Sports
Avs put up 9 goals in outscoring Wild in series opener
May 3, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; Colorado Avalanche defenseman Nick Blankenburg (37) celebrates his goal scored against the Minnesota Wild during the second period in game one of the second round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images Cale Makar scored twice in the third period, Nazem Kadri also had a goal in the third, and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Minnesota Wild 9-6 in a high-scoring Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinal series on Sunday night in Denver.
Makar added an assist, Devon Toews had a goal and three assists, Nathan MacKinnon added a goal and two assists, Artturi Lehkonen and Sam Malinski each contributed a goal and an assist, and Nick Blankenburg and Jack Drury also scored for Colorado.
Game 2 is Tuesday night in Denver.
Quinn Hughes had a goal and two assists, and Mats Zuccarello, Marcus Johansson, Vladimir Tarasenko, Ryan Hartman and Marcus Foligno scored for Minnesota, which rallied from down 3-0 early to take a brief lead late in the second period.
The game was tied 5-all when Makar, who shook off an early injury, got a pass from MacKinnon in the right circle and wristed a shot high past Jesper Wallstedt at 3:21. Kadri padded the lead at 5:43 of the third with a breakaway goal.
Wallstedt turned away 34 of 42 shots in the game.
Zuccarello gave the Wild life when the puck went off his leg and in at 16:01, but Makar answered at 17:06. MacKinnon added an empty-netter to seal it.
Martin Necas had three assists and Valeri Nichushkin contributed two assists for the Avalanche.
Scott Wedgewood had 10 of his 30 saves in the third period to make the lead stand up for Colorado
Malinski, Drury and Lehkonen scored 2:01 apart midway through the first period to give the Avalanche a 3-0 lead. Johansson and Hartman answered with goals a minute apart to cut it to 3-2.
The second period continued the scoring trend. Blankenburg scored 4:16 into the second to make it 4-2, and Tarasenko answered at 6:45 to get the Wild back in it.
Hughes tied it when his shot through a screen beat Wedgewood at 12:43 of the second, and Foligno scored a short-handed goal at 16:55 to give Minnesota a 5-4 lead.
Toews tied it again when he scored at 18:04, seconds after the Wild killed off a power play.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Brad Stuver, Austin shut out St. Louis City
May 3, 2026; Austin, Texas, USA; Austin FC forward Christian Ramirez (21) is congratulated by teammates for making a goal against St. Louis CITY SC during the second half at Q2 Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dustin Safranek-Imagn Images Christian Ramirez and Myrto Uzuni scored within 12 minutes of each other in the second half and Brad Stuver turned away four shots for his second straight clean sheet to lead host Austin FC to a 2-0 win over struggling St. Louis City on Sunday.
The Verde (3-4-4, 13 points) have captured consecutive games via identical scores and have turned around a season that had seen them suffer through a seven-match winless swoon.
St. Louis City (1-6-3, 6 points) are now winless in their past five matches and have lost three times over that stretch.
Ramirez’s goal in the 69th minute broke Sunday’s scoreless deadlock. The scoring play started from a corner kick that was originally cleared from the zone before Uzuni pounced on the loose ball, sending it back into the box for teammate Dani Pereira.
Pereira then chipped a pass toward the far post that Ramirez leaped to head into the net past St. Louis goalkeeper Roman Burki for a 1-0 lead.
Austin added to the goal in the 81st minute when Uzuni booted home a left-footed shot after Jon Gallagher ran down the ball near the end line and passed to Ramirez. Ramirez then feed Uzuni at the center of the box for a shot into the lower left corner that doubled the lead.
The Verde got a boost in the match from the return of midfielder Owen Wolff, who entered in the 82nd minute after missing Austin’s first 10 games of the season.
Austin had an excellent scoring chance in the early minutes but Gallagher’s header from deep in the box with a 24% goal expectancy went over the crossbar. Marcel Hartel countered with a shot on goal for St. Louis City three minutes later that Stuver batted away.
Uzuni was in prime position to open the scoring in the 22nd minute when he headed a free kick toward the net that Burki somehow stopped. Stuver then returned the favor in the 26th minute when he dove to make a save on Simon Becher.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Stewart Cink wins Regions Tradition to clinch back-to-back majors
Stewart Cink hits his driver on the first tee during the first round of The Galleri Classic at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, Calif., Friday, March 28, 2025. Less than a month ago, Stewart Cink had never won a PGA Tour Champions major.
Now he has won two.
Cink shot a 3-under-par 69 on Sunday at the Regions Tradition in Birmingham, Ala., taking home the title by three strokes over nearest competitor Scott Hend of Australia in breezy conditions.
“It wasn’t easy,” Cink said. “But I was pretty resilient and I trusted what I had and our game plan was good. You know, I wasn’t perfect by any stretch, but I played good golf under the circumstances.”
The Florence, Ala. native had his own cheering section at Greystone Golf and Country Club on Sunday, as Cink carded five birdies against two bogeys to earn his second straight major after winning the Senior PGA Championship in Bradenton, Fla. two weeks ago.
“This is where I cut my teeth in golf,” Cink said. “The fans out here were awesome, I saw a lot of familiar faces. Everybody’s put on the years, but some people from junior golf that I played with and against and their families. A lot of my friends and family have been out here all week anyway that I knew they were coming. It’s just been great.”
The eight-time PGA Champions tourney winner cited the importance of keeping his focus on the present for his recent hot streak, which has included four wins overall in 2026. He has yet to finish lower than sixth this calendar year.
“One of the things I’m doing a pretty good job of is just kind of staying in the moment,” he said. “It feels good to get back in the winner’s circle again, of course. I hope there’s a lot more times coming.”
Hend surged up the leaderboard to apply some pressure as most other golfers struggled to match Cink’s strong day. Hend did Cink four better with a 7-under 65, but he ultimately had too much ground to make up coming into the day. Still, a day with six birdies, a bogey and an eagle on the par-5 No. 13 left much to be proud of.
Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie shot a 1-under 71 which left him in third place at 13 under once the dust settled, while Denmark’s Soren Kjeldsen took fourth with a 3-under 69 that put him at 12 under.
Three golfers rounded out the top five in a tie for fifth: South Korea’s Charlie Wi (68), Germany’s Alex Cejka (70) and Doug Barron (71).
–Field Level Media
Sports
Missing Game 7 a tough pill to swallow for Jayson Tatum
May 2, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (0) and the rest of the Celtics bench react to a three point basket against the Philadelphia 76ers during the second quarter of game seven of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-Imagn Images It was going well until it wasn’t.
The second-seeded Boston Celtics took a 3-1 series lead over the Philadelphia 76ers in the NBA Eastern Conference quarterfinals. Six-time All-Star forward Jayson Tatum, who came back from Achilles tendon surgery much faster than anyone expected, was averaging 24.8 points through the first four games of the series.
But then the Sixers routed the host Celtics in Game 5 and Tatum hobbled off the court in the second half of Game 6, another Philadelphia triumph.
It was not apparent whether Boston coach Joe Mazzulla did not re-insert Tatum into Game 6 due to an injury or the fact that his team trailed by 23 points in the fourth quarter.
But Tatum’s status for Sunday’s Game 7 continued to downgrade and two hours before tipoff, he was ruled out for Boston’s do-or-die contest.
Hence, the four-time All-NBA first-teamer sat on the bench in street clothes as the Sixers completed the comeback, ousting Boston 109-100.
Tatum addressed the media on Sunday, reflecting on his satisfaction on returning to the court and his frustration about the last few days.
“My recovery and comeback (from the Achilles injury) were going so well that how it ended, I didn’t think it was going to end that way,” said Tatum. “It was just unfortunate.
“I worked really, really, really, really hard to come back in the fashion that I did and play at the level I was playing at. So for it to end the way it did was a tough pill to swallow.”
Tatum explained that, since he was still in the return-to-play window, NBA protocols had to be followed pertaining to his left knee stiffness. The Celtics’ medical team and Tatum’s trainer, Nick Sang, agreed that he would not be able to compete on Saturday.
Tatum admitted on Sunday that he was not playing at full capacity since his return to the court on March 6 vs. Dallas. He rated himself at about 80-85% and relayed that his right leg is still shorter than his left.
The Boston star averaged 31.0 minutes per game in 11 March games and 36.2 minutes in five regular-season contests in April. His scoring (21.8) and shooting splits (41.1% FG, 32.9% 3FG) were a little below his career marks, but he rebounded at a career-best 10.0 per game heading into the playoffs.
But Tatum has no regrets about pushing himself to return in a 10-month window and help this year’s team.
“I’m happy and proud of the fact that I was able to do that,” Tatum said. “And, unfortunately, if somebody else has to deal with this, they can look at what I was able to do and have some hope and inspiration that it’s not what people used to think it was. And you can come back from this and be who you were and hopefully be better.”
–Field Level Media
