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Groulx scores twice as Maple Leafs hold on and beat the Wild 4-2

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Bo Groulx scored twice and the Toronto Maple Leafs held on for a 4-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Sunday night.

Morgan Rielly also scored and Matthew Knies added an empty-net goal for Toronto as Minnesota pushed to rally from a three-goal deficit after two periods.

Anthony Stolarz made 36 saves for the Maple Leafs, who have a win and a shootout loss in two games since losing captain Auston Matthews for the season with a knee injury.

Vladimir Tarasenko scored twice for the Wild. Jesper Wallstedt made 22 saves.

In a four-day span, the Wild earned just one point from three home games against non-playoff teams from the East — a shootout loss to the Flyers on Thursday and regulation defeats against the New York Rangers Saturday and Maple Leafs on Sunday.

After a scoreless first period, Toronto scored two quick goals to take charge early in the second. First, Rielly scored on a wrist shot from the left circle that beat Wallstedt over the shoulder at 1:07. Just 68 seconds later, Groulx made it 2-0 when he tipped in a shot from the point by Troy Stecher.

The Maple Leafs extended the lead to 3-0 at 8:18 of the second when Groulx intercepted a clearing attempt at the Wild blue line and fired a shot through traffic that beat a screened Wallstedt.

Early in the third, Tarasenko scored twice in 23 seconds to pull the Wild to within a goal. First, he redirected a cross-ice pass from Mats Zuccarello past Stolarz at the left post at 4:51 of the third. Then, he won a battle along the left boards, skated in and beat Stolarz with a wrist shot. Both goals were assisted by Zuccarello and Ryan Hartman, who Tarasenko joined on the Wild’s top line to start the third.

Minnesota pushed hard for the tying goal, putting 17 shots on net in the period, but Stolarz held firm until Knies’ empty-netter with 37 seconds left iced the win.

Up next

Maple Leafs: Host the New York Islanders on Tuesday.

Wild: At Chicago on Tuesday.

___

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Ryan Fox wins first career major at 2026 Open Championship

CNN
(CNN) — Ryan Fox took home the Claret Jug after draining a birdie putt on the 18th hole to win the 2026 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale on Sunday.The 39-year-old Fox beat out American Cameron Young to win his first career major title, becoming only the third New Zealander to win a men’s major golf championship.Fox came into the final hole tied with Young, after the 29-year-old finished the round at 6-under 64 a few hours before.The Kiwi powered his drive into the middle of the fairway and then set up the biggest putt of his golf career so far with an approach shot that landed about 12 feet from the pin.As the putt fell into the hole, the crowd in Southport, England, gave Fox a rousing ovation as he raised both arms in the air to celebrate the achievement.The putt capped off four birdies in the last six holes for Fox.Fox was at a loss for words while speaking to the NBC Sports broadcast after the win.“I don’t really know what to think at the moment. I’ve got a lot of people to thank. First of all, my family. My wife and kids are in Florida at the moment. I spoke to my kids last night and they said, bring back a trophy. I think that’s a pretty cool one to bring back for them,” Fox said. “My family back in New Zealand and all my supporters back there. I know it’s been a long night for them, but I’m glad it was worthwhile.”Fox finished with a 2-under 68 after trailing Sam Burns, who held a two-stroke lead coming into Sunday’s final round.Fox also becomes the third-oldest major winner in the last 10 years, trailing only Phil Mickelson at the 2021 PGA Championship and Tiger Woods at the 2019 Masters.“Just an unbelievable week. The golf course was fantastic. The English weather was fantastic. You guys out there were fantastic. The support was amazing. This is pretty cool. I’m sorry if I’ve forgotten anyone, but thank you very much,” Fox added.It is another disappointment for Young, who is still looking for his first career major title despite winning The Players earlier this year. Young finished one shot back of the win at the 2022 Open Championship at St. Andrews and held the lead heading into the final round at the Masters back in April.It is also another let down for Burns, another golfer looking for his maiden major win.The Louisiana State University alum came into the round ahead by two strokes but quickly lost it and went birdie-free for the final 12 holes.“(Fox) is a well-earned champion and hats off to him,” Burns said. “He did what he needed to do down the stretch and ultimately just came up a couple short today.”Defending champion Scottie Scheffler stayed within striking range throughout the round, but wound up with a 3-under 67 on Sunday to finish tied for fourth with Tommy Fleetwood.After a drama-filled tournament, Bryson DeChambeau finished tied for 14th while Rory McIlroy, who has been critical of the LIV Golfer all tournament long, ended tied for 40th.Fox’s journey to first major winFox’s road to his first career major title wasn’t the easiest. It came with many bumps and U-turns.While speaking to CNN’s Don Riddell ahead of the Desert Classic in Dubai in early 2025, Fox opened up about his mental health issues, including being an older rookie after spending years on the DP World Tour and the PGA Tour of Australia.“I think being a rookie at 37 years old on the PGA Tour was, I probably wasn’t quite prepared for what that was again,” Fox told CNN.“I knew all the golf courses, knew how to travel work, knew where to stay, and everything was new on the PGA Tour, and that was probably a shock to the system more than anything.”Fox comes from a lineage of athletes within his family tree, including his father, Grant Fox, who was a main kicker for the New Zealand national rugby team and his grandfather, Merv Wallace, a former New Zealand cricketer who later coached the national team.Fox spoke out on the “pressure” a golfer faces, mentioning the 2024 death of former PGA Tour golfer Grayson Murray, whose parents later confirmed it was death by suicide.“It can be a stressful life. It’s all performance-based. There’s a lot of pressure on – Looking after your mental health is really, really important, and having people to talk to and all of that is part of that,” Fox said.“It’s a shame it got to that point with Grayson that, you know, we’ve had to have those, those pretty tough conversations now, but it will help – hopefully it helps someone else in a similar situation going forward because we certainly don’t want to see it again.”CNN’s Kyle Tatelbaum and Don Riddell contributed to this reporting This write has been updated with additional reporting The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
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