Monday Sports: NHL, Junior Round-Up & More

NHL

RANGERS 5 CANADIENS 2

NEW YORK (AP) — Mika Zibanejad had two goals and an assist, Artemi Panarin had a goal and three assists, and the New York Rangers beat the Montreal Canadiens 5-2 on Sunday night. Chris Kreider and Alexis Lafreniere also scored, and Igor Shesterkin had 26 saves to help the Rangers get their 53rd win to tie a franchise record set in 2014-15.

Elsewhere in the NHL on Sunday:

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STARS 7 AVALANCHE 4

DENVER (AP) — Tyler Seguin scored twice, Thomas Harley had an assist on all three of Dallas’ power-play goals in the second period and the Western Conference-leading Stars beat the Colorado Avalanche 7-4.

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RED WINGS 3 SABRES 1

DETROIT (AP) — Lucas Raymond, Patrick Kane and Dylan Larkin all scored in the first period and Alex Lyon made 37 saves as Detroit beat Buffalo.

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WILD 4 BLACKHAWKS 0

CHICAGO (AP) — Kirill Kaprizov had two goals and an assist, rookie Jesper Wallstedt made 24 saves in posting his first NHL shutout and Minnesota beat Chicago. The victory keeps Minnesota’s slim playoff hopes alive. It has 83 points with five games remaining. Vegas and Nashville, the top two wild-card teams in the Western Conference, entered Sunday with 92 points.

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HURRICANES 3 BLUE JACKETS 0

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Frederik Andersen made 23 saves for his third shutout in his past seven games and Carolina scored two first-period goals in their regular-season home finale to beat Columbus 3-0.

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COYOTES 5 SHARKS 2

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Lawson Crouse, Nick Schmaltz and Clayton Keller each had a goal and an assist, and Arizona beat San Jose.

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SENATORS 3 CAPITALS 2 (OT)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Charlie Lindgren allowed three goals on 21 shots, the last by Jake Sanderson in overtime and Washington lost a sixth consecutive game, a defeat to Ottawa that’s yet another blow to their playoff hopes late in the NHLseason.

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PREDATORS 3 DEVILS 2 (SO)

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Ryan O’Reilly scored the deciding shootout goal to lift Nashville over New Jersey.

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BLUES 6 DUCKS 5 (SO)

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Jordan Kyrou scored in the shootout and St. Louis beat Anaheim to preserve their slim playoff hopes.

WHL

ROCKETS 4 WILD 2

(Rockets win series 4-2)

Andrew Cristall scored twice and Tij Iginla added a goal and two assists as the Kelowna Rockets edged the visiting Wenatchee Wild 4-2 on Sunday to win their first round, best-of-seven Western Hockey League playoff series in six games.

Max Graham also added a late goal for the Rockets, who were outshot 36-33.

Rockets goaltender Jari Kykkanen stopped 34 of 36 shots.

Maddix McCagherty and Evan Friesen scored for the Wild, who trailed 2-1 heading into the third period.

Wild goaltender Daniel Hauser stopped 29 of 32 shots.

The Wild went 0-for-6 on the power play, while the Rockets were 0-for-2.

The teams split the first two games in Wenatchee, Wash., then the Rockets won Games 3 and 4 at home. The Wild won 5-4 in overtime on Friday to stay alive.

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SILVERTIPS 5 GIANTS 0

(Silvertips win best-of-seven series 4-1)

EVERETT, Wash. — Ben Hemmerling and Julius Miettinen each had a goal and assist as the Everett Silvertips eliminated the visiting Vancouver Giants from the WHL playoffs with a 5-0 victory.

Parker Berge, Cade Zaplitny and Dominik Rymon also scored for the Silvertips, who won the first round, best-of-seven playoff series 4-1.

Silvertips’ netminder Tyler Palmer made 25 saves to post the shutout.

The Giants won the opening game of the series, 6-4 on March 29 in Everett, but then lost four in a row.

SJHL PLAYOFFS (Round 2)

Flin Flon at Battlefords, Monday (Bombers lead series 2-0)
Melfort at Humboldt, Tuesday (Mustangs lead series 2-0)

MARCH MADNESS

CLEVELAND (AP) — Coach Dawn Staley and South Carolina have completed their perfect season, ending Caitlin Clark’s historic college career with an 87-75 win over Iowa in the NCAA womens championship game. The 38-0 Gamecocks became the 10th Division I team to go through a season without a loss. And they accomplished the feat after they lost all five starters from last season’s team that lost to Clark’s squad in the national semifinals. Clark did all she could to lead the Hawkeyes to their first championship. She scored 30 points, including a championship-record 18 in the first quarter. She will go down as one of the greatest players in NCAA history.
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — UConn and Purdue have dominated this year’s NCAA Tournament. Now they’re set to meet for the national mens championship on Monday night. The Huskies are going for the first repeat men’s title since Florida in 2006 and 2007. They have beaten five tournament opponents by an average of 25 points per game, with the closest margin coming by 14 points. The Boilermakers are in the title game for the first time since falling to UCLA in 1969 in their lone appearance. Purdue is winning its tournament games by an average margin of 19.6 points.

MLB

Giancarlo Stanton hit a tie-breaking grand slam in the third inning, and the New York Yankees beat the Toronto Blue Jays 8-3 Sunday for their eighth win in 10 games. Stanton gave the Yankees a 5-1 lead with a 417-foot drive off Bowden Francis. Toronto finished 4-and-6 on their season-opening road trip and will finally return to Rogers Centre Monday against Seattle.
Former Atlanta teammates, Braves executives and family members remember Hank Aaron’s unwavering strength despite receiving racist hate mail and threats during his pursuit of Babe Ruth’s home run record. Teammates including Dusty Baker and Tom House will return Monday as the Braves celebrate the 50th anniversary of Aaron’s record-breaking 715th homer. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred is expected to attend a preview of a new Aaron exhibit at the Atlanta History Center.

NBA

Immanuel Quickley had a double-double as the Toronto Raptors beat the visiting Washington Wizards 130-122 tonight. Quickley finished with a season-high 31 points and 13 assists as Toronto won back-to-back NBA games. R-J Barrett of Mississauga, Ontario, scored 22 points and Kelly Olynyk of Kamloops, B-C, added 21 points for the Raptors.

PGA

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Akshay Bhatia is headed to the Masters after winning the Valero Texas Open. He never imagined how it would pan out. Bhatia had a six-shot lead going to the back nine. He had to make a 12-foot birdie putt just to force a playoff with Denny McCarthy. Bhatia won when McCarthy dumped a wedge into the water. It was a tough ending for McCarthy considering how brilliant he played. He made eight birdies on the back nine, including the last seven in a row for a 63. Bhatia held his own with a 67. Rory McIlroy was a distant third.
NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. (AP) — Nelly Korda won the T-Mobile Match Play on Sunday became the first LPGA Tour player in 16 years to win four straight starts, taking four of the first seven holes and going on to beat Leona Maguire 4 and 3 at Shadow Creek. Lorena Ochoa in 2008 was the last player to win four consecutive starts. The top-ranked Korda will try to tie the record of five — set by Nancy Lopez in 1978 and matched by Annika Sorenstam in 2004-05 — in two weeks at the season’s first major, The Chevron Championship. Because Korda took seven weeks off after winning in January in Florida, this victory was her third straight in a scheduled event. Korda earned $300,000 for her 12th career victory.

(Canadian Press)