Weekend In Review: NHL Playoffs Move To Second Round, NBA Battles, NASCAR Washout, More

A Sports Filled Weekend It Was

The NHL playoffs are over…until Wednesday. The last of the first-round series wrapped on Sunday night when the Washington Capitals, in yet another overtime game, defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-1 to eliminate them in six games. Marcus Johansson scored both goals for the Capitals, who move on to play the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The New York Rangers also secured their passage into the second round, knocking off the Montreal Canadiens 3-1 on Saturday night to take that series in six games. Next up: The Ottawa Senators, who beat the Boston Bruins 3-2 in overtime on Sunday night to knock them out in six games.

In the Western Conference, the Edmonton Oilers took a 3-1 decision from the San Jose Sharks on Saturday night, ending that series in six games. The St. Louis Blues won their series with Minnesota in five, defeating the Wild 4-3 in overtime. The Oilers will next play the Anaheim Ducks and the Blues get the Nashville Predators.

NBA PLAYOFFS: One series is complete. The Cleveland Cavaliers, behind 33 points from LeBron James, downed the Indiana Pacers 106-102 on Sunday for a four-game sweep. The Golden State Warriors will be going for a sweep of the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday night and they will do so without their coach. Steve Kerr was not on the bench for Saturday night’s victory and said he won’t coach in Game 4, ostensibly because of lingering back issues from the two surgeries he had two years ago.

NASCAR: The rain wouldn’t go away in Bristol, Tennessee. It washed out Friday’s qualifying run and then returned to postpone Sunday’s Food City 500 to Monday. Kyle Larson will be on the pole and the race begins at 1 p.m. Larson has one win and four runner-up finishes in the seven races run this season.

ELSEWHERE: Baseball was quite contentious over the weekend. This one incident was perhaps the nastiest. Boston Red Sox pitcher Matt Barnes was ejected for throwing a fastball behind the head of the Baltimore Orioles’ Manny Machado in Boston’s 6-2 victory Sunday. Barnes’ high and tight pitch came two days after Machado obliterated Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia with a spikes-high slide. Somewhere a commissioner is preparing a fine and/or a suspension.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman