The Pittsburgh Penguins saw their 16-season run of appearances in the playoffs end as the New York Islanders put a halt to the longest such streak in the NHL.

Losing 5-2 to the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday took the Penguins' fate out of their own hands, and the Islanders squeezed in as the last team to book a playoffs spot when they beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-2 a day later.

Coach Mike Sullivan's Penguins team have a 40-31-10 record for the season, and they will round off their campaign against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday.

Beau Bennett spent four years on the Pittsburgh team and was a Stanley Cup winner with the Penguins in 2016, the second of three NHL championships the team won during their remarkable 16-year run.

With the team's fate sealed, Bennett wrote on Twitter: "I mean people will probably be negative but think about how sick that run was. Most orgs will be lucky to have that success in 50 years."

Superstar center Sidney Crosby continues to hit the heights, managing 33 goals and 58 assists in 81 games, while Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang have maintained their own high standards. Pittsburgh's 'Big Three' have famously featured throughout the 16-year run.

It was put to Bennett that the Penguins could have gone on achieving, given their top players continued to perform.

He replied: "True but 16 years of consistency, having 3 of the best players the whole time, interchanging everyone else including coaches and management. Sometimes we take greatness for granted."

Bennett said there had been "definitely some suspect moves", with general manager Ron Hextall's rush of trades before the deadline having come in for scrutiny.

Bringing in the likes of Nick Bonino, Dmitry Kulikov and Mikael Granlund, while moving others out of the franchise, has not had the desired effect.

After those trades, Hextall said: "I think that we made our team better. I think there are a lot of teams capable of winning the Stanley Cup, and we're one."

Not this season.

As Bennett sees it, Pittsburgh's elimination now spares them hurt later along the line.

"Let's be real here," he added, "how far are they getting if they get in? All good things come to an end."

Victor Osimhen will be "100 per cent" available for Napoli's crucial Champions League clash with Milan next week, according to Luciano Spalletti.

The striker missed his side's quarter-final first-leg loss on Wednesday, as the Partenopei fell 1-0 at San Siro courtesy of Ismael Bennacer's first-half finish.

Osimhen leads the Serie A scoring charts with 21 goals this season, and has been integral to the club's runaway lead in the race for the Scudetto.

But having sat out this week's game with a groin injury, Spalletti has given assurances he will feature for their home tie next week against the Rossoneri.

"Victor Osimhen will 100 per cent be available for the return leg at [Stadio Diego Armando] Maradona on Tuesday," he said. "He will be there."

Spalletti will also have to rethink his plans in light of Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa's dismissal, with the midfielder sent off after a second yellow card for pushing Theo Hernandez.

The Cameroon international will be suspended, as will defender Kim Min-jae following a late booking, but the coach has the belief his side will adapt to their loss.

"Any absence is damaging at this stage of the season, but we also have players who can fill in, which is why we are where we are," he added to Sky Sport Italia.

"We trust the squad. We are sad not to have Anguissa, as it feels unjust not to have him, but there's nothing we can do. I don't comment on the referee, that is not my role."

Napoli will return to Serie A action this weekend against Verona before they face Milan. The Partenopei are already enjoying their deepest run in Europe's premier competition.

Bayern Munich's 3-0 defeat to Manchester City was bad enough, but it has been compounded by claims Sadio Mane left team-mate Leroy Sane with a cut lip after a dressing-room bust-up.

The result in Manchester on Tuesday has left Bayern with a long way to come back in next Wednesday's second leg of the Champions League quarter-final.

Their hopes look bleak, but the on-pitch struggle might just be the beginning of their problems.

Bayern have yet to comment on the claims that came to light on Wednesday, with German newspaper Bild reporting Mane reacted angrily to comments from Sane and lashed out, hitting his team-mate.

There may also be concern within the Bayern ranks about how details of the behind-closed-doors incident leaked out into the media.

For new head coach Thomas Tuchel, the drama was something he could have done without, not least because Mane has already been struggling to live up to his marquee status since arriving from Liverpool.

The Senegalese forward, who joined for an initial €32million last June, sits only sixth on the list of goal involvements for Bayern this season, after managing 11 goals and five assists in 32 games.

Midfielder Jamal Musiala heads that list with 27 involvements (15 goals, 12 assists), and Sane (13 goals, seven assists) is also among those in front of Mane.

 The Mane and Sane alleged clash is a topic Bayern will have to address at some point, and that may come on Thursday.

Should it not, coach Tuchel is due to hold a press conference on Friday ahead of the home Bundesliga game against Hoffenheim.

The former Borussia Dortmund, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea boss has had a rocky time of it since being appointed successor to the sacked Julian Nagelsmann.

His reign began with a sparkling league win against title rivals Dortmund, but a DFB-Pokal exit followed at the hands of Freiburg, and now hopes of European glory are hanging by a fraying thread.

Bayern CEO Oliver Kahn reacted on Wednesday to the team's bad result at the Etihad Stadium, saying on Twitter: "Even the day after we are still bitterly disappointed. We imagined it differently. But there is still a second leg and I've experienced a lot in football myself."

Kylian Mbappe scotched the prospect of an early escape from his Paris Saint-Germain contract by declaring he still wants to win the Champions League with his home city club.

The newly installed France captain signed an extension to his PSG contract last May, keeping him with the Ligue 1 champions potentially until the end of the 2024-25 season.

That staved off strong interest from Real Madrid in the player who went on to be top scorer at the Qatar World Cup, hitting a hat-trick in a losing cause against Argentina in the final.

For Mbappe, triumphing in the Champions League with the French capital giants would be the crowning glory of his career.

PSG went close in 2020, losing out 1-0 to Bayern Munich in the final, but they have been bundled out at the last-16 stage in the last two seasons, with Real Madrid taking their scalp last year and Bayern Munich their conquerors this time around.

"The next level? To win the Champions League, I think," Mbappe told France 3 show Tout Le Sport.

"I've already made a final, semi-final, quarter-final, round of 16… I have done everything except winning.

"That's all I need. I hope it will be as soon as possible.

"Where? At Paris Saint-Germain. I'm Parisian and under contract. So it's Paris Saint-Germain."

Mbappe also dreams of winning an Olympic gold medal with France, so it is possible the 24-year-old could double up next year and compete at Paris 2024 after representing Les Bleus at the European Championship.

"I don't know if I'll be there," Mbappe said. "But, in any case, I hope to be there.

"Everyone knows that I've always dreamed of playing the Olympic Games. It doesn't depend on me. There are a lot of parameters that come into play, and we will have to study them all.

"There is a club, a national team with a Euro before. So we have to talk before. These are all parameters that must be taken into account.

"But of course it would be a dream for me to compete in the Olympics, even more so in Paris."

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander believes the Oklahoma City Thunder reaped the rewards of being "battle-tested" as they kept their season alive by beating the New Orleans Pelicans.

The Thunder, the youngest team in the NBA, ended the Pelicans' season with a 123-118 victory at Smoothie King Center on Wednesday.

Oklahoma City's win in the Western Conference play-in tournament ensure they will face a trip to play the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday, with a place in the NBA playoffs at stake.

A meeting with the number-one seeded Denver Nuggets will be the reward for the team that comes out on top in that showdown.

Gilgeous-Alexander stepped up to deliver 32 points, while Josh Giddey finished with 31 point, 10 assists and nine rebounds for Oklahoma City in that win over the Pelicans.

New Orleans led 69-62 early in the third quarter, but the Thunder stormed back and Gilgeous-Alexander felt the showed their strength of character. 

"We've been battle-tested. We've played in a lot of close games all year, for the past couple of years,” Gilgeous-Alexander said.

"Even when the season wasn't going our way, we played in a lot of close games and we have good habits and we know what gets it done down the stretch."

Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said: "Great 48-minute effort out of the team.

"Great poise. New Orleans made a couple of big runs at the end of the second and then the beginning of the fourth and I thought our guys just had a great temperament in the huddles and got back to our stuff.

"We weren't perfect tonight, but we got back to our habits and it was a great effort out of the team.

Brandon Ingram scored 30 points, 20 of which came in the second half, but the Pelicans were unable to stay in the hunt for the playoffs.

Chicago Bulls head coach Billy Donovan labelled Zach LaVine as "extraordinary" after his 30 second-half points lifted them past the Toronto Raptors 109-105 in their play-in tournament game on Wednesday.

LaVine finished with 39 points as the Bulls advanced to take on the Miami Heat for the right to the eight seed and a playoffs first round series against Eastern Conference top seed Milwaukee Bucks.

The Bulls guard's 30-point second half was the most points he has scored in any half this season, fuelling a fightback after trailing by 19 points.

"What he did going into the third quarter and into the fourth, it would have been very, very difficult for us to have won that game if he had not done that," Donovan said about LaVine.

"His performance was extraordinary. It gave us life and it gave us hope. Then once we got back into it, I think a lot of guys made a lot of different plays.

"But I give him credit, he had that mentality that he's going to do whatever he can do to get us back into the game."

LaVine put his second-half success down to "aggressiveness" and driving to the basket, capitalising on the Raptors trying to double-team DeMar DeRozan, who had 23 points and seven rebounds. DeRozan called LaVine "amazing" and said the Bulls followed his lead.

Meanwhile, the loss ended the Raptors' season, meaning they have missed the playoffs in two of their past three seasons, putting pressure on head coach Nick Nurse to retain his job.

"It was tough," Nurse said reflecting on the 2022-23 season. "I think we had some up and downs. I thought we came out of the gates playing pretty well. Then we had to weather some injuries and we did that and once we got everybody back that got us out of rhythm and took a couple tough losses.

"I've told the guys several times in the last two weeks, I'm proud of them for getting back to .500 when they were six or seven games below .500, because we did coach them hard and work them hard to rebuilding some of the foundational stuff.

"I thought we played well enough to win tonight, it just didn’t go our way."

Nurse lamented his side's 50 per cent free-throw shooting, making 18-of-36, not helped by DeRozan's daughter Diar, who screamed with a shrill every time they had an attempt from the line.

"That's a lot of misses," Nurse said. "We left a lot of points on the board."

DeRozan laughed off his daughter's antics which caught plenty of attention on social media given her persistent nature throughout the game.

"I've just seen it, she went viral," he said. "I kept hearing something during the game and when somebody missed a free-throw I thought 'damn, is that my daughter screaming?' I was just making sure she was alright though."

DeRozan added that Diar would not be able to attend Friday's play-in game on the road against the Heat, instead needing to go back to school.

The Tampa Bay Rays claimed a franchise record and moved a step closer to an MLB record with Wednesday's 9-7 win over the Boston Red Sox that extended their season-opening streak to 12 wins.

The Rays improved to 12-0 with the win that included only one home run this time, coming from Randy Arozarena's first-inning opposite field three-run blast.

Taj Bradley fanned eight batters across five innings on his majors debut, allowing five hits, one walk and three runs, before Rafael Devers tightened up the scoreline with a three-run homer in the seventh inning.

But Arozarena's eighth-inning sacrifice fly meant Tampa Bay had done enough to extend their winning streak, meaning they are one short of matching the 13-0 starts by the Milwaukee Brewers (1987) and the Atlanta Braves (1982) which are the longest ever in MLB history.

The Rays matched a franchise record for a winning streak, previously 12 in a row from June 2004.

Tampa Bay have outscored their opponents 92-27 through the first dozen games, blasting 30 homers, which is only bettered by the 2019 Seattle Mariners (32) and the 2000 St Louis Cardinals (31).

Arozarena was struck out twice had four RBIs while Wander Franco went three-for-five with two RBIs and two runs.

Franco's fourth-inning two-run double opened up a 6-1 lead but the Red Sox did well to rally after reliever Zack Kelly left in the fifth with right elbow pain, while Devers snapped a run of 10 hitless at-bats.

The Rays can match the MLB record 13-0 season-opening start when they face the Red Sox again on Thursday.

Yankees win after Boone tossed & ump hospitalised

Aaron Boone was ejected early and Franchy Cordero homered for the fourth time this season as the New York Yankees rallied from a three-run deficit to beat the Cleveland Guardians 4-3.

Yankees manager Boone was tossed in the first inning following a confusing play, while second base umpire Larry Vanover was taken to hospital during the fifth after being struck in the face by a relay throw.

Vanover was struck in a bizarre sequence from Kyle Higashiakoa's RBI single, with the incident allowing Isiah Kiner-Falefa to score after Oswaldo Cabrera had plated.

Cordero tied the game with a 439-feet seventh-inning blast, before Cabrera's ninth-inning go-ahead single. Closer Clay Holmes was nervy, loading the bases on a hit batter, but finished the job.

Bregman finds form as Astros triumph

Alex Bregman homered for the second straight game as the inconsistent Houston Astros thrashed the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-0.

Bregman's three-run blast in the seventh inning opened up a 5-0 lead, after rookie outfielder Corey Julks crushed his maiden homer into left field in the fourth inning.

The Astros rode the pitching of Jose Urquidy who allowed only two hits – both singles - and three walks across six scoreless innings, striking out two.

Russell Westbrook has rubbished the narrative that there is animosity between him and former team-mate Kevin Durant as they prepare to face off in the NBA playoffs first round.

Westbrook and Durant, who played together at Oklahoma City Thunder, will be reunited when the former's Los Angeles Clippers will take on the latter's Phoenix Suns in a clash between the Western Conference's four and five seeds.

The pair were OKC team-mates for eight seasons, forming a strong partnership and competing in the 2012 NBA Finals, before Durant left for the Golden State Warriors in July 2016.

"It will be normal for me," Westbrook told reporters about facing Durant, having faced of 11 times since their split, with Westbrook teams up 6-5.

"I think people still think like there's some beef or something. There's no beef of any [kind], so I think that's the good narrative for media, for people to talk about.

"But there's no beef. I got nothing but respect for him and things he's done with his career and having to see him back from injury.

"There's no beef at all. But he knows I'm going to compete and I know he's going to compete and that's all it is."

Westbrook, who left the Los Angeles Lakers for the Clippers in midseason, was full of praise for Durant, who also made a midseason move from the Brooklyn Nets to the Suns.

"Just his ability - he's always been very efficient," Westbrook said. "But I think his ability to be more efficient and still score the ball at a high rate.

"He's probably one of the best scorers I've seen, just can score at ease and look so effortlessly.

"I think over the years, he's figured out ways to score the basketball at a very, very high rate, and that's kind of what I've seen over the years."

Finnish entrepreneur Thomas Zilliacus labelled the Manchester United bidding process as a "farce" after withdrawing his takeover offer on Wednesday.

United announced their owners, the Glazer family, were considering offers for the club back in November, including "new investment into the club, a sale, or other transactions".

A pair of bidding rounds followed in the new year as Jim Ratcliffe and Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani made propositions, though it was said up to eight prospective buyers were interested.

Zilliacus became the third bidder to publicly express his interest in March, wanting to buy 50 per cent of the club – with the other half bought by fans, who would join in the club's decision-making process.

However, Zilliacus has refused to be drawn into a third round of proposals as the 69-year-old believes it would hinder any prospective owner's chances of investing in United for next season.

"I have declined participation in a third bidding round for United," he posted on Twitter. "The bidding is turning into a farce, with [the] Glazers giving no respect to the club.

"The delays will make it very difficult for any new owner to build a winning team for next season.

"Jim Ratcliffe, Sheikh Jassim and myself all were ready to negotiate a deal to buy United. Instead, [the] Glazers chose to start a new round.

"I will not participate in a farce set up to maximise the profit for the sellers at the expense of Manchester United."

Zilliacus' comments came just a day after United great Gary Neville – a vociferous opponent of the current ownership – took to Twitter to lament the Glazers when reports broke over a third round of bidding.

Neville wrote: "Taking it to a 3rd round is just classless. The market has obviously not given them the answer they want!

"It's like they've made a pact to each other that they won't go for less than £1billion each family member. (5 of them). If they stay in after all this it will be toxic!"

Potential buyers, for either the whole club or just a partial stake, must put forward further offers for the next round of takeover talks.

Sheikh Jassim will reportedly again submit a new bid to buy 100 per cent of the club, with Ratcliffe said to be aiming for 69 per cent of the Glazers' current shareholding.

Thibaut Courtois acknowledged Real Madrid were left "bugged" by their inability to put Chelsea to the sword in their Champions League victory.

Los Blancos notched a 2-0 victory over the Blues in the first leg of their quarter-final clash at the Santiago Bernabeu, with goals for Karim Benzema and Marco Asensio.

Yet despite a man advantage for the final third of the game after Ben Chilwell was dismissed for a professional foul on Rodrygo, Madrid failed to make their pressure tell.

Speaking afterwards, former Chelsea goalkeeper Courtois voiced his frustration that his team were unable to inflict more damage ahead of next week's return leg.

"Every time you play a big knockout match, you're left with the sensation that you could have, should have, killed the tie off," he said, as quoted by UEFA.com.

"Chelsea nearly scored right, at the end. This is a good result, but we're bugged by the fact that we didn't score a third or even a fourth goal.

"I hope we don't regret not having added another when we play again next week."

Carlo Ancelotti's hosts were mostly dominant on home turf against Frank Lampard's Blues, who struggled to impose themselves upon the game for long periods.

Yet with Benzema, Luka Modric and Rodrygo among those to spurn chances across the game, Courtois' fear of a comeback in London may not be unfounded.

In his post-match comments to BT Sport, Lampard spoke about looking to channel the "special nights" he enjoyed at Stamford Bridge as a player for the second leg.

Madrid themselves are no stranger to a comeback too though, having defied several poor first-leg performances in last year's Champions League to eventually win the title.

Luciano Spalletti bemoaned Frank Anguissa's "unfair" dismissal as Napoli were dealt another absentee blow in Wednesday's Champions League quarter-final defeat at Milan.

The Napoli midfielder was dismissed for two bookable offences in the space of four second-half minutes as Ismael Bennacer's 40th-minute strike proved the difference in a 1-0 win for Milan at San Siro.

Spalletti was already without injured striker Victor Osimhen, and his replacement Giovanni Simeone, with Anguissa's suspension adding another name to Napoli's growing list of absentees.

The Napoli coach was left unimpressed by referee Istvan Kovacs' decisions but insisted the Serie A leaders have capable replacements heading into next week's return leg in Naples.

"I have nothing to say, commenting after the matches is wasted time, there's no turning back," Spalletti told Sky Sport.

"At this point, every absence is a blow for us, but we have someone who replace him. It's been like this for the whole season, otherwise we wouldn't have the results we have managed.

"We trust the group, but it's a pity we won't have Anguissa because I think it's unfair... It was planned to replace him, I was looking at who to bring on in the three substitutions, I was missing the third.

"The regret is that he played two more minutes while I decided. I'll think about what I did, the referee won't comment, [UEFA Referees' Committee chairman Roberto] Rosetti will do it.

"From what I've seen, Anguissa gets a lot of ball... Let's look at the yellow card for [Piotr] Zielinski and the one not given to [Rade] Krunic."

Milan have caused Napoli issues twice in the space of 10 days, hammering the Partenopei 4-0 in Serie A before overcoming Spalletti's side in Europe.

Stefano Pioli's men are the only team to beat Napoli more than once this season, with two of the Partenopei's five defeats coming against Milan.

The Rossoneri are also the only side to have stopped Napoli scoring in more than one match this term, while Milan have scored six goals this season against Spalletti's side – twice as many as any other team.

Spalletti was still pleased with what his side offered, though, and hailed the efforts of Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan, who made an impressive five saves.

He added: "We had a great attitude, I congratulate the team on how they tried to play the game, even outnumbered. And congratulations to Maignan."

Milan have progressed from seven of their previous nine two-legged ties in the Champions League knockout stages after winning the first clash, while they have lost just one of 10 all-Italian match-ups in Europe.

Yet Napoli captain Di Lorenzo remains confident when Pioli's men visit the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium for Tuesday's second leg.

The Italy international told Amazon Prime Video: "We are a quality squad, to go through you have to win at home, we hope there will be a good atmosphere, as always this year."

Carlo Ancelotti was pleased with Real Madrid's commanding 2-0 win against Chelsea but stressed they must be ready to "fight and sacrifice" in the second leg at Stamford Bridge.

Madrid look set to advance to the Champions League semi-finals for the third consecutive season after they breezed past Frank Lampard's out-of-form side at the Santiago Bernabeu. 

Goals from Karim Benzema and Marco Asensio either side of a red card for Ben Chilwell rounded out a dominant performance from the reigning champions, who will travel to London for the return match next week.

The defeat leaves Chelsea without a goal in four games in all competitions, but Ancelotti remained steadfast that Los Blancos would need to work hard to finish the job in the second leg.

"I know football really well and my players understand that we have another 90 minutes to play, and it will be difficult, and we have to be ready," he told BT Sport.

"We won 2-0, we took advantage of this game, but it's not done yet. Chelsea is a good team with good players, and we have to fight and sacrifice at Stamford Bridge. This is absolutely normal – it's a quarter-final of the Champions League.

"We are satisfied with the game, it was a good game, and now we focus on the next."

Luka Modric's close miss and a squandered late chance from Benzema kept the score down after Chelsea were reduced to 10 men, but the Madrid boss did not feel his side had failed in not finding another goal before the final whistle.

He said: "When we were against 10 men, they put a low block, and it was not easy to find solutions.

"I think we spent a lot of energy in the game trying to press high, and so at the end, we were not so fresh to try to find another goal, but the result and the performance was good."

Wednesday's encounter saw Ancelotti go head-to-head with Lampard in the dugout, with the Madrid boss having coached his opposite number while himself Chelsea manager between 2009 and 2011.

"I have a good memory of him – a fantastic player," Ancelotti said when asked about Lampard. "I hope he will be a fantastic manager but not necessarily next Tuesday."