5:54 PM ET Associated Press BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) _ Mark Stone scored his tournament-leading eighth goal, Matt Murray made 39 saves and Canada beat the Czech Republic 5-1 on Saturday night to advance to face Finland in the world hockey championship final. “I think we can beat anybody in this tournament,” Stone said. “It’s just

4:48 PM ET Associated Press MONTREAL — The Montreal Canadiens have agreed to a three-year contract with defenseman Brett Kulak. The deal was announced Saturday and runs through the 2021-22 season, carrying an average annual value of $1.85 million. The 25-year-old Kulak appeared in 57 games for the Canadiens last season and set career highs

3:41 PM ET Sportsbooks are facing their second straight Stanley Cup sweat. Last year, as the expansion Vegas Golden Knights reached the Stanley Cup Final, Nevada bookmakers found themselves rooting against the hometown squad to avoid a multi-seven-figure loss. This year, they’re sweating the upstart St. Louis Blues, who have authored one of the greatest

8:28 PM ET Associated Press BOSTON — Boston Bruins leading scorer Brad Marchand returned without missing a shift after appearing to hurt his left hand Thursday night when the team held an intrasquad scrimmage to tune up for the Stanley Cup Final. The Bruins will have 10 days off between their sweep of the Carolina

7:59 PM ET Greg WyshynskiESPN ST. LOUIS — Erik Karlsson, Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski packed up their lockers and discussed varying degrees of postseason injuries Thursday, before addressing the fundamental question facing the San Jose Sharks this offseason: From this trio of star unrestricted free agents, which ones will return next season? Karlsson, 28,

6:56 PM ET Associated Press The National Women’s Hockey League is increasing salaries, offering a 50-50 split of sponsor-related revenues and improved benefits in an agreement reached with its players’ association. The union did not release any specific monetary figures in announcing the agreement Thursday. It’s a one-year deal with the five-team NWHL holding the

7:13 PM ET Associated Press KOSICE, Slovakia — Damon Severson and Mark Stone helped Canada escape to the world hockey championship semifinals, but the United States and defending champion Sweden dropped out. Canada beat Switzerland 3-2 in overtime Thursday night. Severson tied it with 0.4 seconds left on a goal confirmed by video review. Stone

5:54 PM ET Greg WyshynskiESPN Defenseman Slava Voynov will have his NHL suspension lifted at the midpoint of the 2019-20 season, according to a decision by Arbitrator Shyam Das. In April, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman ruled that Voynov would be suspended for the entirety of next season and the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs for “unacceptable

3:42 PM ET Associated Press ST. PAUL, Minn. — Mike Modano has decided to return to his NHL roots in Minnesota. The Hall of Fame center was named on Thursday as the executive adviser to Wild owner Craig Leipold and president Matt Majka, a newly created position that Modano will assume on Sept. 1. Modano,

10:57 AM ET The Ottawa Senators named D.J. Smith the team’s new coach on Thursday. Smith, who is the 14th coach in the franchise’s history, has been an assistant coach with the Toronto Maple Leafs the past four seasons. He replaces Guy Boucher, who was fired on March 1 amid a six-game losing streak and