Steven Stamkos

Even Vezina Trophy winners can look human when staring down Steven Stamkos. In the first period, Stamkos foiled Tim Thomas with what the goalie termed a perfect shot - a wrister from the right circle that slipped through the puckstopper. In the third, during a power play, Stamkos set up at his preferred work station: the left circle. With the help of a Dennis Seidenberg screen, Stamkos hammered home a one-timer so fast that it would have needed clearance from air traffic control at Logan Airport.

Steven Stamkos scored his 60th goal of the season and Teddy Purcell had a hat trick — including the overtime winner — and the Tampa Bay Lightning ended their season with a 4-3 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday. Fans recognized Stamkos' feat and gave him a standing ovation after Martin St. Louis sent a pass to the front of the net and Stamkos fired it over Ondrej Pavelec's glove at 3:29 of the third period. Only Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals has reached the 60-goal mark since 1996.

Joffrey Lupul had a goal and three assists, and the Toronto Maple Leafs killed four early power plays — including a two-man advantage — in a 7-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday night. The Maple Leafs, who own the NHL's worst penalty-killing unit, worked on short-handed situations in practice on Monday, and it paid off. Carl Gunnarsson, Mikhail Grabovski, Darryl Boyce, Matt Frattin, Dion Phaneuf and Phil Kessel added goals for Toronto (19-15-5). Vincent Lecavalier, Steven Stamkos and Pavel Kubina scored for the Lightning (17-18-3)

Steven Stamkos scored his 59th goal of the season, but Dion Phaneuf scored the game-winner in overtime for the Toronto Maple Leafs in a 3-2 victory against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night. Stamkos is trying to become the NHL's first 60-goal scorer since Washington's Alex Ovechkin had 65 in the 2007-08 season, and just the second player to reach that mark in the last 15 years. He badly wanted to get the job done in his hometown — "Oh yeah, it'd be special," he said before the game — but heads to Winnipeg instead needing a goal in Tampa's final game on Saturday.

Steven Stamkos scored his NHL-leading 56th goal of the season 45 seconds into overtime to give the Tampa Bay Lightning a 3-2 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday night. Stamkos picked up his NHL-record fifth OT goal in one season, scoring from the left circle. Ryan Malone scored twice, giving him five goals in the past two games, for the Lightning. Goalie Sebastien Caron made his second appearance since signing with Tampa Bay on March 19 and his first NHL start since Nov. 10, 2006.

Steven Stamkos had two goals and an assist, Mathieu Garon made 24 saves and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Florida Panthers 5-1 on Saturday night. Martin St. Louis, Tom Pyatt and Ryan Malone also scored for the Lightning, who were coming off a 2-1 overtime victory at Florida on Friday night. Garon stopped four shots by former Lightning left wing Sean Bergenheim during the opening period. The goalie turned aside 23 shots in Friday's victory over the Panthers. Tampa Bay took control during the second when goals by Pyatt, Stamkos and Malone made it 4-0. Stamkos got...

Niklas Backstrom rebounded from a rough game and an early exit with 32 saves, and the Minnesota Wild stopped a two-game losing streak with a 3-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday night. Steven Stamkos scored again for the Lightning, but Cal Clutterbuck's short-handed goal and Pierre-Marc Bouchard's go-ahead score in the second period gave the Wild all the offense they needed. Mikko Koivu had an assist and an empty-net goal to pad the lead in a quick, clean game that featured only four penalties.

Troy Brouwer got his first career hat trick, and Alex Ovechkin also scored Friday night as the Washington Capitals took a 4-3 victory that handed the Tampa Bay Lightning a sixth straight loss. Brouwer scored in each period for the Capitals, who have won six straight at home and six of eight overall to move back into playoff position in the Eastern Conference. Tomas Vokoun made 28 saves to follow up his 1-0 shutout of the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday. Washington is 11-9-1 since Dale Hunter replaced Bruce Boudreau as coach in late November.

After losing Game 7 to the Stanley Cup-bound Bruins, the Tampa Bay Lightning drowned their sorrows at the Beacon Hill bar 21st Amendment. More than a dozen Lightning players, including bloodied star Steven Stamkos and UVM product Martin St. Louis , stopped in for a few cold beverages. Despite taking a puck to the face earlier in the night, Stamkos seemed to enjoy himself, posing for photos with ebullient B’s fans. Likewise, St. Louis was all smiles, demonstrating his agility at one point by doing a handstand.

Andrew Ladd scored two goals and added an assist as the Winnipeg Jets jumped up in the Eastern Conference standings with a 4-3 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night. Tanner Glass and Dustin Byfuglien also scored for the Jets (30-26-7), who vaulted into first place in the Southeast Division and third in the East with 67 points. Their leap was helped by Toronto's loss to San Jose and Minnesota's shootout win over Florida earlier Thursday. Steven Stamkos scored his 43rd goal and added a pair of assists for the...

Steven Stamkos scored two late goals, giving him a NHL-best 58 this season, and the Tampa Bay Lightning handed the playoff-hopeful Washington Capitals a damaging 4-2 loss on Monday night. Stamkos gave the Lightning a 3-2 lead with 1:03 left, just 2:14 after Jason Chimera tied it for Washington, when he put in a rebound after goalie Michal Neuvirth had stopped Brett Clark's shot from the blue line. Stamkos then scored into an empty net at 19:58. Washington, which also got a goal from Alexander Semin, is in eighth place in the Eastern Conference.

Steven Stamkos scored two late goals, giving him a NHL-best 58, and the Lightning handed the playoff-hopeful Washington Capitals a damaging 4-2 loss Monday night in Tampa. Stamkos gave the Lightning a 3-2 lead with 1:03 left, just 2:14 after Jason Chimera tied it for Washington, when he put in a rebound after goalie Michal Neuvirth had stopped Brett Clark's shot from the blue line. Stamkos then scored into an empty net at 19:58. Washington, which also got a goal from Alexander Semin, is in eighth place in the Eastern Conference.

Steven Stamkos scored his NHL-leading 56th goal of the season 45 seconds into overtime to give the Tampa Bay Lightning a 3-2 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday night. Stamkos picked up his NHL-record fifth OT goal in one season, scoring from the left circle. Ryan Malone scored twice, giving him five goals in the past two games, for the Lightning. Goalie Sebastien Caron made his second appearance since signing with Tampa Bay on March 19 and his first NHL start since Nov. 10, 2006.

Zdeno Chara is still going strong more than 1,000 games into his brilliant career. Boston's star defenseman was honored before the game for reaching that milestone then assisted on three goals to help the surging Bruins beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-2 on Tuesday night. "Everything he did was simple, efficient, and he was rock solid," Bruins coach Claude Julien said. "Obviously, this was a special night for him and he wanted to make sure that everything he did was good and positive.

BOSTON (AP) — Zdeno Chara is still going strong more than 1,000 games into his brilliant career. Boston's star defenseman was honored before the game for reaching that milestone then assisted on three goals to help the surging Bruins beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-2 on Tuesday night. ‘‘Everything he did was simple, efficient, and he was rock solid," Bruins coach Claude Julien said. ‘‘Obviously, this was a special night for him and he wanted to make sure that everything he did was good and positive.

Even Vezina Trophy winners can look human when staring down Steven Stamkos. In the first period, Stamkos foiled Tim Thomas with what the goalie termed a perfect shot - a wrister from the right circle that slipped through the puckstopper. In the third, during a power play, Stamkos set up at his preferred work station: the left circle. With the help of a Dennis Seidenberg screen, Stamkos hammered home a one-timer so fast that it would have needed clearance from air traffic control at Logan Airport.

Milan Michalek scored three third-period goals, helping the Ottawa Senators withstand a Tampa Bay comeback attempt and beat the Lightning 7-3 on Tuesday night. Ottawa, which took a three-goal lead early on, went up 5-3 when Michalek scored a power-play goal at 12:12 of third. The left wing added two empty-goals, including a short-handed effort with 7 seconds left to give him 32 goals this season. Tampa Bay got within 4-3 when Steven Stamkos scored his league-leading 48th goal of the season during a power play at 5:41 of the third.

Dominic Moore scored the shootout winner to lift the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 4-3 win over the Panthers last night in Sunrise, Fla. Ryan Malone, Steven Stamkos, and Teddy Purcell also scored for the Lightning. Dwayne Roloson stopped all 29 shots he faced after coming in to relieve Mathieu Garon. Brian Campbell, Tomas Kopecky, and Mike Santorelli scored goals for the Panthers, who squandered a 3-0 lead and suffered their third straight shootout loss. Flames 2, Avalanche 1 - Miikka Kiprusoff stopped 32 shots and Mark Giordano and Curtis Glencross each had a goal as Calgary beat Colorado...