Digest: Lightning lose Ben Bishop but top Penguins 3-1 in Game 1
Hockey: The Tampa Bay Lightning’s 3-1 victory over the host Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals on Friday night may have come at a heavy price.
Tampa Bay goalie Ben Bishop left the ice on a stretcher in the first period after injuring his left leg. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 25 stops while filling in and the Lighting took advantage of some sloppy miscues by Pittsburgh’s defense to take away home-ice advantage in the best-of-seven series.
The Lightning also lost center Tyler Johnson with a lower-body injury late in the first period when Johnson collided with Pittsburgh’s Chris Kunitz. Johnson remained in the training room when the Lightning came out for the second period. He re-entered the game midway through the second period.
Game 2 is Monday night in Pittsburgh.
Alex Killorn, Ondrej Palat and Jonathan Drouin scored for Tampa Bay, and the Lightning kept Pittsburgh’s dynamic offense under wraps for long stretches.
Patric Hornqvist picked up his sixth goal of the playoffs for the Penguins. Rookie goaltender Matt Murray finished with 17 saves, but was put in a tough spot several times because of defensive miscues in front of him.
Kings, Sutter agree to contract extension: The Los Angeles Kings and coach Darryl Sutter have agreed to a multiyear contract extension that begins in the fall. The two-time Stanley Cup champion coach reached an agreement that is reportedly for two more seasons with an option for a third. His current deal was to expire July 1.
U.S. wins world final: Forward Nick Foligno scored twice to lead the United States past Hungary 5-1 in the ice hockey world championship in Moscow. The U.S. has won three of its five games in Group B, while Hungary is winless. Group leaders Canada and Finland, each 4-0 in the preliminaries, were idle.
Dragic, Wade, lead Miami Heat to Game 7
NBA: Goran Dragic scored a postseason career-high 30 points, Dwyane Wade added 22 and the Miami Heat’s small starting lineup came up huge in a 103-91 victory over the Toronto Raptors in Miami, tying their Eastern Conference semifinal series 3-3.
Joe Johnson had 13 points, Justise Winslow added 12, and Josh McRoberts scored 10 for the Heat.
Kyle Lowry scored 36 points for Toronto, on 12-for-27 shooting. DeMar DeRozan added 23 for the Raptors, but their teammates combined to shoot 14 of 34 from the floor and manage 32 points.
Game 7 is Sunday in Toronto. The winner will head to Cleveland for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals on Tuesday night.
Crafton wins Dover’s NASCAR Truck Series
Auto Racing: Snapping a winless streak at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Delaware, that stretched 15 years, Matt Crafton held off Daniel Suarez down the stretch and raced to a Truck Series victory. The 39-year-old Crafton was 0 for 15 at Dover.
Crafton holds a two-point lead over Timothy Peters in the points race and all but secured a spot in the Truck Series’ eight-driver version of the Chase. He has 12 career Truck victories.
With truck owner Kyle Busch rooting him on from pit road, Suarez was second. Kyle Busch Motorsports driver William Byron won last week at Kansas.
Rain gives Harvick Dover pole: Kevin Harvick has won the pole at Dover International Speedway after rain wiped out qualifying. Harvick will start first in Sunday’s Sprint Cup race because he posted the fastest lap of 165.145 mph in the only practice.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. joins Harvick on the front row. Joe Gibbs Racing placed Kyle Busch third and Carl Edwards fourth. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. rounded out the top five.
Pagenaud wins Indy GP pole: Simon Pagenaud continued his early-season dominance by winning the pole for IndyCar’s Grand Prix of Indianapolis.
The French driver took the top spot with a fast lap of 1 minute, 8.6868 seconds in the final round of qualifying. He has won two straight poles and two consecutive races for Team Penske.
United blanks Red Bulls in Atlantic Cup
Soccer: Alvaro Saborio and Patrick Nyarko scored first-half goals and D.C. United beat the New York Red Bulls 2-0 in the Atlantic Cup at Washington.
D.C. United (3-4-4) rebounded after falling to New York City FC at home on Sunday. The Red Bulls (3-7-1) had their four-game undefeated streak halted.
Marcelo Sarvas got behind the defense to run to a through ball and played it in front of goal to an open Saborio for the lead in the 20th minute.
After a New York turnover in its own end, Saborio played it ahead to Lamar Neagle at the outside of the 18-yard box. Neagle waited for help and found Nyarko in stride for a 2-0 lead in the 43rd.
New York goalkeeper Luis Robles stretched to get a hand on Julian Buescher’s open shot in the 82nd.
Kosovo, Gibraltar join FIFA: Gibraltar and Kosovo became FIFA members and will be fast-tracked into 2018 World Cup qualifying, which kicks off in Europe in September.
The vote at the FIFA Congress in Mexico City increased the global governing body’s membership to 211.
Kosovo’s entry could lead to a wave of transfer requests to FIFA from players who opted to represent countries, including Albania and Switzerland, before the largely ethnic Albanian former enclave of Serbia started to gain international soccer recognition just two years ago.
Serbia refuses to recognize Kosovo’s 2008 declaration of political independence, which is accepted by more than 100 United Nations member states.
It is likely FIFA and UEFA will need to separate the Serbia and Kosovo national teams and clubs in competition draws.
Similarly, Gibraltar and teams from neighboring Spain have been kept apart since the British territory joined UEFA in 2013.
“It has bene a very long road to FIFA membership for us – it feels fantastic to be here and to join you all in FIFA,” Gibraltar federation president Michael Llamas told delegates. “As a small country we are realistic about what we can achieve on the pitch but that is not the point.
“The point is that in the three years of UEFA membership we have been able to progress and transform the practices.”
Jaguars rookie Jack signs 4-year contract
Miscellany: The Jacksonville Jaguars have signed second-round draft pick Myles Jack. Under the NFL’s rookie slotting system, the former UCLA linebacker signed a four-year deal worth about $6.3 million. Jack is the fourth of the Jaguar’s seven rookies to sign. Cornerback Jalen Ramsey (first round), defensive end Yannick Ngakoue (third) and defensive tackle Sheldon Day (fourth) remain unsigned.
Day takes three-shot lead: Jason Day finished with two big birdies as the sky darkened to reach 14 under and stay in firm control of The Players Championship in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.
Day rolled in a 40-foot putt down the slope on the par-3 13th, and then hit a 5-iron into 2 feet on the next hole to stretch his lead to three shots over Shane Lowry on another day of low scoring at the TPC Sawgrass.
A two-hour storm delay meant the second round could not be finished.
Djokovic wins Italian quarterfinals: Novak Djokovic upheld his recent mastery over Rafael Nadal with a 7-5, 7-6 (4) win in the Italian Open quarterfinals in Rome.
Greipel wins sprint: German rider Andre Greipel captured his second sprint victory in the Giro d’Italia at Foligno, Italy, while Tom Dumoulin held onto the pink jersey after the seventh stage. Greipel clocked slightly more than five hours over the rolling 211-kilometer (131-mile) route from Sulmona to Foligno.