Kucherov lifts Lightning with winner in shootout
Nikita Kucherov scored the shootout winner to give the Tampa Bay Lightning a 32 victory over the Washington Capitals on Monday in Eastern Conference roundrobin play.
The teams played 5 minutes of 3on3 overtime before going to a shootout because seeding games follow regularseason rules.
Tampa Bay goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped two of the three Capitals players he faced in the shootout after making 31 saves in regulation and overtime.
Also in Toronto, Carolina’s Andrei Svechnikov got the first postseason hat trick in franchise history and the Hurricanes beat the New York Rangers 41 for a 20 lead . ... Sidney Crosby, Jason Zucker and Jake Guentzel scored for the Pittsburgh Penguins in a 31 victory over the Montreal Canadiens, tying their series 11.
In Edmonton, Will Carrier scored the tiebreaker with 5:12 left in the game, Robin Lehner had 24 saves and the Vegas Golden Knights beat the Dallas Stars 53 in West roundrobin play . ...
Nikolaj Ehlers scored a powerplay goal in the third period, lifting Winnipeg past Calgary 32 as the teams drew even 11 in their series.
Sunday night, Jared Spurgeon scored twice to lead the Minnesota Wild past the Vancouver Canucks 30 in Game 1 of their series in Edmonton.
ELSEWHERE WCC rule intended to promote diversity
The West Coast Conference is implementing a rule aimed at increasing diversity in hiring.
The “Russell Rule” is named after former USF and Boston Celtics star Bill Russell. It requires each school to include a member of a traditionally underrepresented community in the pool of final candidates for every athletic director, senior administrator, head coach and fulltime assistant coach position.
Russell praised Commissioner Gloria Nevarez for adopting the rule and said he hopes other conferences will follow the lead of the WCC. “We need to be intentional if we’re going to make real change for people of color in leadership positions in college athletics,” he said.
The Pac12 responded to football players who threatened to opt out of the season over concerns related to health and safety, racial injustice and economic rights with a letter touting the conference’s work in those areas and an invitation to meet this week. A letter from Pac12 Commissioner Larry Scott, dated Aug. 3, was sent to 12 football players leading the #WeAreUnited movement. The players say they have been communicating with more than 400 of their peers in the Pac12.
TCU Chancellor Victor Boschini said football coach Gary Patterson apologized for repeating a racial slur when telling a player to stop using the slur in team meetings. “He said it trying to ask the players not to use it anymore,” Boschini wrote in an email to student media.
Auto racing: Brad Keselowski got a contract extension from Team Penske the day after his third win of the season.
Basketball: Forwards Corey Kispert of Gonzaga and Sandro Mamukelashvili of Seton Hall opted out of the NBA draft and will return for senior seasons.