In a nutshell: as of 12:05 a.m. (All times PT) Tuesday by Hartley Miller
NHL:
–The Tampa Bay Lightning, and their head coach Jon Cooper of Prince George, are Stanley Cup champions. The Lightning skunked the Dallas Stars 2-0 in a near-empty Rogers Place to win the final series 4-2 in Edmonton. Tampa defenceman Victor Hedman was voted the winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. The 29-year-old Hedman scored 10 goals, added 12 assists and averaged 26 minutes of ice time per game in the playoffs. It is the first Cup win for Cooper, in his seventh full season behind the Lightning bench. Brayden Point and Blake Coleman scored the goals and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 22 shots for his first career playoff shutout in the Monday night victory.
NFL:
–The Kansas City Chiefs are one of 7 teams to begin the NFL season 3-0. (The others are Tennessee, Buffalo and Pittsburgh in the AFC and Seattle, Green Bay and Chicago in the NFC). The defending champion Chiefs overpowered the Baltimore Ravens 34-20 as Patrick Mahomes outperformed Lamar Jackson in the battle of MVPs. Mahomes went 31 of 42 for 385 yards and four touchdowns. He was not intercepted and avoided being sacked. The Chiefs extended their winning streak to 12 games, including playoffs.
MLB:
–The American League Baseball playoffs open today (Tuesday). The Toronto Blue Jays visit the top-seeded Tampa Bay Rays in the first game in the best-of-3 series this afternoon at 2:00 (PT). The other 3 AL games have Houston at Minnesota (11:00 AM), Chicago White Sox at Oakland (Noon) and New York Yankees at Cleveland (4:00 PM).
NBA:
–The LA Clippers are looking for a new head coach. The Clippers. who blew a 3-1 series lead against Denver in the Western semifinals, sacked Doc Rivers with two years left on his contract.
–The NBA Finals open Wednesday night just after 6:00 with the Los Angeles Lakers against the Miami Heat.
Kelly Olynyk of Kamloops plays for the Heat.
SPORTS TWEETS:
Lightning capture second Stanley Cup with Game 6 win over Stars.
MORE: https://t.co/D0oZ0yAxLP pic.twitter.com/2bHbNaO1wE
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) September 29, 2020
LIFT. THAT. CUP!!!! ? pic.twitter.com/35PnR8gfLf
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) September 29, 2020
Champagne showers for Tampa! ⚡️
(?: @TBLightning) pic.twitter.com/MvcltYkpAp
— theScore (@theScore) September 29, 2020
“I truly believe it was the heartbreak we suffered that brought us here today.”@TBLightning coach Jon Cooper joined @ScottOake to talk about his team’s long journey to a #StanleyCup championship.#NHLonSN pic.twitter.com/vrNuiS37Ym
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) September 29, 2020
The hockey world congratulates the @TBLightning on capturing the #StanleyCup. ??
MORE @ https://t.co/IoxM7lZ0Bp pic.twitter.com/Fy9XaVRZv9
— BarDown (@BarDown) September 29, 2020
The battle of the MVPs goes to Patrick Mahomes ?
Mahomes and the Chiefs cruised past Lamar Jackson and the Ravens in Baltimore on Monday night.https://t.co/HC0ujcSjoa
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) September 29, 2020
“He’s our starter moving forward.”@ChicagoBears coach Matt Nagy has confirmed Nick Foles will start at quarterback Sunday against the @Colts.https://t.co/YGPelt2owT
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) September 28, 2020
The Toronto Blue Jays will make their first postseason appearance since 2016 when they take on the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday as underdogs at sportsbooks monitored by @OddsShark.https://t.co/BiK1F3Q9ga
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) September 29, 2020
Column: In firing Doc Rivers, Steve Ballmer branded Rivers the problem. Facing the most important season in franchise history, Ballmer better be right https://t.co/y0uGKcxvug
— Chris Mannix (@SIChrisMannix) September 29, 2020
This is the first NBA Finals ever with two teams that missed the playoffs in the previous year. MORE @ https://t.co/XXwK5RhhXT pic.twitter.com/WyFytvjhMv
— BarDown (@BarDown) September 28, 2020