NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Nashville Predators have acquired defenseman Ben Harpur from Toronto in exchange for forward Miikka Salomaki.

The Predators announced the trade Saturday night, less than 30 minutes before their game against Columbus.

Nashville needed help on defense, and the 25-year-old Harpur has played 103 career NHL games, all with Ottawa, after being the 108th pick overall in the fourth round in 2013. He made his NHL debut on March, 31, 2016, but hasn't played in the NHL since the 2018-19 season, when he had five points in 51 games for the Senators.

The 6-foot-6, 223-pound Harpur has played 33 games this season with the AHL's Toronto Marlies and has one goal and 10 assists. A native of Hamilton, Ontario, Harpur played 225 games in the Ontario Hockey League before turning pro.

Salomaki of Raahe, Finland, was Nashville's 52nd pick overall in the second round in 2011. He played five games with Nashville this season, his last Oct. 29, and he has 12 goals and 15 assists in 167 career NHL games all with the Predators.

MEXICO CITY – Experience is always celebrated as a key quality for a golfer, but in this instance, painful association might have backfired.

Patrick Reed was cruising along at 2 under par through seven holes Saturday at the WGC-Mexico Championship when he pulled his tee shot into the trees left of the eighth fairway. For his second shot, he tried to punch a 6-iron under the trees toward the green but clipped a branch on his way to a momentum-stalling bogey.

Reed was in a similar position at No. 8 during the final round of last year’s World Golf Championships event at Chapultepec Golf Club.

“I was in the right trees and I had a similar window and I chipped out kind of at an angle where I had a full sand wedge,” recalled Reed, who ended up making a double bogey-7 at No. 8 last year en route to a T-14 finish. “So, my thought process there was, all you have to do is get the ball low, it's a pretty big gap. It's not that wide of a tree, and I just clipped the left side of it.”

Reed recovered with a perfect closing nine that included five birdies for a share of second place, just a stroke behind third-round front-runner Justin Thomas.

Despite what Reed called “mental errors,” he has the opportunity on Sunday to post his first top-10 finish since the event moved to Mexico in 2017.

“It was a little sloppy today. The good thing is I was able to get it around the golf course, get it in the right spots to give myself a chance for birdie,” he said. “The great thing is I'm in good position going into tomorrow, and that's all I can ask for.”

MEXICO CITY – Justin Thomas’ game may as well have been conjured in a laboratory for Chapultepec Golf Club because Thomas checks all the boxes of what is needed to have success on the tree-lined, high-altitude layout.

Hits the ball a mile? Check.

Wedge game is all-world? Double check.

Aggressive? Triple check.

All of which explains why Thomas finished inside the top 10 in each of the first three years that this World Golf Championships event has been in Mexico City and now finds himself atop the leaderboard through three rounds.

“I feel like I've seen the greens pretty well when I've played here. I mean, when I'm driving it like I feel like I am, I can be very aggressive and take advantage of some holes where some people might not be able to,” said Thomas, who shot a second-round 65 Saturday for a one-stroke lead over Patrick Reed and Erik van Rooyen. “I just have a lot of wedges and short irons and chips into greens, so just have to try to take advantage of it.”

That wasn’t always the case, however. According to Thomas’ swing coach/father, Mike, it was rounds of 73-74 on Friday and Saturday last year in Mexico that prompted Thomas' aggressive game plan. Following rounds of 67-66-65 this week, Thomas continues to trend in the right direction.

“I really, really hope that that trend continues tomorrow,” he laughed.

India's attempts at a roaring comeback in the basin Reserve Test were thwarted by a quick 71-run stand for the eighth wicket between Colin de Grandhomme and Kyle Jamieson. After his four-wicket haul with the ball, Jamieson ended up with the highest score for a debuting No. 9 for New Zealand: 44, off just 45 balls. If Jamieson left some exposed wounds, a dancing comedy act of a 24-ball 38, complete with sound effects, from Trent Boult sprinkled salt into them. However, it was de Grandhomme's solid batting that would have soothed the New Zealand nerves after India took two wickets in the first 20 balls of the day.

Having started the day 51 ahead with five wickets in hand, New Zealand ended up with a lead of 183. If there was a consolation for India, it was that nowhere in the world does first-innings lead count for less than in New Zealand because the surfaces there allow for second-innings comebacks.

If there was a concern for India, it was that this was not exactly the typical New Zealand surface. That much was evident as the first ball of the day reared off from just short of a length to hit the shoulder of BJ Watling's bat for Bumrah's first wicket in his last 294 legal deliveries in international cricket. When Tim Southee soon chipped a filthy half-volley down the leg side straight to fine leg, India were only 60 behind and hopeful of a strong comeback.

It helped that the old ball was still seaming around a touch, and the new ball was just around the corner. With three overs to go to the new ball, de Grandhomme decided to transfer the pressure back with a lofted off-drive off Ishant Sharma. Immediately Jamieson announced himself with a disdainfully pulled six off Mohammed Shami, who has looked off colour all match. Having seen Bumrah find some of his touch, India went to him with the new ball, but he bowled too straight and too full in the first over to concede two boundaries. Just like that, the lead was above 90 and India couldn't have afforded to go all out on the attack with the new ball.

This is when Jamieson displayed excellent balance at the wicket, and an organised technique to play both off the front and back foot. With Shami still struggling to find consistent lengths, New Zealand raced away against the new ball. Shami conceded 25 in his five overs, three of those with the new ball.

After the first hour, India were in damage control as they went to R Ashwin, who began the day at a disadvantage. He had been a handful on day two with a dry spot on a good length allowing him turn and bounce. However, the wind had switched to the Southerly on the third morning, which meant the fast bowlers got that end and Ashwin had to bowl from the Pavilion End where he found no assistance. Accordingly, Jamieson slogged him for two sixes over midwicket.

However, Ashwin's experience came into play here. He went around the wicket to stem the flow of runs, and when Jamieson went for a third six, the ball angling across him got a thick outside edge for a catch at long-on. de Grandhomme was not done yet, but eventually India's biggest weapon - an innocuous delivery down leg - came to their rescue, giving them a third wicket off such deliveries. It also meant Kane Williamson remained the only man to have scored a half-century in the Test.

But there was no respite for India, who had begun to switch off, as seen by the fielders who had not been coming up to prevent a single off the last ball of the over to keep de Grandhomme at the non-striker's end. Boult hardly played a ball standing still. He backed away, he shuffled across, but he middled almost every hit, flat-batting a short ball through mid-off, crunching a drive, lofting Ashwin, steering, pulling, nudging. After almost every ball he made a sound, depending on how well he had played it or if the bowler had managed to surprise him.

In the 38-run last-wicket stand, Ajaz Patel scored no run. Eventually Sharma switched to around the wicket to get Boult with a bouncer to end up with a five-for in a match doctors initially didn't give him a chance to play.

Three Serie A soccer matches scheduled for Sunday in the northern regions of Lombardy and Veneto were suspended late Saturday after the deaths of two people infected with the coronavirus from China.

On orders from the government, the Italian league games called off were: Inter Milan vs. Sampdoria, Atalanta vs. Sassuolo and Hellas Verona vs. Cagliari.

"The government is working on urgent measures to decisively confront and contain the cases of coronavirus contagion,'' read a letter from sports minister Vincenzo Spadafora to Italian Olympic Committee president Giovanni Malago shortly before midnight local time on Saturday. "Those measures also include the sports world in order to prevent risks and to better take care of the health of those involved in the events and competition.

"Following measures taken by the cabinet for protective reasons and maximum precaution, on orders of the government I'm asking you to suspend all sports events of every level and discipline planned for the Lombardy and Veneto regions on Sunday."

Inter, who are atop the league, confirmed on Saturday night that their match at 17th-placed Sampdoria would not be played.

"The club can confirm that Inter vs. Sampdoria, which was due to take place at 20:45 CET on Sunday 23 February, has been postponed to a later date" the brief statement read.

Three other matches in Genoa, Turin and Rome on Sunday are going ahead as scheduled.

A dozen towns in northern Italy effectively went into lockdown on Saturday after the deaths of two people infected with the coronavirus from China, and a growing cluster of cases with no direct links to the origin of the outbreak abroad.

The secondary contagions prompted local authorities in the Lombardy and Veneto regions to close schools, businesses and restaurants and to cancel sporting events and Masses.

The mayor of Milan, Italy's business capital and the regional capital of Lombardy, shuttered public offices.

A 78-year-old man infected with the virus died in Veneto. A postmortem on a 77-year-old woman in Lombardy came back positive, though it wasn't clear if illness from the virus caused her death.

A Serie B match between Ascoli and Cremonese was called off on Saturday around one hour before the scheduled kickoff because of fears over the coronavirus.

The Italian news agency ANSA said that the match was postponed because the visiting side are from the Lombardy region in the north of Italy, where 30 cases have been reported so far.

- Watch live Serie A football on ESPN+

Lega Serie B later confirmed the decision in a statement, saying: "Following an insurgence of coronavirus cases in the north of Italy, it has made the suspension of the match, projected for this afternoon, inevitable due to public health reasons."

The Gazzetta dello Sport said both teams were already at the stadium when they were told of the postponement and that a coach load of Cremonese fans were turned back.

A third-tier Serie C match between Piacenza and Sambenedettese was also called off as were several dozen youth-team and amateur matches in the Lombardy region.

Information from The Associated Press and Reuters was used in this report.

Here’s a look at where things stand through 54 holes of the WGC-Mexico Championship at Chapultepec Golf Club in Mexico City, where Justin Thomas leads:

Leaderboard: Justin Thomas (-15), Patrick Reed (-14), Erik Van Rooyen (-14), Bryson DeChambeau (-11), Jon Rahm (-11), Rory McIlroy (-11)

What it means: Thomas, the world No. 4, is eyeing his third victory of the season following triumphs at the CJ Cup and Sentry Tournament of Champions. The latter came via a playoff victory over Xander Schauffele and Reed, who will again be one of Thomas' main challengers on Sunday. Reed will certainly face some chirping from the crowd as his controversial bunker episode at Hero last December remains a hot topic of conversation. But Thomas would likely be the favorite anyway as he owns three top-10s at Chapultepec, including a runner-up finish to Phil Mickelson two years ago.

How it happened: DeChambeau, the second-round leader by one, and Van Rooyen traded birdie-eagle starts to begin their third rounds playing alongside Reed in the final group. While Van Rooyen remained a shot off the lead after a third-round 67, DeChambeau saw his round begin to unravel after a double bogey at the par-5 sixth, where DeChambeau’s third shot found the water. He made just one birdie the rest of the way and carded an even-par 71. Meanwhile, Thomas was slow to start, bogeying his first hole, but caught fire on the back nine with five birdies, including a 15-foot breaker at the par-3 17^th hole. Thomas bogeyed the par-4 finisher, which left him with a third-round 65 and dropped him back into a tie with Reed for a moment. But Reed bogeyed the last, leaving a greenside bunker shot in the fringe and missing the par save, to shoot 67.

Round of the day: Rahm got off to a blazing start, birdieing six of his first seven holes. Each of his first three birdies came on putts inside of 4 feet. On the back side, Rahm added three birdies and a hole-in-one from 158 yards at the par-3 17^th to finish with a course-record, 10-under 61.

Best of the rest: McIlroy’s third-round 68 kept his hopes alive while Tyrrell Hatton, playing for the first time since wrist surgery, and Paul Casey each fired 66 to reach 10 under.

Biggest disappointment: DeChambeau makes a strong case here, but he still has a chance to win this tournament. Hideki Matsuyama, though, likely played himself out of it with an even-par 71 that leaves him six shots back.

Shot of the day: Rahm wasn’t the only player to record an ace Saturday. His fellow Arizona State alum, Chez Reavie, did so at the 167-yard par-3 third hole.

RIO GRANDE, Puerto Rico – PGA Tour rookie Viktor Hovland shot an 8-under 64 on Saturday to take a one-stroke lead into the final round of the windy Puerto Rico Open.

"Hopefully, I just continue doing what I have been doing the first three days," Hovland said. "It would be unbelievable to have won on the tour already, but I'm just worried about tomorrow. Hopefully, I can hit some good shots and make some putts."

The 22-year-old Norwegian starred at Oklahoma State, winning the 2018 U.S. Amateur at Pebble Beach, then sweeping low amateur honors at the Masters and U.S. Open. He birdied all four par-5 holes at Coco Beach, the last on the 18th for a back-nine 31 and 18-under 198 total.

"I played really well today, kind of the same round as the last two, just been playing really solid off the tee and been hitting a lot of really good iron shots into the greens," Hovland said. "Early on in the round I didn't really make that many putts, but I did a really good job of just staying calm. Thankfully, on the back nine I started making a couple putts and got me going."

Martin Laird was second after a 63. He eagled the par-5 second and par-4 10th, holing out with a wedge on 10.

"Today was a great day, putts were going in," Laird said. "I've been hitting it great all week. Yesterday, I hit it just as good and just putts were all over the hole and didn't go in and then today, they did. Nice bonus on 10. Holing a wedge is always a little boost."

Josh Teater was two strokes back at 16 under after a 66.

Emiliano Grillo had a 69 to get to 13 under. Patrick Rodgers (66) and Sam Ryder (69) were 12 under.