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The Dallas Stars are the gift that keeps on giving. Oddsmakers hung another terrible price and we pounced again, taking our Round 3 record to a tidy 7-1.

Like the Stars, let's finish strong.

New York Islanders (+160) @ Tampa Bay Lightning (-180)

There is a lot about this Islanders team that makes them easy to like. They're fiery and resilient, and they play a smart brand of hockey while leaving it all out on the ice on a nightly basis. But they're also tired.

New York has been playing intense playoff hockey since Aug. 1. While the team battled the Florida Panthers in the play-ins, the Lightning were coasting through the round-robin games. When the Islanders were exhausting their way through a seven-game series against the Philadelphia Flyers - including three overtime contests - Tampa Bay was recharging following a quick and straightforward series win over the Boston Bruins.

The Islanders have played a lot of hard minutes in these playoffs - Barry Trotz's system demands a lot from his players, and it's not uncommon for the wear and tear to catch up to them. And the fact of the matter is, you need a full tank to beat the Lightning.

New York is wearing down and Tampa Bay simply has too much firepower to overcome at less than full strength. There are no shifts off against the Bolts. They're four lines, three pairings, and a Vezina goalie deep. They come at you hard, and they come at you often.

To make matters worse for the Islanders, Casey Cizikas has officially been ruled out for the remainder of the series. Cizikas is a heart-and-soul guy and an integral part of New York's outstanding energy line. He's a key cog on the penalty kill, a spark plug, and someone who does all the little things.

It's been a great playoff run for the Islanders, and while it will offer little consolation right now, they're going to be very good again next season. But the Lightning have been the better team in this series, they're the most complete team in the NHL, and they will secure a deserved place in the Stanley Cup Final.

Pick: Lightning to win in regulation (-105)

(Odds source: theScore Bet)

Alex Moretto is a sports betting writer for theScore. A journalism graduate from Guelph-Humber University, he has worked in sports media for over a decade. He will bet on anything from the Super Bowl to amateur soccer, is too impatient for futures, and will never trust a kicker. Find him on Twitter @alexjmoretto.

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The Washington Capitals are set to hire Peter Laviolette to be the team's next head coach, according to TSN's Pierre LeBrun.

The deal is for three years, according to TSN's Darren Dreger.

Washington recently relieved Todd Reirden of his duties after two seasons behind the bench.

More to come.

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The Dallas Stars finished off the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 5 on Monday night to advance to their first Stanley Cup Final since 2000.

Stars forward Denis Gurianov scored on the power play in overtime to seal the 3-2 comeback victory. The opportunity came after Golden Knights blue-liner Zach Whitecloud took a delay of game penalty when he shot the puck over the glass in the defensive zone.

Vegas held a 2-0 lead early in the third period before Stars captain Jamie Benn cut the advantage in half. Round 2 hero Joel Kiviranta netted the equalizer in the dying minutes of the final frame to send the game to overtime.

Dallas netminder Anton Khudobin made 34 stops on the night, strengthening his case to be a Conn Smythe candidate at 34 years old.

The Stars will participate in their third Stanley Cup Final in franchise history. They defeated the Buffalo Sabres in 1999, then fell to the New Jersey Devils one year later.

Dallas awaits the winner of the Tampa Bay Lightning-New York Islanders series, which Tampa currently leads 3-1.

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With the conference finals in full swing, the NHL bubble continues to work.

From Sept. 6-12, the NHL administered 1,357 tests and recorded zero positive results for COVID-19, the league announced Monday. This marks the eighth straight week that the league has recorded no positives for the coronavirus.

The streak dates back to the week before players departed for the bubbles and includes six weeks of postseason action thus far.

Players and staff from the Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Islanders recently departed the bubble in Toronto at the conclusion of Round 2. They are now in the bubble in Edmonton.

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The Calgary Flames removed the interim tag Monday and named Geoff Ward the 20th head coach in franchise history. The new deal is for two years, according to TSN's Pierre LeBrun.

Named interim coach in November after previous bench boss Bill Peters stepped down, Ward guided the Flames to a 25-15-3 record over the remainder of the regular season. He also helped secure the team's spot in the postseason after eliminating the Winnipeg Jets in the qualifying round.

With just under a full season at the helm, Ward now hopes to spend this offseason improving his squad based on feedback from his players.

"One of my first jobs is going to be to talk to all the players," Ward said. "I really want to dig in with them, really get their feedback on how they felt during the season, and through the playoffs, areas where they think we're good, areas where they feel we can continue to get better.

"We want to talk about their roles, how they can continue to expand. I want some feedback from them on what they felt we can do better as a coaching staff in order to help them continue along the path we've started."

Ward first became an assistant coach in the NHL in 2007 with the Boston Bruins. He had a stint in the same role with the New Jersey Devils before landing in Calgary as an associate coach in 2018.

During his time behind the bench this season with Calgary, the Flames ranked fourth in the Western Conference in points percentage and eighth in the league. During that span, the Flames' power-play percentage of 25.7 also ranked second in the league.

Ward said he's using his team's first round elimination as an opportunity to watch the playoffs and learn from the remaining teams.

"I'm always thinking about moving ahead," Ward said. "So I've been spending an awful lot of time just watching the playoffs, taking what I feel we can use from the games that are being played, and how we can apply it with our team, and, you know, putting a plan together for some ideas to be brought up with Tre (general manager Brad Treliving) and the management team as to where do we move ahead from here with our team in order to make it better and take that next step."

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Back-to-back sweeps - the latest courtesy of the Stars and Lightning - push us to 6-1 in Round 2.

We haven't lost since Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals and don't plan to start again anytime soon.

Dallas Stars (+155) @ Vegas Golden Knights (-175)

I'm truly amazed at how generous sportsbooks still are during these playoffs. We've been taking advantage of the consistently terrible prices being hung on the Stars, dating back to the start of the postseason.

We were all in on Dallas at -118 to beat the Flames in Round 1, doubled down against the Avalanche at +1.5 games (-102) and to win Round 2 outright (+225), took them at +150 in Game 1 of this current series and +140 in Game 4, and sided with the club in several other games throughout the first two rounds. We've lost a couple of times with the Stars as well, but when you're consistently getting around +150 on the moneyline, there's hardly a dent.

How in the world are we still getting such a generous price with Dallas on a nightly basis? This team has stuck to their game throughout the playoffs and have executed it flawlessly. They're generating consistent offense and capitalizing on their chances - an important quality for a Stanley Cup winner - while continuing to limit quality offense against at five-on-five.

Add in some fine goaltending - Anton Khudobin is playing his best hockey of the playoffs in this series - and a Knights team needing a lot of chances to score, and it's just a bad matchup for Vegas, who remain massive favorites in every game. Regardless of what happens tonight, anyone not backing the Stars at +155 is betting the wrong way.

Pick: Stars (+155)

(Odds source: theScore Bet)

Alex Moretto is a sports betting writer for theScore. A journalism graduate from Guelph-Humber University, he has worked in sports media for over a decade. He will bet on anything from the Super Bowl to amateur soccer, is too impatient for futures, and will never trust a kicker. Find him on Twitter @alexjmoretto.

Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.