Jackson Blake scored his second goal of the game in overtime and the visiting Carolina Hurricanes swept their second straight Stanley Cup Playoffs series with a 3-2 win against the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference semifinal matchup on Saturday evening.

At 5:31 of the extra session, Blake scored off Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar’s left shoulder from between the hash marks to finish off a rush and advance the Hurricanes to the conference finals against either the Buffalo Sabres or Montreal Canadiens. That series is tied 1-1 entering Game 3 on Sunday.

Blake also had an assist, Logan Stankoven also scored, Taylor Hall had three assists and Frederik Andersen made 15 saves for Carolina, which became the first team since the Edmonton Oilers in 1985 to begin a postseason 8-0.

Tyson Foerster and Alex Bump scored and Vladar made 37 saves for the Flyers.

Foerster scored his first goal of the playoffs to give Philadelphia a 1-0 lead at 7:50 of the first period.

Porter Martone fed a pass ahead to Trevor Zegras, who had more speed as they both crossed the Carolina blue line. Zegras pulled up along the wall and saucered a centering pass to Foerster entering the zone. He brought the puck to the right hash marks before scoring with a wrist shot.

Blake took a wrist shot from near the wall above the right faceoff circle and the puck hit the midsection of Flyers defenseman Jamie Drysdale as he battled Logan Stankoven in front of the crease, causing it to be redirected into his own net and tying it at 12:35 of the second period.

The Hurricanes briefly thought they moved ahead on a goal by Mark Jankowski at 13:03 of the second, but the Flyers successfully challenged for goalie interference on William Carrier as he jostled with Oliver Bonk in front of the crease.

Hall made a centering pass to Stankoven on a 3-on-2 rush and he redirected the puck into the net for his NHL-leading seventh goal of the postseason, giving the Hurricanes their first lead of the game, 2-1, at 4:13 of the third period.

That lead didn’t last long as Travis Konecny forced a turnover below the Carolina goal line and passed the puck out front to Bump, who scored with a one-timer from between the hash marks to tie it at 5:52.

–Field Level Media

Michael Wacha allowed two hits over seven scoreless innings, Bobby Witt Jr. sped his way to a two-run inside-the-park homer and Michael Massey broke things open with a conventional three-run shot Saturday night, as the host Kansas City Royals beat the scuffling Detroit Tigers 5-1.

Wacha (4-2), who turns 35 in July and boasts an ERA of 2.63, yielded only a single to Kerry Carpenter and a double from Spencer Torkelson, walking two and striking out six on 89 pitches to help the Royals take the first two of this three-game set. Kansas City, which secured its series win over Detroit since August of 2024, is 12-5 since losing eight in a row.

Riley Greene had an RBI double in the eighth inning for the Tigers, who managed just four hits while matching a season high with their fifth consecutive loss. Detroit swept a three-game home set during the Royals’ extended skid last month, but is in danger of that favor being returned this weekend.

The Royals wasted no time getting to Detroit opener Burch Smith (0-2). Maikel Garcia led off the bottom of the first with a double into the left-center gap and scored one batter later when Witt inside-outed a pitch down the right-field line. Carpenter severely misplayed the ball off the sidewall, and it rolled far enough away for Witt to circle the bases for his fifth homer of the season and his second career inside-the-parker.

Carpenter exited shortly after with left shoulder soreness from slamming into the wall on the play.

Kansas City made it 5-0 in the fourth. With Ty Madden on the mound for Detroit, Carter Jensen drew a one-out walk and Jac Caglianone singled. Then with two outs, Massey sent a drive out to right-center to give the Royals a hefty advantage.

The Tigers, who have totaled 11 runs in the last five contests, finally got on the board against Matt Strahm. Kevin McGonigle singled to open the eighth and eventually scored on Greene’s two-out double.

–Field Level Media

Boo Weekley carded his second consecutive round of 6-under-par 66 on Saturday and took a one-stroke lead over South African Ernie Els at the Insperity Invitational at The Woodlands (Texas) Country Club.

Weekley, 52, is seeking his first victory on the PGA Tour Champions after winning three times on the PGA Tour but not since 2013. He is at 12-under 132 after 36 holes, leading Els by one and by a three-stroke margin over Tom Pernice Jr. (66 on Saturday) and South Korea’s Charlie Wi (68).

Els also shot a 66 after opening with a 67. First-round leader Ben Crane carded a 1-under 71 and is tied at 8 under with six others: Northern Ireland’s Padraig Harrington, Spain’s Miguel Angel Jiminez, New Zealand’s Steven Alker, Zach Johnson, Tommy Gainey and defending champion Stewart Cink, who has won the season’s first two majors.

Crane shot a 7-under round of 65 on Friday.

Weekley has produced a dozen birdies and no bogies through 36 holes. On Saturday, he birdied four of the first seven holes. He also was successful in scrambling 5-of-5 times and is 7 of 7 with one round remaining.

“I left a lot of putts short on this back side that could have went in,” Weekley said. “You know, really, really close to going in. Just a little, you know, another foot of speed or a little bit higher line or something like that. But overall, I’m happy where everything’s going right now.”

Els heated up on the back nine, recording four consecutive birdies from the 13th through the 16th holes. Included in that run were birdies on the par-3 14th and 16th holes.

Els drove the ball much better on Saturday, hitting 11 fairways and increasing his driving distance by nearly 19 yards.

“It’s a long story. It’s kind of ball position and setup, all the normal stuff that gets out of whack with me,” said Els. “So those are the most uncomfortable things to work on. So, today was a good day.”

What would it take for Weekley to win?

“I’d like another 66,” he said. “I’d like to roll my dice on it and see what happens. … You know, any time you can shoot 66 and just keep playing golf, that’s a good round no matter where you finish.”

Like Crane admitted on Friday, Els is really enjoying himself on the tour.

“You know, when I was younger I downplayed the Champions Tour,” Els said. “You know, I didn’t have a good time when I was in my late 40s on the regular tour. So to be out here, be able to compete, to play, to have almost a tournament a week at our age, come on, you know? It’s gravy. And to have the guys that I’ve competed against all my life and still trying to win a tournament is — there’s no other sport like this.”

–Field Level Media