild's third straight loss. Marc Andre-Fleury surrendered all eight Dallas goals on 37 shots. 

Lafreniere stars in Rangers' shootout win over Blue Jackets

Alexis Lafreniere scored twice in regulation before recording the deciding goal in the shootout as the New York Rangers rallied for a 4-3 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Lafreniere's second goal of the game came with just 11 seconds left in regulation and forged a 3-3 tie. The former No. 1 overall pick then registered the lone goal during the shootout phase to extend the Rangers' point streak to 10 games, a stretch in which they've gone 9-0-1.

Chris Kreider delivered his 10th goal of the season and added an assist for New York, while Jonathan Quick made 25 saves before stopping all three Columbus skaters in the shootout.

Lafreniere's first of the night gave the Rangers a 2-1 lead with 8:43 left in the second period, but Adam Fantilli and Sean Kuraly scored 19 seconds apart later in the period to put the Blue Jackets back ahead.

Justin Danforth put Columbus up 1-0 with 3:34 remaining in the first period before Kreider answered less than 2 1/2 minutes later.

Elvis Merzlikins finished with 37 saves for Columbus, which fell to 0-3-2 over its last five games.

Captain Mark Stone had a hat trick and the Vegas Golden Knights scored four unanswered goals in the second period in a 9-3 rout of the Florida Panthers on Tuesday to win the franchise’s first Stanley Cup title.

Alec Martinez triggered the four-goal outburst midway through the second period in Game 5 before Reilly Smith, Stone and Michael Amadio added goals to extend the lead to 6-1.

Stone completed his second career postseason hat trick with an empty-net goal to help Vegas capture the Stanley Cup in its sixth season. Only the 1983-84 Edmonton Oilers won the Cup in fewer seasons (five).

Florida played without star forward Matthew Tkachuk, who was sidelined with an injury he suffered in Game 3.

Tkachuk, who led the Panthers with 11 goals and 24 points this postseason, went into the NHL’s concussion protocol after he absorbed a crushing hit from Vegas forward Keegan Kolesar in Game 3 and missed much of the third period in Game 4.

Knights forward Jonathan Marchessault won the Conn Smythe Trophy, given to the most valuable player during the playoffs. Marchessault – an original member of the Golden Knights - tied for the postsesason lead with 13 goals and led all players with 25 points. 

The Vegas Golden Knights are one win away from winning the Stanley Cup for the first time in the franchise’s brief history.

The Golden Knights jumped out to a 3-0 lead then held on to beat the Florida Panthers 3-2 on Saturday, claiming a 3-1 series lead in the Stanley Cup Final.

On Tuesday, the series will shift back to Las Vegas where the Golden Knights will have the opportunity to hoist the Stanley Cup on home ice.

Chandler Stephenson scored two goals for Vegas, including one just 1:39 into the first period, and the Panthers played from behind the rest of the way.

William Karlsson scored his first goal of the Cup Final midway through the second period to put the Golden Knights up 3-0.

Florida’s Brandon Montour got the home team back in the game with a goal before second intermission, and Aleksander Barkov’s tally 3:50 into the third period closed the deficit to one.

Vegas goaltender Adin Hill stopped 29 of the 31 shots he faced and stopped a Carter Verhaeghe slapshot in the game’s final seconds to seal the Game 4 victory.

“Obviously, that was a battle till the last second,” Vegas forward Nicolas Roy told reporters after the game. “They pushed back there. We knew they would. They’ve been doing it all series. But it’s nice to get that one, for sure.”

The Panthers are now tasked with rallying to win three straight games against a favored opponent, a task they accomplished in the first round against the record-setting Boston Bruins.

“We've earned the right to play our best hockey,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “Where we’ve been at our strongest is at the most critical time. I think you’ll see that.”

Carter Verhaeghe scored 4:27 into overtime and the Florida Panthers rallied for a 3-2 win over the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday to cut their deficit in the Stanley Cup Final to 2-1.

Vegas appeared headed for a 3-0 series lead with a lead late in regulation, but Matthew Tkachuk scored off a rebound with 2:13 remaining to force the extra period.

After the Panthers killed off a penalty to start overtime, Verhaeghe scored on Florida’s first shot of the extra session by firing a wrister from the high slot through traffic and past Adin Hill.

Brandon Montour also scored and Sergei Bobrovksy stopped 25 shots as the Panthers notched their first-ever win in the Stanley Cup Final after they were swept by Colorado in 1996.

Florida improved to 7-0 in overtime in these playoffs, recording more wins in OT than in regulation.

Jonathan Marchessault and Mark Stone had power-play goals for Vegas. Marchessault’s goal was his 13th in his last 13 playoff games and his fourth of the series.  

Florida lost Tkachuk early in the first period after he took a big hit from Vegas’ Keegan Kolesar. Tkachuk missed the rest of the period but returned a few minutes into the second.

Game 4 is Saturday in Florida.

Zach Whitecloud snapped a third-period tie and Adin Hill made a highlight-reel save for one of his 33 stops to lift the Vegas Golden Knights to a 5-2 win over the Florida Panthers in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final.

Whitecloud’s long-range goal with just over 13 minutes left put Vegas ahead 3-2, and captain Mark Stone extended the lead with 6:19 remaining with a goal that was reviewed for a high stick and confirmed. Jonathan Marchessault and Shea Theodore also scored for the Golden Knights, who rallied for their ninth comeback win this postseason.

The Panthers got goals from Eric Staal and Anthony Duclair as their eight-game road winning streak was snapped.

Hill came up with arguably the save of the playoffs in the second period with Vegas holding a 2-1 lead. He reached across the crease with his stick to make a desperation save on Nick Cousins on what would have been a sure goal.

The Golden Knights are in the final for the second time in its six years of existence after making it in the inaugural 2017-18 season.

Florida also has reached the final for the second time but first since it was swept by Colorado in 1996.

Game 2 is Monday in Las Vegas. 

THE VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS HAVE TAKEN A 1-0 LEAD IN THE STANLEY CUP FINAL!!!!!!! #UKnightTheRealm pic.twitter.com/Hk9ImREfdb

— z - Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) June 4, 2023

Matthew Tkachuk delivered in the clutch yet again, scoring his second goal of the game on a power-play with 4.9 seconds left in regulation to complete the sweep and send the Florida Panthers into the Stanley Cup Final with a 4-3 win over the Carolina Hurricanes.

Florida will play for hockey's ultimate prize for just the second time in franchise history, after they were swept by the Colorado Avalanche in 1996.

The eighth-seeded Panthers will face either Vegas or Dallas, with the Golden Knights holding a 3-0 lead in the Western Conference final.

Jesper Fast scored the tying goal with 3:22 to go in the third period and the teams appeared headed for overtime for the third time in this series, but Jordan Staal took a tripping penalty with 57 seconds remaining to set up Tkachuk's latest heroics.

Tkachuk's goal was his eighth of the postseason and fourth of this series – including two in overtime.

Sergei Bobrovsky made 36 saves in his fifth straight victory – all one-goal decisions. He stopped 168 of 174 shots in this series for a .966 save percentage.

Carolina played most of the game without defenseman Jaccob Slavin after he absorbed a hard hit from Sam Bennett, who was not penalised on the play.

Slavin wobbled as he got to his feet and needed assistance to leave the ice.

Matthew Tkachuk played the role of hero again, scoring 1:51 into overtime to lift the Florida Panthers to a 2-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes and a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference final.

Less than two days after scoring the winner in an epic four-overtime thriller, Tkachuk roofed a feed from Sam Reinhart past Antti Raanta on the power play for his third OT goal in the playoffs.

Aleksander Barkov had a highlight-reel goal for Florida, which heads home for Game 3 on Monday having swept both games in Carolina.

The Panthers are halfway to reaching the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1996, which also marks their last appearance in the East final.

The eighth-seeded Panthers won their eighth straight road game in the playoffs and remained perfect in six overtime games this postseason.

Jalen Chatfield scored Carolina's only goal early in the first period. The Hurricanes had won their first three overtime games this postseason before dropping two straight in this series.

While Sergei Bobrovsky continued his stellar playoffs with 37 saves and improved to 9-2, Carolina decided to switch to Raanta in net after Frederik Andersen's heavy workload in Game 1. Raanta, who started the first five games of the postseason, stopped 24 of 26 shots.

Matthew Tkachuk scored with 12.7 seconds left in the fourth overtime to lift the Florida Panthers to a 3-2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals.

Sergei Bobrovsky and Frederik Andersen combined to stop 80 consecutive shots before Tkachuk took a feed from Sam Bennett and put a wrist shot over Andersen's left shoulder to end the sixth-longest game in NHL history.

The epic game ended a few minutes before 2am local time in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Carolina's Seth Jarvis opened the scoring with 12 seconds left in the first period, but Florida scored twice in just over two minutes late in the second for a 2-1 lead.

Aleksander Barkov tallied his third goal of the playoffs at 15:28 off a cross-ice pass from Anthony Duclair. Carter Verhaeghe put the Panthers ahead with his sixth postseason goal off another feed from Duclair with 2:17 left in the second period.

Stefan Noesen scored the equaliser 3:47 into the third period with Jarvis getting the primary assist.

Florida won its seventh consecutive road game in the playoffs and improved to 5-0 in overtime.

The Panthers appeared to win the game at 2:35 of the first overtime when Ryan Lomberg whipped a shot past Andersen. But the goal was waved off due to goalie interference on Colin White, whose skate made contact with Andersen's leg as he was sliding across the crease.

Bobrovsky finished with 63 saves and Andersen turned aside 57 of 60 shots.

Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said overtime hero Matthew Tkachuk is "just a gamer" after his dramatic goal clinched a 4-3 road win over the Boston Bruins in Game 5.

The Panthers will take the series back to Florida for Game 6, with Tkachuk swooping on an error from Bruins goaltender Linus Ullmark to show poise and score six minutes into OT.

Tkachuk has been a central point during the Stanley Cup first-round series, with Ullmark threatening to fight him in Game 4, but Maurice lavished him with praise after his Game 5 heroics.

"That guy is a - and then you put a long string of profanity - gamer," Maurice told reporters. "Is he not a gamer?

"There's 700 guys in the league, 640 of them jam that thing as fast as they can and lose it, and he pulls it across. He's just a gamer."

Tkachuk revelled in sending the series back to Florida, after scoring his first career playoff OT goal in his 32nd playoff game. It was also the Panthers' first OT win in their history when facing elimination (1-4).

"I think my favourite part about this is I guarantee everybody in this building thought the series was over today," he said. "Get it back on a flight down to Florida, that's the most exciting part."

The Bruins set several regular-season records, including most wins (65) and most points (135) in NHL history and were the raging favourites for the series against the Panthers, who were the East's second wild-card team.

"We were supposed to get swept this series, right? Everyone was saying," Tkachuk said. "I don't think anybody really gave us a chance after losing two games in a row at home. Coming here, it just seemed like the series was over before the game even started.

"Now they're coming down to Florida. We know there can't possibly be a Game 7 in their mind right now, and everybody here in Boston's minds. So it's up to us to see you guys back here in a few days."

It may have been different when Brad Marchand skated in alone on goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky late in regulation but was denied.

"I knew it wasn’t going in," Maurice said, before he admitted he was lying. "You can't know that it wasn't going in, so I'm full of [it] when I just said that to you.

"But I don’t feel like we’ve had a whole lot of advantage in this series, in the karma of the game. I just felt that we had stored enough karma that that shot wouldn't go in."

The result means the Bruins have lost consecutive home games for the first time this season.

"We tend to make big mistakes right now," Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery said. "I don't know why, but the last two games at home we don't manage the ice or manage the puck, it's one of the two."

Boston Bruins coach Jim Montgomery was thrilled by the performance of his goaltender Linus Ullmark after 41 saves in a 6-2 Game 4 victory on the road against the Florida Panthers.

But it was not just Ullmark's shot-stopping that captured the affection of his coach, but also the fact that he tried to fight Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk.

The Bruins led 2-0 through a pair of power-play goals from Brad Marchand and Jake DeBrusk, until Tkachuk snatched one back for the Panthers with four minutes remaining in the second period.

Tyler Bertuzzi put Boston ahead 3-1 early in the third, and after Sam Bennett's power-play goal threatened to put the contest back up for grabs, DeBrusk collected his second goal and a late double from Taylor Hall blew out the final score.

The late Bruins' onslaught was in the midst of a series of scuffles, and Ullmark challenged Tkachuk to a fight after being unimpressed by him instigating those.

The referees prevented the clash, and Ullmark was given a penalty for trying to escalate, but his coach did not mind one bit.

"I love it," coach Montgomery said of his goalie. "He's all-in.

"[The Panthers] came up with a really good push, [but Ullmark] allowed us to weather the storm and start going back at them.

"He's been doing that for us all year. It's amazing how calm I am when I see scrambles in front of his net, because he's calm."

Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo added: "Tkachuk's kind of doing a lot of things to try and get under our skin, but for the most part we're doing a great job of keeping it between the whistles, and I'm proud of our group for doing so – but at times, you've got to show a little passion and push back."

DeBrusk scored his two goals despite suffering a nasty gash earlier in the contest from a puck to the side of the head, but he said it only helped to wake him up.

"Dusty, one of our trainers, kind of freaked out a little bit because there was a lot of blood," he said. "I thought it was the ear, but it was a little bit higher than that – it kind of woke me up honestly."

The win gives the Bruins – who set the NHL record with 65 wins this regular season – a 3-1 lead in the series, with the series heading back to Boston for Game 5.

Boston Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery said his side learned an important lesson after losing Game 2 of their Stanley Cup first-round series to the Florida Panthers 6-3.

The Panthers split the opening two games in Boston where the Bruins boasted a 34-4-3 record during the regular season, with the series now headed to Florida for Games 3 and 4.

Florida scored four third-period goals to blow the game open after it was locked at 2-2 heading into the final 20 minutes.

The Bruins came into the playoffs fresh from setting NHL records for most wins and points in regular season history.

The defeat marked the Bruins' first in their past 10 games and only their second loss at home this season by more than one goal.

"The number one lesson you learn is how hard it is to win in the playoffs," Montgomery told reporters.

"Florida did a good job. I thought they had a real good gameplan. We got to look at the tape, we've got to get better, we've got to execute better.

"For a team that's been really good in the third period for a long time, it's an opportunity for us to learn from that."

Montgomery labeled the turnovers his side gave away as "catastrophic", while he lamented their inability to regain their composure when they went 4-2 down in the third period.

"I didn’t think we re-grouped and reset," he said. "Most of the year we've been able to reset and go back to our go to our game.

"We didn’t go back to our game at 4-2. I thought we got back to our game in the first two periods."

The win means the Panthers have home-ice advantage ahead of Games 3 and 4 in Florida, although head coach Paul Maurice was not getting carried away.

"You can’t get too far behind anybody. Certainly not a team like the Boston Bruins, the season they’ve had," Maurice said.

"We’d be more than happy to play seven of them, grind it out. Play as long as we can for as hard as we can."

The Boston Bruins continued their historic season with a 3-1 Game 1 victory in the first-round series against the Florida Panthers at TD Garden on Monday.

Boston put together the greatest regular season record in NHL history at 65-12-5, beating the previous record held by the 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings (62-13-7) by three wins.

Kicking off their Eastern Conference playoff campaign, the Bruins jumped ahead in the first period through a David Pastrnak goal, before Brad Marchand and Jake DeBrusk added one each in the second period either side of Matthew Tkachuk's lone Panthers score.

While the Bruins came out with the win, they finished on the wrong end of the total shot count 32-29, also trailing slightly in hits (44-43).

Head coach Jim Montgomery said the score was not indicative of the general play, but at this time of year they will take whatever they can get.

"Results matter more than the process right now," he said. "When we look at our five-on-five game, we were not very happy with our process. 

"So we can get better there, but the result was really good, and I think the result comes from we had some players play really well, especially our goaltender. 

"The intensity of the playoffs, it surprised us a little bit, and I think we had a little bit of nerves."

Marchand is no stranger to playoff hockey, winning the Stanley Cup with the Bruins back in 2011, and he made it clear Boston are not happy with just the regular-season record.

"I don't think we've ever been satisfied with any game we've had this year," he said. "It's always good to start the first game with a win, but we haven't accomplished anything yet."

Tkachuk credited the Bruins with the way they improved the longer the game went on.

"There were parts of our game that were good, and I feel like [the Bruins] got a little bit better as it got on," he said. "Especially when you have a two-goal lead, it's easier to play. 

"You're playing safer, and they packed it in pretty good on us, but I'm confident in our team, in our game, and seeing a lot of things that I think we could hang with these guys."

Game 2 will also take place in Boston on Wednesday before the series heads to Florida.

New Jersey Devils captain Nico Hischier says they are "back on track" after ending their six-game skid with a hard-fought 4-2 win at the Florida Panthers on Wednesday.

The Devils had gone 0-5-1 since beating the Chicago Blackhawks at home to December 6 to slump to a 21-9-2 record and second spot in the Metropolitan Division coming into Wednesday's game.

But Jesper Bratt scored twice, with Yegor Sharangovich scoring the go-ahead goal midway through the third period with Tomas Tatar adding an empty-netter, while Mackenzie Blackwood made 34 saves.

"That one felt good for sure," Hischier told reporters. "We put in the work. We came in late on back-to-back and came out to play.

"It was a full team effort. That one definitely feels good and puts us back on track."

Two-goal hero Bratt had endured a four-game pointless drought prior to getting an assist against Carolina on Tuesday.

Sharangovich was another to find form, having broken a nine-game goalless drought with his ninth of the season, tipping in Jonas Siegenthaler's point shot after Florida led 2-1 going into the third period.

"That was real important. We needed a win," Devils head coach Lindy Ruff said.

"We've played several really good games inside this and couldn't find ways to get the puck in the back of the net.

"To come out and get a couple goals in the third period, a real good goal by Jesper and get some traffic in front and a re-direction by Shara, it was real important."

Matthew Tkachuk will be trading his winter coat and gloves for sunglasses and sandals after a blockbuster trade sent him from the Calgary Flames to the Florida Panthers on Friday.

In a deal with two of the league’s best players swapping teams, the Panthers acquired high-scoring forward Tkachuk from the Flames in exchange for Jonathan Huberdeau, defenseman MacKenzie Weegar, prospect Cole Schwindt and a conditional 2025 first-round draft pick. 

Tkachuk, coming off career bests of 42 goals, 62 assists and 104 points this past season, signed an eight-year extension with Florida, a deal that will keep him with the team through the 2029-30 season. He said earlier in the week that he would not sign a long-term contract to stay in Calgary and that led to trade talks, with no shortage of teams hoping to land the 24-year-old. 

''Matthew is a tenacious, physical competitor who possesses a tremendously unique skillset,'' Panthers general manager Bill Zito said. ''He is a consistent elite offensive contributor and has emerged as one of the most complete and dynamic young players in the National Hockey League. We are thrilled to be able to add a generational talent to our lineup.'' 

The Flames, who recently lost standout forward Johnny Gaudreau to free agency, get back a big-time playmaker in Huberdeau, who tied a career best with 30 goals last season, while setting personal bests with an NHL-high 85 assists and 115 points. Only Connor McDavid (123) had more points last season than Huberdeau, the Florida franchise leader in games, assists and points.  

''We would like to thank Jonathan and MacKenzie for their immense contributions to the Florida Panthers, both on and off the ice, during their tenures in South Florida,'' Zito said. ''They have both blossomed into exceptional athletes and people. Their contributions as players and people made an indelible mark on our franchise.'' 

Weegar tallied eight goals with 36 assists last season in 80 games for the Panthers, who had a league-best 122 points in 2021-22 and won a playoff round for the first time since 1996 before they were swept by Tampa Bay in the second round.  

Both Huberdeau and Weegar are set to be unrestricted free agents next summer.