Lightning Close In on the Stanley Cup, and Carey Price Can’t Stop Them

By BY BEN SHPIGEL from NYT Sports Tampa Bay can win its second straight N.H.L. championship on Monday night with a four-game sweep of Montreal unless the Canadiens goalie can repeat his success from earlier in the playoffs.https://nyti.ms/3xi9pY2

Canadiens Are Still Out to Prove They Belong

By BY BEN SHPIGEL from NYT Sports Montreal, the playoff team with the fewest regular-season points, made the Stanley Cup finals behind its defense. But after losing Game 1 to the reigning champions, it must adapt one more time.https://nyti.ms/3x5zbPd

Islanders Quietly Close Their Door to the Stanley Cup Finals

By BY DAVID WALDSTEIN from NYT Sports Seeking their first trip to the championship round since 1984, the Isles took just 18 shots on goal in a loss to Tampa Bay, the Cup’s current owners.https://nyti.ms/3xUiBSn

Beer Cans and Baseball Caps Fly as Islanders Force a Game 7

By BY DAVID WALDSTEIN from NYT Sports After giving up a 2-0 lead, New York scored three straight goals, including one by Anthony Beauvillier in overtime, to steal a must-win Game 6.https://nyti.ms/3d9zgd0

For the Islanders, the Good Times Really Are Here Again

By BY KEN CAMPBELL from NYT Sports Four Stanley Cups in the 1980s gave way to bad decisions and bad luck. But the Islanders, one of the last four teams remaining in the N.H.L. playoffs, are finally on a roll.https://nyti.ms/3iDG4Da

Avalanche Are Cup Favorites, but Even the Islanders Can Dream

By BY ANDREW KNOLL from NYT Sports The playoffs open on Saturday with Game 1 between the Capitals and Bruins, one of the eight first-round matchups. Things look a little different this year.https://nyti.ms/3fiCStk

Avalanche Are Cup Favorites, but Even the Islanders Can Dream

By BY ANDREW KNOLL from NYT Sports The playoffs open on Saturday with Game 1 between the Capitals and Bruins, one of the eight first-round matchups. Things look a little different this year.https://nyti.ms/3ofjodd

John Muckler, Coach of an N.H.L. Dynasty, Dies at 86

By BY RICHARD GOLDSTEIN from NYT Sports He was a co-head coach and then the sole head coach of the Edmonton Oilers, and, with a core of Hall of Famers, skated to five Stanley Cup championships from 1984 to ’90.https://nyti.ms/3bi84II

One of the Lightning’s Cornerstones Was Out. The Other Stepped Up.

By BY CAROL SCHRAM from NYT Sports With Steven Stamkos injured for much of the postseason, Victor Hedman scored 10 goals to help Tampa Bay win its first Stanley Cup in the pair’s 11 seasons together.https://nyti.ms/3cLd1Z7

Hockey Needs Viewers. It Should Not Glorify Pain and Violence to Get Them.

By BY KURT STREETER from NYT Sports A promotional video posted by the N.H.L. that glorified pain showed a disturbing embrace of violence by the league. The post has since been deleted.https://nyti.ms/3jd6rNM

Miro Heiskanen Is Dallas’s Do-Everything Defenseman

By BY ANDREW KNOLL from NYT Sports Heiskanen, 21, leads all players at that position in points this postseason and has impressed greats like Nicklas Lidstrom with his play.https://nyti.ms/369HIpG

Lightning Have Championship in Sights After Winning Third Straight Game

By BY CAROL SCHRAM from NYT Sports Kevin Shattenkirk scored on the power play in overtime to give Tampa Bay a 5-4 win and a lead of three games to one over Dallas.https://nyti.ms/3mWtMFo

For the N.H.L. Bubble to Succeed, Everyone Had to Be Flexible

By BY CAROL SCHRAM from NYT Sports Broadcasters did interviews from high above the ice instead of rinkside. A popular cafe in Edmonton tailored its menu to athletes. And most players have gone weeks without seeing their families.https://nyti.ms/2RZBGQq

The Lightning Gain Stamkos, and the Lead

By BY CAROL SCHRAM from NYT Sports The Tampa Bay captain played less than three minutes, but scored in a 5-2 win over Dallas in Game 3.https://nyti.ms/301Icua

In These Stanley Cup Finals, One Coach Can’t Lose

By BY GARY SANTANIELLO from NYT Sports George Gwozdecky, a former Lightning assistant, once worked with Tampa Bay’s coach, Jon Cooper, and Dallas’s, Rick Bowness.https://nyti.ms/3mES9rj

Behind Their Power Play, Lightning Even the Series

By BY CAROL SCHRAM from NYT Sports Brayden Point and Ondrej Palat scored two of Tampa Bay’s three first-period goals in its 3-2 win on Monday.https://nyti.ms/3iVGFxo

Dallas Gets Goals From Unlikely Sources in Win Over Lightning

By BY CAROL SCHRAM from NYT Sports Defensemen Joel Hanley and Jamie Oleksiak each scored in the Stars’ 4-1 win, as Dallas took a 1-0 lead in the series over Tampa Bay.https://nyti.ms/2EgGai8

In These N.H.L. Playoffs, Backup Goalies Have Taken Center Stage

By BY CURTIS RUSH from NYT Sports By the second round, six regular-season backups were functioning as No. 1s. One of them, Dallas’s Anton Khudobin, is in the Stanley Cup finals.https://nyti.ms/2HfwJ3L

Lightning Eliminate Islanders to Advance to Stanley Cup Finals

By BY CAROL SCHRAM from NYT Sports Game 6, like Game 5, went to overtime with the Lightning on the power play. But this time, Tampa Bay won and moved on to the finals against the Dallas Stars.https://nyti.ms/3my0k8I

Dallas Stars Advance to Stanley Cup Final

By BY CAROL SCHRAM from NYT Sports Denis Gurianov scored a power-play goal in overtime of Game 5 to send the third-seeded Stars to the final for the first time in 20 years, eliminating the top-seeded Golden Knights.https://nyti.ms/32tBRt2