Sports

By MAX MILLER Associated Press SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Mikko Rantanen scored a hat-trick to lead the Colorado Avalanche past the San Jose Sharks 6-2. Rantanen reached 52 goals on the season and finished with four points. Nathan MacKinnon also scored a goal and had four points. Ben Meyers scored the other two goals

By DAVID BRANDT AP Sports Writer PHOENIX (AP) — Dustin May threw six dominant innings, Freddie Freeman hit a solo homer and the Los Angeles Dodgers won 5-2 in the home opener for the Arizona Diamondbacks. May gave up one run on just two hits, striking out five and walking two. The 25-year-old May also

By MARK ANDERSON AP Sports Writer LAS VEGAS (AP) — The Vegas Golden Knights scored four goals on their first six shots and took a major step toward clinching the Pacific Division and the top seed in the Western Conference with a 5-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings. The third line shined for the

By MATTHEW COLES Associated Press SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 22 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder strengthened their hopes of reaching the play-in tournament with a 114-98 victory over the short-handed Utah Jazz. Josh Giddey had 17 points, eight assists and eight rebounds, while Aaron Wiggins scored 15 for the Thunder,

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Thatcher Demko stopped 33 shots for his first shutout of the season and third overall in the Vancouver Canucks’ 3-0 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday night. Andrei Kuzmenko, Vitali Kravtsov and J.T. Miller — into the empty net — scored and defenseman Akito Hirose had two assists to

By JACK THOMPSON Associated Press PHOENIX (AP) — Chris Paul made a career-high seven 3-pointers and the Phoenix Suns won their season-best seventh game in a row, holding off the short-handed Denver Nuggets 119-115. Kevin Durant added six 3s and led the Suns with 29 points, while Paul scored 25. Durant also had seven rebounds.

By SCHUYLER DIXON AP Sports Writer DALLAS (AP) — Jason Robertson beat the first-period buzzer while scoring twice, and the Dallas Stars kept pace in the tight Central Division playoff race with a 4-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers. Joe Pavelski had a goal and two assists to get to 999 career points. The Stars

MONTREAL (AP) — Joel Armia had his second career hat trick and the Montreal Canadiens beat the Washington Capitals 6-2 on Thursday night to snap a four-game skid. Nick Suzuki, Brendan Gallagher and Mike Hoffman also scored for Montreal, Mike Matheson had two assists and Sam Montembeault made 24 saves. Dylan Strome and Nicklas Backstom

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Jacob Quillan had a two-goal game for the second time during the NCAA Tournament, Yaniv Perets posted 29 saves and Quinnipiac beat Michigan 5-2 in the Frozen Four. Quinnipiac, which set a program record for wins, advances to its third national title game in program history against Minnesota on Saturday. The

By KEVIN COONEY Associated Press PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jimmy Butler and Tyler Herro each scored 24 points and the Miami Heat kept alive their hopes of avoiding the NBA’s play-in tournament with a 129-101 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday night. Max Strus and Bam Adebayo both added 14 points. Miami started fast, leading

By DAVID SOLOMON Associated Press ST. LOUIS (AP) — Kasperi Kapanen scored 1:16 into overtime to help the St. Louis Blues beat the New York Rangers 3-2. Kapanen took a pass from Brayden Schenn to score his 15th goal of the season for St. Louis, which has won two in a row. Tyler Pitlick and

By CHARLES ODUM AP Sports Writer ATLANTA (AP) — Orlando Arcia singled in the winning run in the ninth inning for his third hit and the Atlanta Braves beat the San Diego Padres 7-6 on Thursday night in their home opener. Arcia hit a third-inning homer and also had a double. With two outs in

By BRENDAN McGAIR Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — David Pastrnak scored his 57th goal of the season at 2:30 of overtime to give the history-chasing Boston Bruins a 2-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night. Pastrnak blasted a shot from inside the left circle as the Bruins notched their 61st victory —

By TERESA M. WALKER AP Sports Writer NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Mark Jankowski had a goal and an assist in the first period and the young Nashville Predators beat the Carolina Hurricanes 3-0 on Thursday night to keep their improbable playoff hopes alive with four games left. Michael McCarron also scored as the Predators won

By DICK SCANLON Associated Press ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Danny Green scored 21 points, Cedi Osman added 19 and the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Orlando Magic 118-94 in a game in which both teams rested their starters. Isaiah Mobley came off the bench with 18 points for the Cavaliers. Jalen Suggs led the Magic with

By RAUL DOMINGUEZ Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Keita Bates-Diop had 25 points, Julian Champagnie and Keldon Johnson added 24 points each and the San Antonio Spurs beat the Portland Trail Blazers 129-127 on Thursday night in the first NBA in Texas’ capital city. Tre Jones had 18 points and 10 assists for San