This day in sports: Kings win first Stanley Cup championship

Los Angeles welcomed new sports royalty on this date in 2012 when the Kings won their first NHL championship with a 6-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final at Staples Center.

The Kings scored three quick goals in the first period when the Devils were left short-handed for five minutes because of a major penalty. Dustin Brown, Jeff Carter and Trevor Lewis scored in four-minute span and New Jersey never recovered.

The acquisition of Carter from Columbus for defenseman Jack Johnson and the hiring of Darryl Sutter as coach turned the Kings toward the playoffs.

“Definitely, this is the team we should have been all season, especially when Carter got here,” defenseman Drew Doughty said of the balance and scoring punch Carter brought with him.

In a game that was postponed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Dodgers were scheduled Thursday to play a day game against the Reds at Cincinnati.

Here is a look at memorable games and outstanding sports performances on June 11 over the years:

1898 — Willie Simms is the only Black jockey to win the Preakness Stakes when he rides Sly Fox to victory and the only one to have won all three Triple Crown races. Simms’ other Triple Crown wins include the Kentucky Derby (1896, 1898) and the Belmont Stakes (1893, 1894).

1949 — Despite shooting a 75 in the final round, Cary Middlecoff wins the first of his two U.S. Opens when he beats Sam Snead and Clayton Heafner by one stroke at Medinah Country Club outside Chicago. For Snead, it is the third of four second-place finishes in the only major he never won. Middlecoff, a dentist, would win again in 1956.

1977 — Seattle Slew, with Jean Cruguet in the irons, runs wire to wire in a field of eight horses in the Belmont Stakes for a four-length victory over Run Dusty Run and takes the Triple Crown. On a track that is labeled “wet-fast,” Slew runs the mile and a half in 2:29 3/5 to become the first undefeated Triple Crown winner (9-0).

1982 — In one of the most highly anticipated fights of the early 1980s, Larry Holmes retains his title when he stops Gerry Cooney in the 13th round of the World Boxing Council heavyweight championship in the parking lot of Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Holmes lands a punch to Cooney’s cheek that sends him into the ropes and before Holmes can finish him off, a towel is thrown from Cooney’s corner.

1990 — Nolan Ryan, at age 43, pitches the sixth no-hitter of his career when the Texas Rangers beat the Oakland Athletics 5-0 at the Oakland Coliseum. Ryan is the first pitcher to throw no-hitters for three teams (Angels, Houston Astros and Rangers) and is also the oldest. He walks two and strikes out 14.

1994 — For the first time in 11 years, the United States loses in the women’s world basketball championships. Guards Hortencia Marcari and Paula Goncalves da Silva combine for 61 points as Brazil stuns the defending champion Americans 110-107 in the semifinals at Sydney, Australia.

2006 — Se Ri Pak beats Karrie Webb on the first playoff hole to win the LPGA Championship at Bulle Rock Golf Course at Havre de Grace, Md. Pak recovers from a three-putt bogey on the 72nd hole in regulation that puts her in a tie with Webb at eight-under-par 280. In the playoff, Pak hits her approach shot to within inches of the cup and makes a birdie that gives her a third LPGA Championship and fifth major title.

Sports

This day in sports: Bobby Orr scores iconic Cup-clinching goal for Bruins in 1970

A look at memorable sports moments that occurred on May 10, including the Boston Bruins’ Bobby Orr scoring a famous Stanley Cup-winning goal in 1970.

May 10, 2020

2011 — Texas A&M sweeps the men’s and women’s titles at the NCAA outdoor track and field championships at Des Moines to become the first school to post dual three-peat champions. Both the men and women clinch the team titles when they win the 1,600-meter relays. Villanova’s Sheila Reid is the first woman to win the 1,500 and the 5,000-meter runs at the same NCAA meet.

2017 — Rafael Nadal wins his record 10th French Open title when he dominates 2015 champion Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland 6-2, 6-3, 6-1 in the finals at Paris. No other man or woman player has won 10 championships at the same major in the Open era, which began in 1968. It is the 15th Grand Slam title for Nadal and it moves him into second place behind Roger Federer, who has 18.

SOURCES: The Times, Associated Press