Game-winner Tyler Bozak said the St. Louis Blues were not ready to go on holidays after they pulled off a stunning 5-4 comeback in overtime against the Colorado Avalanche to keep their season alive.
With the win, the Blues still trail 3-2 in the series, but they earned a chance to head home to St. Louis for Game 6
The Avalanche looked all set to move on to the next round after a pair of first period goals to Nathan MacKinnon, and a second-round strike from Gabriel Landeskog had them up 3-0 at the halfway point.
Instead of lying down, the Blues fought back in front of the raucous Avalanche crowd, with Vladimir Tarasenko pegging one back to make it 3-1 at the end of the second period.
The Avalanche were able to hold things together for the first nine minutes of the last period, until the Blues' pressure started to pay off, with Robert Thomas trimming the margin to 3-2.
Jordan Kyrou would have thought his goal would send the game to overtime as he made it 3-3 with less than five minutes to play, but the Avalanche answered straight back as MacKinnon finished off his hat-trick with under three minutes on the clock.
But there would be another twist to the tale, as Thomas was able to force home his second goal, the equaliser, with 56 seconds remaining in regulation.
Overtime only lasted 3:38 before Bozak silenced the home fans with the golden goal to keep the Blues' Stanley Cup dreams alive.
Speaking to post-game media after scoring the winner, Bozak said his side was not ready for things to end this way.
"Just a resilient group of guys," he said. "[We] got down, [but] didn't want the season to be over.
"[We] fought hard and got some big goals late. I just got a little bounce up top and saw a lane to the net.
"In overtime, there's definitely no such thing as a bad shot. I just tried to get it through on the traffic – all I know is that it went in, and that's all that matters."
Blues coach Craig Berube highlighted the gutsy effort to come from behind twice.
"We battle back, and then we give up that goal," he said. "It could have been deflating, but our guys have a lot of guts.
"Guys battled and kept battling. That's really what it boils down to.
"We didn't get off to the start we wanted, being down quick. I thought the second half of the second period we started to come with our game.
"Getting to the goal line, winning battles down there. We went north. That's what it boils down to."
Thomas had not scored in any of the Blues' first 10 playoff games, but said it was nice to break the drought.
"Better late than never, I guess," he said.
"You've got nothing to lose – you might as well throw it all out there. That was the mindset."
Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown insisted his side will continue to win games with their defense after defeating the Miami Heat 93-80 on Wednesday.
The Celtics recovered from a disappointing first half to take a 3-2 series lead in the Eastern Conference Finals, setting up a chance to clinch the series and an NBA Finals berth on their home floor.
Boston scored only 37 points in the first half, shooting 25 per cent from beyond the three-point arc, but only trailed by five points at the main interval.
Brown asserted that their defence is critical in limiting the damage when they are not clicking on the offensive end, keeping the team in games.
"Our defence is key," he said after the win. "Every night we come out and hang our hat on that side of the ball. It was great to have, even in a limited role, Marcus [Smart] and Rob [Williams III], to be able to be out there, because their presence on that side of the ball is felt.
"Every night we give ourselves a chance with our defence. We didn't play great in the first half but we only gave up 42 points. Kept us in the game, we were down five, got settled in the second half and the game opened up and it was over from there.
"Our defence is what continues to win us games and we've got to keep hanging our hat on that defensive side of the ball."
In what has been a primarily defensive series, Game 5 was no different, with Miami generating a great amount of offensive impact from their defensive stops.
Brown was a prominent figure in that regard, coughing up four of Boston's 10 turnovers for the half as the team shot 38.2 per cent from the floor.
The 25-year-old took over in the second half, however, not turning the ball over once while scoring 19 points off eight-of-12 shooting.
Post-game, he said there was little variation in approach, despite a dressing down in the first half from Celtics coach Ime Udoka.
"We knew if we took care of the basketball, we would get some open opportunities and knock them down," Brown said. "Just continue to play basketball and be aggressive, that's why basketball is 48 minutes.
"I think he [Udoka] was talking to the whole team. I wasn't the only person to have some turnovers but it is what it is. I'm going to keep being aggressive, keep getting into the paint and making them stop me.
"Miami do a really good job of slapping down, reaching and grabbing and making it tough for you, so it's a little bit of both. I've got to do a better job for sure, but overall as a team, we've got to do a better job too."
The Atlanta Braves had it working with both bat and ball as they defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 8-4 at home on Wednesday.
The Phillies opened the scoring through a massive 431-foot solo home run to Odubel Herrera in the top of the second inning – the biggest hit by either team in the game.
But they would not finish the second inning in the lead as William Contreras connected on his own home run to left-field, tying the game, before Ozzie Albies and Dansby Swanson drove in another three runs with base hits.
Philadelphia mounted a comeback in the middle innings, with Herrera driving in his second run via a base hit in the fourth, followed by Nick Castellanos' ground-out RBI and Jean Segura's RBI single, tying it at 4-4.
It would be all Braves from that point on as their bullpen allowed just two hits from the last 14 outs, with Spencer Strider striking out five in two innings.
After Swanson scored on a fielding error to put the Braves up 5-4, they made no doubt about the result with further solo home runs to Austin Riley and Swanson to put the game to bed.
Swanson finished with four hits from five at-bats, with two runs and two RBIs.
Phillies MVP candidate Bryce Harper also played well, with four hits from his five at-bats, including two doubles.
Long ball reigns supreme for Tigers
The Detroit Tigers came back from an early deficit to defeat the Minnesota Twins 4-2 in extra innings – with every score coming from home runs.
Trevor Larnach put the Twins ahead 2-0 with his two-run homer in the fourth inning, before Tigers shortstop Harold Castro pegged one back with a solo shot in the sixth frame.
Castro struck again in the eighth inning, hitting another solo home run to tie the game and force extra innings.
In the extra inning, Jeimer Candelario was the hero, blasting the first pitch of his at-bat over the center-field wall to make it 4-2 and set the table for closing pitcher Andrew Chafin to come in for the save.
Yankees pitcher holds Orioles scoreless in debut start
The New York Yankees grinded out a hard-fought 2-0 victory against the Baltimore Orioles, thanks in large part to a terrific debut start for pitcher J.P. Sears.
Sears, 26, had two relief appearances for the Yankees this month before being trusted with his first start, and he repaid their faith with five scoreless innings, striking out five batters while giving up three hits and two walks.
The Yankees' bullpen also contributed, allowing just three baserunners, while Miguel Andujar had the most clutch hit of the game to break the deadlock in the fourth inning.
Julian Alvarez bagged an extraordinary six goals as River Plate finished off the Copa Libertadores group stage with a win, smashing Alianza Lima 8-1 on Wednesday.
The Manchester City-bound 22-year-old had effectively secured the win for River in their final game in Group F, scoring a brace in the opening 20 minutes, before sealing a first-half hat-trick four minutes from the interval.
His third was the pick of the bunch, too, retreating between the lines to receive the ball before driving low and hard into the bottom corner from just outside the penalty area.
Following Santiago Simon's goal in the 53rd minute, Enzo Gomez arguably topped them all for degree of difficulty, sending the ball into the top corner in the 79th minute before Alvarez rounded out the scoring four minutes later.
Los Millonarios ended the group stage undefeated, claiming 16 points from a possible 18 with the win.
Fortaleza snatch second from Colo Colo
In the other Group F game, Fortaleza took the three points and second spot from Santiago, defeating Colo Colo 4-3.
With both teams even on seven points coming into the final matchday, Los Albos needed the win but started the match in an inadequate fashion, conceding in only the second minute to Silvio Romero.
A Moises double before Yago Pikachu's goal in the 61st minute put Fortaleza in control, despite a brace of own-goals from Brayan Ceballos.
Cerro Porteno scrape through
Olimpia were unable to leapfrog Cerro Porteno in Group G despite claiming a 1-0 win in Asuncion, putting the latter through to the last 16 on goal difference.
El Decano needed to win by two goals or more in this Libertadores edition of the Paraguayan Clasico, trailing the Clausura champions by three points and with an inferior goal difference of one.
Despite an early goal from Fernando Cardozo in the 10th minute, they were unable to break the Azulgrana down and will have to continue in the Copa Sudamericana, finishing third.
The Boston Celtics claimed critical home-court advantage and a 3-2 series lead in the Eastern Conference Finals, earning a gritty 93-80 Game 5 win against the Miami Heat on Wednesday.
In all four quarters the Celtics held the Heat to 23 points or fewer, but the offensive side of the ball was also far from clicking early on.
The Heat led 19-17 at quarter-time and after winning the second frame 23-20, they held an incredibly low-scoring 42-37 lead at the long break.
In the first half, both teams shot under 39 per cent from the field and 26 per cent from three-point range, but the Heat were winning the physical battle on the boards, pulling in nine offensive rebounds to just two for the Celtics.
The two teams also combined for just six fast-break points in the first half, illustrating the slow, grinding pace of play as both defences locked in, forcing better ball and man movement.
Back in Game 1, also in Miami, the Heat who came out of the locker room for the third quarter and went on a rampage to swing that game, but this time the shoe was on the other foot.
The Celtics doubled up the Heat in the third period, winning it 32-16 as Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Al Horford found rhythm on the offensive end.
Boston led 69-58 after three quarters, and extended that lead to 23 points in the opening minutes of the final frame, as Brown knocked down three big triples.
After a first half where he was the subject of plenty of criticism for his loose ball handling – with four first-half turnovers – Brown made the difference after half-time, finishing with 25 points on 10-of-19 shooting and five-of-nine from long range. He also had no turnovers in the second half, and the biggest dunk of the game.
Jayson Tatum was also at his playmaking best, with 22 points on a mediocre seven-of-20 shooting, but he added 12 rebounds and nine assists, consistently creating opportunities for shooters off the dribble and showing advanced ability to make reads as play unfolded.
The real story of the Celtics' success was their ability to take away the three-point line for the Heat, though.
With Jimmy Butler's jump shots not falling – finishing with 13 points on four-of-18 shooting – Miami simply had no avenue to reliable outside scoring.
The Celtics' ability to chase hard over the top of screens and dribble hand-offs made life miserable for Max Strus and Duncan Robinson, taking away their catch-and-shoot opportunities and turning them into dribblers, far outside their comfort zones.
Strus finished zero-of-nine from the field, missing all seven of his three-point attempts, while Robinson was four-of-12, including three-of-10 from long range. As a team, the Heat were just seven-of-45 (15 per cent) from beyond the arc.
Instead, the Celtics dared the Heat to beat them inside, banking on the stoutness of their terrific interior defensive duo of Horford and Robert Williams III. That pairing combined for 17 rebounds, five blocks, two steals and just one foul.
Game 6 will head back to Boston, meaning the first-seeded Heat need to win on the road to save their season and force a Game 7.
World number one Novak Djokovic highlighted the joy of having fans back in full attendance after he collected his second consecutive straight sets win to advance to the third round of the French Open, beating Alex Molcan 6-2 6-3 7-6 (7-4).
In his first-round fixture against Yoshihito Nishioka, Djokovic won 55 per cent of the total points in the first set, and increased that number in the second and third.
This time, however, it was Molcan who was slowly improving as the match wore on, as Djokovic won 70 per cent of the first-set points, 57 per cent in the second and 53 per cent as he was taken to a tie-breaker in the third.
Speaking to the media after his win, the Serbian star said he feels in good touch, and gave credit to his "tricky opponent".
"I'm pleased with the way I'm feeling on the court [and] the way I’ve been striking the ball," he said.
"I think today was also under challenging conditions and playing against a specialist on clay, someone that is a tricky opponent and coming off from the [Lyon] final last week.
"It was never going to be an easy match, but I thought I performed very well."
He went on to discuss how energising it is to have a full crowd after there was a limited capacity for his 2021 triumph.
"It's great to see the crowd back [and] the full capacity on all courts," he said. "Lots of young people, lots of kids, this is something that I really love to see.
"It always gives you energy. For me at this stage of my career, a crowd and this energy of people coming to watch me play is one of the biggest reasons why I keep on competing [and] playing professional tennis."
Djokovic will play Slovakian Aljaz Bedene in the third round, and despite being aware of his collision course with Rafael Nadal set for the quarter-finals, he said looking ahead that far serves little purpose.
"You are aware what's going on with the other guys, at least in my case, and I know that everyone else is watching everybody else," he said.
"[But] that cannot be dominating most of your time and energy that you invest in a day.
"So you are aware, but then of course it's really not up to you what they do. It's what you have to do, win matches and make good results."
The Boston Celtics will receive a big boost for their crucial Game 5 clash against the Miami Heat on Wednesday night, with Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart returning to the line-up.
Smart missed Game 4 after suffering an awkward ankle injury in Game 3.
Adding to the Heat's problems is the fact that Sixth Man of the Year Tyler Herro will not return for Game 5, having not recovered from the groin strain that also kept him out of Game 4.
With each side missing one of their key players, the Celtics were buoyed by the performance of backup point guard Derrick White, who posted a handy stat-line of 13 points, eight rebounds, six assists and three steals in his first start since missing Game 2 for the birth of his child.
White's performance – especially on the defensive end – will likely cement his position in the rotation above fellow bench guard Payton Pritchard as Smart returns to the equation.
On the other side, it was Victor Oladipo shining off the bench as he tried to fill Herro's shoes, with the former All-Star scoring 18 of the Heat's first 28 points in Game 4, going on to finish with 23 points, six assists and four rebounds.
He also had a plus/minus of plus four from his 30 minutes, meaning the Celtics won the 18 minutes he was off the floor by 24 points.
Game 6 will head back to Boston on Friday, before a potential Game 7 back in Miami, if required.
The Pittsburgh Steelers have hired Omar Khan as their new general manager.
Khan, who was most recently Pittsburgh's vice president of football and business administration, has worked for the Steelers for 21 years.
He replaces long-time GM Kevin Colbert, who in January announced his decision to step down after the 2022 NFL Draft.
"I am extremely excited for this opportunity to be the general manager of the Pittsburgh Steelers," said Khan.
"I would like to thank Art Rooney II, Mike Tomlin, and Kevin Colbert for their support throughout this process.
"I am ready for this challenge and grateful to continue the success we have had on the field during my first 21 years.
"I look forward to completing our football operations staff and working tirelessly to build another championship football team for Steelers Nation and our community."
Carlos Alcaraz kept the nerves at bay when facing match point against Albert Ramos-Vinolas by forgetting that he was playing at the French Open.
The sixth seed saved match point in the fourth set and rallied from 0-3 in the fifth set to complete a 6-1 6-7 (7-9) 5-7 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 success on Court Simonne-Mathieu.
Teenager Alcaraz enjoyed an emphatic start against his fellow Spaniard, but the experienced Ramos-Vinolas showed admirable poise to take the second and third sets in Paris on Wednesday.
Ramos-Vinolas' ability to fight off break points – coupled with Alcaraz's lack of ruthlessness – gave him the upper hand, and he came within one point of knocking out the Madrid Open champion.
But he crumbled on his own serve at 5-4 in the fourth, and from there Alcaraz's greater mobility and relentlessness when chasing seemingly lost causes had the 19-year-old looking the favourite.
Eventually he came out on top after the longest match of his fledgling career at four hours and 34 minutes, setting up a third-round clash with Sebastian Korda.
"You always have nerves in the match, but I think today I wasn't nervous," said Alcaraz.
"Just maybe at the end of the fourth when I had the match point [to save]. I maybe thought I was one point away from losing, but just try not to think that I'm in the French Open.
"I'm trying to enjoy the moment. I think that in the fourth set, and in the fifth, I smile with my team.
"I enjoy the battles. I want to play big battles and tough battles against the best players in the world."
Alcaraz was won four titles this year, including success at two ATP 1000 events, and feels at home playing on the show courts.
"I'm still young, but I would say pretty experienced player now," said Alcaraz.
"I feel comfortable playing in big stadiums, big matches, playing in grand slams. Physically. I'm strong. Mentally, I'm strong as well.
"I think I'm ready to play these kinds of matches in these situations, these tournaments. I'm ready."
Rafael Nadal recorded his 300th grand slam match win by easing into the third round of the French Open, beating Corentin Moutet in straight sets.
The 'King of Clay' is in search of a record-extending 22nd major title at Roland Garros, where he was dethroned by Novak Djokovic last year.
On this evidence, Nadal is in the form to re-establish his dominion of the tournament, overcoming a spirited home hope, who enjoyed the benefit of vocal support from the crowd on Court Philippe-Chatrier on Wednesday evening.
Nadal will see room for improvement having failed to serve the match out in the third set, but a 6-3 6-1 6-4 win was never in doubt.
The tone for a procession was established when Nadal raced into a 3-0 lead in the opening set, and Moutet's dream of playing his idol soon appeared to be turning into a nightmare.
Nadal won the second set in commanding fashion behind an excellent first serve, but found Moutet's resistance more stern in the third.
That spirit was exemplified by Moutet breaking Nadal's serve with the Spaniard ahead 5-3. However, Nadal immediately responded in kind, dominating Moutet from the back of the court and wrapping up a landmark victory when the Frenchman sent a lob long at the end of an entertaining rally.
Nadal will face Botic Van De Zandschulp in the third round.
Data Slam: Nadal 107-3 opponents
As well as being his 300th grand slam match win, Nadal's triumph was his 107th at Roland Garros. He has still only tasted defeat in Paris three times. The fifth seed won all 11 of his first-serve points in the second set of another impressive display.
WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS
Nadal – 27/22
Moutet – 16/24
ACES/DOUBLE FAULTS
Nadal – 1/2
Moutet – 0/3
BREAK POINTS WON
Nadal – 7/12
Moutet – 2/4
Colin Kaepernick will work out for the Las Vegas Raiders this week.
According to multiple reports, the Raiders will cast their eye over Kaepernick, who has not played in the NFL since the 2016 season.
Kaepernick knelt during the national anthem throughout that campaign with the San Francisco 49ers in a protest against police brutality and racial injustice.
Since the end of his time with the 49ers, Kaepernick has not had a single workout with an NFL team.
That will now change, with Kaepernick getting the chance to impress the Raiders, who have Jarrett Stidham and Nick Mullens on their roster as backup quarterbacks to Derek Carr.
Kaepernick was drafted in the second round of the 2011 draft by the 49ers. He took them to Super Bowl XLVII after taking over the starting job during the 2012 season, the 49ers losing 34-31 to the Baltimore Ravens, and the NFC Championship Game in the 2013 campaign.
The 2016 campaign saw a poor Niners team go 2-14 with Kaepernick at quarterback, however, with 16 touchdowns to just four interceptions in 12 games, he was tied for the sixth-best TD-INT ratio in the NFL.
Speaking on the 'I Am Athlete' podcast recently, Kaepernick rejected concerns a general manager may have over him being a locker room distraction and having a negative impact on the business side.
"That 2016 season, my last year, my team-mates voted me most courageous and inspirational player," Kaepernick said.
"So, when you're talking about the people that are in the building, that has never come out that I've been a distraction. That's never come out that I've been an issue for the people I've played with.
"You have 'End Racism' in the back of your end zone. You have 'Black Lives Matter' on your helmet. Everything I've said should be in alignment with what you're [the NFL] saying publicly.
"It's a $16billion business. When I first took a knee, my jersey went to No. 1. When I did the deal with Nike, their value increased by six billion dollars. Six billion. With a B.
"So if you're talking about the business side, it shows [it's] beneficial. If you're talking about the playing side, come in, let me compete. You can evaluate me from there.
"The NFL's supposed to be a meritocracy. Come in, let me compete. If I'm not good enough, get rid of me. But let me come in and show you."
Rajat Patidar's remarkable unbeaten 112 kept Royal Challengers Bangalore's hopes of Indian Premier League glory alive as Lucknow Super Giants superb debut campaign came to an end.
Having seen fellow newcomers Gujarat Titans progress to the final, the Super Giants were looking to take a step towards joining them in Wednesday's eliminator.
Yet they were undone by an astonishing innings from Patidar, who propelled RCB to a 14-run win.
Patidar raced to a 28-ball half-century and a 49-ball hundred, his innings comprising of 12 fours and seven sixes and lifting RCB to 207-4.
Dinesh Karthik provided late support, hitting five fours and a six for his unbeaten 37, ensuring a hugely imposing target that proved to beyond the Super Giants.
Lucknow's chase was extremely admirable and saw them rack up 14 sixes at Eden Gardens in their 193-6.
Captain KL Rahul predictably led the charge with 79 - surpassing 600 runs for the season.
However, when he scooped Josh Hazlewood to short fine leg and the same bowler had Krunal Pandya caught and bowled from the next delivery, the Super Giants had a mountain to climb heading into the final over on 184-6.
Harshal Patel made sure RCB's commanding position was not let slip as he delivered at the death to keep Evin Lewis and Dushmantha Chameera from engineering a late turnaround, sending them through to Qualifier 2 against Rajasthan Royals with a place in the final on the line.
Patidar an unlikely hero
Patidar was unsold at the 2022 auction, with RCB signing him at the lowest possible price as an injury replacement midway through the competition.
His acquisition now looks extremely astute after Patidar delivered the fastest IPL hundred since Mayank Agarwal's 45-ball century in September 2020.
Hazlewood topples Super Giants
Hazlewood had sent down three wides in the 19th over before finding his accuracy to claim the wickets of Rahul and Krunal.
His team-mate Harshal bowled 11 dot balls in his 1-25 and removed the dangerous Marcus Stoinis prior to Hazlewood's key salvo and RCB will need that duo to replicate their performances if they are to progress to the final.
A Gerard Deulofeu hat-trick powered Catalonia to a 6-0 drubbing of the Reggae Boyz in Spain on Wednesday.
Xabi Alonso is set to leave Real Sociedad after a three-year spell in charge of the club's B team.
Alonso has built a reputation as a highly rated young coach since returning to his first club.
He took La Real's youngsters – often known as Sanse – to a fifth-placed finish in Segunda B2 in his debut campaign, before surpassing expectations the following year.
Alonso secured Sanse's first ever promotion to the second tier in the 2020-21 season as they finished top of Subgroup 2A and Promotion Group 2C in the reformatted Segunda B.
Their relegation back to the third tier has already been confirmed despite having one match left, but Alonso's spell in charge has largely been considered a success.
According to local reports, La Real wanted Alonso to take charge of the senior team for the upcoming 2022-23 season, such is the regard president Jokin Aperribay holds the former Spain international in.
But incumbent head coach Imanol Alguacil is said to have rejected the offer of a promotion to a directorial position as head of the club's academy in a suggested management reshuffle.
Alonso's departure was announced soon after such rumours began to surface.
"Xabi Alonso will not continue at Real Sociedad once the 21-22 season is over," a statement read. "The coach from Tolosa, coach of Sanse for the last three years, will leave the txuri urdin club having completed a brilliant stage, in which he achieved historic promotion to [the second tier] and enriching, thanks to his knowledge and involvement, the training and progress of the players of our subsidiary, many of them having debuted during this time with the first team.
"Xabi Alonso will not continue at Real Sociedad next year, but the doors of the txuri urdin club will always remain open to be able to join their paths again.
"Real Sociedad wishes to thank Xabi Alonso for the dedication, effort, commitment and involvement shown in the three years in which he has remained at the club in this stage as a coach and wishes him the best for his personal and professional future."
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