Sports
Vegas tops Edmonton despite Connor McDavid's return
Nov 4, 2024; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; Vegas Golden Knights forward Pavel Dorofeyev (16) tries to knock the puck away from Edmonton Oilers forward Connor McDavid (97) during the first period at Rogers Place. Mandatory Credit: Perry Nelson-Imagn Images Vegas’ Noah Hanifin scored twice in the third period, including the game winner in the final minute, as the Golden Knights got their first road win of the season, 4-2 over the host Edmonton Oilers and Connor McDavid.
Hanifin, who had a three-point showing in Saturday’s 4-3 win over the Utah Hockey Club, knotted it 2-all in the third with a long shot that found its way through a screen at 10:05.
Then the defenseman buried the winning goal from the left circle off a feed from Ivan Barbashev with 49 seconds that made it 3-2.
Mark Stone scored his sixth goal into an empty net with four seconds left for Vegas’ sixth win in its past seven matches (6-1-0), improving the club to 8-1-0 against the Western Conference.
Jack Eichel had a goal and two assists, while Barbashev dished out three helpers. Goaltender Adin Hill stopped 27 shots.
Absent three matches after suffering an ankle injury in the first 37 seconds at the Columbus Blue Jackets on Oct. 28, McDavid was originally expected to miss two to three weeks.
But the three-time Hart Trophy winner as league MVP took an optional skate Monday with his teammates and entered the lineup Wednesday. He had two shots on goal in 21:02 of ice time.
Brett Kulak and Zach Hyman scored Edmonton’s goals. Stuart Skinner made 31 saves as the club fell to 2-5-1 on home ice.
While all eyes in the home crowd were on No. 97 in his return to the ice as the contest opened, Eichel struck the match’s first blow after a nifty pass from Shea Theodore through the neutral zone.
One-on-one with Skinner, Eichel, the next pick in the 2015 draft after McDavid went No. 1 overall, deked the netminder one way and easily slipped in his fourth goal on the goalie’s glove side at 16:05 for a 1-0 lead.
In a much more productive next period offensively, the Oilers gained zone possession and fired eight of the first 10 shots of the second on Hill in the first four minutes yet could not beat him.
However, the pressure finally paid off at 12:18 when Kulak, in the high slot, redirected Darnell Nurse’s long one-timer for his third goal.
Hyman gave Edmonton its first lead with his third goal in four games (after scoring none in the Oilers’ first 10 games), taking an odd bounce off the stanchion and making it 2-1 with 4:04 remaining in the second.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Defender Chris Richards returns to USMNT practice
June 8, 2026; Irvine, California, U.S.; Chris Richards of the U.S. signs an autograph for a fan during training. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images Defender Chris Richards is back on the field with the United States Men’s National Team on Monday and appears to be on track for the World Cup opener against Paraguay this week.
“We will see … first time with the team,” coach Mauricio Pochettino said Monday. “Nearly everyone ready to be selected for the game.”
Richards sustained an ankle injury last month and is viewed as a vital defender in the center of the backline.
Miles Robinson and Mark McKenzie filled in for Richards on Saturday in the final World Cup tuneup against Germany in Chicago.
At Monday’s practice in Irvine, Calif., Tyler Adams was not on the field. He worked in the gym for load management purposes, Pochettino said.
Richards, 26, suffered a pair of torn ligaments in his left ankle on May 17 as his Crystal Palace team played Brentford in a Premier League match. He did complete the match but limped off the field and has not competed since.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Reports: Kings to hire Peter Laviolette as head coach
Mar 29, 2025; San Jose, California, USA; New York Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette instructs his team as left wings Artemi Panarin (10), Chris Kreider (20) and Brennan Othmann (78) look on against the San Jose Sharks during the third period at SAP Center at San Jose. Mandatory Credit: Robert Edwards-Imagn Images The Los Angeles Kings are set to hire Peter Laviolette to a three-year deal as their next head coach, Sportsnet and ESPN reported Monday.
Laviolette had been in talks to become the head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs as recently as last week, according to multiple reports, and the Edmonton Oilers had also reportedly looked at him as a candidate to fill their head coaching vacancy.
Laviolette, 61, has been an NHL head coach for 23 seasons.
He won a Stanley Cup with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006. He also reached the Stanley Cup Final as coach of the Philadelphia Flyers in 2010 and the Nashville Predators in 2017.
He most recently coached the New York Rangers from 2023-25. The Rangers went 55-23-4 (114 points) in Laviolette’s first season and advanced to the Eastern Conference finals, where they were eliminated by the Florida Panthers in a six-game series. New York went 39-36-7 (85 points) the following season to finish six points out of a playoff spot, leading to Laviolette’s dismissal in April 2025.
He owns an 846-562-161 record (25 ties) as head coach with the New York Islanders (2001-03), Hurricanes (2003-09), Flyers (2009-14), Predators (2014-20), Washington Capitals (2020-23) and Rangers.
His 846 regular-season wins are the most among United States-born coaches in NHL history and seventh all-time.
Laviolette appeared in 12 NHL games during his playing career as a defenseman, all during the 1988-89 season with the Rangers.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Top 2 seeds ousted in chaotic opening day at Libema Open
Aug 27, 2025; Flushing, NY, USA; Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia serves against Wang Xinyu of China in the second round of the women’s singles at the US Open at Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Mandatory Credit: Mike Frey-Imagn Images The No. 1 and No. 2 seeds each fell in straight sets on a chaotic first day of women’s competition in the Libema Open at ‘s-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands on Monday.
No. 1 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia — a two-time winner at the event in 2022 and ‘23 — fell 6-4, 7-6 (5) to Hungary’s Panna Udvardy, who ranks nearly 50 spots lower (65th to 17th). In a match that was statistically even in a number of spots, the difference may have been Udvardy’s one more converted break (3 of 6) in an equal number of chances.
Second-seeded Clara Tauson of Denmark lost 6-4, 6-4 to Slovakia’s Mia Pohankova, a 17-year-old who won the final five games of the match to secure her first career top-30 win. No. 3 seed Belgian Elise Mertens avoided the same fate with a thorough 6-1, 6-2 defeat of Canada’s Bianca Andreescu.
In other Monday action, Poland’s Magda Linette rallied for a 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 win over Australian Kimberly Birrell, Robin Montgomery pulled out a 5-7, 6-0, 6-4 victory against Daria Kasatkina of Australia and Ukraine’s Daria Snigur swept Spain’s Paula Badosa 6-1, 7-6 (2).
HSBC Championships
Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic rallied for a 6-7 (1), 6-3, 6-3 defeat of McCartney Kessler in first-round action at London.
Pliskova was sloppy on her serve with three aces and 11 double faults but made up for it by winning 51% of her return points and converting 8 of 11 break-point opportunities.
In the only two other matches completed on Monday, when multiple matches were delayed or postponed by rain, Great Britain’s Harriet Dart beat Liudmila Samsonova of Russia 5-7, 6-4, 6-3, while Romania’s Jaqueline Cristian swept Qinwen Zheng 6-4, 7-6 (4).
The final match of the day, which pitted No. 8 seed Leylah Fernandez of Canada against Great Britain’s Katie Boulter, was suspended due to darkness with Fernandez up a set and the second set level at 3 games apiece.
–Field Level Media
How did WWDC 2026 feel this year?
Tech experts analyze Siri and Apple Intelligence updates from WWDC 2026
