Right place, right time for Mathew Barzal of the New York Islanders. Barzal batted a puck out of the air and past goalie Tuukka Rask with 6:57 left in the third period, and the Isles went on to beat the Boston Bruins 4-1. That second-round playoff series is now tied 2-2. The Tampa Bay Lightning downed the Carolina Hurricanes 6-4 for a 3-1 series lead.
Superstars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving carried the Brooklyn Nets over the Milwaukee Bucks 115-107 in the N-B-A playoffs. Durant scored 29 points and Irving added 25. James Harden left the game in the first minute with a right hamstring injury. The Nets lead the Eastern Conference semifinals 1-0. Game 2 is Monday night.
Unbeaten Kevin Gausman struck out 10 in seven innings and the San Francisco Giants beat the Chicago Cubs 4-3. The Giants have won nine of 11 and are a majors-best 37 and 21. Alex Dickerson homered for the second consecutive day while Gausman improved to 7 and 0.
The American men’s baseball team is headed to the Tokyo Olympics. The U-S topped the Super Round with a 4-2 win over Venezuela at the Baseball Americas Qualifier. Venezuela and the Dominican Republic moved on to a last-chance qualifying tournament. The Canadians finished last and were eliminated.
Canadian Brooke Henderson bounced back from a difficult second round at the U-S Women’s Open. The Smiths Falls, Ontario, golfer significantly improved on Friday’s 78 with a 2-under 69 heading into the final round. Henderson is tied for 12th, nine strokes behind leader Lexi Thompson.
The stage is set for a crucial showdown in Canada’s quest to qualify for the World Cup. Canada easily beat Aruba 7-0 and will play Suriname next on Tuesday. The 70th-ranked Canadian men will advance to the second round of qualifying in CONCACAF with a win or tie against Suriname.
Saturday’s Games
NHL Playoffs – Second Round
Tampa Bay 6 Carolina 4 (Tampa Bay leads series 3-1)
New York Islanders 4 Boston 1 (Series tied 2-2)
World Hockey Championship Semifinals at Riga, Latvia
Canada 4 U.S. 2
Finland 2 Germany 1
NBA Playoffs – First Round
Brooklyn 115 Milwaukee 107 (Brooklyn leads series 1-0)
MLB
American League
Detroit 4 Chicago White Sox 3
Toronto 6 Houston 2
Minnesota 5 Kansas City 4
Tampa Bay 3 Texas 0
Cleveland 10 Baltimore 4
Boston 7 N.Y. Yankees 3
L.A. Angels 12 Seattle 5
National League
Cincinnati 5 St. Louis 2
Philadelphia 5 Washington 2
Milwaukee 7 Arizona 5
Pittsburgh 8 Miami 7 (12 innings)
San Francisco 4 Chicago Cubs 3
Atlanta 6 L.A. Dodgers 4
N.Y. Mets 4 San Diego 0
Interleague
Oakland 6 Colorado 3
Sunday’s Games (All Times Eastern)
NHL Playoffs – Second Round
Winnipeg at Montreal, 6 p.m. (Montreal leads series 2-0)
Colorado at Vegas, 8:30 p.m. (Colorado leads series 2-1)
World Hockey Championship at Riga, Latvia
Gold Medal Game – Canada vs. Finland, 1:15 p.m.
Bronze Medal Game – U.S. vs. Germany, 8:15 a.m.
NBA Playoffs
Second Round
Atlanta at Philadelphia, 1 p.m. (Start of Series)
First Round
Dallas at Los Angeles Clippers, 3:30 p.m. (Series tied 3-3)
MLB
American League
Cleveland (TBD) at Baltimore (Lopez 1-6), 1:05 p.m.
Houston (Garcia 4-3) at Toronto (Matz 6-2), 1:07 p.m.
Detroit (TBD) at Chicago White Sox (Rodon 5-2), 2:10 p.m.
Minnesota (Pineda 3-3) at Kansas City (Singer 3-4), 2:10 p.m.
Tampa Bay (Glasnow 4-2) at Texas (Dunning 2-4), 2:35 p.m.
Seattle (Gilbert 0-2) at L.A. Angels (Quintana 0-3), 4:07 p.m.
Boston (Richards 4-4) at N.Y. Yankees (German 4-3), 7:08 p.m.
National League
Miami (Alcantara 2-5) at Pittsburgh (Kuhl 0-2), 1:05 p.m.
Washington (TBD) at Philadelphia (Velasquez 2-1), 1:05 p.m.
L.A. Dodgers (Bauer 6-3) at Atlanta (Fried 2-3), 1:20 p.m.
Arizona (Smith 2-1) at Milwaukee (Burnes 2-4), 2:10 p.m.
Cincinnati (Miley 5-4) at St. Louis (Gant 4-3), 2:15 p.m.
Chicago Cubs (Hendricks 6-4) at San Francisco (Cueto 4-1), 4:05 p.m.
N.Y. Mets (Stroman 4-4) at San Diego (Paddack 2-4), 4:10 p.m.
Interleague
Oakland (Kaprielian 2-0) at Colorado (Marquez 3-5), 3:10 p.m.