ACCESS 7 WEDNESDAY EYE-OPENER

The Montreal Canadiens could not force a Game 7 with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Nikita Kucherov had two goals and an assist as Tampa Bay bounced Montreal from the playoffs with a 4-1 victory to win their Eastern Conference semifinal in six games. Tampa will play the winner between the New York Rangers and Washington Capitals. Those two teams meet in Game 7 of their series Wednesday night.

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The Ottawa Redblacks turned to a hometown boy in the CFL draft. Offensive lineman Alex Mateas was selected first overall by the Redblacks. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers followed at number two and selected Calgary offensive lineman Sukh Chungh. The Toronto Argonauts continued the run on offensive linemen, taking Calgary centre Sean McEwen third.

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James Harden and the Houston Rockets showed they still have some life in them. Harden had 26 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists to lead Houston past the Los Angeles Clippers 124-103. A loss would’ve meant the end of the Rockets’ playoffs as L-A leads the series 3-2. Dwight Howard added 20 points and 15 rebounds for Houston.

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Also, LeBron James scored 38 points, Kyrie Irving added 25 and the Cleveland Cavaliers held on for a 106-101 victory over the Chicago Bulls. Cleveland now leads the Eastern Conference semifinal 3-2. Jimmy Butler scored 29 and Mike Dunleavy added 19 for Chicago.

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Edwin Encarnacion helped the Toronto Blue Jays get back to .500 with a 10-2 win over the Baltimore Orioles. Encarnacion homered twice and drove in three runs as he continues to heat up in May. He has a .333 batting average so far this month.

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Nelson Cruz hit his major league-leading 15th home run, Mike Zunino connected twice, and the Seattle Mariners downed the San Diego Padres 11-4. Seattle starter James Paxton, from Ladner, B-C, threw six shutout innings for his first victory of the year as the Mariners won their fourth straight.

(CP/NHL.com)