Tampa Bay defeats Montreal for fourth time, ties Canadiens atop NHL Atlantic Division
NHL: Tampa Bay continued its season-long dominance over Montreal.
Steven Stamkos had two goals and added an assist and the Lightning beat the Canadiens 4-2 Monday night in a matchup of the Atlantic Division’s top teams.
Both have 93 points, but Montreal has played one fewer game.
“It’s definitely a confidence booster when you get the offense going in a game like this, especially down the stretch,” Stamkos said.
Valtteri Filppula and Victor Hedman also scored for the Lightning, who have outscored Montreal 16-5 in winning all four games between the teams this season.
Montreal, which lost for the sixth time in eight games (2-4-2), got goals from Tomas Plekanec and Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau.
“We started off slow,” Montreal center Alex Galchenyuk said. “We didn’t play a full 60 minutes and that cost us.”
Stamkos secured the win with his 39th goal, an empty-net, power-play goal with 1:05 to play.
Ben Bishop, 9-1-2 against Montreal, made 32 saves.
• Rangers lose Martin St. Louis: The suddenly injury-plagued Rangers will be without veteran forward Martin St. Louis for 10 to 14 days due to an injured right knee ailment.
Parsons, Nowitzki lead Mavs by OKC
NBA: Chandler Parsons scored 31 points, Dirk Nowitzki added 22 with some big 3-pointers and Dallas rallied from 15 down in the third quarter for a 119-115 win over visiting Oklahoma City.
Russell Westbrook just missed his seventh triple-double in 10 games, finishing with 24 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds. But he picked up his fifth and sixth fouls 0.6 seconds apart trying to bring the Thunder back in the final minute.
It was a playoff-like finish to a game that had all the elements of a tense postseason matchup through the first three quarters. There were five technical fouls and matching flagrant fouls called on Tyson Chandler and Westbrook.
• Heat whip Cavs: Dwyane Wade scored 21 of his 32 points in the first half, Goran Dragic added 20 and Miami handed LeBron James (26 points) another loss on his former home floor with a 106-92 victory over Cleveland.
• Lowry notches triple-double: Kyle Lowry had 20 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists, Lou Williams scored 24 points, and Toronto won 117-98 at Indiana.
• Hawks lose Korver: Atlanta guard Kyle Korver will miss at least three games after breaking his nose against the Lakers on Sunday.
Former Pat Wilfork signing with Texans
NFL: Defensive tackle Vince Wilfork announced on Twitter he was signing with Houson after 11 years with New England.
In his tweet, Wilfork, a five-time Pro Bowler, thanked the Kraft family and the Patriots, and said the coaching staff in Houston has “made this new exciting transition feel like home to us.”
• Raiders release Schaub: Oakland has released Matt Schaub less than one year after acquiring him to be their starting quarterback.
• Rookie retires after one year: San Francisco linebacker Chris Borland has told ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” that he is retiring following his standout rookie season (a team-best 108 tackles) because of concerns about head trauma.
Georgia’s Landers hangs up whistle
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: Andy Landers is retiring following 36 seasons as the only full-time coach in the history of the Georgia women’s program.
Landers is retiring following a season in which he recorded his 850th career win with the Lady Bulldogs. Georgia lost nine of its last 11 games to finish 19-12. Georgia ranks No. 2 nationally with 31 NCAA tournament appearances and 522 weeks in the Top 25.
Defending champ grabs Iditarod lead
MISCELLANY: Defending champion Dallas Seavey has grabbed the lead from veteran musher Aaron Burmeister in Alaska’s 1,000-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Seavey was the first to reach the checkpoint at Koyuk, 123 miles from the finish line in Nome, even though he left the previous checkpoint at Shaktoolik more than an hour behind Burmeister.
• Sharapova, Murray win: Maria Sharapova defeated Victoria Azarenka 6-4, 6-3 on her sixth match point in a third-round pairing of former No. 1-ranked players at the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, California. Andy Murray outlasted Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-1, 3-6, 6-1 in a nearly two-hour slugfest under a hot sun.
• Williams returning to Team Tennis: Serena Williams is returning to play World TeamTennis for the Washington Kastles for the first time since 2011, joining her sister Venus with the four-time defending champions.
• UCLA suspends football assistant: Adrian Klemm, a football coach whose career has done nothing but skyrocket in the four-plus seasons he has been part of UCLA’s staff, has been suspended while officials investigate whether he committed rules violations.
• Sounders extend lease: The Seattle Sounders will continue to call CenturyLink Field home through the 2028 season after agreeing to a 10-year lease extension.