The Colorado Avalanche aren't wasting any time getting Cale Makar in the lineup.

Makar will make his NHL debut Monday night in Game 3 of Colorado's first-round playoff series against the Calgary Flames, the club announced.

The Avalanche signed the 20-year-old to a three-year, entry-level contract Sunday.

Makar's University of Massachusetts squad lost to Minnesota Duluth on Saturday in the Frozen Four national championship game.

He won the Hobey Baker Award as the top NCAA Division I men's hockey player after amassing 49 points in 41 contests this season.

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Chicago Blackhawks star Patrick Kane will once again lead the United States at the World Championship.

Kane was named the captain of the squad for the upcoming tournament by USA Hockey on Monday.

The 30-year-old winger will be representing his country for the eighth time on the international stage.

Kane captained the team to a bronze-medal finish at the 2018 worlds. He led the event in scoring and was named tournament MVP.

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Torey Krug and Jake DeBrusk will suit up for the Boston Bruins in Game 3 of their first-round playoff series against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday night, Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy told reporters after the morning skate.

Krug was leveled by Maple Leafs defenseman Jake Muzzin in the second period of Game 2 on Saturday. He left the contest and didn't return.

DeBrusk was cross-checked in the head by Leafs forward Nazem Kadri in the third period of the same game. He also left and didn't play another shift.

Kadri has a hearing scheduled for Monday afternoon with the NHL's Department of Player Safety to answer for the cross-check on DeBrusk.

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Jack Hughes and Kaapo Kakko are the No. 1 North American and international skaters, respectively, in the final draft rankings released Monday by NHL Central Scouting.

Hughes, the presumptive first overall pick in June's draft, has produced 48 points in 24 games with the U.S. national team development program's Under-18 squad this season. The 17-year-old center will turn 18 on May 14.

Kakko, an 18-year-old winger from Finland, notched 38 points in 45 contests with TPS Turku in 2018-19, and added four goals and an assist in five playoff games.

The New Jersey Devils won the draft lottery on April 9 and own the first overall pick. The New York Rangers will pick second.

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The International Ice Hockey Federation is attempting some damage control following Sunday's controversial finish at the Women's World Championship.

In a statement issued Monday, the governing body of international hockey explained why Finland's overtime winner was disallowed in the gold-medal game against the United States, which ultimately won in a shootout.

"All goals that were scored during the 2019 IIHF Ice Hockey Women's World Championship were reviewed by the IIHF video goal judge operations," the statement read. "The overtime goal scored by Team Finland against Team USA was reviewed and disallowed by the video goal judge operations, due to non-incidental goaltender interference."

Petra Nieminen scored the would-be overtime winner before it was reviewed and overturned after Finland already celebrated what it believed to be a historic home-ice victory.

The IIHF stated Monday that the video goal judge took two specific rules into consideration:

According to IIHF Playing Rule 186 v. Goaltender and Goal/Goal Crease Disallowed: An attacking skater who makes contact other than incidental with a goaltender who is out of his(/her) goal crease during game action will be assessed a minor penalty for interference. If a goal is scored at this time, it will not count.

According to IIHF Playing Rule 183 ii. Protection of a Goaltender: Incidental contact is allowed when the goaltender is in the act of playing the puck outside his(/her) goal crease, provided the attacking skater makes a reasonable effort to minimize or avoid such contact.

The governing body acknowledged that the on-ice official handed U.S. goaltender Alex Rigsby a tripping penalty on the play but clarified that penalties assessed on the ice aren't reviewable by the video goal judge.

With the 2-1 shootout victory, the United States won its fifth consecutive gold medal at the Women's World Championship.

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Joe Thornton seems to have enjoyed teammate Evander Kane's fight with Vegas Golden Knights forward Ryan Reaves.

The San Jose Sharks' elder statesman playfully chirped Reaves about the scrap when asked about it postgame Sunday night.

Kane and Reaves duked it out toward the end of Game 3 after jawing at each other from the benches.

The Golden Knights prevailed 6-3 to take a 2-1 series lead.

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Joe Thornton seems to have enjoyed teammate Evander Kane's fight with Vegas Golden Knights forward Ryan Reaves.

The San Jose Sharks' elder statesman playfully chirped Reaves about the scrap when asked about it postgame Sunday night.

Kane and Reaves duked it out toward the end of Game 3 after jawing at each other from the benches.

The Golden Knights prevailed 6-3 to take a 2-1 series lead.

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The league-best Tampa Bay Lightning are officially on the brink.

The Presidents' Trophy winners find themselves staring down a 3-0 deficit in their opening-round series against the Columbus Blue Jackets after dropping Game 3 by a score of 3-1. Despite this, Lightning head coach John Cooper sees a silver lining.

"There was a lot of positive energy in that room after the third period," Cooper said after the game, according to FOX Sports Florida. "Adversity hits in different ways and we haven't had a lot of it during the regular season and we have it now. We had adversity going into the third period and I thought we responded well and we've just got to carry that on.

"As far as I know, we're playing Tuesday, right? So, we're still alive."

After a lackluster opening 40 minutes, the Lightning outshot the Blue Jackets 17-8 in the third period. Team captain Steven Stamkos alluded to that as a possible turning point while preaching a one-game-at-a-time mentality.

"We pushed. We pushed hard. If anything, maybe we found a recipe to break some of their structure there," Stamkos said, according to Bryan Burns of the Lightning's official site. "Obviously, it wasn't good enough.

"We've got to win a game, just win a game, get it back to Tampa," he said. "It's tough right now, but we just have to find a way. There's nothing to save it for right now. We just have to win the next game and see where it takes us."

The Lightning - who tied the NHL record with 62 wins this season - are the first team to win the Presidents' Trophy and go down 3-0 in a first-round series since the Vancouver Canucks in 2012. Only four teams in history have recovered from such a deficit, with the last being the 2014 Los Angeles Kings, who went on to capture the Stanley Cup.

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