Sports FRIDAY, APRIL 28, 2017 Larsson skates Oilers past Ducks in wild series opener

ANAHEIM: For the first 45 minutes of division champion Ducks to their first little while here, and we expect nothing their second-round series opener, the loss of the playoffs. “At times, our matu- less out of our group. We’re going to showed they can rity has been underestimated,” Letestu come to work tomorrow and be ready match the in a tight- said. “This group has been through a lot for the next one.” A sold-out Honda checking, low-scoring grind of a playoff this year, and it’s starting to show.” Center could barely keep up when a hockey game. When things got wild and Game 2 is Friday night in Anaheim. tense 1-1 game morphed into a free- frantic in the final minutes, the upstart The most shocking development in for-all as each team scored two goals Oilers showed they can hang with the the opener was the star turn by Larsson, apiece in a 4:24 span midway through best in the West in that sort of game, who improbably poured in two goals in the third. “I think the first two periods too. Defenseman Adam Larsson scored 7 1/2 minutes. After skating freely into were more of a checking game,” AVONDALE: In this May 2, 2016, file photo, Jason Day, of his second of the third period with the slot and converting a pass from Draisaitl said. “And then both teams Australia, hits a tee shot on the 17th hole during the final 4:40 to play, and the Oilers blew a two- Draisaitl with 11:57 left, he added the had a few breakdowns, and I think both round of the PGA Zurich Classic golf tournament at TPC goal lead before beating the Ducks 5-3 winner seven minutes later when he teams capitalized on them.” Louisiana. —AP on Wednesday night. skated behind the net and cleverly Letestu scored his second power- PGA stars: New format threw it in front. The puck banked off play goal with 13:37 to play before ‘Maturity has been underestimated’ Anaheim defenseman Josh Manson’s Larsson put the Oilers up 3-1. The Ducks boosts fun quotient Mark Letestu scored two power-play skate and pinballed underneath John promptly sprung to life and attacked the goals and Cam Talbot made 33 saves as Gibson, who stopped 27 shots. net, with Eaves flipping home a rebound AVONDALE: It has the feel of a guys’ weekend out in New Edmonton seized home-ice advantage 85 seconds before Silfverberg tied it Orleans for Bubba Watson, Jordan Spieth and a host of fellow from the Ducks with a four-goal final Good test with his own rebound goal. “We’re PGA Tour stars at the new team event that the Zurich Classic period. Two of those goals came from “You can see on the bench, we didn’t going to learn from it,” Silverberg said. has become. Watson expects the revamped format in the Big Larsson, the stay-at-home blueliner who panic” after Anaheim tied it, Larsson “We know we’re not going to win every Easy, which debuts Thursday, to be a treat for fans and players scored only four goals in the Oilers’ first said. “We kept it going. We learned a lot series 4-0. We know that now.” - and good for golf. “For them to come up with this idea of 85 games this season. “It’s really nice to during the last series, and we carried it The Ducks had the past week off after showing the fun side of golf ... you’re going to see a lot of see him get rewarded and get a couple over to this series.” Jakob Silfverberg sweeping the Flames, but both teams smiles, a lot of laughing and a lot of enjoyment of the game,” of goals,” Letestu said of Larsson, scored the tying goal with 9:13 to play, came out with a mid-series physical said Watson, who won the Zurich Classic in 2011, when it was acquired by Edmonton in the trade of but the Ducks lost in regulation for the approach in the scoreless first period. All- a traditional, stroke-play event. Now there are 80 two-player former No. 1 draft pick to first time in 19 games since March 10. Star center Ryan Kesler immediately gave teams, and the players got to choose their partners. New Jersey. “That’s not normally what Patrick Eaves and Ryan Getzlaf also McDavid a taste of what’s ahead when he Apparently, few players performed an exhaustive analysis he does for us.” scored for Anaheim, which had won skated alongside the Edmonton of which players’ games might complement their own best on Leon Draisaitl had two third-period eight straight games. in the neutral zone, randomly whacking a two-man team at the Pete Dye-designed, par-72 TPC assists and an empty-net goal for the The Ducks didn’t give up a third-peri- McDavid with his stick while the puck Louisiana course. In many cases, players paired up with friends Oilers, who don’t appear to be feeling od goal during their entire first-round was nowhere close. All-Star defenseman - or family. “I think there was very little research and homework an ounce of intimidation in their first sweep of before getting shred- Cam Fowler returned to the Ducks’ line- done compared to what you might think in creating these playoff appearance since 2006. Connor ded by the Oilers. up after missing six games over the previ- teams,” said Spieth who teamed up with fellow Texan Ryan McDavid’s club followed its ousting of “It’s a good test,” said Getzlaf, who ous three weeks due to an unpenalized Palmer. “A lot of friends, and that’s going to be enticing, too, to the defending conference champion has seven points in five playoff games. knee-on-knee hit by Calgary captain almost kind of feel like it’s a little bit of a break.” by sending the five-time “We’ve dealt with it properly in the last Mark Giordano. — AP

Day, Fowler among favorites Englishman Justin Rose, fresh off his second-place in the Masters, teamed with fellow European Henrik Stenson of Sweden. “If you don’t get along, it’s going to be a long four days out there,” Stenson said. “And of course to team up with a player of Justin’s caliber is hopefully going to make that jour- ney a bit smoother.” Rose, the 2015 Zurich Classic winner, joked that one reason he chose Stenson was because he’s “very handsome,” and complimented Stenson for wearing pink. Not to say it won’t be competitive. The winning team takes home $1.02 million per player, along with and 400 FedExCup each. Watson chose JB Holmes. The tandem of Jason Day and Rickie Fowler are among the favorites. Brooks Koepka, the 19th-ranked player in the world, chose his brother, Chase, who plays professionally in Europe and is making his PGA tour debut. Branden Grace is with fellow South African Louis Oosthuizen. The pair of Justin Thomas and Bud Cauley is made up of former Alabama players, while the Jason Dufner- Patton Kizzire duo played for Auburn. Defending Zurich Classic champion Brian Stuard is paired with Chris Stroud. “How would you not want to be here for this event?” said Watson, who is playing in New Orleans for the first time since 2013, and who treated Holmes to a birthday dinner Tuesday night that included a magic show. “For (Zurich and the PGA Tour) to step out of the box and do something like this is pretty amazing.” Here are some things to know about this year’s Zurich Classic.

STRATEGY In the first and third rounds, teams will alternate shots. In the second and final rounds, they’ll take the best score per hole. That means strategies will change from round to round - more defensive when they alternate shots, more aggressive when they go with the best score.

BE THE BALL During the first-and third, alternate-shot rounds, players have to agree on which ball they will use for each hole. The key elements that go into choosing golf balls tend to be things like compression, distance and rate of rotation. And while most balls are white, Watson has been known to use pink. Not this time, though, because doesn’t want to throw off his teammate. “I only brought white balls,” Watson said. “It ANAHEIM: Edmonton Oilers center David Desharnais, left, vies for the puck with Anaheim Ducks center Antoine does look different if you’re not used to it.” — AP Vermette during the first period in Game 1 of a second-round NHL hockey playoff series. —AP