In brief: Tyler Johnson scores with 1 second left to lift Tampa Bay
NHL: Time was running out and the sellout crowd of 19,204 grew impatient, urging the Lightning to take one more crack at Carey Price.
Good idea.
Tyler Johnson’s only shot of the night slipped past the Montreal goaltender with 1.1 seconds remaining Wednesday night, giving Tampa Bay a 2-1 victory over the Canadiens at Tampa, Florida, and a 3-0 lead in their NHL playoff series.
“Honestly, I didn’t even know it was that close at the buzzer. … I wasn’t thinking about the time at all,” Johnson said after his third winning goal this postseason.
“It’s just a giant weight off the shoulders because overtime is fun,” Johnson added, “but nobody really wants to do it.”
The All-Star center (Spokane Chiefs/Central Valley H.S.) scored his eighth goal of the postseason off a pass from Victor Hedman in a stunning finish for the Canadiens, who tied it midway through the third period on Brendan Gallagher’s goal.
Ben Bishop stopped 30 shots for Tampa Bay, 8-0 against Montreal this season. The game appeared headed for OT when the Lightning gathered for one more trip up the ice in regulation.
Ondrej Palat ignored pleas from the crowd to launch a desperation shot, instead getting the puck to Hedman. He carried into the left circle before passing through the middle just beyond defenseman P.K. Subban’s stick to Johnson converging on Price from the right.
• Rookie Burakovsky scores twice for Caps: Rookie Andre Burakovsky scored his first two playoff goals and Braden Holtby saved a penalty shot, giving host Washington a 2-1 victory over the New York Rangers for a 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
• Coach finalists announced: The New York Rangers’ Alain Vigneault, Calgary’s Bob Hartley and Nashville’s Peter Laviolette are the finalists for the Jack Adams Award as NHL’s coach of the year.
Messi leads Barcelona to 3-0 win
Soccer: Lionel Messi had two goals and set up Neymar for another as host Barcelona scored three late goals to overwhelm Bayern Munich and former coach Pep Guardiola 3-0 in the first leg of their Champions League semifinal.
Headband back and so is James
NBA: LeBron James attacked from the start and scored 33 points, Kyrie Irving added 21 and host Cleveland evened its semifinal series with Chicago with a 106-91 victory.
Donning his signature headband for the first time in two months and powering to the basket, James kept the Cavs from falling into a 2-0 hole. He added eight rebounds and five assists for Cleveland, which led by 25 in the third quarter and withstood a third-quarter charge by the Bulls.
• Harden finishes with burst for Rockets: James Harden scored 16 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter to lift Houston to a 115-109 victory over the visiting Los Angeles Clippers that evened the Western Conference semifinal at one game apiece.
Blake Griffin led Los Angeles with 34 points, but had just eight after halftime as Houston keyed on him with All-Star point guard Chris Paul out with a hamstring injury.
Kyrgios upsets top-seed Federer
Tennis: Top-seeded Roger Federer made an early exit from the Madrid Open after a second-round defeat to Nick Kyrgios of Australia.
The 20-year-old from Canberra ended Federer’s hopes of a fourth title at the Spanish tournament by rallying for a closely fought 6-7 (2), 7-6 (5), 7-6 (12) victory.
In the women’s tournament, Victoria Azarenka squandered triple match point, double-faulting on the last one, and Serena Williams rallied to reach the quarterfinals with a 7-6 (5), 3-6, 7-6 (1).
Canada rolls in hockey worlds
Miscellany: Canada rallied to maintain a perfect record at the ice hockey world championship by beating Sweden 6-4 at Prague for its fourth straight victory.
• Pacquiao has surgery: Manny Pacquiao underwent surgery on his injured right shoulder following his loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in boxing’s richest fight.
A Pacquiao spokesman quoted the fighter’s surgeon in Los Angeles as saying he could not be “more pleased with the results” and fully expects Pacquiao to be back in the ring.
• LSU tackle not father of slain woman’s son: Police in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, say a paternity test has confirmed former LSU offense tackle La’el Collins is not the father of a slain Baton Rouge woman’s son.
Collins was an All-SEC performer and top pro prospect, but was not selected in last weekend’s NFL draft after police confirmed they wanted to interview Collins about his prior relationship with 29-year-old Britney Mills, who was gunned down at her home in late April.
Collins has never been named a suspect or a person of interest in Mills’ death.
• Smith and White win four-ball title: Walker Cup teammates Nathan Smith and Todd White won the inaugural U.S. Amateur Four-Ball, beating Sherrill Britt and Greg Earnhardt 7 and 5 in the championship match at San Francisco.