National Sports

WASHINGTON — A rat falling out of the arena hallway ceiling during the Carolina Hurricanes' warmup game of soccer was just a precursor to a wacky afternoon of playoff hockey.

SEATTLE — Will Bruin understands it's not like the past. He doesn't have a set starting role with the Seattle Sounders. His chances of playing long stretches likely come because others are injured or may need rest.

TORONTO — Clay Buchholz prepared for his first start in a Blue Jays uniform by rewatching film of himself pitching at Rogers Centre.

ESPOO, Finland — Canada backing off its blue-collar brand of hockey opened the door for Finland's women to make history Saturday.

MONTREAL — Evan Bush has the Montreal Impact on a nice roll. Bush made five saves Saturday to anchor Montreal's 1-0 MLS win over the Columbus Crew in its home opener.

TORONTO — Chris Silverthorn, the Toronto Arrows' director of rugby, has made five changes to his starting lineup for Sunday's Major League Rugby match against the visiting Austin Elite Rugby.

BOSTON — Nazem Kadri and the Toronto Maple Leafs have been paying close attention to some of the eyebrow-raising results early in the NHL playoffs. The Toronto centre and his teammates are hoping to add another tonight against the Boston Bruins.

NEW YORK — The NHL suspended Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov for one game Saturday for boarding Markus Nutivaara of the Columbus Blue Jackets. The incident happened in the third period of Columbus's 5-1 win Friday night.

Clifford Starke wants to return the Montreal Alouettes to their former glory.

SINGAPORE — Canada was thumped by Fiji and South Africa before rallying to beat Scotland in the Singapore Sevens on Saturday. The Singapore event is the eighth round of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series.