BOSTON (AP) The Latest on the Stanley Cup Final (all times local):
8:25 p.m.
The Stanley Cup Final is underway between the St. Louis Blues and the Boston Bruins.
The Bruins leaned on two past championship teams in the lead-up to Game 1 on home ice. Bobby Orr scoring his famous 1970 Stanley Cup-winning overtime goal against the Blues was the final clip show on the video screens before members of the 2011 title-winning team fired up the crowd at TD Garden.
The Blues haven’t been back to the final since that 1970 series. They have reached the final three previous times and been swept each time.
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7:05 p.m.
NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly says the league will not hold exhibition games in China prior to next season. Daly cited the inability for the league to book what’s necessary for those games because of the country celebrating the 70th anniversary of the rise of communism there.
The NHL staged two preseason games in China in each of the past two years. The Boston Bruins, who open the Stanley Cup Final against the St. Louis Blues, went to China before this season.
Commissioner Gary Bettman said the league has not changed its stance on Olympic participation. The NHL sent players to five Olympics from 1998-2014 but did not for Pyeongchang in 2018, and the issue is expected to be discussed as part of collective bargaining talks.
Beijing is set to host the 2022 Winter Olympics.
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6:45 p.m.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman says the league will consider expanded video review after a couple of high-profile missed calls during the playoffs.
During his annual state of the NHL speech prior to Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final, Bettman says general managers will discuss potential expansion of video review at their meeting in June. Bettman says the league is ”very” concerned about slowing down games with extra reviews.
With Vegas leading 3-0 in Game 7 in the first round, Cody Eakin was assessed a major penalty for a hit on San Jose’s Joe Pavelski that the league told the Golden Knights was not the right call. The Sharks scored four times on the ensuing major penalty and won 5-4 in overtime.
San Jose also won Game 3 of the Western Conference final after on-ice officials missed a hand pass immediately before the overtime winner. That is not subject to review.
Currently, only goals can be reviewed – either by the situation room in Toronto or by coach’s challenge for offside or goaltender interference. Bettman did say the NHL likely won’t reduce what can be reviewed.
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1:05 p.m.
Vince Dunn is making progress to return to the St. Louis Blues’ lineup after taking a puck to the face in Game 3 of the Western Conference final.
Dunn practiced Monday for the third consecutive day and shed the full face shield he skated with over the weekend in favor of a regular visor. Coach Craig Berube says Dunn won’t play in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final in Boston but is getting closer to being ready for game action.
The 22-year-old defenseman missed the last three games of the West final after taking a puck off his left cheek. Asked if Dunn was talking better, captain Alex Pietrangelo joked, ”Yeah, his teeth are coming in.”
Dunn has seven points in 16 playoff games.
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12:40 p.m.
Brad Marchand is expected to play in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final despite leaving the Boston Bruins’ morning skate early.
Coach Bruce Cassidy says Marchand is good to go for the series opener against the St. Louis Blues, and Boston’s leading scorer in the playoffs did not have anything visible on his left hand when speaking with reporters. Marchand jammed the hand during a scrimmage Thursday night and skipped practice Sunday for maintenance.
Cassidy expects to match up the first line of Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak against the Blues’ top trio of Jaden Schwartz, Brayden Schenn and Vladimir Tarasenko. They’ve been on fire in the eight games since coach Craig Berube reunited them.
Berube said banged-up forward Robert Thomas is good to play Monday night. Vince Dunn will miss his fourth consecutive game with an upper-body injury, though Berube said the 22-year-old defensemen is getting closer to returning.
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