RALEIGH, N.C. -- Matthew Tkachuk's goal with 12.7 seconds left in quadruple overtime gave the Florida Panthers a 3-2 victory in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final over the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday morning.

Florida forward Sam Bennett forced a turnover and slid the puck to Tkachuk, who snapped it past Carolina goalie Frederik Andersen (57 saves) for his sixth goal of the playoffs. He immediately started skating to center ice and pointing to the exit to the dressing rooms, leading his exhausted teammates off the ice.

"Probably my favorite [goal] so far in my life," said Tkachuk, who scored his second overtime winner of the postseason. "Big to not let it go to five overtimes there."

The Panthers lead the series 1-0. The game finished at 79:47 of overtime play, the sixth-longest game in Stanley Cup playoff history.

"This is the worst way to lose," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "There's no way around it. But we'll regroup and come back it again the next one. It's just one game."

Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky made 63 saves in the win. "At that point you don't feel much about your body. It's more mental," he said. "Your focus is completely on the game. One shot at a time and you don't think about your body."

The overtime thriller had several moments of high drama.

Ryan Lomberg appeared to have the game won just two minutes, 34 seconds into the first overtime. After the Hurricanes fumbled the puck in their own zone, his quick spinning shot from the slot flew past Andersen. The Panthers celebrated and the Carolina fans began exiting, but the Hurricanes players remained standing at their bench. At issue: Florida forward Colin White made contact with Andersen in his crease while jostling with Carolina's Jack Drury.

After video review, it was determined there was enough contact to warrant goalie interference and the goal was waved off. The official ruling from the NHL: That White had "a significant presence in the crease and made incidental contact" with Andersen that "impaired his ability to play his position" before Lomberg's shot. Rule 69.1 states that goal will be disallowed if "an attacking player, either by his positioning or by contact, impairs the goalkeeper's ability to move freely within his crease or defend his goal."

The fans walked back down the stairs to their seats. Overtime would continue. And continue. And continue.

"We've been through a lot of adversity throughout the whole playoffs and the season," said Florida defenseman Radko Gudas. "We don't really care. We put the working boots back on and we just grind 'em down and we just keep going."

In the third overtime, Florida defenseman Brandon Montour found himself alone in front of Andersen, but his double-deke move was saved by the goaltender. He was at the end of a shift that was nearly three minutes long.

In the fourth overtime, the Hurricanes were given a power play after a hooking penalty on Florida winger Carter Verhaeghe. But they failed to register a shot on goal.

That was Friday morning. On Thursday night, the game got off to a fiery start thanks to Panthers coach Paul Maurice.

With Florida defenseman Marc Staal in the penalty box for tripping Carolina's Martin Necas at 17:44 of the first period, the Panthers were whistled for another call just 39 seconds later. Carolina forward Stefan Noesen screened Bobrovsky as a shot from Necas went wide. As Noesen turned his body, defenseman Aaron Ekblad cross-checked him in the back. Noesen fell to the ice and into Bobrovsky.

Referee Steve Kozari signaled a cross-checking penalty. As Ekblad skated to the box, Maurice vehemently and profanely protested the call.

With 11.1 seconds left in the period, Seth Jarvis blasted a shot high over Bobrovsky for his fifth goal of the playoffs on a 5-on-4 power play. The Panthers earned three minor penalties in the first period, with Bennett getting a delay of game call at 12:17.

Florida forward Anthony Duclair's line helped give the Panthers the lead in the second period. Dulcair found captain Aleksander Barkov for an open shot that beat Andersen for the tie at 15:28. Just 2:15 later, Duclair fed Verhaeghe for another open shot that beat Andersen glove side for the 2-1 advantage.

That was the score entering the third period, where the Hurricanes found their spark again. With Bennett in the penalty box on a boarding penalty, a failed clearing attempt by the Panthers led to an odd-man chance down low for the Canes. Necas passed to Jarvis who passed to Noesen for a gorgeous game-tying goal.

That goal was scored 3:47 into the third period. Turned out, there was a lot more game to follow.

"Both teams spent what they had," Maurice said. "That's a huge cost for both teams. It's a race to recover now."

Game 2 is scheduled for Saturday night in Raleigh. Brind'Amour said he yet to think about whether Andersen would get the start given his Game 1 marathon, with backup Antti Raanta owning impressive numbers on home ice.

"I haven't even processed this one yet," he said.

DENVER -- LeBron James missed all six of his three-pointers -- including an 0-for-3 mark in the fourth quarter to extend his streak of 19 straight threes he's failed to convert in the fourth this postseason. Anthony Davis clanked 11 of his 15 field goal attempts. And the Los Angeles Lakers lost Game 2 of the Western Conference finals to the Nuggets, 108-103, to drop consecutive games for the first time since mid-March.

As insurmountable as a 2-0 deficit might seem against the West's No. 1 team -- especially with James and Davis struggling on Thursday -- the Lakers' leaders vowed to bounce back with the series shifting to L.A.

"I think we improved from Game 1 to Game 2," said James after finishing with 22 points on 9-for-19 shooting, 10 assists, 9 rebounds and 4 steals in 40 minutes. "And if we can do the same thing from Game 2 to Game 3, we put ourselves in a position to win."

After leading by as many as 11 points in the third quarter, the Lakers fell down by 12 midway through the fourth. They mounted a rally -- but Davis missed a three with 3:15 remaining that could have cut the deficit to two; he missed another three with 40.5 seconds left that could have cut it to one; and James, after stealing a Jamal Murray pass, missed a layup with 26.4 seconds left that could have cut it to two.

"I liked all the looks that I got today," Davis said after scoring 18 points -- less than half of his 40-point output in Game 1 -- with 14 rebounds and 4 blocks. "Just a lot of them were short. I'm going to continue to shoot those shots and I got to be better, more efficient, help the team win. So, I'll be better."

The Lakers will host Game 3 on Saturday (8:30 ET, ABC) at Crypto.com Arena where they're 7-0 so far this postseason between the play-in round against the Minnesota Timberwolves, the first round against the Memphis Grizzlies and the second round against the Golden State Warriors.

But the hard-charging Nuggets -- with Nikola Jokic and Murray both looking dominant in the first two games -- are a different beast.

However, the Lakers -- just the second No. 7 seed ever to make the conference finals -- aren't about to give up now.

And James, not surprisingly, was backed up by his team. He pushed them to this place as a 38-year-old veteran in his 20th season and they're not going to stop trusting him now, either.

"I mean, he can shoot all he wants," said Austin Reaves. "It's LeBron James. I don't think anybody bats an eye when he shoots a shot or questions his shot. We want him taking whatever he feels comfortable with, just because he's a winning basketball player for his whole career and that's all he wants to do, he wants to win."

Said Ham, after James dropped to 0-for-10 from three-point range in the conference finals: "He was open, they're playing off of him. He's a highly capable three-point shooter, he let it fly."

James guarded Jokic for much of the night, feeling the impact of the two-time MVP's 6-foot-11, 280-pound frame. But James didn't use fatigue as an excuse for the errant shots.

"If you're not tired in the postseason ..." he said, trailing off. "I mean, everybody's tired."

Similarly, he wasn't about to let his left ankle that he twisted late in the fourth from prevent him from suiting up in Game 3. James said he stepped on Aaron Gordon's foot but replays showed it was Davis' foot.

"A little ankle [injury] isn't going to stop me," James told ESPN.

Teams have a 6-56 series record all-time when trailing 2-0 in the conference finals, according to research by ESPN Stats & Information. But two of those comebacks have been orchestrated by James' teams -- with Cleveland in 2007 and again in 2018.

"We still got to play with the same desperation as we did tonight," James said. "We came out with an L but doesn't give us any more comfort. We can't go into any postseason game with comfort, just because you either haven't lost at home or you're going back home."

This might be the first time all playoffs the Lakers are behind in a series, but it's not the first time the Lakers have been down this season, as coach Darvin Ham reminded reporters before Game 2 began.

"I've been down 2-10, 0-5," Ham said, reflecting on his team's start back in October. "You're never as good as they say you are and you're never as bad as they say you are. You've just got to treat each day like its own entity. Each day, each game an opportunity to go out and get better. Never get too high and never get too low."

DENVER -- Jamal Murray took a handoff from Nikola Jokic on the left wing and drilled his fourth 3-pointer of the fourth quarter over LeBron James.

"Bang!" Murray yelled out, a nod to ESPN play-by-play man Mike Breen's trademark call, while pointing at the ESPN broadcast table on his way back down the court.

After missing 12 of 17 shots and scoring just 14 points through the first three quarters, Murray gave the Los Angeles Lakers a taste of "Playoff Murray" in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals at Ball Arena. Murray exploded for 23 of his 37 points in the fourth quarter to help the Denver Nuggets win 108-103 to push the Lakers down to a 2-0 series deficit.

Murray -- who also had 10 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals -- said he grew up dreaming of clutch fourth-quarter playoff performances like this. It was his fourth 20-plus-point fourth quarter in the playoffs, the most since the play-by-play era began in the 1997-98 season and two more than Michael Jordan and Allen Iverson, who are tied for second, according to research by ESPN Stats & Information.

"When I was little, I used to count down the seconds off the shot clock and make the shot and talk like Marv Albert and Mike Breen," Murray said after the game. "Just the imagination running as a kid. When you get in that moment and you see your fam in the crowd, see your little brother, see Mike Breen there, all these little reminders, they all pay dividends and make that moment a little more special. Just kind of lock you back in."

He added: "Playing in the Western Conference finals against the Lakers and LeBron James. It's an amazing opportunity, and it's something you're going to look back in history and remember for the rest of your life."

The Nuggets also got a fourth straight triple-double from Jokic, who had 23 points, 17 rebounds and 12 assists. It was also his fifth triple-double in six games.

But it was Murray who played the role of finisher. He had been battling an ear infection that sidelined him last weekend and prevented him from doing much at all.

But he has scored 31 or more points in both of the Nuggets' home wins against the Lakers. On Thursday night, Murray scored the final 12 points of the game for the Nuggets. That is the second-most consecutive points scored for a team to end a game in a conference finals or NBA Finals win over the past 25 years, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

"He was special and he won us the game," Jokic said. "His energy, he played 42 minutes, so ... I think he was amazing. Yes, maybe in the first half, he struggled to make shots. But when it mattered the most, he made shots and won us the game basically."

It was a moment Denver coach Michael Malone cherished. He has seen how hard Murray has had to work to fight his way back from a torn left ACL in April 2021, forcing him to miss the previous two postseasons.

"I love Jamal Murray," Malone said. "This is not just like I'm coaching him. We've been together seven years and been through a lot of ups and downs, and to see him back playing at the level he's playing at, the first thought for me is just tremendous pride and just so happy for him. Because I saw the dark days coming back from that ACL.

Malone added: "He needs to continue to do that. Obviously our goal is not done. We have to win this series. Our goal is to win a championship, and he's going to be a big part of that."

Murray's clutch performance helped the Nuggets bury the Lakers -- who led by 11 in the third but watched Denver score 20 of the first 25 points in the fourth quarter -- when they made seven 3-pointers.

Murray's fourth quarter outscored James' 22 points for the entire game. With Anthony Davis struggling through a 4-for-15 shooting night for 18 points and 14 rebounds, the Nuggets head to Los Angeles looking to add to their series lead.

While the Nuggets continue to surprise some despite their No. 1 seeding and best record in the West, Murray said Denver has become accustomed to this for several years now.

"We're the Denver Nuggets; we're used to that," Murray said. "Even when we win, they talk about the other team. We beat the Clippers in the bubble, they talk about the other team. Same old, same old. It fuels us a little more and will be sweeter when we win the chip."

The New York Yankees placed starting catcher Jose Trevino on the 10-day injured list because of a left hamstring strain and recalled catcher Ben Rortvedt from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Thursday.

Trevino, 30, is batting .219 with three home runs and 11 RBIs in 30 games (28 starts) this season, his second in New York. He's a career .243 hitter.

As expected, the Yankees also said right-hander Luis Severino will come off the injured list to make his season debut Sunday against the Cincinnati Reds on the road.

Severino has been on the shelf with a lat strain sustained in spring training.

Severino, 29, has pitched in just 26 regular-season games in the past four seasons because of a variety of injuries. In 2018, he posted a 19-8 record. In seven major league seasons, all with the Yankees, Severino is 50-29 with a 3.39 ERA in 122 games (107 starts) and 638 innings pitched.

Rortvedt, 25, hasn't appeared in the major leagues since 2021 with Minnesota. He's hitting .169 in 89 career at-bats.

The Yankees also announced that right-hander Tommy Kahnle (biceps tendinitis) will begin a rehab assignment Thursday at Single-A Tampa.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone also announced that right-hander Ian Hamilton (groin) is back in New York having an MRI, left-hander Carlos Rodon played catch at 90 feet and Giancarlo Stanton is "getting real close" to returning.

Rodon is recovering from a left forearm strain, sustained after just one spring start.

The Yankees placed Hamilton on the 15-day IL Wednesday.

Stanton was placed on the IL last month because of a left hamstring strain.

Information from Reuters was used in this report.

With multiple catchers injured, the New York Mets are bringing up veteran Gary Sanchez, according to multiple reports on Thursday.

The Mets signed Sanchez on May 9, one week after he opted out of a minor league contract with the San Francisco Giants. He reportedly could have terminated the latest deal as well if he wasn't brought up to the majors by Friday.

Sanchez, a two-time All-Star, has 154 career home runs, including seasons of 33 and 34 homers with the New York Yankees, for whom he played seven years. He was then traded to the Minnesota Twins before the 2022 season.

In 128 games for the Twins, Sanchez posted a slash line of .205/.282/.377, with 16 home runs and 61 RBIs.

The Mets lost starting catcher Omar Narvaez to a left calf injury in early April, prompting rookie Francisco Alvarez's arrival from the minors. Alvarez and veteran Tomas Nido have combined to hit .178 with four home runs and 10 RBIs for the Mets.

Nido has not played since May 5 and is on the injured list with dry eye syndrome.

Catcher Michael Perez, who joined the Mets on May 10, is 4-for-7 through two games.

The Mets are 22-23 and in third place in the National League East, six games behind the front-running Atlanta Braves. New York lost two of three to the visiting Tampa Bay Rays this week and concludes its six-game homestand with three vs. the Cleveland Guardians starting Friday.

PITTSFORD, N.Y. — Bryson DeChambeau was back on a major stage Thursday. No longer the incredible bulk, he still lashed away with speed and strength that carried him to a 4-under 66 at tough Oak Hill and the early lead in the PGA Championship.

DeChambeau kept the ball in play for most of the round and powered his way out of the gnarly rough the few times he got out of position. He matched his low score at the PGA Championship and led by one over Scottie Scheffler, Dustin Johnson and Corey Conners.

Still to be determined was whether he would be leading after the opening round. A two-hour frost delay meant 30 players didn’t finish because of darkness. They were to return Friday morning to finish. That included Eric Cole, the 34-year-old PGA Tour rookie who was at 5 under with four holes remaining.

“It’s a fantastic round of golf at Oak Hill,” DeChambeau said. “It’s a prestigious place, very difficult golf course. As I was looking at it throughout the week, I’m like, ‘Man, I don’t know how shooting under par is even possible out here on some of the holes.’ But luckily, I was able to play some really good golf.”

So did Johnson, the two-time major champion who is coming off a playoff win last week in Oklahoma in the Saudi-funded LIV Golf League. Johnson went from a fairway bunker to deep rough left of the 18th green and missed a putt just inside 15 feet for his only bogey.

“I didn’t have my best stuff, but I felt like he managed the golf course very well and took advantage of the opportunities when I had it,” Johnson said. “Made some crucial saves there on the back side.”

Fairways covered with a thin layer of frost gave way to magnificent weather with little wind.

“Today was probably the easiest conditions we’ll see all week,” said Scheffler, who took advantage with his first bogey-free card in 51 rounds at a major.

Masters champion Jon Rahm failed to take advantage, making five bogeys in a six-hole stretch around the turn and finishing with a 76, his highest start at a major since the 2018 U.S. Open. Jason Day, coming off a win at the AT&T Byron Nelson, and U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick also were at 76.

Scheffler challenging for the lead was not a surprise. Last year’s Masters champion has six wins in the last 15 months, and he hasn’t finished worse than 12th this year. Johnson had a slow start to the year but is starting to hit his stride. He won the LIV points list last year.

As for DeChambeau, he practically vanished from golf’s elite over the last year.

He injured his hip in early 2022, attributing it to slipping on marble tile playing ping-pong in Saudi Arabia. He had surgery on his left wrist after the Masters last year. And then he joined the Saudi-funded LIV Golf League, where his tie for fifth last week in Oklahoma was his only top-10 in six events this year.

“The emotions have definitely fluctuated pretty high and pretty low, thinking I have something and it fails and going back and forth. It’s humbling,” DeChambeau said. “Golf, and life, always has a good way to kicking you on your you-know-what when you’re on your high horse.

“It’s nice to feel this today.”

His only big miss came on his approach to the 17th out of rough. It sailed to the right toward the 18th tee and plunked club pro Kenny Pigman, who shook it off and then shook hands with an apologetic DeChambeau.

This isn’t so much a transformation as a restoration. His goal is no longer to create a new way to approach the game, rather to find what brought him success when he won eight times in a span of three years, including a U.S. Open title at Winged Foot.

Gone are the days when he consumed some 5,000 calories a day in a bid to build a body — he was called the “Incredible Bulk” — that could tolerate him swinging as hard as he could to overpower golf courses.

He began a diet that reduces inflammation (he estimates his daily calorie intake at 2,900) and tried to find his way back to 2018, when he felt he was at his best.

“I want to be just stable now,” he said. “I’m tired of changing, trying different things. Yeah, could I hit it a little further, could I try and get a little stronger? Sure. But I’m not going to go full force.

“It was a fun experiment,” he said, “but definitely want to play some good golf now.”

Scheffler has been doing that all year, and the opening round of the PGA Championship was no exception. He made a stressful golf course look stress-free, except for a few holes.

One of them was the second hole, his 11th of the round, when he went over the green and faced a scary chip up a steep slope to a back pin. He pitched up to 7 feet and saved par. He also got out of position on the par-5 fifth hole, getting up and down from a bunker for par.

“It was a grind today,” Scheffler said. “No bogeys is pretty solid.”

For so many others, Oak Hill was the grind they expected. Jordan Spieth felt fit enough with an injured left wrist to pursue the final leg of the career Grand Slam, only to struggle with his putting. He shot a 73.

Rory McIlroy looked as though he might be headed to another early exit from a big event. He was 3 over after nine holes and in trouble at No. 2 when he was over the green in three, some 35 feet away with a steep slope between him and a back pin.

He holed it with his putter for a most unlikely par, made birdie on the next two holes and salvaged a 71.

“It was massive,” McIlroy said. “Depending on what happens over the next three days and what I go on to do, I may look back at that shot as being the sort of turning point of the week.”

Rahm had a long road back. He was 1 under and right in the mix until he started missing fairways, into the rough and deep bunkers, and dropped out of sight. Defending champion Justin Thomas and Masters runner-up Brooks Koepka were among those at 72.

The forecast was for warmer weather and a little more wind. The forecast for the PGA Championship also includes DeChambeau.

“Golf is a weird animal. You can never fully have it,” DeChambeau said. “You always think you have it one day and then it just leaves the next. Just got to be careful.”

GolfChannel.com senior writers Rex Hoggard and Ryan Lavner are on site in Pittsford, New York, for the 105th PGA Championship. They are providing daily "mini-pods" recapping each round at Oak Hill on the Golf Channel Podcast with Rex & Lav.

Day 1

Bryson DeChambeau flashed some major form Thursday at the PGA. But was it just a flash, or the spark to something bigger?

LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers have disinvited a satirical LGBTQIA+ group called the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence to the team's annual Pride Night after opposition from conservative Catholic groups.

The charity, protest and performance group was to have received the team's Community Hero Award in a ceremony during the 10th annual event before the June 16 game against the San Francisco Giants.

"Given the strong feelings of people who have been offended by the sisters' inclusion in our evening, and in an effort not to distract from the great benefits that we have seen over the years of Pride Night, we are deciding to remove them from this year's group of honorees," the Dodgers said in a statement Wednesday.

The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence first appeared in San Francisco in 1979 in the Castro District in the form of three men wearing nun outfits. It was a whimsical protest over local and LGBTQIA+ issues. But over the decades, it has grown into a number of loosely organized chapters around the world that engage in charitable and protest work.

The group's mission statement says the nonprofit is devoted "to community service, ministry and outreach to those on the edges, and to promoting human rights, respect for diversity and spiritual enlightenment."

"We use humor and irreverent wit to expose the forces of bigotry, complacency and guilt that chain the human spirit," according to the group's website.

Opponents, however, urged the Dodgers to retract their decision to honor the group on the grounds that it mocks the Catholic faith.

In a letter to Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio said the sisters dress in "lewd imitation" of nuns.

"Do you believe that the Los Angeles Dodgers are being 'inclusive and welcoming to everyone' by giving an award to a group of gay and transgender drag performers that intentionally mocks and degrades Christians -- and not only Christians, but nuns, who devote their lives to serving others?" the Florida Republican wrote.

On Thursday, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence said the group wasn't anti-Catholic, and its members were offended and outraged by the Dodgers' decision.

"The Dodgers capitulated in response to hateful and misleading information from people outside their community," the group said.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- At the NFL league meetings in March, the San Francisco 49ers were confident they would be bringing the Super Bowl back to Levi's Stadium.

Barring a sudden change of direction, that confidence will be rewarded at the spring owners meetings in Minneapolis next week. There, the 49ers' bid for Super Bowl 60 in 2026 is slated to be approved by the NFL, a league source said, confirming a report by Sports Business Journal.

"If the Bay Area has the opportunity, we would be honored to host Super Bowl LX," 49ers president Al Guido said in a statement.

Should the Bay Area bid be accepted, it would bring the Super Bowl back to Levi's Stadium for the first time since the Denver Broncos beat the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50 and be the third Super Bowl played in the Bay Area. The Niners beat the Miami Dolphins in Super Bowl XIX, a game that was played at Stanford Stadium in 1985.

Niners executives have been confident about bringing the Super Bowl back to Levi's for the past few months. At the March league meetings in Phoenix, the Niners sought a $120 million loan from the NFL's stadium fund to make improvements to Levi's Stadium.

That money is slated to go toward premium seating and scoreboard upgrades at Levi's with an eye toward the 2026 World Cup and bolstering their position for future Super Bowls.

Niners chief executive officer Jed York was enthusiastic about the chances of another successful Super Bowl bid.

"My optimism is very high," York said on March 28. "I feel very confident that we're going to get a Super Bowl in the near future. And it would be great to get Super Bowl 60 after hosting Super Bowl 50. ... It would be fantastic to be able to bring that game, certainly after bringing the World Cup to Levi's Stadium and having the Super Bowl to follow that. Those are two truly the largest sporting events in the world, and having those back-to-back would be fantastic."

SEATTLE -- As the Seattle Kraken scattered following the end of their second season in existence, general manager Ron Francis and coach Dave Hakstol received an overwhelming message from their players.

Getting to the playoffs and making a run was great and will go a long way in helping establish the Kraken in their hometown. But there was also a missed opportunity to do something really special with this season.

"We didn't have to say that. Our players were saying that to us," Francis said Thursday. "They understood that they had a good season, but they were not happy that they didn't advance beyond this round."

Seattle's management was still dealing with the mixed emotions that came with the Kraken's unexpected playoff run and the disappointment when it ended earlier this week in a Game 7 loss to Dallas in the Western Conference semifinals.

Making the playoffs was significant for the second-year franchise. Knocking out defending champion Colorado galvanized the community. But there was a bitter taste left behind from falling to the Stars.

"We felt like we had a great commitment right from Day 1 of training camp all the way through," Hakstol said. "There was a real purpose to everything that the guys were doing on a daily basis. That tracks back to your leadership."

The messages both given and received by Hakstol and Francis also were pointed toward next season and not letting the playoff run be a one-time event in the infancy of the franchise.

Francis noted there will be room to improve the roster. Seattle has 10 draft picks and is expected to have a chunk of space under the salary cap. Some of that money seems destined to go to defenseman Vince Dunn, who'll be a restricted free agent, with forward Ryan Donato and defenseman Carson Soucy highlighting Seattle's list of unrestricted free agents.

"We're hopeful, yeah. But we'll see how those go. We haven't started them yet," Francis said of talks with Dunn, who had a career-high 64 points. "Usually if you get a deal where the team is not happy and the player is not happy, that's probably a fair deal. So we'll see if we can strive to get to that point."

One player Seattle would like to get a full season from is forward Andre Burakovsky, who missed the final three months because of injury. Francis provided clarity about what happened with Burakovsky, who was Seattle's leading scorer when he last took the ice for a game in early February.

Francis said Burakovsky tore a groin muscle in his first shift of Seattle's first game following the All-Star break against New Jersey. The initial diagnosis was that Burakovsky should be back just after the trade deadline and would be, in turn, Seattle's roster addition.

But Burakovsky had a pair of setbacks along the way that eventually led to surgery to fully repair the injury in mid-April. If Seattle had advanced to the Stanley Cup final there was a chance Burakovsky could have returned.

"We missed him. But also, great job by the guys in that locker room. They didn't use it as an excuse or a crutch," Francis said. "They continued to fight and battle and believe in what they had and found a way to still have some success."

Francis said the expectation that Burakovsky would return played into Seattle's decision not to make any moves at the trade deadline. That also worked out in Seattle's favor, giving the Kraken maximum flexibility going into the offseason.

"If there's a way we can improve our team and we feel makes us better we're certainly not going to hesitate to do that," Francis said. "But we think we've got a good group and we're headed in the right direction."