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Ugly brawl breaks out as Toronto Maple Leafs rout Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 1 – USA TODAY

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An ugly performance by the two-time defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning led to an ugly brawl in a 5-0 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday on the opening night of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

With the game out of hard midway through the third period, Tampa Bay’s Corey Perry tried going after Toronto’s Wayne Simmonds. Nothing happened there, but Perry and Ilya Lyubushkin went at each other.

While ESPN2 cut away for a commercial, Simmonds shoved Lightning star Victor Hedman and fights broke out, including Perry and Lyubushkin throwing punches and Toronto’s Morgan Rielly punching Tampa Bay’s Jan Rutta. Rutta left the ice with a big cut on his face.

“I thought we handled their physicality well,” Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe told reporters, “both in making plays and keeping the puck moving and not getting rattled by it, and then just standing our ground when the nonsense starts late in the third.”

Perry ended up with 23 penalties in the game. Rutta had 17 and teammate Pat Maroon had 10. Lyubushkin had 16 minutes for the game, Simmonds 10 and Rielly 15.

Toronto’s Kyle Clifford also had 15 minutes, but that was because he was ejected for a boarding major against Ross Colton that could draw the interest of NHL Player Safety.

What should have been a golden opportunity for the Lightning ended up setting the tone for the Maple Leafs.

Toronto shut down that five-minute power play and other ones as the Lightning made numerous giveaways against an aggressive penalty kill.

“They did a good job of executing early on those PKs and gained some momentum and it could have been a really different game if we had scored early on that,” Lightning captain Steven Stamkos told reporters. “It was a missed opportunity for us.”

The Maple Leafs, meanwhile, got a 5-on-3 power play goal from 60-goal scorer Auston Matthews (Keefe had called a timeout to rest the first unit) and a short-handed goal from David Kampf.

Game 2 is Wednesday night in Toronto.

“The Tampa Bay Lightning will be a far better team when they come back in here,” Keefe said. “And we’re going to have to be better ourselves.”

Mitch Marner ends playoff drought

Toronto’s Matthews and Mitch Marner had one goal between them in last season’s first-round loss to the Montreal Canadiens.

Matthews scored twice on Monday and Marner also scored. That ended an 18-game playoff goal drought for the Maple Leafs star.

Marner said it was “great” to score, but he wasn’t letting the drought bother him.

“I can’t do anything about the past,” he told reporters. “I’m here to focus on the now. I’m here to focus on what I can do to help the team win.”

Cross-checking penalty

NHL Player Safety could have a busy Tuesday. ESPN reports that the department is reviewing this cross-check by Minnesota Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon on the ankles of St. Louis Blues forward Pavel Buchnevich.

Spurgeon received two minutes.

The Blues won 4-0 in Game 1 on a David Perron hat trick and a 37-save shutout by Ville Husso.

Tuesday’s games

Penguins at Rangers, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN

Capitals at Panthers, 7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2

Predators at Avalanche, 9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN

Stars at Flames, 10 p.m. ET, ESPN2

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Dolphins will bring in another quarterback, while Tagovailoa deals with concussion

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MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — The Miami Dolphins will bring in another quarterback while starter Tua Tagovailoa deals with his latest concussion, coach Mike McDaniel said Friday.

For now, Skylar Thompson will be considered the Dolphins’ starter while Tagovailoa is sidelined. Tagovailoa left Thursday night’s 31-10 loss to Buffalo in the third quarter with the third known concussion of his NFL career, all of them coming in the last 24 months.

“The team and the organization are very confident in Skylar,” McDaniel said.

McDaniel said the team has not made any decision about whether to place Tagovailoa on injured reserve. Tagovailoa was expected at the team facility on Friday to start the process of being evaluated in earnest.

“We just have to operate in the unknown and be prepared for every situation,” McDaniel said, noting that the only opinions that will matter to the team will be the ones from Tagovailoa and the medical staff.

McDaniel added that he doesn’t see Tagovailoa playing in Miami’s next game at Seattle on Sept. 22.

“I have no idea and I’m not going to all of a sudden start making decisions that I don’t even see myself involved in the most important parts of,” McDaniel added. “All I’m telling Tua is everyone is counting on you to be a dad and be a dad this weekend. And then we’ll move from there. There won’t be any talk about where we’re going in that regard … none of that will happen without doctors’ expertise and the actual player.”

Tagovailoa was 17 for 25 passing for 145 yards, with one touchdown and three interceptions — one of which was returned for a Buffalo score — when he got hurt. Thompson completed eight of 14 passes for 80 yards.

Thompson said he feels “fully equipped” to run the Dolphins’ offense.

“What’s going to lie ahead, who knows, but man, I’m confident, though,” Thompson said after Thursday’s game. “I feel like I’m ready for whatever’s to come. I’m going to prepare and work hard and do everything I can to lead this team and do my job.”

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Alouettes receiver Philpot announces he’ll be out for the rest of season

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Montreal Alouettes wide receiver Tyson Philpot has announced he will be out for the rest of the CFL season.

The Delta, B.C., native posted the news on his Instagram page Thursday.

“To Be Continued. Shoutout my team, the fans of the CFL and the whole city of Montreal! I can’t wait to be back healthy and write this next chapter in 2025,” the statement read.

Philpot, 24, injured his foot in a 33-23 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Aug. 10 and was placed on the six-game injured list the next week.

The six-foot-one, 195-pound receiver had 58 receptions, 779 yards and five touchdowns in nine games for the league-leading Alouettes in his third season.

Philpot scored the game-winning touchdown in Montreal’s Grey Cup win last season to punctuate a six-reception, 63-yard performance.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.

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David Lipsky shoots 65 to take 1st-round lead at Silverado in FedEx Cup Fall opener

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NAPA, Calif. (AP) — David Lipsky shot a 7-under 65 on Thursday at Silverado Country Club to take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the Procore Championship.

Winless in 104 events since joining the PGA Tour in 2022, Lipsky went out with the early groups and had eight birdies with one bogey to kick off the FedEx Cup Fall series at the picturesque course in the heart of Napa Valley wine country.

After missing the cut in his three previous tournaments, Lipsky flew from Las Vegas to Arizona to reunite with his college coach at Northwestern to get his focus back. He also spent time playing with some of the Northwestern players, which helped him relax.

“Just being around those guys and seeing how carefree they are, not knowing what’s coming for them yet, it’s sort of nice to see that,” Lipsky said. “I was almost energized by their youthfulness.”

Patton Kizzire and Mark Hubbard were a stroke back. Kizzire started on the back nine and made a late run with three consecutive birdies to move into a tie for first. A bogey on No. 8 dropped him back.

“There was a lot of good stuff out there today,” Kizzire said. “I stayed patient and just went through my routines and played well, one shot at a time. I’ve really bee working hard on my mental game and I think that allowed me to rinse and repeat and reset and keep playing.”

Mark Hubbard was at 67. He had nine birdies but fell off the pace with a bogey and triple bogey on back-to-back holes.

Kevin Dougherty also was in the group at 67. He had two eagles and ended his afternoon by holing out from 41 yards on the 383-yard, par-4 18th.

Defending champion Sahith Theegala had to scramble for much of his round of 69.

Wyndham Clark, who won the U.S. Open in 2023 and the AT&T at Pebble Beach in February, had a 70.

Max Homa shot 71. The two-time tournament champion and a captain’s pick for the President’s Cup in two weeks had two birdies and overcame a bogey on the par-4 first.

Stewart Cink, the 2020 winner, also opened with a 71. He won The Ally Challenge last month for his first PGA Tour Champions title.

Three players from the Presidents Cup International team had mix results. Min Woo Lee shot 68, Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., 69 and Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., 73. International team captain Mike Weir of Brights Grove, Ont., also had a 69.

Ben Silverman of Thornhill, Ont., had a 68, Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., and Roger Sloan of Merritt, B.C., shot 70 and Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C., had a 71.

Lipsky was a little shaky off the tee for much of the afternoon but made up for it with steady iron play that left him in great shape on the greens. He had one-putts on 11 holes and was in position for a bigger day but left five putts short.

Lipsky’s only real problem came on the par-4 ninth when his approach sailed into a bunker just shy of the green. He bounced back nicely with five birdies on his back nine. After missing a 19-foot putt for birdie on No. 17, Lipsky ended his day with a 12-foot par putt.

That was a big change from last year when Lipsky tied for 30th at Silverado when he drove the ball well but had uneven success on the greens.

“Sometimes you have to realize golf can be fun, and I think I sort of forgot that along the way as I’m grinding it out,” Lipsky said. “You’ve got to put things in perspective, take a step back. Sort of did that and it seems like it’s working out.”

Laird stayed close after beginning his day with a bogey on the par-4 10th. The Scot got out of the sand nicely but pushed his par putt past the hole.

Homa continued to have issues off the tee and missed birdie putts on his final four holes.

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AP golf:

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