The New York Islanders have opened their semifinal series by knocking off the defending Stanley Cup champs. Semyon Varlamov made 30 saves and the Isles got goals from Mathew Barzal and Ryan Pulock to beat the Lightning, 2-1 in Tampa. Varlamov blanked Tampa Bay until Brayden Point netted a power-play goal in the final minute. Varlamov won his fourth straight playoff start, joining teammate Ilya Sorokin as only the third pair of netminding teammates to have personal winning streaks of at least four games in a single postseason. Barzal scored for the fourth time in five games, making it 1-0 on a breakaway in the second period following a bad pass by Lightning captain Steven Stamkos. Pulock doubled New York's lead with a shot from the point that eluded Andre Vasilevskiy, who was otherwise brilliant in net. The Islanders will carry a four-game winning streak into Game 2 on Tuesday in Tampa.
NBA
The Brooklyn Nets have lost their lead in the NBA's Eastern Conference semifinals while losing another All-Star in the process. The Bucks have evened the series at two games apiece with a 107-96 win over the Nets. Giannis Antetokounmpo finished with 34 points and Khris Middleton had 19 for the Bucks, who managed just 86 in each of the previous two games. The Nets scored 13 straight points to take a 34-23 lead, but Milwaukee responded with a 19-4 spurt. Brooklyn finished the game without Kyrie Irving because of a sprained right ankle suffered in the second quarter. The injury left the Nets without their starting guards. Kevin Durant had 28 points and 13 rebounds for the Nets, who host Game 5 on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the Suns roared into the Western Conference Finals for the first time in 11 years. Phoenix completed a four-game sweep with a 125-118 win over the Nuggets in Denver. The Suns' starting guards carried the offense again, with Chris Paul delivering 37 points and seven assists. Devin Booker added 32 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. Denver center Nikola Jokic was tossed with 3:52 left in the third quarter and the Nuggets trailing, 83-76. His hard right-hand windmill swipe sent the basketball flying but also caught Cameron Payne in the face, leaving the Nuggets without their reigning NBA Most Valuable Player. Will Barton was high man for the Nuggets with 25 points, while Jokic added 22 points and 11 rebounds in 28 minutes.
MLB
The Phillies completed a two-game sweep of the Yankees as Aaron Nola allowed three hits and struck out nine in a 7-0 shutout. Odubel Herrera, Jean Segura and J.T. Realmuto combined to go 7 for 13 with a double, a triple, four runs scored and five RBIs.
Elsewhere in MLB:
Fernando Tatis Jr. launched a tiebreaking grand slam in the seventh inning and Manny Machado followed with a homer as the Padres topped the Mets, 7-3 to end a four-game skid. Chris Paddack struck out nine over six strong innings in his first win since May 21.
Teoscar Hernández belted a pair of three-run shots over the Green Monster, two of the Blue Jays' eight homers in an 18-4 rout of the Red Sox. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Cavan Biggio, Rowdy Tellez and Marcus Semien also went deep, a day after Toronto homered five times at Fenway.
Kyle Schwarber drove in four runs with homers in his first two at-bats as the Nationals blanked the NL West-leading Giants, 5-0. Joe Ross allowed five hits in eight innings as the Nationals gained a four-game split.
Zach Davies tossed two-hit ball into the seventh inning to outduel Carlos Martinez and send the Cubs to a 2-0 victory and a three-game sweep of the Cardinals. Davies struck out six and walked two in 6 2/3 innings to win his second straight start. The Cubs with just four hits, including Anthony Rizzo's RBI single. Chicago also scored on a fielding error by shortstop Paul DeJong. The Cubs have won five straight and 15 of 20. St. Louis has dropped three straight and 11 of 13 to fall one game below .500 at 32-33.
Avisail Garcia slammed a two-run homer and the Brewers completed a three-game sweep with a 5-2 win over the Pirates. Christian Yelich added a pinch-hit sacrifice fly on his bobblehead day, helping the Brew Crew win for the 14th time in 16 games despite collecting just five hits. Josh Hader struck out the side in the ninth for his 17th save in as many chances, closing out the Pirates' seventh consecutive loss.
Eugenio Suárez hit an early two-run homer and the surging Reds climbed back over .500 for the first time since April 21 by beating the Rockies, 6-2. The Reds have won 10 of their last 13, including three straight over the Rockies.
Austin Riley homered and drove in three runs to help the Braves dump the Marlins, 6-4 and end a four-game losing streak. Ender Inciarte also homered to support Drew Smyly, who gave up two runs over five innings on his 32nd birthday.
The Dodgers were 5-3 winners over the Rangers behind Walker Buehler, who is 6-0 after tossing four-hit ball over six scoreless innings. Zach McKinstry had a two-run double while going 3 for 3 with a walk in LA's fifth victory in six games.
Carlos Rodón flirted with another no-hitter and the White Sox completed a three-game sweep by knocking off Detroit, 4-1. Rodón was going for his second no-hitter of the season until Eric Haase doubled with one out in the seventh.
The Rays won for the 23rd time in their last 28 games by drubbing the Orioles, 7-1. Randy Arozarena hit his first career grand slam and Tampa Bay relievers combined for seven no-hit innings to send Baltimore to its team record-extending 15th consecutive road loss.
Michael Brantley had his second four-hit game of the series and drove in four runs to highlight the Astros' 20-hit attack in a 14-3 assault on the Twins. Minnesota's Michael Pineda left after four innings due to a reoccurrence of right forearm soreness that first bothered him June 1.
Athletics hurler Chris Bassitt escaped a scary line drive to win his seventh straight decision, allowing two runs over 5 2/3 innings to beat the Royals, 6-3. Matt Olson hit a pair of solo homers and Matt Chapman also connected for Oakland.
Jake Fraley slammed a two-run homer off AL Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber to give the Mariners a 5-0 lead in a 6-2 downing of the Indians. Fraley entered the game in place of Mitch Haniger, who suffered a bruise when he fouled a pitch off his left knee in the first inning.
Patrick Sandoval pitched four-hit ball into the seventh inning of the Angels' sixth consecutive win, a 10-3 pounding of the Diamondbacks. Max Stassi hit a two-run homer in the first and Jared Walsh added a two-run shot in the eighth.
TENNIS
Novak Djokovic won his second French Open championship and his 19th Grand Slam title with a grueling comeback. Djokovic rallied past Stefanos Tsitsipas, 6-7, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4. Djokovic also erased a two-set deficit to win in the fourth round and has done it six times in his career. Djokovic was coming off an epic semifinal victory over Rafael Nadal. But the 34-year-old Serb found his form and held every service game in the final three sets.
Meanwhile, Barbora Krejcikova became the first woman since Mary Pierce in 2000 to sweep the singles and doubles titles at Roland Garros. Playing with fellow Cezch player Katerina Siniakova, they won the doubles final 6-4, 6-2 against Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the United States and Iga Swiatek of Poland.
NASCAR
Kyle Larson held off a hard-charging Brad Keselowski during the final 10-lap shootout to win NASCAR's All-Star race at Texas Motor Speedway. Larson took the lead with a slippery three-wide pass and captured the $1 million first prize. He pushed Hendrick Motorsports to its second consecutive win and 10th overall in the annual non-points race. Larson was with Chip Ganassi Racing when he won the 2019 All-Star race. He missed last year's big event at Bristol while serving a six-month suspension after using a racial slur during the livestream while in a virtual race during the pandemic. Defending All-Star winner and reigning Cup champion Chase Elliott, who started the sixth and final segment out front, didn't stay there long. Keselowski finished second, followed by Elliott, Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney.
INDYCAR
Pato O'Ward has become IndyCar's first repeat winner of the season by charging through the field on a final restart to steal the victory away from Josef Newgarden at the Raceway at Belle Isle Park. O'Ward drove from fifth to first in five laps to win his second race of the season. O'Ward dedicated the win to Arrow McLaren SP teammate Felix Rosenqvist, who was hospitalized overnight following his crash in Saturday's first race of the doubleheader. Newgarden finished second after leading 67 of the 70 laps.
GOLF
South Africa's Garrick Higgo has earned his first PGA victory by taking the Palmetto Championship in South Carolina. Higgo went ahead when leader Chesson Hadley bogeyed his final three holes to lose his two-shot lead. The 22-year-old Higgo was making just his second tour start. Hadley had to settle for a second-place tie with Doc Redman, Hudson Swafford, Tyrrell Hatton, Bo Van Pelt and Jhonattan Vegas.
Meanwhile, Jerry Kelly successfully defended his title in his hometown American Insurance Championship, closing with a 6-under 66 for a one-stroke victory over Fred Couples and Miguel Angel Jimenez. The 54-year-old Kelly finished at 14-under 202 at University Ridge for his eighth PGA Tour Champions victory. Couples bogeyed the par-5 18th for a 68.
In the LPGA, Matilda Castren has become the first Finnish winner in LPGA Tour history by capturing the LPGA MEDIHEAL Championship, holding off Min Lee by two strokes. Two strokes behind Lee entering the final round, Castren birdied the first three holes, eagled the par-5 fifth and birdied the par-5 ninth for a front-nine 30. Castern followed with eight straight pars and holed a 3-foot birdie putt on the par-5 18th for a 7-under 65.
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