Alex Ovechkin makes more history with his first NHL playoff overtime goal
WASHINGTON (AP) — Alex Ovechkin added another accomplishment to his illustrious career just over two weeks since breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record for the most goals in NHL history. Ovechkin scored his first overtime goal in the Stanley Cup Playoffs to give the Washington Capitals a victory over the Montreal Canadiens in Game 1 of their first-round series on Monday night. He went his first 44 playoff games over 15 previous appearances without doing that. Ovechkin scored twice to end his personal postseason drought and had a team-leading seven hits.
Duke freshman Cooper Flagg is headed to the NBA as the favorite to be the No. 1 overall draft pick
Duke star Cooper Flagg is headed to the NBA as the favorite to be the No. 1 overall draft pick. The program announced Flagg’s move in a social media post Monday. That came after a lone college season that saw the 18-year-old become only the fourth freshman named as The Associated Press national player of the year while leading the Blue Devils to the Final Four. The 6-foot-9, 205-pound forward from Newport, Maine, averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.4 blocks and 1.4 steals to lead Duke in each category.
‘The runners are coming’: Lokedi breaks Boston Marathon course record, John Korir takes men’s race
BOSTON (AP) — Sharon Lokedi broke the Boston Marathon course record, and fellow Kenyan John Korir joined his brother as a race champion on Monday as the city celebrated the 250th anniversary of the start of the Revolutionary War. The runners followed in the hoofsteps of a Paul Revere reenactor who rode down Boylston Street and proclaimed “the runners are coming” as the race celebrated the 250th anniversary of the start of the Revolutionary War. Lokedi finished in an unofficial 2 hours, 17 minutes, 22 seconds. Korir won in 2:04:45.
Mavs GM Nico Harrison says fans’ love for Luka Doncic was deeper than he knew, but stands by trade
DALLAS (AP) — Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison says he miscalculated the depth of love his club’s fans had for Luka Doncic before the trade that sent the young superstar to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis. Despite the persistent catcalls from fans for him to be fired in the 2 1/2 months since the deal, Harrison still believes it was the right move for building a championship contender in Dallas. As he has said before, Harrison believes the blowback would have eased if fans had seen the lineup the Mavs envisioned. Injuries prevented that from happening.
Women’s flag football grows on college campuses, from startup clubs to varsity teams with NFL boost
ROSEVILLE, Minn. (AP) — Flag football participation by girls has continued to spike across the country, with the sport’s inclusion in the Summer Olympics lineup for Los Angeles in 2028 serving as the most recent bump. The college level is the natural place for the next surge of growth. Augustana University in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, is one of seven NCAA schools fielding a club team this spring in a league launched with $140,000 and logistical support from the Minnesota Vikings. The championship tournament is this weekend. More than 100 higher-educational institutions are currently offering women’s flag football as a varsity or club sport.
NCAA passes series of rules that sets table for schools to pay players directly
The NCAA has passed rules that would upend decades of precedent by allowing colleges to pay their athletes per terms of a multibillion-dollar lawsuit settlement expected to go into effect this summer. The nine proposals passed by the NCAA board were largely expected but still mark a defining day in the history of college sports. An athlete’s ability to be paid directly by his or her university in on track to be enshrined in a rulebook that forbid that kind of relationship for decades.
Scheifele, Connor lead Jets to 2-1 win over Blues for 2-0 series lead
WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Mark Scheifele had a goal and assist, Kyle Connor scored his second consecutive game-winner in the third period, and the Winnipeg Jets beat the St. Louis Blues 2-1 for a 2-0 lead in their opening-round playoff series. Connor Hellebuyck stopped 21 shots to help the Jets take a 2-0 playoff series lead for the first time in three seasons. The past two years, Winnipeg won the first game and then lost the next four to be eliminated. Rookie Jimmy Snuggerud scored his first playoff goal and Jordan Binnington had 20 saves for the eighth-seeded Blues. St. Louis hosts Game 3 on Thursday.
Sports world mourns soccer-loving Pope Francis with games in Italy and Argentina postponed
ROME (AP) — Top-flight soccer matches in Italy and Argentina have been postponed after the death of Pope Francis. The Buenos Aires club that the Argentine pontiff supported throughout his life is also mourning its most famous fan. The wider soccer and sports world also paid homage after Francis passed away at 88. All sports events scheduled for Monday in Italy were postponed including four Serie A games. Three top-flight games in Argentina were postponed to Tuesday. Francis’ passion for soccer became known almost immediately after he was elected pope in 2013 when the Argentine club San Lorenzo tweeted a photo of him holding up the team’s crest. San Lorenzo says in an Instagram tribute that Francis “was always one of us.”
Deion Sanders laments criticism son Shedeur faces ahead of NFL draft but says he’s ‘built for this’
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Deion Sanders says he shudders to think about the kind of negativity he would have faced back when he was preparing for the NFL draft in 1989. Today’s social media puts prospects in the spotlight and there’s plenty of online hate and nastiness. His sons are dealing with that now and Sanders thinks a good deal of it has to do with the fact that Shedeur Sanders and Shilo Sanders are his sons. But he said they were raised to know how to handle the criticism.