In brief: Rangers take Game 7 on Stepan’s OT goal

NHL: Make the resilient New York Rangers play a Game 7 and they don’t even flinch.

Dump them into a 3-1 hole in a playoff series and they simply work harder.

And win.

Derek Stepan scored 11:24 in overtime, lifting New York past the visiting Washington Capitals 2-1 and into the Eastern Conference finals Wednesday night.

Stepan’s wrist shot from the left wing after he won a faceoff – a rarity for the Rangers – capped the comeback. The Rangers are the only team to manage that in successive years, doing the same thing to Pittsburgh in the second round in 2014.

“It’s a very special win,” said Henrik Lundqvist, who made 35 saves and became the third goalie to win six Game 7s, joining Patrick Roy and Martin Brodeur.

New York, which had the NHL’s best record this season, will face Tampa Bay for a spot in the Stanley Cup finals, where the Rangers lost to Los Angeles last spring. The series begins Saturday at Madison Square Garden.

Alex Ovechkin scored in the first period for Washington, which has lost five Game 7s in as many tries when leading a series 3-1. Kevin Hayes tied it in the second.

Although the Rangers were badly outplayed early in overtime, Lundqvist stood tall with eight saves as the Capitals couldn’t find that winning touch. That’s something the Rangers seem to own in a seventh game: New York has won six in a row, including the last three series against Washington.

Horford’s putback saves Hawks

NBA: Al Horford snatched away an offensive rebound and dropped in the winning basket with 1.9 seconds left after Dennis Schroder’s drive to the basket was blocked by John Wall, giving top-seeded Atlanta an 82-81 victory over visiting Washington and a 3-2 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Paul Pierce, who made a buzzer-beating winner in Game 3, appeared to have doomed the Hawks again when his 3-pointer from the corner gave the Wizards an 81-80 lead with 8.3 seconds left. Wall, playing for the first time since Game 1 after fracturing several bones in his left hand, fell to the court in celebration. Pierce taunted the Hawks bench and home crowd on his way back down the court.

But Atlanta had one more chance.

But Horford snatched the ball away from Nene, who tumbled to the court. Uncontested, the Hawks center put in the winner.

• Curry, Thompson lead Warriors: Stephen Curry turned in an MVP-worthy performance, Klay Thompson snapped out of his shooting funk and Golden State rolled past Memphis 98-78 at Oakland, California, to take a 3-2 lead in their Western Conference semifinal series.

Curry scored 18 points on six 3-pointers and added a career-playoff high six steals to go with seven rebounds and five assists. Thompson scored 21 points, and Harrison Barnes had 14 as the Warriors won their second straight game in impressive fashion.

Juventus makes Champions final

Soccer: Alvaro Morata shocked his former team with a 57th-minute goal, and Juventus reached its first Champions League final since 2003 with a 1-1 tie against defending champion Real Madrid that gave the Italian club a 3-2 aggregate win.

Seeking its third European title and first since 1996, Juventus plays Barcelona in the final at Berlin on June 6.

Kelowna headed to Memorial Cup

WHL: The Kelowna Rockets have advanced to the Memorial Cup.

Jackson Whistle stopped all 19 shots he faced as the Rockets blanked visiting Brandon 3-0 to claim the Western Hockey League’s Ed Chynoweth Cup with a four-game sweep. The Quebec Remparts will host the tournament May 21.

Contador takes Giro d’Italia lead

Cycling Alberto Contador claimed the overall lead in the Giro d’Italia after the first mountain stage, as the race favorites leaped into action on the concluding climb to Abetone.

Slovenian rider Jan Polanc, a 23-year-old with the Lampre team, won the fifth leg.

• Sagan wins fourth stage: Slovakia’s Peter Sagan surged in the short final uphill sprint to win the windy fourth stage of the Tour of California and close in on overall leader Tom Skujins of Latvia.

After finishing second in the first three stages, Sagan raced to his 12th career stage victory in the California event. He trails Skujins by 22 seconds.