Today in Sports – Washington Capitals win the Stanley Cup for the first time in franchise history

June 7

1930 — Gallant Fox, ridden by Earle Sande, wins the Belmont Stakes by three lengths over Whichone, becoming the second horse to capture the Triple Crown.

1941 — Whirlaway, ridden by Eddie Arcaro, becomes the fifth horse to win the Triple Crown by capturing the Belmont Stakes by 2½ lengths over Robert Morris.

1952 — One Count, ridden by Eddie Arcaro, wins the Belmont Stakes by 2½ lengths over heavily favored Blue Man.

1969 — Arts and Letters, ridden by Braulio Baeza, ends Majestic Prince’s bid for the Triple Crown with a 5½-length victory in the Belmont Stakes.

1978 — The Washington Bullets beat the Seattle SuperSonics 105-99 in Game 7 to win the NBA Championship.

1980 — Temperance Hill, a 53-1 long shot ridden by Eddie Maple, wins the Belmont Stakes by two lengths over Genuine Risk.

1986 — Danzig Connection, ridden by Chris McCarron, wins the Belmont Stakes by 1 1/4 lengths over Johns Treasure to give trainer Woody Stephens his fifth straight Belmont win.

1989 — Wayne Gretzky wins his 9th NHL Hart (MVP) Trophy in 10 years.

1995 — Hakeem Olajuwon’s tip-in with .3 seconds left gives Houston a 120-118 overtime win in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. Houston, trailing by 20 points in the first half, are led back by Kenny Smith, whose Finals record seventh three pointer sends the game into overtime.

1997 — Stanley Cup Final, Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, MI: Detroit Red Wings edge Philadelphia Flyers, 2-1 for a 4-0 series sweep; 8th title in Wings’ franchise history and first since 1955.

1998 — Utah breaks the record for fewest points in an NBA game since the inception of the shot clock, losing 96-54 to Chicago in Game 3 of the NBA Finals. It’s the highest margin of victory in NBA Finals history. Utah’s 54 points break the NBA-record of 55 set earlier in the season by Indiana.

2004 — Ruslan Fedotenko scores twice, including the critical first goal, and the resilient Tampa Bay Lightning hold off the Calgary Flames 2-1 in Game 7 to win their first Stanley Cup.

2006 — New Jersey becomes the first state to institute a statewide steroid-testing policy for high school athletes.

2008 — Da’ Tara spoils Big Brown’s bid for a Triple Crown by winning the Belmont Stakes. Da’ Tara, a 38-1 longshot ridden by Alan Garcia, goes wire-to-wire winning by 5 1/4 lengths over Denis of Cork. Big Brown, the 1-4 favorite, is eased up in the homestretch by jockey Kent Desormeaux finishing so far behind at the end that his margin of defeat isn’t even charted.

2009 — Roger Federer completes a career Grand Slam, winning his first French Open title. Federer wins his 14th major title to tie Pete Sampras’ record by sweeping surprise finalist Robin Soderling 6-1, 7-6 (1), 6-4.

2014 — French Open Women’s Tennis: Maria Sharapova of Russia wins her 5th Grand Slam singles title; beats Romanian Simona Halep 6-4, 6-7, 6-4.

2014 — California Chrome fails in his bid to win the first Triple Crown in 36 years, losing the Belmont Stakes to long shot Tonalist and leaving his owner to complain others took “the coward’s way out” by skipping the first two legs of the Triple Crown.

2014 — Miguel Cotto becomes the first Puerto Rican fighter to win world championships in four weight divisions, stopping Sergio Martinez in their WBC world middleweight title fight. Martinez doesn’t get off the stool when the bell rings for the 10th round.

2015 — LeBron James turns in a triple-double to remember, Matthew Dellavedova makes the go-ahead free throws in overtime, and the Cavaliers overcome a fourth-quarter collapse to outlast the Golden State Warriors 95-93 in Game 2 of the NBA finals. James finishes with 39 points, 16 rebounds and 11 assists in 50 minutes, carrying Cleveland’s depleted roster to victory on the NBA’s toughest home floor.

2018 — The Washington Capitals raise the Stanley Cup for the first time in franchise history after a 4-3 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 5 of the finals.

_____

Copyright © 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.

Federal News Network Logo
Log in to your WTOP account for notifications and alerts customized for you.

Sign up