Pastrnak
to share it with him is even more special.”
The NHL plans to reopen its abbreviated campaign by going directly to the Stanley Cup playoffs, albeit with an expanded format of 24 teams. The Bruins were declared winners of the President’s Trophy after compiling a league best 44-14-12 (100 points) record prior to the shutdown.
The reigning Eastern Conference champs finished at the top of the heap because of its exceptional special teams and the remarkable play of goaltenders Tuukka Rask (26-8-6) and Jaroslav Halak (18-6-6).
The Bruins finished second behind Edmontonwith 57 power-play goals and a 25.2% success rate. They were third in the penalty kill with an 84.2% success rate and first in fewest goals allowed (167).
Some of the Bruins regulars, along with an assortment of Black Aces, are living outside the area and are weeks away from reconvening at Warrior Ice Arena in Brighton. Getting the power play back into efficient working order will be a priority, according to Pastrnak.
“Obviously it’s going to be a big part of our game coming back especially after not playing,” said Pastrnak. “Every power play is going to be very important.”
The Bruins first powerplay unit was a formidable entity over 70 regular season games. Pastrnak was situated at left point where he would slip down for onetimers from the circle.
Defenseman Torey Krug was the rainmaker from the right point in the Bru
ins 1-3-1 scheme. Jake DeBrusk patrolled the left boards and behind the net, center Patrice Bergeron was on the bumper and Brad Marchand on the right boards.
“Our power play has been together for probably two years now, right?” said Pastrnak. “It’s the same group of guys who have been together for a long time now but I don’t think it is going to be a problem hopefully.”
Pastrnak has been logging regular ice time with some current and former players in an effort to maintain his skating and stick skills. Pastrnak is awaiting a siren call from general manager Don Sweeney and head coach Bruce Cassidy, so he hasn’t made travel plans for a return to Boston.
“I’m feeling very good and I’ve been skating twice a weekandworkingout five or six times a week since I got back to Prague,” said Pastrnak.
“I’m very happy moving around and you guys know howthat is a big part of me, my movement. I’m pretty much leaving the house at 10 a.m. and getting back around dinner.
“We have a two-hour ice session with a tough scrimmage. We play one hour then get the ice ready and play for that hour. It’s a pretty good tempo.”
The NHL’s playoff format does not automatically award the Bruins the No. 1 seed from a field of 24 teams whengames resume.
The top four teams in each conference will compete in a three-game round robin tournament to determine the top four seeds. In the Eastern Conference, the Bruins will be joined by the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Washington Capitals, and the Philadelphia Flyers. in regulation, Morikawa hit a superb pitch on the 17th hole in the playoff to 3 feet. Berger converted his simple up-and- down for par from behind the green, and Morikawa’s short par putt to extend the playoff hit the right side of the cup and spun out.
“Just hit a better putt,” Morikawa said. “My mind can’t go much else than other what just happened on that hole.”
Schauffele, whose moxie is easy to miss behind his California cool, made three straight clutch putts — for par, bogey and birdie — that kept him tied for the lead only to learn new meaning of “Horrible Horseshoe” at Colonial. His 3-foot par putt on the 17th in regulation dipped in the hole on the right side and came out on the left.
His 25-foot birdie putt on the 18th to force a playoff was right on line and came up short.
“If there are fans and everything with the ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs,’ I’d probably be a little more (ticked) off,” Schauffele said. “Maybe that’s a good thing for me right now. But it was definitely weird. It was sort of an internal battle, which it always is for me, but more so internal this week just with no fans.”
Berger, whose birdie on the 18th gave him a 4-under 66, won for the third time on the PGA Tour, all three titles coming on this week in the calendar. The other two in 2016 and 2017 were at the St. Jude Classic when it preceded the U.S. Open.
This felt different because Colonial was devoid of fans — just like the next four weeks will be on the PGA Tour — and because of the routine he followed. Berger went from the golf course to his rented house, his uncle serving as the chef. He had a saliva test in Florida and a nasal test when he arrived for the new coronavirus, both negative.
He was excited when he arrived — Berger has shot par or better every round since Oct. 11 — because golf was back to business. And he was thrilled when he left, a winner again after missing nearly five months ers’ Futurity still lingered in memory.
This is where things stood less than two weeks ago. In the days since, however, three of these six horses have been taken off the Triple Crown trail; at least one, and possibly two, will not race again. First, Nadal sustained a condylar fracture during a workout and was retired. One week later, Charlatan – like Nadal, a Bob Baffert trainee – was sidelined with an ankle injury and is probably done for the year. Four days later, on Wednesday of this week, Maxfield also suffered a condylar fracture during a workout. Surgery was scheduled, with the Godolphin runner’s future unknown.
Only Tiz the Law, Authentic and Honor A. P. remained of the original six contenders. Last Saturday, the latter two faced off again in the Santa Anita at the end of 2018 because of a wrist injury. The victory moved him from outside the top 100 to No. 31 in the world.
PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan, on the first tee when golf returned Thursday, was back in Florida watching a final round unfold with eight players taking turns at the top, and a half- dozen still in the mix over the final hour.
The scorecard this week included 487 tests for COVID-19 at Colonial, all returned negative. The leaders brought star power, Colonial brought heritage, and it was the first live PGA Tour event since March 12 because of the pandemic.
“This has been a phenomenal start to our return,” Monahan said.
It almost was a tremendous return for Morikawa, who is so steady that he already has won and has made every cut as a pro dating to his graduation from Cal a year ago. No newcomer has had a streak that long since Tiger Woods.
Morikawa took a share of the lead with a 50-foot putt on the 14th hole. It was the short ones that hurt.
“We gave ourselves our chance, and that’s what you want at the end,” Morikawa said. “Yeah, it’s going to sting for a little bit but we’ll make it out and we’ll go on to next week.”
Bryson DeChambeau (66), Justin Rose (66) and Jason Kokrak (64) all had
Derby. Sent off as the second choice behind the undefeated Authentic – who he’d been unable to reel in three months ago in the shorter San Felipe Stakes – Honor A. P. raced in mid-pack before moving up on the turn. Forced to race four-wide turning for home, the son of champion Honor Code swept to the front with ease, continuing on to best Authentic by 2 ¾ lengths. birdie chances on the 18th. Berger was the only who who delivered, and this time the playoff worked out in his favor.
Jordan Spieth, trying to end three years without a victory, left with a consolation prize of progress. He missed a 2-foot par putt on the sixth hole — part of three bogeys in a four-hole stretch — but was still in the mix until a tee shot out of bounds on the 14th. Even then, he made a 35-foot putt to save bogey. He wound up with a 71 and tied for 10th.
Rory McIlroy had seven straight tournaments no worse than fifth, a streak that came to a stunning halt. Starting the final round three shots behind, he was 5 over through seven holes and closed with a 74 to tie for 32nd.
The effort was enough to earn Honor A. P. the runner-up spot behind Tiz the Law in the latest NTRA poll of top 3-year-olds.
Monahan conceded his biggest concern going into the week, even with its testing and safety procedure, was positive tests popping up. “That’s something, candidly, that I lost a lot of sleep over in the weeks that preceded coming in,” he said.
Next up is the RBC Heritage at Hilton Head on the South Carolina coast, and Monahan said the first week won’t be complete until then to see how players handled the interstate travel. Those on the charter were tested after the third round. Everyone else would be tested when they arrived at Hilton Head.
“This is about a sustained return,” Monahan said. “But I think as we sit here late in the day Sunday, there’s no question that this has been an exceptional week.”
Carter Handicap. Favorites, none of whom went off at odds higher than 2-1, prevailed in all four races. Winners of note included Vekoma, who notched his first G1 with a 7 ¼- length romp through the slop in the Carter. Code of Honor, last seen finishing a disappointing seventh in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, made a successful 2020 debut by taking the one-mile Westchester Stakes by a halflength. Code of Honor’s wins last year included the Travers and Jockey Club Gold Cup, and he figures to be a factor in this year’s older- male division.
The Ogden Phipps Stakes tops this Saturday’s card at Aqueduct, with six older fillies and mares entered. Ollie’s Candy, a consistent G1 performer in California, is a narrow 8-5 choice over Point of Honor in the 1 1/16-mile event. Other expected starters include She’s a Julie, Pink Sands, Blame and Golden Award