Canada Sports News

Bucks’ Lillard out for Game 4 vs. Pacers with Achilles injury

SportsNets - Sun, 04/28/2024 - 10:05

Milwaukee Bucks star guard Damian Lillard has been ruled out for Sunday’s Game 4 against the Indiana Pacers with an Achilles injury, according to the team’s injury report.

Lillard was previously considered doubtful for the contest after aggravating the injury in Friday’s Game 3 loss.

Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo will miss his seventh consecutive game with a calf injury.

Lillard has stepped up in Antetokounmpo’s absence, averaging 32.3 points and 5.3 assists in the first three games of the first-round series.

Milwaukee faces a 2-1 deficit heading into Sunday’s Game 4.

Alcaraz earns another comfortable win in Madrid in return from injury

SportsNets - Sun, 04/28/2024 - 09:59

MADRID — Two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz cruised past Thiago Seyboth Wild in the third round of the Madrid Open on Sunday, earning another comfortable victory in his return from injury.

Alcaraz won 6-3, 6-3 for his second straight victory in his first tournament after skipping Monte Carlo and Barcelona because of an arm injury.

The second-seeded Alcaraz had made his debut at the tournament with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Alexander Shevchenko.

No. 3-ranked Alcaraz is trying to become the first player to win three straight Madrid Open titles. He will next face Jan-Lennard Struff, his opponent in last year’s final in Madrid.

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Capitals to get Sandin, maybe Jensen, back for Game 4 vs. Rangers

SportsNets - Sun, 04/28/2024 - 09:43

The Capitals will get some help back on the blue line as they try and stave off elimination by the Rangers on Sunday.

Rasmus Sandin has been cleared to play, according to NHL.com writer Tom Gulitti, and will be back in the lineup. The Swede missed the final five games of the regular season and has been absent so far in the playoffs with an upper-body injury.

Fellow rearguard Nick Jensen, who also has yet to make a playoff appearance this spring after missing the final three games of the regular season with an upper-body injury, was awaiting a final clearance from the team doctor, but optimistic he would play.

The news will be most welcome for a Washington team that has already lost defencemen Vincent Iorio and Trevor van Riemsdyk to injury during the series.

The Capitals are down 3-0 in their best-of-seven series with the Rangers and will need to win Game 4 (8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+) in order to avoid an early playoff exit.

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Accident au Michigan : la victime lui avait dit de ralentir - TVA Nouvelles

Google Sports Canada French - Sun, 04/28/2024 - 09:34

Accident au Michigan : la victime lui avait dit de ralentir TVA Nouvelles

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Premier League Roundup: Arsenal survives scare at Tottenham

SportsNets - Sun, 04/28/2024 - 09:30

Arsenal survived a late scare at Tottenham to stay ahead in the race for the Premier League title on Sunday.

A 3-2 win at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium ensured Mikel Arteta’s team will remain at the top of the standings after the latest round of fixtures and keep the pressure on defending champion Manchester City, which played at Nottingham Forest later Sunday.

But Arsenal had to endure a nervous finish despite powering to 3-0 lead in a London derby that was supposed to be one of its biggest tests in the title chase.

Tottenham responded in the second half through Cristian Romero and Son Heung-min’s penalty in the 87th minute.

Under pressure, Arsenal held on to extend its lead over second-place City to four points. After the match against Forest, City will still have a game in hand.

Arsenal took the lead against Spurs through Pierre-Emile Hojberg’s own-goal in the 15th. Bukayo Saka added a second in the 27th and Kai Havertz made it 3-0 at the break with another in the 38th.

Romero capitalized on Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya’s errant kick in the 64th to set up a potential comeback.

Bournemouth beat Brighton 3-0 after goals from Marcos Senesi, Enes Unal and Justin Kluivert.

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Blue Jays’ Springer back in starting lineup vs. Dodgers

SportsNets - Sun, 04/28/2024 - 09:07

Toronto Blue Jays outfielder George Springer is back in the team’s starting lineup for Sunday’s series finale against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Springer was out of the lineup for the Blue Jays’ 4-2 loss on Saturday. He will assume his usual spot in right field and hit leadoff on Sunday.

Toronto’s bats are looking to come alive to avoid the series sweep, having dropped the first two games with a combined for four total runs scored in the two contests.

Springer is batting .228 with three home runs and five RBI in 26 appearances this season.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. will DH, with Justin Turner taking over first base. Kevin Gausman (0-3, 5.57 ERA) gets the start on the mound.

Watch the Blue Jays take on Shohei Ohtani and the Dodgers on Sunday on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ starting at 1:30 p.m. ET / 10:30 a.m. PT.

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Kings’ defensive blueprint no match for high-flying Oilers

SportsNets - Sun, 04/28/2024 - 08:42

LOS ANGELES — The theory went something like this: Having faced Edmonton for two straight springs, nobody knew better how to defuse this explosive Oilers offence than the stingy, defence-bent Los Angeles Kings.

They were the Pacific Division’s Hurt Locker, equipped with the knowledge, the tools and the courage to neutralize the nuclear threat that is Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl before the clock hit zero.

In practice, however, it has played out in the inverse. The Oilers have gone off.

Three games into this series, Edmonton has scored in each of the nine periods — though not OT of Game 2 — for an NHL-high 17 goals (tied with Colorado).

The Oilers’ powerplay is running at a seven-for-14 pace, and Edmonton has successfully killed every one of the 10 powerplays that Los Angeles has earned.

And in the voices of the Kings on Sunday, you could hear the yielding echoes of a team on the Game 4 ledge. A familiar foil for whom the distance appears to be increasing — not shrinking — between them and their annual Round 1 rival.

“You look at their (top) two, three guys over there, 100-plus point (players),” said Kings winger Blake Lizotte. “We don’t even have a 90-point guy.”

“I’ve played the one-three-one for four years now,” he said. “That’s part of our identity, playing tight-checking and not gambling on scoring five or six. We’re not going to win many games when we give up four or five.

“Once the score gets up to five or six, with the skill level they have, it’s going to be tough for us to win games.”

Edmonton’s powerplay, retooled for this post-season with a few new tweaks not seen before, has buffaloed the Kings. They thought they had the blueprint, but as Sunday’s Game 4 approaches, the Kings are no longer sure which wire to snip.

What can’t the Kings figure out?

“It’s an array of things,” began the painfully honest Lizotte. “They have so many different options out of the same looking set. Where other teams may have one or two options, they have three or four. And they do it at a speed that is higher than your average powerplay. It’s been proven across the league… they’ve been pretty much the No. 1 powerplay.”

“You just can’t take penalties,” he concluded. “Fourteen powerplays in three games. You give those players that many chances, they’re going to score.”

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Now, two years ago the Oilers won Games 2 and 3 by scores of 6-0 and 8-2, and walked into Game 4 loaded with confidence. L.A. shut Edmonton out in that game, 4-0.

But the Oilers are less likely today to leave a light on for the Kings. Veterans of five rounds these past two seasons, McDavid and Co. know the value of taking this series home with a 3-1 lead. Possibly not even flying down to L.A. again…

“Whether you’re up 2-1 or you’re down 2-1, Game 4 always feels like it’s a big swing game,” McDavid said. “I think we’ve learned our lesson from Game 2. We came out a little bit flat, didn’t match their desperation, spotted them three in the first and had a difficult time coming back. The first five minutes is huge.”

In reality, that break in overtime of Game 2 is all that separates us from a truly lopsided series.

When the Kings have played well, they were able to squeak out a win in OT. When Edmonton plays its game, it is not close.

Up the middle, McDavid and Draisaitl — in the midst of their prime seasons at age 27 and 28 — are simply too much for the great Anze Kopitar and Phil Danault, aged 36 and 31 respectively. It’s 238 regular season points against 117 — almost exactly two to one.

That Pierre-Luc Dubois has ghosted this season, and this series, is a fatal blow, pushing Kopitar and Danault into a head-to-head matchup they have no chance of winning over seven playoff games.

“We haven’t had a lot of guys do a lot of scoring, I guess you would say, outside of (Adrian) Kempe,” said Kings head coach Jim Hiller. “Those higher profile offensive players? For sure — they need to get more done.

“Would we like more from them so far? Yeah, but we’re three games in. There’s lots left.”

Dubois’ lone point in this series came when Darnell Nurse kicked a puck into his own net. Kevin Fiala’s only point came on a prayer from the sideboards that somehow found twine. Kopitar’s three points all came in the same game. Danault has but one assist.

“We think we have a plan, a recipe, that’s going to lead to success,” Hiller said. “We didn’t follow it well enough (in Game 3), in the first period, specifically. We know what we have to do. We just have to do it better.

“We can’t shoot ourselves in the foot. Turn a couple of pucks over and here they come.”

Stanley Cup Playoffs Round 1: Oilers vs. Kings

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Here they come.

He sounded like a coach who has watched the video, and knows what his eyes tell him.

For now, however, the Oilers had the day off and enjoyed some sun. Their stress is low, their belief high, but their respect for the opponent is also on full display.

“We’ve faced this team a lot, and we’ve tried different things,” McDavid said. “Through trial and error we’ve kind of figured out things that work and things to stay away from.”

As for L.A., they are proud, competitive hockey men who know what must be said.

Forget what we’ve seen so far, this Game 4 is the last real hill for the Kings. Claim it, and we’re on for a long series.

“It’s ridiculous if you think this series is over,” Lizotte said. “It’s 2-1… and we’ve got a chance to win (Sunday) night and bring it back to Edmonton 2-2. We would take that at the beginning of the series.

“Our confidence to keep this series alive is high.”

If you say so.

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Le Canadien a plus de victoires en séries que les Leafs dans les cinq dernières années - DansLesCoulisses

Google Sports Canada French - Sun, 04/28/2024 - 08:10

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How Blue Jays third base coach Carlos Febles helped mould Mookie Betts

SportsNets - Sun, 04/28/2024 - 07:54

TORONTO — Mookie Betts knew that if he made his way to the Rogers Centre infield early enough on Friday, he’d find his old mentor. Sure enough, when the Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop popped out of the visitors’ dugout around 3 p.m., he spotted Blue Jays third base coach Carlos Febles.

The two have known each other since 2013 and so a big hug and catch-up was in order.

Betts was a fresh-faced 20-year-old when he played for Febles, who managed the Boston Red Sox single-A affiliate Greenville Drive. Naturally, the two have some great throwback stories, like the time Febles slapped Betts.

Or did he?

The story goes that Betts came up to the plate one game with none out and runners on first and second. He surprised everybody by laying down a successful bunt that earned him an infield single and loaded the bases. However, the next batter struck out and that was followed by a double play that killed what looked to be a promising rally for the Drive.

“I’ll never forget it,” Betts recalls. “[Febles] came in after the game and he let me have it. He’s like, ‘Don’t you ever bunt again.’ He smacked me in my head and said, ‘Don’t ever bunt.’”

Febles recalls the situation differently.

“I didn’t slap him,” Febles counters with a giant grin. “I said, ‘Listen, you’re my best [expletive] hitter. You’re not here to bunt. You’re a good hitter.”

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Jokes aside, the encounter has stuck with Betts because it was exactly what he needed to hear at the time. He was a rail-thin infielder who lacked confidence in his own abilities.

“I was a little guy, especially back in 2012-13, and little guys are bunting and the game was different then,” says Betts. “And so, I think that was [Febles’] way of reinforcing the positive — like, ‘You can hit, I want you to hit. You’re not going to go through the ranks by not hitting.’

“I had never heard that before.”

That brand of positivity is a defining characteristic of Febles, according to Betts. It’s how the coach has sought to get the best out of players, and it’s helped him carve out a career in big-league organizations. Febles was promoted to the Red Sox’s coaching staff in 2018 — overlapping with Betts for two seasons before the star was traded to the Dodgers — and spent seven years there before joining the Blue Jays this past off-season as a replacement for longtime coach Luis Rivera, who retired.

Blue Jays personnel have raved about the energy that Febles, who played six seasons with the Kansas City Royals, brings daily. Betts says that’s what first endeared him to the former second baseman.

“He’s a lot of laughs, a lot of jokes,” says Betts. “Even when he is having a bad day, you can’t really tell and if he is having a bad day, he finds a way to get out of it. He doesn’t bring people down with him.”

Betts was drafted out of high school as an infielder before moving to the outfield in the upper levels of the minors. Febles, a second baseman during his own playing days, spent copious amounts of time working with Betts at the position. When they were together in Greenville, Betts would field ground balls before every game under the tutelage of Febles.

“He was just out there with me every day grinding,” says Betts. “This was the manager, but that’s why I didn’t look at him as a manager. I looked at him more like a coach and a friend.”

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Febles remembers a young Betts being a hard worker who searched for every possible edge. He would pepper coaches, players and even bat boys with streams of questions in what seemed like a relentless quest for improvement.

There were even times when the manager would have to yell at Betts to get him to stop taking ground balls. If Betts made an error in a game, he’d be out there early the next day seemingly trying to make up for it. Febles wanted to ensure the prospect was pursuing quality reps over quantity.

“It’s like he feels like he’s the worst player in baseball,” says Febles. “Mookie is the guy that would hit a line drive up the middle in the cage and was not happy about it. And the guys behind would say, ‘Wow,’ but he was like, ‘It doesn’t feel right.’ It was the same way defensively.

“But now, he’s got to a stage where it doesn’t matter for him.”

That stage has Betts situated as arguably a top-three player in the sport. He’s won a batting title and MVP award, two World Series championships, six Gold Gloves and is a seven-time all-star. The 31-year-old is on track for the Hall of Fame and his 67.6 career Wins Above Replacement, per Baseball Reference, rank him second to Mike Trout (86.2) among all active position players.

“He got to this point where he is right now by working his tail off and he continues to work,” says Febles. “So, I feel proud of him. Not just the player, the man he has become. He’s still the same guy that he was in the minor leagues.”

And even to this day, the educational exchanges between the two don’t stop. When he caught up with Febles on Friday ahead of the series opener between the Dodgers and Blue Jays, Betts took the opportunity to pick the brain of his former manager. Betts moved from right field to second base last season and is now in the midst of transitioning to shortstop.

“He was giving me things to think about at a new position,” says Betts. “He’s still trying to help me. We have that rapport — you know somebody when you’re 20 years old, so 10-plus years, that’s a relationship that’s everlasting.”

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