L.A. opens up 2-0 series lead on Anaheim

NHL: Jonathan Quick made 36 saves, Marian Gaborik scored his third goal in two games, and the Los Angeles Kings beat the Anaheim Ducks 3-1 Monday night in Anaheim, California, to take a 2-0 lead in their second-round series.

Alec Martinez also scored for the Kings, who opened their first playoff series against their local rivals with two victories at a road arena packed with their own fans.

Dwight King added an empty-net goal for Los Angeles, which has won six straight postseason games and is halfway to its third straight trip to the Western Conference finals.

Patrick Maroon scored a power-play goal and Jonas Hiller stopped 14 shots for the Ducks, who couldn’t crack the Kings’ NHL-best defense despite controlling play for long stretches.

• Penguins blank Rangers again: Sidney Crosby scored his first goal of these playoffs, and Marc-Andre Fleury earned his second shutout of the New York Rangers in two nights as the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins regained home-ice advantage with a 2-0 victory in Game 3.

Crosby snapped a 13-game goal drought in the playoffs to give the Penguins the lead in the second period, and Jussi Jokinen added a breakaway goal. Fleury stopped 35 shots to back up his 22-save effort Sunday in a 3-0 win in Pittsburgh. He has eight career postseason shutouts and 51 wins.

The Penguins, who lost the opener in overtime, lead the Eastern Conference semifinal series 2-1. Game 4 is Wednesday in New York.

• Hurricanes fire three coaches: The Carolina Hurricanes fired coach Kirk Muller and most of his coaching staff, one week into Ron Francis’ tenure as general manager.

“You watch the team over the course of the year and I just felt at this point going forward, we needed a fresh start,” Francis said.

Assistants John MacLean and Dave Lewis also were fired and goaltending coach Greg Stefan was reassigned back to the team’s pro scouting department.

Rod Brind’Amour, a third-year assistant who was the captain of Carolina’s Cup-winning team, will remain part of the coaching staff.

• Finalists named for Lindsay Award: Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Ryan Getzlaf of the Anaheim Ducks and Claude Giroux of the Philadelphia Flyers are finalists for the Ted Lindsay Award.

The award is presented annually to the Most Valuable Player in the NHL, as voted by members of the NHL Players’ Association.

Crosby scored 36 goals and led the league in assists (68) and points (104). Getzlaf scored a career-high 31 goals and ranked second in the league with 87 points to lead the Ducks to the top record in the Western Conference. Giroux matched a career high with 28 goals and finished third in the NHL scoring race with 86 points.

Paul’s 3-point storm buries Oklahoma City

NBA: Chris Paul made a career-high eight 3-pointers and scored 32 points to help the visiting Los Angeles Clippers beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 122-105 in Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinal.

Paul, who had never made more than five 3-pointers in a game, also had 10 assists. Blake Griffin scored 23 points, Jamal Crawford had 17 and J.J. Redick added 12 for the Clippers, who shot 55 percent from the field and made 15 of 29 3-point attempts.

Russell Westbrook scored 29 points, Kevin Durant had 25 and Serge Ibaka added 12 for the Thunder, who suffered their worst home loss since moving to Oklahoma City.

The Clippers scored 23 points off the Thunder’s 18 turnovers.

Both teams were coming off Game 7 wins in the first round on Saturday night.

• Wizards down Pacers to take 1-0 lead: Bradley Beal scored 14 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter and Trevor Ariza added 22, leading Washington past top-seeded Indiana 102-96 in Indianapolis for a 1-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

The Wizards won a second-round game for the first time since 1982 and are 4-0 on the road in this year’s playoffs. They ended a 12-game losing streak at Indiana that dated to April 18, 2007, and they did it by nearly leading from wire-to-wire.

Paul George and George Hill had 18 points each for Indiana.

The Wizards trailed only once, 31-30, and took control with a 17-6 run to close the first half that made it 56-43. Indiana couldn’t get closer than five points in the second half.

Liverpool title hopes crumble to pieces

Soccer: Liverpool wasted a three-goal lead in the final 16 minutes, crushing its Premier League title hopes with a 3-3 tie at Crystal Palace in London that put Manchester City in position to win its second championship in three seasons.

Liverpool built a 3-0 lead by the 55th minute on goals by Joe Allen, Daniel Sturridge and Luis Suarez, who tied the Premier League record of 31 goals in a 38-game season.

But Palace rallied in stunning fashion when Damian Delaney scored in the 79th and Dwight Gayle got goals in the 81st and 88th. Palace then held on through five minutes of stoppage time.

• Brazilian club punished following toilet bowl death: A Brazilian soccer team was ordered to play its next two home games in an empty stadium after a man was fatally struck on the head by a toilet bowl thrown from the stands during fan violence last weekend.

A sports tribunal also suspended all fan groups of the second-division club Santa Cruz from attending matches anywhere in Brazil until the person who threw the toilet bowl is turned over to authorities.

Police said suspects were detained for questioning but declined to say whether charges would be immediately filed.

Santa Cruz’s Arruda Stadium had already been closed by the Brazilian soccer federation Saturday, a day after the 26-year-old fan was killed in the fighting in the World Cup host city of Recife.

Seven NFL retirees challenge settlement

Miscellany: The proposed $765 million settlement of NFL concussion claims is under attack again, this time from retirees who say they would get nothing for their residual health problems.

Seven former players asked to intervene in the court case in Philadelphia.

They say the plan doesn’t offer anything to men who can still work but suffer from headaches, personality changes, and other side effects.

The group includes 2008 Pro Bowl player Sean Morey, now an assistant football coach at Princeton University.

• Players allowed to compete after arrests: Eastern New Mexico University allowed 17 baseball players to compete in a doubleheader a day after they were arrested following an off-campus fight.

ENMU athletic director Jeff Geiser explained his decision to allow the team members to play Saturday against Angelo State by saying they are innocent until proven guilty, the Clovis New Journal reported.

The players – nearly half the team – each posted bail after being arrested Friday afternoon on suspicion of disorderly conduct as a result of a fight at a Portales student housing complex.

• Russian driver shines at Indy track: Russian driver Mikhail Aleshin was the fastest of the five rookies on the track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The Moscow native had a fast lap of 219.170 mph and was one of three rookies to complete the rookie orientation program.

Jack Hawksworth and Carlos Huertas also passed. Jacques Villeneuve, the 1995 Indy winner, and former Cup champion Kurt Busch completed their rookie tests last week.