Sports
Connor McDavid, Canada brace for 'Game 7' vs. Finland
Feb 12, 2025; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; [Imagn Images direct customers only] Team Canada forward Connor McDavid (97) plays the puck against Team Sweden defenseman Gustav Forsling (42) in the first period during a 4 Nations Face-Off ice hockey game at Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images BOSTON — Connor McDavid knows what is at stake for Canada as the 4 Nations Face-Off scene shifts from north of the border.
“It’s kind of like a Game 7,” the Edmonton Oilers star captain said late Saturday night. “A lot of guys in this room have been in that situation before.”
Following a 3-1 loss to the Americans on Saturday in Montreal, Canada will go head-to-head with Finland in the first game of a Monday doubleheader at TD Garden.
The first of two final round-robin games essentially will be a win-or-go-home. Either side winning in regulation would set up a Thursday championship meeting with the Americans, while Sweden would still have a chance to reach the final if Canada-Finland extends to overtime or a shootout.
Canada coach Jon Cooper echoed McDavid’s comment.
“I mean, this is a short tournament and this is our Game 7,” Cooper said. “But it doesn’t matter…if it was Scotty Bowman or name the coach, it doesn’t work unless you have a team that cares. And that test we passed (on Saturday). We have a team that cares.”
Two fights in the first three seconds clearly showed that care factor, but after McDavid wowed on a game-opening breakaway 5:31 into the first period, the U.S. took control and never gave it back. Thus, Canada finished its two games on home ice without a regulation win.
“It was fast, tight-checking, competitive, emotional,” McDavid said. “It had everything you would want in a hockey game. (It stinks) it didn’t go our way, but this thing’s far from over.”
The Canadians hope to have defenseman Cale Makar (illness) back in the lineup on Monday, though his status was undetermined as of Sunday morning. He was sidelined along with the injured Alex Pietrangelo and Shea Theodore.
“Everybody wants to play and contribute and do all these things and, trust me, he’s the one that wants to do it the most,” Cooper said of Makar.
Prior to Saturday, captain Sidney Crosby was on an incredible 26-game winning streak for Team Canada, which had not lost to the U.S. in a best-on-best tournament since the group stage of the 2010 Olympics.
Finland finished its Montreal portion of the schedule with a 4-3 overtime win over Sweden, banking its first two points in the tournament standings on a Mikael Granlund goal on a 3-on-1 rush 1:49 into the extra session.
Another emotional meeting of archrivals featured three game-tying goals, with Finnish captain Aleksander Barkov forcing overtime.
“Those games are fun to play. There’s so many people in Finland, in Sweden to watch these games,” Granlund said. “It’s great to come (out) on top, and at the same time we are alive in this tournament. Everything is in our own hands.”
Granlund has a goal and an assist in the tournament.
Finland coach Antti Pennanen knows the major challenge that lies ahead, especially with a thinner defense corps than the other nations.
“It’s going to be hard for us,” Pennanen said. “They have so many good players. It’s going to be a huge fight for us. I’m excited.”
Pennanen, who has split goaltending duties between Juuse Saros and Kevin Lankinen over the first two games, made a forward line change that paid off at a key juncture of Saturday’s contest.
After being a healthy scratch from a 6-1 Thursday loss to the U.S., Kaapo Kakko joined Barkov and Mikko Rantanen on a line and assisted on the goal that evened the game 3-3 late in the second period.
“Some fresh legs and he can win the battles, and as we saw, he can go to the net,” Pennanen said. “That was one change we needed.”
–Joshua Kummins, Field Level Media
Sports
Ali Sanchez's first homer helps Yankees complete rally vs. White Sox
Jul 27, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; New York Yankees center fielder Spencer Jones (78) hits an RBI-ground out against the Chicago White Sox during the fourth inning at Rate Field. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images Jazz Chisholm Jr. had two hits and two RBIs and Ali Sanchez blasted his first major league homer in the eighth inning to break the game open as the visiting New York Yankees defeated the Chicago White Sox 9-5 on Monday.
New York overcame an early three-run deficit for its fourth win in five games. The Yankees moved within 2 1/2 games of the idle Tampa Bay Rays for first place in the American League East.
AL Central-leading Chicago committed three errors as its lead over the second-place Cleveland Guardians fell to two games. The White Sox have lost three of their past four.
The Yankees scored a total of five runs in the seventh and eighth innings and navigated two errors in the ninth to hold on.
Ben Rice delivered a go-ahead single in the seventh, and New York maintained the lead in the bottom half when Colson Montgomery was erased at the plate while trying to score on a Chase Meidroth double.
Chisholm had a bunt single in the eighth that resulted in a run thanks to a throwing error. He scored when Sanchez connected against Sean Newcomb for a three-run shot three batters later. Sanchez was playing in his 75th major league game with six teams across five seasons.
Montgomery went 3-for-4 with two RBIs.
Jasson Dominguez and Rice contributed two hits each for New York.
Brent Headrick (6-1) delivered 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief to earn the victory. David Bednar entered with runners on the corners and two outs in the ninth, and he fanned Meidroth to notch his 21st save.
Chicago reliever Bryan Hudson (3-4) allowed one run and two hits in the seventh.
The White Sox stormed to a 3-0 lead in the first inning against Yankees starter Max Fried. Colson Montgomery drove in the game’s first run with a single, and Meidroth added a sacrifice fly before Braden Montgomery punctuated the rally with an RBI triple.
White Sox rookie left-hander Noah Schultz retired the next six Yankees before control issues prompted an early exit. New York opened the fourth with two walks and a single to load the bases. Schultz departed after Anthony Volpe produced an RBI groundout but was charged with two more runs when Chisholm greeted reliever Chris Murphy with a double to right-center.
Chisholm scored the go-ahead run on a Spencer Jones groundout, but Chicago tied the game at 4-all in the fifth on an RBI single from Colson Montgomery.
Schultz permitted three runs and two hits in 3 1/3 innings with two walks and five strikeouts. Fried allowed three runs and five hits in three innings, walking two and striking out four.
–Field Level Media
Sports
ATP roundup: Terence Atmane upsets Frances Tiafoe in Washington
Jul 27, 2026; Washington, DC, USA; Terence Atmane (FRA) hits a backhand against Frances Tiafoe (USA) (not pictured) on day one of the Mubadala DC Open 2026 at Rock Creek Park Tennis Center. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images France’s Terence Atmane avenged a first-round Wimbledon loss to Frances Tiafoe, prevailing 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Monday in the first round of the Mubadala DC Open in Washington.
Tiafoe, a Washington-area native, was the tournament’s sixth seed.
Atmane got the decisive service break in the next-to-last game, then served out the match.
Earlier in the day, third-seeded Taylor Fritz swept his service games and rolled to a 6-3, 6-4 win over Belgium’s Zizou Bergs.
Fritz saved all four break points he faced while converting two of his four break opportunities. The California native was playing his first match since losing in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon to Germany’s Alexander Zverev.
Fourth-seeded Lorenzo Musetti won an all-Italian matchup when Matteo Arnaldi retired while trailing 6-0, 3-1. Musetti was returning from injury issues that kept him out since early May.
Also advancing to the second round were Australia’s Aleksandar Vukic, Japan’s Kei Nishikori and Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo.
Mifel Tennis Open
Australia’s Bernard Tomic was nearly perfect in the first round at Los Cabos, Mexico, powering to a 6-1, 6-0 win over Mexico’s Alex Hernandez.
Hernandez, a 27-year-old qualifier who is ranked No. 498 in the world, held serve while trailing 5-0 in the first set to avoid a double bagel. Tomic, a 33-year-old who is ranked 171st, made the main draw as a lucky loser from qualifying.
In other first-round action, U.S. qualifier Tristan Boyer downed Canada’s Gabriel Diallo 7-5, 6-2. The night slate included fifth-seeded Cameron Norrie of the United Kingdom facing Aleksandar Kovacevic, and Hong Kong’s Chak Lam Coleman Wong opposing Darwin Blanch.
–Field Level Media
Sports
WTA roundup: Former DC champ Liudmila Samsonova wins opener
Jul 27, 2026; Washington, DC, USA; Liudmila Samsonova celebrates after her match against Madison Keys (USA) (not pictured) on day one of the Mubadala DC Open 2026 at Rock Creek Park Tennis Center. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images Liudmila Samsonova, the 2022 Mubadala DC Open champion, enjoyed her return to Washington on Monday, beating sixth-seeded Madison Keys 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the first round.
The Russian withstood 10 aces from Keys by winning 80% of her first-serve points (35 of 44).
It was a less stressful day for other seeded players, as eighth-seeded Emma Navarro defeated Sofia Kenin 6-3, 7-5 and seventh-seeded Leylah Fernandez of Canada controlled Poland’s Magda Linette 6-1, 6-4.
Other winners on Monday were Ashlyn Krueger, Italy’s Elisabetta Cocciaretto and Indonesia’s Janice Tjen.
Memphis Classic
Katie Volynets battled for a 7-5, 2-6, 7-6 (3) upset win against third-seeded Viktorija Golubic of Switzerland in first-round action at Memphis.
Volynets rallied after losing the first three games of the final set. Golubic was hurt by committing eight double faults without serving an ace in the match.
The only other seeded player in action, fifth-seeded Camila Osorio of Colombia, defeated Australian qualifier Storm Hunter 7-5, 7-5. Osorio prevailed on 76% (26 of 34) of her first-serve points.
Other Monday winners were Australia’s Maya Joint, Russia’s Anastasia Zakharova and Tatiana Prozorova, Germany’s Tatjana Maria and Belarus’ Iryna Shymanovich.
–Field Level Media
Ali Sanchez's first homer helps Yankees complete rally vs. White Sox
ATP roundup: Terence Atmane upsets Frances Tiafoe in Washington
