TAMPA, Fla. — (AP) — Behind a loud, energetic, sellout crowd chanting “Let’s Go Bolts!” from Thunder Alley into the arena, the Tampa Bay Lightning should have a clear home-ice advantage.
Not in the playoffs.
A 4-3 overtime loss to the Montreal Canadiens in Game 1 on Sunday was the Lightning’s 10th loss in 11 games at home in the postseason, going back to Games 4 and 6 in the 2022 Stanley Cup Final against Colorado.
They can’t afford to fall behind 2-0 in the best-of-seven, opening-round series. Game 2 is Tuesday night.
The Lightning have been knocked out of the playoffs in the first round three straight years since the Avalanche prevented them from a three-peat four years ago.
“We believe in this group here. It’s a different team every year,” forward Anthony Cirelli said Monday. “That’s not in our mind at all. We have to go win a hockey game. That’s what it comes down to. Our energy level has to be up, our emotion has to be up. We have to be ready to go from the first 60-plus and have the urgency to win the game.”
Juraj Slafkovsky scored three power-play goals for the Canadiens in the opener. Lightning coach Jon Cooper wasn’t happy with his team’s penalty-killing unit and the players who put them in position to be short-handed. He called the penalties “stupidity.”
Tampa Bay was the most penalized team in the NHL in the regular season with 425. The Lightning had 14 penalty minutes and the Canadiens converted three times in five opportunities with the man advantage.
“The big one is staying out of the penalty box,” Cirelli said. “Our PK has to be better. They have a really good power play. We have to limit our penalties.”
And, they’ve got to play better on special teams.
“If you’re going to kill penalties off at 50%, then you’re probably not going to last very long,” Cooper said. “But if you kill penalties off at 50% and you only give up two (penalties), well, maybe you can survive.”
The good news for the Lightning is an 8-5 all-time record in playoff series that begin with a home loss. They are 13-8 in Game 2s at home.
The Lightning will need Andrei Vasilevskiy to play more like the dominant goaltender they’re used to having. He wasn’t sharp against the Canadiens in the opener, allowing four goals on 19 shots.
In a series that features potential Hall of Famers like Vasilevskiy and Nikita Kucherov, Montreal’s Slafkovsky was the difference maker in Game 1.
Slafkovsky, who had four goals and four assists in six games for Slovakia in the Milan Cortina Olympics, has built off that success. After finishing with 30 goals in the regular season, he became the third-youngest Canadiens player to record a hat trick in the playoffs.
“The evolution of Slaf, I think, is almost the same as the evolution of our team,” Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said. “We know what he’s capable of bringing Slaf, and that’s what he did (Sunday). He played to his identity. Not just the goals — he was physical, he won battles. It was a big game for him.”
AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Montréal Canadiens goaltender Jakub Dobes (75) celebrates with defenseman Jayden Struble (47) after Juraj Slafkovský scored during overtime in Game 1 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series, Sunday, April 19, 2026, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh (27) skates off after Montréal Canadiens left wing Juraj Slafkovský scored during overtime in Game 1 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series, Sunday, April 19, 2026, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
Tampa Bay Lightning left wing Brandon Hagel (38) celebrates with the bench after his goal against the Montréal Canadiens during the third period in Game 1 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series, Sunday, April 19, 2026, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Singer D4vd has been charged with murder in the death of a 14-year-old girl who was last known to be alive nearly a year ago and whose dismembered and decomposed body was found in September in his apparently abandoned Tesla, prosecutors said Monday.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office said the 21-year-old D4vd, whose legal name is David Burke, was charged with first-degree murder in the killing of Celeste Rivas Hernandez. She was reported missing by her family in 2024, when she was 13. Authorities, who described her Monday as a “runaway,” said she was 14 when she was killed.
A criminal complaint says he had engaged in continuous sexual abuse of Rivas Hernandez from September 2023 to September 2024.
Prosecutors allege he killed her using a sharp object on or around April 23, 2025 — the date she was last known to be alive and was headed to the singer's house in the Hollywood Hills — and mutilated her body about two weeks later.
The murder charges included special circumstances — lying in wait, committing crime for financial gain and murdering the witness in an investigation — that could carry the death penalty. Prosecutors haven’t announced whether they will seek it. Burke is also charged with lewd and lascivious acts with a person under 14 and mutilating a body.
Attorneys for the Houston-born alt-pop singer said he was innocent in a statement released after homicide detectives arrested him on Thursday at a home in Hollywood.
“Let us be clear — the actual evidence in this case will show that David Burke did not murder Celeste Rivas Hernandez and he was not the cause of her death,” the lawyers said. A new request for comment to Burke’s lawyers on the charges was not immediately answered.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman called the case “a parent's nightmare."
“Celeste, a 14-year-old at that time, went to Mr. Burke’s house in the Hollywood Hills. She was never heard from again," Hochman said at Monday's press conference.
The long-dead body of Rivas Hernandez was found inside a Tesla that was towed from the Hollywood Hills on Sept. 8, a day after she would have turned 15. Her family had reported her missing from her hometown of Lake Elsinore, about 70 miles (112 kilometers) southeast of Los Angeles.
Authorities did not publicly name Burke as a suspect until his arrest. And his lawyers' statement last week, in which said they "will vigorously defend David’s innocence,” was the first time they weighed in publicly.
The singer had been under investigation by an LA County grand jury looking into the death. The probe was officially secret, but its existence — and his designation as its target — was revealed in February when his mother, father and brother objected in a Texas court to subpoenas demanding they testify.
The 2023 Tesla Model Y was registered in the singer’s name at the Texas address of his subpoenaed family members, according to court filings from prosecutors. It had been towed from an upscale Hollywood Hills neighborhood where it had been sitting as though it was abandoned.
Police investigators searching the Tesla in a tow yard found a cadaver bag “covered with insects and a strong odor of decay,” court documents said. Detectives partially unzipped a bag and found a head and torso.
Investigators from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office removed the bag and “discovered the arms and legs had been severed from the body,” according to court documents. A second black bag was found under the first, and dismembered body parts were inside it. No cause of death has been publicly revealed, and police got a judge to block the release details of the autopsy. On Friday, the medical examiner told The Associated Press the court order remained in place after Burke's arrest, and suggested to ask the police whether they would ask to lift it. Hochman said Monday that the coroner's report would be released “shortly.”
The family of Rivas Hernandez has remained private and has not made any public statements on her death or the case.
“I had the chance to meet with some of the family members of Celeste and their grief in incalculable as to what happened to their daughter,” Hochman said.
D4vd, pronounced “David,” gained popularity among Gen Z for his blend of indie rock, R&B and lo-fi pop. He went viral on TikTok in 2022 with the hit “Romantic Homicide,” which peaked at No. 4 on Billboard’s Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart. He then signed with Darkroom and Interscope Records and released his debut EP “Petals to Thorns” and a follow-up, “The Lost Petals,” in 2023.
The Associated Press confirmed that D4vd was dropped by Interscope last year.
When the body was discovered, the singer continued his North American tour, but when reports of his possible involvement spread widely, he canceled the final two shows and a European tour that was to follow.
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AP Music Writer Maria Sherman contributed reporting from New York.
Los Angeles district attorney Nathan Hochman answers questions Monday, April 20, 2026, in Los Angeles regarding the case of singer D4vd, who was charged on suspicion of killing a 14-year-old girl whose dismembered body was found in his car. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Los Angeles district attorney Nathan Hochman answers questions Monday, April 20, 2026, in Los Angeles regarding the case of singer D4vd, who was charged on suspicion of killing a 14-year-old girl whose dismembered body was found in his car. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell walks past an image of Celeste Rivas Hernandez Monday, April 20, 2026, in Los Angeles after a press conference regarding the case of singer D4vd, who was charged on suspicion of killing the 14-year-old girl whose dismembered body was found in his car. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell speaks Monday, April 20, 2026, in Los Angeles regarding the case of singer D4vd, who was charged on suspicion of killing a 14-year-old girl whose dismembered body was found in his car. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Los Angeles district attorney Nathan Hochman answers questions next to police chief Jim McDonnell Monday, April 20, 2026, in Los Angeles regarding the case of singer D4vd, who was charged on suspicion of killing a 14-year-old girl whose dismembered body was found in his car. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
FILE - American singer-songwriter, David Anthony Burke, aka D4vd, performs on the Casino stage during the 58th Montreux Jazz Festival (MJF), in Montreux, Switzerland, July 19, 2024. (Cyril Zingaro/Keystone via AP, File)
Singer-songwriter, David Burke aka D4vd sits in artist space at Coachella music festival on April 18, 2025 in Indio, Calif. (AP Photo)
