In brief: Former Chief Tyler Johnson helps spark Lightning win
NHL: Tyler Johnson led a stirring Tampa Bay rally late in regulation, then scored 2:25 into overtime to lift the Lightning to a 3-2 road victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night, evening their playoff series at 2-2.
The Red Wings led 2-0 in the third period before Johnson, of the Spokane Chiefs and Central Valley High, scored with 5 minutes, 26 seconds remaining. He then assisted on Ondrej Palat’s tying goal 77 seconds later.
Early in the extra session, defenseman Victor Hedman led an odd-man rush from the right side and slid the puck across the goal mouth. It deflected ever so slightly off goalie Petr Mrazek, but Johnson was able to shoot into an open net from a tough angle for his fourth goal of the series.
• Capitals take lead over Rangers: Rookie Evgeny Kuznetsov scored twice, Karl Alzner added a goal and an assist, and the Washington Capitals beat the visiting New York Islanders 5-1 for a 3-2 lead in their first-round series.
Buoyed by a raucous crowd chanting “We are louder!” in reference to some back-and-forth among players about which team’s fans produce more noise, the Capitals controlled the action most of the evening after falling behind 1-0.
Dominating despite zero points from stars Alex Ovechkin or Nicklas Backstrom, Washington got goals from Kuznetsov, Brooks Laich and Jason Chimera in the third period, which it began ahead only 2-1.
• Forsberg’s hat trick lifts Predators: Rookie Filip Forsberg had his first career hat trick and the Nashville Predators forced a sixth game in their first-round Western Conference series by beating the Chicago Blackhawks 5-2 at Nashville, Tennessee.
A triple-overtime loss in Chicago early Wednesday pushed the Predators to the brink of elimination, and these teams appeared headed for the third overtime game of this series tied at 1.
James Neal then got the go-ahead goal in the opening minute of the third to start a flurry of three goals in a span of less than 2 1/2 minutes and the Predators pulled to 3-2 in the series with Game 6 Saturday night in Chicago.
Forsberg finished his hat trick with an empty netter in the final minute. Colin Wilson also had a goal, and Neal had an assist.
• Canucks avoid elimination: Daniel Sedin scored the tiebreaking goal early in the third period and the Vancouver Canucks avoided elimination with a 2-1 victory over the Calgary Flames at Vancouver, British Columbia, in Game 5 of their Western Conference quarterfinal series.
Nick Bonino had the other goal for Vancouver, and Ryan Miller had 19 saves in his first start in the series after replacing Eddie Lack in Game 4.
David Jones scored for the Flames and Jonas Hiller stopped 41 shots.
Curry dazzles during comeback victory
NBA: Stephen Curry scored 40 points, including a 3-pointer in the final seconds of regulation to complete a 20-point, fourth-quarter comeback, and the Golden State Warriors beat host New Orleans 123-119 in overtime to take a 3-0 lead in their first-round playoff series.
Curry hit seven 3s, including one to start overtime that gave the Warriors the lead for good.
Klay Thompson had 28 points for the Warriors, who trailed 89-69 after three quarters, then outscored New Orleans 39-19 over the next 12 minutes.
Anthony Davis had 29 points and 15 rebounds for the Pelicans, but his missed free throw with 9.6 seconds left – as the crowd chanted “M-V-P!” – allowed Curry’s late 3 to tie it.
• Cavs one win away from sweep: LeBron James scored 31 points and the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers moved one win away from a sweep in their first playoff series in five years with a 103-95 victory over the Boston Celtics.
Cleveland can complete the sweep of the best-of-seven, first-round series Sunday in Boston. No NBA team has won a series after trailing 3-0.
Love had 23 points and J.R. Smith added 15 for the Cavaliers.
• Bulls beat Bucks in 2OTs: Derrick Rose scored 34 points, Jimmy Butler added 24 and the Chicago Bulls beat the host Milwaukee Bucks 113-106 in double overtime to take a 3-0 lead in their Eastern Conference playoff series.
Jimmy Butler got the second overtime off to a rousing start, intercepting a backcourt pass from Giannis Antetokounmpo and racing in for a layup. It set the tone for an 8-0 run that gave Chicago a 109-101 lead with 2:44 left to finally shake the pesky Bucks.
Eagle, birdies give Weekly early lead
GOLF: Boo Weekley had an eagle and seven birdies for an 8-under-par 64 and a share of the first-round lead with Brendon de Jonge in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans at Avondale, Louisiana.
De Jonge, from Zimbabwe, had eight birdies at rain-softened TPC Louisiana.
Spokane’s Alex Prugh shot a 1-under 71.
Sean O’Hair and Canada’s David Hearn shot 65 on the Pete Dye-designed layout.
Four of the top six players, including de Jonge, are winless on the PGA Tour.
Players were able to lift, clean and place their golf balls in the fairways in anticipation of afternoon rain, which eventually developed and halted play for 1 hour, 20 minutes.
• Ko leads Swinging Skirts: Lydia Ko settled for a tap-in birdie on the par-5 14th after her eagle chip deflected off the pin and the defending champion shot a 5-under 67 to take the first-round lead in the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic at Daly City, California.
The top-ranked Ko holds a one-stroke lead over three others, including 54-year-old Juli Inkster. Stacy Lewis, last year’s runner-up to Ko at Lake Merced Golf Club, was two strokes back at 3 under.
Ko will celebrate her 18th birthday on the course today.
Nadal drops match at Barcelona Open
TENNIS: Rafael Nadal’s clay-court woes mounted at the Barcelona Open with another loss.
The eight-time champion lost to Fabio Fognini 6-4, 7-6 (6) in the third round, a year after his 41-match winning streak ended in the quarterfinals.
After losing the first set, Nadal appeared to have rebounded and broke his Italian opponent three times in the second set, but Fognini answered each time to force a tiebreaker. After winning their first four career meetings, Nadal has lost twice to Fognini this year on his preferred surface.