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NHL
The New York Rangers have wrapped up a division title, but the Atlantic and Central Division races remain very tight. The Montreal Canadiens remain one point ahead of Tampa Bay for the top spot in the Atlantic, while St. Louis has pulled within two points of the Central-leading Nashville Predators.
The Rangers clinched the Metropolitan Division crown as J.T. Miller scored the tiebreaker with 13:12 remaining in a 3-2 victory at Minnesota. Henrik Lundqvist stopped 26 shots and Rick Nash scored his team-high 41st goal to help the Rangers pick up their 49th win and move two points ahead of Montreal for the Eastern Conference lead.
The Canadiens picked up a point but absorbed a 5-4 loss to Washington on Troy Brouwer’s goal in the fourth shootout round. Alex Ovechkin pushed his league-leading goal total to 52 with a pair of power-play tallies, but the Canadiens managed to stay a point ahead of the Lightning on P.K. Subban’s power-play score with 4:59 left in regulation.
Tampa Bay was beaten 2-1 in Ottawa on a goal by Patrick Wiercioch at 4:43 of overtime. Mark Stone had a goal and an assist as the Senators earned the 17th victory in their last 22 games.
The Blues were 4-1 winners against Calgary as Jaden Schwartz, Patrik Berglund, Paul Stastny and Jori Lehtera each had a goal and an assist to help St. Louis clinch a playoff berth. Jake Allen finished with 17 saves and blanked the Flames after Sean Monahan made it 2-1 3 1/2 minutes into the second period.
Elsewhere on NHL ice:
– Chicago’s 3-1 win over Vancouver puts the Blackhawks in the playoffs and keeps the Canucks just four points ahead of the Flames for second place in the Pacific Division. The game was tied 1-1 until Jonathan Toews and Marcus Kruger scored 2:27 apart midway through the third period.
– John Tavares had a goal and an assist, but the New York Islanders blew a 3-1 lead in the third period of a 4-3 shootout loss at Columbus. Ryan Johansen tied the game with 3:43 left in regulation and added the deciding shootout tally as the Blue Jackets won their eighth straight and dropped the Islanders into a second-place tie with Washington in the Metropolitan Division.
– Boston trailed 2-0 in the third period until Carl Soderberg, Loui Eriksson and Zach Trotman scored to lift the Bruins over Detroit 3-2. Tuukka Rask stopped 35 shots to help the Bruins move into a tie with Detroit for third place in the Atlantic Division and three points ahead of Ottawa for the final Eastern Conference playoff berth.
– Los Angeles and Winnipeg are tied for the final Western Conference playoff berth after Jeff Carter and Marion Gaborik each scored twice in the Kings’ 8-2 pounding of Edmonton. The Kings ended a two-game skid.
– Vincent Trocheck scored twice and had an assist in Florida’s 6-1 rout of Carolina. Alex Barkov and Jaromir Jagr each had a goal and an assist for the Panthers, who stayed six points out of a playoff berth with just four games remaining.
– Winnipeg Jets star Dustin Byfuglien has been suspended four games without pay by the NHL for his cross-check to the head of New York Rangers centre J.T. Miller on Tuesday. Byfuglien drove his stick in to the back of the Rangers forward’s head while falling to his knees. The punishment could be a huge blow to the Jets, who are just two points ahead of Los Angeles for the final Western Conference wild-card spot with 10 days left in the regular season.
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MLB
Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander is headed to the disabled list for the first time in his major league career. The Tigers said the 32-year-old right-hander won’t be on the active roster for Monday’s opener against Minnesota because of tightness in his right triceps.
Verlander is 28-24 in two seasons since starting a $180 million, seven-year contract, slowed by core muscle surgery before the 2014 season.
It’s the last week of spring training and teams are fine-tuning their rosters.
In other major league moves:
– Major League Baseball returns to Montreal when Toronto and Cincinnati open a two-game series at Olympic Stadium. The city had the Expos from 1969-2004. Last year, a pair of exhibitions at the Big O between the Blue Jays and Mets drew over 96,000 fans. There has been occasional talk about Montreal getting a franchise, but a new ballpark would be a must.
– The Atlanta Braves have acquired pitcher Trevor Cahill and cash from Arizona for minor league outfielder Josh Elander. The 27-year-old Cahill was 3-12 with a 5.61 ERA for Arizona last season, four years after his lone All-Star game berth.
– The Seattle Mariners have brought back left-handed reliever Joe Beimel on a minor-league deal and optioned newly acquired left-hander Mike Montgomery to Triple-A Tacoma. Beimel was 3-1 with a 2.20 ERA in 56 appearances for the Mariners last season.
– Oakland Athletics left fielder Coco Crisp could miss up to two months following surgery to remove a bone chip and spurs from his right elbow on Friday. The 35-year-old has been Oakland’s starting centre fielder the previous five seasons.
– Reliever Jose Valverde has been released by the San Diego Padres after the team informed the right-hander he wouldn’t make the opening-day major league roster. The three-time All-Star is hopeful he’ll get an offer from another team soon.
– The Cincinnati Reds sent reliever Sam LeCure outright to the minors and put starter Homer Bailey on the 15-day disabled list Thursday as part of their moves to get to the 25-man roster limit for opening day. Reliever Kevin Gregg and starter Jason Marquis were added to the roster.
– New York Yankees backup shortstop Brendan Ryan will be out until at least May because of a strained right calf. Ryan was hurt going after a grounder up the middle in Wednesday’s game against Tampa Bay.
– The Cleveland Indians say outfielder Nick Swisher and infielder Zach Walters will start the season on the disabled list.
– Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder Yasiel Puig was removed from a spring training game Thursday night against the Angels as a precaution following a violent collision with second baseman Howie Kendrick.
The play occurred in the fifth inning while Puig and his new teammate were chasing a shallow fly by Mike Trout that fell for a leadoff triple.
Kendrick, who spent his first nine big league seasons playing second base for the Angels before they traded him to the Dodgers in December, peeled off when he heard Puig call for the ball at the last instant – but could not avoid hitting him.
Puig went down and was tended to by a trainer before walking off the field under his own power.
(CP/AP)
