Sports
Canadiens aim to halt four-game slide vs. Hurricanes
Mar 27, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Montreal Canadiens right wing Brendan Gallagher (11) skates off the ice after loss to the Philadelphia Flyers during the third period at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images On the surface, there’s much more at stake for the Montreal Canadiens than the Carolina Hurricanes during their matchup Friday night in Raleigh, N.C.
The Canadiens are scrambling down the stretch of the regular season to secure a spot in the postseason.
“We need results,” Montreal forward Brendan Gallagher said. “We’re not getting them. We need to rise to the challenge here.”
But the Hurricanes aren’t interested in taking a dip either as they’ll aim to avoid consecutive losses — something they haven’t experienced in more than a month.
The Hurricanes (43-24-4, 90 points) have lost two of their last three games following an eight-game winning streak. Carolina has had two days off since a 3-1 home loss to Nashville on Tuesday night.
The Canadiens (33-29-9, 75 points) have a four-game losing streak (0-2-2) after Thursday night’s 6-4 setback at Philadelphia.
“Everybody is disappointed,” Montreal coach Martin St. Louis said. “If you take a snapshot of where we are right now, it should still be fun. We just have to remind them of that.”
So getting the spirits up will be one area of emphasis for the Canadiens’ quick turnaround. They need a full group effort to get back on track.
“We need everybody,” St. Louis said. “To me, it’s a little bit of pressure vs. pleasure. You got to have fun with this, the 10 or 11 games we have left.”
Taylor Hall has been a good source of offense for Carolina. The former Hart Trophy recipient has racked up four goals across the past two games. Those are also the team’s last four goals.
Hall has been on a good stretch with 10 points (six goals, four assists) in the last nine games. He said it’s critical that both ends of the ice are taken care of properly.
“If you’re on for a goal against, you always feel a little culpable,” Hall said. “There’s something you could have done better at the end of the day.”
But for the Hurricanes, the key to their stretch drive could be if Sebastian Aho’s line can get rolling. That group has generally lagged in some recent games.
“It has been the case for a while now for our line,” Aho said. “We’re creating a bunch and getting good looks, but obviously, it doesn’t matter. Other guys have been bailing us out as of late. We’ve had some good wins as of late, but as a top line, we’ve got to produce.”
Carolina has been in flux with its lineup as winger Andrei Svechnikov has missed the past seven games with an upper-body injury. Svechnikov said Thursday that he expects to be in the lineup against Montreal.
The Hurricanes will have Frederik Andersen in the crease.
The Canadiens thumped the Hurricanes 4-0 on Feb. 25 at Montreal in the first meeting of the season. Patrik Laine and captain Nick Suzuki each had one goal and two assists and Sam Montembeault made 20 saves in that game.
Laine recorded his 18th goal of the season Thursday.
Montreal and Carolina also will meet at the end of the regular season in less than three weeks at Montreal.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Landen Roupp, Giants claim first matchup of season with Dodgers
Apr 21, 2026; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Landen Roupp (65) throws against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the first inning at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images Landen Roupp outpitched Yoshinobu Yamamoto, San Francisco got RBI singles from Rafael Devers and Jung Hoo Lee in a three-run first inning, and the Giants held off the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers 3-1 in the opener of a three-game series Tuesday night.
Roupp (4-1) allowed just one run on one hit in five innings, then watched five relievers combine for four innings of shutout ball, helping the Giants open a six-game homestand with a win after a 4-5 trip.
Roupp struck out seven and walked five in his first career win over the Dodgers.
Seeking his first-ever victory over the Giants, Yamamoto (2-2) went seven innings, allowing six hits and three runs, all of which scored in the first. He walked two and fanned seven.
Willy Adames got the cold night rolling for San Francisco with an infield single, after which Luis Arraez singled and Matt Chapman walked to load the bases.
Each of the next three batters delivered single runs, with Devers’ single chasing home Adames, Casey Schmitt’s sacrifice fly scoring Arraez, and Lee’s single plating Chapman.
Roupp allowed a two-out single by Hyeseong Kim in the second but no other hits until a wild spate in the fourth. He walked four of the first five batters he faced that inning, including Kim with the bases loaded to force home Teoscar Hernandez.
The right-hander got out of the one-out jam by inducing a double play grounder off the bat of Alex Call.
The Dodgers got the potential tying run on the bases with two outs in the seventh before Erik Miller struck out Kyle Tucker to retain the 3-1 lead.
Ryan Walker worked a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his second save.
Ryan Borucki, Matt Gage and Keaton Winn also contributed to the three-hitter in the first meeting of the season between the longtime California rivals.
Lee was the only player in the game with multiple hits, a pair of singles. The Giants out-hit the visitors 6-3, with the Dodgers’ Hernandez stroking the game’s only extra-base hit, a double.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Logan Cooley lifts Mammoth past Knights for Utah's 1st playoff win
Apr 21, 2026; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Utah Mammoth defenseman Sean Durzi (50) attempts to deflect a shot attempt by Vegas Golden Knights center Brett Howden (21) during the first period of game two of the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images Logan Cooley scored the go-ahead goal on a rebound with six minutes remaining to give the Utah Mammoth the first playoff win in franchise history, 3-2 over the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 2 of their best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series on Tuesday in Las Vegas.
Cooley buried a rebound of a Dylan Guenther shot just inside the left post, even the best-of-seven series at one victory apiece. The scene now shifts to Salt Lake City for the next two contests, with Game 3 on Friday.
Guenther had a goal and an assist, Kailer Yamamoto had two assists and MacKenzie Weegar also scored for Utah. Karel Vejmelka made 19 saves, including a close-in shot by Mark Stone from the left side of the net with five seconds left to seal the win.
Stone and Ivan Barbashev each a scored goal and Jack Eichel had two assists for Vegas, which lost for the first time in regulation in 10 games (8-1-1) under coach John Tortorella. Carter Hart finished with 26 saves.
The teams exchanged own goals during the first period, which ended with the score 1-1.
Vegas, which rallied for a 4-2 victory in Game 1, took a 1-0 lead at the 11:40 mark on a power-play goal. Stone’s cross-crease pass for Tomas Hertl near the right post caromed straight into the net off the skate of Utah defenseman Mikhail Sergachev. It was Stone’s 43rd career playoff goal and his sixth in the past six games dating back to the regular season.
Utah tied it near the end of the period when Weegar’s shot from the right point deflected off the stick of Vegas defenseman Noah Hanifin and then off the pads of Hart into the low slot toward Golden Knights defenseman Rasmus Andersson, who kicked the rebound into the net.
The Mammoth took a 2-1 lead in the second period on a one-timer from the top of the left circle by Guenther off a pass from Yamamoto.
The Golden Knights tied it 62 seconds later. Barbashev intercepted a clearing pass by Sergachev in the neutral zone and then skated in and split a pair of Utah defensemen before roofing a backhand shot into the top far corner for his second goal of the playoffs.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Munetaka Murakami extends HR streak as White Sox pound D-backs
Apr 21, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Chicago White Sox first baseman Munetaka Murakami hits a home run in the second inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images Rookie Munetaka Murakami homered for the fourth straight game, Colson Montgomery went deep for the third straight and the Chicago White Sox slugged four homers in an 11-5 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks in Phoenix on Tuesday.
Murakami, Michael Vargas and Montgomery hit consecutive solo shots with two outs in the second inning to help stake Sean Burke (1-2) to a 7-0 lead.
Murakami, who has nine homers in 23 games, reached base four times, adding two infield singles and a walk. He singled and scored in a four-run first off Merrill Kelly (1-1).
Vargas homered for the second straight game, Montgomery and Sam Antonacci notched two hits and three RBIs apiece and Tristan Peters had three hits. The White Sox have won three of four and scored 33 runs over that span.
Arizona’s Ildemaro Vargas had a three-run homer in the ninth to extend his season-opening hitting streak to 16 games, the longest in the majors. Dating back to the end of the 2025 season, Vargas has hit in 18 straight. Alek Thomas had two hits, including his first homer of the season for the Diamondbacks, who had won 10 of 14.
The White Sox have 11 homers in their last three games and 14 in their last five.
Antonacci had a two-run inside-the-park homer in the ninth when his ground ball inside the bag at third appeared to be touched by the ball boy along the left field line. Left fielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. did not immediately attempt to field it as Antonacci circled the bases for his first career homer.
Burke gave up two runs on five hits in six innings in his first road victory since a 4-0 decision at Detroit on Sept. 28, 2024. He struck out three and walked one.
Kelly gave up eight runs and 10 hits before leaving with one out in the fifth. He struck out five and walked three in his second start of the season after opening on the injured list.
The first four White Sox batters reached in the first. Andrew Benintendi singled, Murakami reached on an infield single, Vargas walked and Montgomery doubled in two. Everson Pereira hit a sacrifice fly and Antonacci tripled for a 4-0 lead.
Murakami, Vargas and Montgomery homered in the second for a 7-0 lead after 13 batters.
–Field Level Media
Landen Roupp, Giants claim first matchup of season with Dodgers
Logan Cooley lifts Mammoth past Knights for Utah's 1st playoff win
