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MacKinnon, Avalanche spoil Kraken’s home playoff debut, 6-4t

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:14:48 GMT

SEATTLE (AP) — Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen scored in a 1:28 span early in the third period and the Colorado Avalanche spoiled Seattle Kraken’s first home playoff game with a 6-4 victory Saturday night in Game 3 of the first-round series. Tied at 3 after a wild first 40 minutes, the defending Stanley Cup champions relied on their best players to take a 2-1 lead in the series and reclaim home-ice advantage. MacKinnon scored his first two goals of the playoffs, Cale Makar added his first of this postseason after winning the Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP of last year’s championship run, and Rantanen scored for the second straight game, capping the victory with an empty-net goal with 2:14 left. MacKinnon scored on a breakaway late in the first period to give Colorado a 2-1 lead. His second goal was even better, taking advantage of Seattle’s fourth line getting stuck on the ice and ripping a wrist shot past Seattle goalie Philipp Grubauer for a 5-3 lead. MacKinnon’s second g...

Second-half goals lead Galaxy past Austin 2-0 for first win

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:14:48 GMT

CARSON, Calif. (AP) — Javier Hernández Balcázar and Riqui Puig scored second-half goals to rally the Los Angeles Galaxy to a 2-0 victory over Austin FC on Saturday night.Balcázar, who goes by the nickname Chicharito, took a pass from Dejan Joveljic and scored in the 54th minute to give the Galaxy the lead. Puig added an insurance goal 10 minutes later with an assist from Mark Delgado to help LA hold on for its first victory of the season.The Galaxy (1-4-3) beat Austin for a third straight time and improved to 4-1-0 all-time in the series.Austin (2-4-2) has gone 0-3-2 in its last five matches with only one goal scored. Austin has scored only six goals this season. The club scored six goals in the first 112 minutes of last season.LA had advantages of 18-11 in shots and 8-2 in shots on goal.Jonathan Klinsmann saved two shots to earn the clean sheet for the Galaxy. Brad Stuver totaled six saves for Austin.Austin returns home to host the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday. The Galaxy trave...

Rusnák’s late goal lifts Sounders over Minnesota United 1-0

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:14:48 GMT

SEATTLE (AP) — Albert Rusnák scored late in the second half to rally the Seattle Sounders to a 1-0 victory over Minnesota United on Saturday night.Neither team scored until Rusnák took a pass from Fredy Montero and found the net in the 79th minute. Seattle (6-2-1) has won all eight home matches against Minnesota United (3-3-2) and improved to 11-1-1 all-time in the series. The Sounders’ winning percentage is the highest against a single opponent in league history. Stefan Frei finished with four saves to earn the clean sheet for Seattle.Minnesota United has lost three straight. Six of its matches have been settled by one goal. The other two were draws.Seattle finished with a 15-9 advantage in shots, but Minnesota United had a 4-3 edge in shots on goal.Dayne St. Clair saved two shots for Minnesota United.Seattle was coming off a 4-1 loss to the Portland Timbers. It marked the first time Seattle lost by three or more goals after taking the lead.The Sounders pulled even with expan...

Hernández, Kelenic homer as Mariners beat Cardinals 5-4

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:14:48 GMT

SEATTLE (AP) — Teoscar Hernández homered for the second consecutive night, and Eugenio Suárez broke a seventh-inning tie with a two-run single to lead the Seattle Mariners over the St. Louis Cardinals 5-4 on Saturday.Jarred Kelenic also had a homer and a double for the Mariners. Kelenic and Hernández are tied for the team lead with five home runs.Tommy Edman hit a solo homer for the Cardinals in the ninth, his third of the season.With the game tied 3-all, Kolton Wong led off the bottom of the seventh with a walk and J.P. Crawford singled. With two outs, Suárez drove them both in with a hard single to left field.Seattle starter Luis Castillo had by far his worst outing of the season, giving up three runs on seven hits in five innings — his shortest stint of the year. In his previous four starts this season, the right-hander had allowed just two runs and 11 hits in 24 2/3 innings.Matt Brash (2-2) pitched a scoreless seventh, and Paul Sewald earned his sixth save.The Cardinals’ first t...

Reilly scores in OT to lift Maple Leafs past Lightning, 4-3

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:14:48 GMT

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Down a goal and outplayed for much of the night, the Toronto Maple Leafs found a way to reclaim home-ice advantage in their first-round playoff series against the Tampa Bay Lightning.Ryan O’Reilly scored with a minute left in regulation, then won a faceoff that set up Morgan Reilly’s goal at 19:15 of overtime that gave the Maple Leafs a 4-3 victory Saturday night in Game 3 of the best-of-seven matchup.Ilya Samsonov stopped 36 shots for Toronto. He had eight saves in the extra period, one on Lightning star Nikita Kucherov from point-blank range, to give the Maple Leafs a 2-1 series lead. Game 4 is Monday night at Amalie Arena.Toronto, which hasn’t won a playoff series since 2004, also regained home-ice advantage in the series after watching it slip away during a lopsided loss at home in Game 1.The Maple Leafs are 0 for 7 in their last seven postseason matchups, including first-round exits each of the past six years.“It wasn’t the best game b...

Royals rally with 5 in 9th for 11-8 victory over Angels

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:14:48 GMT

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — MJ Melendez was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded as the Kansas City Royals scored five times in the ninth inning to rally for an 11-8 victory over the Los Angeles Angels that snapped a six-game losing streak Saturday night.Hunter Dozier had three hits and three RBIs, including a two-run single in the ninth that provided some insurance for the Royals. Matt Duffy also had three hits.The Angels lost despite hitting four home runs for the second time this season. Matt Thaiss gave the Halos an 8-6 lead in the eighth inning with a two-run shot, but José Quijada (0-1) was unable to hold it.Hunter Renfroe went deep twice and Mike Trout homered for the first time in two weeks. It is the sixth time since 2020 the Angels have lost when hitting at least four homers.Quijada hit two Royals batters with pitches in the ninth. Nicky Lopez reached to lead off the inning after getting plunked and then scored when Kyle Isbel doubled off the right-center wall. Isbel advanced t...

Barrios scores late to help Rapids tie St Louis City 1-1

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:14:48 GMT

COMMERCE CITY, Colo. (AP) — Michael Barrios scored in the second minute of second-half stoppage time to rally the Colorado Rapids to a 1-1 draw with St. Louis City on Saturday night.Barrios has scored 12 goals since the beginning of the 2021 season for Colorado (1-3-5) with all 12 coming in the second half. Barrios is the only one of 91 players with multiple goals over that span to score them all in one half. Diego Rubio and Ralph Priso-Mbongue had assists on Barrios’ equalizer.Neither team scored until Rasmus Alm took passes from Jared Stroud and Indiana Vassilev and scored in the 57th minute to give St. Louis City (6-2-1) the lead. The Rapids had advantages of 21-9 in shots and 13-4 in shots on goal.William Yarbrough finished with three saves for Colorado. Roman Bürki saved a season-high 12 shots for St. Louis City.The Rapids improved to 3-1-2 in its last six matches against expansion teams. Colorado was 0-5-2 in its first seven matches against first-year clubs.St. Louis Cit...

South Florida celebrates Earth Day with events promoting sustainability

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:14:48 GMT

SOUTHEAST FLORIDA (WSVN) — People of all ages in South Florida came together to celebrate Earth Day and show appreciation for the planet. From the Cleo Institute’s 5K race in Virginia Key to a turtle release in Isla Morada, residents participated in various activities that promoted sustainable living.“It’s great to celebrate Earth Day, but every day needs to be Earth Day,” said Bette Zirkelback, the turtle hospital manager.At EarthFest, people picked up free plants and information on sustainability. From the end of five months of rehabilitation in the turtle hospital for Larry and Moe to EarthFest in Coral Springs, residents participated in events that showed appreciation for the planet.“Sea turtles are a symbol for our marine ecosystem,” said Zinkelback. “Helping to save sea turtles makes people aware to protect our oceans and there’s no better time to think of it on Earth Day.”Xavier Cortada’s art showcased the impo...

MLB Notes: Boston K Men celebrating 25 years of strikeouts

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:14:48 GMT

It started with a couple of teenagers from Wayland and a stencil.When Pedro Martinez joined the Boston Red Sox in 1998, then 16-year-old Kirk Carapezza and his best friend Ryan McCarthy made sure they were in the building for his first start at Fenway Park. The energy in the ballpark that day was electric, but the two couldn’t help but notice something was missing.“No one was keeping track of his Ks in the bleachers,” Carapezza said. “So we went home and printed out 27 and came back for his next start, and then we never missed one of his starts.”In the months and years that followed the group grew in size and notoriety, and before long the Boston K Men were born.A quarter-century later they’re still going strong.This year marks the 25th anniversary of the K Men, who have now counted thousands of strikeouts recorded by the best Red Sox pitchers of the modern era. In the process they’ve become a Fenway Park institution and the sight of their &...

Why the 155 mm round is so critical to the war in Ukraine

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:14:48 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The 155 mm howitzer round is one of the most requested artillery munitions of the war in Ukraine. Already the U.S. has shipped more than 1.5 million rounds to Ukraine, but Kyiv is still seeking more. A look at why this particular munition is so commonly used, and why it’s been so critical to the war in Ukraine.WHAT IS THE 155 MM? Essentially, the 155 mm round is a very big bullet, made up of four parts: the detonating fuse, projectile, propellant and primer. Each round is about 2 feet (60 centimeters) long, weighs about 100 pounds (45 kilograms), and is 155 mm, or 6.1 inches, in diameter. They are used in howitzer systems, which are towed large guns that are identified by the range of the angle of fire that their barrels can be set to. The 155 mm shells can be configured in many ways: They can be packed with highly explosive material, use precision guided systems, pierce armor or produce high fragmentation.Past variants have included smoke rounds to obscure t...