‘I just wanted to fight hard, play well and put a few blows into the top five’
By ELLIE MAWSON in Manchester

England’s former World No.1 Laura Massaro exited her penultimate event, the Manchester Open, at the quarter finals stage following her announcement this week that she will retire at the end of the season.

The former world champion, in her last appearance in Manchester, provided a tough battle for Egypt’s World No.3 Nour El Tayeb at the National Squash Centre, but it was not enough to stop the top seed from claiming an 11-7, 15-17, 11-4, 11-6 victory.

El Tayeb’s win means that there will be four different continents represented in the semi-final stage of the PSA World Tour Silver tournament, which is the first event to be held in Manchester since the award-winning 2017 PSA World Championships, as New Zealand’s Joelle King, Wales’ Tesni Evans and United States’ Amanda Sobhy all secured wins.

“I was happy to play Laura,” said 26-year-old El Tayeb following her victory. “I wanted to give her something to remember me by. It’s the last two tournaments for her and I have always looked up to her. I’d love to work with her one day, she is the most professional on tour, and I wish I could have half of her career.”

Massaro added afterwards: “I played well yesterday and today. Being able to fight back against the World No.3 was my only goal really.

“When I announced my retirement, I didn’t want to have an events procession. I wanted to fight hard, play well and put a few blows into the top five girls in the world and I’ll be looking to do the same thing at the British Open.”

World No.3 El Tayeb will now face Tesni Evans for a place in the final after Wales’ World No.9 conquered England’s No.1 Sarah-Jane Perry in an epic five-game battle.

Evans, 26, was forced to come from one-game down as the two players took part in a high-quality battle much to the delight of the packed-out crowd inside the National Squash Centre. However, it proved to be Evans’ day as she closed out a tight 7-11, 11-9, 11-9, 1-11, 13-11 win.

“You can see SJ is back now and playing at her best,” said 26-year-old Evans. “I’m just really happy that I got over the line. I was struggling at the end of the fourth and mentally just down, but I wasn’t going down without a fight, the problem is she doesn’t do that either, so it was just a battle to the end.”

The other semi-final will see New Zealand’s World No.5 Joelle King and United States’ No.1 Amanda Sobhy go head-to-head after they claimed respective 3-0 wins over England’s former World No.3 Alison Waters and Egypt’s World No.7 Nouran Gohar.

Number two seed King was in dominant form to power past Englishwoman Waters by an 12-10, 11-9, 11-6 scoreline

“I was 2-0 up so I didn’t want to give Alison a sniff or allow her back into the match,” said 30-year-old King following her impressive win.

“I’m happy to be off in three. She was down and out in the fifth yesterday and she managed to come back and win. I’m really pleased to stay strong at the end of each game. It was really close and that can be the decider in the match, so I’m pleased to be off in three.

“It’s nice to see so many people out here supporting us.”

Meanwhile, World No.8 Sobhy defeated Egypt’s Gohar in a comfortable performance from the American to claim an 11-9, 11-2, 11-8 victory in just 26 minutes.

“We haven’t played in a while and she just had a good result [in El Gouna],” said 25-year-old Sobhy afterwards. “I kind of knew what to expect from her, she is a relentless player, so you just have to absorb it and chip at it.

“It was a good day, I had to catch her off guard a little bit, but she just keeps coming back and I just had to hang in there in that third game and capitalise on any mistakes. I’m really glad to be off in three.

“It’s nice not to play the top three, which I have done for most of the season. The level is so deep at the moment that anyone can beat anyone on any given day and fortunately I showed up today.”

The semi-finals take place today (Sunday May 12) at 16:30 local time (UTC+1) and the action will be broadcast live on SQUASHTV (rest of world), Eurosport Player (Europe only) and to multiple broadcasters around the world. 

PSA $76,000 Women’s Manchester Open 2019, National Squash Centre, Manchester, England.

Quarter-finals:
[1] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) bt [5] Laura Massaro (ENG) 11-7, 15-17, 11-4, 11-6 (52m)
[6] Tesni Evans (WAL) bt [3] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) 7-11, 11-9, 11-9, 1-11, 13-11 (68m)
[8] Amanda Sobhy (USA) bt [4] Nouran Gohar (EGY) 11-9, 11-2, 11-8 (26m)
[2] Joelle King (NZL) bt [7] Alison Waters (ENG) 12-10, 11-9, 11-6 (31m)

Semi-finals:
[1] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) v [6] Tesni Evans (WAL)
[2] Joelle King (NZL) v [8] Amanda Sobhy (USA)

Report by ELLIE MAWSON (PSA Media Team). Edited by ALAN THATCHER.
 

Pictures courtesy of PSA

N. WOODSTOCK, N.H. — Scott Payea showed the heart of a two-time defending ACT champion on Saturday by taking his first win of the season in the Caron Fabrication Spring Green at White Mountain Motosports Park.

Payea took the lead for good on lap 66 of the 119-lap event and held strong over the second half of the event for his 16^th career ACT Late Model Tour victory.

Combined with his heat race victory and lap leader bonuses, Payea earned the maximum amount of points possible at an ACT event. The big day was sorely needed by Payea and his RPM Racing team after they stunningly failed to make the main event at Barre, VT’s Thunder Road just six days before.

Wayne Helliwell started on the pole by virtue of earning a +8 in qualifying under ACT’s “plus-minus” system. But after a caution came out for a multi-car tangle just one lap into the event, it was Christopher Pelkey sticking his nose out front. The sophomore ACT runner led the next 10 laps before Helliwell regained the top spot.

The three-time ACT champion continued to pace the field until the third caution came out on lap 28 for Mike Kenison’s spin. Rich Dubeau had started to challenge Helliwell prior to the caution, and when the green flag flew again, Dubeau swept around the outside into the lead.

All the while, Payea had been following Dubeau to the front from his seventh starting spot. Payea got around Helliwell for second on lap 35 and had Dubeau in his sights when the fourth yellow flag flew on lap 48 for Trent Goodrow’s accident. Helliwell was forced to retire from the event during the same caution for personal reasons.

The outside proved the fast way once again on the restart with Payea moving into the lead for the first time. Three laps later, seven-time White Mountain Motorsports Park Champion Quinny Welch took over the second spot.

After the fifth and final caution on lap 63 for Jesse Switser’s spin, Welch was able to poke his bumper in front for two laps before Payea moved back on top. Welch gave it everything he had over the final 54 laps, but Payea hung steady through traffic and eventually took the win by six car lengths.

Welch’s second-place finish matched the best result ever by a WMMP regular in an ACT event at the track. Dubeau took third and unofficially moved into the points lead by three over Jimmy Hebert, who came from 18^th to finish fourth.

Patrick Laperle, rookie Ryan Kuhn, Pelkey, Tyler Cahoon, Mathieu Kingsbury and Stacy Cahoon rounded out the top 10.

In the Wells River Chevrolet Flying Tigers, defending champion Shane Sicard picked up where he left off with a season-opening win. Sicard crossed the line second in the caution-free 35-lap feature but inherited the win when Christian Laflamme was disqualified for a suspension infraction.

Apparent third-place finisher Nathaniel Parkin was also disqualified for a chassis infraction. This handed the second spot to Colin Cornell with Dwayne Lanphear completing the podium.

Adam Sicard also got his title defense off on the right foot by beating out a huge Woodsville Guaranty Savings Bank Strictly Stock Mini field for the win. A rough start to the event played into Sicard’s hands as he sliced from the 14^th starting position to grab the lead on lap five of the 25-lap event. He then survived one more caution and cruised to the victory.

Dustin Jackson finished second with Jason Fallman third.

Norman Forest lucked into a season-opening victory in the WMMP Dwarf Cars. Forest was running third with two laps left in the 20-lap feature when Andy Hill got into the back of Bobby Brown in turn four, sending Brown for a spin and earning both drivers a trip to the rear. Forest held off Dave Gyger on the green-white-checkered sprint to the finish.

Ethan Tyrrell got his first podium finish in third.

Owen Bouche grabbed the lead on lap six of the 15-lap Dads 4 By Tool & Supply Kids Truck feature and sailed off to the win. Luke Peters came in second.

The finish:

1. ( 7 ) Scott Payea ( 37VT ) , Colchester, VT , 119 Laps
2. ( 12 ) Quinten Welch ( 78NH ) , Groveton, NH , 119 Laps
3. ( 6 ) Rich Dubeau ( 30NH ) , Plainfield, NH , 119 Laps
4. ( 18 ) Jimmy Hebert ( 58VT ) , Williamstown, VT , 119 Laps
5. ( 13 ) Patrick Laperle ( 91QC ) , St-Denis, QC , 119 Laps
6. ( 5 ) #Ryan Kuhn ( 72MA ) , E. Bridgewater, MA , 119 Laps
7. ( 2 ) Christopher Pelkey ( 64VT ) , Graniteville, VT , 119 Laps
8. ( 17 ) Tyler Cahoon ( 38VT ) , Danville, VT , 119 Laps
9. ( 11 ) Mathieu Kingsbury ( 9QC ) , Blainville, QC , 119 Laps
10. ( 10 ) Stacy Cahoon ( 83VT ) , St. Johnsbury, VT , 119 Laps
11. ( 23 ) Jean-Francois Dery ( 21QC ) , Quebec, QC , 119 Laps
12. ( 20 ) #Stephen Donahue ( 2VT ) , Graniteville, VT , 119 Laps
13. ( 25 ) Jeff Marshall ( 32NH ) , Gilman, VT , 119 Laps
14. ( 19 ) Joel Hodgdon ( 36VT ) , Craftsbury Common, VT , 119 Laps
15. ( 21 ) Claude Leclerc ( 11QC ) , Lanoraie, QC , 118 Laps
16. ( 4 ) Oren Remick ( 21NH ) , Monroe, NH , 118 Laps
17. ( 24 ) Corey Mason ( 1NH ) , Groveton, NH , 118 Laps
18. ( 9 ) Dylan Payea ( 7NH ) , Milton, VT , 118 Laps
19. ( 28 ) Peyton Lanphear ( 22VT ) , Waterbury, VT , 116 Laps
20. ( 27 ) Scott Coburn ( 72VT ) , Barre, VT , 116 Laps
21. ( 29 ) David LaBrecque ( 57NH ) , Thornton, NH , 116 Laps
22. ( 15 ) Chip Grenier ( 9VT ) , Graniteville, VT , 85 Laps
23. ( 30 ) Reilly Lanphear ( 21VT ) , Waterbury, VT , 71 Laps
24. ( 3 ) Jesse Switser ( 10ME ) , Whitfield, NH , 63 Laps
25. ( 14 ) Scott Corey ( 22NH ) , Lyndonville, VT , 63 Laps
26. ( 26 ) #Trent Goodrow ( 31MA ) , Carver, MA , 63 Laps
27. ( 1 ) Wayne Helliwell Jr. ( 27NH ) , Dover, NH , 48 Laps
28. ( 8 ) Mike Kenison ( 3NH ) , Lancaster, NH , 28 Laps
29. ( 16 ) Craig Bushey ( 05VT ) , Fairfax, VT , 1 Laps
30. ( 22 ) Jonathan Bouvrette ( 41QC ) , Blainville, QC , 1 Laps

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — Taking the lead from Troy Rutherford on lap five, Damion Gardner scored the $3,000 victory at Bakersfield Speedway.

Racing Mark Alexander’s No. 4 Trench Shoring / All Coast Construction Spike, Gardner became the sixth different winner in as many races with the AMSOIL USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series.

Gardner’s 30-lap triumph was the 81st series win of his career as he was followed by Rutherford, fast-qualifier Jake Swanson, Cody Williams and Trent Carter.

Swanson posted his 17th career Woodland Auto Display Fast Time Award over the 17-car field with a time of 12.636.

The finish:

Feature (30 laps): 1. Damion Gardner (3), 2. Troy Rutherford (2), 3. Jake Swanson (6), 4. Cody Williams (9), 5. Trent Carter (5), 6. Eddie Tafoya Jr. (10), 7. Steve Hix (1), 8. Chris Gansen (11), 9. James Herrera (17), 10. Joel Rayborne (15), 11. Austin Williams (7), 12. Tommy Malcolm (12), 13. Ricky Kirkbride (14), 14. Brody Roa (4), 15. Matt McCarthy (8), 16. A.J. Bender (16), 17. Austin Ervine (13). NT

PERRIS, Calif. – Brandon Robinson registered a flawless performance to reign supreme in Saturday’s Vance & Hines So-Cal Half-Mile presented by Russ Brown Motorcycle Attorneys at the Southern California Fairgrounds.

Robinson controlled the once stopped and restarted main event from the front from the race’s opening lap. In doing so, he became the first AFT Twins presented by Vance & Hines rider to claim more than one victory this year.

“They all feel amazing. It’s great to be up here,” Robinson said. “Any time you’re on the box is good, but winning… this is what it’s all about. This is what we put in all the hard work for. My team busted their butts. My team owner, Jerry Kennedy, gives us everything we need to win. My crew chief, Brent Armbruster — the guy is amazing. We make a lot of decisions together, but there are some times he bails me out and gets the bike right. Man, he hit the nail on the head again tonight. This one is for my team.”

While Robinson took the checkered flag with nearly two seconds to spare and relatively little drama following the restart, prior to the red flag a titanic showdown was taking shape.

At the time of the stoppage, Robinson found himself relentlessly hounded by an inspired Sammy Halbert, who teased the potential to overtake Robinson on either the inside or the outside. But a potentially historic victory (the factory Harley squad is looking for its first win since 2016 and the first for the XG750R) would have to wait at least another week, as the fallout of the red flag foiled Halbert’s hopes.

After a Henry Wiles spill reset the main event eight laps in, Robinson powered away at the restart while Halbert dropped several spots down the order.

Championship leader Briar Bauman was the primary beneficiary. He immediately slotted into second and held strong throughout to extend his perfect podium record on the season with a runner-up result.

Halbert battled his way forward and ultimately made his way back onto the box with a charge to third. His encouraging performance was amplified by that of his teammate, Jarod Vanderkooi, as the two combined to give the resurgent works Harley outfit a 3-4 result at Vance & Hines’ home race.

Defending double AFT Twins Champion Jared Mees finished fifth.

Ryan Wells, the 2016 Roof Systems AFT Singles presented by Russ Brown Motorcycle Attorneys champion, backed up his first podium of the season at the Arizona Super TT with his first win of the year in a virtual wire-to-wire triumph at the So-Cal Half-Mile.

On a track that had proven difficult to overtake all night, the majority of the fireworks in the AFT Singles Main came early. Two-time ‘19 race winner Jesse Janisch grabbed the holeshot but was immediately overhauled around the outside by Morgen Mischler.

Wells squared them both up, however, and stole away the lead before the opening lap was out. The race was effectively decided at that point, as Wells never put a wheel wrong or provided a rival an opportunity to stick a wheel by him.

“TTs have never been my super strong suit so I knew getting a podium (at the Arizona Super TT), we had worked out the bugs that needed to be worked out,” Wells said. “The Yamaha was awesome. It was huge for me to come in here and get the win. To lead all 15 laps… it was a long race for me mentally. It felt awesome to lead some laps and come out with the win. I can’t say enough about the whole Estenson racing family. That pit over there is literally a family. The camaraderie is awesome and I couldn’t get a win for a better group.”

Michael Inderbitzin emerged from the pack and slotted into second in the early going. Inderbitzin kept Wells honest throughout on his way to his first AFT Singles podium.

Dalton Gauthier finished third to complete the podium.

Cory Texter picked right up where he left off at the Texas Half-Mile, going two-for-two in AFT Production Twins action by scooping up a second consecutive victory on Saturday night.

Texter jumped out into the lead from the start and never relinquished the lead in the 15-lap main.

Ryan Varnes planted himself on Texter’s outside hip over the opening handful of laps and for a time appeared capable of pushing Texter to the flag. However, matching Texter’s stone-cold consistency on the slick Half-Mile proved too much of an ask.

As a result, Texter cleared open some space at the front en route to a .959-second margin of victory, while Varnes found himself reeled back into a three-way battle for the runner-up spot with Kayl Kolkman and Michael Inderbitzin.

Despite the late pressure, Varnes managed to hold on for second, while Kolkman narrowly fended off Inderbitzin’s challenge for the last spot on the podium in the race’s final corner by a meager .072 of a second.

AFT Singles title leader Dalton Gauthier rounded out the top five.

“I just have a good bike and a good team behind me,” Texter said. “I’m having fun and enjoying myself this year, and that’s what’s important. This class is no joke; there are some great riders in it, and I knew this Main Event would be tough. I’m not typically fast on these slick racetracks, so we’re two-for-two on tracks I didn’t think we’d do well on. I’m pretty happy with that.”

TUCSON, Ariz. — It’s Derek Kraus’ world and we’re all just living in it.

Tucson was twice as nice for the Stratford, Wis., native on Saturday night, as he swept the Port of Tucson Twin 100s for his third and fourth K&N Pro Series victories of the season and first wins on the West coast.

Coming off the second Twin 100 victory at South Boston Speedway in the K&N Pro Series East (where he has two victories this year), Kraus and the No. 16 Bill McAnally Racing team established a goal to win both races and take a stranglehold in the championship standings coming into Arizona.

They did exactly that.

“That was the goal coming into this race,” Kraus said. “Now we got the points lead going into the next K&N West race. That was really good and we’ll look to stay consistent the rest of the season. We just had to stay patient and it paid off at the end.”

In the first Twin 100, Kraus took the lead from pole sitter Tanner Gray going into turn one and never relinquished the top spot, leading all 100 laps.

Gray, Hailie Deegan, Jagger Jones and Brittney Zamora rounded out the top five finishers in race one.

Race two was a different story for Kraus, who didn’t grab the lead until past the halfway point. But once he did, it was smooth sailing to another victory.

Gray came home second for the second consecutive race, with Zamora finishing a career-best third after leading 26 laps from the pole. Trevor Huddleston and Matt Levin completed the top five.

The finishes:

Race No. 1: Derek Kraus, Tanner Gray, Hailie Deegan, Jagger Jones, Brittney Zamora, Matt Levin, Trevor Huddleston, Todd Souza, Dustin Ash, John Wood, Kody Vanderwal, Ron Jay, Bobby Hillis Jr, Austin Thom, Takuma Koga, Travis Milburn, Bill Kann.

Race No. 2: Derek Kraus, Tanner Gray, Brittney Zamora, Trevor Huddleston, Matt Levin, Jagger Jones, Dustin Ash, Travis Milburn, Takuma Koga, Bill Kahn, Austin Thom, Kody Vanderwal, Ron Jay, Bobby Hillis Jr., Hailie Deegan, Todd Souza.

BARGNANA, Italy — After a heartbreaking early retirement from the lead on Saturday, Florian Venturi took his No. 32 Go Fas Racing Chevrolet Camaro to a dominant victory in the second ELITE 2 Division race of the NASCAR GP Italy Sunday at Autodromo di Franciacorta.

The 18-year-old Frenchman led all 24 laps of the race, grabbing his second NASCAR Whelen Euro Series win, the first of 2019 with a 15-second lead on the rest of the field.

Starting from the pole, Venturi immediately took off and constantly gained ground, perfectly capitalizing on a strong pace and his fresher General Tire tires.

“It’s very good for the team and myself,” said Venturi. “I wanted to win so bad. I’m so happy to get this win today after yesterday’s setback. Now I’m looking forward to Brands Hatch. I like the British track and I won my first NASCAR Whelen Euro Series race over there.”

As he did in the season opener at Valencia, Andre Castro took the second spot on the podium after having to retire from the lead on Saturday, continuing on his roller-coaster first part of the season.

“We’ve got the same result as we’ve got at Valencia,” said Castro. “My first win is just around the corner and I really want it. Second place is always good for the championship. If we keep getting on the podium and we get rid of the bad luck, we will be in the championship game.”

Lasse Sorensen, who grabbed his first NWES win in his first ever Euro NASCAR race on Saturday, finished third by passing Giorgio Maggi on lap 22. The Dexwet-df1 Racing driver put up another promising performance on the 2.5-kilometer long Italian track.

“It was a great first NWES weekend,” said Sorensen. “Yesterday’s win was fantastic. I had to take care of the car a little bit in the end but I’m satisfied with the podium in this second race. I had some nice really battles during this race. I think Giorgio struggled a bit on the brakes, so I was able to pass him. It was a great race.”

Maggi was fourth, missing the podium for just one spot. The Hendriks Motorsport driver will keep the championship lead after the NASCAR GP Italy over Vittorio Ghirelli, who rounded out the top five in the second ELITE 2 Division race.

Myatt Snider finished sixth ahead of Sorensen’s teammate Justin Kunz, NWES veteran Bert Longin, Advait Deodhar and Claudio Cappelli who closed the top 10.

Kaapo Kakko scored a hat trick to lift Finland to a 4-2 victory over host Slovakia at the ice hockey world championship Saturday.

Kakko, who led Finland with two goals in an upset 3-1 win over Canada on Friday, netted his first with 3 minutes, 49 seconds to go in the first period for a 2-1 lead. Martin Marincin equalized for Slovakia in the second before Kakko scored midway through the third in Group A play in Kosice. He added his third into an empty net with 15 seconds remaining.

The 18-year-old Kakko is considered a possible first pick in June's NHL draft.

Finland next plays the United States on Monday.

In Group B in Bratislava, Filip Hronek and Michael Frolik had two goals and an assist each for the Czech Republic on the way to a 7-2 rout of Norway. The Czechs kept a perfect record at the tournament after beating defending champion Sweden 5-2 on Friday.

Earlier, Germany star forward Leon Draisaitl scored a goal in a 3-1 victory over Britain in a return for the British team to the world hockey championship after 25 years.

It took the Germans almost 40 minutes to beat goaltender Ben Bowns. Moritz Seider scored the opening goal with 39 seconds remaining in the middle period in Group A.

Mike Hammond scored an unassisted tying goal early in the final period, exploiting Draisaitl's blunder behind his own goal, the first goal for Britain in the top division since 1994.

The goals from Yasin Ehliz on a power play and another by Draisaitl settled the game midway through the final frame.

In Group B, Latvia rallied from a goal down to top Austria 5-2.

Earlier Saturday, Kevin Fiala scored a hat trick and added an assist as Switzerland thrashed Italy 9-0 in its first game.

It was Switzerland's biggest victory over Italy at the worlds.

Last year's finalist, Switzerland, didn't waste time and took control with four goals in the opening period in the Group B game.

Fiala opened the scoring with a backhand on a breakaway 77 seconds in, followed by Gregory Hofmann, Lino Martschini and Vincent Praplan.

Fiala added his second in the second period and completed his hat trick on a power play in the third.

Simon Moser, Romain Loeffel and Nico Hischier also scored.

Goaltender Reto Berra stopped 19 shots for the shutout.

In Group A, Frederik Storm scored the winner for Denmark to prevail over France 5-4 in a penalty shootout.

SAN JOSE -- St. Louis Blues rookie goaltender Jordan Binnington has been credited with helping save their season, and he earned a Calder Trophy nomination for leading the team from last in the conference to Game 1 of the Western Conference finals.

But he can't save everything. Not when the team in front of him is making more turnovers than an apple orchard. Not when the San Jose Sharks were allowed as many high-percentage scoring chances as they had in their 6-3 win on Saturday.

For that, the Blues are sorry.

"He made a bunch of great saves tonight, and we hung him out to dry," forward Robert Thomas said of Binnington, who made 19 saves in the loss.

"He's far from the issue," defenseman Alex Pietrangelo said. "Those goals going in are on us, not him."

The Blues had 11 turnovers in the game, and four of the Sharks' goals were the result of gaffes from St. Louis defensemen. Timo Meier overpowered and pickpocketed Pietrangelo for the Sharks' first goal, scored by Couture on an odd-man rush. Their third goal by Kevin Labanc came after a turnover by defenseman Joel Edmundson. Their fourth goal occurred after a turnover by Colton Parayko, forced by Couture, and Meier scored on a partial breakaway.

"We were hard on pucks in certain areas. On our forecheck, we were good. We were able to outmuscle them," Couture said, noting that Meier in particular was "a bull" out there.

For that, the Blues defensemen were sorry.

"It was more so us [than them]. We can be better. A couple of bad bounces, but again, we can be better," Pietrangelo said. "We can move the puck a little bit quicker. Be more efficient. Make the play that's in front of us. Their forwards are strong defensively. We just have to find a way behind them."

Coach Craig Berube said the gifts that were wrapped for the Sharks' offense weren't just from his defensemen. The support for them wasn't there, he said, and that's what led to mistakes.

"We were too spread out. In playoff time, you have to have numbers around the puck. You have to have puck support. We didn't have enough support. Couldn't make enough 10-foot passes," he said. "We didn't manage the puck very well. And they check well."

For that, the Blues forwards were sorry.

"I wouldn't throw it all on the D. When they don't have any options, it's hard for them to make a play. For us forwards, we have to find better lanes and give them more outs," Thomas said.

There are silver linings for the Blues. They scored three goals on Martin Jones. There was an uptick in their attack and responsibility with the puck in the third period. And let's face it: The Sharks have done this before, winning their previous Game 1s on home ice by a combined score of 10-4 before losing Game 2s to the Vegas Golden Knights and Colorado Avalanche.

"That wasn't how we wanted to play. We know we have to be better, we have to work harder for each other. That wasn't our best tonight," forward Ryan O'Reilly said. "We gotta go back to work and make some adjustments."

KOSICE, Slovakia -- The United States rebounded from an upset loss to Slovakia in the opening game at the ice hockey world championship by routing France 7-1 on Sunday.

After losing 4-1 to the host, the U.S. was not ready for another upset. Alex DeBrincat scored twice and Frank Vatrano added one in less than two minutes to set the pace early in the opening period for the U.S. to take command in the Group A game in Kosice.

Colin White also had two goals while Patrick Kane, who captained the Americans to the bronze medal at last year's worlds in Denmark, scored his first goal in Slovakia and added an assist.

Chris Kreider added one for the U.S. while Anthony Rech had a consolation goal for France.

The U.S. next faces Finland on Monday.

In the Group B game in Bratislava, star-studded Russia recorded its second straight win after blanking Austria 5-0. Evgenii Dadonov led Russia with two goals for the second consecutive game, and Nikita Kucherov had a goal and an assist. Alexandar Georgiev made 15 saves for the shutout.

Later on Sunday, Canada faces Britain while Denmark plays Germany in Group A. Two-time defending champion Sweden takes on Italy and Switzerland meets Latvia in Group B.

The home teams have now won both Game 1s of the conference final round, as the San Jose Sharks looked dominant in their 6-3 victory over the St. Louis Blues.

Here's what happened in the NHL last night (check out replays of every playoff game on ESPN+) and what to watch for today, in today's edition of ESPN Stanley Cup Playoffs Daily:

Jump ahead: Last night's game | Three stars
Play of the night | Today's game | Social post of the day

About last night ...

Game 1: San Jose Sharks 6, St. Louis Blues 3 (Sharks lead series, 1-0)

This one came way too easy for the Sharks. Both teams were coming off Game 7 wins, but the Sharks were playing at a different speed than the Blues, whether it was pressuring St. Louis players into turnovers or pouncing on offensive chances in the attacking zone. Logan Couture, Gustav Nyquist and Timo Meier continued their dominant play, Couture and Meier finished with two goals and an assist apiece. Kevin Labanc and Joe Pavelski -- on a 5-on-3 power play -- were the other goal scorers.

The Blues got tallies from Joel Edmundson, Ryan O'Reilly and Tyler Bozak, but otherwise turned the puck over too much (12 giveaways) while hanging Jordan Binnington "out to dry" according to forward Robert Thomas.

Three stars

1. Logan Couture, C, San Jose Sharks. Couture has the NHL postseason lead in goals (11) and points (17) after his three-point night in Game 1. This is just the third time in Sharks franchise history they've had a player reach 10 goals in a single postseason, and Couture has been that player twice.

2. Timo Meier, RW, San Jose Sharks. Meier was the complete package for the Sharks in Game 1. He used his defense and his physicality to overpower the Blues for a turnover that led to San Jose's first goal. He used his speed and stick handling to score their fourth goal on a partial breakaway. He had a little luck on his fifth goal, bouncing the puck off of defenseman Vince Dunn's skate. (He said he was aiming for Binnington.)

3. Ryan O'Reilly, C, St. Louis Blues. The center's second-period goal, on which he collected the puck and deked around Martin Jones to tuck it home, broke an eight-game goal drought for a player who had 28 of them in the regular season.

Play of the night

6:34PM #TimoTime>#PlayoffMode>pic.twitter.com/hGwfal8jFS - x - San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) May 12, 2019

Sometimes one goal can tell the story. The Blues giving the puck away on a Sharks' defensive play and then a San Jose forward, Meier in this case, making a great move to beat Jordan Binnington as his skaters let him down ... yeah, that's pretty much the epitome of Game 1.

Dud of the night

The Blues' parade of turnovers was a combination of sloppy puck management by the defense, poor puck support by the forwards and, to give credit where its due, terrific pressure from a tenacious Sharks team. Or as Blues coach Craig Berube put it: "We were too spread out. In playoff time, you have to have numbers around the puck. You have to have puck support. We didn't have enough support. Couldn't make enough 10-foot passes," he said. "We didn't manage the puck very well. And they check well."

On the schedule

Carolina Hurricanes at Boston Bruins, Game 2, 3 p.m. ET (Bruins lead series, 1-0)

Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour would like you to read beyond the box score. "You look at the score and you're like, 'Wow, that was not good,'" he said of his team's 5-2 loss to the Bruins in Game 1. "A large chunk of that game was really positive for us. Really, a small fraction that wasn't very good. At the end of the day, it's 1-0 them, right? So, you move on."

So what has to change? The Hurricanes have to stay out of the penalty box against the best power play of the postseason (30 percent!), for one. On the other side, Boston gets defenseman Charlie McAvoy back after his one-game suspension.

Social post of the day

Nate Pavelski and Jagger Burns stealing the show from their dads. �� #PlayoffMode>pic.twitter.com/ZeIH5d9zIY - x - San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) May 12, 2019

Nate Pavelski and Jagger Burns get their Fortnite emotes going during Game 1. I had a conversation with Nate about Fortnite in the Sharks' locker room during the Avalanche series, as we're both aficionados, and it was at that moment I realized that every time I meet my demise in that game, it's probably at the hands of a 9-year-old.

Quotable

"He was a bull." -- Logan Couture on Timo Meier's performance in Game 1.