In brief: Kings cap rally from 3-0 deficit

NHL: Anze Kopitar scored the tiebreaking goal late in the second period and Jonathan Quick made 39 saves to cap the Los Angeles Kings’ historic comeback from three games down with a 5-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks in Game 7 of their first-round series Wednesday night at San Jose, California.

Drew Doughty, Tyler Toffoli, Dustin Brown and Tanner Pearson also scored for the Kings, who became the fourth NHL team to win a best-of-seven series after losing the first three games.

The Kings joined Toronto (1942), the New York Islanders (1975) and Philadelphia (2010) as the only teams to complete that comeback and will get another California showdown in the second-round with the first Freeway Playoff against the Anaheim Ducks.

Matt Irwin scored the lone goal and Antti Niemi made 25 saves for the Sharks, who added perhaps their most bitter playoff disappointment to a history of them. San Jose has the second-most regular-season wins in the NHL the past 10 seasons but has never made it past the conference finals.

• Wild beat Avs in OT to advance: Nino Niederreiter scored his second goal of the game 5:02 into overtime and Ilya Bryzgalov made a big save filling in for an injured Darcy Kuemper, leading the Minnesota Wild to a 5-4 win over the Colorado Avalanche in Game 7 in Denver.

It’s the first playoff series win for the Wild since 2003.

Mikko Koivu, Dany Heatley and former Spokane Chief Jared Spurgeon also scored for the Wild, who will face the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks in the second round.

• Rangers advance to face Penguins: Daniel Carcillo and Benoit Pouliot scored second-period goals, and the New York Rangers advanced to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs with a 2-1 victory over the visiting Philadelphia Flyers in Game 7.

The Rangers shook off a 5-2 thrashing in Philadelphia on Tuesday and knocked out the Flyers about 24 hours later, improving to 6-0 in Game 7s at Madison Square Garden. New York will face another Metropolitan Division rival, the Pittsburgh Penguins, in the next round starting on Friday.

Henrik Lundqvist made 26 saves, allowing only a third-period goal to Jason Akeson 3:32 into the final frame. He protected the one-goal lead at 7:25 when he made an awkward save against Flyers captain Claude Giroux.

• Finalists announced for Masterton: The New Jersey Devils’ Jaromir Jagr, Carolina Hurricanes’ Manny Malhotra and New York Rangers’ Dominic Moore are the finalists for the Masterton Trophy.

The league announced the finalists for the honor that goes “to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.”

New Jersey also announced that Jagr will remain with the Devils.

The team announced that Jagr signed a contract, but didn’t release terms. Jagr led the Devils last season with 24 goals and 43 assists.

A two-time winner of the Stanley Cup when he played for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Jagr begins next season with 705 goals and 1,050 assists, tied for sixth on the all-time list among NHL scorers.

Rockets top Blazers to stay alive

NBA: Dwight Howard had 22 points and 14 rebounds, and Jeremy Lin came off the bench to score 21 points and help the Houston Rockets beat the visiting Portland Trail Blazers 108-98 to avoid elimination.

A basket by Damian Lillard got the Trail Blazers within two points before James Harden stepped back and swished a 3-pointer to make it 103-98 with about 3 minutes left.

Harden’s shot was the start of a 12-0 Houston run to close it out. He finished with 17 points and seven assists.

Houston finally slowed down LaMarcus Aldridge, limiting him to eight points, after he averaged 35.3 points in the first four games. Wesley Matthews led the Blazers with 27 points and Lillard added 26.

• Raptors hold off Nets: Kyle Lowry scored a career playoff-high 36 points, including the go-ahead 3-pointer after Toronto had blown a 26-point lead, and the Raptors beat the visiting Brooklyn Nets 115-113 to take a 3-2 lead in their first-round series.

DeMar DeRozan had 23 points, Jonas Valanciunas scored 16 and Greivis Vasquez added 15 for the Raptors, who would advance to face Miami in the second round with a victory in Game 6 on Friday in Brooklyn.

Joe Johnson scored 30 points and Mirza Teletovic had 17 for the Nets, who scored 44 points in the fourth quarter.

• Spurs handle Mavs: Tony Parker had 23 points hours after the birth of his first child and the host San Antonio Spurs never trailed in a 109-103 victory over the Dallas Mavericks, taking a 3-2 lead in their first-round series.

Manu Ginobili had 19 points and Tiago Splitter added 17 points and 12 rebounds as San Antonio regained home-court advantage in the tense series against their intrastate rival.

Tim Duncan added 16 points and 12 rebounds and Kawhi Leonard had 15 points for the Spurs.

Vince Carter scored 28 points, making numerous heavily contested shots in going 10 for 16 from the field for Dallas.

After averaging 16 points in the series’ first four games, Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki found the stroke in scoring 26 points.

Nowitzki shot 10 for 20 from the field, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Spurs returning to form.

Atletico Madrid advances to final

SOCCER: Atletico Madrid overpowered Chelsea 3-1 in London on goals by Adrian Lopez, Diego Costa and Arda Turan, advancing to the first one-city Champions League final against Real Madrid.

Following a 0-0 tie in Spain last week, former Atletico star Fernando Torres put Chelsea in front in the 36th minute. Adrian Lopez tied the score in the 44th, giving Atletico a critical away goal.

Costa converted a penalty kick in the 60th, and Turan scored in the 70th.

Real and Atletico will meet at Lisbon on May 24 in the first Champions League final that is a city derby. Real is seeking a record 10th title in Europe’s top club competition.