NHL:
The Vegas Golden Knights and the Washington Capitals came out firing in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final with Tomas Nosek scoring the tiebreaking goal midway through the third period in a thrilling 6-4 victory by the expansion Golden Knights. With its sellout crowd of hometown fans at deafening volume all night, Vegas put its usual speed and relentlessness on full display while overcoming a third-period deficit to win the opener of a matchup between two franchises seeking their first Stanley Cup titles. The Game 1 winner has won the last six Cups and 61 of 78 overall. Game 2 is Wednesday in Las Vegas.
NBA:
Kevin Durant scored 34 points and the Golden State Warriors are heading to their fourth straight NBA Finals after fighting back from another big deficit and beating the Houston Rockets 101-92 in Game 7 of the Western Conference finals. Stephen Curry and the defending champions trailed by as many as 15 in the first half after falling behind 17 in Game 6. The Rockets fell apart in the second half again after doing so in Game 6. They played without injured Chris Paul. The Warriors will host LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 1 of the finals on Thursday night.
The Boston Celtics have two injured All-Stars returning for next season and may not need to add much else to take the next step in the Eastern Conference. The players say they hope to stay together for another try at the title next year. But they know that's not in "Trader Danny" Ainge's nature.
Celtics point guard Kyrie Irving did not attend Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals because he was recovering from nasal surgery. General manager Danny Ainge says Irving had a deviated septum from a November facial fracture that forced him to play with a mask while healing.
MLB:
Justin Verlander tamed the New York Yankees again, slowing down the highest-scoring team in the majors and pitching the Houston Astros past New York 5-1 Monday. That dropped the Yankees to two games behind the Boston Red Sox in the AL East. Andrew Benintendi hit a three-run homer to cap a five-run fourth inning, J.D. Martinez added a solo homer and Boston coasted to an 8-3 win over Toronto.
Andrew Benintendi hit a three-run homer to cap a five-run fourth inning. J.D. Martinez added a solo homer and the Boston Red Sox coasted to an 8-3 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays. Benintendi also had a triple and single. Jackie Bradley Jr. added an RBI double and scored twice and made a spectacular catch. Boston won for the seventh time in nine games.
Red Sox star outfielder Mookie Betts is out of the lineup for the second straight game because of tightness on his left side. Manager Alex Cora is hopeful Betts can return against Toronto on Tuesday.
Anthony Rendon hit a three-run homer to back a sharp pitching performance by Gio Gonzalez, and the surging Washington Nationals beat the Baltimore Orioles 6-0.
Luis Guillorme broke a seventh-inning tie with a two-run single, Amed Rosario had three RBIs and the New York Mets beat the Atlanta Braves 8-5 to split a day-night doubleheader that was delayed more than 3½ hours by rain. The Braves beat the Mets in the first game, 4-3. The victory snapped a four-game skid and moved the Mets to 26-25 after they fell to .500 for the first time this season. Jeurys Familia closed out the nightcap at about 1:30 a.m.
The New York Mets have placed right-hander A.J. Ramos and infielder Wilmer Flores on the 10-day disabled list and activated right-hander Hansel Robles and catcher Kevin Plawecki from rehab assignments. Heading into a doubleheader with the Atlanta Braves, the Mets added infielder Phillips Evans from Triple-A Las Vegas and brought in right-hander Gerson Bautista as a 26th man.
Marco Gonzales pitched into the seventh inning and did not allow an earned run for a third consecutive start, helping Seattle top Texas 2-1 and stay a game behind Houston in the AL West. Seattle won for the ninth time in 10 games and reached 13 games above .500 for the first time since late in the 2014 season. Seattle has 16 one-run wins, best in the majors.
NCAA:
Jack Tigh scored three goals and Matt Gaudet scored four as Yale beat Duke 13-11 to win its first NCAA lacrosse title. The third-seeded Bulldogs (17-3) scored the first three goals of the game and struck first in all four quarters while holding off the three-time national champion Blue Devils.
It's been seven months since Breanna Stewart publicly revealed she was sexually abused as a child, and feedback for her essay in The Players' Tribune has been overwhelmingly supportive. The Seattle Storm star has partnered with the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network to raise awareness. She wore shoes in Seattle's game against Chicago featuring the organization's phone number, and the sneakers were auctioned off after the game to raise money.
NASCAR:
It was a good payday for Indianapolis 500 drivers. Will Power earned $2,525,454 for winning the 102nd running of the famous race. The overall purse for the 33 drivers in Sunday's race was $13,063,073. Danica Patrick earned $208,305 in the final race of her career. She finished 30th after crashing out.
Horse Racing:
Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Justify has galloped at Churchill Downs in front of trainer Bob Baffert as the Triple Crown hopeful trains for the Belmont Stakes. Baffert arrived from Southern California to watch Justify gallop 1½ miles.
Volvo Ocean Race:
Team Brunel has won Leg 9 of the Volvo Ocean Race with a margin of just more than 4 minutes over another Dutch crew, team AkzoNobel, after sailing 3,300 nautical miles across the Atlantic Ocean from Newport, Rhode Island, to Cardiff, Wales. This time, Team Brunel was on the winning side of a close finish.
©2018 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
