Hockey: Vegas Golden Knights one win away from NHL Championship, Raptors get new coach, and Griner verbally attacked at Dallas airport – Sports News Update

The Vegas Golden Knights are about to win their first NHL championship. The Las Vegas team won the fourth final game of the Stanley Cup against the Florida Panthers on Saturday (local time) 3-2 (1-0, 2-1, 0-1). As a result, the Golden Knights lead 3-1 in the best-of-seven series after wins and only need one success for the title. The fifth game will take place in Las Vegas on Wednesday night.

In the final seconds, the Panthers had multiple chances to equalize the game and send it into overtime. Shortly after the final siren, a fight broke out, resulting in six penalties.

“It was obviously a fight to the last second,” said Golden Knights forward Nicolas Roy. “They came back. We knew they were going to do that because they’ve been doing it the whole series.” The Panthers won the third game after going behind in overtime.

The Golden Knights took a 3-0 lead midway through the second period. After two goals from Chandler Stephenson, William Karlsson raised for the visitors. A Brandon Montour goal late in the middle allowed Aleksander Barkov to give the Panthers a 2-3 lead early in the third – but the hosts couldn’t turn the game around.

The Toronto Raptors have found a new head coach, according to media reports. Accordingly, the Serb Darko Rajakovic is to take over the office of the NBA team from Canada and succeed Nick Nurse. As the US broadcaster ESPN reported on Saturday (local time), both sides will soon sign a contract.

Rajakovic would be the head coach for the first time in the NBA. The 44-year-old has worked as an assistant coach for three different teams since 2014, and with the Memphis Grizzlies since 2020.

The Raptors parted ways with their previous head coach Nick Nurse in mid-April after the team missed the playoffs in the North American Basketball League. The 2019 champion coach has already found a new team in the Philadelphia 76ers. The Raptors were the last team in the NBA looking for a new head coach.

US basketball player Brittney Griner, who was imprisoned in Russia for a long time, and her Phoenix Mercury teammates were verbally attacked by a YouTuber at Dallas-Forth Worth Airport on Saturday (local time). He shared a video on his Twitter account in which he said, among other things, to Griner that she hates America.

The women’s professional league WNBA called the behavior of the YouTuber, whom it described as a “provocateur”, in a statement “inappropriate and regrettable”. They worked with the Phoenix Mercury prior to the season “to ensure their safety when traveling, which includes charter flights and their assigned security personnel at all times.”

Griner’s teammate Brianna Turner tweeted about “excessive harassment. Our team nervously huddled in a corner, unsure of where to move.”

Traditionally, WNBA teams travel on scheduled flights, something the players’ union WNBPA has often criticized. “Any scheduled flight that is forced on our players is a threat to their health and safety,” the players’ union said after the Griner incident.

Griner has returned to the basketball court this season after the 32-year-old was convicted of drug possession charges in Russia and served 10 months in prison there. The Olympic champion was released as part of a prisoner exchange, and US President Joe Biden had also campaigned for her release.