NEW YORK (June 3, 2022) – Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price is the 2021-22 recipient of the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, awarded annually to the NHL player who “best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey.” The award was presented by the Professional Hockey Writers Association (PHWA) to honor the late Bill Masterton, a player for the Minnesota North Stars who exhibited those qualities. Masterton died on Jan. 15, 1968, as a result of an on-ice injury. Price made his 2021-22 debut for the Canadiens, his 15th season in Montreal, on April 15, lifting the entire organization. “There’s just a presence when you have a guy like that in the dressing room. I know his calmness, his preparation, his work ethic. Sometimes Carey doesn’t need to speak to lead. And I feel that," head coach Martin St. Louis told The Athletic. The franchise's all-time leader for games and wins by a goaltender, the 34-year-old had undergone knee surgery in July 2021 following the team's run to the Stanley Cup Final. He also spent time away from the team while voluntarily taking part in the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program. "This is definitely tough," Price said, "but I've always been a fighter and I've always been a clawer so I'm not giving up. So I'm going to continue to do my best to prepare for next season." A $2,500 grant from the PHWA is awarded annually to the Bill Masterton Scholarship Fund, based in Bloomington, Minn., in the name of the Masterton Trophy winner. Other finalists for this year’s honor were Zdeno Chara of the New York Islanders and Kevin Hayes of the Philadelphia Flyers. For more on the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, including a list of past winners, click here. Breakdown of the voting is below.

via the NHL PR department, LIGHTNING LOOK TO STRIKE EVEN, RANGERS AIM TO KEEP ROLLING AT HOME After falling to New York in Game 1, the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Lightning will look to bounce back Friday at Madison Square Garden while the Rangers aim to extend their home winning streak to eight contests.' * Tampa Bay has gone on to win a Conference Finals/Stanley Cup Semifinals series after dropping Game 1 twice in franchise history – the Lightning did so in 2015 versus the Rangers and in 2021 against the Islanders. Tampa Bay owns an all-time record of 15-5 in the game immediately following a loss during a Conference Finals/Stanley Cup Semifinals, including a perfect 5-0 mark since 2020. * The Rangers, whose only loss at Madison Square Garden during the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs was a triple-overtime defeat in Game 1 of the First Round, will look to extend their franchise-record postseason home winning streak and become the first team with a run of eight or more contests since the Kings in 2013 (8-0). Mika Zibanejad (5-6—11 in 8 GP) and Adam Fox (3-8—11 in 8 GP) have each amassed a team-leading 11 points at Madison Square Garden this postseason, with the latter finding the score sheet in all eight home games contested by the Rangers.

from Dan Rosen of NHL.com, The Tampa Bay Lightning will try to extend one of the most impressive streaks in the NHL by winning their 18th straight game following a loss in the Stanley Cup Playoffs when they play Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Friday. The Rangers won Game 1, 6-2, at the Garden on Wednesday. But Tampa Bay has not lost back-to-back games in the playoffs since getting swept by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the first round in 2019, going 17-0 in games following a loss since 2020. "We as a group are pretty good as self-correcting and guys, they take losses personal," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said Thursday. "[Wednesday] night especially, as deep as we are right now and kind of the way the score got out of hand, it affects the guys. But I give them credit, they self-correct. They know what works for us and what doesn't and clearly saw what didn't work for us [Wednesday] night. I can't guarantee the result, obviously, but I expect better from us." The Rangers are ahead in a best-of-7 series for the first time this postseason. They were down 1-0 and later 3-1 against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round before coming back to win in seven games. They were down 2-0 and 3-2 against the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round but responded to win that series in seven games, too. continued