Alexander Ovechkin wins Hart Trophy

Alexander Ovechkin has won his third Hart Trophy, given to the NHL’s most valuable player.

The Washington Capitals right wing beat out Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby and John Tavares of the New York Islanders for the award on Saturday night. Ovechkin also won the Hart in 2008 and 2009.

In other awards, announced before Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final in Chicago, Montreal’s P.K. Subban won his first Norris Trophy, given to the NHL’s top defenseman. Sergei Bobrovsky of the Columbus Blue Jackets won the Vezina Trophy, given to the NHL’s top goaltender. And Florida’s Jonathan Huberdeau won the Calder Trophy, given to the NHL’s top rookie.

Crosby won the Ted Lindsay Award, which recognizes the league’s most outstanding player as voted by fellow members of the NHL Players’ Assn.

ETC.

Regan Smith wins Nationwide Race

Points leader Regan Smith won the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Michigan International Speedway on Saturday, holding off Kyle Larson in the final 10 laps.

It was Smith’s second win of the year and 11th top-10 finish in 13 starts. He took the lead with 13 laps remaining when Parker Kligerman had to pit, and although Larson closed the gap a bit toward the end, he wasn’t able to overtake Smith’s No. 7 Chevrolet.

The 125-lap, 250-mile race in Brooklyn, Mich., was run under threatening weather conditions, but drivers were able to finish with no delays. Paul Menard was third, followed by Kyle Busch and Trevor Bayne.

Smith’s final margin of victory was 0.331 seconds. He also won at Talladega in May.

Ryan Hunter-Reay continued Andretti Autosport’s domination at the Milwaukee Mile, winning the IndyCar event at West Allis, Wis., for the second year in a row.

Hunter-Reay became the first driver to win back-to-back races at the Mile since Tony Kanaan in 2006 and 2007 when he too was driving for Andretti.

Andretti drivers have won five of the last nine races at the mile oval.

It’s the second win of the season for the defending IndyCar Series champion and it came at the site of the track he used to jump-start last year’s title run. Hunter-Reay reeled off three consecutive wins starting with Milwaukee last season to climb into the championship race.

Penske Racing’s Helio Castroneves was second, and teammate Will Power finished third.

The Sacramento Kings hired Denver executive Pete D’Alessandro as their general manager.

D’Alessandro will replace the departing Geoff Petrie, a team official confirmed on condition of anonymity because there had not been a formal announcement.

New owner Vivek Ranadive has already hired Mike Malone as the team’s coach and was looking to replace Petrie, who ran the basketball operations for the Kings since 1994. Petrie’s contract expires at the end of the month and he is helping the new regime prepare for the draft.

D’Alessandro was executive vice president of basketball operations in Denver.

In a match featuring two men over 30, Roger Federer rallied past defending champion Tommy Haas, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, to reach the final of the Gerry Weber Open at Halle, Germany.

Federer lost last year’s final to the German veteran. But he’s on course for his first title — in his second final — of the year.

Federer will play Mikhail Youzhny in the final Sunday. Youzhny upset second-seeded Richard Gasquet, 6-3, 6-2.

“It’s a good win for me, especially after losing the first set,” Federer said. “I felt I played well from start to finish, even in the first set.”

The semifinal featured the 35-year-old Haas, the oldest player in the top 100, and 31-year-old Federer. The 11th-ranked Haas, who reached the quarterfinals of the French Open, is enjoying a resurgence after various injuries.

Federer is seeking his sixth title on grass in Halle, his favorite warmup for Wimbledon. Four of Federer’s seven Wimbledon titles have come after wins in Halle.

Top-seeded Andy Murray and defending champion Marin Cilic will play in the final at Queen’s Club in London after both earned three-set victories on Saturday.

Murray, the champion in 2009 and 2011, rallied to defeat fourth-seeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in a repeat of their 2011 final. Fifth-seeded Cilic of Croatia held off former four-time winner Lleyton Hewitt, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.

Murray will play for his 27th career title and first since he won in Miami in March.

Cilic had lost his only previous meeting with Hewitt, at the London Olympics. He will bid for his 10th career title. His last tournament victory came in February at home in Zagreb.

Croatian teenager Donna Vekic reached her second career WTA final when she beat 2009 champion Magdalena Rybarikova, 7-6 (5), 1-6, 6-3, in the Aegon Classic at Birmingham, England.

In the final of the grass-court tournament on Sunday, Vekic, who turns 17 in two weeks will face Daniela Hantuchova. Hantuchova defeated Alison Riske of the United States, 5-7, 6-1, 6-4, in the other semifinal.

Simon Thornton of Ireland shot a six-under 65 to share a one-stroke lead with Tjaart Van der Walt of South Africa and Baptiste Chapellan of France after the third round of the Najeti Hotels Open in Saint-Omer, France.

Thornton made two eagles, including a hole-in-one on No. 11, three birdies and a bogey for a four-under 209 total. Chapellan shot a 69 and overnight leader Van der Walt had a 71.

Seve Benson of England shot a 70 to move into fourth place, one stroke ahead of Max Glauert of Germany, Chris Lloyd of England and Victor Riu of France, tied for fifth at 211.