LEADING OFF

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Photograph by David E. Klutho/Sports Illustrated

Lens Smashers Ah, the hockey playoffs, when even the photo gear needs helmets. A puck obstructed one camera's view during Game 3 of the Stanley Cup finals in Boston. The Bruins won to take a 2--1 series lead over the Blackhawks but dropped Games 4 and 5, leaving Chicago on the brink of its second Cup win in four years going into Monday night's Game 6 at TD Garden.

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Photograph by Steven Branscombe/ZUMAPRESS.com

Beavers, Damned Oregon State third baseman Kavin Keyes laid out but couldn't stop this ground ball in a College World Series game against Mississippi State last Friday. It was one of many hits for the Bulldogs: They won 4--1 to eliminate Oregon State and met UCLA in the best-of-three finals that began on Monday night.

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Photograph by Tiffany Brown/ AP Images for Discovery Communications

Wire Hanger Carrying a 43-pound balancing poll, Nik Wallenda, 34, became the first person to tightrope-walk across the Grand Canyon, on Sunday, making the 1,400-foot trip across a two-inch-wide steel cable in 22 minutes and 54 seconds. He had to kneel to rebalance twice but said the view from 1,500 feet above the Colorado River was breathtaking. Um, yeah, that's one word for it.