NHL, NBA, Preakness And More

The Vegas Knights, in their first season as an NHL expansion team, are off to the Stanley Cup finals.

The Knights beat the Winnipeg Jets 2-1 on Sunday to win the Western Conference finals in five games and clinch their third straight playoff series on the road. They will play the winner of the Washington Capitals-Tampa Bay Lightning series – Game 6 in the Eastern Conference finals is Monday night, with the Lightning leading 3-2.

The Knights are only the third team in NHL history to reach the finals in their inaugural season.

PREAKNESS STAKES: Justify put himself in position to win the Triple Crown with his victory on Saturday in the Preakness Stakes at a foggy and wet Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. The heavy favorite held off several challengers down the stretch in the 1 3/16-mile race. Next up: The 1 ½-mile Belmont Stakes on June 9. The last Triple Crown was won in 2015 by American Pharoah.

NBA PLAYOFFS: The Golden State Warriors took a 2-1 lead in their Western Conference series with Houston, beating the Rockets 126-85 on Sunday night. Stephen Curry scored 35 points for the Warriors.
On Saturday night, the Cleveland Cavaliers narrowed their disadvantage in the Eastern Conference finals to 2-1 by hammering the Boston Celtics 116-86. The Celtics are 1-5 in road playoff games.

ELSEWHERE: Kevin Harvick won $1 million for his victory on Saturday at Charlotte Motor Speedway in NASCAR’s All-Star Race.

Aaron Wise, a 21-year-old rookie on the PGA Tour, got his first win Sunday at the AT&T Byron Nelson Classic. The start was delayed four hours by rain, but Wise then finished what he had started, breaking the tournament record with a 23-under to beat Marc Leishman by three strokes.

In baseball, the Atlanta Braves scored six runs in the ninth inning to defeat the Miami Marlins 10-9.

Japanese sensation Shohei Ohtani improved to 4-1, striking out nine in the Los Angeles Angels’ 5-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays.

Asdrubal Cabrera’s pinch-hit homer carried the New York Mets to a 4-1 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. Amed Rosario also homered twice for the Mets.

Pitcher Yu Darvish got his first win for the Chicago White Sox, who shut out the Texas Rangers 3-0.

The top four seeds in the NCAA men’s lacrosse championship – Maryland, Albany, Yale and Duke advanced to the final four. Same on the women’s side, with defending champ Maryland, North Carolina, James Madison and Boston College.

 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman