TUESDAY SPORTS PAGE: GOLDEN KNIGHTS IN CONTROL

Jonathan Marchessault and Brett Howden each scored twice as the Vegas Golden Knights crushed the visiting Florida Panthers 7-2 to grab a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven Stanley Cup final series. Jack Eichel, who absorbed a punishing check in the second period from Matthew Tkachuk, chipped in with two assists. Game 3 is Thursday in Sunrise, Florida.

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Cole Caufield says he called his mother shortly after singing a lucrative contract extension with the Montreal Canadiens that will mean a lot to his whole family. The 22-year-old winger, who scored 26 goals in 46 games last season, agreed to an eight-year, 62.8 (m) million dollar contract extension with the Original Six team. Caufield told reporters that the amount is more than he could have dreamed of as a kid playing hockey in Wisconsin.

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Greg Cronin spent 36 years coaching at nearly every level of hockey before he finally got his first chance to be an NHL head coach. He believes the struggling but talented Anaheim Ducks will be worth that extraordinary wait.

General manager Pat Verbeek hired the 60-year-old Cronin on Monday to lead the Ducks’ rebuilding effort out of the worst five-year stretch in franchise history. Cronin is a former NHL assistant and a former head coach in both the AHL and at Northeastern, earning widespread praise for teaching strong principles and leading young players.

Cronin has 12 years of experience as an NHL assistant with the Toronto Maple Leafs and in two stints with the New York Islanders. The Massachusetts native with a pronounced Boston accent also played an important role in the creation of the USA Hockey National Team Development Program in the late 1990s.

Corey Julks hit his first career grand slam and the Houston Astros used a season-high 19 hits to whip the host Toronto Blue Jays 11-4 on Monday. The Astros won for the eighth time in 11 games. Alejandro Kirk and Daulton Varsho hit solo home runs as Toronto had its 4-game winning streak halted. Jays’ starter Alek Manoah failed to get out of the first inning in his seventh straight losing decision, retiring just one of the nine batters he faced. Manoah allowed six runs, seven hits and walked one.

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Nathaniel Lowe hit a game-ending RBI single with one out in the ninth inning and the AL West-leading Texas Rangers extended their winning streak to four games with a 4-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday. Marcus Semien, who had already extended his majors-best hitting streak to 24 games with two hits, scored the winning run when Lowe hit an opposite-field grounder through the left side of the infield.

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Aaron Nola took a no-hitter into the seventh inning Monday and struck out 12, Trea Turner homered twice among his four hits to lead the Philadelphia Phillies to their third straight win, an 8-3 decision over the visiting Detroit Tigers. Nola fanned 10 and had faced the minimum through six as he tried to pitch the Phillies’ first no-hitter since 2015. Nola allowed a two-out home run to Nick Maton in the seventh inning.

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The Miami Heat are making a statement in the playoff comeback department. When facing a deficit of at least 12 points this post-season, the Heat are 7-and-6. The rest of the NBA is 6-and-59 combined. The latest comeback came in Game 2 of the NBA Finals on Sunday against Denver when the Heat rallied from 15 points down to win 111-108 and even the title series at 1-1. Game 3 is Wednesday in Miami.

(Canadian Press)