Colorado Avalanche win first Stanley Cup title since 2001 - CNN

(CNN) The Colorado Avalanche defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 in Game 6 to win the team's first Stanley Cup since 2001 on Sunday night. It's the team's third Stanley Cup title overall.

With the score tied 1-1 a little over halfway through the second period, Avalanche winger Artturi Lehkonen scored the game-deciding goal.

Colorado Avalanche players celebrate after defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals.

The Lightning won the last two Stanley Cups in 2020 and 2021.

Avalanche defenseman and 2021-2022 Norris Trophy winner Cale Makar was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player throughout the playoffs after scoring 29 points in the postseason.

"I was trying not to look at the clock too much. Just trying to stay in the moment." Makar said after the game.

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Stanley Cup Final: Avalanche beat Lightning to win championship

The Colorado Avalanche are Stanley Cup champions for the first time since 2001, thanks to a resiliency that had eluded them in recent years.

The Avalanche tied an NHL record with their 10th come-from-behind victory of the playoffs to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 in Game 6 Sunday night and end the two-time champions' reign.

Colorado star Nathan MacKinnon had his best game of the series with a goal and an assist in the second period to help the Avalanche clinch the franchise's third Stanley Cup with a 16-4 playoff record.

“It’s a relief. It’s a 20-pound weight lifted off our shoulders, and it means so much to bring this championship back to the city of Denver,” captain Gabriel Landeskog told NHL Network during the on-ice celebration at Tampa's Amalie Arena.

The Lightning, who were trying to send the series back to Denver for Game 7, got off to a good start when captain Steven Stamkos scored at 3:48 of the first period after a Colorado turnover.

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But MacKinnon tied it up at 1:54 of the second period on a one-timer during a delayed penalty. The Lightning argued that they touched the puck after the penalty, which should have resulted in the play being called dead, but the referees disagreed.

Artturi Lehkonen beat Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy at 12:28 to give the Avalanche their first regulation lead since Game 3. It ended up being his fourth game-winning goal and second consecutive series clincher.

Goaltender Darcy Kuemper, who was acquired in the offseason after Philipp Grubauer left in free agency, made that lead stand up with a strong save against Nikita Kucherov in the third period. He finished with 22 saves.

The Avalanche have steadily improved since finishing last overall in 2016-17 and had finished second, first and third overall the past three regular seasons.

Colorado got knocked out in the second round the last three postseasons, last year being particularly difficult because the Avalanche lost in six games to the Vegas Golden Knights after taking a 2-0 series lead.

"They had a tough end to last year," general manager Joe Sakic told NHL Network. "It stung. This group, right from Day 1 in training camp, they're preparing, they're doing everything they could to make this happen."

Sakic, the Avalanche's captain during the franchise's 1996 and 2001 championships, spent the 2022 trade deadline adding grit on the blue line and improving the penalty killing. Defenseman Josh Manson helped with both, and forwards Lehkonen, Nico Sturm and Andrew Cogliano kill penalties.

The moves also helped give the Avalanche the depth to overcome a season-ending injury to defenseman Sam Girard and missed games by Nazem Kadri, Andre Burakovsky and Cogliano. They swept the Nashville Predators in the first round and the Edmonton Oilers in the conference finals, and beat the St. Louis Blues in six games in the second round.

Cale Makar wins Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP

Norris Trophy winner Cale Makar was voted the winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP after recording 29 points.

Makar (23 years, 239 days) became the youngest defenseman in 52 years to win the Conn Smythe Trophy and third overall to do so at age 23 or younger, following Bobby Orr with the 1970 Boston Bruins (22 years, 51 days) and Serge Savard with the 1969 Montreal Canadiens (23 years, 102 days).

Lightning fall short of three-peat bid

The Lightning had to remake their depth in the offseason because of salary cap woes but got past the Toronto Maple Leafs, Florida Panthers and New York Rangers to reach the Final for the third year in a row. They won only Games 3 and 5 to fall short of the NHL's first three-peat since the 1980s, but they won 11 consecutive series.

"We just ran out of gas," Lightning coach Jon Cooper told reporters.

Cooper brought the entire coaching to the podium as he had after the previous championships.

"It's tough because it's so raw," he said. "We haven't been through this feeling in three years. ... I will always remember this team for what they endured, what they went through to get to this point. You have to marvel at them."

The Lightning never had home-ice advantage in the playoffs and had to deal with injuries, including having star Brayden Point for only two games since Game 7 of the first round. Cooper said other players played through injuries.

"What they went through was mind-boggling," he said. "We would have had half our minor-league team playing if it was the regular season. .... The heart of champions."

Around the rinks

Defenseman Erik Johnson, who has been with the Avalanche since 2011, was the second person to be handed the Stanley Cup after Landeskog first lifted it. He has dealt with injuries in recent years. "Last year, I thought I might have to retire, and here I am Stanley Cup champion with some of my best friends in the world," he told ESPN. "I'm so grateful. I can't believe it." ... NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly handled the postgame presentations because commissioner Gary Bettman has tested positive for COVID-19.

Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche, Tampa Bay Lightning ...

The Colorado Avalanche have won the Stanley Cup, and now general manager Joe Sakic has a busy summer ahead.

His additions through the years, particularly at this season's trade deadline, gave the Avalanche the depth they needed to break through the second round after three consecutive playoff disappointments, reach the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2001 and win their first championship since then. But he has a lot of players on expiring contracts.

The Tampa Bay Lightning, meanwhile, came up two games short of the NHL's three-peat since the 1980s and won't have as drastic a remake as last season.

What awaits the two Stanley Cup finalists in the offseason:

Colorado Avalanche

The Avalanche have about $26 million in cap space available, but a lot of potential unrestricted free agents.

They lost No. 1 goalie Philipp Grubauer to free agency last offseason and goalie Darcy Kuemper's contract is up this summer. Backup Pavel Francouz has two years left at a $2 million cap hit.

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Nazem Kadri, who scored the overtime goal in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final and recorded a second-round hat trick after receiving threats, is due a big raise from his $4 million salary after a career-best 87 points. So is Valeri Nichushkin ($2.8 million), who had a career-best 52 points and an impressive postseason.

Trade deadline acquisitions Josh Manson, Andrew Cogliano and Nico Sturm are UFAs and Artturi Lehkonen (two series-clinching goals) is a restricted free agent. Other UFAs include Andre Burakovsky, Darren Helm and Jack Johnson.

Sakic can also begin negotiating an extension with star Nathan MacKinnon, who will be entering the final year of his contract.

Tampa Bay Lightning

The Lightning, who lost their entire third line and other depth players last season, are tight against the salary cap again, particularly with Brayden Point's eight-year, $76 million extension beginning.

Their top unrestricted free agent is Ondrej Palat, who has been with the team since 2012-13 and is a consistent playoff producer, including 11 goals this postseason. He has 12 career playoff game-winning goals and averaged $5.3 million in his most recent contract.

Their other UFAs are trade deadline acquisitions Nick Paul and Riley Nash, plus defenseman Jan Rutta, who scored in Game 5 of the Final. Brandon Hagel, another trade deadline acquisition, is signed for two more years at a reasonable $1.5 million cap hit.

Captain Steven Stamkos is signed for two more seasons and fellow core members Nikita Kucherov, Point, Victor Hedman and Andrei Vasilevskiy are signed for longer.

“Who says we’re done?" Stamkos told reporters after Game 6. "This core is here and we’ve battled and been through everything you can think of, and for the most part, we found a way to come out on top.”

Tampa Bay Lightning reach third consecutive Stanley Cup Final with ...

The Tampa Bay Lightning are heading to the Stanley Cup Final for the third consecutive season and the reward is starting on the road again against the Western Conference’s top regular-season team.

The way the two-time defending champions beat the New York Rangers 2-1 in Game 6 will help them when they face the Colorado Avalanche in Game 1 on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET, ABC).

Captain Steven Stamkos scored two goals, the second just 21 seconds after the Rangers had tied the game in the third period.

"We don’t care how it gets done, it just needs to get done," he told reporters after the game. "I’m very proud of this group. We’re going to the Finals again and have a chance to do something special.”

Stamkos opened the scoring in Saturday's goaltending battle when his wrist shot eluded a partially screened Igor Shesterkin at 10:43 of the second period.

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Stamkos was in the penalty box when New York's Frank Vatrano tied the game on a power play at 13:07 of the third period.

But Stamkos scored on the next shift on a 2-on-1 break when the rebound of his shot went in off his leg.

"Obviously a little disappointed in myself for taking the penalty," he said. "You see them score and you're in the box. It was weird. For some reason, I wasn't as rattled as I usually am in those situations. I was just confident in our group that we'd find a way, whether it was in regulation or in overtime. We deserved to win tonight."

Shesterkin complained but the goal survived a review.

"It's not the individuals," Stamkos said. "It's great to score a couple goals in a huge game like this, but if I didn't score and we won, I'd be just as happy. ... We know that everyone in our room plays a huge part in our group success."

Shesterkin, a finalist for the Vezina and Hart trophies, made 28 saves as he fell short in his bid to improve to 6-0 in elimination games this postseason.

"I thought Igor was outstanding," Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said. "He gave us a chance to win every night and we got outchanced in a lot of the games, but he was outstanding. He was our best player all year long and did it again in this series."

Andrei Vasilevskiy made 20 saves and was aided by 17 blocked shots by defenders.

The fact that the Lightning were able to hold the Rangers to one goal in each of the last three games bodes well as they prepare to face the high-flying Avalanche.

“There’s no secret that they have some electric players,” Stamkos said. “To be honest, they’re probably a team that we thought we’d play the last couple years. … Now they’ve broken through and they have just an unbelievable mix of veteran presence, star power, grinders, the goalie. A huge challenge for us.”

The Lightning are trying to become the first team to win three consecutive Stanley Cups since the New York Islanders won four in a row from 1980-83.

Though the Lightning have lacked home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs, they beat the Toronto Maple Leafs in seven games, swept the No. 1 overall seed Florida Panthers and beat the Rangers in six. They rallied in the Eastern Conference final after losing the first two games, including 6-2 in Game 1 after a long layoff.

“As the series progressed, we got better and better, and I think maybe tonight might have been our best game overall,” forward Alex Killorn said.

Lightning's Victor Hedman temporarily leaves game

Victor Hedman was pulled out of the game in the second period when Alexis Lafrenière caught him in the head with a check. The defenseman, who is a Norris Trophy finalist for the fifth consecutive season, grabbed his head and broke his stick as he returned to the bench.

Hedman rubbed his jaw as he sat on the bench and had to go to the dressing room, presumably because of concussion protocol.

But he returned to action in the third period and played a regular shift.

Rangers' Kaapo Kakko a healthy scratch

Gallant had limited the use of the Kid Line during the team's loss in Game 5.

In Game 6, he sat out Kaapo Kakko and moved the other two members of the Kid Line to other lines. Lafrenière started alongside Mika Zibanejad and Vatrano and Filip Chytil was on a line with Chris Kreider and Barclay Goodrow, though the lines changed up later.

Kakko, the No. 2 overall pick in 2019, has five points in 19 playoff games. Forward Brayden Hunt made his third appearance of his postseason and first since the first round.

New York's Ryan Strome, who has been playing through an injury, left warmups briefly but dressed for the game. He didn't play in the third period.

Lightning center Brayden Point, who was injured in the first round, sat out again, though he is skating.

"I don't know about the probability of Game 1, but it's extremely probable that he will play in the series," coach Jon Cooper said.

Avalanche dent Stanley Cup minutes after beating Lightning in ...

That didn't take long.

With the Colorado Avalanche gathered on the ice Sunday night for their celebratory photo, the Stanley Cup took an early beating.

In the aftermath of the Avalanche beating the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 in Game 6 to win the Stanley Cup, right wing Nicolas Aube-Kubel skated toward the scrum of teammates for a team photo with the Cup in hand, only to lose his footing and slam the trophy on the ice as he fell, denting the base.

"I don’t even know if they had it five minutes and there’s a dent in the bottom already. Right in the middle of the team photo," The Hockey Hall of Fame’s Keeper of the Cup, Phil Pritchard, told Denver television station KDVR. "I guess it’s a new record today. Five minutes into the presentation it’s happened. It’s the first time it’s ever happened on the ice."

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WHAT'S NEXT:Stanley Cup champion Avalanche, Lightning face busy summers

The Avalanche prevented the Lightning from completing a Stanley Cup three-peat.

It was the third Stanley Cup title in the franchise's history and first since 2001.

“I guess we will have a little chat with them soon and we’ll go through the process of how we’re going to repair it,” said Pritchard, "but the Stanley Cup tour will go on."

Avalanche beat Lightning in OT to open Stanley Cup Final

AP

DENVER (AP) — Facing the two-time defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning put the Colorado Avalanche at a sizeable experience disadvantage going into the Stanley Cup Final.

When the puck dropped, the Avalanche showed they could use their speed to offset Tampa Bay's players who have been here, done that. And it doesn't hurt to have a guy who also hoisted the Cup.

Andre Burakovsky scored 1:23 into overtime to give Colorado a 4-3 victory in Game 1 on Wednesday night and put the Avs up in a series that's shaping up to be a classic. Burakovsky is one of only two Colorado players with Stanley Cup rings, and that came in handy.

“I've been there, and I kind of know the situation,” said Burakovsky, who also scored two big goals in Game 7 of the East final against the Lightning in 2018 when he won it all with Washington. “I’ve been though it, and I kind of know what to expect and the pace and what’s at stake here.”

The pace? Furious. The stakes? Either Tampa Bay finishing off the first NHL three-peat in almost four decades or this Colorado core's first championship after years of playoff disappointments.

The Avalanche with a fast start how they can use their speed to knock even the most seasoned opponents back on their heels. Backstopped by Darcy Kuemper, the no-doubt after all choice to start in goal now that he's healthy, the penalty kill was aggressive in going a perfect 3 for 3 against the Lightning's potent power play.

“We had a great forecheck and we were pretty good on clearing pucks when we had the chance,” forward Artturi Lehkonen said.

An early penalty kill built momentum for Colorado, which opened the scoring on captain Gabriel Landeskog’s goal 40 seconds after Josh Manson’s penalty expired. Manson — one of general manager Joe Sakic’s expensive trade deadline pickups — more than made up for a holding the stick minor with several big hits.

Lehkone, the Avalanche’s other deadline acquisition, also kept up his knack for scoring key goals. He had their third goal of the first period after Valeri Nichuskin scored the second as part of a dominant performance all over the ice.

“Huge X-factor,” coach Jared Bednar said. “He’s been doing that type of thing for us for a couple years now.”

Tampa Bay’s latest additions also played a major role, with Nick Paul outracing Colorado defenseman Jack Johnson to a loose puck for a goal in the first that limited the damage and kept the defending champs in the game. Brandon Hagel, who has been banged up and was a question mark to play, got beaten to a loose puck by Landeskog, an uncharacteristic goal for reigning playoff MVP Andrei Vasilevskiy to give up by letting the initial shot sneak through under his left arm.

Of course, the Lightning counterpunched.

In another example of what has made the Lightning the NHL's best team over the past three years, they turned the tide in the second period with goals by Ondrej Palat and Mikhail Sergachev 48 seconds apart.

“We're playing a really good team and they’re not going to roll over and lay back,” Bednar said. “They're going to have push back.”

So did his Avalanche, clamping down with another big kill in the third period to finish what Landeskog called a “resilient win.”

Colorado outshot Tampa Bay 38-23, and there was no argument from the losing side about the result of the series opener between two evenly matched opponents.

“There’s some positive signs for us in this game,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “But the right team won the game, so give them credit for pulling it out.”

The arena was rocking from the start of warmups for the first Stanley Cup Final game in the city in 2001 — also the last year the Avalanche won the Stanley Cup, with Sakic serving as captain. Fans chanted, “We want the Cup!” throughout the leadup and at times during the game, which was a showcase of the high-scoring hockey that has been the standard all season.

Tampa Bay's most prolific goal-scorer from each of the past two title runs was back, with center Brayden Point returning to play his first game since injuring his right leg a month ago.

Colorado has a series lead despite playing without forwards Nazem Kadri (right thumb) and Andrew Cogliano (right hand), who were injured last series in a sweep of Edmonton in the Western Conference final.

The Avalanche swept Nashville in the first round, as well, and dispatched rival St. Louis in six before taking out Connor McDavid and the Oilers. If anything, Game 1 against the Lightning showed this series won't be easy for either team.

"I don't think by a country mile we gave them our best game," Cooper said. “To beat a team like that, we need to have better in us.”

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Follow AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno on Twitter at https://twitter.com/SWhyno

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Stanley Cup Game 1: Colorado Avalanche beat Tampa Bay ...

DENVER – The Stanley Cup Final see-saw lifted Colorado’s way in the first period Wednesday night and it swung back hard in favor of Tampa Bay in the second.

Then, for more than a period and into overtime of Game 1, the board leveled out, a heavyweight leaning on each end.

In the end, though, it was precision more than brute force that determined the winner: A flick of the wrist from Avalanche winger Andre Burakovsky, off a one-touch pass from Valeri Nichushkin in transition after a neutral zone turnover, that sent the puck past Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy and the game into franchise lore.

The opening salvo in this championship quest: Colorado 4, Tampa Bay 3 in overtime.

“I saw (Colorado forward J.T.) Compher got the puck in the neutral zone and I was just trying to get out as quick as possible,” Burakovsky said of the final sequence. “I got back in and they made a great play to me. It was just for me to shoot it and lucky it went in.”

This city waited 21 years for the Stanley Cup Final to return and when the moment finally arrived, it did so in classic fashion. Burakovsky’s game-winner capped what was the 20th finals-opening game to require extra time, and the 95th finals overtime game overall.

On this night, an even first 60 minutes was the result of each team having a dominant stretch.

The Western Conference champion Avalanche, playing for the first time in nine days since capping a sweep of Edmonton in the Western Conference final on June 6, jumped out to an early 3-1 lead in front of a raucous home crowd.

The Tampa Bay Lighting, winners of not only the Eastern Conference but also the past two Stanley Cups, leveled the game in the second period with back-to-back goals in 48 seconds, including one at the end of a dazzling sequence from wingers Nikita Kucherov and Ondrej Palat.

“Going into the third period even, I think any guy on our team would have taken that going into Game 1,” Avalanche defenseman Bowen Byram said. “We’ve got a chance to win and I thought we played a really good third, created some chances, and then we got it done in overtime.”

Overtime came after the teams played even for the final 26:21 of regulation. Burakovsky finally broke the stalemate 1:23 into overtime.

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Who will win the Stanley Cup:Colorado Avalanche or Tampa Bay Lightning?

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Colorado, wary of accumulating rust during its long wait in recent days, blasted out of the gate, riding a surge of energy from the 19,092 at Ball Arena to an early penalty kill, even strength goals from captain Gabriel Landeskog, Nichushkin and a five-on-three conversion by Artturi Lehkonen, which came at the end of a stretch of more than 70 consecutive seconds of offensive zone possession.

The power-play goal came shortly after Tampa Bay had pulled within 2-1 and reestablished Colorado’s control of the game through the opening 20 minutes.

“I was pretty nervous all day and, coming out for warmups, the fans were amazing,” said Landeskog, who has been with the franchise since it drafted him No. 2 overall in 2011. “You’re trying to enjoy the moment as much as you can, but you’re human and the nerves are there. That’s OK, you’ve just got to deal with it and I thought, as a team, we did a good job of that tonight.”

Nobody makes it this far into the season without being capable of winning in multiple ways, but broadly speaking, the most tantalizing element of this matchup is Colorado’s high-flying offense against Vasilevskiy’s world-class work in net.

Entering Game 1, Colorado had scored 65 goals in 14 postseason games, pacing the postseason field. The Lightning, behind Vasilevskiy, lost the first two games in the Eastern Conference final to the New York Rangers and then reeled off four straight wins while allowing just five goals total.

Colorado showed the speed and skill that has propelled its 13-2 postseason record so far, putting three pucks past Vasilevskiy on 15 first-period shots while largely keeping the pressure off of its own goalie, Darcy Kuemper, who returned to the lineup for the first time since Game 1 of the Western Conference final.

Past the midpoint of the second period, though, the Lightning tied the game in a blink.

Vasilevskiy stopped a clean Nichushkin blast from the right circle and veteran defenseman Ryan McDonagh pushed the puck to the middle of the ice where Palat and Kucherov took over. Palat left the puck for Kucherov near the blue line and the forward put a sublime combination of moves on Colorado defenseman Devon Toews, working to his backhand and then flipping the puck back across Kuemper’s face, where Palat buried it to draw the Lightning within 3-2 with 7:09 remaining in the period.

Kucherov’s line has been formidable all year and all postseason. Palat’s goal was his ninth of these playoffs, while Kucherov added a 17th assist to his seven conversions.

Just 48 seconds later, Tampa Bay defenseman Mikhail Sergachev snapped a wrist shot past Kuemper.

“The goals we gave up and the chances we gave up, we made some big mistakes on,” Colorado head coach Jared Bednar said.

By that time, Vasilevskiy had settled in. He stopped Compher on a clean look in behind the defense. He moved laterally and handled traffic. After allowing the trio of early goals, he stopped the next 22 shots over the final 42:21 to close regulation.

Both goaltenders made plays down the stretch. Kuemper helped the Avalanche kill off a key penalty in the third period and all three short-handed sequences on the night.

“Darcy’s been a rock on the PK all playoffs,” Byram said. “He made a couple of huge saves, which we need sometimes. Your goalie has to be your best penalty killer. He came up huge.”

Vasilevskiy helped the Lightning stave off a frantic final 1:24 of regulation down a man and then the opening 36 seconds of overtime, as well, before Burakovsky finally put the first game in the books for Colorado seconds later.

“The right team won the game,” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. “Give them credit for pulling it out. We’ve got better in us, though. I don’t think by a country mile we played our best game.”

The Lightning have been here before. They lost their first-round opener to Toronto and the first two to the Rangers in the East finals. The two-time defending champs will have to play from behind again this year if they are to become the first team to win three straight titles since the New York Islanders won four in a row from 1980-83.

“We’ve not made it this far over the past couple of years because we can’t execute,” Cooper said. “It just didn’t happen for us tonight, but we’re still right there. … We’ll be back here in a couple of days.”

Avalanche must beat two-time champion Lightning to win Cup

AP

DENVER (AP) — Nathan MacKinnon wouldn’t have it any other way.

He and the Colorado Avalanche have stubbed their toe many times in the playoffs over the past several years, never getting past the second round. Now that they’ve broken through to reach the Stanley Cup Final, naturally they need to beat the back -to- back defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning to win this core group’s first title.

Game 1 is Wednesday night in Denver.

"I’m glad we’re playing Tampa,” MacKinnon said Tuesday. “There’s no Cinderella story or anything: Two of the best teams in the league going at it and really excited for this challenge. And it’s going to be very, very difficult, but I believe this group and we all believe in each other. Hopefully we get this done.”

Colorado is favored, according to FanDuel Sportsbook, but must beat an opponent that has won 11 consecutive playoff series. The Lightning have become the NHL’s gold standard for success in the salary cap era and would join the company of hockey dynasties if they become the first to three-peat since the New York Islanders lifted the Cup four times in a row from 1980-84.

MacKinnon will try to follow the lead of fellow Cole Harbor, Nova Scotia, native Sidney Crosby, who won his first championship in 2009 when Pittsburgh beat defending champion Detroit in the final. The Lightning are the first team since Wayne Gretzky's Edmonton Oilers from 1983-85 to reach the final in three consecutive years.

“They’ve been the best for a while now, and we have the opportunity to kind of knock them off the pedestal,” Colorado defenseman Cale Makar said. “We’re trying to start something special here, and they’re trying to continue something that will turn into a dynasty for them. You couldn’t write it up any better.”

This Cup showdown is one Lightning captain Steven Stamkos is surprised did not happen earlier. While he and his teammates have been making long playoff runs, the Avalanche were among the titans of the West and predicted to do the same.

Colorado instead lost in the first round in 2018 and the second each of the past three seasons. Much like Tampa Bay getting swept in the first round in 2019, those defeats have strengthened the Avalanche and prepared them for this challenge.

“Certainly a lot of lessons have been learned over the last five, six years from myself, from our team going through some heartbreak in the playoffs," coach Jared Bednar said. “Even the last couple years I think has made us a stronger group, a more resilient group.”

The Lightning know all about showing resilience, in previous years and this postseason. They needed to overcome series deficits of 3-2 against Toronto in the first round and then 2-0 to the New York Rangers in the East final to avoid elimination. They even trailed in the third period of Game 7 at the Maple Leafs and came back to win.

“That’s been a big theme of ours is putting our stamp on history, and you can’t do that without winning and being committed and doing all the things and not exhaling,” coach Jon Cooper said. “The guys have done a phenomenal job, especially in the Toronto series when we were down 3-2. When there are no tomorrows, they gave us two more months of tomorrows.”

ALMOST FULL STRENGTH

The Lightning finished their comeback against Toronto — and got through the next two rounds — without first-line center Brayden Point, who injured his right leg earlier in Game 7.

If Point returns for Game 1 as expected after skating well in practice, Tampa Bay would be at full strength against Colorado, which could be without injured forwards Nazem Kadri and Andrew Cogliano and ruled out defenseman Samuel Girard after breaking his sternum in the second round.

“We still got to see,” Point said. “I don’t think anything is guaranteed, but it’s just fun to be out there with the team again and being part of it.

CHAMPIONSHIP PEDIGREE

Tampa Bay's core of Stamkos, Victor Hedman, Nikita Kucherov, Ondrej Palat and Alex Killorn is in the final for the fourth time since 2015. The Lightning reached at least the East final six times in that span.

Having been here before and experienced the thrill of winning, Stamkos said he and his teammates consciously talk about not wasting another opportunity to hoist the Cup.

“Our group is too good to not give ourselves a chance to compete for the Stanley Cup, and we’ve shown that, especially this year,” he said. “We’ve been down a couple situations. We never panicked. We stick to what makes us successful, and I’m proud of that effort and here we are.”

AVALANCHE EXPERIENCE

Colorado has two players who have won the Cup before: Andre Burakovsky with Washington in 2018 and Darren Helm with Detroit in 2008. There are more Cup rings in the front office with general manager Joe Sakic, who captained the Avalanche to the franchise's first championship in 1996 the year the team relocated from Quebec to Denver and also won it in 2001.

That was the organization's most recent championship, and now his team is trying to emulate Tampa Bay to bring the Cup back.

“It’s a group that believes in each other, and we believe in them,” Sakic said. “You saw over the years with Tampa. Look at them now, they’re two-time Stanley Cup champions and looking for their third. And we’re looking to dethrone the champs.”

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Follow AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno on Twitter at https://twitter.com/SWhyno

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NHL playoffs: Avalanche sweep Oilers, reach Stanley Cup Final

The Colorado Avalanche reached the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since their 2001 championship on Monday, shredding their reputation of a highly talented team that disappointed in the playoffs.

They staged a furious third-period comeback and won in overtime on a goal by trade deadline acquisition Artturi Lehkonen to sweep the Edmonton Oilers with a 6-5 victory in Game 4. Lehkonen, then with Montreal, also got the Canadiens into the Final last season with an overtime goal.

The Avalanche will face the winner of the Tampa Bay Lightning-New York Rangers series. The Rangers lead the best-of-seven Eastern Conference final 2-1 with Game 4 on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET, ESPN) in Tampa.

Colorado overcame deficits of 3-1 and 4-2 on goals by Devon Toews, Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen to go ahead before Zack Kassian forced overtime. Cale Makar, who scored in the first period, had four assists, including on Lehkonen's winner.

Though the Avalanche stars dominated in regulation of Game 4, it was moves made at the trade deadline that helped turn Colorado into Western Conference champions.

General manager Joe Sakic, the captain of the 2001 team, acquired defenseman Josh Manson to add grit on the blue line and brought in forwards Lehkonen, Nico Sturm and Andrew Cogliano to aid the penalty killing.

Lehkonen had two assists to go with his winner. Cogliano had a key block Monday night but appeared to hurt his hand on the play.

The newcomers joined stars MacKinnon, Makar, Landeskog and Rantanen to form a powerhouse that needed 14 games to get past the Nashville Predators, St. Louis Blues and Oilers.

And the depth helped them survive key injuries. Defenseman Sam Girard was hurt in the second round and No. 2 center Nazem Kadri missed Game 4 after being shoved into the boards in Game 3, which cost Oilers forward a one-game suspension.

TSN reported that Kadri had thumb surgery and his status for the Cup Final is uncertain.

"Naz has been one of our best players all season, clutch guy," MacKinnon told TNT. "Hoping he's doing well and we'll get him back next series."

BRUINS:Coach Bruce Cassidy fired after first-round exit

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Rangers hopeful two forwards can play in Game 4

The Rangers came out of Sunday's 3-2 loss in Game 3 with their center depth ailing, but head coach Gerard Gallant is hopeful that neither Barclay Goodrow nor Ryan Strome will miss any time.

Strome's lower-body injury came on his first shift of the second period, as he was lightly shoved from behind by Lightning forward Ondrej Palat and appeared to awkwardly plant on his right leg. He came out for one more 36-second shift, but could not continue beyond that.

"He should be fine," Gallant said following Monday's optional practice at Amalie Arena. "We'll see (Tuesday). ... But we fully expect him to play."

Goodrow was hurt during the third period when he blocked a shot from Victor Hedman.

Despite the obvious pain, the 29-year-old went to the locker room and was back on the ice for his next shift just 2:23 later.

"It hurt a little bit, but Barclay's a competitor," Gallant said. "He comes back and plays. That's what he does."

Jets' Kyle Connor wins Lady Byng Trophy

Winnipeg Jets forward Kyle Connor has won the Lady Byng Trophy, given to the NHL’s most gentlemanly player.

The league announced the honor Monday night before Game 4 of the Western Conference final.

Connor tied for the second-fewest number of minor penalties during the regular season. He was penalized just twice in more than 1,700 minutes of ice time that included regular short-handed shifts and matchups against top offensive opponents.

It’s his first time winning the Lady Byng. Last year’s winner, Carolina defenseman Jaccob Slavin, was second in voting by the Professional Hockey Writer Association. Minnesota captain Jared Spurgeon was third.

Contributing: Vincent Z. Mercogliano, Northjersey.com; Associated Press

Colorado Avalanche win third Stanley Cup title, beating two-time ...


Will Smith barred from Academy events for 10 years, including the ...

(CNN) Will Smith will not be allowed to attend the Academy Awards for the next 10 years, as a result of his slapping comedian Chris Rock on stage during this year's Oscar ceremony, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences announced in a statement obtained by CNN.

"The Board has decided, for a period of 10 years from April 8, 2022, Mr. Smith shall not be permitted to attend any Academy events or programs, in person or virtually, including but not limited to the Academy Awards," Academy President David Rubin and CEO Dawn Hudson said in a statement on Friday.

The decision was made during a Board of Governors meeting held earlier in the day in Los Angeles. The meeting, initially scheduled for April 18, was expedited after Smith announced his resignation from the Academy last week.

Smith issued a quick, concise statement on his ban from the Oscars for the next decade.

"I accept and respect the Academy's decision," the actor said in a statement to CNN.

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Twosday: What to know about February 22, 2022 - CNN

(CNN) Good things come in twos. At least this Tuesday it does.

The date is February 22, 2022. When you write it, 2/22/22, it's a palindrome, meaning it reads the same forward and backward. It also falls on a Tuesday, which is now referred to as Twosday.

It's the most exceptional date in over a decade, according to palindrome enthusiast Aziz Inan. He's a professor of electrical engineering at the University of Portland in Oregon, and he has been studying palindrome dates for over 14 years.

It's a ubiquitous palindrome date because it's a palindrome when it's written in the United States format of month, day, year, and the format most other countries follow of day, month, year, Inan said.

"I feel that these dates have magical power in terms of getting people's attention, no matter what age," he said.

Exclusive: Inside Space Force boot camp with recruits to US ...

(CNN) The US Space Force has hit a critical milestone: dedicated basic training for its early recruits.

As dawn breaks on Day 38 of basic training at Joint Base San Antonio, a bugle playing reveille blasts over the loudspeakers as a sergeant can be heard screaming, "Are you prepared to join the world's greatest space force? Then hurry up! Let's go, let's go."

It looks -- and sounds -- like basic boot camp for soldiers, sailors, marines or airmen. But all 71 of the new recruits at this basic training are guardians , the name for members of the first new branch of the armed services in more than 70 years.

Until now, new guardians have trained alongside airmen in the Air Force's basic military training program. What makes this boot camp unique is it's the first ever guardian-only basic training, led entirely by Space Force instructors who are teaching a space-centric curriculum.

Master Sergeant Eric Mistrot, the Space Force's first Military Training Instructor, is quick to point out that, "This is still the profession of arms. This is still the United States military. This is not space camp."

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Biden announces historic oil reserve release and presses oil ...

(CNN) President Joe Biden on Thursday announced an unprecedented release of oil from US reserves and several steps his administration is taking to punish oil companies for not increasing production from unused leases on federal land.

The steps are an attempt to reduce gas prices while also putting an onus on oil companies to increase supply. The dramatic step, which Biden announced from the White House, confronts what has become a looming political problem months ahead of the midterm elections.

"Our prices are rising because of (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's actions. There isn't enough supply. And the bottom line is if we want lower gas prices we need to have more oil supply right now," Biden said.

The President added: "Your family budgets to fill a tank -- none of it should hinge on whether a dictator declares war."

The release would amount to 180 million barrels of oil. The President said it would act as a "wartime bridge" as US and global oil production ramps back up after the coronavirus pandemic. The decision was made in coordination with US allies overseas, including in Europe, though officials declined to say whether other countries were also releasing barrels from their reserves.

"Together, our combined efforts will supply well over a million barrels a day. Nations (are) coming together to deny Putin the ability to weaponize his energy resources against American families and families and democracies around the world," Biden said.

The US will restock barrels in the reserve when oil prices are lower, the President said, which could help further incentivize production going forward.

Still, officials declined to say how quickly, or by how much, gas prices might come down as a result of the release. And they said they to address not focused on "immediate short-term price movements" in the oil market. Instead, they said their goal was addressing a lack of supply due to Russian oil coming off the market, adding that it would translate into providing relief for American consumers.

The President warned oil companies against exploiting the situation to increase profits.

"No American company should take advantage of a pandemic or Vladimir Putin's actions to enrich themselves at the expense of American families. Investing those profits in production and innovation, that's what they should do. Invest in your customers," Biden said.

The President said the second part of his plan to address the rising prices is to create American energy independence in the long term.

"Ultimately, we and the whole world need to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels altogether. We need to choose long-term security over energy and climate vulnerability," Biden said.

Biden earlier in the month announced a coordinated release of oil from the reserves in conjunction with other nations. He also released around 50 million barrels in November , which he said at the time was the largest release from the reserve in US history.

Neither move had a significant effect on gas prices, which have continued to rise as global limits on Russian energy exports have caused prices to spike.

The United States consumes around 20 million barrels of oil per day, with global consumption hovering around 100 million barrels. Biden's planned releases would put more oil on the global market, potentially bringing down costs.

The President is also calling on Congress to "make companies pay fees on wells from their leases that they haven't used in years and on acres of public lands that they are hoarding without producing," one official said. For months, the Biden administration has publicly pushed back on the idea that regulations are holding oil producers back from more domestic production, pointing to millions of acres worth of land with approved permits for oil and gas production.

"Companies that are producing from their leased acres and existing wells will not face higher fees," a fact sheet released by the White House reads, "but companies that continue to sit on non-producing acres will have to choose whether to start producing or pay a fee for each idled well and unused acre."

Biden also will issue a directive to invoke the Defense Production Act to spur domestic production of critical minerals needed to manufacture batteries for electric vehicles and long-term energy storage.

The move from the White House adds critical minerals such as lithium, nickel, graphite, cobalt and manganese to the list of items covered by the 1950 Defense Production Act, a Korean War-era law allowing the President to use emergency authority to make large orders of a certain type of product or expand productive capacity and supply. It will allow the administration to support the production and processing of these critical minerals needed for a clean energy transition.

The Department of Defense will implement this authority, according to the White House, and will do so in consultation with tribal communities and using strong environmental, labor, and community standards.

Biden tackles a major political problem

Tapping the reserve -- the stockpile of 600 million barrels of crude oil stored in underground salt caverns in Louisiana and Texas -- generally has only a limited effect on gas prices because of how much oil can be released at a time, but would act as a political sign that Biden is continuing to confront the problem.

Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the US price of regular gasoline spiked, hitting a record high of $4.33 a gallon earlier in March.

Yet the current cost increases began months ago, as demand for oil increased while the coronavirus pandemic waned. The White House has voiced frustration that oil companies have not returned their production to levels from before the pandemic, focusing instead on paying dividends for investors.

There has been an internal debate among administration officials at how harshly to go after oil and gas companies for not ramping up production. Biden has chided them in previous remarks, but some officials believe a full-throated campaign against the firms could backfire.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has provided Biden another foil. In remarks earlier this month, Biden sought to put the onus for the rising prices on the Russian President: "Make no mistake: The current spike in gas prices is largely the fault of Vladimir Putin." He has repeated the phrase "Putin's price hike" since then.

Governors across the US have been attempting to curb gas prices at the state level.

Last week, California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom rolled out a $9 billion proposal to hand out $400 debit cards to drivers in the state to help soften the impact of the highest gas prices in the country. In Georgia, Republican Gov. Brian Kemp -- who is facing one of the toughest reelection races in the country -- signed a bill that will give $250 to $500 tax refunds to Georgians -- a move several of his rivals blasted as election-year politicking.

And as Democratic Gov. Janet Mills faces a competitive reelection campaign in Maine, she has proposed some of the most generous relief to qualified taxpayers in her state -- in the form of $850 checks -- to cushion the blow of inflation and gas prices.

This story has been updated with background information.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the release from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve last year. It was 50 million barrels.

Wordle and your brain: Does playing make you smarter? - CNN

(CNN) Wordle-bragging, arguably one of the newest forms of humble-bragging, has taken over social media. Solving the five-letter daily puzzle, and doing it in only three, two or even your first attempt (!) is a badge of pride for many.

But does being good at Wordle mean you're smarter than the average person, or even a fellow puzzler?

"No," said memory and learning researcher Aaron Seitz, a professor of psychology at the University of California, Riverside, who founded the university's Brain Game Center . "You're just a person who does well at Wordle versusanother person who doesn't do as well on Wordle."

It's much like people who are really good at Scrabble, so good that they compete in international tournaments, said Penny Pexman, a professor of psychology at the University of Calgary, who has studied the brains of Scrabble players

"Scrabble players recognize words faster, especially in vertical orientation, but we didn't find that those advantages transferred to non-Scrabble-related tasks," Pexman said. "As soon as you show them some other kind of visual pattern or symbol that's not a letter, they look just like non-experts."

The same applies to chess, she said. If chess pieces are not in their legal positions or if other information is presented on a chessboard, the player's ability to visually scan and understand the board is no better than average.

"With brain training, the benefits are mostly quite specific," Pexman said.

That's why it's unlikely that "getting very, very good at Wordle" would make your brain "very good at anything else," said cognitive psychologist Jonathan King, senior scientific advisor to the director of the Division of Behavioral and Social Research at the National Institute on Aging, which funds brain-training research

And if you're playing Wordle in the hopes it might keep your brain from aging, research so far isn't showing any significant widespread protection from vmost brain-training games, King added.

"That's a problem that we have with cognitive training in general," King said. "It's hard to find training that translates to a long-term change in the brain that will hopefully protect you from cognitive impairment or decline or dementia."

Maximizing Wordle's benefits

Many people who enjoy doing Wordle, Scrabble, crossword or other types of puzzles are often high in what psychologists call a "need for cognition," Pexman said.

"Some people just enjoy puzzles," she said. "And we know that a need for cognition is different than intelligence. So it's not necessarily something you do because you're smart, it's something you do because that's what you enjoy."

Playing Wordle is unlike playing crossword puzzles, King said, because you don't need to know the meanings of words or even have a large vocabulary.

"It's all five-letter words. But that said, you do need to be able to do a lot with those five-letter words," King said. "We usually think of something like this is a deductive-reasoning task, which would probably be associated with activity in the frontal and prefrontal lobes of the brain."

The visual working memory area of the brain, which is lodged in the prefrontal cortex region above the forehead, is definitely involved, Pexman said.

"It's like a mental sketch pad where you hold the visual information in mind and you manipulate it, which is a particular skill some people have a lot of capacity for and other people less so," Pexman said.

In addition to manipulating information in memory over a short period of time, "your ability to have attentional focus is also very much involved," Seitz said.

While Wordle may be exercising the specific brain "muscles" of visual memory and attention, applying strategies such as (SPOILER ALERT) the use of words with lots of vowels or a database of five-letter words may soon let that muscle atrophy, he said.

"As soon as you begin using strategies to solve the puzzle, you've taken the load off of your attention and memory processes which may lessen Wordle's potential benefits," Seitz said.

"My general advice is to pick a brain activity that provides a challenge," he added. "Then when you start feeling like you're really good at it, pick another activity that gives you a new challenge. And so by kind of rotating across these different types of challenges, you get the variety that's going to exercise your brain in different ways."

Not a Wordle fan?

Not into word or puzzle games? That's OK, psychologists say. Research has identified many other activities that can provide just as much of a boost to the brain.

"If I was going to recommend one thing to people to ensure healthy brain aging, I would say exercise," Pexman said. "All of the positive effects of healthy blood flow on cognition are very well established ."

Dancing is an excellent choice, she added, because it not only engages cognitive spatial skills, but also adds social interaction, which research has also shown to be key to staying cognitively alert.

Research is beginning to show other activities work as well, Seitz added, such as learning to play a musical instrument, learning a second language or how to paint, cook and do photography.

"When people ask my advice about a strategy for a healthier brain I tell them that given what we know right now, learn a new thing every day," Seitz said.

"I always say that if you take one finger and lift weights with it every single day, you'll have a really strong finger. That applies to the brain as well, so challenge your brain in different ways."

Johnny Depp testifies about his finger getting severed in defamation ...

(CNN) Actor Johnny Depp resumed his testimony in a Fairfax, Virginia court in his defamation case against his ex-wife Amber Heard on Wednesday.

Depp discussed the changing nature of his relationship with Heard. He accused Heard of name calling and making demeaning comments about him at times in their relationship that would escalate to arguments.

"I was not allowed to be right, not allowed to have a voice," Depp said.

An argument between the former couple in 2015 ended with Depp seeking medical care for a severed finger after, he claims, Heard threw a bottle of vodka at him.

"She threw the large bottle and it made contact [with his hand] and shattered everywhere," Depp testifed. "Then I looked down and realized that my tip of my finger had been severed."

"I don't know what I nervous breakdown feels like," Depp added. "But that's probably the closest I had ever been."

Heard has denied the claim.

'I wanted to try to make it work'

In his roughly three-hour testimony on Tuesday, the Oscar-nominated star spoke in detail about Heard's allegations of domestic abuse, his history with substance abuse and his experiences growing up with an abusive mother.

"You slowly realize you're in a relationship with your mother, in a sense," Depp testified Wednesday about his dynamic with Heard, comparing the abuse he says he experienced by his mother to Heard's alleged abuse.

Depp's attorney asked him why he stayed with Heard as their relationship deteriorated.

"I wanted to try to make it work," he said.

"Ms. Heard had spoken of suicide on a couple of occasions, so that also becomes a factor, that's something that lives in the back of your brain," Depp said.

The actor, known for his work in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise, is suing Heard for $50 million over a 2018 Washington Post op-ed in which she wrote about her experience with domestic abuse. She did not name Depp in the piece, but he claims it cost him lucrative film work.

Asked on the stand Wednesday what he's lost in light of the allegations, Depp replied, "Nothing less than everything."

"When the allegations were made, when the allegations were rapidly circling the globe, telling people that I was a drunken, cocaine-fueled menace who beat woman suddenly in my 50s, it's over," he said. "You're done."

Depp has maintained his innocence and testified that while he and Heard had arguments during their relationship, he has never "struck a woman."

In his lengthy second day of testimony, Depp discussed his tattoos, telling the court Heard would make fun of some of them, which he equated to keeping a journal of his life.

He referenced a "Winona forever" tattoo, which Depp said he got for his former-girlfriend, actress Winona Ryder, but changed it to "Wino forever" after they broke up. He said Heard didn't like it.

"I took off the last two letters and had it say 'Wino forever,'" Depp said, adding, "I thought through pain comes humor. Humor has to come in there into the pain and that's how you play it out in the mind... so I changed it to 'Wino forever.'"

He said that Heard wanted him to get a tattoo of her own name, which he eventually did.

"And ironically it wasn't long after that that everything started going sideways," Depp said.

"I was doing everything I could to bring a smile to her face as opposed to a frown and then the onslaught of whatever problems she was experiencing," he said. "I would try to wake her up with laughter, singing stupid songs in her ear. I generally just tried to keep bringing her mood up. Sometimes it worked, many times it didn't. But I tried."

Depp gave further details about his use of oxycodone during the time he was with Heard and symptoms of withdrawal he would experience when he went through detox.

Cross-examination by Heard's lawyer Ben Rottenborn began near the end of the day's session and will continue Thursday. Heard has yet to take the stand in the trial that is expected to last six weeks.

A contentious split

Depp and Amber met on the set of "The Rum Diary" in 2009, married in 2015 and went to a contentious split, with charges of bad behavior levied by both sides.

The couple settled their divorce in August 2016, releasing a joint statement which read in part, "Our relationship was intensely passionate and at times volatile, but always bound by love."

Amber Heard and Johnny Depp in 2015.

Heard had been unsuccessful in her attempts to get the suit dismissed. She filed a $100 million defamation countersuit against Depp in 2020, which is ongoing.

In 2020, Depp lost a libel case in the UK against News Group Newspapers and Dan Wootton, executive editor of The Sun, over an article that claimed Depp was violent toward Heard during their relationship. The court ruled in the publisher's favor, determining the tabloid's claims were shown to be "substantially true."

Opinion: Why it matters that 'Top Gun: Maverick' is so much better ...

Sara Stewart is a film and culture writer who lives in western Pennsylvania. The views expressed here are solely the author's own. View more opinion articles on CNN.

"Top Gun: Maverick" may well be the box-office hit of the year, thanks to a perfect storm of circumstance. It's Memorial Day weekend; people are feeling a tiny bit more adventurous; everyone needs an escape from the horrors of the real world; and... Tom Cruise.

Cruise, one of our last bona fide Movie Stars , is the one who reportedly insisted that this movie, shot back in 2019, not be released on a streaming platform. And damn, was he right. This glorious blockbuster demands to be seen on the biggest possible screen, and hold on to your popcorn, because the for-real aerial stunts must be experienced in high definition to be believed. (The academic dean of the Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics was seated behind me at our screening. His review: "Fantastic!")

More crucially, "TGM" pulls off the highly tricky maneuver of bringing back all the adrenaline and bravado that made the first "Top Gun" such an indelible 1980s milestone, while excising some of its more toxic elements and (at least mildly) updating its worldview. Its politics are just vague enough to inspire nearly everyone to leave the theater cheering. Who but Pete "Maverick" Mitchell could unite this deeply fractured country?

As much as the callow, high-flying original was a product of its era, the long-delayed "Top Gun: Maverick" manages to be the perfect sequel for now -- weighted with melancholy and mortality, but still striving for meaning and glory. It might just be the first movie since the beginning of the pandemic to really remind us of the sheer fun to be had in a communal theater experience.

Now, I don't know how long it's been since you've seen 1986's "Top Gun," but spoiler alert, it is quite dated: The late director Tony Scott's fighter-pilot saga embodies the red-white-and-blue macho ethos of the Reagan years, complete with a daredevil hero literally flipping off the Russians.

Hilariously, there is no such thing as subtext in Scott's film. The rogue protagonist is named Maverick. The guy who's cool under pressure is named Iceman (Val Kilmer). The goofy sidekick is Goose (Anthony Edwards). The boss who chews people out for violating protocol is Stinger (James Tolkan).

In a movie about a character with a deep disregard for authority, well, here's some subtle dialogue:

Iceman: "I don't like you because you're dangerous."

Maverick: "That's right, Iceman. I am dangerous."

LOL.

The original "Top Gun" also manages to be one of the most (unintentionally?) homoerotic films of the decade, thanks to its sun-drenched beach volleyball scene and male pilots who say things to each other like, "This gives me a hard-on" while watching videos of warplanes. But it's also rife with eye-rolling sexism, from the way the Top Gun recruits snicker at Kelly McGillis' Charlie when she debates security clearance with Maverick, to lines like Iceman's, "The plaque for the alternates is down in the ladies room."

It's also the kind of movie where Maverick following a woman into the bathroom and suggesting they do it on the countertop is supposed to be seen as hot, not creepy. I can't speak for all womankind, but this is the kind of stuff that makes a gal feel like a movie really wasn't made with her in mind.

Under the director of Joseph Kosinski ("Oblivion"), Cruise's older, craggier Maverick appears to have done some growing and changing. He's still weighed down with sorrow over the death of his wingman, Goose, and he's feeling his wheelhouse of capability has narrowed. That ambition to teach that he teased at the end of the first movie didn't work out so well. He doesn't seem to have fared any better romantically; maybe the tactic of enlisting an entire bar to drunkenly sing along with the Righteous Brothers to woo a love interest didn't age all that well.

What breaks "TGM" out of its sexist history is its embrace of a different kind of masculinity. The film is an exploration of what it is to be incredibly good at one thing -- yes, he's still dangerous in the air! -- while quite vulnerable in other areas. One of the film's many high points is a short, emotional scene between Cruise and Kilmer as the now-ailing Admiral Tom "Iceman" Kazansky; the onetime adversaries have forged a friendship in the intervening decades. Jennifer Connelly steps in as Pete's old-and-new love interest, bar owner Penny Benjamin, and if there's one actress who really radiates that she doesn't take any s**t, it's Connelly. Penny takes Pete sailing, only to discover that -- despite being a Navy man -- he has no idea which rope is which.

The film even uses his real name a lot of the time -- sometimes he's a Maverick, but a lot of the time he's just a Pete.

But don't get the wrong idea: There is no shortage of truly intoxicating action here. The new group of Top Gun recruits, for whom Maverick is brought in by Iceman to teach about a super-treacherous mission, are dewy and cocky in all the best ways. But they're not a-holes about it, with the possible exception of "Hangman" (Glen Powell, in the Iceman model).

They're also a more diverse group, with some non-White actors and one female pilot (Monica Barbaro) who's never depicted as belittled or harassed by her peers. Importantly, the film also goes to great lengths, which are pretty thrilling to watch, to show just how hard it is to fly missions like this: The crushing weight on your body as you climb straight upwards, the nerve-shredding adjacence to death.

"TGM" is the latest project to mine our action-movie nostalgia while updating, or straight-up mocking, dusty old stereotypes. The Sandra Bullock movie "The Lost City" tweaked the "Romancing the Stone" formula with a charming performance from Channing Tatum as a beta-male hero. And Peacock's criminally underrated "MacGruber" series , spawned by the 2010 movie, stars Will Forte in a pitch-perfect parody of obnoxious, rule-flouting 1980s action stars. (The most hilarious sequence from the "MacGruber" movie draws heavily on the cringey, tongue-heavy sex scene from "Top Gun.")

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At its core, of course, "Top Gun: Maverick" still goes hard on the American exceptionalism, on the idea that being smug and difficult and breaking the rules is just part of patriotic heroism. It's bellicose in a way that is not un-problematic: In what reality is it OK for the United States to just bomb another (unnamed) country's uranium stores, even if it is suggestively implied to be global pariah Russia? There are some legitimate diplomacy concerns to have around the film's major plot point. While Cruise has said that he never thought of the original film as propaganda, the original film reportedly inspired a spike in military enlistments. And, as Cruise has said in a recent interview about "TGM," he and the rest of the cast and crew "worked with the Navy and the Top Gun school to formulate how to shoot it practically." So, it's not not a pro-military movie.

But mostly, honestly, it's two hours of sheer, visceral fun on the big screen, which feels very retro. In the best possible way.

Bradley Cooper talks about being 'addicted to cocaine' in his 20s ...

(CNN) Bradley Cooper is opening up about his past drug and alcohol abuse and shared who helped him through some tough times.

Cooper said when he was feeling lost and dealing with addiction early in his career, it was fellow actor Will Arnett who helped him recover.

During a conversation on Arnett's podcast "Smartless," which he co-hosts with Jason Bateman and Sean Hayes, Cooper talked about sharing an apartment with Arnett years ago. He said he lacked confidence and would try to mimic Arnett's type of humor while socializing.

It didn't always go over well.

"Will was like, 'Hey man, do you remember we had dinner the other night? How do you think that went?'" Cooper said. "I remember being at the dinner thinking I was so funny, and I thought these two guys who were my heroes thought that I was so funny. I was like 'I thought it was great. I thought I was killing.' Will Arnett was like, 'You were a real a**hole, man. You were a real a**hole.'"

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Megan Fox's engagement ring: Machine Gun Kelly designed it to ...

(CNN) According to Machine Gun Kelly, "Love is pain!"

That is what the rapper and actor told Vogue in a joint interview with his new fiancée, actress Megan Fox.

Kelly was explaining the "thoroughbred Colombian emerald" and diamond engagement ring he had designed for Fox with the emerald "just carved into the teardrop, straight out of the mine."

"The concept is that the ring can come apart to make two rings. When it's together, it's held in place by a magnet." Kelly said. So you see how it snaps together? And then it forms an obscure heart. And you see this right here? The bands are actually thorns. So if she tries to take it off, it hurts..."

Ouch.

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Kim Kardashian cries as Kanye West retrieves rest of sex tape | CNN

(CNN) We now have more insight into how Kanye West helped Kim Kardashian get the remaining footage of her infamous sex tape.

On the most recent episode of her family's new Hulu reality series "The Kardashians," the mogul broke down in tears after West - who now goes by Ye - met up with her ex-boyfriend, singer and entrepreneur Ray J, to get the computer containing the hard drive which had the footage.

The 2007 tape, filmed when Kardashian and Ray J were dating at the time, gave rise to what would become her family's E! reality show, "Keeping Up With the Kardashians."

Kardashian said West retrieved the footage not just for her, but also for the four young children they share.

"I want to shield them from as much as I can," she said. "And if I had the power to or if Kanye has the power to, like that is just the most important thing to me. And I'm just so emotional because of it."

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