TAMPA, Fla. (AP) Alex Ovechkin had a power-play goal and an assist in his Eastern Conference finals debut, leading the Washington Capitals to a 4-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday night.

Braden Holtby stopped 19 shots and Michal Kempny, Jay Beagle and Lars Eller also scored for the Caps, who are alive beyond the second round of the playoffs for the first time in Ovechkin's brilliant 13-year career.

Steven Stamkos and Ondrej Palat scored for Tampa Bay, which trailed 4-0 heading into the third period.

Game 2 is Sunday night at Amalie Arena, where Tampa Bay also lost Game 1 in the second round against Boston.

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Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy was yanked from Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Washington Capitals after allowing four goals on 25 shots. Louis Domingue replaced him to begin the third period.

Vasilevskiy had played every minute in the Lightning crease this postseason prior to being pulled.

Domingue has no NHL postseason experience, but he managed to post a .914 save percentage and a 2.89 goals-against average with the Lightning this year after a midseason trade from the Arizona Coyotes.

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Lou Lamoriello could indeed be making a return to the Tri-State Area.

The former Toronto Maple Leafs and New Jersey Devils general manager is now talking with the New York Islanders about a position within that organization, Sportsnet's John Shannon reports.

Sources insisted to The Athletic's Arthur Staple on Thursday that Lamoriello has no intention of staying on with the Leafs in a senior advisor position as originally planned.

Kyle Dubas was promoted to the Maple Leafs' GM role Friday, less than two weeks after team president Brendan Shanahan revealed Lamoriello would not continue in that capacity.

The 75-year-old had been Toronto's GM since 2015.

Lamoriello's son, Chris, is the Islanders' assistant general manager, and the elder Lamoriello served as president and GM of the Devils for nearly 30 years.

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Alex Ovechkin made the Tampa Bay Lightning pay for getting a little greedy.

The Washington Capitals captain blasted one home in the dying seconds of the first period to give his club a 2-0 lead in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final on Friday night.

Ovechkin's goal came on the ensuing faceoff after Nikita Kucherov's impressive tying marker was disallowed because the Lightning were caught with too many men on the ice.

It turned out to be a good call by the officials.

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A number of the Nashville Predators' core players have elected not to hang up their skates just yet.

A day after being eliminated in a blowout Game 7 by the Winnipeg Jets, seven members of the Predators signed on to play at the World Championship, the team confirmed.

Filip Forsberg, Viktor Arvidsson, and Mattias Ekholm will join Sweden, Roman Josi and Kevin Fiala will play for Switzerland, Nick Bonino will represent the Americans, and Eeli Tolvanen will suit up for Finland.

Sweden and the United States currently lead their respective groupings, while Switzerland sits tied for third in Group A and Finland ranks third in Group B.

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The Washington Capitals will be without Nicklas Backstrom for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Swedish center left Game 5 of the second round against the Pittsburgh Penguins with an upper-body injury and proceeded to miss the series-clinching Game 6.

Even though the Capitals were able to beat the Penguins without Backstrom, his absence can't be understated. He had yet another 70-point regular season and was off to a strong start in the postseason, collecting 13 points in 11 games.

Lars Eller will once again be counted on for big minutes down the middle in Backstrom's absence.

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Patrick Kane and Charlie McAvoy each had a game-high two goals and five points as the Americans continued to cruise through the round robin with a 13-1 win over Korea on Friday.

Korea actually held the lead at one point, scoring the game's opening goal courtesy of a power-play tally from Jin Hui Ahn just over five minutes into the game.

However, it was all USA from that point on, as the Americans responded with four goals to close out the first period.

Derek Ryan and Cam Atkinson also chipped in with two goals apiece with the remainder of the team's goals coming from Tage Thompson, Neal Pionk, Blake Coleman, Anders Lee, and Sonny Milano.

Scott Darling had a fairly quiet afternoon in goal, turning away nine of the 10 shots thrown his way.

The Americans will enjoy a day off before their meeting with Norway. Meanwhile, Korea gets right back to it with a clash against Denmark on Saturday.

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The Humboldt Broncos will be back on the ice for the 2018-19 SJHL season, the team announced in a release Friday, per ESPN's Emily Kaplan.

The team's season was put on hold after a fatal bus crash in April killed 16 people, including the head coach, players, and staff members within the organization.

In wake of the tragedy, the hockey community offered its unending support and a GoFundMe campaign raised over $15 million in donations from across the world.

Now, the club wants to return to hockey, and the Broncos are beginning with a search for a new head coach and general manager this week. The previous holder of both titles, Darcy Haugen, was killed in the crash.

"Darcy Haugen was selfless, inspirational, and motivating, building up his players to be great ambassadors and role models both on the ice and in the community," Broncos president Kevin Garinger said. "He was the coach every player wanted, and that other coaches wanted to emulate. As a general manager, Darcy made smart decisions and was driven to ensure the Broncos organization succeeded in every aspect of its operations. He took our team to new heights - it will be incredibly difficult to find someone that can rise to his standards."

The Broncos also announced they will hold an invite-only tryout for 80 players May 27-28.

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Bet on the Bolts.

The latest odds favor the Tampa Bay Lightning to win the Stanley Cup, which would mark the franchise's first championship since 2004.

Meanwhile, the top odds also favor the Lightning's conference finals matchup against the Washington Capitals to last either five or seven games:

In the Western Conference, oddsmakers anticipate the Winnipeg Jets to eliminate the Vegas Golden Knights in Round 3, earning the right to line up against the Lightning in the Stanley Cup Finals:

The conference finals kick off Friday when the Lightning and Capitals will face off, while the Jets and Golden Knights get underway Saturday.

(Odds courtesy: Bodog)

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