Aug 17, 2020 3 min read

Stanley Cup playoffs

Andrei Vasilevskiy had 28 saves and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 2-1 on Monday to take a 3-1 lead in their Eastern Conference playoff series.

Barclay Goodrow and Yanni Gourde each had a goal and an assist as the Lightning pushed the Blue Jackets to the verge of elimination after being swept by Columbus in the first round of the 2019 playoffs.

Game 5 is Wednesday.

Cam Atkinson scored for Columbus, and Joonas Korpisalo had 20 saves.

The Blue Jackets seemed to have recharged after running out of gas in the Game 3 loss. They got the first goal early in the first period, but it was waved off because Alexandre Texier was offside entering the zone.

Then the Lightning scored twice in the first five minutes of the second period.

In the NFL

San Francisco 49ers receiver Jalen Hurd went down with a knee injury that likely will sideline him for the season.

Coach Kyle Shanahan said Monday that he believes the injury Hurd suffered the previous day in practice is a torn ACL. Hurd missed all his rookie season with a back injury but was being counted on to contribute this season before being dealt another setback.

n Dallas Cowboys defensive tackle Gerald McCoy is out for the season after tearing the quadriceps tendon in his right leg in the first padded practice of training camp Monday.

The Cowboys added plenty of depth on the defensive line in the offseason, but the loss of a potential starting tackle is a blow for first-year coach Mike McCarthy and the mostly new defensive staff.

Executive vice president of personnel Stephen Jones said McCoy would have surgery soon. Jones said McCoy was working against Antwaun Woods when Woods stepped on his foot.

NCAA expects decision on basketball

The NCAA will likely decide next month whether to start the college basketball season on time or have a delay due to the coronavirus pandemic.

NCAA senior vice president of basketball Dan Gavitt said Monday that mid-September will likely be the first of many decisions about the 2020-21 season. Gavitt said the NCAA has developed and studied contingency plans in case the season cannot be started on Nov. 10.

Four conferences, including the Big Ten and Pac-12, have postponed fall sports and hope to play in the spring. The Pac-12 has said its postponement includes basketball, but other conferences have not mentioned plans for hoops.

CFL cancels season

The Canadian Football League canceled its 2020 season Monday because of the pandemic, marking the first year since 1919 the Grey Cup won’t be awarded.

The move by the nine-team league dashed hopes of a shortened season in the hub city of Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Commissioner Randy Ambrosie said in a statement the decision was in the “best long-term interests” of the league.

The CFL, unlike other major leagues in North America, does not have the luxury of a billion-dollar television contract. While its deal with TSN has become more lucrative over the years, the CFL remains a gate-driven league, a major problem when fans aren’t allowed in the stands.