Penguins Take Game One Late

Bryan Rust (Notre Dame) opened the scoring in the first period, Conor Sheary (UMass) added to it, and Nick Bonino (Boston University) finished it in the third on Monday night as the Pittsburgh Penguins took Game One of the 2016 Stanley Cup Final, 3-2, over the visiting San Jose Sharks.

Pittsburgh, which is seeking its first Stanley Cup since 2009 and its fourth overall, jumped out to a 2-0 lead after one period, only to watch the Sharks, who are making their finals debut after 25 years, tie it up with two goals in the second stanza. The two teams then went back and forth until Bonino, a former San Jose draft choice, wristed home a shot from the slot with less than three minutes remaining in regulation for the win.

The Penguins outshot the Sharks, 41-26, but were 0-for-3 on the power play. San Jose was 1-for-2 with the man advantage, but couldn't get anything going on its second power play just after the hosts took back the lead late in the game. Game Two is Wednesday night (8 p.m., NBCSN) at Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh.

Sharks to Meet Penguins for Stanley Cup Silver

The 2016 Stanley Cup Final is set.

Bryan Rust (Notre Dame) scored both Pittsburgh goals on Thursday night as the Penguins edged the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning, 2-1, in Game 7 to claim the Eastern Conference. One night earlier, Joe Pavelski (Wisconsin) tallied the game-opening goal and Joel Ward (PEI) added two more scores as the host San Jose Sharks eliminated the St. Louis Blues, 5-2, and won the Western Conference in six games.

Game One of the Stanley Cup Final will be held Monday night in Pittsburgh. The Penguins have won three Cups (1991, 1992, 2009) in four all-time Final appearances, and were runners-up in 2008. The Sharks, who came into existence during the Penguins inaugural championship run, are seeking their inaugural NHL title after a quarter-century of play.

Penguins Force Game Seven

Bryan Rust (Notre Dame) and Chris Kunitz (Ferris State) combined on an insurance goal with just over two minutes remaining in regulation, and Nick Bonino (Boston University) tallied an empty-net goal to make it official as the Pittsburgh Penguins survived with a 5-2 win at Tampa Bay on Tuesday night in Game 6 of the best-of-seven Eastern Conference final of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Game 7 is set for Thursday night in Pittsburgh (NBCSN, 8 p.m. ET).

Phil Kessel (Minnesota) scored the first goal of the game on a first-period power play for the Penguins, who built a 3-0 advantage after 40 minutes. Brian Boyle (Boston College) scored both Tampa Bay goals in the third period to pull the Lightning to within 3-2, before Kunitz sent Rust in on a successful breakway with 2:08 left to send the now-tied series back to Pennsylvania for a deciding game.

In the Western Conference final, the San Jose Sharks can clinch their first-ever trip to the Stanley Cup Final with a victory in Game 6 tonight (NBCSN, 9 p.m. ET) over the visiting St. Louis Blues. The Sharks lead the series, three games to two. San Jose captain Joe Pavelski (Wisconsin) has three goals in the last two games for San Jose, and has tallied a league-leading 12 goals and 21 points in 17 playoff contests so far this spring.

Blues Alive, Lightning Seek to Clinch

The St. Louis Blues forged a series tie on Saturday night in San Jose. The Tampa Bay Lightning moved to within one game of the Stanley Cup Final on Sunday in Pittsburgh.

Paul Stastny (Denver) had two assists and Jaden Schwartz (Colorado College) set up another in the Blues’ 6-3 victory over the Sharks on Saturday as St. Louis knotted the Western Conference final at two games apiece. The six-goal outburst also broke a scoreless string of more than 157 minutes for the Blues. Joe Pavelski (Wisconsin) scored the first Sharks’ goal, as San Jose lost for the first time since Game 1. Game 5 will be held on Monday in Missouri.

A shot by Jason Garrison (Minnesota-Duluth) was deflected home just 53 seconds into overtime on Sunday as the Tampa Bay Lightning completed their comeback from a two-goal deficit with a 4-3 win over the Penguins in Pennsylvania. Alex Killorn (Harvard) also scored for the Lightning, who surrendered the first two goals of the game and then fell behind, 3-2, on a goal by Pittsburgh’s Chris Kunitz (Ferris State). Tampa Bay then knotted matters with 3:16 remaining in regulation before Garrison helped win it. Brian Dumoulin (Boston College) tallied his first career NHL playoff goal in the final second of the first period. Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final is Tuesday in Tampa.

Sharks Tie Series in St, Louis

Tommy Wingels (Miami) wristed home a shot from the slot just over two minutes into Game Two of the Western Conference semifinals on Tuesday night in Missouri. That goal was all the San Jose Sharks needed en route to a 4-0 victory over the St. Louis Blues that tied the best-of-seven NHL Stanley Cup Playoff series at one game apiece.

Joe Pavelski (Wisconsin) picked up an assist as the Sharks connected on two of five power plays at Scottrade Center. The Blues, who got 20 saves from Pavelski's former NCAA teammate, Brian Elliott (Wisconsin), were blanked in six man-advantage attempts despite outshooting San Jose, 26-24, overall. Game 3 is Thursday night in California (9 p.m. ET, NBCSN).

Pittsburgh Ties Series with Tampa Bay

Bryan Rust (Notre Dame) and Brian Dumoulin (Boston College) assisted on Sidney Crosby’s game-winning goal 40 seconds into overtime Tuesday night as the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning, 3-2, in Game Two of their Eastern Conference semifinal series of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Phil Kessel (Minnesota) scored Pittsburgh’s second goal, assisted by Nick Bonino (Boston University) and Carl Hagelin (Michigan), to give the Penguins a 2-0 lead at the time. J.T. Brown (Minnesota-Duluth) and Matt Carle (Denver) set up Tampa Bay’s second goal in the last minute of the first period, by Jonathan Drouin, that tied the contest. Pittsburgh outshot Tampa Bay, 41-21, overall on the night at Consol Energy Center, while both teams were blanked in a combined total of three power-play attempts, two by the Pens.

The series is now tied at one win apiece, with Game Three to be played Wednesday night in Tampa (7 p.m. ET, NBCSN). It is not yet known if Lightning No. 1 netminder Ben Bishop (Maine) will return from a lower-body injury suffered in Game One on Friday, a 3-1 Tampa Bay victory.

Fairbanks Wins NAHL Title

Brown University commit Gavin Nieto made 31 saves for the shutout as the Fairbanks Ice Dogs won their third Robertson Cup as champions of the North American Hockey League. The Ice Dogs bested the Wichita Falls Wildcats, 2-0, in Edina, Minn. yesterday to win their second Cup in three seasons.

Reggie Lutz tallied the game-winning goal on Sunday, and was named the tournament MVP after scoring five of Fairbanks' seven total goals in three games, including a two-step semifinal sweep of the Aston (Pa.) Rebels. The Ice Dogs, who also finished as this year's NAHL regular-season champion with a 48-9-3 record (101 points), bested the Coulee Region Chill in four games and the Minnesota Wilderness in five outings en route to the semifinals.

Justin Kapelmaster, who is committed to Ferris State, stopped 29 shots for the Wildcats, who were seeking their first NAHL crown, in the championship contest. Fairbanks won its inaugural NAHL title in 2011.

Blues Rout Stars in Game 7

David Backes (Minnesota State) and Paul Stastny ( Denver) scored goals, and Brian Elliott (Wisconsin) made 31 saves as the St. Louis Blues advanced to the third round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a 6-1 rout of the Dallas Stars on Wednesday night in Game 7 in Texas. The Blues, who will have home-ice advantage throughout the rest of the NHL postseason, advanced to the Western Conference final for the first time in 15 years, and will meet the winner of tonight's seventh game between Nashville and San Jose.

The Blues jumped out to a 3-0 lead after 20 minutes Wednesday and held on for their second Game 7 victory this spring, having eliminated the defending NHL champion Chicago Blackhawks in a Game 7 in St. Louis last month. Stastny finished with a goal and two assists last night, while Backes, Colton Parayko (Alaska Fairbanks), Jaden Schwartz (Colorado College) and Kevin Shattenkirk (Boston University) all added assists. Patrick Eaves (Boston College) scored the lone goal for Dallas, the top team in the West during the regular season, with an assist going to Alex Goligoski (Minnesota).

Penguins Eliminate Capitals in Game 6

Jay Beagle (Alaska Anchorage) made the save of the game. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to stop the Washington Capitals’ 2015-16 NHL campaign from ending.

Nick Bonino (Boston University) backhanded home the rebound of a shot by Carl Hagelin (Michigan) 6:32 into overtime Tuesday night to lift the host Pittsburgh Penguins to a 4-3 victory over the Caps in Game 6 of an Eastern Conference semifinal series at Consol Energy Center in Pennsylvania. The goal came several minutes after Beagle had slid through the Washington crease to stick away an opposing shot.

Phil Kessel (Minnesota) also assisted on Bonino’s goal, and scored two goals of his own while Hagelin added another as the Pens won the series in six games. Pittsburgh, which has now won eight of nine Stanley Cup playoff series all-time against Washington, will face Tampa Bay, a six-game winner over the New York Islanders, for the Eastern Conference crown, which was won last season by the Lightning.

The Capitals, who finished with the best regular-season record in the NHL this season, battled back from a 3-1 deficit after 40 minutes with two goals in the third period Tuesday thanks to three consecutive Pittsburgh delay-of-game penalties. Washington, however couldn't complete the comeback and force Game 7, and again couldn’t advance to the Eastern Conference final for the first time since 1998.

Morris Takes Over at St. Lawrence

Former Clarkson University head coach Mark Morris is the new bench boss at North Country rival St. Lawrence University.

Morris, who coached the Golden Knights from 1988 to 2002 and led them to nine NCAA Tournament berths in 15 seasons, will take over at Appleton Arena this fall in place of Greg Carvel, who left Canton last month to take the top job at Massachusetts.

A 1981 Colgate graduate, Morris, 58, posted a 306-156-42 mark in Potsdam, according to USCHO.com. He guided Clarkson to five Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference hockey regular-season championships and three league tournament titles in his tenure, plus five consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances from 1995 to 1999. 

Morris, who was an assistant at both Union College and St. Lawrence prior to taking over at Clarkson, according to hockeydb.com, has spent the time since Clarkson coaching professional and prep school hockey. He is the only head coach to win at least 300 games both professionally and in college hockey in North America.

A native of Massena, N.Y., Morris was a four-year letterman on the blueline at Colgate, tallying 73 points in 116 career games for the Raiders while helping them to the NCAA Tournament as a senior. He then played professionally with Dallas (CHL) and New Haven (AHL) before embarking on his coaching career with Union in 1984-85.