NHL

Sin City found God on Friday ... 'cause a Las Vegas Golden Knights fan delivered a custom jersey to Pope Francis -- and the holiest guy on earth LOVED it!!!

Unclear why a man came to the Vatican bearing the NHL gift ... but when he did -- and the pictures became public -- the Knights were thrilled, tweeting of the moment, "OMG!"

The jersey is awesome ... it's a custom sweater featuring the name "Pope Francis" on the back.

Of course, the Knights are officially done this season -- the Sharks took care of them in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in a super controversial, down-to-the-wire game 7 finish.

12:07 PM PT -- Vladimir Putin FELL DOWN HARD while skating around the rink following the game.

Putin clearly didn't see the red carpet on the ice and when he hit it, Vlad fell face first.

One of his teammates tried to warn him but to no avail.

Thoughts and prayers for whoever put the carpet down ...

It's that time of year again ... when Russian president Vladimir Putin straps on the skates and plays ice hockey with a bunch of his famous countrymen, including ex-NHL players.

And, how did ol' Vlad do???

TOTAL DOMINATION, COMRADES!!!

Of course, it's easy to score on opponents who are in constant fear of being sent to the gulags ... but hey, PUTIN!!!

The 66-year-old crushed his enemies right from the initial puck drop ... posting 8 goals in the annual exhibition match alongside ex-NHL stars Slava Fetisov and Pavel Bure.

Hey, last year Putin only scored 5 goals -- so he's getting better!!!

Putin's teammate -- Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu -- scored 3 goals in the 14 to 7 victory.

The opposing team had some notable players too -- including Russian billionaire Vladimir Potanin and Putin's longtime pal, Gennady Timchenko.

Lindsey Vonn made it clear to all ... retired athletes can stay super fit.

Lindsey and BF P.K. Subban hit the sand Saturday afternoon in Miami Beach, and we're guessing every step she took had to be carefully calculated.

Gotta say ... the one piece is amazing -- a feat of fabric.

The 34-year-old Olympian retired in February after the 2019 World Championship in Sweden. Lindsey has suffered some really serious injuries during her career, but she's clearly not worse for wear.

In case you didn't know, P.K. plays on the Nashville Predators hockey team.

Wayne Gretzky says he WANTS Alex Ovechkin to pass his all-time goals record ... telling TMZ Sports it would be GREAT for hockey!!!

"If he breaks it," The Great One says ... "I'll be the first guy there to shake his hand."

Of course, Gretzky owns the NHL's all-time mark for goals scored with 894 ... but Ovie ain't that far behind with 658.

In fact, if the 33-year-old Washington Capitals superstar averages 33.7 goals per season for the next 7 years ... he'd tie Gretzky by the time he's 40.

Doesn't seem like TOO difficult of a task -- Ovie's NEVER scored less than 32 goals in his entire 14-year career!!!

As for Ovechkin, he says he's actually gunnin' for the record -- telling NHL.com earlier this year, "I'm going to try to do it."

By the way, while we were on the subject of records ... Gretzky also told us he thinks Tiger Woods has a "great chance" to catch Jack Nicklaus' majors mark.

Wayne Gretzky ain't exactly up in arms about the punch Brad Marchand threw at the back of an opposing player's head Tuesday night ... telling TMZ Sports, "We've all been punched."

Marchand's been under fire -- some people calling the Bruins star a cheap shot artist -- after socking Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Scott Harrington in the 3rd period of Game 3.

Harrington was on his knees outside the crease when Marchand took a shot at the defenseless player -- before skating away before the refs could see what happened.

Despite the fact the dirty play was captured on video, Marchand is not expected to be punished by the league.

We asked "The Great One" if he thinks Marchand should face league discipline.

"First of all, that's not my prerogative. That's up to the National Hockey League," Gretzky said.

"What we have now in the NHL, we have great refereeing and analyzing what's best for the game and I'm sure the NHL will take care of it properly."

When we pressed on if Wayne thought the punch was dirty, he explained ... "I didn't see the game. You have to see the whole game to understand what happened."

Our guy replied, "What did you think of the punch though, was it cheap?"

Gretzky laughed and said, "We've all been punched!"

We also talked to Wayne about the Tampa Bay Lightning being swept in the 1st round of the NHL playoffs after tying the record for the greatest regular season in league history.

Ezekiel Elliott saw a kid get hit by a hockey puck at the Dallas Stars playoff game on Monday ... so he jumped into action and raced over to make sure the little boy was okay.

Don't worry, the kid appears to be fine -- and now he's got selfies with Zeke!

Unclear exactly when the kid was hit by the puck -- or how serious the impact was -- but Elliott (who's been a regular at the Stars games) made his way over to the boy in the 3rd period to check in on him.

The Dallas Cowboys superstar thought snappin' a pic with the youngster would help sooth the oncoming bruise ... and guess what?? IT DID!!

You can see in the video ... the boy cracks a smile as Zeke daps him up and busts out the phone for a few pics. His family seemed happy with the gesture too.

Elliott also made sure another fan who was hit by the puck ricochet got some love as well.

It's not like Zeke works for the Stars and was sent over by management to diffuse the situation -- just a famous guy who was trying to help out. Seems like it worked.

Justin Bieber PRAYED TO GOD his Toronto Maple Leafs would emerge victorious in Game 7 of their NHL playoff series ... so, when they lost, he REALLY needed comfort from his wife Hailey Baldwin.

Justin and Hailey were sitting in a private VIP box at TD Garden in Boston to watch his Canadian team take on the Boston Bruins.

Before the game, Justin offered up a prayer for his players on IG -- saying, "Dear lord please be with Austin Mathews, Mitch Marner and all of the Toronto Maple Leafs tonight as they play game 7 against the Boston bruins."

JB's prayers went unanswered -- his Maple Leafs got SHELLACKED in a 5-1 blowout.

You can see video of Hailey rubbing Justin's shoulders as she quickly realizes things aren't going his way ...

After the game ... Boston Bruins star David Pastrnak rubbed the win in Bieber's face -- tweeting, "Not today [Justin Bieber] #BostonStrong."

And, get this ... Justin's out of Canadian teams to root for in the NHL playoffs -- the Winnipeg Jets and Calgary Flames were both eliminated, too.

Teammates that go to hockey games together ... feed each other???

That's exactly what happened when Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott hit up the Dallas Stars game Monday night ... 'cause the QB fed his running back a whole bucket of popcorn!!

It all went down in Dallas' playoff game against the Preds ... when cameras caught the two Cowboys stars taking in the action.

Zeke, of course, had to hit the jumbotron with his famous "Feed Me!" celebration ... so Dak obliged -- making an entire bucket of popcorn rain all over the RB's face!!

Seems the guys on the ice were motivated by the gesture ... 'cause the Stars finished off the series upset over Nashville, winning the game in overtime just a few minutes later.

Gavin DeGraw's probably hurtin' bad right now ... after slipping and planting his face on some hard ice.

The "I Don't Want To Be" hitmaker hit up Bridgestone Arena in Nashville Saturday for Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs between the Stars and Predators. He was there to sing the National Anthem and absolutely KILLED. But, as he was hyping up the crowd ... he took one step too many backward and BAM!!!

It ain't pretty ... Gavin's face met the ice and it looked like it was a hard collision. Tough break for the local kid. He not only lives in Nashville, but he also owns the very popular joint, Nashville Underground ... a massive 4-level joint and bar just blocks away from the arena and on the famous Honky Tonk Highway.

IT'S ALREADY HAPPENING!!!!

Dustin Johnson and Paulina Gretzky's 1-year-old son is getting lessons on how to be hockey's next biggest thing ... from grandpa Wayne!!!

Paulina and D.J. posted the adorable vid of Rivers Johnson -- their youngest child -- with The Great One ... and we gotta say, it's hard not to see the resemblance.

Wayne and the little Gretzky did some stick handling drills ... with Rivers even gettin' a few past Grandpa!!!

Of course, Dustin and Paulina's kids (they have a 4-year-old son as well) have some tough choices to make when it comes to sports ... Dad is a pretty good golfer too.

We're one day into the NHL playoffs and we already have our first toothless interview ... courtesy of San Jose Sharks star Joe Pavelski ... who scored a goal OFF HIS FACE!!!!

Here's what went down ... the 3-time All-Star came in clutch in the 1st period of the game against the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday -- taking his teammate's shot right to his face and deflecting it into the net.

Does that sound like it hurts?? Hell yeah ... it LOOKED painful, too ... but somehow, Pavelski went into concussion protocol, got stitched up, and was cleared to come back on the ice by the 2nd period.

Pavelski -- minus a couple chompers -- talked about the incredible play after the game with a mouth full of blood, saying it was all worth it when he heard the fans cheering.

The NHL has just suspended Slava Voynov for the entire 2019-20 season over a domestic violence incident from 2014 ... the league has announced.

As we previously reported, Voynov pled no contest to misdemeanor corporal injury to a spouse -- stemming from a 2014 altercation with his wife at their Redondo Beach, CA home.

Cops said Voynov's wife told them the hockey player kicked, punched and choked her -- and also slammed her head into a TV. Cops said she was bleeding when they arrived to the scene.

Voynov was ultimately sentenced to 90 days in jail and 3 years probation, which he completed last year.

The L.A. Kings terminated Slava's $25 million contract in 2015 -- and he moved back to his native Russia where he resumed his hockey career.

But, now that his probation is over, he wants to play in the NHL again -- and recently met with NHL officials to discuss possible reinstatement.

Enter NHL Commish Gary Bettman ... who says if Slava wants to return, he needs to be punished by the league for his actions -- even if those actions are almost 5 years old.

Bettman decided a 1-year suspension was sufficient and made the announcement on Tuesday.

"I have determined that Player Slava Voynov engaged in acts of domestic violence directed at his wife,” Commissioner Bettman said.

"Today’s ruling, while tailored to the specific facts of this case and the individuals involved, is necessary and consistent with the NHL’s strongly-held policy that it cannot and will not tolerate this and similar types of conduct, particularly as directed at a spouse, domestic partner or family member."

NHL forward JT Brown was arrested just hours before his Minnesota Wild team took on the Dallas Stars on Saturday ... 'cause cops say he was involved in TWO drunken altercations.

The Wild stud -- who was the first-ever NHL player to protest during the national anthem -- went out partying in Dallas the night before his team was set to play in Big D.

The problem ... cops say he got wasted -- and caused such a big scene with employees and patrons inside a local bar -- he was booted off the premises.

But, cops say JT later returned around 2 AM ... and drunkenly got into it AGAIN with bar employees -- and this time, cops say they decided to arrest him.

We're told JT was processed for public intoxication, a Misdemeanor C violation.

One of the crazier parts of the story?? The Wild kept Brown out of its game Saturday night but said it was because he was battling an illness.

For his part, Brown released a statement, saying, “I would like to apologize to the Minnesota Wild, my teammates, family, and fans for the poor decision I made."

"I went out the night before our last game in Dallas, put myself in a bad situation, and take full responsibility for my actions. I have learned from my mistake and will make sure it does not happen again."

No "hamberders" or chicken sandwiches were served on silver platters ... but Washington Capitals star Nicklas Backstrom says the team's visit to Trump's White House was still awesome!

Backstrom -- along with several Caps teammates -- hit up 1600 Penn on Monday to celebrate their 2018 Stanley Cup victory. We spotted the guys out near the team practice facility after the visit.

And, since Trump has made it a "thing" to serve his championship guests smorgasbords of fast food ... we asked Backstrom if POTUS rolled out the silver platters for the Caps ... the same way Trump did for the football players at Clemson and North Dakota State.

Remember, the college guys LOVED the food -- with Tigers star QB Trevor Lawrence telling TMZ Sports the meal was a huge hit!

Unfortunately for the hockey players, Trump's tradition ended on Monday -- no chicken, no pizza, no berders -- but Backstrom says it didn't stop the visit from being great!!

"It was nice of him to invite us," the center tells us ... adding "It was just nice to be there. We were happy about it."

We also asked Nik if there was any drama in the locker room with Braden Holtby and other players who decided to skip the trip altogether ... but Backstrom says "everything's good."

What does Ron Burgundy love more than scotch?? HOCKEY!! ... and it turns out Will Ferrell's classic 'Anchorman' character is a damn good color commentator for the L.A. Kings!!

The legendary news anchor made a special appearance at the Kings vs. San Jose Sharks game on Thursday ... and, of course, we're in a glass case of emotion over it.

The highlights range from shading the Sharks for never winning the Stanley Cup to chugging Molson beers before the game. It's all hilarious.

Here are the highlights ...

"I once saw Jeff Carter with his shirt off in the locker room ... he's got the goods."

"Cleared by the Kings! Take that, San Jose!! Zero Stanley Cups. ZERO Stanley Cups for the San Jose Sharks!!"

"Shot on goal, he scores!! Put that baby to bed without a diaper."

Bonus -- Burgundy and a burrito had a steamin' hot makeout sesh on the kiss cam. Seriously, just watch the vid and laugh your ass off.

Burgundy ended up being a good luck charm for the Kings ... they beat the Sharks 4-2.

Sansa Stark went FULL TYRION at the Rangers game on Tuesday -- grabbing a glass of wine and SLAMMING IT ... just because she was on the Jumbotron!!

... and it was awesome!!!!

Sophie Turner was sitting in the stands -- watching the Detroit Red Wings dominate New York -- when the house camera threw her up on the big screen for all of Madison Square Garden to see.

She dabbed. She smiled. She chugged.

The crowd went wild ... because, duh ... and Sophie threw a celebratory fist bump.

Unfortunately, the "Game of Thrones" star didn't exactly turn the tides for the Rangers ... they ended up losing the game 3-2.