In Brief: Blues go up 2-1 in series with Blackhawks

NHL: The St. Louis Blues kept pushing and pushing until a costly play by Patrick Kane provided an opening. And there was nothing for the Chicago Blackhawks to challenge.

Jaden Schwartz scored at 13:32 of the third period with Kane in the penalty box for high-sticking, and the Blues beat the Blackhawks 3-2 in Chicago on Sunday for a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series.

Patrik Berglund and rookie Colton Parayko also scored as St. Louis rallied after a difficult 3-2 loss in Game 2 that included two key coach’s challenges that went against the Blues – one of them wiping out a tiebreaking goal for Vladimir Tarasenko.

Brian Elliott made 44 saves, keeping St. Louis in the game during Chicago’s strong second period.

“No one said it was going to be a short series and even with them getting the win in Game 2, that didn’t affect us,” Schwartz said. “We came out and executed again today and we did a good job of that.”

It was Chicago’s first regulation loss when leading after two periods since Game 2 of the 2014 Western Conference finals against the Los Angeles Kings. The Blackhawks had been 70-0-4 since the start of last season when they had the lead at the beginning of the third, according to STATS.

“That was a tough loss,” Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. “Let’s get back into it. But it was a pretty competitive game, kind of comparable to what we saw in the first two.”

Kane, the NHL’s leading scorer this season and one of the favorites for league MVP, got four minutes for a high stick on defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, and St. Louis made Chicago pay for the mistake.

“I’ve got to be smarter in that situation,” Kane said. “Obviously I can’t take a penalty at that time of the game, especially when the score’s 2-2. I take responsibility on that one.”

Tarasenko passed down low to David Backes, who sent it right to Schwartz in the slot. Schwartz then beat Corey Crawford low on the glove side for his third career playoff goal and a 3-2 lead.

Red Wings snuff Lightning: At Detroit, Andreas Athanasiou and Henrik Zetterberg scored, Petr Mrazek made 16 saves and the Red Wings beat Tampa Bay 2-0, to trail in the series 2-1.

After brawling late in the last game, gloves were dropped, fists flew and there were piles of players on the ice when the Game 3 ended.

Ben Bishop made 28 saves for the Lightning, who had their top line of Tyler Johnson, Nikita Kucherov and Alex Killorn shut down after the trio combined for six points in the first two games of the series.

Isles win in OT: Thomas Hickey scored 12:31 into overtime to lift the Islanders to a 4-3 victory over Florida in the first playoff game in Brooklyn and a 2-1 series lead.

Detroit pushes Cavs in series opener

NBA: Kyrie Irving scored 31 points and Kevin Love added 28, leading Cleveland to a 106-101 win over visiting Detroit in the opener of their first-round playoff series.

LeBron James added 22 points and 11 assists for the top-seeded Cavs, who got all they could handle from the Pistons.

Love made two critical 3-pointers in the fourth.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 21 and Marcus Morris 20 – but just one after halftime – for the Pistons, making their first playoff appearance since 2009. Andre Drummond had 13 points and 11 rebounds.

Detroit made 15 3-pointers, but the Pistons’ playoff inexperience showed in the final minutes.

Heat burn Charlotte: At Miami, Luol Deng scored 31 points on 11-for-13 shooting, Hassan Whiteside added 21 points and 11 rebounds in his postseason debut, and the Heat wasted no time taking control of what became a 123-91 victory over Charlotte in Game 1.

Miami scored 41 points in the first quarter to tie one franchise playoff record, set another with the 123 points and never trailed.

Spurs rake Grizzlies: Kawhi Leonard had 20 points and host San Antonio beat Memphis 106-74 in their playoff opener, handing the Grizzlies their worst postseason loss.

Grace rallies to capture RBC Heritage

MISCELLANY: Branden Grace shot a 5-under 66 to overtake Luke Donald and win the RBC Heritage at Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, for his first PGA Tour title and 11th worldwide victory.

Three shots behind Donald entering the day, Grace moved to the top with four birdies on his first six holes. The South African pulled three shots in front of Donald after birdies on the 12th and 13 holes.

Grace finished at 9-under 275, two shots ahead of Donald and Russell Knox.

Grace also became the latest to rally past hard-luck leader Donald at Harbour Town Golf Links. The Englishman has finished second four times and third twice in the past eight events here.

Bryson DeChambeau, the former SMU star who won the NCAA and U.S. Amateur last year, tied for fourth in his first event since turning pro.

Austin ties record: Woody Austin tied the tournament record with an 8-under 64 and beat Wes Short Jr. with a par on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff in the PGA Tour Champions’ Mitsubishi Electric Classic in Duluth, Georgia.

The 52-year-old Austin has two victories in the last three events on the 50-and-over tour.

Short finished with a 68. He could have avoided the playoff at TPC Sugarloaf, but missed a 6-foot birdie putt on No. 18, leaving him tied with Austin at 11 under.

Leicester inches closer: Down a man, Leicester scored in the fifth minute to stoppage time to tie West Ham 2-2 in the Premier League.

Despite dropping points with the draw, Leicester extended its lead to eight points over Tottenham, and now requires eight points from its final four matches to be sure of completing one of the most astonishing title wins in the history of English soccer.

Spanish race tight: The fight for the Spanish league title is tighter than ever thanks to a surprise collapse by Barcelona atop the standings.

The once-unbeatable Barcelona fell to Valencia 2-1, losing its third straight game to allow Atletico Madrid to draw level on points with five rounds to go.

Real Madrid is only one point behind. Atletico was trailing by nine points three rounds ago, and Real Madrid was 12 points back four games ago.

Young American scores: Christian Pulisic got his first goal for Borussia Dortmund and the 17-year-old from Hershey, Pennsylvania, because the fourth-youngest player to score in the German Bundesliga.