Digest: Ovechkin has 3 goals, Holtby ties wins record for Capitals
NHL: Alex Ovechkin had three goals to reach 50 for the seventh time, Braden Holtby won his 48th game to tie the NHL single-season record and the host Washington Capitals dashed the St. Louis Blues’ Central Division title hopes with a convincing 5-1 victory on Saturday night.
Vladimir Tarasenko started the scoring with his 40th after getting the tying and winning goals in an overtime victory Thursday night at Chicago. The Blues did little else in their regular season finale and finished with the third seed in the Western Conference, pitting them against the Blackhawks in the first round of the playoffs.
Washington, the runaway President’s Trophy winners and Eastern Conference champions, will open against the Flyers.
Ovechkin is the third player in NHL history with seven 50-goal seasons, joining Mike Bossy and Wayne Gretzky.
Stars clinch Central Division title: Jason Spezza scored three times, including the game-winner with 1 minute remaining, and the Dallas Stars beat the visiting Nashville Predators 3-2 to clinch the Central Division title and the top seed in the Western Conference playoffs. Spezza’s second of two goals in the second period was No. 300 for his career. It was his second hat trick of the season and the seventh of his career.
Dallas will open the playoffs against Minnesota following its first division title since the 2005-06 season.
Panthers top Canes in scoring frenzy: The Florida Panthers finished off their record-setting regular season by scoring three times in the first eight minutes in a 5-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes in Sunrise, Florida. Teddy Purcell, Jussi Jokinen and Aaron Ekblad beat goaltender Eddie Lack in the first 7:40 of the finale. Jonathan Huberdeau scored his 20th for Florida, marking the first 20-goal season for the former Calder Trophy winner.
Reilly Smith scored his 25th goal into the empty net with 5.5 seconds left.
Roberto Luongo made 24 saves and matched his single-season franchise record for wins with 35, which he also did in the 2005-2006 season.
Florida will host Game 1 of an Eastern Conference quarterfinal series next week.
Elias Lindholm and Jordan Staal each had a goal and an assist for the Hurricanes.
Rangers edge Red Wings: Rangers Kevin Hayes scored with 5:38 remaining, Antti Raanta made 31 saves and the host New York Rangers defeated the Detroit Red Wings 3-2.
Despite the loss, the Red Wings reached the playoffs for a 25th consecutive season when the Ottawa Senators beat the Boston Bruins. Detroit clinched third place in the Atlantic Division and will play the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round.
Hayes tipped Dylan McIlrath’s shot past Jimmy Howard for his 14th goal of the season to make it 2-1. Oscar Lindberg added an empty-net goal to make it 3-1.
Detroit’s Justin Abdelkader scored with 1:34 remaining to cut the deficit to 3-2, but New York was able to kill off two late penalties and hang on for the win.
Riley Sheahan scored in the second period for the Red Wings and Howard made 17 saves.
Dan Boyle scored in the first period for the Rangers, who finished the regular season with 101 points.
Flyers clinch playoff berth: Wayne Simmonds scored two goals, Steve Mason stopped 18 shots and the host Philadelphia Flyers clinched a playoff berth with a 3-1 win over the playoff-bound Pittsburgh Penguins. The Flyers’ win eliminated Boston, which lost to Ottawa 6-1 earlier in the day. The Bruins lost a tiebreaker to Detroit. Philadelphia will meet top-seeded Washington in the first round. The Penguins, who are the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference, will play the Rangers or Islanders.
Pittsburgh rested Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang and played without Evgeni Malkin for the 15th consecutive game because of an upper-body injury.
Warriors top Grizzlies, improve record to 71-9
NBA: Draymond Green scored on a tip-in in with 1 minute left, and the Golden State Warriors rallied from 10 points down early in the fourth quarter and beat the Memphis Grizzlies 100-99 in Memphis, Tennessee, to match at least one NBA record held by the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls.
Golden State now has 33 road wins, tying those Bulls who went 33-8 away from Chicago. The Warriors (71-9) visit the Spurs on Sunday night, and their next win will tie the Bulls’ NBA single-season record of 72 victories – but the Warriors have lost 33 straight in San Antonio.
Green finished with 23 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, Klay Thompson had 20 points, Stephen Curry 17 and Harrison Barnes 14 for the Warriors.
Memphis’ Lance Stephenson missed two shots in the final seconds on a drive and again on a flip toward the basket.
Bulls stay in playoff race: Jimmy Butler scored 21 points, rookie Cristiano Felicio added a career-high 16 and the host Chicago Bulls kept their playoff hopes alive with a 105-102 victory over LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday night.
Chicago took the lead with a 15-0 run early in the fourth quarter and hung for the win when JR Smith missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer, preventing Cleveland from clinching the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference even though James scored 33. The Bulls still need to win their final two games and hope Indiana drops its remaining three in order to avoid missing the playoffs for the first time since 2008.
James had a huge game for Cleveland, hitting 13 of 17 shots – 4 of 5 3-pointers. The four-time MVP also grabbed seven rebounds.
Smith hit seven 3s and scored 24 points, and Kevin Love added 20 points and 13 rebounds.
Thunder falls: Rudy Gay scored 24 points, including two free throws with 1 second left, for the Sacramento Kings, who celebrated the final game at Sleep Train Arena with a 114-112 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Sacramento, California.
Kevin Durant had 31 points and eight assists for the Thunder, who have a division title and the Western Division’s No. 3 seed locked up. Russell Westbrook had 24 points and 10 assists, Serge Ibaka scored 14 points.
Seth Curry made six 3-pointers and scored 20 points for the Kings. DeMarcus Cousins had 15 points and seven rebounds, but fouled out with 3:26 remaining and struggled throughout the game, missing 17 of 24 shots.
Towns lifts Minnesota: Karl-Anthony Towns hit a turnaround hook shot with 1.8 seconds left and the Minnesota Timberwolves held off a furious rally by the Portland Trail Blazers for a 106-105 victory in Portland, Oregon. Towns’ winning shot gave him 27 points, and the Timberwolves snapped an eight-game losing streak in Portland. Lillard had 31 points for the Blazers, whose eight-game winning streak at home was snapped.
US beats World team at Nike Hoop Summit
Miscellany: Terrance Ferguson hit seven 3-pointers for his 21 points and the U.S. national junior select team beat the under-19 world team 101-67 at the annual Nike Hoop Summit in Portland, Oregon.
The 34-point margin was the largest in the 19-year history of the event. Jarrett Allen of Austin, Texas, hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer for the final margin, and the United States made a Hoop Summit record 14 3s.
The annual event is a showcase for promising U.S. prep players and up-and-coming talent from around the world. Over 100 active NBA players once appeared in the Hoop Summit, including Derrick Rose, Kevin Durant, Dirk Nowitzki and Nicolas Batum.
Kerber retires at Volvo Car Open: Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber, ranked No. 2 in the world, retired because of a viral illness during her semifinal match at the Volvo Car Open in Charleston, South Carolina, sending American Sloane Stephens to the finals.
Stephens on Sunday meets Russian qualifier Elena Vesnina.
Dlagnev, Provisor earn Olympic wrestling berths: Wrestlers Tervel Dlagnev, Ben Provisor and Elena Pirozhkova secured trips to the Rio Olympics with wins at the U.S. Team Trials in Iowa City, Iowa.
Dlagnev beat Zach Rey twice in a best-of-three finals series at freestyle heavyweight to earn his second trip to the Olympics. Provisor pinned Jacob Clark in the finals to earn the U.S. spot at 85 kilograms in the Greco-Roman discipline. Pirozhkova pinned Erin Clodgo in the second match of the finals to earn her second straight Olympic berth at women’s 63 kilograms.
Sock advances to final: Fourth-seeded defending champion Jack Sock beat top-seeded John Isner 7-6 (4), 6-3 in an all-American semifinal in the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship at Houston. Sock will face Argentina’s Juan Monaco in Sunday’s final.
Vanderbilt rape victim condemns jury verdict: The victim of a Vanderbilt dorm room rape is condemning a jury verdict that resulted in a former football player being convicted of lesser charges. The woman is decrying a system that is forcing her to go through multiple trials.
Jurors found Cory Batey guilty of raping the woman, but did not agree that he was guilty on all five counts of aggravated rape as charged. This was the second time Batey went to trial. Batey and a Brandon Vandenburg were tried last year and convicted on the more serious charges.
Those verdicts were thrown out because the jury foreman did not reveal that he was a victim of statuary rape.
Four ex-players were charged with rape.
Biles leads: Simone Biles dominated the Pacific Rim Championships at Everett, Washington, winning the all-around title to lead the U.S. women to the team title. Biles finished first in the vault, balance beam and floor routine, and third in the uneven bars to win the all-around title with 62.45 points in her season debut.
The U.S. won all four events en route to a team score of 243.200. Canada was second at 219.100, followed by Australia at 217.850.
Joshua wins: Anthony Joshua snatched the IBF heavyweight belt off Charles Martin in London with a second-round stoppage in his 16th professional fight on Saturday. With two knockdowns in the second round, Joshua secured a crushing victory and holds the leading amateur and professional heavyweight titles.
Outwork clinches spot in Kentucky Derby
Horse racing: Outwork lived up to his name with a narrow victory in the $1 million Wood Memorial at cold and rainy Aqueduct in New York, and earned a spot in the Kentucky Derby in four weeks. The win by a head over 81-1 long shot Trojan Nation was worth 100 Derby qualifying points for Outwork.
Exaggerator wins: Exaggerator made an impressive move on a sloppy track in rallying to win the $1 million Santa Anita Derby in Arcadia, California, by 6 1/4 lengths, beating 7-5 favorite Mor Spirit in their final showdown before the Kentucky Derby next month.
Brody’s Cause claims Kentucky Derby spot: Brody’s Cause stormed to the front entering the stretch and rolled to a 1 3/4-length victory in the $1 million Blue Grass at Keeneland in Lexington, Kentucky, claiming a spot in the Kentucky Derby. Brody’s Cause ran 1 1/8 miles in 1:50.20.