NHL
Brock Nelson scored twice as the New York Islanders beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-2 Wednesday night and clinched a playoff berth. The Islanders are awaiting the outcome of the Florida Panthers-Carolina Hurricanes game tonight to determine their first-round playoff opponent. New York missed the postseason last year, and that led to the firing of head coach Barry Trotz in May.
Wyatt Johnston scored twice, Tyler Seguin had a goal and an assist and the Dallas Stars beat the St. Louis Blues 5-2 on Wednesday night to take the Central Division lead. Dallas moved ahead of idle Colorado for the top spot in the Central with 106 points. Colorado has 105 points, but has two games left to one at home against St. Louis on Thursday night for the Stars. Joe Pavelski and Roope Hintz also scored for Dallas and Scott Wedgewood made 16 saves. The Stars finished with 25 road victories to tie the franchise record set in 2005-06. Robert Thomas had a goal and an assist for St. Louis.
Defenseman Nikita Zadorov had his first career hat trick and the Calgary Flames ended a disappointing season with a 3-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday night. Calgary finished fifth in the Pacific at 38-27-17 and 93 points, a year after winning the division with 111. The Flames have missed the playoffs in nine of their last 14 seasons and made the postseason in consecutive years just once in that span. Dustin Wolf made 23 saves for the Flames in his NHL debut. From Gilroy, California, the 21-year-old Wolf was recalled from the Calgary Wranglers, where he leads the American Hockey League with 41 victories. Noah Gregor scored for San Jose and Kaapo Kahkonen stopped 46 shots.
NBA
Zach LaVine scored 39 points, DeMar DeRozan had 23 against his former team and the Chicago Bulls overcame a 19-point deficit to beat the Toronto Raptors 109-105 in a play-in tournament game. The Bulls will visit the Miami Heat on Friday night for the chance to earn the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference playoff bracket, and a first-round playoff matchup with the Milwaukee Bucks. Nikola Vucevic had 14 points and 13 rebounds for the Bulls, who trailed 66-47 in the third quarter. Fred VanVleet had 26 points and 12 rebounds and Pascal Siakam scored 32 points but Toronto’s season ended in disappointment.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander highlighted his 32-point night with a go-ahead baseline jumper and four clutch free throws in the final 29 seconds, and the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 123-118 to remain alive in the Western Conference play-in tourament. Josh Giddey had 31 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds for Oklahoma City, the only Western Conference team to advance to the postseason with a losing record. Brandon Ingram scored 20 of his 30 points in the second half. The loss eliminated the ninth-seeded Pelicans while 10th seed Oklahoma City advanced to play at Minnesota on Friday night for the right to enter the NBA playoffs as an eighth seed.
MLB
The Tampa Bay Rays won their 12th straight game to start the season, one short of the major league record, as Randy Arozarena hit a three-run homer in a 9-7 victory over the Boston Red Sox. The 1987 Milwaukee Brewers and 1982 Atlanta Braves both opened 13-0, tying for the best mark in big league history. Tampa Bay’s 12-game winning streak matches the team record set in June 2004. Taj Bradley won his major league debut for the Rays. The 22-year-old right-hander allowed three runs and struck out eight over five innings. Arozarena made it 3-0 with a homer off Chris Sale in the first. Tampa Bay leads the majors with 30 home runs and has outscored opponents 92-27.
Gerrit Cole didn’t let Cleveland’s fast start rattle him before pitching seven strong innings and Franchy Cordero hit a three-run homer, powering the New York Yankees to an 11-2 win over the Guardians. Cole gave up two runs and three hits in the first inning before locking in and improving to 5-0 against Cleveland over the past two seasons. He beat the Guardians twice in last year’s AL Division Series. Cordero’s homer in New York’s five-run third off Hunter Gaddis gave Cole a big cushion and helped the Yankees even the series after dropping the opener. Yankees star Aaron Judge extended his on-base streak to 44 games, the second longest in the majors since 2019.
Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso homered, David Robertson got four key outs in the seventh and eighth innings and the New York Mets beat San Diego 5-2 to take two of three from the Padres in a rematch of their playoff series last October. Leading off the third against Blake Snell, Lindor tied the score 2-2 with a homer down the left field line. Alonso put the Mets ahead with a solo shot in the fifth.
Bryan De La Cruz won the game with an RBI single in the 10th inning and Jorge Soler’s solo tying homer in the eighth sparked the Miami Marlins to a 3-2 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday. De La Cruz singled off reliever Craig Kimbrel and knocked home Nick Fortes. Fortes was the pinch-runner for ghost runner Soler. Gregory Soto took the loss. A.J. Puk pitched two scoreless innings and earned the win. The Marlins took two of three from the Phillies.
José Urquidy scattered two hits over six innings, rookie Corey Julks hit the first home run of his big league career and the Houston Astros rolled by the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-0. Urquidy (1-0) allowed singles by Carlos Santana and Jack Suwinski as the reigning champions took two of three in their first visit to Pittsburgh since 2013. Alex Bregman homered for the second straight game for Houston. Pirates starter Rich Hill allowed two runs in six innings to fall to 0-2.
Umpire Larry Vanover is being evaluated for a concussion and other injuries at a hospital after being struck in the head with a relay throw during Wednesday’s game between the New York Yankees and Cleveland Guardians. The 67-year-old Vanover was knocked down by the throw from Guardians All-Star second baseman Andrés Giménez. Vanover was positioned on the infield grass between second and the mound. Major League Baseball said Vanover is being checked for a head injury “and other potential medical issues. The timeline on his return is to be determined.” He's expected to be hospitalized overnight. Plate umpire Chris Cuccione told a pool reporter Vanover had a large knot on his head.
LPGA
Natthakritta Vongtaveelap eagled the par-5 fifth and closed with a chip-in birdie in fading light on the par-3 ninth for a 6-under 66 and a share of the first-round lead Wednesday in the LPGA Tour’s LOTTE Championship. Vongtaveelap had a bogey-free round at windy Hoakalei Country Club to join fellow afternoon starter Frida Kinhult atop the leaderboard. Vongtaveelap is making her second LPGA Tour start. In February, the 20-year-old Thai player won her first two events as pro on the Thai LPGA Tour, then was second behind Lilia Vu in the LPGA Thailand in her debut on the big tour. Kinhult finished with a bogey on No. 9, the 23-year-old Swede’s lone blemish in the difficult conditions.
NFL
The father of a former NFL player who fatally shot six people before killing himself two years ago is suing the alma mater where his son played football. An autopsy eventually diagnosed Phillip Adams with a severe form of the degenerative brain disease commonly known as CTE that has been shown to cause violent mood swings and memory loss. Now, Alonzo E. Adams says South Carolina State University did not properly train employees to treat the sustained head trauma that his son suffered during a college career that lasted from 2006 to 2009. That alleged negligence contributed to Adams’ death following the April 8, 2021, mass shooting in Rock Hill, South Carolina, according to a March 31 complaint.
The Carolina Panthers have been on the clock since making a blockbuster trade to acquire the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft and get their choice of potential franchise quarterbacks. There’s still no general consensus on which QB will go first. Bryce Young or C.J. Stroud? The Panthers themselves are still trying to decide and they’re doing their due diligence on Anthony Richardson and Will Levis in the process. The Panthers traded four picks along with wide receiver DJ Moore to give new coach Frank Reich a quarterback to build around. The first edition of the AP’s 2023 mock draft says it’ll be Stroud.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Karim Benzema has scored again against Chelsea to lead Real Madrid to a 2-0 win in the first leg of the quarterfinals of the Champions League. Substitute Marco Asensio also scored for Madrid after Benzema had netted his sixth goal in five matches against the English club in the latest meeting between the last two European champions. Chelsea played the final half-hour with 10 men after Ben Chilwell was sent off for stopping a Madrid breakaway. It was a second consecutive defeat for new Chelsea interim manager Frank Lampard after he replaced Graham Potter amid the team’s disappointing results.
All contents © copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved
