Capitals win
Alex Ovechkin (right) of the Washington Capitals is congratulated by teammate John Carlson after his goal in the first period during the Capitals’ 4-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 1 of the NHL Eastern Conference final Friday night in Tampa, Fla.
HOCKEY Capitals top Lightning
Alex Ovechkin had a power-play goal and an assist in his NHL Eastern Conference finals debut, leading the Washington Capitals to a 4-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday night. Braden Holtby stopped 19 shots and Michal Kempny, Jay Beagle and Lars Eller also scored for the Caps, who are alive beyond the second round of the playoffs for the first time in Ovechkin’s brilliant 13-year career. Steven Stamkos and Ondrej Palat scored for Tampa Bay, which trailed 4-0 heading into the third period. Game 2 is Sunday night at Amalie Arena, where Tampa Bay also lost Game 1 in the second round against Boston. The Capitals dominated in improving to 6-1 on the road this postseason, with Kempny giving them an early 1-0 lead. Ovechkin made it 2-0 a mere 5 seconds after the Lightning thought they had tied it in the closing seconds of the opening period. But Nikita Kucherov’s would-be breakaway goal was waved off because Tampa Bay had too many men on the ice. T.J. Oshie won the ensuing faceoff in the Lightning zone, getting the puck to Evgeny Kuznetsov, who fed Ovechkin for the Washington superstar’s ninth goal this postseason — 55th overall in 110 career playoff games — at 19:54 of the first. Beagle and Eller scored in the first seven minutes of the second period for a 4-0 lead. Up to that point, the Lightning — the NHL’s highest-scoring team during the regular season — had allowed as many goals as they had shots. Tampa Bay replaced goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy with Louis Domingue after the starter allowed four goals on 25 shots through two periods. Holtby lost his shutout when Stamkos, assisted by Kucherov and Victor Hedman, scored at 3:45 of the third. Palat added his goal at 13:03, trimming Washington’s lead to 4-2. Stamkos and Kucherov had one shot between them in the first two periods.
GOLF Ernst leads Knoxville
Derek Ernst had a no-bogey, eight-birdie round Friday at the Web.com Tour’s Knoxville Open to take a 2-stroke lead into the weekend. Ernst paired a 63 with a first-round 68 for an 11-under 131, two shots ahead of Will Claxton and three ahead of Daniel Summerhays at Fox Den Country Club in Knoxville, Tenn. Brett Drewitt and Alex Prugh are at 7 under. Ethan Tracy (Arkansas Razorbacks) and Tag Ridings (Razorbacks)
have identical scores of 73 and 67 and are 2 under. Taylor Moore (Razorbacks) is at 1 under. Matt Atkins (Henderson State), Sebastian Cappelen (Razorbacks), Ken Duke (Arkadelphia, Henderson State) and Patrick Sullivan (Maumelle, UALR) did not make the cut.
Pair shares lead
Julien Guerrier of France and Lucas Bjerregaard of Denmark shared a one-stroke lead at the halfway stage of the Sicilian Open on Friday. Guerrier is the only player in the field yet to drop a shot after adding a 65 to his opening 68 for a 9-under 133, a total later matched by joint overnight leader Bjerregaard, who returned a 68 in windy conditions. Ryan Evans, who was the other overnight leader, had four bogeys in a round of 69 to slip a shot behind the top two. English compatriot Steven Brown was even. French golfer Mike Lorenzo-Vera was another stroke back after a superb 64, the lowest score of the week at Verdura Golf Club in Agrigento, Sicily.
TENNIS Thiem beats Nadal
Rafael Nadal has found a worthy rival on clay. Dominic Thiem beat the top-ranked Nadal 7-5, 6-3 in the Madrid Open quarterfinals
on Friday, breaking the defending champion’s run of 21 consecutive victories on clay courts. Nadal will lose his world No. 1 ranking to Roger Federer because of the defeat. Thiem was in stellar form at Madrid’s Caja Magica. He got the better of long rallies by hitting precise winners, and avoided the costly errors that sunk Nadal’s title defense. Thiem will face sixth-seeded Kevin Anderson in the semifinals after he hit 15 aces to down Dusan Lajovic 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-3. Second-seeded Alexander Zverev beat seventh-seeded John Isner 6-4, 7-5 to also advance. Zverev will face Denis Shapovalov after he outlasted Kyle Edmund 7-5, 6-7 (6), 6-4. On the women’s side, two-time former Madrid champion Petra Kvitova beat Karolina Pliskova 7-6 (4), 6-3, in an all-Czech semifinal. Kvitova will meet Kiki Bertens in the final after she beat seventh-seeded Caroline Garcia 6-2, 6-2.
BASKETBALL Hawks hire Pierce
The Atlanta Hawks are giving Lloyd Pierce his first head coaching job in the NBA, choosing a man who has been an assistant with Philadelphia and Memphis to rebuild the franchise. The Hawks announced Friday they had agreed to terms on a deal with Pierce. General Manager Travis Schlenk said the Hawks wanted a teacher to develop their young core and feel Pierce checks every box. Pierce, 42, spent the past five seasons as an assistant coach in Philadelphia where the 76ers just reached the Eastern Conference semifinals after finishing third in the conference with a 52-30 record. Pierce also spent two years as assistant coach with the Memphis Grizzlies, including 2013 when they reached the 2013 Western Conference finals. He replaces Mike Budenholzer who left last month after the Hawks went 24-58 this season. The Hawks will introduce Pierce at a news conference Monday.
MOTOR SPORTS Power wins pole
Will Power has won his third IndyCar Grand Prix pole by turning a fast lap of 1 minute, 9.8182 seconds on his final qualifying run. The Australian claimed his 51st pole victory, giving him sole possession of third place in series history. He had been tied with Helio Castroneves, one of Power’s three teammates who drives for Roger Penske’s Chevrolet-powered team. Rookie
Robert Wickens of Canada will start second after completing Indy’s 2.439-mile, 14-turn road course in 1:09.9052 on Friday. Wickens was the top Honda driver and competes for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. France’s Sebastien Bourdais will start third in today’s race after completing the circuit in 1:09.9449 for Dale Coyne Racing. Power has won the race twice, both after taking the pole.
Gragson wins at Kansas
Noah Gragson won the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race Friday night at Kansas Speedway, starting from the pole and leading 128 of the 167 laps. Driving Kyle Busch Motorsports’ No. 18 Toyota, Gragson, 19, took the lead when Myatt Snider ran out of fuel with six laps remaining. Gragson won for the first time this season and the second in the series. The Las Vegas driver swept the first two stages after starting from the pole for the second week in a row. Car owner Kyle Busch overcame late contact with Stewart Friesen to finish second, 1.558 seconds back. Gragson was the first of the leaders to pit lane with 33 laps to go and replaced all four tires. Friesen and Busch changed two tires and were unable to hold off Gragson. Friesen was third, followed by John Hunter Nemechek, Johnny Sauter, Matt Crafton, Cody Coughlin, Grant Enfinger, Brandon Jones and Justin Haley.