June 25, 2021 3:50 am
MONTREAL (AP) – The Montreal Canadiens are going to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1993, the last time a Canadian-based team won the title. Artturi Lehkonen scored 1:39 into overtime and Carey Price stopped 37 shots as the Canadiens knocked out the Golden Knights, 3-2 in Game 6 of the semifinals. Nick Suzuki gained the Vegas zone and slipped a pass to his left to Lehkonen, who lifted a shot beating Robin Lehner high on the short side. The goal came after Price stopped former teammate Max Paccioretty. Cole Caufield and captain Shea Weber also scored for the Habs, who have won 11 of 13 since they trailed three games to one in the opening round against the Maple Leafs. Montreal will make its playoff-leading 35th Stanley Cup Final appearance with a shot to add to its 24 championships. The Canadiens will take on the winner of Friday’s Game 7 between the Lightning and Islanders.
June 24, 2021 3:30 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Yasmani Grandal hit a two-run double and the Chicago White Sox stopped a five-game losing streak, beating the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-3, Leury Garcia added a home run as the AL Central leaders ended their longest skid of the season. Chicago starter Dylan Cease bounced back from rough outing to work 5 2/3 innings, allowing one earned run while striking out seven. Liam Hendricks pitched a perfect ninth for his 19th save of the season.
June 24, 2021 3:49 am
UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP) – The New York Islanders have forced a Game 7 in the Eastern Conference Final as they try to advance to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1984. Anthony Beauvillier scored 78 seconds into overtime to cap the Islanders’ comeback in a 3-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Islanders had to wipe out a 2-0 deficit to force OT before Beauvillier ended his 10-game goal drought. Brayden Point scored for the ninth straight game to give the Lightning a 1-0 lead in the first period. Anthony Cirelli made it 2-0 late in the second, giving Tampa Bay 12 consecutive goals in the series. But Jordan Eberle sparked the comeback by scoring less than two minutes later. Scott Mayfield tied it midway through the third before Beauvillier set up a winner-take-all meeting with the Lightning in Tampa on Friday. Mat Barzal had two assists and Semyon Varlamov stopped 22 shots for the Islanders.
June 24, 2021 3:51 am
UNDATED (AP) – NFL players must decide by July 2 if they plan to opt out of playing this season due to COVID-19 concerns, though voluntary opt-outs will not be paid any stipend this year.
In a memo sent to clubs Wednesday and obtained by The Associated Press, the league and the NFL Players Association agreed that only high-risk players will receive a stipend of $350,000. Voluntary opt-outs got a $150,000 stipend in 2020. A total of 67 players opted out last year before vaccines were available.
June 23, 2021 3:50 am
LAS VEGAS (AP) – The Montreal Canadiens are within one victory of their first trip to the Stanley Cup Final since winning it all in 1993. The Habs own a three-games-to-two lead in the semifinals after Carey Price turned back 26 shots in a 4-1 win over the Golden Knights in Las Vegas. Price blanked the Knights until former teammate Max Paccioretty beat him in the third period, after Montreal had built a 3-0 lead. Nick Suzuki secured the victory with an empty-netter after setting up goals by Eric Staal and Cole Caufield. Jesperi Kotkaniemi put the Canadiens ahead to stay 8:45 into the game.
Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 22 shots for the Golden Knights, who will try to stave off elimination in Montreal on Thursday.
June 23, 2021 3:51 am
UNDATED (AP) – The Creighton men’s basketball program has been placed on two years’ probation and docked scholarships each of the next two seasons by the NCAA. The organization investigated allegations that a former assistant coach accepted cash from a management agency. The NCAA says Creighton athletic director Bruce Rasmussen violated ethics rules after he conducted his own investigation without notifying or coordinating with the compliance office. The penalties are the latest in a wide-ranging FBI probe into college basketball corruption that has ensnared numerous coaches and several high-profile schools.
June 22, 2021 3:48 am
UNDATED (AP) – Major League Baseball has started its crackdown on sticky stuff and foreign substances. Umpires are now doing regular checks of all pitchers for tacky substances that could be used to doctor baseballs. That was long against the rules but rarely enforced until now. Jacob deGrom was the first pitcher inspected under the new directive that took effect Monday. In the opener of the New York Mets’ doubleheader against Atlanta, the two-time Cy Young Award winner passed when inspected after the first and fifth innings. Any pitchers using illegal substances will be ejected and then suspended 10 games.
June 22, 2021 3:48 am
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) – Steven Stamkos had two goals and an assist and Andrei Vasilevskiy notched his fourth career playoff shutout, helping the Tampa Bay Lightning rout the New York Islanders 8-0 in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup semifinal series. The defending NHL champions improved to 13-0 in games following a postseason loss since launching their 2020 title run and will take a 3-2 series lead over the Islanders into Game 6 of their best-of-7 matchup Wednesday night in Uniondale, New York. Brayden Point had a goal for the eighth straight game, and postseason scoring leader Nikita Kucherov had three assists for the Lightning.
June 22, 2021 3:50 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – In a ruling that could help push changes in college athletics, the Supreme Court has unanimously sided with a group of former college athletes in a dispute with the NCAA over rules limiting certain compensation. The high court ruled today that NCAA limits on the education-related benefits that colleges can offer athletes who play Division I basketball and football can’t be enforced. Under current NCAA rules, students cannot be paid, and the scholarship money colleges can offer is capped at the cost of attending the school. The NCAA had defended its rules as necessary to preserve the amateur nature of college sports. The case doesn’t decide whether students can be paid salaries.
June 21, 2021 3:55 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Josh Naylor foiled Pittsburgh’s strategy with an RBI single in the seventh inning, helping the Cleveland Indians beat the Pirates 2-1. Cleveland avoided a three-game sweep by the Pirates, who had lost 10 straight entering the series. The Indians have won seven of 10. The lefty-swinging Naylor sent the first pitch he saw from left-handed reliever Chasen Shreve to right, driving in Eddie Rosario to break a 1-all tie. The hit came after Pirates manager Derek Shelton pulled right-handed starter JT Brubaker with two out in the seventh. Brubaker threw just 76 pitches, gave up three hits and tied his career-high with nine strikeouts.
