Hockey

The United States has routed France 9-0 to keep its perfect record at the ice hockey world championship. Cutter Gauthier led with a hat trick at Nokia Arena for the Americans to dominate Group A with six wins from six games. Goaltender Cal Petersen made 13 saves for the shutout. Switzerland beat the Czech Republic 4-2 to lead Group B with six victories from six games.

Matthew Tkachuk finished a feed from Sam Reinhart at the 1:51 mark of overtime to help the Florida Panthers beat the Carolina Hurricanes 2-1 for a 2-0 series lead in the Eastern Conference final. He had scored the winner in a four-overtime thriller less than two days earlier in Game 1. Florida won on the road for the eighth straight time in the playoffs and improved to 6-0 in overtime in the postseason.

The United States has shut out Denmark 3-0 to stay perfect at the ice hockey world championship. Alex Tuch scored one goal and added two assists for the U.S. to earn its fifth victory from five games. Goaltender Casey DeSmith stopped 22 shots. The Americans lead Group A and have secured a spot in the quarterfinals. Switzerland downed Canada 3-2 in a clash of two undefeated teams in Group B in Riga for a fifth win. The Czechs beat Norway 2-0 to join the Swiss in the last eight.

Brett Howden scored from behind the net off Dallas Stars goalie Jake Oettinger 1:35 into overtime to give the Vegas Golden Knights a 4-3 victory in Game 1 of their Western Conference final. Jamie Benn forced the extra time when he scored on a 6-on-5 with 1:59 left in regulation. William Karlsson scored two goals for Vegas. Teddy Blueger also scored a goal, Zach Whitecloud had two assists and Adin Hill stopped 33 shots. Roope Hintz and Jason Robertson each had a goal and an assist for Stars. Joe Pavelski recorded two assists, and Oettinger made 33 saves. Game 2 is Sunday in Las Vegas.

The Carolina Hurricanes and Florida Panthers played the sixth-longest game in NHL history to open their Eastern Conference final. The Panthers won 3-2 with only a few seconds left in the fourth overtime in Game 1 early Friday. It marked the 15th four-overtime game in NHL history. It also marked the longest game for each franchise in its history. Florida's previous record for longest game came in a three-OT game in the 1996 Stanley Cup Final. Carolina's previous record was also a three-OT game. That one came in the 2002 Stanley Cup Final.

Matthew Tkachuk beat Frederik Andersen in the final seconds of the fourth overtime to lift the Florida Panthers past the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 early Friday to open their Eastern Conference final series. Tkachuck took a feed from Sam Bennett after Florida had won a battle for the puck as Carolina tried to clear the puck. He then whipped a shot from the right circle past Andersen with 12.7 seconds left for the winner. It marked the longest game in either franchise’s history, as well as the sixth-longest game in NHL history.

Roope Hintz and teenager Wyatt Johnston scored goals and the Dallas Stars advanced to the Western Conference final with a 2-1 win over the Seattle Kraken in Game 7. Dallas moves on to play first-year coach Pete DeBoer’s former team, the Vegas Golden Knights. Game 1 of the West final is Friday night in Las Vegas. DeBoer improved to 7-0 in Game 7s. The 19-year-old Johnston made it 2-0 with 7:12 left, when he gathered a puck that ricocheted off the back board to the left of the Seattle net and scored. Jake Oettinger had 22 saves, and the only Seattle score came with 17.6 seconds left.

Jonathan Marchessault scored three goals for his second career postseason hat trick as the Vegas Golden Knights beat the Edmonton Oilers 5-2 in Game 6 of their second-round series to advance to the Western Conference final. Reilly Smith and William Karlsson also scored for the Golden Knights, and Ivan Barbashev had two assists. Adin Hill finished with 39 saves. Connor McDavid and Warren Foegele scored early in the first period for Edmonton, which led 2-1 less than three minutes into the game. Stuart Skinner gave up four goals on 17 shots through two periods, and Jack Campbell stopped all four shots he faced in the third. Vegas will next face the winner of the series between Dallas and Seattle, which heads to a Game 7 on Monday night.

Jonathan Marchessault scored three goals for his second career postseason hat trick as the Vegas Golden Knights beat the Edmonton Oilers 5-2 in Game 6 of their second-round series to advance to the Western Conference final. Reilly Smith and William Karlsson also scored for the Golden Knights, and Ivan Barbashev had two assists. Adin Hill finished with 39 saves.

The United States had to come from a goal down to outclass newcomer Hungary 7-1 for its second win at the ice hockey world championship. Canada had to do the same on the way to a 5-2 victory over Slovenia, the other team newly promoted to the top division. Nick Bonino scored two goals for the Americans and Rocco Grimaldi had a goal and two assists in Group A.

Jordan Eberle scored twice, Eeli Tolvanen had a goal and two assists, and the Seattle Kraken beat the Dallas Stars 6-3 to force a deciding Game 7 in their Western Conference semifinal series. Tolvanen's goal early in the second period gave Seattle a 3-1 lead. Rookie Tye Kartye beat Jake Oettinger with a wrist shot less than three minutes later, and the Kraken withstood several pushes by the Stars to send the series back to Texas. 

Defending champion Finland has rebounded from an opening loss to the United States by overcoming Germany 4-3 at the ice hockey world championship in Tampere. Sakari Manninen had two goals for Finland, and Mikko Lehtonen and Joel Armia also scored in the Group A game. France beat Austria 2-1 in overtime and Denmark downed Hungary 3-1 in the same group. In Riga, Marek Hrivik scored the decisive goal midway through the final period for Slovakia to edge host Latvia 2-1 in Group B. Switzerland shut out Slovenia 7-0 and Kazakhstan prevailed in a shootout over Norway 4-3.

Nick Cousins scored at 15:32 of overtime and Sergei Bobrovsky made 50 saves as the Florida Panthers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 in Game 5 of their second-round playoff series to advance to the Eastern Conference final. Aaron Ekblad and Carter Verhaeghe each had a goal and an assist for the Panthers. Morgan Rielly and William Nylander scored for the Maple Leafs, who had advanced in the playoffs for the first time in 19 years.