NHL board approves Coyotes' move to Utah
The Arizona Coyotes are officially headed to Salt Lake City.
The NHL Board of Governors voted unanimously Thursday to approve a $1.2 billion sale from Alex Meruelo to Utah Jazz owners Ryan and Ashley Smith, clearing the way for the franchise’s move to Utah next season.
The deal includes a provision for Arizona to get an expansion team if a new arena is built within the next five years. The deal will be facilitated through the NHL, with $200 million going to league owners as a relocation fee.
Smith will take over the franchise’s hockey operations and Meruelo will maintain his business operations in Arizona in an effort to secure and develop a tract of land for a new arena in north Phoenix.
On Wednesday night, the Coyotes closed out their 28-year tenure in the Grand Canyon state as winners, getting a goal and an assist from Dylan Guenther in a 5-2 victory over Edmonton.
Liam O’Brien got the finale started at Mullett Arena in Tempe with a goal less than three minutes in and Sean Durzi capped it with a emptynet goal to send Coyotes fans home happy — at least for one last night. Connor Ingram had 25 saves for Arizona (36-41-5).
• Simon Holmstrom scored the goahead goal in the third period, Ilya Sorokin had 39 saves and stopped Sidney Crosby on a late penalty shot and the playoff-bound New York Islanders edged the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-4 late on Wednesday. The Islanders roll into the playoffs having won eight of their last nine (8-0-1).
• Auston Matthews came up empty in his bid to become the ninth player in NHL history to score 70 goals in a season, but Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov became the fifth player to have a 100-assist season as the Lightning beat the Maple Leafs, 6-4, in Tampa. Matthews was denied by 29-year-old rookie goalie Matt Tomkins, who had 12 of his 34 saves on Matthews in his sixth NHL start.
• Jake Oettinger made 26 saves in regulation and overtime before stopping all three attempts in the shootout as Central Division champion Dallas beat St. Louis, 2-1.
Celtics, Thunder await winners of final play-in games
The Boston Celtics and Oklahoma City Thunder are about to find out who they will face in Round 1 of the NBA playoffs.
The final two play-in games — and final two berths in the playoffs — will be decided tonight, when Chicago visits Miami in an Eastern Conference matchup and Sacramento goes to New Orleans in a Western Conference matchup.
Winners move on, losers are done. The play-in tournament started Tuesday with Sacramento eliminating Golden State and the Lakers topping New Orleans, earning the L.A. the No. 7 seed in the West and a matchup with Denver in Round 1.
On Wednesday, Philadelphia beat Miami, 105-104 — behind 23 points and 15 rebounds by Joel Embiid — to become No. 7 in the East (and a matchup with New York in Round 1), while Coby White scored a careerhigh 42 points as Chicago eliminated Atlanta, 131-116.
Scheffler six off Poston’s hot early pace at Hilton Head
Scottie Scheffler is running on fumes after an exhausting Masters victory just four days ago. He hit a shank from a bunker. He nearly lost his mind from mud on his golf ball.
And he still managed a 2-under 69 at the RBC Heritage on Thursday.
J.T. Poston set the pace on an idyllic day on Hilton Head Island with nine birdies — six of them in a sevenhole stretch — for a 63 that gave him a two-shot lead over Collin Morikawa and Seamus Power.
Ludvig Aberg, the runner-up at Augusta, was in the group another shot behind. Rory McIlroy birdied his last two holes to salvage a scrappy day with the irons for a 67.
Justice Department agrees to pay victims of Larry Nassar
The U.S. Justice Department has agreed to pay approximately $100 million to settle claims with about 100 people who say they were sexually assaulted by sports doctor Larry Nassar, a source with direct knowledge of the negotiations told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
An internal investigation found that FBI agents mishandled abuse allegations by women more than a year before Nassar was arrested in 2016. The settlement was first reported by The Wall Street Journal. A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment.
Nassar was a Michigan State University sports doctor as well as a doctor at Indianapolis-based USA Gymnastics. He is serving decades in prison for assaulting female athletes, including medal-winning Olympic gymnasts, under the guise of treatment.
• The Cavinder twins, Hanna and Haley, are returning to the University of Miami women’s basketball team. The twins — two of the most prominent athletes in the name, image and likeness era — were part of the Hurricanes’ team that went to the Elite Eight in 2023. Neither played college basketball this season.