Quick Hitters
NFL awards Super Bowl to Arizona (2023), New Orleans (2024)
ATLANTA — The Super Bowl is headed back to New Orleans for the 11th time and will make its fourth stop in Arizona.
NFL owners voted unanimously on both sites Wednesday at the league’s annual spring meeting in Atlanta, which will host the 2019 Super Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
The 2023 title game will be played at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, while New Orleans’ Mercedes-Benz Superdome will host in 2024.
This will be eighth time the game is held at the 43-year-old Superdome, more than any other stadium. Its most recent Super Bowl was in 2013, which is remembered for the power going out during the second half , resulting in a 34-minute delay.
“We’re thrilled by the unanimous vote and we look forward to making this the most fan-friendly Super Bowl in the history of Super Bowls and bigger and better than any Super Bowl,” Cardinals president Michael Bidwill said.
Both teams have major stadium renovations planned. Benson said the Mercedes-Benz Superdome will soon begin an overhaul. Bidwill work has already begun on University of Phoenix Stadium.
Ovechkin, Holtby shine in Game 7 as Caps beat Lightning
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Alex Ovechkin scored early and Andre Burakovsky added two secondperiod goals to help the Washington Capitals put a decade of playoff frustration behind them with a 4-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals Wednesday night.
Braden Holtby stopped 29 shots for his second straight shutout and the Lightning, who led the NHL in goals during the regular season, failed to score in the last 159 minutes, 27 seconds — a stretch of nearly eight periods.
Ovechkin, who had never played a team that advanced beyond the second round, scored 1:02 into the winner-take-all showdown he had described as probably the “biggest game in my life.”
To earn a spot in the Stanley Cup Final, where they’ll play the Vegas Golden Knights, the Capitals beat the top-seeded Lightning three times on the road, improving to 8-2 away from home this postseason.
It’s Washington’s first Cup Final appearance since 1998, and the first during Ovechkin’s 13-year career.