The Sportsletter - A Sweeping Finals Weekend

BY JEFF YODER & MARISSA KASCH

JUNE 14, 2024 | SUBSCRIBE | WEB VIEW

Happy Friday 🙌

If you call yourself a sports fan, the next 72 hours would like your attention. While golfers continue hacking up Pinehurst and Euro 2024 kicks off, both the NBA and Stanley Cup Finals could be ending in simultaneous sweeps. That’s rare.

Finals Sweep Weekend 🏀 🏒

It's just the fifth time two teams have led 3-zip in the NBA Finals and Stanley Cup Finals in the same year. The most recent was 1996 (Bulls & Avalanche). Only twice have both leagues culminated in season-ending sweeps — 1995 (Rockets & Devils) and 1983 (76ers & Islanders). History coming?

🏀 NBA Finals Game 4: Tonight (8:30 pm ET)

🏒 Cup Finals Game 4: Tomorrow (8:00 pm ET)

Even Better… Jayson Tatum (Celtics) and Matthew Tkachuk (Panthers) were childhood friends. How incredible is that? Let’s push start on a mega-sports weekend.

Letter Rip!

STANLEY CUP FINALS 🏆

Game 3: Hot Cats on the Porch 🔥

Photo: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images

Panthers Score 3 Goals in 400 Seconds to Beat Oilers in Game 3 (4-3) & Skate Into Cup-Raising Formation | FLA Leads Series (3-0)

A six-hour flight, a trip across the northern border, and a sixth consecutive playoff win has the Florida Panthers on the porch of the first Stanley Cup in franchise history. Not even air traffic controllers at the Edmonton airport — who jokingly diverted the team plane — could slow down Florida. Oilers fans, and much of Canada, were left speechless after 400 seconds of series-deciding hockey. Game 3 was tied 1-1 through 30 minutes, but the Panthers scored three goals in a span of 6:19 to go up 4-1. Vladimir Tarasenko, Sam Bennett, and Aleksander Barkov all lit the lamp in a blink of Cup-crazed madness late in the second period. The Oilers, down to their last breath, responded with two goals in the third, but Sergei Bobrovsky locked the door. Florida won (4-3), and they're in complete control of the Finals (3-0).

🔥 Hot Cats: 6 Straight Playoff Wins

The Panthers have a 15-5 record in this year’s playoffs, but they’ve now won six consecutive games when its mattered most. They haven’t lost since trailing the Rangers (2-1) in the Eastern Conference Finals — May 26 (Memorial Day) — 20 days ago. What a time to get hot.

Down 3-0: Unlike the NBA, NHL teams have actually come back from a 3-0 deficit. The most recent was the 2013-14 Los Angeles Kings. It’s not over. But...

Top Skaters & Goalies (Game 3)

A. Barkov (FLA): 1 Goal, 1 Assist

S. Reinhart (FLA): 1 Goal, 1 Assist

C. McDavid (EDM): 2 Assists

S. Bobrovsky (FLA): 35 Saves (.914%)

S. Skinner (EDM): 23 Saves (.826%)

Watch: Panthers Hold Off Oilers in Game 3 (4-3)

FLA Leads Stanley Cup Finals (3-0)

Game 4: Saturday (8:00 pm ET, ABC)

Get ready for potential back-to-back championship celebrations in the NBA and NHL this weekend.

ESPN: Panthers-Oilers Game 3 Takeaways & Early Look at Game 4

GOLF ⛳️

A Red Round 1 at Pinehurst

Photo: Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images

Rory McIlroy (-5) & Patrick Cantlay (-5) Share Round 1 Lead With 15 Red Numbers Thursday at U.S. Open (By Marissa Kasch)

Patrick Cantlay (-5) and Rory McIlroy (-5) sit atop the leaderboard after an unforgiving day at Pinehurst in Round 1 of the U.S. Open, but a small fleet of red numbers did manage some strong starts. We'll see if that continues as pin locations get more difficult this weekend. Cantlay handled business early, carding only one bogey in his round and sinking a pair of 20-foot birdie putts. Though he’s playing with two golfers who have already won majors this year, McIlroy stole the show with a solid round consisting of five birdies and no bogeys.

Perhaps the biggest shock of the day was Scottie Scheffler’s position on the leaderboard. Slanted fairways, rollouts, and domed greens all plagued Scheffler today as he carded an uncharacteristic 1-over 71. Tiger Woods had a promising start to the day as he opened with a birdie, but his iron play became costly, putting him at 5-over par. The first round scores are higher than usual, which means golfers will need to find a way to tame this course soon if they want to catch Cantlay and McIlroy.

U.S. Open Leaderboard (Round 1)

T1. P. Cantlay (-5)

T1. R. McIlroy (-5)

3. L. Aberg (-4)

T4. M. Pavon (-3)

T4. B. DeChambeau (-3)

Notable Scorecards

T. Finau (-2), S. Garcia (-1), A. Scott (-1), C. Morikawa (E), B. Koepka (E), X. Schauffele (E), T. Fleetwood (E), R. Fowler (+1), S. Scheffler (+1), T. Woods (+5) | Full Leaderboard

Round 1 Highlights | Round 2 Tee Times

2024 U.S. Open Odds, Golf Picks: Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods Predictions by Model That Hit the Masters, PGA (CBS Sports)

NFL

T-Law's Turn for the Bag 💰

Photo: Courtney Culbreath / Getty Images

Jaguars & QB Trevor Lawrence Agree to 5-Year, $275 Million Extension

I really should’ve played quarterback… The Jaguars and QB Trevor Lawrence agreed to a five-year, $275 million extension on Thursday. The new contract includes $200 million guaranteed and $55 million annually. That matches Bengals’ QB Joe Burrow for the highest annual salary. At 25 years old, Lawrence has a lot left to prove, but the Jags believe he’s the arm of the future. Jacksonville is 1-1 in the playoffs with Lawrence (2022), but he did engineer a 27-point comeback against the Chargers that January before losing to the eventual Super Bowl champs (Chiefs). They've failed to reach the playoffs in his other two campaigns.

Trevor Lawrence (Career Stats)

20-30 Record | 11,770 Yards | 58 TDs | 39 INTs

Highest-Paid QB Deals (Annual Salary)

T1. Joe Burrow (Bengals) — $55 Million

T1. Trevor Lawrence (Jaguars) — $55 Million

3. Jared Goff (Lions) — $53 Million

4. Justin Herbert (Chargers) — $52.5 Million

5. Lamar Jackson (Ravens) — $52 Million

*Patrick Mahomes (Chiefs) — $45 Million

(Largest Total Contract: 10 Years, $450M)

B/R: Trevor Lawrence Contract Seals It: Cowboys Are Biggest Losers of 2024 Offseason

SOCCER

Euro 2024: Power-Kick Rankings 📊

Photo: Reinaldo Coddou H. / Getty Images

The Euros Are Back for Soccer’s Most Prestigious Continental Prize; Is It Finally England's Time?

Our soccer coverage sometimes gets put on the back burner because there are so many leagues of interest all over the globe. Enter the Euros, where the world’s game becomes a quasi-Olympics-style summer fest that runs today through July 14. The 2020 Euros were delayed due to the pandemic, but they’re back on schedule for 2024. Italy shocked England back in 2021, ripping away the country’s shot at their first Euro title. Nearly every major European nation has won it once, including Italy, Portugal, Spain, France, Germany, Denmark, Netherlands, Czech Republic, and even Greece. Not so for England, but could this finally be the year? Rosters look different every four years, so let’s rank ‘em before Germany (the hosts) and Scotland get things started tonight.

Euro 2024 Power Rankings (Top-10)

1. England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

2. Germany 🇩🇪

3. France 🇫🇷

4. Spain 🇪🇸

5. Portugal 🇵🇹

6. Italy 🇮🇹

7. Netherlands 🇳🇱

8. Croatia 🇭🇷

9. Belgium 🇧🇪

10. Denmark 🇩🇰

Full Euro 2024 Breakdown (Groups, Schedules & Info)