Rangers use first pick in NHL draft on Canadian Lafreniere
The New York Rangers selected Canadian forward Alexis Lafreniere with the No. 1 pick in the NHL draft on Tuesday night.
Lafreniere was the NHL Central Scouting Bureau’s top-ranked North American skater. He becomes the first Canadian to go No. 1 since Connor McDavid was chosen by Edmonton in 2015.
From suburban Montreal, the 6-foot-1 playmaking left wing was the first to earn both Canadian Hockey League and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League MVP honors in consecutive seasons since Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby in 2004 and ‘05, when he also played for the Rimouski Oceanic.
Lafreniere joins a young, developing Rangers team that features one of his favorite players, Hart Trophy finalist Artemi Panarin.
NHL TARGETING JAN. 1 TO BEGIN NEXT SEASON >> Commissioner Gary Bettman said the NHL is targeting a Jan. 1 start for next season. That declaration came after recent talks between the league and NHL Players’ Association. The new date is a month after the tentative Dec. 1 start.
CAPITALS SIGN DILLONTO 4-YEAR DEAL >> The Washington Capitals lost one defenseman possibly for the season, and brought another one back.
Washington re-signed Brenden Dillon to a $15.6 million, four-year contract, an announcement that came minutes after saying Michal Kempny would miss six to eight months following surgery to repair a torn Achilles tendon.
WNBA
STEWART, STORM SWEEP ACES FOR WNBA TITLE >> Breanna Stewart had another big scoring game and the Seattle Storm completed a sweep of the WNBA Finals by putting on a show in Game 3 on Tuesday night at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.
Stewart’s 26 points paced the secondseeded Storm to a 92-59 romp past the topseeded Las Vegas Aces, completing the abbreviated season that began a few months later than normal because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Stewart poured in 37 and 22 points in the first two games of the best- of-five series and picked up her second Finals MVP trophy.
Tennis
QUALIFIER PODOROSKA LIVING THE DREAM AT FRENCH OPEN >> Two years ago, Nadia Podoroska could not afford to travel to tournaments after her earnings dropped following a wrist injury, but Tuesday she ensured money would not be a problem for a while.
The Argentine beat third seed Elina Svitolina 6-2, 6- 4 to become the first female qualifier to reach the semifinals at the French Open in Paris, pocketing at least $501,120— around $200,000 more than she had previously earned in her entire career.
In the semifinals, she will face another unseeded player, 19-year- old Iga Swiatek of Poland, who eliminated Martina Trevisan of Italy 6-3, 6-1.
Victory would make her the first female qualifier to reach a Grand Slam final since tennis turned professional in 1968.
• Diego Schwartzman came back to beat U.S. Open champion Dominic Thiem in five sets across more than five hours to reach the first Grand Slam semifinal of his career. Schwartzman was two points from defeat on three occasions in the fourth set but eventually pulled out the 7- 6 (1), 5-7, 6-7 (6), 7- 6 (5), 6-2 victory by taking the last four games.
• Rafael Nadal passed his first real test of this year’s tournament with a 7- 6 (4), 6- 4, 6-1 victory against Italian rising star Jannik Sinner as his quest for a recordbreaking 13th title gathered momentum.
The Spaniard, also looking to match Roger Federer’s record of 20 Grand Slam men’s singles titles, set up a meeting with Schwartzman, who beat him in the Italian Open quarterfinals last month.
• American Danielle Collins reached the quarterfinals for the first time at Roland Garros after beating 30th-seeded Ons Jabeur 6- 4, 4- 6, 6- 4.
Golf
FINAU WITHDRAWS FROM TOURNAMENT AFTER POSITIVE COVID-19 TEST >> Tony Finau tested positive for COVID-19 and has withdrawn from this week’s Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in Las Vegas, the PGA Tour announced. First alternate Bronson Burgoon replaces Finau in the field.
Finau last played at the U.S. Open. He tied for ninth at last year’s Shriners.
Motorsports
ALEX BOWMAN SHUFFLED TO THE NO. 48 TO REPLACE JIMMIE JOHNSON >> The most coveted seat in NASCAR belongs to Alex Bowman in a Hendrick Motorsports lineup shuffle to replace seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson in the iconic No. 48 Chevrolet.
Bowman and crew chief Greg Ives, who won five championships with Johnson as his engineer, will move from the No. 88 into Johnson’s ride at the end of the season. The swap announced Tuesday makes Bowman just the second driver of the team created in 2001 specifically for Johnson. Johnson’s 19th season is his last in NASCAR, and he will move to a partial IndyCar schedule next year.