In a nutshell: as of 12:05 a.m. (All times PT) Friday by Hartley Miller
NHL:
–The Tampa Bay Lightning, and their head coach Jon Cooper of Prince George, are headed to the Stanley Cup final. Anthony Cirelli scored at 13:18 of overtime to give the Lightning a 2-1 victory over the New York Islanders. Tampa won the Eastern Conference Final 4-2 and are headed back to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in five years. Game one between the Lightning and the Dallas Stars is scheduled for Saturday night just after 4:30 (PT).
BCHL:
–The Prince George Spruce Kings will play their first four BCHL pre-season games against the Merritt Centennials starting October 10th in Merritt. The Spruce Kings have eight exhibition games in total, with five of them against the Centennials. The only two home pre-season games for the Spruce Kings will be on October 25th and November 7th at the RMCA against Merritt.
NBA:
–The Miami Heat enjoy a 2-0 lead in the NBA Eastern Conference Final series after erasing a double-digit deficit for the second straight game. The Heat rallied for a 106-101 victory over the Boston Celtics. Game 3 is set for Saturday night at 5:30.
–The Denver Nuggets and LA Lakers open the best-of-7 NBA Western Final tonight (just after 6:00).
US Open Golf:
–Justin Thomas shot a 5-under-65 to take a one-stroke lead into the second round of the 120th U.S. Open at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York. Top Canadians Corey Conners and Taylor Pendrith are six behind at 1-over-71. The two other Canadians in the field, Adam Hadwin and Mackenzie Hughes began 2-over.
MLB:
–The New York Yankees tied a major league record with five home runs in an inning and they increased their win streak to eight games with a 10-7 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays. The (26-23) Jays, who have 11 games left, host the (24-25) Philadelphia Phillies this afternoon (1:05 PT) in Buffalo.
NFL:
–The Cleveland Browns outscored the Cincinnati Bengals 35-30 on the NFL’s 100th birthday. The Browns are 1-1 while the Bengals are 0-2. There are 14 Sunday games in the NFL including the night matchup of New England at Seattle.
SPORTS TWEETS:
⚡ EASTERN CONFERENCE CHAMPS ⚡
The @TBLightning take the series over the @NYIslanders 4-2 to advance to the #StanleyCup Final for the first time since 2015.
Presented by @TimHortons. #NHLonSN pic.twitter.com/BFXd6q98kH
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) September 18, 2020
The @TBLightning left their hearts out there — and made it clear that booking a trip to the Stanley Cup Final was no less rewarding under these circumstances than it would have been before any of us had ever heard of COVID-19. (via @reporterchris)https://t.co/2B3a82yE0u
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) September 18, 2020
This year’s Stanley Cup Final will be the first between a head coach and their former assistant. MORE @ https://t.co/Wc0ERwm41o pic.twitter.com/Ohqd5lErFx
— BarDown (@BarDown) September 18, 2020
After another crushing loss, are the Celtics on the brink of an implosion?
✍️: @loung_shttps://t.co/XStQvMwENE
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) September 18, 2020
Marcus Smart was heard screaming at his Celtics teammates after their Game 2 loss. MORE @ https://t.co/7laz7OjQwc pic.twitter.com/ppKEYCgEyc
— BarDown (@BarDown) September 18, 2020
After Round 1 of the U.S. Open:
1. @JustinThomas34 -5
T2. @PReedGolf -4
T2. @Thomas_Pieters
T2. @Matthew_Wolff5
T5. @McIlroyRory -3
T5. @WestwoodLee
T5. @Louis57TM
T8. 6 players tied -2Full Leaderboard: https://t.co/xYdhELrcLf pic.twitter.com/KBpMe5jI3t
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) September 17, 2020
The @Yankees tied a major league record with five home runs in an inning and hit six overall while earning a third straight win over the @BlueJays.https://t.co/TY63i0nPKA
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) September 18, 2020
Baker Mayfield threw two touchdown passes, Nick Chubb ran for two scores and 124 yards and the @Browns gave coach Kevin Stefanski his first NFL victory Thursday night by beating the @Bengals.https://t.co/478UbwJlBn
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) September 18, 2020