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.

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Pending unrestricted free agent Alex Pietrangelo is starting to feel the pressure when it comes to which team he'll play for next season.

"It's been a little disappointing that (the St. Louis Blues and I) haven't been able to get a deal done, obviously," Pietrangelo said, according to The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun. "But this is the situation that we're in, we're over three weeks away from Oct. 9 (the beginning of free agency). ... There hasn't been much in terms of progress."

The 30-year-old signed a seven-year deal with the Blues in 2013 and has spent his entire career with the club that drafted him fourth overall in 2008. He's served as St. Louis' captain for four seasons.

Pietrangelo will be one of the biggest names in free agency if he hits the open market. He expressed his desire to stay in St. Louis but understands it may be difficult for the team to make room for him with just over $5 million in cap space this season.

"Yeah, I mean, there's players who have been in one spot their whole career but they change cities," Pietrangelo said. "I've been in the business a long time. I've been around. I've seen a lot of different things. I think you have to be willing to accept the fact that there may be a change one day. Whether it happens or not, it certainly changes your mindset and makes things a little easier if you ever get to that point."

He added: "My wife's family is here. We're really close to her family and my family is close with her family. But again, by the same token, it's a short period of time of your life in terms of trying to play the game. You just want to make the right choice for your family and do what's right."

Pietrangelo put up 16 goals and 52 points in 70 games during the 2019-20 regular season after helping lead the Blues to a Stanley Cup victory last year.

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Brayden Point provided the dagger in his return to the lineup as the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the New York Islanders 4-1 in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final to take a 3-1 series lead Sunday.

Lightning forward Blake Coleman tied the game 15 seconds after Brock Nelson opened the scoring for the Islanders midway through the second period, and it was all Tampa Bay after Coleman's marker.

Ondrej Palat tallied 12 seconds later, Point gave the Lightning an insurance marker early in the third period, and Pat Maroon added a late empty-netter to seal the victory.

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Tampa Bay Lightning star Brayden Point returned to the lineup for Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final versus the New York Islanders after a one-game absence.

Point was injured during the second period of Game 2 and didn't return to the contest. He was sidelined for Game 3, which Alex Killorn also missed due to a one-game suspension. Captain Steven Stamkos remains out, too.

The Islanders won Game 3 to go down 2-1 in the series.

Point is in the Conn Smythe conversation, as he leads the Lightning with 23 points in 15 games.

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