National Sports

VANCOUVER — Losing hurt a little bit extra for Vancouver Whitecaps head coach Vanni Sartini on Saturday. Sartini has preached the importance of defensive structure to his team all season, so it stung to see his side fall 3-1 to the L.A.

EDMONTON — Barring a minor miracle, the Vancouver Canucks will claim the Pacific Division title.

NEW YORK (AP) — Artemi Panarin scored late in the third period to tie game and tallied the shootout winner as the New York Rangers rallied to defeat the New York Islanders 3-2 for a franchise-record 54th win on Saturday.

TORONTO — Auston Matthews moved closer to a milestone that has gone untouched for more than 30 years. Dylan Larkin and his teammates are fine with that — they secured two priceless points in the Eastern Conference playoff race.

PRINCE GEORGE, B.C. — Riley Heidt had a goal and assist as the Prince George Cougars defeated the visiting Kelowna Rockets 5-0 in Western Hockey League playoff action on Saturday at the CN Centre.

MONTREAL — Laurent Courtois means it when he says having Josef Martinez on his bench is a luxury. “Josef, for me, is a Lamborghini,” the first-year CF Montreal head coach said.

OTTAWA — After failing to meet expectations this season, the Ottawa Senators wanted to at least send fans home on a positive note. Thanks to Drake Batherson’s shootout winner on Saturday night they were able to do just that.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Toronto FC showed resolve in coming back twice at Charlotte FC on Saturday. But once again it paid the price for what coach John Herdman called "self-destruct moments.

UTICA, N.Y. — Canada lost the women's world hockey championship gold medal on home ice to the United States last year, so poetic justice will be on the minds of Canadian players Sunday in Utica, N.Y.

TORONTO — Brad Gushue has advanced to the championship final at the Grand Slam of Curling's season-ending Players' Championship. The St. John's, N.L.