WINNIPEG, Manitoba >> Kyle Connor’s one-timer with 1:36 remaining in the third period snapped a 3-3 tie and lifted the Winnipeg Jets to a 5-3 victory in Saturday’s opening game of the Stanley Cup playoffs against the St. Louis Blues.

Connor also contributed a pair of assists and captain Adam Lowry capped the victory with an empty-netter with 53 seconds left.

Game 2 in the best-of-seven series is Monday at Canada Life Centre, which featured a loud “whiteout” full house of 15,225 fans.

Mark Scheifele had a goal and two assists and Jaret Anderson-Dolan also scored for the Jets.

Connor Hellebuyck made 14 saves for Winnipeg, which won the Presidents’ Trophy for the NHL’s best regular-season record (56-22-4).

Cronin fired as coach of Ducks after 2 seasons >> Greg Cronin was fired as coach of the Anaheim Ducks after two seasons, general manager Pat Verbeek announced.

The Ducks missed the playoffs for the seventh straight season, finishing 35-37-10. Their 80 points were a 21-point improvement over last year, but weren’t enough to save Cronin’s job.

Rangers fire Coach Laviolette >> The New York Rangers fired coach Peter Laviolette in the aftermath of missing the playoffs.

The move made by general manager Chris Drury came after the Rangers missed the playoffs, the result of a lost season during which they massively underachieved preseason expectations following a trip to the Eastern Conference final last year.

Assistant Phil Housley was also fired.

Baseball

Red Sox activate Hendriks from minors >> Liam Hendriks knew the number as if it was his career saves or ERA: 680 days.

The 36-year-old right-hander was back on a major league roster with the Boston Red Sox, in position to make his first big league appearance since June 9, 2023.

Hendriks was diagnosed with Stage 4 non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in December 2022 and the three-time All-Star returned to the mound on May 29, 2023.

Pirates recall 2-time all-star >> David Bednar is back in the big leagues.

The Pittsburgh Pirates recalled their two-time All-Star closer ahead of their game against Cleveland.

Pittsburgh sent Bednar to Triple-A Indianapolis earlier this month after he struggled in three appearances to start the season. Bednar was 0-2 with a 27.00 ERA and one save at the time of the demotion.

Pro basketball

Coaches Association votes Atkinson as coach of the year >> Cleveland’s Kenny Atkinson was announced as the winner of the National Basketball Coaches Association’s coach of the year award, after leading the Cavaliers to a 64-win season and the No. 1 seed for the Eastern Conference playoffs.

The NBA will also give out a coach of the year award in the coming weeks. The NBCA has done its own separate award since 2017 named for Michael H. Goldberg, the organization’s first executive director.

It is voted on by the league’s 30 head coaches. The NBCA does not release voting totals, but revealed that four other coaches — Detroit’s J.B. Bickerstaff, Oklahoma City’s Mark Daigneault, Houston’s Ime Udoka and former Denver coach Michael Malone also received votes. Malone was fired by the Nuggets with three games left in the regular season.

Golf

woo kim leads at RBC Heritage >> Si Woo Kim didn’t make a bogey until the final hole at Harbour Town. By then he had played well enough that he still posted a 5-under 66 and wound up with a one-shot lead at the RBC Heritage.

Kim birdied the opening two holes to immediately catch 36-hole leader Justin Thomas and, right when he began to pull away, the 29-year-old South Korean came up short on the par-4 closing hole and made bogey.

He was at 15-under 198, one shot ahead of Andrew Novak (66) and Thomas, who had a most interesting day that ended with a 15-foot birdie for a 69.

Dahmen leads at Puntacana championship >> Joel Dahmen shot a 1-under 71 to take a three-stroke lead into the final round of the Corales Puntacana Championship as he tries to complete a wire-to-wire victory at the site of his only PGA Tour victory.

Dahmen won the 2021 event. With a victory Sunday, he would get a two-year exemption after narrowly keeping his PGA Tour card last year.

Dahmen had a 17-under 199 total, He opened with rounds of 62 and 66 to break the tournament 36-hole record.

Tennis

BMW Open final set >> Top-seeded Alexander Zverev will play for a record-equalling third ATP Munich title after reaching the final.

The German riding home crowd support will face second-seeded Ben Shelton in Sunday’s decider at the BMW Open.