The Tampa Bay Lightning are the champions of bubble hockey. Brayden Point scored his playoff-best 14th goal, and the Lightning beat the Dallas Stars 2-0 to win the Stanley Cup and finish off the NHL playoffs staged in quarantine during the pandemic.
The clock hitting zeros in an empty arena set off a wild celebration for a group that endured years of playoff heartbreak and two months in isolation. Goals from Point and Blake Coleman and a 22-save shutout by Andrei Vasilevskiy were enough to power the Lightning to their second championship in franchise history after winning it in 2004. Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. The playoffs became a showcase of the big Swede's skills on both ends of the ice. He also showed key leadership in the absence of injured captain Steven Stamkos.
In NHL news, the Chicago Blackhawks have acquired Brandon Pirri in a trade with the Vegas Golden Knights, reuniting the forward with his first NHL team. The Blackhawks sent Dylan Sikura to Vegas for the 29-year-old Pirri, who split last season between the Golden Knights and Chicago of the American Hockey League. The forward had two assists in 16 games with Vegas and 15 goals and 20 assists in 38 games with Chicago. Pirri was selected by the Blackhawks in the second round of the 2009 draft and made his NHL debut with the club in 2010.
NFL
Patrick Mahomes put on a scintillating show while outperforming Lamar Jackson, and the Kansas City Chiefs deftly played the role of defending Super Bowl champions in a 34-20 thumping of the Baltimore Ravens. Just about everything Mahomes did worked against an overmatched Baltimore defense that had allowed only two touchdowns in its first two games. Mahomes threw four touchdown passes to help the Chiefs emphatically end the Ravens' 14-game regular season winning streak while extending their own run to 12 games, including playoffs. Jackson is 21-4 as the Ravens' starting quarterback, with three of those losses to Mahomes and the Chiefs.
In NFL news:
The Houston Texans will have up to 13,300 fans at NRG Stadium for their game Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings. The move comes after the Texans played without fans in their home opener on Sept. 20. The number of fans permitted is about 20% of stadium capacity. The team expects to allow the same number of fans at each of the remaining seven home games. Fans age 10 and older will be required to wear masks while in the stadium unless they're actively eating or drinking. No tailgating will be allowed.
Chicago Bears coach Matt Nagy has confirmed Nick Foles will start at quarterback Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts. Nagy made the announcement today after hedging Sunday following the Bears' 30-26 victory over the Atlanta Falcons. Foles had come on in relief of an ineffective Mitchell Trubisky.
After completing a winless September with their 28-10 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Sunday, the Broncos will now be without defensive lineman Jurrell Casey for the rest of the year. The 10th-year veteran and five-time Pro Bowler tore a biceps tendon in the game. He joins Von Miller, Courtland Sutton, Drew Lock and others who are sidelined so far in 2020. Denver has a short turnaround with a game Thursday night against the winless Jets.
The Jacksonville Jaguars signed veteran place-kicker Steven Hauschka. He's the team's third kicker in the past week. Josh Lambo was placed on injured reserve last week. Jacksonville turned to undrafted rookie Brandon Wright against Miami. He missed an extra point and injured his groin. So Jacksonville will go with Hauschka at Cincinnati on Sunday.
On second thought, Doug Pederson would not have played for a tie. The Philadelphia Eagles lined up for a 59-yard field goal on fourth-and-7 with 19 seconds left in overtime against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday. After a false start penalty on Matt Pryor, Pederson elected to punt instead of going for it on fourth-and-12 from the Bengals 46 or letting Jake Elliott attempt a 64-yarder. After thinking about it overnight, Pederson changed his mind. Pederson said Monday he should've called a pass down the field on fourth-and-12 instead of punting.
NBA
Doc Rivers says he's out as coach of the Los Angeles Clippers, though did not specify if he chose to leave on his own or if he was fired. The Clippers say it was a mutual decision. Rivers announced in a statement posted to Twitter that he is not returning as coach. The move comes about two weeks after the Clippers wasted a 3-1 series lead and lost to the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference semifinals. Rivers spent seven seasons with the Clippers, making the playoffs in six of them — major success for a once-woebegone franchise. This season's team, with the summer 2019 additions of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, was expected to compete for an NBA championship.
MLB
Jay Johnstone, who won World Series championships as a versatile outfielder with the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers while being baseball's merry prankster, has died. He was 74. His daughter, Mary Jayne Sarah Johnstone, says her father died last weekend of complications from COVID-19 and he also had suffered from dementia in recent years. In the 1981 World Series, Johnstone had a pinch-hit, two-run homer in Game 4 that rallied the Dodgers to an 8-7 win over the Yankees.
Also, slumping slugger Gary Sánchez will be benched in favor of Kyle Higashioka in the New York Yankees lineup for their wild-card opener. Yankees manager Aaron Boone confirmed Monday that Higashioka would catch ace Gerrit Cole to start the best-of-three series against the Cleveland Indians. With Giancarlo Stanton set to start at designated hitter, Sánchez — a two-time All-Star — won't crack the starting lineup and will instead be available to pinch-hit.
TENNIS
Defending champion Rafael Nadal has reached the second round of the French Open after beating Egor Gerasimov 6-4, 6-4, 6-2. Nadal is looking for a record-extending 13th title at Roland Garros and a 20th major overall to equal Roger Federer's men's record.
Also today, U.S. Open champion Dominic Thiem advanced to the second round by beating former U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic. Daniil Medvedev is now 0-4 for his career at the French Open. The runner-up at the U.S. Open last year and a semifinalist in New York last month failed yet again to win a match at Roland Garros. The fourth-seeded Russian lost to 63rd-ranked Marton Fucsovics 6-4, 7-6 (3), 2-6, 6-1.
Tennys Sandgren has won an 11-9 fifth set to become the seventh American man to reach the second round at this year's French Open — the most in nearly a quarter-century. Sandgren had been 0-3 at Roland Garros for his career until saving two match points and coming back to edge No. 29 seed Hubert Hurkacz of Poland in a match that lasted more than 4 1/2 hours.
Qualifier Lorenzo Giustino took 6 hours, 5 minutes to beat Frenchman Corentin Moutet in the second-longest match in French Open history. The match was carried over from Sunday evening.
In women's action, Serena Williams advanced to the second round of the French Open by beating Kristie Ahn. The 39-year-old Williams is a three-time French Open champion and is looking to equal Margaret Court's record of 24 major titles. Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova advanced with a win over Oceane Dodin. Three-time Grand Slam champion Angelique Kerber lost in the first round of the French Open for the second straight year. The 18th-seeded German was beaten by 19-year-old Slovenian Kaja Juvan 6-3, 6-3.
In other news at the French Open, a women's doubles player has been removed from the main draw after she was declared a contact case following her coach's positive coronavirus test. French Open organizers did not name the player. Doubles matches start on Wednesday.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Notre Dame says it has 39 football players in isolation or quarantine as it deals with the COVID-19 outbreak that forced the team to postpone last week's game at Wake Forest. The Fighting Irish are not slated to play again until Oct. 10 at home against Florida State. In a news release, Notre Dame said 18 football players tested positive last week, seven of which had already been quarantined after contact tracing had determined they'd been exposed to people who had already been infected. The school says a total of 25 players were in isolation after testing positive and another 14 were being quarantined after contact tracing.
Also, Vanderbilt has changed its mind and will allow fans at sports events in October. The Commodores also will allow a limited number of students to attend Saturday night's football game with No. 20 LSU. Athletic director Candice Lee announced the reversal Monday, calling it a small step toward normalcy based on the guidance from the university's public health partners. Vanderbilt students are tested weekly with strict protocols on campus. The result is a low COVID-19 positivity rate.
THOROUGHBRED RACING
Kentucky Derby winner Authentic is the morning line favorite for Saturday's Preakness in Baltimore. Authentic is 9-5 on the morning line and drew the No. 9 post in a field of 11 horses. The race will be run without spectators. Art Collector, who was scratched from the Derby, appears to be the biggest threat to Authentic and is the 5-2 second choice.
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