All posts by The Associated Press

Former NHLer Kevin Stevens gets probation in drug-selling scheme

BOSTON - A former NHL player who was on two Stanley Cup championship teams has been sentenced to probation for his role in the illegal sale of prescription painkillers.

Kevin Stevens was sentenced Thursday in U.S District Court in Boston to three years' probation and fined $10,000. He pleaded guilty in December.

The 52-year-old Massachusetts native was arrested in 2015 after a traffic stop and was found to be in possession of 175 pills. Prosecutors say he would supply the pills for another man to sell.

Stevens apologized in court Thursday. His lawyer said he was prescribed oxycodone after a serious on-ice injury in 1993 from which he has still not recovered.

Stevens was on the Pittsburgh Penguins 1991 and 1992 Stanley Cup-winning teams. He also played for the Boston Bruins, Philadelphia Flyers, New York Rangers, and Los Angeles Kings.

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Former NHLer Kevin Stevens gets probation in drug-selling scheme

BOSTON - A former NHL player who was on two Stanley Cup championship teams has been sentenced to probation for his role in the illegal sale of prescription painkillers.

Kevin Stevens was sentenced Thursday in U.S District Court in Boston to three years' probation and fined $10,000. He pleaded guilty in December.

The 52-year-old Massachusetts native was arrested in 2015 after a traffic stop and was found to be in possession of 175 pills. Prosecutors say he would supply the pills for another man to sell.

Stevens apologized in court Thursday. His lawyer said he was prescribed oxycodone after a serious on-ice injury in 1993 from which he has still not recovered.

Stevens was on the Pittsburgh Penguins 1991 and 1992 Stanley Cup-winning teams. He also played for the Boston Bruins, Philadelphia Flyers, New York Rangers, and Los Angeles Kings.

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Lindberg scores twice as Rangers even series with Senators

NEW YORK - Oscar Lindberg scored two goals, Henrik Lundqvist made 22 saves, and the New York Rangers beat the Ottawa Senators 4-1 on Thursday night to tie their Eastern Conference semifinal series at two games apiece.

Chris Kreider and Nick Holden also scored and Tanner Glass added two assists for the Rangers, who have won four consecutive home games this postseason.

Kyle Turris scored for Ottawa, and Craig Anderson made 17 saves before being replaced by Mike Condon for the third period. Condon finished with nine stops.

Senators star defenseman Erik Karlsson also left the game after the second period with an injury. Karlsson played during the first round with two microfractures in one of his feet from blocking a shot late in the regular season.

Game 5 is Saturday at Ottawa.

Lundqvist has stopped 48 of his past 50 shots after allowing six goals in the Senators' double-overtime win in Game 2.

Lindberg scored both of the Rangers' second-period goals. Glass, playing his second consecutive game, blocked Ben Harpur's shot and Michael Grabner grabbed the loose puck and broke in with Lindberg, who scored on a one-timer at 2:01.

Glass also helped set up Lindberg's next goal. He outworked Senators defenseman Cody Ceci for the puck behind the Ottawa net and sent it to the boards. J.T. Miller grabbed the loose puck and passed to Lindberg at the point for a 3-0 lead at 15:54. Lindberg also scored the Rangers' final goal in their Game 3 win.

Kreider made it 4-0 with a power-play goal at 10:45 of the third.

Turris scored at 13:34, but the Senators had trouble generating sustained pressure against Lundqvist and were sloppy with the puck at times.

For the second consecutive game, the Rangers controlled the first period. In Game 3, they scored the first two goals and outshot Ottawa 15-5. On Thursday, they outshot the Senators 11-7 and opened the scoring again.

Holden led a breakout from the defensive zone and sent a pass to Kevin Hayes at center ice. Hayes passed back to Holden along the left wing and he broke in toward the net and beat Anderson with a wrist shot that went over his right pad at 14:04.

The Rangers have scored the first goal in each game of the series.

NOTES: Lundqvist earned his 61st playoff win to tie Tom Barrasso for 13th on the NHL's career list. ... Senators Fs Bobby Ryan and Zack Smith returned to the lineup after leaving Game 3 with injuries. D Chris Wideman and F Tom Pyatt both made their debuts in the series. D Fredrik Claesson and F Tommy Wingels were scratched. ... Rangers F Pavel Buchnevich was scratched for the second consecutive game and replaced by Glass.

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Predators down Blues to take stranglehold on series

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - James Neal scored the game-winning goal with 6:57 left, and the Nashville Predators beat the St. Louis Blues 2-1 Tuesday night to take a 3-1 lead in their Western Conference semifinal.

Pekka Rinne outdueled St. Louis' Jake Allen with 32 saves, and the Predators are a victory away from reaching the Western Conference final for the first time in franchise history.

Ryan Ellis scored at 5:09 of the third to break up a scoreless game. Neal then scored with 6:57 left to crank up the Nashville celebration.

Joel Edmundson scored with 3:49 left as St. Louis avoided the shutout. Blues coach Mike Yeo pulled Allen late, but they couldn't beat Rinne again. Allen finished with 23 saves as the Blues lost consecutive road games for the first time since Feb. 28 and March 3.

Game 5 is Friday night in St. Louis.

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Predators down Blues to take stranglehold on series

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - James Neal scored the game-winning goal with 6:57 left, and the Nashville Predators beat the St. Louis Blues 2-1 Tuesday night to take a 3-1 lead in their Western Conference semifinal.

Pekka Rinne outdueled St. Louis' Jake Allen with 32 saves, and the Predators are a victory away from reaching the Western Conference final for the first time in franchise history.

Ryan Ellis scored at 5:09 of the third to break up a scoreless game. Neal then scored with 6:57 left to crank up the Nashville celebration.

Joel Edmundson scored with 3:49 left as St. Louis avoided the shutout. Blues coach Mike Yeo pulled Allen late, but they couldn't beat Rinne again. Allen finished with 23 saves as the Blues lost consecutive road games for the first time since Feb. 28 and March 3.

Game 5 is Friday night in St. Louis.

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Cam Talbot carries Oilers past Ducks to 2-0 series lead

ANAHEIM, Calif. - Cam Talbot made 39 saves, Patrick Maroon scored a power-play goal and the Edmonton Oilers moved halfway to the Western Conference finals with a 2-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks in Game 2 of their second-round series Friday night.

Andrej Sekera scored an early goal for the Oilers, who took the first two games on Pacific Division champion Anaheim's home ice. Talbot was the difference in Game 2, making all manner of impressive saves while Anaheim dominated the last 30 minutes.

Jakob Silfverberg scored and John Gibson stopped 21 shots for the Ducks, who had gone 18 games without a regulation defeat before this series. Anaheim has never recovered from an 0-2 series deficit, losing all seven series after digging that early hole.

Game 3 is Sunday in Edmonton.

Edmonton's first playoff appearance in 11 years is off to a rollicking start, with the Oilers following up their six-game defeat of defending Western Conference champion San Jose by taking two games from the five-time champions of their division.

Anaheim has lost two straight games after an 18-game run since March 10 without a regulation defeat.

Although the Ducks dominated long stretches of play, Talbot had the latest outstanding game of his first career postseason run as a starting goalie. After posting two shutouts in the first round, Talbot stopped 72 of 76 shots in the first two games in Anaheim, including a number of outstanding stops to frustrate the Ducks in Game 2.

The Ducks also hit multiple posts, particularly in the one-sided third period. Nothing could get by Talbot, who made most of his tough saves well before the final eight minutes.

After a four-goal third period in the series opener, the Oilers entered the rematch with plenty of the same energy. The sellout crowd was still finding its seats when Sekera scored just 65 seconds into Game 2, slipping a long shot past Gibson for the defenseman's second career postseason goal and his first since 2011.

Anaheim gradually turned the period in its favor, but couldn't score. Edmonton also had golden chances, such as Connor McDavid getting alone and untouched in front of Gibson during a power play, but couldn't cash in.

Honda Center fell silent when Jordan Eberle's puck toward the net hit Maroon's skate and arched over Gibson for the power forward's second goal of the playoffs.

Maroon spent two productive seasons with the Ducks before they gave up on him in February 2016, but he has reinvigorated his career up north with a 42-point regular season.

The Ducks kept up their pressure and finally beat Talbot on the power play with a typically wicked wrist shot by Silfverberg. The Swede got his fourth goal of the postseason, matching his career high from the 2015 playoffs in 10 fewer games.

The Ducks again played without two top defensemen. Sami Vatanen missed his fifth straight game with an upper-body injury, while Kevin Bieksa sat out with an upper-body injury incurred during Game 1.

NOTES: Edmonton F Drake Caggiula played just one shift after the first period, apparently due to an injury. ... The Ducks scratched F Nick Ritchie with an apparent case of the flu. Jared Boll replaced him, appearing in the fourth playoff game of his 10-year NHL career. ... The Ducks lost the first two games of a series at home twice in the previous three postseasons, eventually losing those series to Nashville and Los Angeles.

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Oilers hang on to beat Sharks for 1st series win since 2006

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Leon Draisaitl and Anton Slepyshev scored on breakaways in the opening minutes of the second period and the Edmonton Oilers advanced to the second round of the playoffs with 3-1 victory in Game 6 over the San Jose Sharks on Saturday night.

Draisaitl and Slepyshev each buried their chances for their first career playoff goals and the Oilers held off the Sharks after that to get the win in their first playoff series since getting to the Stanley Cup Final in 2006. Connor McDavid iced the game with an empty-net goal with less than a second to play for his first even-strength point of the series.

Patrick Marleau got the Sharks on the board with 7:48 left in the third period, but Cam Talbot didn't allow anything else on 28 shots to get the win.

Edmonton will take a young roster led by NHL scoring leader McDavid and eight other skaters under the age of 25 into the second round against Anaheim.

The defending Western Conference champion Sharks had a quick exit this year in the playoffs as they never fully recovered after blowing a two-goal lead in Game 5 in Edmonton.

Martin Jones made 18 saves, but couldn't stop the two breakaways and the offense failed to deliver in what could have been the final home game for longtime Sharks greats Joe Thornton and Marleau. The 37-year-old forwards are both free agents this summer and it is uncertain whether the Sharks will bring them back for another run.

The Sharks nearly got the equalizer on a late power play, but Joe Pavelski's backhand attempt hit the cross bar and post.

This game turned in the opening minutes of the second period. It started when Oscar Klefbom blocked Justin Braun's point shot and Adam Larsson sprung Draisaitl on a breakaway. Draisaitl held off Braun and then beat Jones between the pads to make it 1-0.

After having no points in the first four games and getting ejected in Game 4 for a spearing penalty, Draisaitl played a big role in the final two wins with a pair of assists, including one on the OT winner in Game 5, and the first goal in the clincher.

Just 56 seconds later, Slepyshev got into the action when Paul Martin mishandled a pass from Chris Tierney at the point. Slepyshev raced to the puck and got in alone on Jones on the goal to make it 2-0 just 1:50 into the period.

The Sharks finally found their game after that and put on heavy pressure late in the second period, but Talbot made a nice save on Marleau in alone and Marcus Sorensen hit the cross bar on another chance.

After dominating the overtime in their Game 5 win, the Oilers picked right up from there and controlled the play in the opening period of Game 6. They had the decided edge in shot attempts and scoring chances but neither team was able to score.

San Jose's best chance came short-handed when Talbot stopped Melker Karlsson alone in front.

NOTES: Klefbom did not play the third period with Edmonton. ... F Joonas Donskoi returned to the lineup for the Sharks in place of Timo Meier.

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Rangers eliminate Canadiens with Game 6 victory

Mats Zuccarello scored twice in the second period and the New York Rangers beat the Montreal Canadiens 3-1 in Game 6 on Saturday night to advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Derek Stepan also scored and Henrik Lundqvist stopped 27 shots to help New York get past the first round for the fifth time in six years. The Rangers won three straight after falling behind 2-1 to beat Montreal for the ninth time in 16 postseason series.

The Rangers will face the winner of the Ottawa-Boston series, which the Senators lead 3-2.

Alexei Emelin scored for Montreal and Carey Price finished with 20 saves.

The Canadiens, winners of the Atlantic Division after missing the playoffs last year, were bounced from the postseason by the Rangers for the second time in four years. In 2014, it was in the conference finals.

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Predators earn 1st sweep in franchise history with win over Blackhawks

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) Roman Josi scored twice, Pekka Rinne had 30 saves and the Nashville Predators beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1 on Thursday night to complete a surprising sweep of the Western Conference's top seed.

Colton Sissons also scored and Viktor Arvidsson added an empty-net goal as Nashville completed the franchise's first playoff sweep. Led by Rinne and a terrific defensive performance by their lines and defensive pairings, the Predators limited the high-scoring Blackhawks to just three goals in 13 periods.

Nashville will face the winner of the St. Louis-Minnesota series in the second round. The Blues have a 3-1 lead heading into Game 5 on Saturday in Minnesota.

Chicago became the first No. 1 seed to lose in the opening round since the Los Angeles Kings knocked off the Vancouver Canucks on their way to the Stanley Cup title in 2012. Chicago's second straight first-round exit followed a regular season in which the Blackhawks went 50-23-9 and recorded 109 points, the second-highest total in franchise history.

It was the first time a No. 1 seed was swept in the first round since the NHL adopted its current playoff format in 1994. The Blackhawks had the best record in the Campbell Conference and were the Norris Division's No. 1 seed in 1993 when they got swept by St. Louis in the opening round. That also was the last time the Blackhawks had been swept in a playoff series before Nashville's dominant performance.

The game was scoreless midway through the second period when Ryan Johansen won a faceoff against Marcus Kruger and passed to Ryan Ellis, who sent it to Josi on his right. Josi fired a slap shot from behind the right circle that got between Corey Crawford's legs and sneaked into the left corner of the net at 9:41.

Nashville extended the lead to 2-0 with a bizarre goal at 8:52 of the third. Colton Sissons fired a shot that bounced off the cage and appeared to end up in the area of Crawford's blocker before the puck came loose and rolled into the net. Less than 90 seconds later, Josi beat Crawford on a wrist shot.

Crawford was exceptional for the first 29 1/2 minutes, but he didn't get much help in the final part of the game. He finished with 22 stops.

In an attempt to create a spark, the Blackhawks shuffled their lines and star forward Patrick Kane played a team-high 23:43. They dressed seven defensemen - Michal Kempny made his playoff debut - and nothing worked.

Chicago avoided the shutout when captain Jonathan Toews scored at 14:42 of the third for his first postseason goal since Game 4 of the 2015 Stanley Cup Final. Toews had been held without a goal for 12 straight postseason games.

Arvidsson wrapped up the sweep with an empty-netter with 1:48 remaining.

NOTES: Predators forward Craig Smith was scratched after he got hurt in overtime of Game 3. ... The Predators brought out more Nashville star power by having Luke Bryan sing the national anthem. John Hiatt performed on a stage behind one of the nets between the second and third periods. Carrie Underwood, who is married to Predators captain Mike Fisher, sang the anthem Monday. ... The sellout crowd of 17,326 included Tennessee Titans coach Mike Mularkey and general manager Jon Robinson.

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Penguins eliminate Blue Jackets in 5 games

PITTSBURGH - Sidney Crosby and Scott Wilson scored 51 seconds apart in the third period, helping the Pittsburgh Penguins eliminate the Columbus Blue Jackets with a 5-2 win in Game 5 of their first-round series on Thursday night.

Bryan Rust scored twice for Pittsburgh, Phil Kessel added his second of the playoffs, and Marc-Andre Fleury finished with 49 saves. The defending Stanley Cup champions will face the winner of the Toronto-Washington series in the conference semifinals starting next week.

William Karlsson and Boone Jenner scored for the Blue Jackets, but Sergei Bobrovsky stopped just 27 of 32 shots to finish a forgettable series.

Columbus trailed by three in the second period but had a potential tying goal waved off in the third for interference. Pittsburgh responded immediately. Crosby's one-timer on the power play restored a two-goal lead and Wilson's backhand less than a minute later finished off the Blue Jackets.

Columbus avoided being swept with a spirited 5-4 win on Tuesday, extending the series by playing with the kind of desperation Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan insisted his team needed if it wanted to get some rest before the second round.

It's a refrain Sullivan has preached repeatedly over the last couple weeks and once again, the Penguins didn't listen.

And once again, they were able to get away with it thanks to Fleury. He fended off 15 shots in the first period alone, several of them from point-blank range. It gave the Penguins time to find their legs, and Kessel's wrist shot from the top of the circle 9:07 into the first put Pittsburgh in front.

When Rust scored twice less than three minutes apart early in the second - both of them on backhand rebounds - the Penguins appeared to be in control.

The Blue Jackets, trying to extend a breakthrough season that included a franchise-record 108 points and the sixth-best record in the league, showed one last flash. Karlsson and Jenner beat Fleury twice in 2:54 at the game's midway point and Columbus was right back in it.

The surge ended when Fleury flopped to the ground after Alex Wennberg clipped the goaltender as he fought off a check in the crease five minutes into the third. Columbus coach John Tortorella and the rest of the Blue Jackets bench erupted in anger. Things only got worse for Columbus when Crosby powered a shot from just above the goal line by Bobrovsky. Wilson pushed the lead to three when he casually tapped a backhand by a woefully out of position Bobrovsky.

The Russian led the NHL in goals-against average (2.06) and save percentage (.931) during the regular season but couldn't keep the league's highest-scoring team in check. Pittsburgh scored at least three goals in all five games and at least four in four of them to leave the Blue Jackets still searching for their first playoff series victory.

It's become old hat in Pittsburgh, which will have some time to rest before beginning the next step in its title defense.

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