Bet on these four Stanley Cup dark horses

John Tavares’ third visit to Long Island as an opposing player Wednesday night should carry with it a sense of normalcy — one nobody could have imagined in July 2018, when Tavares left the New York Islanders to join the Toronto Maple Leafs. Tavares will make another trip to his old haunts when

Dan Bylsma sees some parallels between this Stanley Cup Final that features games on back-to-back nights and the last time it happened in 2009 when he was the winning coach. While it was Games 1 and 2 for Bylsma’s Pittsburgh Penguins and the Detroit Red Wings, the scheduling could mark a turning point this year because the banged-up Lightning might need to close this out fast or the Stars could outlast them to win a long, grueling series. Penguins players told Bylsma leaving old Joe Louis Arena down 2-0, ”We’re going to win.” It was all about extending the series as long as possible because Detroit was the more tired team from playing three games in four days dating to their Western Conference clincher.