Evan Rodrigues had two of three Florida Panthers goals in the third period as the Eastern Conference champions took a 2-0 lead on the Edmonton Oilers in the Stanley Cup Final with Monday's 4-1 win.
Niko Mikkola also scored and Aaron Ekblad had a game-sealing empty-net goal in the final minutes as the Panthers moved two wins away from the franchise's first Stanley Cup title.
They did so by keeping Connor McDavid and Edmonton's high-powered offence in check for a second straight meeting. After being dealt a 3-0 loss in Saturday's opener of the best-of-seven series, the Oilers managed just seven shots on goal over the first two periods of Game 2 and 19 for the night.
Florida did sustain a key injury in Game 2, however, as captain and top-line centre Aleksandar Barkov did not return after taking an elbow to the head from Edmonton's Leon Draisaitl midway through the third period.
Mattias Ekholm recorded the lone goal for the Oilers, who will attempt to reverse momentum on home ice when the series shifts to Edmonton for Thursday's Game 3.
Despite Florida owning a 22-7 shot advantage through the first two periods, the teams were locked in a 1-1 tie until Rodrigues stole an attempted clearing pass from Edmonton's Evan Bouchard in the Oilers' end and whistled a shot past goaltender Stuart Skinner 3:11 into the third.
Rodrigues struck again on the power play created by Draisaitl's roughing penalty on Barkov with 9:28 remaining, as he redirected a pass from Anton Lundell into the Edmonton net for a 3-1 Florida lead with 7:34 left.
Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch pulled Skinner for an extra attacker with under seven minutes to go, and the move gave Edmonton essentially a two-man advantage when Florida defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson received a delay of game penalty for shooting the puck into the stands with less than five minutes remaining.
The Panthers killed off the infraction, however, then ended any hopes of an Edmonton comeback when Ekblad scored into the vacant net with 2:28 left to play.
Florida had the game's first prime scoring opportunity when Oilers forward Warren Foegele received a five-minute major penalty and an ejection for a knee-to-knee hit on the Panthers' Eetu Luostarinen midway through the first period.
The Panthers couldn't capitalise, however, and the sides were soon 4-on-4 when Ekman-Larsson was called for tripping during the extended power play.
Just 19 seconds after Ekman-Larsson was sent off, Ekholm's shot on a 2-on-1 rush evaded Florida netminder Sergei Bobrovsky to put Edmonton up 1-0 with 8:43 remaining in the opening period.
Florida drew even midway through the second period when Mikkola fired a drop pass from Lundell past Skinner.
Bobrovsky finished with 18 saves, while Skinner stopped 25 of 28 shots.
The Pittsburgh Steelers have extended the contract of long-serving head coach Mike Tomlin to run through the 2027 season, the team announced on Monday.
Tomlin, who is set to enter his 18th season in charge of the Steelers, had seen his future become a subject of debate during an up-and-down 2023 campaign.
Pittsburgh appeared as though they might miss the playoffs when a three-game losing streak saw them slump to 7-7 by mid-December, but they bounced back with three straight victories to finish 10-7 and make the wild-card round.
They were then eliminated by the Buffalo Bills after benching 2022 first-round quarterback Kenny Pickett in favour of Mason Rudolph.
Nevertheless, Tomlin maintained his record of having never endured a losing season with Pittsburgh, who he led to glory at Super Bowl XLIII to cap the 2008 season, also losing to the Green Bay Packers at Super Bowl XLV two years later.
Tomlin's worst seasons with the Steelers came in 2012, 2013 and 2019, all of which saw them finish with an even 8-8 record.
Confirming Tomlin's three-year extension, franchise president Art Rooney II said: "Mike Tomlin's leadership and commitment to the Steelers have been pivotal to our success during his first 17 years as head coach.
"Extending his contract for three more years reflects our confidence in his ability to guide the team back to winning playoff games and championships, while continuing our tradition of success."
Tomlin told the team's website: "I am appreciative for this contract extension and thankful for Art Rooney II for his support during my first 17 years in Pittsburgh.
"We are continuing to work diligently to get back to where we belong – sustained playoff success with the ultimate goal of winning the franchise's seventh Lombardi Trophy.
"I am very excited to get the 2024 season under way and provide our fans with a memorable year."
The Steelers have undergone a major rebuild this offseason, revamping their QB room by bringing in Russell Wilson from the Denver Broncos and Justin Fields from the Chicago Bears, with Pickett being traded to the Philadelphia Eagles.
The arrival of former Baltimore Ravens linebacker Patrick Queen in free agency also bolstered the team's defense, which ranked sixth in the league for fewest points allowed per game (18.5) in 2023.
Frenkie de Jong has been ruled out of Euro 2024 after failing to recover from an ankle injury.
De Jong has emerged as a fixture in the Netherlands' midfield since making his senior international debut in 2018, winning 54 caps and scoring two goals.
However, he has not played since sustaining an ankle injury during Barcelona's Clasico defeat to Real Madrid on April 21.
Oranje boss Ronald Koeman revealed De Jong had taken part in non-contact training on Sunday, but acknowledged he was unlikely to feature against Poland in their Group D opener later this week.
Koeman also said De Jong's place in the squad would be reconsidered if it looked like he would be unable to play during the group stage, and it has now been confirmed that he will miss the tournament.
In a post to X shortly after they routed Iceland 4-0 in their final pre-tournament friendly, the Netherlands said: "Frenkie de Jong won't participate at Euro 2024.
"We are with you, Frenkie."
Speaking in his post-match press conference on Monday, Koeman hit out at his former club for their handling of De Jong's injury.
"He has a history of ankle injuries," Koeman said. "Barcelona took a risk with him and now we are left with nothing."
De Jong made 30 appearances across all competitions as the Blaugrana endured a disappointing 2023-24 campaign, finishing well adrift of Madrid at the top of LaLiga and exiting the Champions League against Paris Saint-Germain in the last eight.
He was likely to start in a three-man midfield at the Euros, with his absence potentially meaning Tijjani Reijnders will team up with Jerdy Schouten and Joey Veerman.
The Netherlands also saw Teun Koopmeiners suffer a thigh injury in the warm-up ahead of Monday's match, causing him to withdraw from the starting lineup.
The Oranje go to Hamburg to face Poland in their Group D opener on Sunday before facing France in a heavyweight clash and taking on Ralf Rangnick's in-form Austria team.
Robert Lewandowski limped off injured as Poland finalised their Euro 2024 preparations with a 2-1 win over Turkiye on Monday.
Lewandowski – who has made more appearances (150) and scored more goals (82) for Poland than any other player – was withdrawn after 32 minutes and was later seen receiving treatment on his right thigh.
Fellow striker Karol Swiderski had already gone off after appearing to hurt his right ankle while celebrating scoring a 12th-minute opener.
Poland have already lost another forward, Juventus' Arkadiusz Milik, for the tournament after he injured the meniscus in his left knee during a 3-1 win over Ukraine on Friday.
Turkiye equalised through Baris Alper Yilmaz with 14 minutes to play, but Roma's Nicola Zalewski danced through their backline to score Poland's winner in stoppage time.
Elsewhere, Czechia rounded off their preparations by beating North Macedonia 2-1 with a last-gasp winner of their own.
Patrick Schick's penalty put Czechia ahead on the hour mark, only for Isnik Alimi to head home a leveller within five minutes.
However, another spot-kick ensured Ivan Hasek's hosts enjoyed a winning send-off as Antonin Barak converted from 12 yards eight minutes into stoppage time.
Czechia open their Group F campaign against Portugal on June 18 before facing Georgia and Turkiye in their remaining fixtures.
Aiden Markram admitted South Africa rode their luck as they maintained their perfect record at the T20 World Cup with a tense four-run win over Bangladesh on Monday.
The Proteas looked to be heading for their first loss in Group D when they toiled to 113-6 in Long Island, but some slow scoring from Bangladesh left the match in the balance late on.
Requiring seven runs from the final three balls for victory, Bangladesh saw both Jaker Ali and Mahmudullah caught by Markram, who was in the right place at the right time on the boundary as South Africa's opponents went in search of a maximum.
The result keeps South Africa top of Group D and on course for a Super-8 berth with six points, four clear of Bangladesh, but Markram acknowledged they had been lucky.
"You're always pretty nervous in the final over in a game like that. It was always on a knife's edge, it can make you mentally tired," he said after the match.
"It's always nice to be in them though. Sometimes you get on the right side of it, sometimes not, but it's very entertaining.
"That 19.5 full toss could've gone anywhere, it could've gone two more metres further and we'd have had a different conversation.
"A few things went our way today, we were very fortunate to get on the right side.
"Today was one of those days where the seamers were bowling well, we wanted to drag it to the end where anything could happen in the last over."
Heinrich Klaasen hit a vital 46 to drag South Africa to 113 after they had been teetering on 23-4, putting up a 79-run partnership with David Miller, who hit 29.
"We're putting Klaasen and Miller under pressure but they've been exceptional," Markram added.
"They've gone back-to-back with crucial partnerships, got us to a score that was luckily enough to win but still one we could defend. It's fantastic for Klaasy to get back in form."
The Netherlands capped their Euro 2024 preparations with a 4-0 win over Iceland at De Kuip on Monday, with Xavi Simons, Virgil van Dijk, Donyell Malen and Wout Weghorst scoring.
Ronald Koeman's side, who thrashed Canada 4-0 in their penultimate warm-up game on Thursday, were comfortable winners again six days out from their opening Group D game against Poland.
They went ahead after 23 minutes as Denzel Dumfries headed Joey Veerman's chipped pass across goal for Simons to convert, then doubled their lead four minutes into the second half.
Nathan Ake's flick-on following a corner found Van Dijk, who beat Iceland goalkeeper Hakon Valdimarsson to head the loose ball home.
Three days on from their memorable win over England at Wembley, Iceland went close to halving the arrears when Stefan Thordarson's 30-yard drive was tipped onto the post by Bart Verbruggen, but they fell further behind when Memphis Depay played Malen in to finish into the bottom-right corner after 73 minutes.
The Netherlands got a fourth in stoppage time as substitute Wout Weghorst tapped home from close range, a VAR review confirming the goal after Malen was initially flagged offside before crossing for the former Manchester United loanee.
Data Debrief: Dumfries Oranje's secret weapon
Lacking a top-class number nine, the Netherlands will likely have to share the goals around if they wish to go deep at the Euros. Fortunately for Koeman, he can call on one of Europe's very best attacking full-backs in Dumfries.
The Inter man has now been involved in 19 goals for the Netherlands overall (six goals, 13 assists), edging ahead of Daley Blind (18) for the most goal contributions by any Oranje defender.
Vinicius Junior has described himself as a "tormentor of racists" after three Valencia supporters were given prison sentences for abusing him in May 2023.
Three people were sentenced to eight months in prison and given two-year stadium bans on Monday after being found guilty of hurling racist abuse at Vinicius at the Mestalla last year.
Vinicius was sent off following a scuffle in second-half stoppage time as Los Blancos were beaten 1-0 in a game that was paused for several minutes due to racist chanting.
The convictions – the first issued in Spain for racist abuse inside a football stadium – were welcomed as "great news for the fight against racism" by LaLiga president Javier Tebas.
Vinicius also welcomed the judgement on Monday, thanking Madrid for their support in the aftermath of the incident and expressing hope that other offenders will be convicted.
"Many asked me to ignore it, many others said that my fight was in vain and that I should just 'play football'," Vinicius wrote on X.
"But, as I've always said, I'm not a victim of racism. I am a tormentor of racists. This first criminal conviction in the history of Spain is not for me. It's for all black people.
"May other racists be afraid, ashamed and hide in the shadows. Otherwise, I'll be here to collect.
"Thank you to La Liga and Real Madrid for helping with this historic conviction. More to come…"
FIFA president Gianni Infantino also responded to the convictions on his Instagram story, writing: "Our message to people anywhere in the world who still behave in a racist way when they are dealing with football is clear: we don't want you.
"These people have to be excluded, they are not part of our community and not part of football."
England coach Steve Borthwick has named six uncapped players in his squad for their summer internationals against Japan and New Zealand.
England face Japan in Tokyo on June 21 in their first outing since the Six Nations, then take on the All Blacks on July 6 and July 13.
Harlequins prop Fin Baxter and centre Luke Northmore, Sale pair Joe Carpenter and Tom Roebuck, Bristol's Gabriel Oghre and Northampton's Ollie Sleightholme are all included.
Having named a 36-man squad, England will train at Twickenham on Tuesday before flying out to Japan to prepare for their opening Test.
"The Summer Series presents a valuable opportunity for the continued development of this squad and is a demanding challenge to conclude the season," Borthwick said.
"The National Stadium in Tokyo is an incredible venue for Test match rugby, and we will need to be at our very best against a Japanese team who will want to play fast.
"New Zealand's home record is well documented, and we face a team who came within one point of winning a World Cup.
"The players know that they will need to be mentally strong and tactically smart if we are to get the result we want."
Full England squad: Fin Baxter, Dan Cole, Alex Coles, Chandler Cunningham-South, Ben Curry, Tom Curry, Theo Dan, Alex Dombrandt, Ben Earl, Charlie Ewels, Jamie George (c), Joe Heyes, Maro Itoje, Joe Marler, George Martin, Gabriel Oghre, Bevan Rodd, Ethan Roots, Will Stuart, Sam Underhill, Joe Carpenter, Fraser Dingwall, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, Tommy Freeman, George Furbank, Ollie Lawrence, Alex Mitchell, Luke Northmore, Harry Randall, Tom Roebuck, Henry Slade, Ollie Sleightholme, Fin Smith, Marcus Smith, Ben Spencer, Freddie Steward.
Dan Hurley has reportedly decided not to take the Los Angeles Lakers' head coaching job.
Hurley, who has won back-to-back collegiate national championships at UConn, turned down a six-year, $70million contract to coach the Lakers, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
The deal would've made him one of the NBA's highest-paid coaches.
UConn is now reportedly planning to make him the highest-paid collegiate coach.
Hurley reportedly was the Lakers' top choice for their head coaching vacancy following the firing of Darvin Ham after the team was eliminated from the play-offs in the first round.
The position of being head coach of the Lakers is one of the most high-profile basketball jobs on the planet - and includes coaching one of the greatest players in the sport's history in LeBron James - but Hurley will stay at UConn, where he has gone 68-11 over the past two seasons with a pair of championships.
By staying at UConn, Hurley will now try to achieve something that's only been done once before and that's win three straight men's national titles. UCLA is the only men's program to accomplish that feat, winning seven in a row from 1967-73.
Hurley has led the Huskies to a 141-58 record in his six seasons at UConn. He signed a $32.1million, six-year deal a year ago after leading the program to the 2023 national title.
With Hurley no longer in the fold, TV analyst and former player JJ Redick, as well as New Orleans Pelicans assistant James Borrego are reportedly the top candidates for the Lakers.
South Africa held off Bangladesh to maintain their perfect record at the T20 World Cup on Monday, defending a target of 113 in a thrilling finish in Long Island.
The Proteas, who had made a flawless start to their Group D campaign with successful chases against Sri Lanka and the Netherlands, looked to be up against it after a dire start to their third outing.
Bangladesh's Tanzim Hasan Sakib needed just five overs to clinch a hat-trick as Reeza Hendricks went lbw for a first-ball duck, then Quinton de Kock (18) and Tristan Stubbs (0) followed, the latter chipping straight to Shakib Al Hasan at short cover.
Heinrich Klaasen stopped the rot, but his knock of 46 came off 44 deliveries as Bangladesh bowled efficiently, and another low-scoring affair was guaranteed when he was bamboozled by Taskin Ahmed's seam ball 18 overs in.
Bangladesh's chase got off to an inauspicious start as Kagiso Rabada had Tanzid Hasan (9) caught inside two overs, later joining Anrich Nortje on two wickets when an umpire's review showed he clipped leg stump to end Towhid Hridoy's stand of 37.
That knock had left Bangladesh requiring 18 off 12 balls in front of a fervent crowd, but like Pakistan versus India one day earlier, they were unable to get over the line.
Proteas captain Aiden Markram was in the right place at the right time on two occasions, catching desperate attempts for a maximum from both Jaker Ali (8) and Mahmudullah (20) right on the boundary to seal South Africa's victory.
Data Debrief: Proteas do enough... just
South Africa have still never lost a T20I versus Bangladesh in nine meetings, but they put themselves in real bother with some slow scoring in their innings.
However, the efforts of Rabada (2-19), Nortje (2-17) and Keshav Maharaj (3-27) were enough, the latter's bowling handing Markram two catches as Bangladesh were forced to hit big in the dying moments.
The Proteas remain top of Group D with maximum points from three games, with Bangladesh now having one win and one defeat.
Sergio Perez has apologised following a second successive retirement at the Canada Grand Prix which left him 87 points behind Red Bull team-mate, Max Vertsappen.
The 34-year-old remained fifth overall in the world championship and a point behind Ferrari's Carlos Sainz, who was one of five drivers that failed to finish the race.
In difficult conditions in Montreal, the Mexican started 16th but hopes of climbing up the pecking order soon faded after damaging his car's front wing on the opening lap when he made contact with Alpine's Pierre Gasly.
He then crashed into the barriers late in the day after losing control on a damp kerb at turn six, hobbling back to the pits with a broken rear wing.
"I'm very sorry for my team, I let them down today. But we will come back no doubt. There’s a very long way to go," Perez said on social media.
His final incident cost him a three-place grid penalty for the next race in Barcelona, with the stewards punishing him for a breach of the safety rules that require a driver to stop if the car is unsafe.
"The incident was on me, I touched the wet part into turn six and I couldn’t stop the car, I couldn’t touch the brakes," Perez said on Sunday.
"It has been a very tough couple of weekends, we will regroup, keep our heads down and learn from the weekend. We identified a couple of issues after qualifying and they meant we would have qualified a lot higher.
"Hopefully we can be back to our form in Spain and get back to the level we were at earlier in the season. I am confident in that, there are good tracks coming for us."
Perez recently signed a new two-year deal with Red Bull, ending speculation that the world champions will sign free agent Sainz ahead of the new season.
Sergio Perez has apologised following a second successive retirement at the Canada Grand Prix which left him 87 points behind Red Bull team-mate, Max Vertsappen.
The 34-year-old remained fifth overall in the world championship and a point behind Ferrari's Carlos Sainz, who was one of five drivers that failed to finish the race.
In difficult conditions in Montreal, the Mexican started 16th but hopes of climbing up the pecking order soon faded after damaging his car's front wing on the opening lap when he made contact with Alpine's Pierre Gasly.
He then crashed into the barriers late in the day after losing control on a damp kerb at turn six, hobbling back to the pits with a broken rear wing.
"I'm very sorry for my team, I let them down today. But we will come back no doubt. There’s a very long way to go," Perez said on social media.
His final incident cost him a three-place grid penalty for the next race in Barcelona, with the stewards punishing him for a breach of the safety rules that require a driver to stop if the car is unsafe.
"The incident was on me, I touched the wet part into turn six and I couldn’t stop the car, I couldn’t touch the brakes," Perez said on Sunday.
"It has been a very tough couple of weekends, we will regroup, keep our heads down and learn from the weekend. We identified a couple of issues after qualifying and they meant we would have qualified a lot higher.
"Hopefully we can be back to our form in Spain and get back to the level we were at earlier in the season. I am confident in that, there are good tracks coming for us."
Perez recently signed a new two-year deal with Red Bull, ending speculation that the world champions will sign free agent Sainz ahead of the new season.
Emma Raducanu insists she needs to "cherish" her health and fitness, ahead of making her return from injury at the Nottingham Open.
The former US Open champion has not played since her defeat by Maria Lourdes Carla in the opening round of the Madrid Open in April.
Raducanu opted to miss the French Open to focus on preparing for the grass-court season, which she launches against Ena Shibahara in Nottingham on Tuesday.
This time last year, the world number 209 had undergone wrist and ankle surgery that, at one point, confined her to a mobility scooter.
However, fast-forward 12 months, and Raducanu is embracing feeling "really strong", and the 21-year-old is thrilled with the strides she has made.
"Body-wise, physical-wise, I feel really healthy. I feel really strong," she said. "I've done amazing work with my trainer over the last few months, since surgery.
"I'm in a really fit place. I think my wrists are actually in a better position than they ever were.
"So, there's zero doubt or apprehension whether I'm hitting the ball or designing my schedule. It's more about being proactive and not wanting to put yourself in any unnecessary situations.
"I think it's very easy for me to lose sight of where I was exactly a year ago. You get so caught up in your own world that you want more and more and more.
"But, a year ago, I was on a scooter scooting around, and I didn't know - there was an element of doubt. To be healthy and to be here, I need to cherish it."
Declan Rice is confident that England can do something really special at Euro 2024 as the team set off for Germany on Monday.
The Arsenal midfielder was part of the side that fell short in the tournament three years ago against Italy at Wembley, and has since become a mainstay in the side under Gareth Southgate.
This will be Rice's third international tournament for the Three Lions, and he believes that the current squad have what it takes to lift the trophy in Berlin on July 14.
“We want to make history,” the 25-year-old said on England’s departure show on YouTube. “We say it all the time, but genuinely we have a group, a manager, that really believes.
“We have a confidence that we can go there and do something really special and, of course, with that comes hard work.
"That is going to be the main thing – the hard work as a team, unity, togetherness and with everyone behind us at home. We’re going to feel that for sure, so stick with us, be positive and let’s see what happens.”
England's preparations for the tournament concluded last week and head into their Group C opener with Serbia off the back of a 1-0 defeat to Iceland at Wembley.
But Rice says the disappointment does not detract from what was a beneficial 10-day training camp, hoping to build on his impressive debut season with Arsenal.
“It’s obviously difficult when you finish the league. Your body completely shuts down when you have a break, because we’re made to just play all the time,”
“When we have a rest, our body shuts down and it’s hard to get going again. But last week was really beneficial, to be honest with you, I think for everyone.
“We’ve got another full week now until the game, so we’ll be in a really good spot.”
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