Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 32 saves in regulation and overtime, and stopped both attempts in the shootout, helping the Buffalo Sabres rally for a 3-2 victory against the visiting Seattle Kraken on Saturday evening.

Rasmus Dahlin and Peyton Krebs scored in regulation, and Tage Thompson and Jack Quinn scored in the shootout for the Sabres (45-21-8, 98 points), who avoided losing four in a row for the first time since a five-game skid in November.

Chandler Stephenson and Bobby McMann each had a goal and an assist, Kaapo Kakko recorded two assists and Philipp Grubauer made 34 saves for the Kraken (32-29-11, 75 points), who have lost five of six (1-3-2) after taking a 2-0 lead in the second period.

The Kraken grabbed a 1-0 lead at 12:42 of the first period.

A clearing pass by Buffalo defenseman Logan Stanley went off the skate of Stephenson while he was still in the Sabres zone and McMann gloved it down before passing it to Kakko on his right.

Kakko brought the puck through the right circle before passing it to Stephenson coming through the left circle, and he scored off the bottom of the crossbar with a wrist shot.

McMann extended the lead to 2-0 with his seventh goal in eight games since he was acquired from the Toronto Maple Leafs on March 6 — the most goals of any player dealt at this season’s trade deadline.

McMann was bringing the puck down the right side when Dahlin tried to check him off the puck but failed. McMann skated in on Luukkonen and scored on the shortside at 13:18 of the second.

Buffalo cut it to 2-1 with a power-play goal at 15:55 of the second

Adam Larsson was in the penalty box for slashing when Dahlin scored with a wrist shot from above the right hash marks.

Krebs tied it 2-2 at 11:39 of the third when he entered the play late and received a pass from Zach Benson before skating into the right face-off circle and scoring with a snap shot.

–Field Level Media

HOUSTON — Freshman Keaton Wagler scored a game-high 25 points, Andrej Stojakovic added 17 off the bench, and third-seeded Illinois secured its first Final Four berth in 21 years with a 71-59 victory over Big Ten rival Iowa on Saturday in the South Region final of the NCAA Tournament.

Illinois (28-8) seized control of a back-and-forth second half with a 10-1 run that yielded a 60-52 lead with 4:06 left. The ninth-seeded Hawkeyes (24-13) and Illinois combined for 13 lead changes and seven ties in the second half until the Fighting Illini took control, first with consecutive post baskets from Tomislav Ivisic. Then, Wagler and Stojakovic finished the job.

Stojakovic completed a three-point play with 3:16 left to answer a 3-pointer from Isaia Howard and extend the Illinois lead to 63-55. After Stojakovic added a baseline layup, Wagler converted a pair of free throws with 1:12 remaining to build the lead to 67-59. Stojakovic added five rebounds to his ledger while Wagler finished 7 of 7 from the line and added three assists.

David Mirkovic posted nine points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Illinois finished with a 38-21 rebounding advantage and turned 16 offensive rebounds into 13 second-chance points.

Bennett Stirtz paced the Hawkeyes with 24 points while Sage chipped in 10. Iowa shot just 23.1% in the second half after making 12 of 21 shots before the intermission.

Stojakovic and Wagler helped the Illini overcome a ragged start that resulted in an early double-digit deficit. While Illinois missed its first four shots, Iowa started 5 of 6 and seized a 12-2 lead by the 15:56 mark of the first half, with Combs and Stirtz scoring five points apiece.

But Stojakovic got the Illini going with a second-chance basket, a steal and transition layup through a foul that sliced the deficit to 12-11. Stirtz stalled Illinois’ 9-0 spurt with a pull-up jumper and, after a lengthy delay when the horn stuck with 7:43 left in the half, Stirtz pushed Iowa to a 27-20 lead with consecutive baskets.

When Illinois clawed back to within 27-26, Sage drilled a 3-pointer that extended the Iowa lead to four, an advantage the Hawkeyes held at the intermission. The Illini shot just 37% in the first half but turned 10 offensive rebounds into 11 second-chance points to offset the Hawkeyes’ 57.1% shooting, including 6 of 12 from behind the arc.

–MK Bower, Field Level Media

MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin claimed the 49th Busch Light Pole Award of his career Saturday afternoon, claiming the number one starting spot for Sunday’s Cook Out 400 (3:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Martinsville Speedway, a track where he has long established himself as one of the best.

Hamlin’s JGR No. 11 Toyota turned a lap of 98.241 mph around the half-mile Martinsville oval — .056-second faster than another one of the track’s recent best performers, William Byron in the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. They will lead the field to green on Sunday, with Hamlin racing for his second victory of the season and Byron hoping to put a Chevrolet in victory lane for the first time in 2026.

“I knew it was possible simply from where my car was in practice,” said Hamlin who now has five career Martinsville pole awards. “Any time you’ve got fast lap speed in practice here that’s in the top 12, you’re close enough there that qualifying trim doesn’t change your car that much.”

“You’ve got enough speed to where you nail it and do a good enough job as a driver you’ve got a chance at the pole, so I knew it was very possible but truthfully, I approached the lap to get in the top eight. I think I’d go faster if I went and did it again right now, but I think I’ll go on and stand on my time,” he added with a smile.

Hamlin now ties Bobby Issac for the 10th most pole awards in cup series history, a mark that genuinely seemed to surprise Hamlin, who answered questions about it with an immediate and competitive response, “Who has the next most on the list?” Ryan Newman is next with 51.

“I never really go into any weekend thinking about qualifying on pole, it’s really kind of a sidebar to how my Saturday goes,” Hamlin said. “It’s pretty awesome, and really, with age, the hardest part is actually still having a fast time. It’s one thing to be able to manage races and use your experience to your advantage. But usually, the first thing to go is your raw speed and we’re still knocking off poles, which is really good.”

Wood Brothers Racing’s Josh Berry was third quickest in the No. 21 Ford and will share the second row with Hamlin’s JGR teammate Ty Gibbs in the No. 54 Toyota.

Trackhouse Racing’s Shane van Gisbergen turned an impressive oval qualifying effort with a fifth-place showing in the No. 97 Chevrolet.

Austin Cindric, Carson Hocevar, championship leader Tyler Reddick, Joey Logano and Chase Elliott round out the top 10 in the starting grid.

–Field Level Media