Sports
Predators look to further cement playoff position in Chicago
Mar 21, 2026; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Nashville Predators goaltender Justus Annunen (29) blocks the shot of Vegas Golden Knights left wing Ivan Barbashev (49) during the second period at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images The streaking Nashville Predators moved into a Western Conference wild-card spot on Saturday.
On Sunday, they’ll aim to strengthen their playoff positioning.
Winners of three straight and four of six, Nashville (32-28-9, 73 points) is set to visit the slumping Chicago Blackhawks (26-31-12, 64 points).
Nashville is coming off Saturday’s 4-1 home victory against the Vegas Golden Knights. Coupled with the Los Angeles Kings’ home loss to Buffalo by the same score, the Predators climbed into the final wild-card spot in the West.
“It’s just the belief in the guys in this room, and that’s all that matters,” Nashville’s Steven Stamkos said. “The coaching staff has a belief. The players have a belief. It’s not always going to be pretty. We understand at this time of the year points are more important than how the game looks, but you want to build and we have.”
Stamkos tallied two goals and an assist for the Predators while Ryan O’Reilly had a goal and assist to back a 39-save effort from Justus Annunen.
Stamkos and O’Reilly scored on the power play in the second period as special teams continued to be an asset in the club’s surge. Stamkos moved past Brendan Shanahan with his 238th career goal on the man advantage, good for seventh all-time.
“As a group there’s urgency there (on the power play),” O’Reilly said. “We’re putting pucks at the net, and we’re winning battles. We’ve got to keep building off of that. Obviously, the last couple of games that’s helped us, and we’ve got to continue to do that.”
Chicago will aim to salvage a split of an abbreviated two-game homestand before playing four straight on the road next week.
Playing the second leg of a back-to-back on Friday, the Blackhawks were outmatched in a 4-1 loss to the NHL-leading Colorado Avalanche.
Wyatt Kaiser scored the only goal for the Blackhawks while goaltender Arvid Soderblom kept the hosts somewhat close by making 45 saves.
“(Colorado’s) level is a level that we want to get to,” Chicago forward Ryan Greene said. “They’re going to be a contending team this year, so that’s definitely a measuring stick.”
No matter the foe, the Blackhawks know they must improve their special teams to stay afloat during the stretch run.
Colorado scored two power-play goals on five opportunities as the Blackhawks get acclimated to different personnel amid various injuries. Forward Andrew Mangiapane and defenseman Louis Crevier missed the game with undisclosed injuries. Blackhawks coach Jeff Blashill said he expected the duo to rejoin the lineup during its upcoming trip.
“Penalty kill’s one of those things where there’s so many different nuances that happen,” Blashill said. “We certainly have our structure, but I don’t know any way to learn it without going through it.”
Nashville can clinch the season series with a victory. The Predators won 4-3 in Chicago on Nov. 28 and 4-2 in Nashville on Feb. 26. In between, the Blackhawks earned a 3-0 road shutout behind call-up goaltender Drew Commesso on Jan. 10.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Shakira Austin, Mystics gain road split against Storm
May 27, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Storm guard Flau’jae Johnson (4) guards Washington Mystics guard Cassandre Prosper (18) during the first half at Climate Pledge Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images Shakira Austin had game-high totals of 18 points, 13 rebounds and five assists as the Washington Mystics defeated the host Seattle Storm 78-64 on Wednesday.
Michaela Onyenwere added 14 points, making three 3-pointers, and Kiki Iriafen had 13 points and nine boards for the Mystics (3-3), who snapped a two-game losing streak and avenged a 97-85 loss at Seattle on Sunday.
Jade Melbourne scored 15 points to lead the Storm (3-5), who had won their previous two games. Mackenzie Holmes added eight points and 10 rebounds.
The Mystics shot 42.4% from the field (28 of 66), including 7 of 21 (33.3%) from 3-point range. The Storm made just 34.9% of their field-goal attempts (22 of 63) and were 5 of 23 (21.7%) from long distance.
The Mystics, who trailed by as many as 26 points on Sunday, led by as many as 24 in this one, 74-49 with 7:33 remaining.
Washington scored the opening five points and never trailed.
Onyenwere made two 3-pointers and a jumper in the opening 1:53 as the Mystics took a 10-1 lead. They extended the margin to 23-9 before the Storm went on a 9-0 run.
The Mystics held a 28-20 lead after the first quarter as Onyenwere and Austin combined for 21 points.
The Storm pulled with six points early in the second before the Mystics answered with a 16-3 run on their way to a 48-29 halftime advantage.
Seattle scored the first eight points of the second half, but the Mystics were up 66-45 after three quarters.
Rookie centers Awa Fam of Seattle and Lauren Betts of Washington, the Nos. 3 and 4 picks in this spring’s WNBA draft, respectively, pretty much played to a draw. Both came off the bench. Fam had six points and five rebounds in 17:15 of playing time, and Betts had six points and three rebounds in 11:16.
The Storm played without center Dominique Malonga (concussion) and forward Ezi Magbegor (foot).
–Field Level Media
Sports
Shohei Ohtani (6 no-hit innings, homer) carries Dodgers past Rockies
May 27, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers left fielder Alex Call (12) hits an RBI single during the fourth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images Shohei Ohtani did not allow a hit over six innings on the mound and added a leadoff home run from the batter’s box as the Los Angeles Dodgers extended their winning streak to five games with a 4-1 victory over the visiting Colorado Rockies on Wednesday.
Ohtani and Will Klein held the Rockies without a hit through seven innings before Tyler Freeman singled to right field with two outs in the eighth against Tanner Scott.
Kyle Hurt finished off the combined one-hitter with a perfect ninth inning to earn his first career save.
Ohtani hit a leadoff home run during his second consecutive pitching start.
Freddie Freeman also went deep in the opening inning before Andy Pages homered in the eighth for Los Angeles, which has won 12 of 14 games overall.
Ohtani (5-2) battled his command, issuing four walks, allowing a run and plunking a batter, but he struck out seven in his 99-pitch outing. His season ERA rose from 0.73 to 0.82.
Rockies starter Tomoyuki Sugano (4-4) gave up three runs on six hits over 4 2/3 innings in a duel of Japanese-born starters. He struck out three and walked one. Colorado scored its lone run in the fourth inning on a groundout by Willi Castro en route to its fifth loss in a row.
After the Ohtani and Freeman home runs gave the Dodgers a 2-0 lead in the first inning, the Rockies halved the deficit in the fourth. The Dodgers countered with a run in their half of the fourth on an RBI single from Alex Call.
The Dodgers made it 4-1 in the eighth on a home run from Pages, his 13th of the season and third in his past four games. Los Angeles hit eight home runs in the final two games of the series while finishing off the three-game sweep.
The Dodgers received a trio of highlight defensive plays. Call made a diving catch in right in the second inning. Second baseman Alex Freeland dived to the first base bag to make a putout in the fourth on Castro’s RBI grounder, and left fielder Hyeseong Kim made a catch up against the railing in foul territory in the seventh.
Kim entered in the third inning as a replacement for Teoscar Hernandez, who departed due to a left hamstring strain.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Nyara Sabally's career-high 29 helps Tempo extend Sky's skid
May 27, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Sky guard Jacy Sheldon (0) defends against Toronto Tempo guard Kiki Rice (1) during the first half at Wintrust Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images Nyara Sabally scored a career-best 29 points Wednesday night to help the visiting Toronto Tempo defeat the Chicago Sky 111-104.
Sabally also had six rebounds, two steals and two blocked shots as the Tempo ended a two-game losing skid while extending the Sky’s losing streak to three.
Marina Mabrey added 24 points and seven assists for the Tempo (4-4). Brittney Sykes scored 20 points, Kiki Rice chipped in 14 and Maria Conde tallied 12.
Rookie Sydney Taylor scored a career-high 27 points off the bench for the Sky (3-4). Skylar Diggins added 23 points, nine assists and two blocks for Chicago. Natasha Cloud had 18 points and nine assists. Elizabeth Williams added 11 points, and Azura Stevens contributed 10.
The Tempo led by six points entering the fourth quarter. Taylor hit a 3-pointer with 8:42 to go in the fourth to cut the margin to four. Aicha Coulibaly’s putback layup brought Chicago to within 96-93 with 4:48 remaining. Sykes answered with a layup.
Taylor’s 3-pointer cut the lead to two with 3:33 left. Sabally nailed a 3-pointer after Mabrey’s steal to give Toronto an eight-point lead with 1:43 to play.
The Sky took advantage of four early Tempo turnovers to take a 10-5 lead. Toronto used a 14-4 run to take a 23-20 lead with 1:02 to play in the first quarter. Toronto led 25-22 after one quarter.
Mabrey opened the second quarter with a 3-pointer and hit another from beyond the arc to give Toronto an 11-point lead, 38-27, with 7:15 to go in the second quarter. The Sky rallied to climb to within five points on Cloud’s 3-pointer with 43 seconds remaining. Toronto led 55-48 at halftime.
Chicago continued to struggle from 3-point range despite getting some good looks, going 3-for-16 (18.8%) in the first half while Toronto was 6-for-15 (40%). The Sky took advantage of eight Toronto first-half turnovers for a 13-0 lead in fastbreak points.
Toronto worked the lead to 12 on Sabally’s cutting layup with 8:21 left in the third quarter. Sabally converted two free throws to bump the margin to 14.
The margin dwindled to four on Taylor’s 3-pointer with 1:48 left as the Sky capitalized on defensive stops. Toronto led 80-74 after three quarters.
–Field Level Media
Shakira Austin, Mystics gain road split against Storm
Shohei Ohtani (6 no-hit innings, homer) carries Dodgers past Rockies
