Aug 16, 2020 2 min read

In the NHL

Mathew Barzal slipped behind the defense, swooped in front of the net and beat Braden Holtby with a backhand that put the 2018 Stanley Cup champions on the brink of another early exit.

Barzal scored 4:28 into overtime shortly after Semyon Varlamov made two saves on a breakaway, lifting the New York Islanders to a 2-1 win over the Washington Capitals on Sunday and a 3-0 advantage in their Eastern Conference first-round series.

The sixth-seeded Islanders have put Washington within a loss of being eliminated in the first round for the second straight year after hoisting the Cup.

Holtby had 32 saves for the third-seeded Capitals, who have to win Game 4 Tuesday night to extend the best-of-seven series.

• John Klingberg got the initial credit for Dallas’ overtime goal after Joe Pavelski forced the extra period by completing a hat trick in the final seconds of regulation.

The Dallas defenseman said he figured the official scoring was likely to change.

Klingberg’s hard shot appeared to be tipped by Alexander Radulov 16:05 into overtime, and the Stars beat the Calgary Flames 5-4 to even their Western Conference playoff series at 2-2. Game 5 is Tuesday.

• The Los Angeles Kings have suspended the man who performs as the ice hockey team’s mascot after a sexual harassment lawsuit was filed against him.

Rough debut

St. Louis Cardinals reliever Roel Ramirez set a record in his debut – just not the kind any pitcher wants.

The Chicago White Sox tied a major league mark with four consecutive home runs, all against Ramirez, and went on to beat the Cardinals 7-2 on Sunday.

Ramirez is the first pitcher to allow four straight homers in his debut. Yoán Moncada, Yasmani Grandal, José Abreu and Eloy Jiménez connected during a six-run fifth inning.

Ramirez took the mound in the fifth with Chicago leading 1-0. He struck out Luis Robert to start, but things went south quickly. After two singles, a caught stealing and a walk, Moncada smacked a three-run homer to right. Grandal followed with another drive into the right-field seats, and then Abreu and Jimenez each homered to left.