The Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning open Game 1 of their first-round Stanley Cup Playoff series Sunday in Tampa, in one of the most evenly matched series in the Eastern Conference. MORE: 5 first-round bold predictions for the

The Tampa Bay Lightning will open the Stanley Cup playoffs on Sunday at Benchmark International Arena against the Montreal Canadiens, but they will do it without captain Victor Hedman in uniform. Hedman has not played since leaving a March 19 game and later taking a temporary leave of absence in late March.

The Tampa Bay Lightning are expected to get a boost for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Rookie forward Dominic James has been activated off injured reserve and is expected to be in the lineup Sunday against the Montreal Canadiens at Benchmark International Arena.

Geekie, 21, has skated in 57 games with the Crunch this season, recording 17 goals and 59 points with seven power-play goals to rank second on the team for assists (42) and points (tied). The 6-foot-4, 212-pound forward has played in 81 career AHL games, all with Syracuse, logging 28 goals and 79 points with 15 power-play tallies.

An Air New Zealand plane was struck by lightning on Saturday, the airline has confirmed. The plane, flight NZ281, was arriving in Auckland from Singapore when it encountered the lightning strike. Air New Zealand chief safety and risk officer Nathan McGraw said the aircraft required engineering checks on arrival into Auckland.

Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Charle-Edouard D'Astous left Game 1 against the Montreal Canadiens after a scary hit.

Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov moved up an esteemed playoff leaderboard in Game 1 against the Montreal Canadiens.