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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Stanley Cup playoffs: Ducks go up 3-0 over Jets

Winnipeg’s Blake Wheeler celebrates after his second-period goal. (Associated Press)
From Staff And Wire Reports

NHL: Fired up for the first NHL playoff game in town in 19 years, Winnipeg Jets fans booed Corey Perry off the ice in warmups and cheered every icing call against the Anaheim Ducks.

They went silent when the Ducks scored.

The raucous “whiteout crowd” left on a down note after Anaheim’s Rickard Rakell scored at 5:12 of overtime to beat the Jets 5-4 Monday night at MTS Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and take a 3-0 series lead.

For the third straight game, Winnipeg blew a third-period lead and in the process became the first team in NHL history to lose the first three games of a series when leading at the second intermission, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Noise levels were off the charts for a crowd that had waited since 1996 for a Stanley Cup playoff game.

Game 4 is Wednesday night.

Wild takes 2-1 lead over Blues: Devan Dubnyk made 17 saves and Jason Pominville and Zach Parise scored second-period goals and the host Minnesota Wild earned a 3-0 victory over the St. Louis Blues in Game 3 of their Western Conference series.

St. Louis’ Jake Allen stopped 21 shots, with the overcapacity crowd taunting him with chants of his last name throughout the game, but the Blues lost on the road in the playoffs for the ninth straight time.

Road success continues for Rangers: Henrik Lundqvist stopped 23 shots and the New York Rangers regained control of their first-round series against the Pittsburgh Penguins with a 2-1 win in Game 3 at Pittsburgh and a 2-1 series lead.

The Rangers led the NHL in road wins during the regular season and shut down Pittsburgh stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin to reclaim home-ice advantage.

Abdelkader returns to Red Wings: The Detroit Red Wings expect to have left wing Justin Abdelkader back from a hand injury for Game 3 of their playoff series on Thursday against Tampa Bay.

Abdelkader hasn’t played since April 4.

It’s official: Tebow back in the NFL

NFL: The Philadelphia Eagles have signed quarterback Tim Tebow to a one-year contract, giving the 2007 Heisman Trophy winner his first shot in the NFL since the Patriots cut him before the 2013 season.

Tebow hasn’t played in the NFL since 2012 with the New York Jets. He worked as a television analyst last year with the SEC Network and ESPN.

The Eagles have four other quarterbacks on their roster: Sam Bradford, Mark Sanchez, Matt Barkley and G.J. Kinne.

Peterson skips workouts: The Minnesota Vikings have started their spring strength and conditioning program.

Adrian Peterson, in one of the surest bets of the offseason, stayed away.

NFL teams such as the Vikings with returning head coaches were allowed to launch their supervised workouts at team headquarters. A person with knowledge of Peterson’s plans confirmed to the Associated Press that the star running back did not attend.

Peterson’s absence was expected, of course, given his expressed disinterest in returning to the organization.

Hall of Famer St. Clair dies: Hall of Fame offensive tackle Bob St. Clair, a five-time Pro Bowler who played all 11 of his seasons with his hometown San Francisco 49ers, has died. He was 84.

A 6-foot-9 right tackle known for his speed and uncanny blocking ability in the passing and running games, St. Clair was a third-round draft pick by San Francisco in 1953. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1990.

Wilson retires as Cardinal: Adrian Wilson played at New England and Chicago but the defensive back’s biggest contributions came when he played in Arizona and now he’s going to go out as a Cardinal.

Wilson, a five-time Pro Bowler who spent 12 seasons with the Cardinals, is one of six players in NFL history to accumulate at least 25 sacks and 25 interceptions.

Obama honors Ohio State at White House

MISCELLANY: President Barack Obama honored the national champion Ohio State football team, taking just a little bit of credit for the new playoff system that the Buckeyes mastered.

Ohio State won the first College Football Playoff in January, beating Oregon in the title game.

Obama jokingly talked about throwing his political weight behind the idea of a four-team playoff to replace the old system in which voters and computers selected two teams to play for the championship.

“I cannot claim full credit. But I will point out that I pushed for a playoff system in 2008,” Obama said. “This is a promise kept. You’re welcome, America.”

Saunders still T-Wolves coach: Flip Saunders, Minnesota Timberwolves president of basketball operations, says he will also serve as the team’s coach “until I feel we need to move in a different direction.”

Saunders appointed himself last summer to succeed Rick Adelman.

Utah gymnastics coach retires: Utah gymnastics coach Greg Marsden is retiring after 40 seasons at the head of the program.

Marsden is the winningest gymnastics coach in NCAA history with a 1,048-208-8 mark and a record-tying 10 national championships. Marsden is a seven-time National Coach of the Year.