Northampton Saints hooker Tom Cruse has signed a contract extension with the Premiership club.

He has made nine appearances and was given only his second start in their play-off semi-final defeat by Saracens.

"We've got a very strong group of hookers at the Club, with everyone learning from each other and driving each other forward," Cruse said.

"That competition is exactly what you want within your squad in every position, so it's really exciting to think about how much we can all grow together as a group and build on what we did last year."

Cruse began his career at Sale and had spells with Rotherham and London Irish before a six-year spell with Wasps.

He moved to Scotland last November after Wasps went into administration, but said returning to the Premiership was a "big pull" because he was away from his family in Edinburgh.

Full details of his new contract have not been disclosed by Saints.

Director of rugby Phil Dowson said: "We were hugely impressed by Tom when he came into the group midway through the season - impressed by his competitive nature, by his communication skills, by the energy he brings in everything he does, and by the way he drives our standards.

"With Tom signed up alongside the other hookers already in place for the 2023-24 season, we're confident we have one of the strongest and deepest line-ups in that position in the Premiership."

FORT LAUDERDALE -- The Vegas Golden Knights were minutes away from taking Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final on Thursday before the Florida Panthers capped a furious rally late in regulation to force overtime and ultimately dump Vegas 3-2.

A win would have given the Golden Knights a 3-0 stranglehold on the series and put them one win away from the first Cup victory in franchise history.

Instead, the Panthers cut their deficit in half ahead of Game 4 on Saturday. Despite the setback, Vegas still believes it is firmly in the Cup Final driver's seat.

"Yeah, I think so," Brayden McNabb said Friday of the Golden Knights being in control. "We've got Game 4 [coming up]. Go win Game 4, it's 3-1. That's a pretty big lead. They got a little momentum off winning the last game. It ends after that game. Both teams have a chance to regroup. We know what's at stake for Game 4 and it's a big game for us."

Vegas fell behind early in Game 3 after Panthers' defenseman Brandon Montour opened the scoring. The Golden Knights used a pair of power-play goals from Mark Stone and Jonathan Marchessault to take a 2-1 advantage deep into the third period. Florida's net was empty when forward Matthew Tkachuk capitalized at 6-on-5 with three minutes remaining in regulation to even the score. Carter Verhaeghe acted as overtime hero with the game winner.

The missed opportunity at a third consecutive victory was tough to swallow for the Golden Knights. Forward William Karlsson admitted he didn't get to sleep until "3, 3:30" after leaving the rink. By Friday morning, though, Karlsson and his teammates were refreshed with renewed confidence.

"I think we've managed to stay composed throughout these playoffs," Karlsson said. "I never expected it to go super easy, and it should not be. To win is a grind, and sometimes you lose. But all that matters is the next game and focus on that. And I think we've done a great job throughout the playoffs after a loss, just staying composed and go in for the next game and try to win that one instead."

Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy showed no signs of panic either. He kept his group off the ice and even away from the rink entirely Friday. He called it a "mental reset" for Vegas, a chance to mend "a few bumps and bruises" and avoid even doing much video work. Cassidy's players embraced the recovery mindset knowing it could pay dividends Saturday.

"I think day-to-day and game-to-game, it's all different in how it goes for your body," McNabb said. "You're in such a routine of playing every other day almost. Your body and mind are used to that. You just do what you can to [improve], eat properly. Hop in the cold tub, whatever it is. Treatment. It's just that time of year."

The Cup Final is, after all, the end of a long road, just with the stakes at the peak. Even so, Cassidy said the Golden Knights aren't "going to change a lot; we don't need to," which his approach to the off-day seemed to show.

"The sour taste in terms of the immediateness of [the loss] is gone. It's time to turn the page and start preparing for Game 4," Cassidy said. "We addressed the guys today. It was a little bit of what's in front of us and not so much ... talking about [the Panthers'] forecheck, their F2s, you know what I mean? We're not getting into X's and O's today. It's more about big picture, where we're at. It wasn't a long message."

Vegas likely didn't require one. The Golden Knights dominated Florida in Games 1 and 2, outscoring them 12-4 and frustrating some of the Panthers' star players. Vegas has also been winning the special teams battle, going 6-for-17 on the man advantage so far while Florida is 0-for-12. The Golden Knights showed their mettle in that respect in Game 3 to pull ahead after falling behind.

Even though Vegas was on the losing end, the team's recipe will -- for better or worse -- remain intact.

"We certainly feel the first three games, there's been way more good than bad," Cassidy said. "So, I don't think it'll be a tough sell [to stay the course]. The guys know what's at stake. It'll be predominantly what we've been doing. But obviously every game, win or lose, you're still looking at a few things we can do better. Their top line was all over the score sheet, so that's the first area we'll look at. [Sergei] Bobrovsky making big saves, we just have to keep shooting. There's not a whole lot that will change there."

There are many Spider-people in "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse," the hit animated sequel in which Miles Morales, Brooklyn teen turned Spider-Man, enters a multiverse of variants.

But in that vast collection of web-slingers, only one is holding a hockey stick. Which is appropriate, because only one is wearing a Canadian national team sweater, too.

Spider-Canada is a stick-wielding Spider-Woman with a captain's "C" on her maple leaf-adorned jersey. She's an original character created for the film, having never appeared in any other form of Spider-Man media. She pops up in several scenes, her distinct look separating her from the crowd of web-crawlers.

The character was partially born out of the filmmakers' sports fandom. Phil Lord and Chris Miller, writers and producers on the film series, love sports. So do directors Justin K. Thompson and Kemp Powers, as well as production designer Patrick O'Keefe.

"We sneak in sports stuff sort of everywhere," O'Keefe told ESPN, "but no one's really a hockey fan except for myself, being Canadian. So I wanted to find a special shoutout to Canada."

O'Keefe, a Toronto Maple Leafs fan, said many of the animators who worked on "Across the Spider-Verse" are from Canada. Sony Pictures Imageworks is based in Vancouver and has a growing presence in Montreal, so this was also an homage to them.

But Spider-Canada was primarily born of necessity: The movie's multiverse story requires a great number of Spider-people in the background during Miles' travels beyond Earth-1610.

The film features other international Spider-people, like Malala Windsor's Spider-UK and Pavitr Prabhakar, from a multiverse version of India. So O'Keefe worked with character designer Kris Anka on a Canadian Spider-Woman.

"We were just looking for more diversity and more fun in creating some more characters," O'Keefe said. "So we pitched the idea of doing Spider-Canada and it clicked right away."

Her suit is a nod to the 1972 Summit Series, an exhibition where Canada defeated the Soviet Union in one of the most famous hockey battles in history. Like Gwen Stacy's Spider-Woman, Spider-Canada has a hood -- only this one is lined with fur and goose down. Unlike Stacy, Spider-Canada wears Sorel boots and hockey gloves.

O'Keefe said making Spider-Canada a woman was important to him as a Canadian hockey fan, giving him a chance to honor players such as Hayley Wickenheiser and Cassie Campbell-Pascall, who played for Team Canada. The Canadian women's national team is literally the gold standard in the sport: It has won seven gold medals at the Olympics and another 12 at the IIHF world championships.

"We've just got this incredible history and this growth of women's hockey in Canada, and we're always looking for diversity on this film," he said. "And so it was an obvious choice to just make her this bruiser of a hockey player. That's how she was born."

What the filmmakers didn't anticipate was how often Spider-Canada would appear in the film and on posters for it.

"You know Canadians. We're always ready to talk about everybody who's Canadian, everywhere they are. We've got so much pride. So all the Canadian animators just started putting her in every single scene," O'Keefe said. "And Phil [Lord] was like, 'She's going to be the death of me, man. She's in every shot now.' And I'm like, 'We just designed her and made her appealing. Now we're just giving the people what they want."

In superhero lore, there's a legacy of iconic characters who were pulled from other media into comics rather than vice versa. Harley Quinn, for example, appeared on "Batman: The Animated Series" before ever showing up in print.

Could Spider-Canada make the same crossover after her "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" debut? Or, to paraphrase countless Stan Lee comics: Is this the end of Spider-Canada?!

O'Keefe hopes to see the character again.

"I would absolutely love to see her traveling through the multiverse, putting pucks on net," he said.

The U.S. Open is being contested June 15-18 at Los Angeles Country Club in California. Here is your guide to getting complete coverage of the men's third major of the year.

In addition to the live broadcasts on NBC and USA Network, Peacock will provide daily live coverage across the Premium Tier. Go to Peacocktv.com/golf to learn more and sign up today. To find the live coverage, click here for Peacock's U.S. Open hub page, which lists every stream link.

You can also watch multiple morning and afternoon featured groups and featured holes (Nos. 6, 14 and 15) during all four rounds, exclusively on Peacock. Click on links to watch streams when live. Future stream links will be provided when available. "Live From the U.S. Open" and the Meijer LPGA Classic will also be showcased on Golf Channel this week.

(All times Eastern and airing on Golf Channel, unless otherwise noted)

Monday

4-7PM: Live From the U.S. Open
7-9PM: Live From the U.S. Open

Tuesday

Noon-7PM: Live From the U.S. Open
7-9PM: Live From the U.S. Open

Wednesday

Noon-7PM: Live From the U.S. Open
7-9PM: Live From the U.S. Open

Thursday

9:40AM-1PM (Peacock): U.S. Open, Round 1 full coverage (USGA)
11:13AM-4:13PM (Peacock): U.S. Open, Round 1, early featured group 1 (USGA)
11:24AM-4:24PM (Peacock): U.S. Open, Round 1, early featured group 2 (USGA)
Noon-10PM (Peacock): U.S. Open, Round 1, featured holes (Nos. 6, 14 and 15) (USGA)
1-8PM (USA/Peacock): U.S. Open, Round 1, full coverage (USGA)
3-6PM (GC/Peacock): Meijer LPGA Classic, Round 1 (LPGA)
3-8PM (Peacock): U.S. Open, All Access
4:43-9:43PM (Peacock): U.S. Open, Round 1, late featured group 3 (USGA)
4:54-9:54PM (Peacock): U.S. Open, Round 1, late featured group 4 (USGA)
8-11PM (NBC/Peacock): U.S. Open, Round 1 full coverage (USGA)
11PM-1AM: Live From the U.S. Open

Friday

9:40AM-1PM (Peacock): U.S. Open, Round 2 full coverage (USGA)
11:13AM-4:13PM (Peacock): U.S. Open, Round 2, early featured group 1 (USGA)
11:24AM-4:24PM (Peacock): U.S. Open, Round 2, early featured group 2 (USGA)
Noon-10PM (Peacock): U.S. Open, Round 2, featured holes (Nos. 6, 14 and 15) (USGA)
1-8PM (USA/Peacock): U.S. Open, Round 2, full coverage (USGA)
3-6PM (GC/Peacock): Meijer LPGA Classic, Round 2 (LPGA)
3-8PM (Peacock): U.S. Open, All Access
4:43-9:43PM (Peacock): U.S. Open, Round 2, late featured group 3 (USGA)
4:54-9:54PM (Peacock): U.S. Open, Round 2, late featured group 4 (USGA)
8-11PM (NBC/Peacock): U.S. Open, Round 2 full coverage (USGA)
11PM-1AM: Live From the U.S. Open

Saturday

11AM-1PM: Live From the U.S. Open
1-11PM (NBC/Peacock): U.S. Open, Round 3 full coverage (USGA)
1:30-5:30PM (Peacock): U.S. Open, Round 3, early featured group 1 (USGA)
1:50-5:50PM (Peacock): U.S. Open, Round 3, early featured group 2 (USGA)
3-6PM (GC/Peacock): Meijer LPGA Classic, Round 3 (LPGA)
3-8PM (Peacock): U.S. Open, All Access
3-10PM (Peacock): U.S. Open, Round 3, featured holes (Nos. 6, 14 and 15) (USGA)
5:40-9:40PM (Peacock): U.S. Open, Round 3, late featured group 3 (USGA)
6-10PM (Peacock): U.S. Open, Round 3, late featured group 4 (USGA)
11PM-1AM: Live From the U.S. Open

Sunday

Noon-1PM: Live From the U.S. Open
12:30-4:30PM (Peacock): U.S. Open, Round 4, early featured group 1 (USGA)
12:50-4:50PM (Peacock): U.S. Open, Round 4, early featured group 2 (USGA)
1-2PM (Peacock): Meijer LPGA Classic, Round 4 (LPGA - conclusion on CBS)
1-10PM (NBC/Peacock): U.S. Open, Round 4 full coverage (USGA)
2-7PM (Peacock): U.S. Open, All Access
2-9PM (Peacock): U.S. Open, Round 4, featured holes (Nos. 6, 14 and 15) (USGA)
4:40-8:40PM (Peacock): U.S. Open, Round 4, late featured group 3 (USGA)
5-9PM (Peacock): U.S. Open, Round 4, late featured group 4 (USGA)
10PM-Midnight: Live From the U.S. Open

ISTANBUL -- Pep Guardiola said it is his "dream" and "obsession" to win Manchester City's first Champions League title as the Premier League champions bid to achieve a 'treble' by defeating Inter Milan in Saturday's final in Istanbul.

City, who were beaten 1-0 by Chelsea in their only preview Champions League final appearance in 2021, face three-time European champions Inter having already won the league and FA Cup this season. Victory at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium would see City emulate Manchester United's achievement in 1999 as the only English club to date to do the treble.

- Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.)

Having been hired by City in 2016 to turn City into Champions League winners, Guardiola has so far been unable to deliver the ultimate club prize.

And speaking in Istanbul on Friday, the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich coach said that winning it against Inter would be the fulfilment of a dream.

"It's a dream, yes." Guardiola said. "It has to be. To achieve things, you always have to have the correct level of obsession or desire. Obsession is a positive word for the desire to do it, but of course it's a dream.

"We know how important it is. I don't control what the people have opinions about, I just focus on what we have to do. I saw Inter's games and we try to do our game. Everything finishes with a game and the team who performs best over 95 minutes will win.

"Inter Milan is bigger than us, in terms of history in this competition, and we are favourites to win the game, but what's important is that, at 10 p.m. Istanbul time, we do the best performance possible and that can make the difference."

Erling Haaland's 12 goals so far in this season's competition is the best return by any City player during a Champions League campaign.

And Guardiola, when asked about the secret of his success as a coach, said that the Norway forward is as important as Lionel Messi was to his Barcelona teams.

"Have good players," Guardola said. "Have Messi, have Haaland, this is my success. I'm not joking.

"Let them think alone that they cannot do it, that together they make a strong team.

"Every manager who has had success have strong institutions and exceptional players. I've never scored a goal as a manager."

Having lost against Chelsea in Porto two years ago, Guardiola says his players are now ready to avenge that defeat and win the Champions League.

"It's a different game, different players," he said. "I'm pretty sure what we planned was to have success and a good game against Chelsea. It didn't work, people say decisions were wrong, but we have a plan and an idea.

"I'll communicate it to the players. If we win it will be good and I've a feeling we are ready.

"The players will give everything, knowing the opponent, but yeah -- go for it.

"We have to be stable, defend well and be patient. The most important thing is not to think at 0-0 you are losing.

"Italian teams can think at 0-0 they are winning and they are not. In both circumstances you have to be stable."

Guardiola, meanwhile, urged the club's supporters to end their antipathy towards UEFA and focus on backing the team against Inter. City fans have booed the UEFA anthem since being fined for breaching financial regulations in 2014, but Guardiola wants that to end.

"It's a day to celebrate," he said. "Inter fans, Man City fans, it's a day to celebrate. The Champions League is an incredible competition, we are not going to boo anymore and support the game and try to have fun."

Mexican striker Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez has suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his right knee, the LA Galaxy announced Friday.

Hernandez, 35, is set to miss the remainder of the 2023 season and will undergo surgery to begin the rehabilitation process on a date to be determined.

- Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.)

With Hernandez's contract set to expire at the end of the season, the former Mexico international may have played his last game for the Galaxy, and there will be fears that the injury could even be career-ending.

Hernandez suffered the injury in the 24th minute of Wednesday's 3-2 defeat to Real Salt Lake in the U.S. Open Cup. He was taken off the field on a stretcher after he went to the ground on a noncontact play.

Chicharito had scored one goal this season in 12 league and cup appearances. Overall he has scored 39 goals in 80 league and cup appearances since signing with the Galaxy prior to the 2020 season.

The charismatic forward has long been one of Mexico's most popular players and is the country's all-time leading goal-scorer, with 52 goals in 109 international appearances. He broke in with CD Guadalajara in 2006, and went on to star for Manchester United, Real Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, West Ham United and Sevilla.

The news continues a season to forget for the Galaxy. After 15 games, the record five-time MLS Cup winner has the worst record in the league and sits bottom of the Western Conference with just three wins and 12 points.

Amid fan protests that began at the start of the season, the Galaxy announced at the end of May that they had fired club president Chris Klein. LA has failed to make the MLS playoffs in four of the past six seasons.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Free-agent wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins is scheduled to visit the New England Patriots next week, a source confirmed to ESPN on Friday.

Hopkins, who was released by the Arizona Cardinals on May 26, is first set to meet with the Tennessee Titans next week.

Patriots coach Bill Belichick has long admired Hopkins, and current New England receiver Kendrick Bourne welcome the possibility of Hopkins joining the team.

"I'm a fan of D-Hop. It would be cool," Bourne said Friday after the team's organized team activity. "I don't know the gist of what's going on, but he is a great player. Anything that would help us win, I'm with."

Bourne is one of the Patriots' top four receivers -- a group that also includes veteran DeVante Parker, free-agent signing JuJu Smith-Schuster and second-year speedster Tyquan Thornton.

The team selected two receivers in the sixth round of the 2023 draft -- LSU's Kayshon Boutte (No. 187) and Liberty's Demario Douglas (No. 210).

The Patriots have immediate flexibility with the salary cap to fit Hopkins, with approximately $13 million in space.

Last December, prior to the Patriots facing the Cardinals, Belichick was highly complimentary of Hopkins.

"He's every bit as good as anybody I've ever coached against," Belichick said then. "... He's got tremendous ball skills. He catches everything, has great hands, and he's long so he's never covered. Even if he's covered, there's a place where the ball can be that he can get it and still make the catch. Great coordination on the sidelines, and he doesn't really look it but he's a strong kid.

"... He's a very smart football player, very savvy. But his ball skills are at the very elite level with guys that I've seen in this league. He's up there with whoever the top guys are, the Cris Carters of the world and guys like that."

NFL Network first reported Hopkins' scheduled visit with the Patriots.

PARIS -- Novak Djokovic used every bit of his experience, relentlessness and fitness to beat a cramping Carlos Alcaraz 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 at the French Open on Friday and move one win away from a record 23rd Grand Slam title.

The No. 1-ranked Alcaraz produced one particularly brilliant shot -- one that went viral within minutes and could be talked about for years -- en route to claiming the second set of what, at the time, was a closely contested and thrilling showdown.

But in the end, this highly anticipated matchup was as anticlimatic as can be.

That's because early in the third set, after nearly 2½ hours of exertion and tension in 85-degree heat at Court Philippe Chatrier, Alcaraz's body began to lock up. First, his hand began to cramp. Then his legs.

And so, at 1-all, Alcaraz needed to take a break and get treated by a trainer. Because it was not a changeover, Alcaraz was required to forfeit the following game and fell behind 2-1.

From there, it was pretty much all over.

Djokovic, 36, was able to cruise to the finish against Alcaraz, 20 -- the widest age gap in a men's Grand Slam semifinal since 1991. It was the 45th Grand Slam semifinal for Djokovic and the second for Alcaraz.

"I feel for him. I feel sorry. ... I hope he can recover very soon," Djokovic said. "I told him at the net, he knows how young he is. He has plenty of time ahead of him. He's going to win this tournament, I'm sure, many, many times."

Not this time.

Instead, it is No. 3 Djokovic who will meet No. 4 Casper Ruud of Norway or No. 22 Alexander Zverev of Germany in Sunday's final.

Ruud -- a two-time major runner-up last year, including in Paris -- and Zverev -- the runner-up at the 2020 US Open -- were scheduled to play the second semifinal later Friday. Neither owns a major trophy.

Djokovic is hoping to leave Roland Garros this year with his third French Open title and his 23rd Slam championship overall, which would break a tie with rival Rafael Nadal for the most by a man in the history of tennis.

Nadal was absent from the French Open this year because of a hip injury.

That left most people focusing on two men over the past two weeks: Djokovic, who has won 10 of the past 19 majors, and Alcaraz, who won the US Open in September. Djokovic is one of the dominant figures in the sport's history; Alcaraz is considered its future.

And they put on a show for two sets.

"I think we were both at the physical limit, to be honest, toward the end of the second set," said Djokovic, who had his right forearm massaged by a trainer during that set. "I wasn't feeling fresh at all. We went toe-to-toe."

Djokovic was at his stretching, sliding best, whipping groundstrokes that pushed Alcaraz all over the place.

Alcaraz, somehow, chased just about everything down, his speed and instinct as good as there is.

What might just be the shot of the year in men's tennis arrived at 1-all in the second set. Having lured Alcaraz forward, Djokovic sent the ball toward the baseline. Many a player would have given up on the point and chosen to move onto the next, but Alcaraz gave chase, running with his back to the net, then sliding beyond the baseline, his left foot bending as he came to a halt and spun his body around and out of the way, leaning backward in order to lace a forehand past Djokovic for a winner.

As the crowd roared and rose for an ovation to celebrate the feat, Alcaraz raised his left hand and briefly jutted his index finger into the "No. 1 gesture."

Even Djokovic had to smile, and used his racket to applaud.

Everything changed in the third set, though.

Right before missing a forehand return to make it 1-all, Alcaraz flexed his hand. It was clearly bothering him. After that forehand, he hopped on his left leg, then clutched his right calf. He dropped his racket on the ground. Chair umpire Aurélie Tourte went over to check on him. So did Djokovic, walking all the way to Alcaraz's side of the court.

A medical timeout for an injury -- what the rulebook calls "an acute medical condition" -- during a match is allowed, but treatment for cramps when it isn't time for a changeover is not permitted without penalty. So Tourte told Alcaraz that he could sit on the sideline and get help from a trainer, but he would need to concede the following game, which he did.

When the scoreboard was updated without a point being played, reflecting that Djokovic now led 2-1 in that set, the crowd jeered and whistled and booed, until Tourte explained in French what was happening.

"From that moment onwards," Djokovic said, "it was a different match."

The Toronto Blue Jays have designated right-handed pitcher Anthony Bass for assignment.

The reliever made headlines last week after sharing a post on social media that called for anti-LGBTQIA+ boycotts of Target and Bud Light. The shared post described the sale of LGBTQIA+ merchandise as "evil" and "demonic."

The move to DFA Bass comes on the same day that he was to catch the ceremonial first pitch from Toronto LGBTQIA+ activist leZlie Lee Kam before Friday's game against the Minnesota Twins as the Blue Jays begin their fourth annual Pride Weekend celebration.

Bass, 35, apologized for sharing the post a day later, but had been booed by fans in Toronto in two home appearances since the apology.

Speaking Thursday, Bass said he's "working hard" to educate himself, but doesn't believe the social media post he shared last month was hateful.

"I do not," Bass said. "That's why I posted it originally. When I look back at it, I can see how people would view it that way and that's why I was apologetic."

Bass said he chose to delete the post because "it was the right thing to do," and because he didn't want it to be a distraction to the team.

"But I stand by my personal beliefs," Bass said, "and everyone is entitled to their personal beliefs, right? Also, I mean no harm towards any groups of people."

"My focus from the get-go should have been doing my job and being accepting of everyone's decisions and views in life," Bass said. "Through this process, I've learned that. Moving forward, I will definitely know better than to post my personal beliefs on my social media platforms."

Bass has a 4.95 ERA in 22 relief appearances this season. The well-traveled righty has previously pitched for the Padres, Astros, Rangers, Cubs, Mariners and Marlins.

In a corresponding roster move, Toronto reinstated right-hander Mitch White from the 60-day injured list.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.