Sports
Sharks look to halt Leafs' win streak, end their own skid
Mar 1, 2025; Ottawa, Ontario, CAN; The San Jose Sharks celebrate a goal scored by defenseman Timothy Lijegren (37) in the second period against the Ottawa Senators at the Canadian Tire Centre. Mandatory Credit: Marc DesRosiers-Imagn Images Contrasting streaks will clash Monday night, and both could be extended, when the San Jose Sharks visit the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Sharks have dropped eight in a row (0-5-3) after a 5-3 road loss to the Ottawa Senators on Saturday.
The Maple Leafs stretched their winning streak to five games on Sunday by defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-5 in overtime to complete a four-game road trip.
In prolonging their losing streak, San Jose was outscored 4-1 in the third period at Ottawa.
As one might expect, the frustration is growing.
“It’s pretty tough,” Sharks defenseman Jake Walman said. “It eats you a little bit from the inside. You kind of come into buildings where teams — I mean, it’s the reality of it — where other teams feel that they can play confidently against us, and at some point we’ve got to strike that down and turn a page.”
The Sharks are 0-2-2 to open their seven-game trip. They dropped the first game of the trip 3-2 against the Calgary Flames and lost the next two in overtime against the Winnipeg Jets and Montreal Canadiens, respectively.
“We’re in games right now,” Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro said. “We’re right there. But that small margin for error, it’s this big, right? We’re not finding a way to stay disciplined enough to play a full 60 minutes, or whatever it is, to pull out those wins. I think that’s just a little bit of the immaturity in our game as a whole, as a team.”
Will Smith, Tyler Toffoli and former Maple Leaf Timothy Liljegren scored for San Jose.
“I just hope, a couple years from now, that these games are going to be meaningful,” Walman said. “Just don’t want to get stuck in this position for very long.”
The Maple Leafs will be home for just the contest against the Sharks before hitting the road for three games.
They have won eight of nine but they have done so while not necessarily playing as well as they can. The Maple Leafs were not pleased with their performance in a 3-2 win over the New York Rangers on Friday when they were outshot 35-16 and twice surrendered one-goal leads.
They led 2-0 before five minutes had been played on Sunday, but trailed 3-2 after the first period. They led 5-4 after two periods but lost the lead 10 seconds into the third period.
“It’s not how we wanted to draw it up,” Toronto coach Craig Berube said. “We made a couple of mistakes and put ourselves in a little bit of a hole. But guys stayed with it, climbed out of it, and found a way to get the win.”
William Nylander won it with a solo effort in the overtime, carrying the puck along the left wing from the Toronto end before cutting into the high slot and shooting.
“It’s good to win those games,” Nylander said. “It’s the positive thing that you can take away from it. Even though we’re not playing great, we’re still able to win the game.”
Captain Auston Matthews scored in the second period on Sunday, his 390th career goal to move past Darryl Sittler into second on the Maple Leafs’ all-time scoring list. Mats Sundin (420) is first.
“It’s nice to be in the same sentence as a guy like Darryl Sittler, obviously a great Leaf,” Matthews said.
Toronto defenseman Christopher Tanev (shoulder) was put on injured reserve.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Kelvin Yeboah nets brace as Minnesota rallies past Crew
Columbus Crew midfielder Sean Zawadzki (25) attempts to block the shot of Minnesota United FC forward Tomás Chancalay (8) in the first half of the MLS match at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field on Saturday, May 2, 2026 in Columbus, Ohio. Kelvin Yeboah’s brace and a goal and an assist by Anthony Markanich keyed a 15-minute second-half comeback as Minnesota United defeated the host Columbus Crew 3-2 on Saturday.
Markanich broke a 2-2 tie in the 74th minute off a throw-in when he scored on a header off a cross by Nectarios Triantis.
After Taha Habroune in the 31st and Hugo Picard in the 56th staked the Crew to a 2-0 lead, Yeboah scored from corner-kick setups in the 59th and 66th minutes as Minnesota (6-3-2, 20 points) moved to 5-1-1 in their past seven matches.
The Crew (3-5-3, 12 points) had won two straight and looked to be cruising until their collapse, falling to 2-2-2 at home.
Habroune, the 20-year-old Homegrown player, worked a give-and-go in tight space with Max Arfsten at the top right corner of the box for his second career goal in 33 matches.
Arfsten heeled the ball to Habroune, who rocketed a shot to the upper right corner. Arfsten has three goals and four assists in the past seven matches.
Picard scored his first career goal in his 19th MLS match after having scored four goals in two U.S. Open Cup matches this season, including two vs. USL One club One Knoxville on Wednesday.
He scored on a rebound of his own shot that was blocked by Loons defender Jefferson Diaz.
The Minnesota rally started when Yeboah slid between two defenders and right-footed a flick by Markanich.
Yeboah made it 2-2 when he had an open header from a corner kick by Joaquin Pereyra. Of Yeboah’s seven goals, five have come on the road where the Loons are 4-2-1.
Minnesota’s Colombian international midfielder James Rodriguez did not play due to “a previously scheduled routine medical procedure — not related to any injury,” according to the club. He practiced Friday morning and will rejoin the team next week.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Nashville SC stays atop East with draw against Union
May 2, 2026; Chester, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Union defender Olwethu Makhanya (29) dives against Nashville SC midfielder Patrick Yazbek (8) in the first half at Subaru Park. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images Nashville SC and the Philadelphia Union played to a scoreless draw on Saturday night in Chester, Pa.
Nashville (7-1-2, 23 points) stayed atop the Eastern Conference table while extending its MLS unbeaten streak to four matches. Keeper Brian Schwake made five saves for the clean sheet as Nashville moved to 3-1-2 on the road.
Philadelphia (1-7-3, 6 points) remained last in the Eastern Conference while pushing its home record to 0-3-2. The Union only lost once at home last season (12-1-4) when they won the Supporters’ Shield. Philadelphia is winless in four straight (0-1-3). Keeper Andre Blake stopped two shots to preserve the clean sheet.
Both teams hit the post early in the second half.
In the 52nd minute, Nashville defender Josh Bauer redirected Warren Madrigal’s free kick off the post.
A minute later, Union midfielder Indiana Vassilev hit the right post with his strike from outside the box.
Philadelphia hit the post a second time in the 72nd minute as Agustin Anello curled his right-footed strike off the far post.
Blake made a glorious save in the 74th minute to keep the match scoreless, diving to get his hand on Ahmed Qasem’s left-footed strike.
Nashville controlled first-half possession, but it was Philadelphia with the lone two shots on target.
The Union’s first quality chance came in the 11th minute as Jovan Lukic put his strike from the middle of the box over the woodwork.
In the 29th minute, Cavan Sullivan forced Schwake to make a save on his left-footed shot from the left side of the area.
Philadelphia defender Japhet Sery Larsen left the match in the 15th minute with an apparent injury and was replaced by Geiner Martinez.
Sam Surridge, who leads Nashville with nine goals through seven MLS appearances this season, missed the match with a back injury.
Saturday was the first of two meetings this season between the two clubs. Nashville hosts Philadelphia on Oct. 28 to conclude the season series.
Up next, Nashville hosts D.C. United next Saturday, while Philadelphia travels to New England.
–Field Level Media
Sports
FC Dallas finally win against host Red Bulls after 20-year drought
May 2, 2026; Harrison, New Jersey, USA; Red Bull New York forward Cade Cowell (7) and FC Dallas midfielder Ran Binyamin (6) battle for the ball during the first half at Sports Illustrated Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images Peter Musa scored in the 54th minute and FC Dallas snapped an 11-game road winless skid in all competitions against the New York Red Bulls with a 2-0 victory on Saturday night in Harrison, N.J.
Dallas (4-3-4, 16 points) earned its first road win in the series since its 2-1 win on May 24, 2006, in a game that was played at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. Dallas had been 0-9-2 in the previous 11 visits to the Red Bulls, including a loss in penalty kicks during U.S. Open Cup competition on May 21, 2025.
Musa scored his league-leading 10th goal by capitalizing on a breakdown by New York’s defense.
Left unattended near the left side of the net by Red Bulls defender Matthew Dos Santos, Musa waited for a pass from Ran Binyamin and put a right-footed shot past goalie Ethan Horvath.
Musa scored after missing last week’s 2-1 loss at the Seattle Sounders due to injury. His goal also helped Dallas end a four-game winless skid.
Samuel Sarver scored on a header in the 88th minute on an assist from Logan Farrington. The goal came two minutes after midfielder Ramiro Benetti blocked an attempt by New York’s Rafael Mosquera.
Besides getting another goal from Musa, FC Dallas clamped down defensively. Despite allowing New York to hold possession for 61.2% of the contest, Dallas allowed only seven shot attempts, and Michael Collodi earned the shutout without facing a shot.
New York (3-5-2, 12 points) was blanked for the second straight league game and third time overall as its winless skid reached four games (0-3-1). The Red Bulls also fell to 1-5-2 after winning their first two contests.
Horvath finished with four saves and kept the Red Bulls in it by denying Musa’s header in the 11th minute along with a pair of shots by Binyamin in the opening half.
–Field Level Media
Kelvin Yeboah nets brace as Minnesota rallies past Crew
Nashville SC stays atop East with draw against Union
