Sports Roundup: Nyquist Leading Red Wings
Red Wings
The Detroit Red Wings host the Buffalo Sabres at the Joe Louis Arena tonight. Detroit has won three straight and holds on to the first wild card playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Wings have 6 games left and control their own destiny, just needing to win 3 to guarantee a playoff spot. Center Pavel Datsyuk is expected to return to the lineup against the Sabres after missing the last 16 games with a left knee injury. Right wing Daniel Alfredsson missed Wednesday's game against Boston with a lower back issue and might not play tonight.
Nyquist Leading Red Wings with Breakout Season
Gustav Nyquist didn’t even make the Red Wings team at the start of the season, as the team sent him to play for the Grand Rapids Griffins. But with all the injuries this season, he didn’t stay in GR for long, and Nyquist has been the guy that has kept them in the running for a 23rd straight post-season. Nyquist has scored 12 times in his last 10 games and has a league-high 23 goals since Jan. 20.
Pistons
The Pistons head to Brooklyn to take on the Nets tonight. They’ll return to The Palace tomorrow to host the Boston Celtics before heading out on the road again next week. Detroit is seven games away from the moment Piston fans have been hoping for since January…….the end of the season.
Tigers
The Tigers and Kansas City Royals were rained out Thursday. The game will be made up on June 19th when the Royals are back in town. The Tigers start a three-game series with the Baltimore Orioles this afternoon at Comerica Park. Anibal Sanchez gets the start. It’ll be Rick Porcello tomorrow and Justin Verlander on Sunday. Drew Smyly will miss a start, because of the rainout. Broadcast time with the Orioles is 12:40 today, Saturday and Sunday on 95.3 WBCK-FM.
College Basketball Tournaments
Minnesota beat SMU 65-63 to win an NIT championship. Minnesota ends the season 25-and-13. Austin Hollins scored 19 points The Gophers were the runner up two seasons ago in the NIT.
In the Women’s NCAA Tournament, UConn will face Stanford and Notre Dame will play Maryland on Sunday in the Final Four in Nashville.
There are just four teams still standing in the men's college basketball tournament. Florida, Connecticut, Wisconsin and Kentucky will all compete in the Final Four Saturday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The top-seeded Gators go up against the seventh-seeded Huskies at 6:09 p.m., followed by the second-seeded Badgers against the eighth-seeded Wildcats at 8:49 p.m.
Golf
Bill Haas and Charley Hoffman both fired 7-under 65s on Thursday and they share the lead after one round of the Houston Open. Haas is using this event as a final tune-up for next week's Masters, while Hoffman needs to win the title this week in order to get into the field next week at Augusta. Phil Mickelson shot a bogey-free 4-under par 68 in his opening round of the Houston Open, showing no effects of the muscle pull that forced him to withdraw from last week's Texas Open.
Tigers get Lefty off Waivers
The Tigers have claimed Baltimore lefty Mike Belfiore from the waiver wire. Belfiore spent most of the 2013 season with Triple A Norfolk, where he had a 3.18 ERA and 82 strikeouts in 76 innings. He’ll pitch in Toledo.
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