Sports

NEW YORK—The New Jersey Devils quickly changed the game plan: instead of letting the N.Y. Rangers block their shots, they decided to deflect some themselves.
It worked twice—and the Eastern Conference final is all even as a result.

NEW YORK—Todd Frazier had a big audience—and a big night in front of it.
The former Rutgers player homered twice in front of about three dozen friends and family members, and Brandon Phillips hit a tying single off Jon Rauch in the eighth inning, as the Cincinnati Reds doubled the N.Y. Mets 6-3 last night.

HELSINKI, Finland—The IIHF World Hockey Championship ended in agony once again for Canada.
“It’s déja vu,” general manager Kevin Lowe said after a 4-3 quarter-final loss to Slovakia this morning.
It’s the first time in history Canada has made an early exit from the tournament on three-straight occasions.
The country also suffered quarter-final losses in 2010 and 2011.

TORONTO — Olympic viewers are bound to be inspired as they watch the world’s best swimmers vie for gold at the upcoming Summer Games in London.
But while Canada’s medal hopefuls spend countless hours training and competing in chlorinated waters, recreational swimmers sometimes shun the pool for a very superficial reason: dry hair.
Elite swimmers can relate to the problem.

TORONTO—The Tampa Bay Rays lost starting pitcher Jeff Niemann after one inning with a fracture in his right fibula last night.
But it didn’t stop them from dumping the Toronto Blue Jays 7-1 as they took advantage of miscues, including an error by first baseman Adam Lind, and put up five unearned runs in a six-run fifth inning.

OKLAHOMA CITY—When the L.A. Lakers and Oklahoma City last met, Metta World Peace delivered an elbow that sent the Thunder’s James Harden home with a concussion.
It’s the Lakers who are smarting after the playoff rematch.

NEW YORK—Henrik Lundqvist stopped all 21 shots by the New Jersey Devils that got through to him.
The other 26 attempts blocked in front by his teammates were every bit as important in the N.Y. Rangers’ Eastern Conference final opening win.
“We know that’s happening,” Devils’ captain Zach Parise said after the Rangers’ 3-0 win last night.

MEMPHIS, Tenn.—The L.A. Clippers refused to let a third chance to knock the Memphis Grizzlies out of the playoffs slip away.
Kenyon Martin scored seven of his 11 points in the fourth quarter as the Clippers advanced to the Western Conference semi-finals with an 82-72 win over the Memphis Grizzlies in Game 7 yesterday.

MINNEAPOLIS—Ricky Romero had his shortest outing since opening day—and the Blue Jays’ rally fell just short.
Yunel Escobar and Eric Thames knocked in runs for Toronto, which had the tying run on third base in the eighth inning, but lost 4-3 to Minnesota yesterday afternoon, settling for a split of their four-game series.

DARLINGTON, S.C.—Those Busch brothers can’t seem to avoid the spotlight at Darlington Raceway.
A year after Kyle Busch tangled with Kevin Harvick in the pits following Regan Smith’s first Sprint Cup win, the crew for Kurt Busch scrummed with Ryan Newman’s group while Rick Hendrick and Jimmie Johnson celebrated the car owner’s 200th career victory at the Southern 500 on Saturday night.