TORONTO (Reuters) – There is little room for panic in the National Hockey League (NHL) playoffs and the battle-hardened Boston Bruins are showing just how valuable experience is as they chase a second Stanley Cup in three seasons.

The Bruins fell into an early hole during a pivotal road game against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday but battled back for an exhilarating 4-3 overtime victory that gave the visitors a 3-1 stranglehold in the best-of-seven series.

TORONTO (Reuters) – Tuukka Rask is key to the Boston Bruins’ Stanley Cup hopes and the Finnish netminder showed he is up for the challenge with a stellar performance that silenced what had been a raucous Air Canada Center.

Rask stole the show when he turned aside 45 of the 47 shots he faced during Monday’s 5-2 win over a Toronto Maple Leafs team that was hosting its first National Hockey League (NHL) playoff game in nine years.

TORONTO (Reuters) – Excitement over Toronto’s offseason of blockbuster trades and big-time spending fizzled on Tuesday when the Blue Jays slumped to a 4-1 home loss to Cleveland in their Major League Baseball season opener.

A sellout crowd packed into the Rogers Center for one of the most anticipated openers of the team’s 36-year existence, and while Toronto failed to fire against the Indians, manager John Gibbons savored the atmosphere.

TORONTO (Reuters) – Steven Stamkos is a goal-scoring machine who has had little team success in the National Hockey League (NHL) but he is expected to play a key role for Canada on the sport’s biggest stage at next year’s Olympics.

The 23-year-old Tampa Bay Lightning forward is in a league of his own when it comes to scoring goals but, apart from a deep playoff run in 2011, his team has always finished in the lower echelons of the NHL standings.

TORONTO, March 21 (Reuters) – Steven Stamkos is a goal-scoring machine who has had little team success in the National Hockey League (NHL) but he is expected to play a key role for Canada on the sport’s biggest stage at next year’s Olympics.

The 23-year-old Tampa Bay Lightning forward is in a league of his own when it comes to scoring goals but, apart from a deep playoff run in 2011, his team has always finished in the lower echelons of the NHL standings.

TORONTO, Feb 22 (Reuters) – Austria is known more as the birthplace of notable classical music composers than ice hockey players, but Thomas Vanek hopes to change that tune at next year’s Sochi Olympics.

The Vienna-born forward, who has led the NHL scoring race for much of the season, is eager to parlay his performance onto the international stage when Austria’s men’s hockey team returns to the Olympics for the first time since 2002.

TORONTO (Reuters) – Playing under a new head coach for the first time in 16 years, the struggling Buffalo Sabres fell 3-1 to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday.

A day after firing Lindy Ruff, who had been the National Hockey League’s (NHL) longest-tenured coach, the Sabres were mostly flat in interim coach Ron Rolston’s debut and slumped to their third straight loss.

TORONTO (Reuters) – The Memphis Grizzlies, playing against Rudy Gay for the first time since trading their top scorer to Toronto, scored an 88-82 victory over the Raptors on Wednesday.

The Grizzlies (35-18) limited Gay to 13 points, one of his lowest outings since joining Toronto last month, en route to a fifth straight victory that strengthens their bid for homecourt advantage in the playoffs.

TORONTO (Reuters) – The Denver Nuggets are happy flying under the radar, but a lack of attention despite an impressive campaign has given them added motivation to make noise in a competitive Western Conference.

Before Sunday’s overtime loss to the Boston Celtics, Denver owned the NBA’s longest active winning streak with nine straight victories in which they topped the 100-point plateau in each.

TORONTO (Reuters) – Rudy Gay drained the game-winning shot in the final seconds as the rejuvenated Toronto Raptors withstood a furious fightback from the Denver Nuggets for a 109-108 victory over one of the NBA’s hottest teams on Tuesday.

Trailing by a point with five seconds remaining, Toronto’s newest acquisition drained the go-ahead jump shot just before Ty Lawson’s attempt to give the visitors the win bounced off the rim as the final buzzer sounded.