Sports
NHL roundup: Patrick Kane hits milestone, Red Wings top Caps
Apr 5, 2024; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Detroit Red Wings right wing Patrick Kane (88) celebrates center Dylan Larkin (not pictured) goal during the second period against the New York Rangers at Little Caesars Arena. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-Imagn Images Patrick Kane reached the 1,300-point mark with a goal and an assist as the host Detroit Red Wings snapped a four-game losing streak with a 4-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Sunday.
Todd McLellan recorded his first win in two games as Detroit’s head coach. McLellan replaced Derek Lalonde, who was fired on Thursday.
Kane is the second U.S.-born player to reach 1,300 career points, trailing only Mike Modano’s 1,374. Kane is also the fourth active player to reach that milestone, joining Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin.
As for Ovechkin, he scored for the second consecutive game after missing the previous 16 Capitals contests due to a broken fibula. Ovechkin’s 17th goal of the season moved him within 24 goals of tying Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record of 894.
Penguins 3, Islanders 2
Sidney Crosby passed Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux to claim Pittsburgh’s all-time record for assists as the host Penguins split a weekend home-and-home set with New York.
Michael Bunting, Evgeni Malkin and Anthony Beauvillier each added a goal for Pittsburgh, which lost 6-3 on Saturday. Crosby’s assist on Bunting’s goal gave him 1,034 career helpers.
Anders Lee and Bo Horvat scored for the Islanders, who have only two wins in their last six games. Goalie Marcus Hogberg, in his first NHL start since April 28, 2021, while with the Ottawa Senators, stopped 38 shots.
Golden Knights 3, Flames 0
Ilya Samsonov turned aside 31 shots for his 14th career shutout and Tanner Pearson had a goal and an assist as host Vegas extended its season-best winning streak to six games with a win over Calgary.
It was Samsonov’s first shutout with the Golden Knights and marked his sixth win in his past seven starts. Pacific Division-leading Vegas improved to an NHL-best 15-3-0 at home. The Golden Knights also moved into a tie with the Winnipeg Jets for the NHL lead in points with 53.
Dan Vladar stopped 34 of 36 shots for Calgary, which had a five-game point streak (3-0-2) come to an end.
Ducks 5, Oilers 3
Ryan Strome scored the go-ahead goal at 17:24 of the third period and Anaheim rallied from a two-goal deficit to hand visiting Edmonton a second straight loss.
Strome took the puck from behind the net and stuffed it in on the doorstep. It initially appeared that goalie Calvin Pickard kept it out, but a video review confirmed it went over the line.
Leon Draisaitl scored twice, Evan Bouchard had a goal and an assist, and Connor McDavid had two assists for the Oilers, who have lost consecutive games for the first time since Nov. 16-18. Pickard made 27 saves.
Stars 5, Blackhawks 1
Matt Duchene and Jamie Benn each had a goal and two assists to lead six players with multi-point nights and Jake Oettinger made 24 saves to lift Dallas past host Chicago.
Dallas scored the final five goals of the game to keep Chicago reeling. The Blackhawks have lost four straight and six of nine. Dallas improved to 16-1-1 when leading after two periods.
Arvid Soderblom stopped 30 shots for Chicago, which grabbed a 1-0 lead at 12:20 of the first period as Connor Bedard scored a power-play goal on a wrist shot from the high slot. Benn scored at 17:12 to begin the comeback.
Canadiens 5, Lightning 2
Jake Evans scored in his fifth straight game and Alexandre Carrier had two assists as Montreal beat host Tampa Bay for the Canadiens’ fifth win in six games.
Sam Montembeault stopped 21 shots as Montreal improved to 2-1-0 on its season-long six-game road trip. The Canadiens beat the Panthers 4-0 on Saturday in the first game of their Florida back-to-back.
Alex Newhook and Christian Dvorak also scored for Montreal, which killed all three Lightning power plays while allowing just one shot.
Sabres 4, Blues 2
Jason Zucker and Tage Thompson each had a goal and an assist to lead visiting Buffalo past St. Louis for the Sabres’ third straight win.
Peyton Krebs and Juri Kulich also scored for the Sabres, who endured a 13-game winless stretch before the winning streak. Jack Quinn had two assists for Buffalo and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 35 saves.
Brayden Schenn and Nathan Walker scored for the Blues and Colton Parayko earned two assists. St. Louis goaltender Jordan Binnington allowed four goals on 16 shots faced.
Senators 3, Wild 1
Josh Norris scored the go-ahead goal with 7:18 remaining in the third period and Ottawa held on to beat host Minnesota in Saint Paul, ending the Senators’ two-game skid.
Ridly Greig and Claude Giroux also scored for Ottawa, which improved to 7-2-0 in its past nine contests.
Senators goaltender Leevi Merilainen stopped 30 of 31 shots to pick up his second career win in his fifth game. The save total marked the second-most in the brief career of the 22-year-old from Finland.
Kings 5, Flyers 4
Anze Kopitar scored a pair of third-period goals, Adrian Kempe added a goal and an assist, and host Los Angeles Kings rallied past Philadelphia to run its home winning streak to seven games.
Kevin Fiala and Warren Foegele added goals and David Rittich made 17 saves for the Kings, who improved to 10-2-2 dating to Nov. 27, with a pair of victories over the Flyers in the stretch. Kopitar moved into a tie with Dave Taylor for third place on the Kings’ all-time goals-scored list with 431 in 19 seasons.
Scott Laughton and Matvei Michkov each scored a goal with an assist for the Flyers, while Tyson Foerster and Joel Farabee also had goals. Aleksei Kolosov made 15 saves for Philadelphia, which lost for the fifth time in its past seven games (2-5-0).
–Field Level Media
Sports
Lu Dort’s Antics Outshine Big Win for Oklahoma City Thunder
Luguentz Dort is a dirty player.
I’m not saying something entirely unheard of with this take. Dort, along with most players on the Thunder, benefit from a whistle not given to the rest of the league. Friday night’s matchup between the Nuggets and Thunder showed that at full effect.
This game was very physical from start to finish. These two teams do not like each other, and I feel much of that comes from the SGA vs. Jokic MVP debates. Jokic is probably the better player, but Gilgeous-Alexander won the MVP last year and knocked the Nuggets out of the playoffs.
Things are different this time around. Jokic has far more help than in years past. Denver isn’t quite fully healthy yet, but in spurts, you’ve seen what this team could do in the playoffs.
OKC and Denver met at the start of the month, but the Nuggets were still missing multiple role players, and Jokic had a bit of a down night in only his second game back from injury. Even still, we saw a level of chippiness in this one that you normally won’t see in the NBA.
What happened on Friday had been building for the better part of two seasons.
While trying to get back on defense on a made basket, Dort purposefully hip-checked and tripped Jokic, leading to a mid-court fight between Jokic and Jaylin Williams.
Dort was given a flagrant two and ejected from the game, something Coach Daigneault disagreed with. He claimed that any player who trips someone running up the floor should be ejected now that this precedent has been set.
In most cases, if something like this occurs, a player should probably be ejected. Rocket’s Tari Eason did something similar earlier this week, and it led to Vince Williams Jr. tearing his ACL. Physicality is great in basketball, but dumb plays like the one Dort made are dangerous and could potentially injure a superstar like Jokic.
Another key factor is that Dort doesn’t deserve any benefit of the doubt. This isn’t a one-off play. He’s a Draymond Green-like character who is always toeing the line between fair and foul.
Dort has countless plays like this. If you feel like he’s close to doing anything dirty, he should be removed from the game and fined, because he’s constantly committing non-basketball fouls.
The Thunder did go on to win in OT, but luckily, these teams meet again in less than 10 days, so I doubt this is the end of this beef.
Sports
After capturing gold, Wild trio focused on Blues
Feb 4, 2026; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Minnesota Wild left wing Matt Boldy (12) celebrates defenseman Jared Spurgeon (46) winning goal against the Nashville Predators during the overtime period at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images A trio of United States Olympic gold medal winners are about to return “home.”
It’s likely that fans from the “State of Hockey” will welcome them back with a roar.
Matt Boldy and defensemen Quinn Hughes and Brock Faber will be front and center when the Minnesota Wild face off against the St. Louis Blues on Sunday in Saint Paul, Minn. It will be their first home game since Feb. 2 for the Wild, who had a three-week break for the Milan Cortina Olympics.
Faber might get the loudest cheer when he is recognized as part of a U.S. team that won the nation’s first gold medal in men’s hockey since 1980. The local product grew up in suburban Maple Grove, Minn., and starred collegiately for the Minnesota Golden Gophers.
How’s he feeling after the whirlwind of February?
“Good enough, right?” Faber said. “I played hockey the whole time, so I’m still in game shape.”
The Wild have split their two games since returning from the Olympic break. They stormed to a 5-2 road win against the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night but lost by the same score versus the Utah Mammoth on Friday.
The loss might have come with added cost as veteran forward Joel Eriksson Ek left the game after taking a high stick to the face.
Eriksson Ek’s status is uncertain for Sunday. He has 42 points (17 goals, 25 assists) in 54 games this season.
“We all know the type of player ‘Ekky’ is and the situations we count on him to play in,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “It’s unfortunate, but hopefully he’s OK.”
St. Louis also will try to bounce back from a loss after falling short 3-1 against the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night. Pavel Buchnevich scored the lone goal for the Blues.
Blues forward Jake Neighbours said he and his teammates needed to come out with a better effort against the Wild. He said the team recorded a 5-1 victory over the Seattle Kraken on Thursday because of a great effort level and lost its most recent game because of a reduced effort level.
“To me, it’s battles,” Neighbours said. “I thought on Thursday, our compete (level) was really high. We were excited. There was a lot of energy on the bench and in the dressing room.
“For whatever reason, (on Saturday), it just didn’t seem like we could muster up the momentum and the energy to take over the game.”
Joel Hofer could get the start for the Blues in net one night after Jordan Binnington turned aside 30 of 32 shots against the Devils. Hofer is 13-11-3 with a 2.87 goals-against average and an .897 save percentage this season, and he is 1-0-0 with a 1.00 GAA and a .944 save percentage in his only career game against Minnesota.
Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson likely will get the nod after fellow netminder Jesper Wallstedt started against Utah. Gustavsson is 21-9-6 with a 2.60 GAA and a .909 save percentage this season, and he is 5-2-0 with a 2.32 GAA and a .919 save percentage in eight career appearances against the Blues.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Islanders in playoff position, Panthers have work to do as teams meet
Jan 6, 2026; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice watches the play against the Toronto Maple Leafs during the third period at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images The two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers do not have to be reminded that five of the eight teams currently occupying a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference did not make the postseason last year.
And the Panthers will get another glimpse at a team attempting to take their spot in the tournament Sunday night, when Florida opens a four-game road trip by visiting the surging New York Islanders in Elmont, N.Y.
The Panthers are coming off a 3-2 loss to the visiting Buffalo Sabres on Friday night. The Islanders are completing a back-to-back set after overcoming a two-goal deficit Saturday night and edging the host Columbus Blue Jackets, 4-3, in overtime.
The loss Friday was the sixth in eight games for the Panthers (2-6-0), who are eight points behind the Boston Bruins in the race for the second wild-card spot with 23 games to play.
The Bruins, Detroit Red Wings and Sabres — the latter of whom are in second place in the Atlantic Division — all missed the playoffs last year.
A reigning Stanley Cup champion hasn’t missed the playoffs since 2015, when the Los Angeles Kings came up two points shy of a tournament berth.
A spate of injuries has endangered the Panthers’ pursuit of the NHL’s first three-peat since the Islanders won the Stanley Cup four consecutive times from 1980-83. Captain Aleksander Barkov has yet to play due to a right knee injury suffered in training camp while Matthew Tkachuk has played just 12 games following offseason surgery for a sports hernia and torn adductor muscle. Tkachuk and Barkov were Florida’s second- and third-leading scorers last season, respectively.
The Panthers’ fortunes haven’t improved since returning from the Olympic break. Right winger Cole Schwindt will be out indefinitely with a lower body injury suffered in Thursday’s 5-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs while Uvis Balinskis was slated to be evaluated Saturday after exiting Friday’s game due to injury.
“Not cheating on effort,” Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said. “We’re doing the best we can.”
Simon Holmstrom’s goal 1:47 into overtime Saturday continued a pair of trends for the Islanders, whose effort to return to the playoffs after a one-year absence has featured plenty of comeback wins and extra session dramatics.
New York is tied for second place in the Metropolitan Division with the Pittsburgh Penguins, who have two games in hand. The Penguins also missed the playoffs last season.
The win Saturday was the fourth straight for the Islanders, who have trailed in three of those victories — including Thursday night’s 4-3 overtime win over the Montreal Canadiens in which New York also came back from a 2-0 second-period deficit.
Holmstrom’s goal improved the Islanders to 8-0 in games decided in overtime. New York trailed in regulation in all eight overtime wins.
The only team in NHL history to record more overtime wins without a loss in a single season are the 2021 Vegas Golden Knights, who went 9-0 in overtime during the pandemic-shortened 56-game campaign.
“At the end of the day … I feel like we’re calm and we just focus on what needs to be done,” Islanders head coach Patrick Roy said. “It doesn’t matter if we’re behind. We find ways to get back into the game.”
–Field Level Media
Lu Dort’s Antics Outshine Big Win for Oklahoma City Thunder
After capturing gold, Wild trio focused on Blues
