Sam Bennett scored one of his two goals in Florida’s three-goal first period, Sergei Bobrovsky made 17 saves and the Panthers beat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-0 on Thursday night to take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference final.

The Florida Panthers showed their championship mettle from last year's run to the Stanley Cup by taking control early in their 5-2 win against the Carolina Hurricanes to open the Eastern Conference final Tuesday night.

Carter Verhaeghe and Aaron Ekblad scored two tone-setting first-period goals while Sergei Bobrovsky remained strong in net as the reigning Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers beat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-2 in Tuesday night’s opener of their Eastern Conference final series.

Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 23 shots for his fifth career playoff shutout, Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Bennett scored and the Florida Panthers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-0 on Sunday night in Game 4 to even the Eastern Conference semifinal series.

Eetu Luostarinen had a goal and three assists to lead the Florida Panthers to a 6-3 victory against the Tampa Bay Lightning and advance Florida to the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 33 shots and the Tampa Bay Lightning came back to beat the Florida Panthers 5-1 to cut their deficit in the first-round series to 2-1.

The wild-card berth has suited Minnesota well.

Florida captain Aleksander Barkov missed the final 10:09 of the Panthers’ win in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference first-round series at Tampa Bay on Thursday night, after taking a hit from the Lightning’s Brandon Hagel.

Nate Schmidt scored his third goal in two games, Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 19 shots and the Florida Panthers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-0 to take a 2-0 lead in the first-round playoff series.

Matthew Tkachuk had two power-play goals and an assist in his first game after a two-month absence and the Florida Panthers opened defense of their Stanley Cup title with a 6-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning in the opener of the teams’ first-round playoff series.

Matthew Tkachuk returned to the lineup and was back to his old self quickly for the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night.

It’s been a long month for Aaron Ekblad.

Brad Marchand's debut in a Florida Panthers uniform was an unqualified success.

The Florida Panthers have been playing without injured top forward Matthew Tkachuk for a month.

The Florida Panthers welcomed the arrival of Boston Bruins captain Brad Marchand in a Friday trade that adds even more grit and experience to the Stanley Cup champions’ roster.

Connor McDavid scored at 8:18 of overtime in the 4 Nations Face-Off championship game to give Canada a 3-2 victory over the United States on Thursday night as the North American rivals turned what had been a tune-up for the 2026 Olympics into an geopolitical brawl over anthems and annexation as much as international hockey supremacy.

Johnny Gaudreau’s Columbus teammates were given a few options for how to handle their emotions during the Blue Jackets’ home opener.

Vladimir Tarasenko has brought Stanley Cup-winning experience to the Florida Panthers in their pursuit of the first NHL championship in franchise history.

This seems so fitting.

Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 23 shots, Sam Bennett and Vladimir Tarasenko scored, and the Florida Panthers are headed to the Stanley Cup Final for the second consecutive year after beating the New York Rangers 2-1 on Saturday night.

Anton Lundell broke a tie with 9:38 left and the Florida Panthers moved within a victory of returning to the Stanley Cup Final, beating the New York Rangers 3-2 in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference final Thursday night.

Sam Reinhart scored a power-play goal 1:12 into overtime, and the Florida Panthers topped the New York Rangers 3-2 to even the Eastern Conference Final at two games apiece.

Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 23 shots for his first shutout of the postseason, Matthew Tkachuk had a goal and an assist and the Florida Panthers beat the New York Rangers 3-0 on Wednesday night in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final.

Aleksander Barkov slipped through three Bruins defenders to score the go-ahead goal and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 16 shots to give the Florida Panthers a 3-2 victory over Boston and a 3-1 lead in their Eastern Conference semifinal series.

Taylor Moore and Monday qualifier Peter Kuest shot 8-under 64s to share the first-round lead in the Rocket Mortgage Classic.

With a couple of clutch saves in the closing minutes of Game 4, 27-year-old Vegas Golden Knights goalie Adin Hill has his team one win away from hoisting the Stanley Cup.

Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 32 shots for his first career playoff shutout, Sam Reinhart scored a power-play goal midway through the second period and the Florida Panthers moved one win away from a most improbable trip to the Stanley Cup Final by blanking the Carolina Hurricanes 1-0.

Matthew Tkachuk finished a feed from Sam Reinhart at the 1:51 mark of overtime to help the Florida Panthers beat the Carolina Hurricanes 2-1 for a 2-0 series lead in the Eastern Conference final.

Matthew Tkachuk beat Frederik Andersen in the final seconds of the fourth overtime to lift the Florida Panthers past the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 early Friday to open their Eastern Conference final series.

The Carolina Hurricanes and Florida Panthers are playing in the longest game in each franchise's history to open their Eastern Conference final.

Matthew Tkachuk scored six minutes into overtime to help the Panthers beat the Boston Bruins 4-3 and force their first-round playoff series back to Florida for a sixth game.

Taylor Hall and Jake DeBrusk each scored twice, Linus Ullmark stopped 41 shots and the Boston Bruins beat the Florida Panthers 6-2 in an Eastern Conference first-round playoff game Sunday.

Brandon Montour scored twice and the Florida Panthers had four third-period goals to beat the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Bruins 6-3 on Wednesday night and send Boston to its first loss in 10 games.

Augusta National has set the schedule to complete the weather-delayed Masters.

Brooks Koepka is a force in the majors again.

U.S. Amateur champion Sam Bennett is in contention at the Masters.

The second round of the Masters is done for the day after storms moved in and three pine trees toppled near spectators left of the 17th tee.

The Saudi-funded LIV Golf Invitational series has a few big names and aging champions.

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The Colorado Avalanche, Florida Panthers and Carolina Hurricanes are among the contenders looking to get over the hump this year and win the Stanley Cup.

The Florida Panthers have signed restricted free agent forward Sam Bennett to a $17.7 million, four-year contract.

Trade deadline acquisitions are already paying big dividends for teams that have advanced to the second round of the NHL playoffs.

Andrei Vasilevskiy wrapped up a series with a Game 6 shutout for the second straight time, stopping 29 shots in the Tampa Bay Lightning’s 4-0 victory over the Florida Panthers on Wednesday night.

Ryan Lomberg scored on a breakaway 5:56 into overtime to cap a furious comeback and give the Florida Panthers a 6-5 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 3 of their first-round playoff matchup.

Vegas Golden Knights goalie Marc-Andre Fleury has stopped 63 of 65 shots from the Minnesota Wild over the first two games of their West Division playoff series.

Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 32 shots, Steven Stamkos and Ondrej Palat had first-period goals and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Florida Panthers 3-1 on Tuesday night to take a 2-0 lead in their Central Division first-round playoff series.

The first-ever playoff game between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers could be tough to top.

Brayden Point scored two late goals, including the game-winner with 1:14 left in the third period, to lift the defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning over the Florida Panthers 5-4 to take Game 1 of their playoff series.

All divisional play through the first two rounds of the playoffs made a major impact at the NHL trade deadline.

(AP Photo/Christophe Ena)PARIS – In a first, the Tour de France winner wore a face mask on the podium Sunday, bright yellow to match the color of the iconic jersey so snug on his young shoulders. “Really, I was scared we wouldn't get to the end,” race director Christian Prudhomme conceded at the finish. And against the virus that doesn't care how old or young its victims are, how hopeful it seemed that the Tour's winner should come from the same generation asking itself: What is life going to be like for us? In an astounding reversal, he dethroned race leader Primoz Roglic, his countryman who had held the yellow jersey for 11 days. “Even in September, the Tour de France is magic!” Macron tweeted Saturday after Pogacar's demolition of Roglic in the time trial.

Denmark's Soren Kragh Andersen crosses the finish line to win the 14th stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 194 kilometers (120,5 miles) with start in Clermont-Ferrand and finish in Lyon, France, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2020. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, Pool)LYON – Soren Kragh Andersen broke clear in a fast-changing finish on the roads of Lyon to win Stage 14 of the Tour de France on Saturday. Primoz Roglic, the overall leader, had a drama-free day to finish safely and keep the yellow jersey he claimed last Sunday. After two sharp climbs and several attacks in the last 10 kilometers (six miles), Andersen broke away with three kilometres (two miles) left to finish 15 seconds ahead of the chasing pack. In a stellar Tour for Slovenia, Luka Mezgec took the sprint for second and Simon Consonni was third.

(Benoit Tessier/Pool via AP)LAVAUR The most furious day of racing so far at the Tour de France produced multiple winners Friday. Among them were Alexander Kristoff, the winner of Stage 1, and Caleb Ewan, who won Stage 3. In a mid-stage sprint and again later at the finish, Sagan picked up sufficient points to wrest back the jersey from Bennett. He also won Stage 5. ___More Tour de France coverage: https://apnews.com/TourdeFrance and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Australia's Caleb Ewan celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win the third stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 198 kilometers (123 miles), with start in Nice and finish in Sisteron, southern France, Monday, Aug. 31, 2020. (Benoit Tessier, Pool via AP)SISTERON Australian rider Caleb Ewan slalomed through the bunch to win a sprint finish and claim the third stage of the Tour de France on Monday. Julian Alaphilippe held onto the yellow jersey that he claimed with a dramatic stage victory a day earlier. With about 100 meters to go, Ewan trailed five other riders before slinging himself through a narrow slice of road near the advertising barriers, then darted to the left to overcome Sam Bennett and claim his fourth career stage win in the Tour. Ewan, who rides for the Lotto-Soudal team, won three stages last year, including the coveted final leg on the Champs-lyses.