Boston earned its sixth straight win, as Charlie McAvoy scored at 3:49 of overtime to send the Bruins over the Sharks, 6-5.
The Sharks stormed back from a 4-1 deficit and took a 5-4 lead before Chris Wagner knotted the score with 1:49 left in regulation. The Bruins' win came despite a lack of Joe Thornton, who torched his former team with his fifth career hat trick.
Alex Ovechkin leads the league with 42 goals after scoring twice on power plays as the Capitals topped the Kings, 3-2 in Los Angeles. Pheonix Copley stopped 26 shots and blanked the Kings until the third period. The Caps climbed within three points of the Metropolitan Division-leading Islanders, although New York now has two games in hand.
Elsewhere on NHL ice, the Calgary Flames lead the NHL's Western Conference and Pacific Division races by one point over San Jose following a victory over the Coyotes and the Sharks' loss to Boston. Mikael Backlund, Mark Giordano and Michael Frolik each had a goal and an assist as the Calgary Flames knocked off Arizona, 5-2. The Flames squandered a pair of one-goal leads before Austin Czarnik scored late in the second period to send Calgary to its second straight win since a four-game skid. Mike Smith handled 27 shots for the Flames.
The Lightning took care of the Blue Jackets, 5-1 as Nikita Kucherov provided two goals and three assists to run his league-leading point total to 99. Brayden Point scored his team-leading 34th and 35th goals 34 seconds apart in the first minute of the third period to secure the win. Andrei Vasilevskiy turned back 39 shots as Tampa Bay improved to a league-best 45-11-4 while keeping Columbus in a third-place tie with Pittsburgh in the Metropolitan Division.
The Avalanche stopped a six-game home losing streak as Andrew Agozzino scored his first NHL goal and had an assist in a 3-0 victory over the Golden Knights. Semyon Varlamov stopped 40 shots for his second shutout of the season. Tyson Jost and Matt Calvert also scored to help Colorado deal Vegas its eighth loss in 11 games.
The wildest NHL game of the night was in Chicago where Alex DeBrincat registered a hat trick and had two assists in the Bkackhawks' 8-7 win over the Senators. Patrick Kane and Dylan Strome each had a goal and two assists for the Hawks, and Jonathan Toews scored a power-play goal that put Chicago ahead 8-5 early in the third period. The teams combined to score nine times in the first period before tying a season high for most goals in a game.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Third-ranked Virginia is 23-2 overall and 11-2 in the ACC after completing a sweep of a state rival. Kyle Guy scored 23 points and Ty Jerome added 16 as the Cavaliers downed No. 20 Virginia Tech, 64-58. De'Andre Hunter had 10 points despite sitting out the last 12 minutes due to foul trouble. The game was tied at 32 early in the second half before the Cavaliers outscored the Hokies 24-11 over the next 14 minutes. Kerry Blackshear Jr. had 23 points and 13 rebounds for the 20-6 Hokies, who played their sixth straight game without floor leader Justin Robinson because of a foot injury.
Wisconsin also earned a 64-58 win as Brad Davison scored 18 points and Khalil Iverson added 16 to lead the 22nd-ranked Badgers over Illinois. Davison's short jumper put the Badgers up 54-52 with 3:21 left, giving them the lead for good. Wisconsin won despite a subpar game by leading scorer Ethan Happ, who scored just six points on 3 of 7 shooting and committed three turnovers before sitting on the bench the last four minutes.
The other Top-25 game of the night had Barry Brown scoring 21 points to send No. 23 Kansas State past West Virginia, 65-51. Xavier Sneed added 19 points and five 3-pointers, including a pair of long buckets during a 14-0 run midway through the second half. The Wildcats lead the Big 12 Conference at 10-3.
In college basketball news, Michigan State forward Nick Ward is expected to be out at least a few weeks following surgery on his broken left hand. Ward was injured in Sunday's 62-44 win over Ohio State. He's the Spartans' second-leading scorer at 15.1 points a game, and third with 6.7 rebounds.
Former Arizona basketball coach Lute Olson has been hospitalized after suffering a minor stroke over the weekend. Banner University Medical Center said in a news release on Monday the 84-year-old Hall of Famer is in good condition but will need some rehabilitation once he is released from the hospital. Doctors said five days after Olson's retirement in 2008 that the coach had suffered a previously undiagnosed stroke earlier that year.
Tennessee's loss on Saturday was Duke's gain as the Blue Devils reclaimed the No. 1 ranking in The Associated Press men's basketball poll. The Blue Devils received 58 of 64 first-place votes to move to the top of the poll for the third time this season. Tennessee's four-week reign atop the poll ended with an 86-69 loss at Kentucky. Second-ranked Gonzaga is followed by Virginia, Kentucky and the Volunteers. Nevada, Michigan, North Carolina, Houston and Michigan State rounded out the top 10. LSU made the week's biggest jump, climbing six spots to No. 13 after last week's win at Kentucky.
Buoyed by the second-longest winning streak in the country, Rice has entered The Associated Press women's basketball poll for the first time in school history. The Owls have won 15 straight games and are ranked 25th. Baylor remained the top team in the country, garnering 26 of the 28 first-place votes from a national media panel. Oregon moved up to second, getting the other two Number 1 ballots. UConn was third, while Louisville slipped to fourth after losing to Miami on Sunday.
MLB
This will be Bruce Bochy's 25th season as a major league manager, and it will be his last. The San Francisco Giants skipper has announced that he will retire after this season, saying he informed the ballclub on Monday. He says it's time for him to step down, adding that "It's been an unbelievable ride." Bochy turns 64 on April 16 and is entering his 13th season with the Giants. He led the team to World Series titles in 2010, 2012 and 2014 among his four postseason berths. Bochy also led the Padres to the 1998 World Series and is 74 victories away from 2,000 for his career. He intends to stay in baseball in another role that has yet to be determined.
In other MLB news, Miguel Cabrera hit against a pitcher Monday for the first time since rupturing a tendon in his left biceps on June 12. The 35-year-old hit, fielded, threw and ran the bases during the Tigers' first full-squad workout of spring training. Cabrera strained a hamstring last year and then had the arm injury that required season-ending surgery, limiting him to 38 games.
Speedy outfielder Ben Revere is in spring training with the Rangers after signing a Triple-A contract. The 30-year-old left-handed hitter last played in the majors with the Angels in 2017, when he hit .275 with 21 stolen bases in 109 games.
Outfielders Cameron Maybin and Gerardo Parra have finalized minor league contracts with the Giants after passing physicals. Maybin joins his ninth team in 13 major league seasons, including from 2011-14 in the NL West for the San Diego Padres.
Players' union head Tony Clark criticized baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred for blaming players' demands for the slow free agent market and said an increasing number of teams are making little effort to "justify the price of a ticket." Top free agents Bryce Harper, Manny Machado, Craig Kimbrel and Dallas Keuchel remain unsigned with spring training underway.
NFL
The Jacksonville Jaguars have exercised a $12 million option on Pro Bowl defensive end Calais Campbell for 2019. Campbell signed a four-year, $60 million contract with Jacksonville in March 2017. He's made the last two Pro Bowls, totaling 139 tackles, 25 sacks and four forced fumbles for the Jaguars. The team also picked up options on defensive end and special teams captain Lerentee McCray and backup safety Cody Davis on Monday.
TENNIS
Serena Williams has returned to the top 10 in the tennis rankings for the first time since taking a break to have her first child. Williams dropped as low as 491st upon her return to competition in March 2018 but is up to No. 10 following Grand Slam final appearances at Wimbledon and the Australian Open, but losses. Naomi Osaka remains at the top of the rankings, followed by Simona Halep, American Sloane Stephens and Petra Kvitova.
© The Associated Press 2019. All Rights Reserved.
