SUNDAY SPORTS
STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS: The Minnesota Wild are struggling to contain the youthful energy of the Colorado Avalanche. 21-year old Gabriel Landeskog scored twice leading Colorado to a 4-2 victory over Minnesota and a 2-0 series lead Saturday night in Denver. Teenager Nathan MacKinnon also gave the Wild trouble. The 18-year old had a goal and three assists. Game 3 is Monday in Minnesota.
—
Former Brandon Wheat King Matt Calvert carried the Columbus Blue Jackets to their first-ever playoff win. Calvert had a short-handed goal in regulation and scored again in double overtime as Columbus edged the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3. Their playoff series is now tied 1-1. Also, former Regina Pats captain Barret Jackman scored in overtime to lift St. Louis past Chicago 4-3. The win moves the Blues into a 2-0 series lead over the Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks.
—
Buy ear plugs if you live in Montreal. The Canadiens return to home ice and what is sure to be a raucous crowd tonight for Game 3 against the Tampa Bay Lightning (5:00 pm Sask time). Montreal has a 2-0 series lead after winning both games in Tampa. It’s not a safe lead though. Montreal has lost three of the last four times in the same scenario.
—
There are three more games on the ice. First, the New York Rangers try to go up 2-0 at home to Philadelphia (10:00 am Sask time). Detroit looks to steal another win on the road against Boston (1:00 pm). And San Jose goes for a second straight win at home to Los Angeles (8:00 pm).
—
WHL PLAYOFFS: The Portland Winterhawks scored four goals in the second period, including two in 13 seconds, to come from behind and defeat the host Kelowna Rockets 5-3 on Saturday in Western Hockey League playoff action. It tied the WHL’s Western Conference Finals at 1-1.
Dominic Turgeon, Nicolas Petan, Oliver Bjorkstrand and Brendan Leipsic scored in the second for the Winterhawks. Alex Schoenborn added another goal in the third period. Petan tacked on two assists for a three-point outing and Derrick Pouliot had three assists.
Corbin Boes earned the win for Portland after stopping all 15 shots he faced in 38 minutes of relief. Boes replaced starter Brendan Burke, who allowed three goals on 12 shots.
Madison Bowey, Riley Stadel and Nick Merkley supplied the scoring for the Rockets, who blew leads of 2-0 and 3-1.
—
NBA PLAYOFFS: The Toronto Raptors started the NBA playoffs on the wrong foot. Toronto dropped Game 1 of their series with the Brooklyn Nets 94-87. Deron Williams and Joe Johnson scored 24 points each to lead Brooklyn. The Raptors can even the series on Tuesday in Toronto.
—
Kevin Durant scored 13 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter to help the Oklahoma City Thunder defeat the Memphis Grizzlies 100-86 in the opening game of their first-round series. Russell Westbrook had 23 points and 10 rebounds and Serge Ibaka added 17 points and nine rebounds for the Thunder. OKC nearly squandered a 25-point lead but recovered from a dismal third quarter.
—
The Miami Heat kick off their post-season title defence today. Miami opens first-round play at home to Charlotte. The day begins with San Antonio at home to Dallas. Later, Chicago hosts Washington and Portland visits Houston.
—
BLUE JAYS IN FLIGHT: Mark Buehrle threw shutout ball for eight innings as the Toronto Blue Jays blanked the Cleveland Indians 5-0. The Blue Jays have a chance of ending a nine-game road trip Sunday with a three-game sweep in Cleveland. Elsewhere in the majors, Tampa Bay bombed the New York Yankees 16-1, and the L-A Dodgers held off Arizona 8-6.
—
MCNABB’ED: Former NFL quarterback Donovan McNabb has been was released from an Arizona jail after serving a one-day sentence for a DUI arrest late last year.
Records released by West Mesa Justice Court show McNabb served his time Wednesday and was released about 1:30 a.m. Thursday.
McNabb, 37, was arrested Dec. 15 in the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community east of Phoenix, according to court records.
A copy of the citation shows McNabb was stopped on the Loop 101 freeway just after 3 a.m. and radar clocked his Range Rover at 81 mph in a 65-mph zone. He also was cited for DUI, but no information about blood-alcohol level was on the citation.
McNabb pleaded guilty on March 27 and nine days of his sentence was suspended.
Court documents show McNabb was ordered to pay a nearly $1,500 fine and enter an outpatient treatment program in Scottsdale from April 10 to July 8.
The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office released McNabb’s mug shot Thursday morning, starting a media frenzy about his arrest, which hadn’t been previously reported.
—
ON THE PITCH: Not a great day for Canada’s Major League Soccer teams. The Montreal Impact lost 4-nil to Sporting Kansas City to remain winless in seven games so far this season. Elsewhere, Toronto FC fell 2-1 against FC Dallas. And Vancouver settled for a 2-2 draw against Los Angeles.
(Canadian Press)
Watched Nathan MacKinnon destroy Minnesota last night. I couldn't help but wonder how long it would have taken the Edmonton Oiler brass to screw him up if they'd drafted him.
Hey Rod word on the street has it that the local village idiot has posted something on his blog saying that you, Mayor Pat, George Reed and others are part of the "Regina Mafia". Must've been those flashy suits you wear for Riders practice.
Imagine Colorado a 29th place team last year, picking #1 MacKinnon, finishing 5 pts away from being the top NHL team this year behind BOS & ANA. MacKinnon just scored 7 points in his first two NHL playoff games of career. Are you taking notes Kevin Lowe ?
Well not sure if related, but he tweeted this morning that 3 police officers delivered papers to him this morning at his home.
There was a program on the NFL network about Jimmie Johnson a couple weeks ago. He said "It doesn't matter what kind of picks you have, it's all about what you do with those picks". Bang on. Detroit has been in the playoffs for 23 years straight and they've hardly ever had high draft picks. It's all about smart drafting and scouting. You can't expect to just get a bunch of #1 picks and have a great hockey team. Doesn't work that way.
Anon#5; You're right, until Katz cans the whole top end the Oilers will suck.
I don't think Edmonton would have screwed up McKinnon. They didn't screw up the players they have now. There is a theory going back close to 30 years that aside from Kevin Lowe as a Draft pick Edmonton's drafts have been horrible. Colorado, Calgary, and Edmonton were all garbage a few years ago. Edmonton simply drafted the wrong players, and went with the fantasy hockey approach rather than look for guys that can play 200 ft games. The Edmonton Oilers are who we all thought they were. Add to the fact they can't even get free agents to go there… Read more »
They had 3 consecutive first picks and didn't get the best player in any year. Seguin is a bit better than Hall. Then they passed on Gabriel Landeskog and took RNH who hasn't won a face-off yet let alone a physical battle. Then they passed on Ryan Murray and took Nail Yakopov who will be in the KHL as quick as his entry contract expires. Those are all top end decisions the whole works have to go.