HOCKEYCHICAGO (AP) Emergency goaltender Scott Foster played the final 14 minutes after Chicago lost Anton Forsberg and Collin Delia to injuries Adidas Jordan Schroeder Jersey , closing out the Blackhawks’ 6-2 victory over the Winnipeg Jets.It was Foster’s first competitive action since 20 minutes in relief with Western Michigan University in the 2005-06 season.Forsberg was expected to start, but he was scratched after the team said he got hurt during warmups. Delia, who was just recalled from the minors Wednesday, then stopped 25 of 27 shots in his NHL debut before he was helped off the ice in the third period due to a lower-body injury.Enter Foster, a 36-year-old accountant. After a short warmup, the game resumed and Foster got a big cheer from the crowd of 21,839 when he denied Tyler Myers for his first save about a minute after he came in.Backed by chants of ”Foster! Foster!” and more loud ovations down the stretch, he finished with seven stops against the playoff-bound Jets, winners of six in a row.BASEBALLNEW YORK (AP) – The average major league salary on opening day dropped slightly following an offseason of slashed contracts for many free agents and the decisions to start three highly paid players in the minor leagues, according to study by The Associated Press.The $4.41 million average Thursday fell 0.9 percent from last year’s starting figure of $4.45 million, according to the AP’s calculations. It was only the second drop since the end of the 1994-95 strike, after a 2.7 decrease in 2004.Two late-signing free agent pitchers were optioned to farm teams just ahead of Thursday’s openers to get more preparation time: Philadelphia’s Jake Arrieta and Baltimore’s Alex Cobb. If they had remained in the majors, the average would have been down just $1,380. And if Arizona outfielder Yasmany Tomas had also remained in the big leagues Adidas Chris Kunitz Jersey , the average would have been up 0.2 percent to $4.46 million.Boston had a $224 million payroll and topped the major leagues for the first time since at least the 1980s. San Francisco was next at $207 million, followed by the Chicago Cubs ($182 million), Washington ($181 million), the NL champion Los Angeles Dodgers ($179 million), the Los Angeles Angels ($170 million) and the New York Yankees in seventh at $167 million. The Yankees have their lowest payroll since 2003 and their lowest ranking since 1992.PRO BASKETBALLPHILADELPHIA (AP) – Philadelphia 76ers All-Star center Joel Embiid will need surgery on an orbital fracture of his left eye and he has a concussion.There was no timetable Thursday on how long Embiid would be sidelined. The 76ers are set to play Friday in Atlanta and Sunday in Charlotte.Embiid posted a photo on Instagram of him on the court and grabbing his face with the caption, ”I guess I gotta trust `The Process’ that I’ve been preaching… Unfortunate freak accident but I’ll be more than fine.”Markelle Fultz was driving toward the basket Wednesday against the Knicks when he appeared to accidentally head-butt Embiid. The 7-footer immediately went to the floor. He remained on the floor for several minutes before he was assisted by Philadelphia’s trainer. Embiid sat up once before lying back down on the court. Eventually, he was helped off the court.Fultz was not injured on the play. He posted a hands-clasped prayer emoji on Embiid’s photo.EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) – Los Angeles Lakers guard Isaiah Thomas will need four months to recover from arthroscopic surgery on his right hip.The Lakers announced Thomas’ prognosis after the surgery Thursday.Thomas will be a free agent by the time he recovers from the procedure, but he has expressed interest in staying with the Lakers.The two-time All-Star guard averaged 15.6 points and 5.0 assists in 17 games with Los Angeles, which acquired him from Cleveland in February.OLYMPICSTOKYO (AP) – The man who organized the most popular Winter Olympics 24 years ago in the Norwegian ski resort of Lillehammer says it’s too soon to return in 2026.But watch for Lillehammer in 2030.Gerhard Heiberg tells The Associated Press he’s ”a little sad” that Norway can’t join the chase for 2026.He adds ”I think 2026 would have been best for us” but acknowledges organizers and politicians had too little time to work out details.Bidders have until Saturday to let the International Olympic Committee know of their interest. In October, the IOC will trim the field to serious contenders and pick the host next year.At least four serious bids are likely to be on the table: Calgary, Canada; Stockholm, Sweden; Sapporo, Japan; Sion Adidas Brandon Manning Jersey , Switzerland. Interest might also come for Austria, Italy and Turkey. BOSTON (AP) Lightning coach Jon Cooper came to Boston with a plan to steal back the home-ice advantage that the Bruins took away with their Game 1 win in Tampa.Now he has bigger goals in mind.”We can’t exhale,” Cooper said on Thursday, a day after the Lightning beat Boston 4-1 to open a 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals. ”Just because we picked one up on them, we want to make it where we have three chances to knock them out. When you have that chance, you can’t let it slide.”Since winning the opener, the Bruins have lost two in a row. On Wednesday night, Ondrej Palat scored twice in the first 3:19 of the game to give the Lightning a lead it never relinquished.”They outworked us last night, there’s no doubt about it,” Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said.Game 4 is Friday night (7 p.m. EDT, NBCSN).MIRROR IMAGEVegas and San Jose each have a home shutout and a road overtime win through four games of their second-round series. Now it has become a best-of-three for a spot in the Western Conference Final starting with Game 5 (10 p.m. EDT, NBCSN). The Sharks have turned things around completely from Game 1, when they were constantly a step behind the speedier Golden Knights in a 7-0 loss.San Jose has done a much better job limiting Vegas’ chances since then.”That 7-0 game was not really us out there,” forward Eric Fehr said. ”We changed a lot of things. We came out flat in that game. I think we’ve done a good job of reeling it in and playing the way we can play. That was a game we just threw in the garbage and turned the page.”Now the Golden Knights will try to do the same after getting thoroughly outplayed in a 4-0 loss in Game 4.”It’s a good series Adidas Cam Ward Jersey , there’s no easy night,” goalie Marc-Andre Fleury said. ”Nobody thought it was going to be an easy series either. We’re in good shape, 2-2, going home.”SHUFFLINGCassidy fiddled with his lines in practice on Thursday as he tried to find more offense for a team that seemed to have plenty of it in the first-round series against the Maple Leafs. With Brad Marchand and Jake DeBrusk sitting out of practice – Cassidy said he expects them to play on Friday night – Danton Heinen skated with Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak on the first line and Ryan Donato got time with David Krejci on the second.After scoring 28 goals in seven games against Toronto and six in the Round 2 opener, Boston was held to a single goal each in back-to-back games.”We’ll probably tinker,” Cassidy said. ”I’m not going to tell you who’s going in or who’s going out, because we’ve got to get the healthy guys sorted out first.”ROOKIES IN THE BOOKSLightning forward Anthony Cirelli was the 23rd different rookie to score at least one goal in 56 NHL playoff games this year. That’s already more than in all of last year’s postseason. The NHL record is 38 in 1981, but over the past 30 years the most was 28, in 1990 and again in ’92.Boston’s Jake DeBrusk has six this year, leading all rookies. Minnesota North Stars forward Dino Ciccarelli scored 14 goals in ’81, the rookie record for a postseason. Penguins forward Jake Guentzel scored 13 last year and matched Ciccarelli’s point total.—AP Sports Writer Josh Dubow contributed to this story from San Jose, California.