(As of 12:05 a.m.)
In a nutshell:
NHL:
–The Vegas Golden Knights are the first team in the Stanley Cup playoffs to advance to the conference semifinals. The Golden Knights scored a 4-3 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks to win the series 4-1. Vegas, the top-seed in the Western Conference, will face the lowest remaining seed in the next round.
–The Calgary Flames are a loss away from elimination. The Dallas Stars beat the Flames 2-1 to grab a 3-2 series lead. The two teams meet again on Thursday.
–Carter Hart made 29 saves for his second straight shutout leading the Philadelphia Flyers to a 2-0 win over the Montreal Canadiens. The Flyers lead the Habs 3-1 with game five tonight (Wednesday 5:00 PT) in Toronto.
–The Washington Capitals erased a 2-0 deficit to nip the NY Islanders 3-2. The Islanders still lead 3-1 with game five Thursday.
–The Vancouver Canucks and the St. Louis Blues play the 5th game of their series tonight (Wednesday) at 7:30 in Edmonton. The Canucks and Blues are tied 2-2 in the best-of-7 Western quarterfinal.
–In other Stanley Cup playoff action today: Columbus plays Tampa (9:00 AM), Boston takes on Carolina (1:00 PM) and Colorado goes against Arizona (2:30 PM). The Lightning, Bruins and Avalanche all lead their series 3-1.
–Dale Hawerchuk has lost his battle with stomach cancer. He was 57. Hawerchuk, a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, played 16-years in the NHL, nine of them with the Winnipeg Jets and five with the Buffalo Sabres.
NBA:
–The defending NBA champion Toronto Raptors resume their first-round series today (Wednesday 10:30 AM PT) against the Brooklyn Nets. The Raptors won the opener 134-110.
–The top seeds in the NBA west and east both lost their opener. Portland knocked off the LA Lakers 100-93 and the Orlando Magic outscored the Milwaukee Bucks 122-110.
MLB:
–The Toronto Blue Jays hit the 20-game mark with an 8-7 victory over the Baltimore Orioles. The (9-11) Jays play the (12-11) Orioles again today in Baltimore (10 AM PT).
SPORTS TWEETS:
Hockey:
PHI 2 – MTL 0
DAL 2 – CGY 1
WSH 3 – NYI 2
VGK 4 – CHI 3https://t.co/NFSYj50hKj #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/QRQVB1Ql4B— NHL (@NHL) August 19, 2020
It was the size difference — and depth in size and skill — that made the @GoldenKnights simply too much for the @NHLBlackhawks.
Vegas, the first team to go through to Round 2, just came in too many waves for Chicago to hold on.
(Via @SportsnetSpec)https://t.co/uU7CNVwD4P
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) August 19, 2020
The @NHLFlames are now on the brink of elimination from the Stanley Cup Playoffs after falling in Game 5 to the @DallasStars.https://t.co/ZfT62PYfWk
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) August 19, 2020
No rhythm. No cohesion. No goals.
The Canadiens looked very much like the team that stumbled to the NHL’s 24th-best record, and nothing like the one that shocked the hockey world in the qualifying round. @EricEngels breaks down their Game 4 disaster:https://t.co/pyKvrXG7MC
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) August 18, 2020
“Nothing to lose, right?”
Ovechkin showed up at the rink with a new look and his old tricks as the @Capitals rose from an 0-3 series deficit and 0-2 Game 4 deficit to inject a furious dose of pushback and belief into his team.
(Via @lukefoxjukebox)https://t.co/8Fza9khVOY
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) August 19, 2020
“There are some players that when they come into the NHL, it’s as if God has reached down and touched them.… Dale was one of those.”
Morris Lukowich spoke to @SachdevaSonny about what made Dale Hawerchuk great.https://t.co/xubUgWTweG
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) August 19, 2020
Back in May, Dale Hawerchuk joined After Hours to discuss his battle with stomach cancer in an emotional conversation with @ScottOake and @LouDeBrusk.
He took us inside his personal journey, one that inspires hope. https://t.co/HQyhZEhfzG
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) August 18, 2020
TRADE | The Spruce Kings have traded F Haydn Delorme (’00) to the Swan Valley Stampeders of the MJHL in exchange for future considerations.
Details –> https://t.co/BQzrQxZvxf#TrueBlue | #BCHL pic.twitter.com/ZkhFODc8Wl
— Prince George Spruce Kings (@SpruceKings) August 18, 2020
Basketball:
Since seeding began in the playoffs in 1983-84, the only other season where both 1 seeds lost their respective opening games is 2002-03 (Pistons, Spurs).
The Pistons and Spurs went on to win their 1st-round series, with the Spurs eventually winning the NBA Finals pic.twitter.com/52EsuaPI6p
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) August 19, 2020
August 18 Results pic.twitter.com/4wnC95rVX7
— Zimbabwe NBA Fans (@ZimNBA) August 19, 2020
East:
1. Bucks – 0
8. Magic – 14. Pacers – 0
5. Heat – 13. Celtics – 1
6. 76ers – 02. Raptors – 1
7. Nets – 0— Zimbabwe NBA Fans (@ZimNBA) August 19, 2020
The full Raptors-Nets schedule for the first round of the NBA playoffs. ?⤵️https://t.co/mUloO2ZzD1
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) August 13, 2020
“I just try to feel where the game is going, possession by possession.”
Fred VanVleet had his fingers on the pulse of the @Raptors‘ 134-110 win Monday to open their best-of-seven series with the @BrooklynNets.
(Via @michaelgrange)https://t.co/HIGsXLGXHI
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) August 19, 2020
The legal team for Masai Ujiri has released body-cam footage of Ujiri’s encounter with a security worker at Oracle Arena during the NBA Finals.
(?: @KTVU, @SportsCenter)pic.twitter.com/0BfUw57XLP
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) August 19, 2020
Baseball:
Travis Shaw scored on a throwing error in the 10th inning, and the @BlueJays beat the @Orioles Tuesday night after blowing a four-run lead.https://t.co/26a9mGDfd3
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) August 19, 2020
Football:
This is devastating news for players, football staff, fans, families, & everyone involved in making the CFL a special league. As challenging as these next 9 months will be, the incredible fans, players, and franchises give me a lot of hope for the CFL in 2021 and beyond #RNation https://t.co/jZPQIxrER8
— Nick Arbuckle (@arbuckle_QB9) August 18, 2020
Canada reacts to the cancellation of this CFL season. MORE @ https://t.co/4Be4DGxu0m pic.twitter.com/xM6hVHHb2y
— BarDown (@BarDown) August 17, 2020
On the day the Chiefs said they would seat 22 percent of Arrowhead Stadium’s capacity, the Bears said they will not be able to have fans at Soldier Field until further notice. pic.twitter.com/2Rn7dHg2Kl
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 18, 2020