Sports briefs
By NewsPress Now
The Panthers are back
in the Stanley Cup Final
SUNRISE, Fla. | The 2023 Stanley Cup Final had just ended, the Vegas Golden Knights were celebrating their championship and a heartbroken bunch of Florida Panthers were taking off their skates for the final time that season.
In that moment, standing in the locker room, Aaron Ekblad made a vow.
“We’ll find a way to come back next year,” the veteran defenseman said.
Look, it’s not exactly uncommon for some semblance of that to be said by the team that gets a championship shot and falls short. But these Panthers actually delivered on that promise — a rarity in hockey. Florida is back in the Stanley Cup Final, becoming just the second team in the last 40 years to lose in hockey’s title round one season and return the following season.
The Panthers won their second consecutive Eastern Conference title on Saturday night, topping the New York Rangers 2-1 to win that series in six games. The most recent team to lose the Cup final one season and return the next was Pittsburgh, the Sidney Crosby-led team that lost to Detroit in 2008 and beat the Red Wings in 2009. Before that, it was 1983 and 1984, when Edmonton lost to the New York Islanders one year and then topped them in five games the next for Wayne Gretzky’s first Cup.
“Just a lot of motivation, dedication, commitment,” Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk said. “The right pieces were added. Some great pieces added. Just one mindset: to do whatever you can to get back to it. And I thought the guys that were here last year have done an unbelievable job, coming back for the start of camp with this on their minds. So, we are not done yet.”
Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final is Saturday; if Florida plays Edmonton, the Panthers will play host for the opener, and if Florida plays Dallas it’ll be the Stars with home-ice advantage.
Florida’s top 10 scorers from last season all remain with the Panthers, and big moves were made after losing to Vegas as well. Florida added a trio of defensemen — Oliver Ekman-Larsson, former Panthers player Dmitry Kulikov and Niko Mikkola, all of whom played big roles throughout the season. Kevin Stenlund was added to bolster the forward corps, and Cup winner Vladimir Tarasenko came to Florida in a late-season trade. Tarasenko scored the series-clinching goal against the Rangers.
“If you make it to the final, I don’t know how many teams actually get better the next year because you’re usually paying a bunch of guys because they got to the final and the salary cap changes and you’re going to lose some guys,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “Our hockey team got better from last year to this year. We had good men last year and I still love that year and I’ll love that year separately and differently than any other year that I’ve coached. But we got better.”
The scenario — losing in the title round one year, going that far again the next — is seen far more regularly in other major sports than in the NHL.
In the NBA, the runner-up one year has made the finals the next season 26 times in 77 years, winning 14.
Baseball has seen the World Series loser return to the next Fall Classic on 29 occasions in the last 120 years, three of those — Kansas City in 2014 and 2015, the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2017 and 2018, and Houston in 2021 and 2022 — coming in the last decade.
In the NFL, the Super Bowl loser has played in the next Super Bowl eight times, going 3-5. The last time it happened: New England, which lost Super Bowl 52 to Philadelphia and won the next year against the Los Angeles Rams.
It has happened 21 other times in the NHL, but in fairness, most of those instances were in a very different NHL. When the Rangers did it in 1932 and 1933, there were nine teams. When St. Louis did it in 1969 and 1970, there were 12 teams. In the more than half-century that has followed, it’s happened only four times in the NHL: Boston lost in back-to-back finals in 1977 and 1978, then Edmonton, then Pittsburgh and now Florida gets its chance.
“I think it just comes down to our heart and our will,” Panthers forward Sam Bennett said. “We want it bad, and it’s one thing to say you want it but to actually go out there and prove that every single night with how hard you’re going to work is a different story. We want it bad.”
Makhachev beats Poirier by submission at UFC 302
NEWARK, N.J. | Islam Makhachev had a desperate opponent in front of him and much of a sold-out crowd against him.
None of that stopped him. Nothing has in a long time.
Makhachev defended his lightweight title and extended his winning streak to 14 fights, the third longest in UFC history, by getting a submission victory over Dustin Poirier in the fifth round on Saturday night at UFC 302.
Overcoming one of the sport’s accomplished veterans and a crowd — including former President Donald Trump — that was against him from the start, Makhachev ran his record to 26-1 and said afterward he may move up in weight for another challenge.
“This is my dream,” Makhachev said.
There’s certainly not much left for the Russian at 155 pounds, where he defended his title for the third time and showed again why he is ranked as the pound-for-pound best in UFC.
Poirier (30-9) fell short in his third attempt for the undisputed title, all three ending by submission. At 35, he is considering retirement.
“I’ve got to see. I think this could be it,” he said after the fight.
He battled back after Makhachev controlled the first round and bloodied the champion’s face later, but Makhachev took him down midway through the fifth and quickly pounced, with Poirier unable to escape the chokehold.
“Incredible fight. Both guys dug deep,” UFC President Dana White said.
Makhachev, while respectful of the challenger’s accomplishments, noted this week that Poirier did well against boxers but was exposed against fighters with wrestling backgrounds — which Makhachev lists as his strength.
The champion seemed on his way to a 12th victory by submission in the first round when he took Poirier down in the opening minute of the fight and kept him on the mat the rest of the round.
Fans roared when Poirier, the No. 4-ranked lightweight, escaped a couple of takedown attempts in the second, growing even louder when he made it to the horn at the end of the round.
The fighters had good exchanges in the third and fourth and both were bloodied, but Makhachev didn’t have to worry about taking any more punches.
“Happy to finish him, but this guy is still one of the best in the world,” Makhachev said of Poirier.
Though Makhachev spoke of his desire after to move up to 170 pounds, White seemed more interested in making a match with Arman Tsarukyan, the No. 1-ranked contender at lightweight, who is from Russia but represents Armenia. But Makhachev seems intent on challenging for another belt.
“If you want to create a legacy you have to get second belt,” he said.
Poirier, the popular veteran from Louisiana who ranks in the UFC’s top five in career victories, knockouts and finishes, ran into perhaps the best fighter today. He was choked out by Charles Oliveira and Khabib Nurmagomedov in his other title shots, and while White said that gave Poirier knowledge he could use for this fight, it wasn’t enough to win it.
Though it sounded at times like retirement was the plan, he certainly didn’t sound sure.
“I still feel like I want to be world champion,” he said.
In the co-main event, former middleweight champion Sean Strickland got back in the win column with a split decision over Paulo Costa. Strickland appeared to be controlling what he called a boring fight against the Brazilian, who spent much of it backpedaling away from exchanges.
Strickland (29-6), who lost the title in his last bout, also by split decision to Dricus Du Plessis in January, said afterward he wants another shot.
“I want to fight for the belt,” he said.
Strickland spent most of the first round using short kicks to keep the distance, throwing few punches with the newly designed UFC gloves — designed in large part to prevent eye pokes — that he criticized until dropping Costa (14-4) with a right hand in the final minute of the round.
He tried for the finish in the final minutes of the fifth round, knocking Costa down with a kick and rushing after him before the clock ran out.
Trump entered to a loud ovation just as the preliminary portion of the event was ending. Days after becoming the first former U.S. president to be convicted of felony crimes in New York, he shook hands with the announcers and waved his fists to supporters who cheered him before sitting to watch the action with White.
Scott Dixon wins record fourth Detroit Grand Prix
DETROIT | Scott Dixon won a record fourth Detroit Grand Prix, outlasting the competition in a caution-filled race on Sunday to become the first IndyCar driver with two victories this season.
The six-time IndyCar Series champion won his 58th career race, trailing only A.J. Foyt’s total of 67 in the series. Dixon, who is from New Zealand, broke a tie in the Detroit Grand Prix record books with Will Power and Helio Castroneves.
The Chip Ganassi Racing driver finished nearly a second ahead of Marcus Ericsson, followed by Marcus Armstrong, Kyle Kirkwood and Alexander Rossi.
In the shadow of General Motors’ world headquarters, Honda dominated in Detroit, with only Rossi cracking the top five in a Chevrolet.
Josef Newgarden had a humbling afternoon a day after Team Penske announced a multiyear contract extension with the back-to-back Indianapolis 500 winner. Late in the race, Newgarden lost control of the back end of his car — with no one nearby — and hit a wall to set up a 26th-place finish in the 27-car field.
The Detroit Grand Prix got off to a rough start and failed to find much of a flow for most of the afternoon because of a series of cautions stunting the 100-lap race.
Theo Pourchaire tapped Power from behind on the third turn of Lap 1, tangling several cars in a rare spot to potentially pass on the short and bumpy track.
Santino Ferrucci, whose driving had drawn Kyle Kirkwood’s ire in practice on Saturday, tried to get around Castroneves and clipped him. Castroneves, a four-time Indy 500 champion, was filling in for struggling Tom Blomqvist for Meyer Shank Racing in the hopes of picking up points, only to finish 25th.
As if the tight track didn’t pose enough of a challenge, conditions added another obstacle on the nine-turn, 1.6-mile street course near the banks of the Detroit River.
Overnight rain removed some rubber from the street circuit and sporadic showers made it slick in spots.
Pole sitter Colton Herta, who led 31 laps early in the race, attempted to make an aggressive inside move midway through the race and lost control of the No. 26 Honda, sending it into a tire barrier and leading to a 19th-place finish.
UP NEXT
IndyCar shifts to Road America in Wisconsin on Sunday, putting drivers in cars to compete for a third straight week.
WNBA upgrades foul on Caitlin Clark by Chennedy Carter, fines Angel Reese
NEW YORK | The WNBA on Sunday upgraded Chicago Sky guard Chennedy Carter’s foul against Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark to a flagrant-1 violation after reviewing the play.
Carter gave a shoulder shot to Clark that knocked her to the floor before an inbound pass during the third quarter of Saturday’s 71-70 win by the Fever. The officials called it an away-from-the-ball foul and didn’t review the play. It was deemed a common foul at the time.
“I wasn’t expecting it,” Clark said after the game. “It is what it is. It’s a physical game. Go make the free throw and execute on offense, and I feel like that’s kind of what we did.”
Carter didn’t answer questions about Clark or the play after the game.
The league fined Sky forward Angel Reese $1,000 for failing to make herself available to media after Saturday’s game. The WNBA also fined Chicago $5,000 for failing to ensure that all players comply with league media policies.
The league office may reclassify a flagrant foul or upgrade a foul to a flagrant one that isn’t called during the game. In addition, the league may impose a fine or suspend a player for a flagrant foul. The WNBA didn’t do either to Carter.
Players accumulate points for flagrant fouls during the regular season and receive suspensions if they reach a certain number.
Indiana coach Christie Sides praised Clark in her postgame interview Saturday for keeping her composure through all the physical play she’s faced this season.
“We’re just going to keep sending these possessions to the league, and these plays, and hopefully they’ll start, you know, taking a better look at some of the things that we see happening, or we think is happening,” she said. “Just more happy that Caitlin handled it the way she did. You know, it’s tough to keep getting hammered the way she does and to not get rewarded with free throws or foul calls. She’s continued to fight through that. Appreciate that from her. Really, really proud of her for doing that.”
Clark finished with 11 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Reese had eight points and 13 rebounds.
—From AP reports
