Jacob Fowler stopped 23 of the 24 shots he faced to help the Montreal Canadiens kick off their critical five-game road trip with a 4-1 victory over the Nashville Predators on Saturday.

Cole Caufield continued his chase for the Maurice Rocket Richard trophy as he found the back of the net for his 45th goal of the season for the Canadiens (41-21-10, 92 points). Ivan Demidov, Oliver Kapanen and Alex Newhook all picked up a goal and an assist, while Nick Suzuki also finished with a pair of assists as Montreal secured its fourth consecutive win.

Demidov struck first for the Canadiens as he soared into the zone and fired a wrist shot off the far post and in with 8:26 remaining in the first.

The Predators (34-30-9, 77 points) have a precarious hold on a wild card slot in the Western Conference and had a chance to find an equalizer after Zachary L’Heureux took a behind-the-back pass from Roman Josi, but he jammed his backhand shot wide of the cage with just over five minutes remaining in the first.

Montreal doubled up its advantage just under four minutes into the second period as Newhook found Kapanen out front and he tapped it into the empty cage for his 22nd goal of the season.

Erik Haula eyed Nashville’s first goal while on the man advantage, but he found the right post with his wrist shot close to five minutes into the second period.

Caufield was looking to make it a three-goal game as he toe dragged around his defender, but found the iron with 8:43 remaining in the second.

The Canadiens’ sniper didn’t waste much time to get his revenge as three minutes later he stepped into the middle and slid his shot past Saros to make it 3-0 for the Canadiens.

After failing to score on his one-timed chance, Demidov spotted an open Newhook, who made no mistake with 3:37 remaining in the middle frame to make it 4-0 for the Canadiens.

L’Heureux ended Fowler’s shutout bid late in the third with a lucky goal as the puck bounced off the stanchion and on his stick with an empty net in front of him.

–Field Level Media

Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 27 points, Jalen Johnson added 26 points and 10 assists and the Atlanta Hawks held off the visiting Sacramento Kings for a 123-113 victory on Saturday.

CJ McCollum scored 22 points, while Jock Landale finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds for the Hawks (42-33), who won their 15th game in 17 tries. Zaccharie Risacher tallied 13 points and Mohamed Gueye chipped in 10 for Atlanta, which holds a half-game lead over Philadelphia for the East’s No. 6 seed — the last guaranteed playoff spot.

DeMar DeRozan led Sacramento (19-56) with 22 points, followed by Maxime Raynaud’s 18 points and 10 boards. Precious Achiuwa had 16, DaQuan Jeffries scored 15 and Daeqwon Plowden had 14 for the Kings, who dropped their third straight. Malik Monk and Killian Hayes both scored 10 points.

Atlanta pushed its 12-point halftime lead to 16 on Gueye’s 3-pointer with 8:08 left in the third.

The Kings pulled within nine on DeRozan’s layup, before Atlanta extended the lead back to 13.

Sacramento closed the third on a 7-1 run — including Hayes’ buzzer-beating triple — to cut its deficit to 88-82 entering the fourth.

The Kings tied the game at 97 apiece on Plowden’s 3-pointer with 8:03 left. Johnson’s five straight points began an 11-0 run that gave the Hawks a 108-97 edge with 5:47 remaining.

The margin was pushed to 14 on Landale’s triple. After DeRozan and Plowden’s 3-pointers, McCollum’s trey sealed the Atlanta win.

Neither team took a lead larger than five in the first quarter, as Jeffries’ 3-pointer with 46 seconds left gave the Kings a 30-27 lead after 12 minutes.

Sacramento opened up a seven-point lead on Plowden’s dunk at the 9:05 mark of the second quarter.

After Monk’s hook shot put the Kings ahead by 2, Alexander-Walker’s triple and Gueye’s dunk stamped a 14-0 run to put the Hawks up 63-51.

McCollum beat the first-half buzzer with a mid-range jumper to give Atlanta a 66-54 lead. Alexander-Walker had 14 first-half points, while Achiuwa’s 12 led the Kings.

–Field Level Media

Dominic Smith hit a walk-off grand slam in the ninth inning to help the Atlanta Braves overcome a two-run deficit and beat the visiting Kansas City Royals 6-2 on Saturday night.

Smith’s home run, a 386-foot shot to right-center field, came with one out against Royals closer Carlos Estevez (0-1), who failed to hold a 2-0 lead.

The rally started when Drake Baldwin walked to lead off the bottom of the inning, took third on Matt Olson’s single and scored on Mike Yastrzemski’s one-out single. After Ozzie Albies walked, Jorge Mateo — running for Olson — scored the tying run when Michael Harris II lined a pitch off Estevez for a single.

The winning pitcher was Osvaldo Bido (1-0), who struck out all three batters he faced in the ninth. The right-hander was making his first appearance since joining the team off waivers from the New York Yankees on Tuesday.

Kansas City starter Michael Wacha pitched six scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk with seven strikeouts. He has now allowed three or fewer earned runs in 24 of his 30 road starts with the Royals.

Salvador Perez broke the scoreless tie with a solo home run in the seventh inning — ending a 15-inning scoreless streak to start the season — on the first pitch from Reynaldo Lopez. It was the 304th homer of Perez’s his career, leaving him 13 away from tying Hall of Famer George Brett for the franchise record.

Lopez was impressive in his first start since exactly one year earlier, May 28, 2025. He was then shut down for the season with shoulder issues that required surgery He allowed one run on three hits and two walks with three strikeouts on Saturday.

Kansas City tacked on an insurance run in the eighth. Maikel Garcia walked with one out by reliever Joel Payamps and went to third on a single by Bobby Witt Jr. Garcia scored when Atlanta’s sure-handed first baseman Olson missed a routine grounder with the infield in off the bat of Vinnie Pasquantino.

The Braves kept Kansas City off the board in the third inning. With Isaac Collins on third base, Garcia hit a fly to right field that was caught by Ronald Acuna Jr. Collins appeared ready to tag up but changed his mind when Acuna fired a strike to the plate.

–Field Level Media