Eighth straight road win sends Kings to finals
Nhl: Dustin Penner scored 17:42 into overtime and the Los Angeles Kings are headed to the Stanley Cup finals for the second time as a franchise after beating the Phoenix Coyotes with a 4-3 win in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals Tuesday night at Glendale, Ariz.
Penner gathered a bouncing puck and beat Mike Smith between the pads for the winner, extending the Kings’ road winning streak to an NHL-record eight straight games. Anze Kopitar scored a shorthanded goal, Drew Doughty had a goal and an assist, and Mike Richards also scored for Los Angeles.
The first team to go undefeated on the road to the Stanley Cup finals, the Kings will face the Devils or Rangers in Game 1 on June 6.
Heat put hurt on banged up Pacers
NBA: LeBron James scored 30 points, Dwyane Wade added 28, and the host Miami Heat moved a win away from the Eastern Conference finals with a 115-83 victory over the suddenly hurting Indiana Pacers.
The Heat lead the best-of-7 East semifinals 3-2, with Game 6 in Indiana on Thursday night.
James added 10 rebounds and eight assists.
Paul George scored 11 points for Indiana, with starting forwards Danny Granger and David West adding 10 points apiece.
Granger left with a sprained left ankle in the third quarter, and West left with what the Pacers called a left knee sprain at the end of that period.
• Knicks, Woodson near deal: The New York Knicks and coach Mike Woodson are completing a multiyear deal that could be announced this week.
Woodson led the Knicks to an 18-6 record and a first-round playoff loss to Miami as interim coach after replacing Mike D’Antoni on March 14.
• Warriors want to leave Oakland: Sitting along the shore and staring at one of the world’s most majestic metropolitan views, Joe Lacob leaned over to hear fellow Golden State Warriors co-owner Peter Guber whisper in his ear.
“Man,” Guber said, “we got to do this.”
And with that, the franchise’s new vision started to come into focus.
The Warriors, NBA Commissioner David Stern and San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee officially announced that the Bay Area’s only NBA team will try to move back to scenic San Francisco. The earliest the team could leave Oakland would be 2017, when it can escape its lease at Oracle Arena.
The Warriors unveiled some of the plans for the estimated $500 million, privately funded arena on a sun-soaked day at Piers 30-32. The waterfront site near the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge is just blocks from the Giants’ ballpark and the downtown financial district.
Thigh, knee pads mandatory in NFL
NFL: The NFL made thigh and knee pads mandatory equipment for the 2013 season, something with which the players’ union was not pleased.
Atlanta Falcons president Rich McKay, chairman of the competition committee, said at an owners meeting that because this is a playing rule, the league can apply it unilaterally.
“We have a vote of the membership and can implement,” McKay said. “Some of us felt we were remiss that we took it out of the rule book – high school and college makes it mandatory – and in our mind that is how it should be and will be in 2013.
McKay said the league will meet with NFL Players Association representatives on the issue, something they have discussed in the past.
Florida, USC repeat as tennis champions
MISCELLANY: Lauren Embree and Alex Cercone won their singles matches to help Florida take its second straight NCAA women’s tennis national title with a 4-0 victory over UCLA at Athens, Ga.
In men’s play, Yannick Hanfmann rallied late in the third set to beat Justin Shane in singles and help Southern Cal win its fourth straight national championship with a 4-2 victory over Virginia.
• Alabama leads women’s golf: Alabama finished the opening round by grabbing a two-stroke lead over Virginia, and Portland Rosen shot a Cavaliers school-record 6-under 66 in near perfect conditions in the morning to lead the individual standings at the NCAA Division I women’s golf championship in Franklin, Tenn.
• Texas-Arlington joins Sun Belt: A person familiar with the decision says Texas-Arlington has accepted an invitation to become a non-football playing member of the Sun Belt Conference in 2013.
• Izaguirre wins Giro stage: Jon Izaguirre of Spain won the 16th stage of the Giro d’Italia while countryman Joaquin Rodriguez kept the overall lead.
The Giro ends Sunday.
• Olympic officials near deal: Officials familiar with the negotiations say international and U.S. Olympic leaders have agreed in principle on a new revenue-sharing deal that would end years of acrimony and clear the way for America to bid again for future games.