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Cole Caufield's hat trick leads Habs' demolition of Islanders

NHL: New York Islanders at Montreal CanadiensMar 21, 2026; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens center Nick Suzuki (14) plays the puck against New York Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech (3) during the first period at Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images

Cole Caufield had a hat trick and finished with five points, and the Canadiens beat the New York Islanders 7-3 in Montreal on Saturday night

It was the first career five-point game for Caufield, who has 43 goals on the season.

Juraj Slafkovsky had two goals and two assists for his first career four-point game, and Kaiden Guhle had a goal and two assists for the Canadiens (38-21-10, 86 points). Nick Suzuki had four assists and Jacob Fowler made 19 saves.

Emil Heineman, Simon Holmstrom and Matthew Schaefer scored for the Islanders (39-26-5, 83 points). Ilya Sorokin allowed six goals on 32 shots before being lifted in the third period.

Slafkovsky gave the Canadiens a 1-0 lead at 4:10 of the first period when he scored on a one-timer from the slot off a pass from Suzuki during a power play.

Heineman tied it 1-1 at 6:46, getting to a loose puck in the left circle on the rush and beating Fowler far side on a power play.

Holmstrom gave the Islanders a 2-1 lead at 13:19, scoring on a breakaway when he deked around Fowler before sliding the puck home.

The Canadiens regained the lead with a pair of goals late in the second period.

Alex Newhook tied the game when he scored on a one-timer from the bottom of the right circle at 17:49.

Caufield gave the Canadiens a 3-2 lead at 19:08. He took a return pass from Suzuki along the goal line and lifted a shot over Sorokin’s right shoulder.

Schaefer tied it 3-3 just 45 seconds into the third period, scoring a power-play goal on a one-timer from the center point off a return pass from Mathew Barzal.

The Canadiens regained the lead at 3:17 when Guhle scored on slap shot through traffic from the center point.

Slafkovsky made it 5-3 at 8:08 when he scored on a one-timer from the low slot off a pass from Caufield behind the net.

Caufield pushed the lead to 6-3 when he scored from the slot off a pass from Slafkovsky in the right circle at 11:20.

Caufield capped the hat trick with a goal on a 2-on-1 rush at 14:59 for the 7-3 final.

–Field Level Media

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LaMelo Ball, Hornets continue strong stretch, roll past Grizzlies

NBA: Memphis Grizzlies at Charlotte HornetsMar 21, 2026; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Memphis Grizzlies forward GG Jackson (45) drives to the basket past Charlotte Hornets guard/forward Kon Knueppel (7) during the first quarter at Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Brian Westerholt-Imagn Images

LaMelo Ball’s 29 points led to another big offensive output for the Charlotte Hornets in their 124-101 victory against the visiting Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday night.

Brandon Miller poured in 22 points for the Hornets (37-34), who have won five of their last six games. Charlotte also received contributions from Miles Bridges with 13 points, Coby White with 12 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in 19 minutes off the bench, Moussa Diabate with 11 points and 14 rebounds and Ryan Kalkbrenner with 10 points.

GG Jackson led Memphis with 19 points, while Javon Small provided 17 points and a team-high seven rebounds, Taylor Hendricks had 14 points and Walter Clayton Jr. notched 11 points.

The Grizzlies (24-46), who didn’t have a double-figure scorer in the first half, have lost 10 of their last 11 games.

Led by Ball with seven 3-pointers and Miller with five 3s, the Hornets made 18 shots and shot 41.9% from beyond the arc even with usual-sharpshooter rookie Kon Knueppel going 1-for-6 from deep.

Knueppel was the only Charlotte starter who didn’t shoot better than 47.4% from the field, with Bridges, Diabate and Miller combining to make 19 of 26 shots. The shooting issues for the Hornets popped up at the free-throw line, where they were 16-for-24.

The Grizzlies had widespread 3-point production with four players each hitting three 3s. Still, Memphis fell to 11-24 in road games.

Charlotte handled business on the boards with a 49-34 rebounding edge. Six of Diabate’s rebounds came at the offensive end. That helped the Hornets overcome 18 turnovers.

The Hornets have won three straight to begin a seven-game homestand, putting together some huge second-half production in doing so. Ball has led Charlotte in scoring in two of the last three games.

The Hornets built a 59-47 halftime lead and took a 22-point margin into the fourth quarter.

Cedric Coward, normally a starter for Memphis, missed his second game in a row because of personal reasons.

–Field Level Media

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From First Four to Sweet 16: No. 11 Texas stuns No. 3 Gonzaga

NCAA Basketball: NCAA Tournament Second Round-Texas at GonzagaMar 21, 2026; Portland, OR, USA; Gonzaga Bulldogs forward Graham Ike (15) passes against Texas Longhorns forward Camden Heide (5) in the first half during a second round game of the men’s 2026 NCAA Tournament at Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Craig Strobeck-Imagn Images

PORTLAND, Ore. — Matas Vokietaitis and Jordan Pope scored 17 points apiece and Camden Heide came off the bench to hit a key 3-pointer with 14.7 seconds left to lift No. 11 seed Texas to a 74-68 victory in second round of the NCAA West Region on Saturday.

With the Longhorns leading by one after a dunk by Gonzaga’s Graham Ike, Texas called a time out with 32 seconds left and inserted Heide, whose 3-pointer from the right corner pushed the lead to 72-68.

Mario Saint-Supery missed a desperation Gonzaga 3-pointer and Vokietaitis hit a layup to close the scoring.

West Coast Conference Player of the Year Ike had 25 points and Jaden Warley had 10 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Saint-Supery had nine points and five assists.

Texas is the first First Four winner to win at least three games in the tournament since 11th seeded UCLA won five straight to reach the 2021 Final Four.

The Longhorns (21-114 face a potential SEC rematch in the Sweet Sixteen in San Jose on Thursday, where they will face the winner of the Arkansas-High Point game to be played later Saturday.

Gonzaga (31-4), the first No. 3 seed to lose in the tourney, had won at least two games in the NCAAs in nine of the previous 10 seasons. The Bulldogs were making their 27th straight NCAA Tournament appearance.

Ike played with four fouls in the final six minutes. He picked up his fourth on a Nic Codie on a put-back attempt. Codie’s two free throws made it 59-56, and after an Ike miss, Pope made a 3-pointer to give the Longhorns their largest lead to that point, 62-56.

Ike brought Gonzaga within 66-64 when he followed his own miss with three minutes left. Pope followed with his third three to make it 69-64.

Saint-Supery made two free throws and Ike’s dunk with 40.3 seconds remaining brought Gonzaga within one, 69-68.

Codie had 12 points and Dailyn Swain had 11 points, six rebounds and six assists. Vokietaitis had nine rebounds.

–Jack Magruder, Field Level Media

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Donovan Mitchell, Cavs end Pelicans' 7-game home win streak

NBA: Cleveland Cavaliers at New Orleans PelicansMar 21, 2026; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson (1) battles Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (45) during the first half at Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images

Donovan Mitchell scored 27 points, James Harden went for 20 points, 10 assists and six rebounds, and the Cleveland Cavaliers used a fourth-quarter rally to snap the New Orleans Pelicans’ seven-game home winning streak 111-106 on Saturday.

Cleveland (44-27) came back from down as many as 15 points, going on runs of 16-2 and 10-0 in the final period to pull ahead.

After an offensively lackluster first three quarters, Harden came alive late. He scored 13 of his points in the final period, including knocking down a trio of 3-pointers during the initial Cavaliers run.

Sam Merrill also provided timely plays in Cleveland’s comeback, pulling down three of his 10 rebounds in the fourth quarter and scoring on a crucial bucket at the rim to give the Cavaliers a six-point cushion with 1:24 remaining.

New Orleans (25-47) answered with baskets from Zion Williamson and Dejounte Murray to cut the deficit to one possession.

But Mitchell effectively put the game away for Cleveland when, with 4 seconds remaining, he scored under contact from Trey Murphy III and made the free throw.

Mitchell’s game-high in scoring marked a successful return to the lineup for the guard, who missed Cleveland’s win at Chicago on Thursday after sustaining an eye injury in practice.

He paced five Cavaliers scoring in double figures, with Merrill adding 15 points. Evan Mobley went for 18 points and eight rebounds, and Thomas Bryant added 11 points on 5-of-7 field-goal shooting off the bench.

Williamson shot 10 of 14 from the floor to lead New Orleans with 25 points. Saddiq Bey shot 4 of 8 from 3-point range on the way to 19 points, and Murray posted a double-double with 12 points and 10 assists. Yves Missi came off the bench to grab a game-high 10 rebounds.

Murphy’s 10 points were the season-long Pelicans scoring leader’s lowest output since scoring just eight points against Memphis on Jan. 30.

–Field Level Media

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