ESPN More Sports

Stats & Info insights into this morning's top sports stories.


1. ANOTHER GAME 7: The New Jersey Devils stayed alive and forced a Game 7 with their 3-2 OT win against the Florida Panthers. Travis Zajac scored the game-winning goal, his third goal of the series. He only had two goals in the regular season. This is already the third playoff series that has gone to seven games, all in the Eastern Conference. The first of those Game 7s will be played Wednesday as the Boston Bruins host the Washington Capitals, with the Bruins looking to win their sixth straight game when facing elimination.

2. YU GOT IT: Yu Darvish pitched 8 1/3 IP and struck out 10 New York Yankees batters in a 2-0 Texas Rangers win. FROM ELIAS: Since divisional play began in 1969, only two other pitchers have hurled at least eight shutout innings with 10-or-more strikeouts in their first career start against the Yankees: Baltimore’s Bob Milacki on September 28, 1988 and Cleveland’s Bartolo Colon on September 21, 1998. Darvish is also the second Japanese-born starting pitcher to start 3-0 in his MLB career.

3. CHELSEA MOVES ON: Chelsea advanced to the UEFA Champions League Final (3-2 on aggregate) over defending champion Barcelona. Barcelona completed almost 1,200 more passes than Chelsea and took 34 more shots. Chelsea only put four shots on goal in the two games, but three of them went in. They will face the winner of Real Madrid and Bayern Munich. That semifinal takes place at 2:45 ET and the final takes place on May 19.

4. ALL THAT JAZZ: The Utah Jazz beat the Phoenix Suns to clinch the final playoff spot. It will be the Jazz’s 1st playoff appearance since the 2009-10 season. All 16 playoff spots have been clinched. Other clinchings on Tuesday included the Chicago Bulls winning the East for the second straight season, and the Los Angeles Lakers winning the Pacific division. It is the 32nd division title for the Lakers, the most of any team.

5. MISSING METTA: Lakers forward Metta World Peace was suspended seven games (including playoffs) for hitting James Harden in the head with an elbow. It is the second time that World Peace has been suspended as a Laker. He was suspended for one game after smacking J.J. Barea in the face during the playoffs last season. World Peace was averaging 14.1 PPG on 47.3 FG pct in April (both season-highs) after averaging just 6.1 PPG from December to March.

Stats & Info insights into this morning's top sports stories.


1. SPURS CLINCH TOP SEED: The San Antonio Spurs defeated the Portland Trail Blazers, 124-89, and clinched the top seed in the Western Conference. Last season, as a one-seed, the Spurs were eliminated in the first round of their playoff series with the Grizzlies. It was the fourth time since the playoffs expanded to 16 teams that a one-seed lost to an eight-seed.

2. COYOTES FINALLY WIN A SERIES: The Phoenix Coyotes defeated the Chicago Blackhawks, 4-0, to win the Western Conference Quarterfinals in six games. It’s the franchise’s first playoff series win since 1987. According to Elias, their streak of 23 consecutive seasons without winning a playoff series (1987-88 through 2010-11) is a NHL record.

3. KREIDER TO THE RESCUE: The New York Rangers defeated the Ottawa Senators, 3-2, to force Game 7 in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. 20-year old Chris Kreider scored the game-winning goal. According to Elias, Kreider is the third Rangers player to score a playoff goal, before playing in a regular-season game.

4. JETER HITS HOLLAND: Derek Jeter went 4-5 in the New York Yankees’ 7-4 win over the Texas Rangers. All four of Jeter’s hits came off Derek Holland. According to Elias, that tied Jeter's career high for hits off the same pitcher in one game. He had previously recorded four hits in a game against Greg Maddux and Bob Tewksbury.

5. ROSS SHOWS POWER: Cody Ross hit two home runs in the Boston Red Sox’ 6-5 win over the Minnesota Twins. Ross tied the game in the seventh inning with a two-run blast, then hit a solo shot in the ninth to put the Red Sox ahead. According to Elias, prior to Ross, the last Red Sox player with a game-tying and game-winning home run, each in the seventh inning or later, was Dwight Evans on June 23, 1990 against the Orioles at Fenway Park.

6. PANDA KEEPS HITTING: Pablo Sandoval recorded hits in both games of the Giants-Mets doubleheader on Monday (Giants won both games). Sandoval has hit safely in his first 16 games this season. According to Elias, he tied the second-longest hit streak to start a season by a Giants player since 1900. The record of 18 was set by Johnny Rucker in 1945.

Stats & Info insights into this morning's top sports stories.

1. HUMBER SIMPLY PERFECT: Chicago White Sox pitcher Philip Humber became the 21st pitcher to throw a perfect game in MLB history. FROM ELIAS: Entering Saturday’s game, Humber had 11 wins in 29 starts. That is the third-fewest starts and second-fewest wins prior to a perfect game in MLB history.

2. YANKEES MAKE IMPROBABLE COMEBACK: The New York Yankees trailed 9-0 against the Boston Red Sox before scoring 15 unanswered runs in a 15-9 win. FROM ELIAS: It is the second time in the modern era that a team trailed by at least nine runs and ended up winning the game by at least six runs. On June 12, 1938 the Detroit Tigers trailed the Washington Senators, 11-1, but rallied to win, 18-12, on the strength of a seven-run ninth inning.

3. BLACKHAWKS FORCE GAME 6: The Chicago Blackhawks stayed alive, winning 3-2 in overtime against the Phoenix Coyotes. The Blackhawks have played in seven consecutive overtime games, the longest streak in NHL playoff history. FROM ELIAS: This is the second playoff series in NHL history in which each of the first 5 games went into overtime. The other was the 1951 Finals when the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs went to OT in all five games.

4. ANDERSON BLANKS RANGERS: Craig Anderson made 41 saves to lead the Ottawa Senators to a 2–0 win at Madison Square Garden in Game 5 of their series against the New York Rangers. FROM ELIAS: Anderson was the first NHL goaltender to make at least 40 saves in a road shutout in the playoffs since Ed Belfour of the Dallas Stars made 48 stops in a 1–0 triple-overtime win at New Jersey in Game 5 of the 2000 Stanley Cup Final. Before Anderson, the last goaltender to do that in a road playoff game that did not go to overtime was Toronto’s Felix Potvin with a 42-save, 3–0 shutout at Chicago in 1995.

5. RONALDO SETS RECORD: Cristiano Ronaldo scored the game-winning goal in Real Madrid’s 2-1 win over Barcelona. It was Ronaldo’s 42nd goal of the season, setting the record for most goals scored in a season in La Liga history.

6. BATTLE OF WESTERN POWERS: The Los Angeles Lakers host the Oklahoma City Thunder at 3:30 ET on ABC. That game will feature the top-2 scorers in the NBA. Kobe Bryant (27.9 PPG) leads Kevin Durant (27.8 PPG) by 0.1 PPG. Durant is trying to become the first player to win three consecutive scoring titles since Michael Jordan from 1996-98. The Lakers have two games remaining while the Thunder have three.

Stats & Info insights into this morning's top sports stories

1. PENGUINS HANGING IN THERE: For the second straight game, the Pittsburgh Penguins won when facing elimination, beating the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2. The two teams have combined for 50 goals in the series, tied for the fourth-most in a NHL playoff series. FROM ELIAS: In each of the first five games of the series the team that scored the first goal lost. It’s only the third series in NHL playoff history to follow that unusual pattern; the others were Pittsburgh vs. St. Louis in 1981 and Dallas vs. San Jose in 2008.

2. YANKEES SPOIL FENWAY PARTY: The Boston Red Sox had a 100-year celebration of Fenway Park but the New York Yankees spoiled the party. Clay Buchholz allowed five HR in a 6-2 loss. FROM ELIAS: Josh Beckett and Clay Buchholz have each allowed five HR in a game this season. It's the third time that a pair of pitchers on the same team gave up five plus HR in a game in one season. The other pairs: 2005 Phillies-- Vicente Padilla and Cory Lidle, and the 2009 Red Sox-- Beckett and Buchholz.

3. SPURS BLOW OUT LAKERS AGAIN: Kobe Bryant made his return after missing seven games with a shin injury, but it didn’t matter as the Los Angeles Lakers were blown out again by the San Antonio Spurs. FROM ELIAS: The Spurs are the first team to win two consecutive meetings against the Lakers by 20+ points since the Detroit Pistons in February 2005. That Pistons team reached the NBA Finals and lost to the Spurs.

4. PREDATORS BACK IN SEMIS: The Nashville Predators are the first team to advance to the conference semifinals, beating the Detroit Red Wings 2-1 in Game 5 to win the series 4-1. It’s the second straight season that the Predators have advanced to the conference semis. They didn’t win a playoff series in their previous 11 seasons. As for the Red Wings, it’s the first time they were eliminated in the conference quarterfinals since 2006.

5. SOCCER SHOWDOWN: Barcelona hosts Real Madrid in El Clásico on Saturday, their second and final La Liga meeting of the season. With five games remaining, first-place Real Madrid leads second-place Barcelona by four points. Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo are tied for the league lead with 41 goals each this season. Both have broken the previous record of 40, set by Ronaldo last season. Barcelona is unbeaten in seven straight games against Real Madrid in all competitions, matching the longest unbeaten streak ever in the series, previously done by Real Madrid from 1932-35. Madrid hasn’t beaten Barcelona since last year’s Copa del Rey final. The match can be seen on ESPN Deportes and ESPN3 at 2 ET.

Stats & Info insights into this morning's top sports stories

1. TWO HAT TRICKS: The Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins, 8-5, to take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. Claude Giroux had three goals and three assists to set a team record for most points in a playoff game. Rookie Sean Couturier also had three goals. The Flyers became the fourth team in the expansion era to have multiple hat tricks in the same playoff game.

2. TWO SHORTHANDED GOALS: The Los Angeles Kings defeated the top-seeded Vancouver Canucks, 4-2, to take a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference Quarterfinals. FROM ELIAS: Dustin Brown became the 13th player in NHL history to score a pair of shorthanded goals in a playoff game, but he is the first of those players to account for his team's first two goals in that manner.

3. HARANG MAKES HISTORY: The Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the San Diego Padres, 9-8, on Andre Ethier’s bases-loaded walk in the ninth inning. FROM ELIAS: After allowing a leadoff single, Dodgers starting pitcher Aaron Harang struck out nine straight batters, falling one shy of the MLB record of 10 set by Tom Seaver against the Padres in 1970. Three other pitchers had nine consecutive strikeouts in a game: Mickey Welch in 1884, Jake Peavy in 2007 and Ricky Nolasco in 2009.

4. 30 THEN 30: FROM ELIAS: Andrew Bynum scored a game-high 30 points and led the Kobe-less Los Angeles Lakers to a 103-97 victory over the Denver Nuggets. Bynum, who had 30 rebounds in the Lakers’ last game, at San Antonio on Wednesday, became the first NBA player with 30 rebounds in one game and 30 points in the next since Moses Malone had 32 rebounds (and also 38 points) on Feb. 11, 1982, and then scored 32 points in his next game, two days later.

5. A-ROD TIES THE KID: The New York Yankees defeated the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, 5-0, in their home opener. Alex Rodriguez went 3-for-4, hitting his 630th career home run. He tied former teammate Ken Griffey Jr. for fifth on the all-time list. FROM ELIAS: A-Rod and Junior played 587 games as teammates with the Mariners from 1994 to 1999; when Rodriguez left Seattle following the 2000 season to sign as a free agent with the Rangers, he trailed Griffey by exactly 250 career homers, 398 to 148.

6. MISSING SUPERMAN: Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard has been diagnosed with a herniated disk in his lower back. There is no timetable for his return. This will certainly impact the Orlando defense moving forward. The Magic have allowed opponents to score 7.0 points per game more when Howard is not on the court this season.

Eight more teams had their home openers today and several of them gave the hometown fans plenty to cheer about with some spectacular pitching performances.

Cain is able
The San Francisco Giants shut out the Pittsburgh Pirates, 5-0, as Matt Cain threw a complete game one-hitter with no walks and 11 strikeouts for the win. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Cain is the only pitcher to throw a one-hitter in the team’s home opener in Giants franchise history.

The only hit Cain allowed was a single to Pirates pitcher James McDonald. Elias also tells us that Cain is the first pitcher since R.A. Dickey in 2010 to throw a 1-hitter in which the hit was allowed to the opposing pitcher. The last Giants pitcher to do it was Hal Schumacher in 1935.

Cain worked his fastball in the middle of the zone and above, throwing 48 of his 60 heaters there.

The Pirates couldn’t handle the high heat, with just one hit and four strikeouts in 14 at-bats ending with a fastball.

Of Cain's 11 strikeouts, eight were on pitches out of the zone. The Pirates swung and missed at 58 percent of Cain's pitches out of the zone.

Hello, Hiroki
The New York Yankees blanked the Los Angeles Angels, 5-0, winning for the 14th time in their last 15 home openers. Hiroki Kuroda shined in his Yankee Stadium debut, tossing eight scoreless innings to earn his first victory in pinstripes.

Kuroda is the fifth Yankee pitcher to throw eight shutout innings in his Yankee Stadium debut in the Divisional Era (since 1969) and the first to do it since Jimmy Key in 1993 against the Royals. Kuroda shut down the Angels right-handed bats, who were 2-for-14 with five strikeouts when facing Kuroda.

Beckett bounces back
The Boston Red Sox kicked off their home schedule with a much-needed victory, crushing the Tampa Bay Rays 12-2.

The Red Sox broke the game open with eight runs in the eighth inning, scoring as many runs in that frame as they had in their previous three games combined.

Josh Beckett allowed just one run in eight innings, bouncing back from his first start of the season when he allowed five home runs against the Tigers. Beckett had success throwing to the glove side, as the Rays went 0-for-7 in at-bats ending with a pitch in that location.

Peavy pitches in
The Chicago White Sox sent the defending AL Central champions home with a 5-2 loss, snapping a 6-game losing streak to the Detroit Tigers. The White Sox have now won five straight and 11 of their last 13 home openers.

Jake Peavy, who went just 3-6 with a 6.11 ERA at home last season, was in fine form for the White Sox this afternoon. He allowed just two runs on two hits with eight strikeouts in 6⅔ innings to earn his first win of the season.

Peavy was able to finish off the Tigers hitters, who were 1-for-15 with eight strikeouts in at-bats ending with a two-strike count. The Detroit lineup also had trouble with his high pitches, going hitless with four strikeouts in six at-bats ending with a pitch up in the zone or above.

Albert Pujols and the Los Angeles Angels make their first trip of the season to the Bronx this weekend, opening a three-game series today with the New York Yankees at 1:05 ET.

This will be Pujols’ debut at the new Yankee Stadium, having previously played an Interleague series at the old stadium in 2003 and in the 2008 All-Star Game. Pujols is 6-for-21 (.286) with two homers and three RBI in six career games against the Yankees but hasn’t faced them since 2005.

Let’s take a closer look at the matchup this afternoon:

Pujols vs Hiroki Kuroda
Hiroki Kuroda takes the mound for the Yankees, making his second start of the season after getting roughed up for six runs (four earned) in his debut last week. Kuroda has never allowed six-or-more runs in consecutive starts in his career.

Pujols is 3-for-15 with a homer and four strikeouts in his career against Kuroda. With no walks, Pujols has an on-base percentage of .200 against Kuroda, his fifth-worst versus any pitcher he has faced at least 15 times.

Kuroda has done a good job of keeping the ball down against Pujols, throwing 60 percent of his pitches to him in the lower third of the zone and below. Of the eight non-strikeout outs that Pujols has made versus Kuroda, six have been groundouts.

Angels and Yankees Head-to-Head
Last season the Angels lost the season series to the Yankees, 5-4, marking the first time they had lost the season series since 2003.

Since the divisional realignment in 1994, the Angels are the only AL team that has a winning record against the Yankees (92-85). The Angels are also the only AL team during that span to have a non-losing record against the Yankees in the Bronx (43-43).

Yankees Home Opener
This afternoon’s game is also the home opener for the Yankees after the team started the season with six straight road games. The Yankees have won 18 of their last 20 home openers, and their 11-1 record since 2000 is the best in the majors during that span, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

This is the third time the Yankees have played the Angels in their home opener. In 1968, Mel Stottlemyre threw a four-hit shutout as the Yankees beat the Angels 1-0; in 2010, the Yankees won 7-5 behind six scoreless innings from Andy Pettitte and home runs by Derek Jeter and Nick Johnson.

Stat of the Game
The Yankees are 6-0 all-time in home openers played on April 13.

Stats & Info insights into this morning's top sports stories

1. WATSON LEADS BULLS: The Chicago Bulls defeated the Miami Heat, 96-86 in overtime. FROM ELIAS: Derrick Rose played 25 minutes and 28 seconds, during which the Bulls were outscored, 59 to 32. But in the 27 minutes and 17 seconds with C.J. Watson on the court, the Bulls outscored Miami, 64-26.

2. OVERTIME HOCKEY: FROM ELIAS: The Boston Bruins, San Jose Sharks and Phoenix Coyotes all won in overtime. It marked the first time since April 18, 2001 that three NHL playoff games went into overtime on the same day.

3. BRUINS DO IT AGAIN: FROM ELIAS: The Bruins' victory against the Washington Capitals marked only the eighth time in NHL playoff history that a team posted a 1-0 overtime win in the first game of a playoff series. It was the second such win by the Bruins, who posted a 1-0 double-overtime victory in Game 1 of a best-of-five series against the Maple Leafs in 1935.

4. WHAT A RELIEF: FROM ELIAS: The Detroit Tigers improved their record to 5-1 with a victory against the Tampa Bay Rays. Reliever Collin Balester was the winning pitcher. The Tigers are the first team in major-league history to win at least five of their first six games in a season without a single victory by a starting pitcher.

5. PUJOLS BACK IN BRONX: The New York Yankees host the Los Angels of Anaheim in their home opener on Friday. Angels 1B Albert Pujols is expected to play his first game in the Bronx since June 2003. In that three-game series, Pujols went 3-10 with a home run as a member of the Cardinals. The Yankees won all three games.

Stats & Info insights into this morning's top sports stories

1. DARVISH ROUGHED UP, BUT GETS WIN IN DEBUT: Yu Darvish allowed five runs in 5 2/3 innings in his MLB Debut, including four in the first inning. However, he got the win as the Texas Rangers won 11-5 against the Seattle Mariners. FROM ELIAS: He was the first pitcher in more than 100 years to win his major-league debut in a start in which he allowed four or more runs in the first inning. That had last been done by Bill Steele of the 1910 St. Louis Cardinals, who surrendered five runs to the Cincinnati Reds in the opening frame of his first big-league game, but was credited with the win when St. Louis rallied for a 14-7 victory.

2. ZITO THROWS FIRST SHUTOUT IN A WHILE: Barry Zito threw his first shutout since 2003 as the San Francisco Giants beat the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. FROM ELIAS: Zito ended his streak of 274 consecutive starts without a shutout, the third-longest drought in major-league history. Tim Wakefield (353 straight, from 1997 to 2011) and Kirk Rueter (299 in a row, from 1995-2005) had longer spans.

3. SPURS STREAK ENDS: The San Antonio Spurs' 11-game winning streak was snapped after a 91-84 loss to the Utah Jazz. Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili didn’t play on Monday. It is the second time this season that Duncan, Parker, and Ginobili didn’t play in a loss that snapped an 11-game win streak. The first time was on February 21 in a 40-point loss to the Portland Trail Blazers.

4. THREE TEAMS GET FIRST WIN, TWO STILL LOOKING: The Giants, Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees all won Monday, leaving just two winless teams remaining in MLB. The Atlanta Braves and Minnesota Twins both dropped to 0-4 with losses. It’s the Braves worst start since 1988 when they started 0-10. It’s the Twins worst start since 1981, also an 0-4 start.

5. KNICKS-BULLS ... THE REMATCH: The New York Knicks and Chicago Bulls square off in Chicago on Tuesday. The two teams met two days ago in New York with the Knicks winning 100-99 in overtime. Carmelo Anthony scored a season-high 43 points in that game and became the fifth player in the last five seasons to make a game-tying shot in the last 15 seconds in regulation, then make the game-winning shot in the last 15 seconds in OT.

Stats & Info insights into this morning's top sports stories

1. BUBBA WATSON IS MASTERFUL: Bubba Watson defeats Louis Oosthuizen in the second playoff hole to win the Masters Tournament and his first major championship. It was the first time since 2009 and the 15th time overall that a playoff decided the Masters. Watson becomes the 14th different winner in the last 14 majors and the second straight American winner. He moves into fourth in the new Official World Golf Ranking. Watson won the tournament despite not being in the final pairing. It’s the second-straight year that the winner did not come from the final pairing. Prior to last year, the winner came from the final pairing in 19 of 20 years.

2. MELO IS CLUTCH: Carmelo Anthony scored a season-high 43 points, making the game-tying three-point FG in regulation and the game-winning three-point FG in OT as the New York Knicks beat the Chicago Bulls 100-99. FROM ELIAS: He is the fifth player in the last five seasons, and the first since Dirk Nowitzki in 2009 to make a game-tying shot in the last 15 seconds in regulation, then make the game-winning shot in the last 15 seconds in OT. Anthony has gone 24-52 from the field in game-tying or go-ahead situations in the last 15 seconds of fourth quarter/OT over the last 10 seasons. Among players that have taken at least 20 field goal attempts over that span, Anthony ranks first in field goal percentage (46.2). His 24 field goals are second to Kobe Bryant who has 26 (26-86, 30.2 FG pct for Bryant).

3. TIGERS USE RARE COMEBACK TO SWEEP RED SOX: Miguel Cabrera hit a game-tying three-run home run in the ninth inning and Alex Avila hit a two-run walk-off home run in the 11th inning to give the Detroit Tigers a 13-12 win over the Boston Red Sox to complete the three-game sweep. FROM ELIAS: This is the first time that the Red Sox have ever lost a game in which they held multiple-run leads twice in the ninth inning or later and it's the second time that the Tigers have won a game in this fashion, the first since September 28, 1929 against the Chicago White Sox.

4. YANKEES & RED SOX IN UNFAMILIAR PLACE: Jeremy Hellickson pitched 8 2/3 innings of shutout ball as the Tampa Bay Rays beat the New York Yankees 3-0. The Yankees join the Red Sox with an 0-3 start. It’s the second time that they’ve both started a season 0-3. The other instance was in 1966 when the Red Sox started 0-5 and the Yankees started 0-3. That season, the Red Sox finished 72-90 while the Yankees finished 70-89.

5. MUCH ANTICIPATED MLB DEBUT: Texas Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish will make his MLB Regular Season Debut Monday. Darvish will face the Seattle Mariners and likely face fellow Japanese superstar Ichiro in the first inning. Darvish was 93-38 with a 1.99 ERA in 7 seasons in Japan.

Stats & Info insights into this morning's top sports stories

1. FINAL PAIRING AT THE MASTERS: Peter Hanson has a one-shot lead heading into the final round at the Masters Tournament. It’s the first time Hanson has a 54-hole lead at a major. Phil Mickelson is just one shot back after shooting a six-under 66. It’s the first time in his career that he shot six-under or better on the weekend in a major. He’s playing in the last group on Masters Sunday for the fifth time. He’s won the Tournament the previous three times.

2. BECKETT BLASTED BY TIGERS: Josh Beckett allowed five home runs as the Boston Red Sox lost 10-0 to the Detroit Tigers. Beckett didn’t allow his fifth home run last season until June 28. Meanwhile, the New York Yankees lost 8-6 to the Tampa Bay Rays. It is the first time since 1980 that the Red Sox and Yankees both started 0-2.

3. MOYER TAKES PLACE IN RECORD BOOKS: Jamie Moyer pitched five innings for the Colorado Rockies. The 49-year-old hurler was the second-oldest pitcher to start a MLB game. Only Satchel Paige was older (58 years old). He is the oldest player to pitch in a MLB game since Hoyt Wilhelm, who pitched at age 49 for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1972.

4. HOWARD SEEING 20-20: Dwight Howard had 20 points and 22 rebounds against the Philadelphia 76ers. It’s the 41st time that Howard has scored 20 points and grabbed 20 rebounds in game, tying Charles Barkley for the third-most and just one behind Hakeem Olajuwon for second-most since the NBA-ABA merger in 1976-77.

5. STAMKOS SCORES 60: Steven Stamkos scored his 60th goal of the season in the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3 OT win over the Winnipeg Jets. Stamkos is just the fifth player to score 60 goals in a season since 1993-94 and the first since Alex Ovechkin scored 65 in the 2007-08 season.

6. LET THE POSTSEASON BEGIN: The NHL Playoff matchups are set with the New York Rangers getting the top seed in the East and the Vancouver Canucks getting the top seed in the West. Vancouver clinched the Presidents’ Trophy for the second-straight season. However, having the most points in the regular season doesn’t guarantee playoff success. The 2008 Detroit Red Wings were the only team in the last nine years to win the Stanley Cup after winning the Presidents’ Trophy.

Andy Pettitte, who last pitched for the New York Yankees in 2010, has decided to return to the team, signing a 1-year, $2.5 million minor league contract on Friday.

One of Pettitte’s long-lasting legacies is his unsurpassed postseason record, capturing five World Series titles with the Yankees. He is the all-time winningest pitcher in major-league postseason history with 19 victories, and ranks first in starts and innings pitched.

Pettitte was also one of the most consistent pitchers in major-league history. He has posted a .500 or better record in each of his 16 seasons in the majors, tied for the third-most such seasons all-time.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, his streak of 13 consecutive winning seasons to start a career is the third-longest, trailing only Hall of Famers Grover Cleveland Alexander (17) and Cy Young (15).

Pettitte had one of his finest seasons in pinstripes in 2010, posting a 3.28 ERA with a career-best 11-3 record over 21 starts. He held lefties to a .482 OPS, the second-best rate among major-league starters that season (min. 100 batters faced).

His off-speed pitches were key to his success in 2010. Opponents hit just .235 in at bats ending on off-speed pitches and missed on 32 percent of their swings, well above the league average rate of 29 percent.

Pettitte’s ability to locate his slider down in the zone made that pitch an important weapon for him against both lefties and righties (see heat map above). Opponents chased 49 percent of the sliders he threw, the highest rate among MLB starters in 2010 (min. 300 pitches).

However, Pettitte was hit hard in 2010 when throwing fastballs and cutters, with opponents hitting .316 on at bats ending on such pitches, more than 25 points above the league average of .280.

Pettitte will turn 40 on June 15 and could join a select group of Yankee starters that have pitched successfully at that age. Only three players have thrown at least 125 innings in their age 40 season or older with the Yankees and posted an ERA below 4.00: Phil Niekro (3.09 in 1984), Roger Clemens (3.91 in 2003), and Randy Johnson (3.79 in 2005).

On Tuesday night, ESPN and Rawlings announced the Gold Glove Award winners for 2011. There were 18 players selected for Gold Gloves and nine of them were first-time winners. Here's a closer look at some notable selections this year:

National League
• St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina won his fourth consecutive Gold Glove. The last National League catcher to win four straight Gold Glove was Charles Johnson, from 1995 to 1998.

Video review by Baseball Info Solutions (BIS), a company that charts every pitch of every game, showed that Molina led the majors in blocks of pitches that were in the dirt with 657.

• The Los Angeles Dodgers outfield duo of Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier each won Gold Gloves, with Kemp netting his second and Ethier his first. They’re the first pair of outfield teammates to win Gold Glove Awards in the National League since Andruw Jones and Jeff Francoeur for the 2007 Braves. It’s also the first time Dodgers outfielders have won Gold Gloves in the same season.

• Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Placido Polanco became the second player to win Gold Gloves at multiple positions, joining Darin Erstad, who won as both an outfielder and first baseman. Polanco also won twice previously as a second baseman.

Polanco, in his second season at third base for the Phillies, saw his errors increase from five in 2010 to eight in 2011. However, a closer look at his defensive skills using advanced metrics shows that he actually made big strides in his defensive play this year.

Polanco finished second to San Francisco Giants third baseman Pablo Sandoval in defensive runs saved, a stat devised by sabermetricians Bill James and John Dewan that measures a third baseman’s ability to turn batted balls into outs and defend bunts.

Polanco really improved in turning grounders into outs. Specifically he was much better on balls hit into the areas where third basemen most frequently field balls and balls hit down the third-base line. According to the plus-minus system from BIS, Polanco went from saving five total bases on balls hit to those spots in 2010 to saving 23 bases this year.

American League
• Boston Red Sox centerfielder Jacoby Ellsbury became the first Red Sox outfielder to win a Gold Glove Award since Ellis Burks in 1990. Like Polanco, Ellsbury made a significant statistical jump in his defensive performance from 2009 (his last healthy season) to 2011.

In 2009, he finished near the bottom among center fielders in defensive runs saved, which for outfielders measures their effectiveness at turning batted balls into outs and the value of his throwing arm as a baserunner deterrent. Ellsbury’s defense cost the Red Sox nine runs in 2009, but saved them six runs in 2011, tied for sixth-best in the American League.

• One of the more intriguing selections was in left field where Kansas City Royals outfielder Alex Gordon became the first Royals outfielder to win a Gold Glove Award since Jermaine Dye in 2000.

Gordon won on the strength of his major league-best 20 outfield assists, a Royals record and eight more than any other left fielder. However, Gordon’s win deprived New York Yankees leftfielder Brett Gardner of his first Gold Glove Award.

Gardner tied for the major-league lead in defensive runs saved, saving the Yankees 22 runs with his defense. Video review by scouts at BIS also showed Gardner leading all left fielders in “Good Fielding Plays,” which are similar to Web Gem nominees.

Three games in action on the diamond Sunday, with plenty to digest. Here's the Stats & Info roundup on the Sunday that was:

Tigers 5, Yankees 3 (series tied 1-1)
Detroit starter Max Scherzer became the third pitcher to throw at least six scoreless innings, allowing 2 hits or fewer, in a postseason game against the Yankees in Yankee Stadium (other two are Warren Spahn and Cliff Lee).

Miguel Cabrera became the first Tigers player with three hits and three RBI in a postseason game since Kirk Gibson in Game 5 of the 1984 World Series.

Cabrera is the fifth player in Tigers history with such a game, joining Hank Greenberg (twice), Al Kaline, Alan Trammell (twice) and Gibson.

Looking ahead: The last eight times the Yankees have played in a division series, their Game 2 result matched the series result.

Brewers 9, Diamondbacks 4 (Brewers lead series 2-0)
Milwaukee won Game 2 of a postseason series for the first time in five tries. Their 9 runs tied the second-most they'd ever scored in a postseason game. It also tied the second-most runs allowed by the Diamondbacks in a postseason game.

Brewers pitchers struck out a team postseason-record 13, surpassing the mark of 11 set in Game 3 of the 1982 ALCS against the Angels.

The Brewers bullpen, which had a 1.14 ERA in September, pitched four scoreless innings of relief. They've thrown five scoreless innings this series.

Looking ahead: While the Brewers are now 8-4 at home in postseason history, they're just 3-8 on the road.

Cardinals 5, Phillies 4 (series tied 1-1)
The Cardinals bullpen allowed no runs and one hit in six innings of relief. It's the second time in team history the Cardinals came back from four or more runs down to win a postseason game. The other such rally came in Game 3 of the 1987 NLCS against the Giants, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

It's the second time in Phillies history they blew a lead of four or more runs in a postseason game, with the other coming in Game 4 of the 1993 World Series against the Blue Jays, also according to Elias.

Albert Pujols hit the go-ahead RBI in the seventh inning, his third such RBI in the seventh inning or later of a postseason game. His three go-ahead hits in the seventh or later are the most by a Cardinals player in the postseason.

Cliff Lee lost his third straight postseason decision (started out 7-0), allowing five runs. His four earned runs allowed matched the number he'd allowed in 32 1/3 LDS innings prior to Sunday.

Lee is the first NL pitcher to allow at least five runs and 12 hits in a postseason game since Slim Sallee of the 1917 Giants.

Of note: With this series being even, there are three League Division Series even for the first time since 2003.

With a 5-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays Tuesday night, New York Yankees starter Ivan Nova captured his 12th straight win. Nova went 7.2 innings and allowed six hits and no earned runs. His 12 straight wins by a rookie starter are the most since Larry Jansen of the 1947 Giants did the same.

The Yankees now have a six-game lead over the struggling Boston Red Sox, their largest margin of the season. New York can clinch a playoff berth with a win in one game of Wednesday's day-night doubleheader with the Rays.

Here's a next-level look at how Nova got the win:

Nova threw his fastball less often than he normally does. Fifty-three of his 103 pitches (51.5 percent) were fastballs, below his season average of 61.3 percent.

Rays hitters were 3 for 14 in at-bats ending with Nova's fastball. Overall, hitters are hitting .196 in at-bats ending with Nova's fastball in September; they hit .297 against it before that.

Left-handed hitters were 2 for 11 against Nova, and he had success keeping the ball away from those hitters.

Thirty-one of his 52 pitches to lefties (59.6 percent) were outside, above his season average of 50.9 percent entering Tuesday. Rays lefties were 0 for 5 in at-bats ending with an outside pitch from Nova.

Rays hitters were 1 for 15 against Nova with men on base, including two double plays.

Nova stayed out of hitters' counts. Fourteen of his 103 pitches (13.6 percent) came when he was behind in the count, his second-lowest percentage in a start this season.

Elsewhere in the AL East, the Red Sox could not take advantage of the Rays loss and remained two games ahead of Tampa Bay in the American League wild card race. Starter Erik Bedard struggled against the Baltimore Orioles, throwing 76 pitches in 2.2 innings of work and allowing four runs (one earned), in a 7-5 loss. This is the 14th straight game in which the Red Sox did not get a quality start.

The Red Sox are now 5-15 in September, which is as many losses as they had in September and October of last season.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Red Sox have gone 22 straight games without winning two in a row. That's their longest such streak since the 1994 team had a 28-game run in May and June of that season.

The Red Sox used seven pitchers in their Tuesday loss to the Orioles. Since rosters expanded on September 1, the Red Sox have used at least five pitchers in a game nine times. They have used at least five pitchers in 45 percent of their 20 games this month.

Jonathan Papelbon recorded his second blown save of season. He'd converted 25 straight save chances and allowed his first run since July 16.

Meanwhile in Los Angeles, Clayton Kershaw got the better of Tim Lincecum and picked up his 20th win in the Los Angeles Dodgers' 2-1 win over the San Francisco Giants. The loss snapped the Giants' eight-game win streak and moved the Dodgers above .500 for the first time since they were 14-13 before games of April 30.

The Elias Sports Bureau tells us Kershaw is the fourth-youngest pitcher in Dodgers history to win 20 games in a season and the third since 1942 to defeat the Giants for win number 20 of the season.

Kershaw (20-5, .800) joins Justin Verlander (24-5, .828) and Ian Kennedy (20-4, .833) as pitchers with at least 20 wins and a winning percentage of .800 or better in 2011. There have been only two seasons in major-league history in which at least three pitchers won 20 or more games with a winning percentage of .800 or higher: 1910 (Russ Ford of the Yankees, King Cole of the Cubs and Chief Bender of the A’s) and 2002 (Barry Zito of the A’s, Randy Johnson of the Diamondbacks and Pedro Martinez of the Red Sox).

Dan Braunstein contributed to this story.