CONCORD, N.C. – When Mike Salinas started competing in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, he did it with the intent of being successful right off the bat.

With a final round in his 25th career race and his first career Top Fuel win in his 42nd race, Salinas accomplished that, but it has only motivated his Scrappers Racing team even more.

Salinas grabbed his first NHRA win at the four-wide event in Las Vegas earlier this month, which means he will have a chance to sweep the biggest spectacle in drag racing when he competes at zMAX Dragway for the upcoming 10th annual NGK Spark Plugs NHRA Four-Wide Nationals, April 26-28. For Salinas, it’s another opportunity to grab a victory in his 10,000-horsepower dragster, which is more than enough to keep him competing at a high level.

“We were pretty motivated as it was, the difference is all the guys on the team,” Salinas said. “All the guys, they knew (a win) was possible. I didn’t because it had never happened before. The car was super smooth, everything was smooth and it was good (in Vegas). We were able to soak it in and enjoy the victory, and we want to go try to do the same thing. We go into every race taking it one round at a time. So, let’s go there, qualify and see how we do, one round at a time.”

Steve Torrence (Top Fuel), Cruz Pedregon (Funny Car), and Jerry Savoie (Pro Stock Motorcycle) were last year’s winners. It is the sixth of 24 events during the NHRA season and marks a special race, as one of the most unique experiences in motorsports turns 10 years old. As Salinas proved in Las Vegas, the four-wide racing set-up is just fine with him.

There, he was the No. 1 qualifier and rolled to the victory. He suffered a tough first-round loss last weekend in Houston, but Salinas remains fourth in points, just 47 points behind leader Doug Kalitta. Others to watch in Charlotte including defending event winner and world champion Torrence, Houston winner and 2017 champ Brittany Force, three-time champ Antron Brown and Clay Millican, but Salinas has turned into a championship contender after teaming up with the likes of legendary tuner Alan Johnson, who is Salinas’ tuning advisor, and crew chief Brian Husen.

“I expected to win Pomona,” Salinas said. “I have a different mindset. Everything I do is in a strategic way. I’m a goal-achiever and I’ve got this gorilla off my back, and now we can go have fun and win more races. (Alan) is amazingly good, so I’m pretty lucky to be part of it. It’s been a good journey. This car is prepared right and it’s amazing to watch this team work.”

It’s motivated Salinas, who hopes his success and drive has sparked two of his daughters, Jianna and Jasmine, who both started their racing careers this year in Pro Stock Motorcycle and Top Alcohol Dragster, respectively. Both continue to make solid strides early in their career in 2019, while Mike Salinas is simply thrilled to have this success together as a family.

“We’ve built something,” Salinas said. “The important thing for me is I’ve got four daughters in or coming into the sport. Now we have a good bar for them to reach and meet. It’s going to be a great thing. It encourages every one of them. If you put in the work you’re going to do well and they put in the work. The girls are going to be great. NHRA has been amazing with us and it’s pretty awesome. It’s pretty surreal to be honest with you.”

SEATTLE -- The arena for Seattle's new NHL franchise won't be completed until late spring or summer of 2021, but that shouldn't have any impact on the expansion team's first season.

Team president Tod Leiweke said Thursday the delay could end up affecting some other plans for the franchise, including the hopes of hosting the 2021 NHL draft. After being awarded the league's 32nd team last December, Seattle officials were hoping to have the building open by early spring 2021, but design delays and a change in general contractors has delayed the project.

Leiweke said Mortenson, the new contractor, has been provided with incentives to try to have the arena ready by June 1, 2021, in the hope of having the building host the team's expansion draft, the NHL draft and a full home slate for the WNBA's Seattle Storm.

"We have had discussions with the NHL, they're open to that idea, where we would host not only the expansion draft in the building but the full league draft," Leiweke said. "That would be a heck of a way to start a franchise. We are fully motivated."

Getting the Storm back into the building is a major priority, Leiweke said. Coming off winning the WNBA title last season, the Storm will play this season and the next in temporary homes around the Seattle area.

Ken Johnson, construction executive with Oak View Group, said they should have a more detailed construction timeline by next spring.

"The Storm will play in this building and they're not really a tenant, they're a partner," Leiweke said. "We have deep admiration for them and what they do. We have a deep admiration for their championships. Hopefully, some of that will rub off on other teams in the building."

The price of the privately funded project, which is being built on the site of the former KeyArena, has grown to between $900 million and $930 million, Leiweke said. The price was originally expected to be about $650 million.

Mortenson has agreed to a guaranteed price for the project and Leiweke said there are contingencies built in should unexpected issues arise.

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Smoke from pulled pork and burgers on grills wafted through the parking lots outside PNC Arena. The cars blasted Kanye West and country music. The fans parked some four to five hours before the Carolina Hurricanes dropped the puck for their first playoff game in a decade, and played cornhole, drank beers, and wheeled pigs (yes, real pigs) in wooden wagons.

As center Jordan Staal pulled into his usual parking spot at the arena, he couldn't help but smile.

"I've been waiting a long time for this," Staal said. "It was so cool to see."

Added defenseman Justin Faulk: "We've had a lot of bad years here. It's hard for fans to enjoy the teams that aren't doing well. Except for maybe kids, and the extremely die-hard fans. But if you were here on Monday, it was loud. People were tailgating. It was something to see. That's the way they do sports down here, I guess. And you want to be a part of it, you want to be around it."

The Canes snapped their 10-year playoff drought by finishing fourth in the Metro Division with 99 points. That set up a first-round matchup with the defending Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals. Though Washington won the first two games, the Canes routed the Caps 5-0 in their first home game of the series, which was as much a statement as it was a celebration for a franchise that has reignited excitement in this community.

"We'd all probably be telling a fib if we said we'd be at this point," general manager Don Waddell said. "Certainly we thought we'd be a playoff-bound team. We felt good about the changes we made to the roster. But to end up with 99 points is probably more than we thought. The biggest thing is gaining respect back with the community. That's a big step we've taken this year. We'd always say, 'Next year is going to be the year, next year...'"

But how did "next year" become "this year," and what comes next for a franchise that seems to have arrived ahead of schedule?

The 2018-19 season was the first full season with Tom Dundon as majority owner. Dundon has become noted in professional sports for his short-lived foray trying to save, and then ultimately folding, the upstart Alliance of American Football league -- reportedly losing $70 million along the way. He has had much more success with the Hurricanes, where he is intimately involved with day-to-day operations (Dundon is the type of owner who can be seen around the team locker room after a game, and also in meetings with personnel and business folks). Although the Canes are currently operating at a loss, there are a number of encouraging signs.

Waddell says the Canes are up just over 12 percent in attendance year over year. During the final weeks of the regular season with the Canes making a playoff push, Carolina was up 20 percent year over year. Interest, of course, has spiked during the playoffs. Twenty-four hours before Game 4, the cheapest tickets available on the secondary market were nearly $400 for a pair.

Even more encouraging are the commitments for new business. The Canes are already at $2.5 million for new business with season-ticket sales for next season. Last year at this point, they were at $400,000.

"In a market like this, every year you lose 10-12 percent [of season-ticket holders]," Waddell says. "People move out of market, they can't afford it, they're not happy with the way the team performs."

According to the team, last year at this time, the renewal rate for season tickets was 72 percent. This year, they're currently at 91 percent. The new plans sold year over year has been an increase of 262 percent.

When Waddell arrived in Carolina five years ago, there were 5,000 season-ticket holders. Now there are 7,500. Waddell predicts they could add some 2,000 more for next season.

During the 2018-19 season, the Canes had their four highest game-day merchandise sales in franchise history. That includes Whalers Night in December, Bunch of Jerks Night in February, as well as the last two final home regular-season games.

For the first playoff game, merchandise sales are up over 75 percent compared to the last home playoff game in 2009.

Of course the challenge will be sustaining it -- both on and off the ice. The Canes have seen a surge of interest before, and they let it fade away. The arena was just as packed around the time the team won the Stanley Cup in 2006. "Early in my career, this was a really tough building to play in, really loud," said Capitals defenseman Brooks Orpik, a 16-year NHL veteran.

Said Canes center Sebastian Aho: "You heard stories of how great it was. It was definitely different my first two years here, but now I see how great the crowd can be."

The Hurricanes have endeared themselves to the community.

"The fans have responded to a couple of things," Waddell says. "In the beginning of the season, even though we didn't win every game, our fans realized we were giving everything we had every night."

The Hurricanes have 12 new players on the roster and a coach, Rod Brind'Amour, who was not only a fan favorite during his playing career but appealed to current players because of his work ethic and relatability. Brind'Amour is humble, if not yet polished as a coach.

In the preseason, Brind'Amour -- nine years removed from his own playing career -- took the same conditioning test the players did. The 48-year-old sheepishly admitted his marks would have been good enough to pass. The legend of Rod the Bod lives on.

"It's hard for us not to have that work ethic instilled in us when, to be honest, our head coach is probably working harder than we are," Faulk says. "In the gym, watching video, we know he's here all day."

Things really took off when the Hurricanes introduced the Storm Surge -- elaborate postgame celebrations after home wins (see our ranking of all 23 of them here). They were a reason for fans to sit in their seats after the game.

"One of our best marketing tools was something our players came up with," Waddell says. "The Storm Surge was 100 percent a player idea, and folks in the community latched onto it."

And when Hockey Night in Canada announcer Don Cherry criticized the team as a "bunch of jerks," that only made things better.

"That was just another marketing tool that was gifted to us," Waddell says. "We capitalized on it from a financial standpoint, we've had more than 15,000 'Bunch of Jerks' shirts sold, but the dollars don't mean as much as the value of everyone talking about it; not just locally, but nationally."

And that's how the Canes have become one of the best stories of the NHL season.

Just ask one of the 12 new players: backup goalie Curtis McElhinney, an Ontario, Canada, native who played the past two seasons in the Toronto Maple Leafs organization.

"Compared to Toronto where I was before, it feels like the polar opposite," he says. "Around town, the biggest thing is people honestly don't know who you are. In Toronto it's a little different. But here, you see bumper stickers and T-shirts and driving around neighborhoods you see hockey nets every now and then.

"And then when people find out you are a hockey player, you find out they have been a fan since [the Canes] have been here, and they're so excited to talk. It's a small-town feel, but it's one that makes you feel welcome. I think everybody loves it, and obviously getting to this point changes everything. "

For Dundon, Waddell, Brind'Amour and everyone else, they're hoping this is just the beginning of something special.

Now that the Tampa Bay Lightning are out, the field is wide open -- and yet things are tighter than ever, with three of the six remaining series tied (pending the result of Thursday's Carolina Hurricanes-Washington Capitals clash in Raleigh, North Carolina).

Here's a recap of Wednesday night's action (check out replays of every playoff game on ESPN+) and what to watch for tonight in Thursday's edition of ESPN Stanley Cup Playoffs Daily:

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

About last night ...

Game 4: Boston Bruins 6, Toronto Maple Leafs 4 (series tied 2-2) Now that Tampa Bay is eliminated, we can officially say this is the most intriguing series in the Eastern Conference first round. The frenetic pace of the third period in Game 4 was a microcosm of the intensity of this series. Auston Matthews has officially broken out, recording his first career playoff multigoal game. The Leafs' comeback was fun, but the night belonged to Boston's offense and the re-emergence of David Pastrnak.

Game 4: Dallas Stars 5, Nashville Predators 1 (series tied 2-2) Talk about flipped narratives. The Predators have been the personification of superior defense and goaltending all season. The Stars were one of the league's worst teams offensively this season. So of course a Dallas rout chased last year's Vezina Trophy winner, Pekka Rinne, out of the game. In an encouraging development, it wasn't top-line-or-bust for the Stars; they got secondary scoring thanks to Mats Zuccarello and Roope Hintz.

Game 4: Colorado Avalanche 3, Calgary Flames 2 (OT) (Avalanche lead 3-1) What a series this is shaping up to be. We now know the Avs have a propensity for late-game theatrics, thanks to their second OT victory of the series. The Flames' defense is doing their goaltender no favors, as Mike Smith has faced a ridiculous 102 shots over the past two games in regulation. The encouraging news: Smith bounced back from his Game 3 shellacking, so there's hope for a series comeback.

And a great moment in the crowd during this game, as Cale Makar continues to make fans in his new NHL home:

My guy really brought a head of kale to the game lmao pic.twitter.com/OwBwFOxesl

- Ryan Koenigsberg (@RyanKoenigsberg) April 18, 2019

Three Stars

1. Mikko Rantanen, RW, Colorado Avalanche

Who would have thought that this series would be the most thrilling of them all? It was yet another overtime game, which meant somebody had to be the hero. And after Nathan MacKinnon scored the game winner in Game 2, this time it was linemate Rantanen ending the affair 10:23 into the extra session.

2. David Pastrnak, RW, Boston Bruins

Pastrnak didn't quite look like himself the first three games of this series. Perhaps it was lingering effects of his thumb injury? The day began with Pastrnak being taken off the top line. It ended with him scoring two goals -- his first two of the playoffs. Pasta is back.

3. Roope Hintz, LW, Dallas Stars

Hintz broke the scoring open with a first-period goal, but he wasn't done there. The rookie from Tampere, Finland, scored again midway through the second. He had no playoff points before Wednesday night, and just one multigoal game this entire season. His first tally was one of three power-play goals for the Stars in the opening period.

Play of the night

A gorgeous pass from MacKinnon and a well-executed tip by Rantanen, tying the game at 2 late in the third:

Nathan MacKinnon finds Rantanen for the equalizer. Great deflection pic.twitter.com/BRO0TWKPns

- Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) April 18, 2019

Dud of the night

Nashville's first period gets the nod here. The Preds were down four goals by the end of the first, and to put it plainly: They just stunk. There were times this season when we questioned whether the Predators actually looked like a contender. Wednesday was another one of those nights.

On the schedule

Washington Capitals at Carolina Hurricanes, Game 4, 7 p.m. ET (Washington leads 2-1)

After a 5-0 statement in Game 3, the Hurricanes have made this a series. However, they'll have to battle without two of their leading scorers, Andrei Svechnikov and Micheal Ferland. Svechnikov is in the concussion protocol after his fight with Alex Ovechkin. Coach Rod Brind'Amour indicated that Ferland could be out a while. The Caps are veterans of long playoff runs and know they can't get rattled by one off night. Ovechkin said he spent the first of the past two off days not doing anything and not thinking about hockey.

St. Louis Blues at Winnipeg Jets, Game 5, 8:30 p.m. ET (series tied 2-2)

We thought Winnipeg might be one of the toughest road environments in the postseason, but that hasn't been the case. Instead, the Blues won their first two in the White Out -- then Winnipeg bounced back with two wins in St. Louis. The Jets have started to look like the best version of themselves lately, with Dustin Byfuglien, Kyle Connor, Patrik Laine, Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler all producing.

Vegas Golden Knights at San Jose Sharks, Game 5, 10 p.m. ET (Vegas leads 3-1)

Martin Jones looks as shaky as he has been all season, which is saying something. It's clear Vegas has his number, too. Jones ranks last in the postseason in both save percentage (.838) and goals-against average (a whopping 5.33). And yet coach Peter DeBoer is sticking with him for what could be a decisive Game 5. In the other net, Marc-Andre Fleury looked quite solid in Game 4, stopping all 28 shots. But just as important for Vegas: The offense is clicking.

Social post of the day

The Ryan Reaves versus Joe Thornton chirpfest continues:

I can't wait to tell my grandchildren about the Muffin Man chirpfest of 2k19 pic.twitter.com/0ggr383usT

- Sara Civ (@SaraCivian) April 18, 2019

Quotable

"If I had just traded Panarin for picks, and Bobrovsky for picks, everybody in our fan base and city would've said, 'F---ing Blue Jackets, that's all they ever do is trade for picks and they tell us we're going to be good in the future, just wait, be patient.' No, we wanted to send a message to the fan base and the locker room at the deadline that we're serious about winning. If it doesn't translate to winning, hey, I'll take responsibility." -- Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen, summing up what the Blue Jackets' first-round upset means to Columbus. (via Sports Illustrated's Alex Prewitt)

A magnificent Alexandre Lacazette free kick sent Arsenal into the Europa League semifinals with a comfortable 1-0 win away to a toothless Napoli on Thursday, ending Serie A's interest in European competition this season.

The Frenchman struck in the 36th minute to earn Arsenal a tie against Valencia, just as Napoli, trailing 2-0 from the first leg, were threatening to take control of the game.

Carlo Ancelotti's team lost their way after that and, although the hosts had 67 percent of possession, Arsenal were able to sit out the second half to reach the semifinals for the second season in a row with a 3-0 aggregate win.

"We came here with ambition, we wanted to win, to score some goals. We did it, and kept a clean sheet as well, which is important for the confidence," said Arsenal defender Laurent Koscielny.

Ancelotti said that "the game lasted 30 minutes."

"We had two chances to score and we didn't succeed," he added. "We have not been as lucid in the last two months, we are more predictable and because of that, we have difficulty with our finishing."

In a lively opening half hour, Napoli threatened to make a breakthrough as Jose Callejon's effort was saved by Petr Cech's legs and Arkadiusz Milik had a goal chalked off for offside.

The Pole should have put Napoli ahead minutes later when compatriot Piotr Zielinski's cross found him unmarked in the penalty area but he headed wide.

Arsenal also lost Aaron Ramsey to an apparent hamstring problem but, just as it seemed things were going against them, they went ahead as Lacazette curled his free kick around a poorly organised wall from 25 metres.

Arsenal should have wrapped up the game four minutes into the second half but Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, with only Alex Meret to beat, placed his shot too near the goalkeeper who was able to save.

The second half petered out after that as Arsenal sat back and Napoli enjoyed most of the possession but did little with it.

Lorenzo Insigne shot weakly at Cech after getting clear of the Arsenal defence and was immediately substituted, a decision which infuriated the forward who watched the rest of the match on the touchline with his arms folded.

Fabian Ruiz summed up their evening by firing their last chance wildly over the crossbar in stoppage time.

"Insigne was just disappointed with the way the match went, he had believed in our chances like everyone else," said Ancelotti. "His reaction was not linked to the substitution."