Sports
Special teams may decide intense Wild-Stars series
Apr 22, 2026; Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA; Dallas Stars right wing Mikko Rantanen (96) celebrates his goal against the Minnesota Wild during the first period in game three of the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Grand Casino Arena. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images It’s come down to a best-of-three in the Western Conference first-round series between the No. 2 seed Dallas Stars and the No. 3 Minnesota Wild with Game 5 set for Tuesday night in Dallas.
The teams split Games 1 and 2 in Dallas and then alternated overtime wins in Games 3 and 4 in Minnesota to set up a pivotal Game 5.
“It’s home ice, best-of-three,” said Stars forward Mikko Rantanen, who had two assists in Game 4. “This group has been in this situation before, so we’re pretty familiar.”
Dallas was on the verge of coming home with a commanding 3-1 series lead, but Marcus Foligno tied Game 4 at 14:40 of the third period, then Matt Boldy won it on a deflection with 29 seconds remaining in overtime.
“There’s a lot of belief in here,” Foligno said after the win. “These are two unreal teams, and we’ve got to understand they’re a heck of a hockey club, and it’s going to take this type of effort every night against this squad. … We took a lot of positives out of (a 4-3 double overtime loss in Game 3), and we got rewarded tonight.”
After compiling a career-high 42 goals and 85 points in his fourth NHL season, Boldy has five points (three goals, two assists) in the series and got to the right place at the right time to tip Jared Spurgeon’s shot past Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger to end Game 4.
“He’s a tenacious competitor,” Wild coach John Hynes said after Game 4. “He just continues to do the right things. He continues to play, he continues to push. Plays through whatever the circumstances are and got a huge goal for us.”
Brock Faber had a goal and an assist and Jesper Wallstedt made 43 saves (including nine in overtime) for the Wild. He has a 2.06 goals-against-average in the series and a .929 save percentage. Faber has three goals in the series, becoming the first defenseman in franchise history to do so.
“We just keep fighting, keep getting pucks to the net,” Wallstedt said. “We keep playing, and we never give up.”
Minnesota forward Mats Zuccarello, who has missed the last three games with an upper-body injury sustained in Game 1, practiced with the team Monday.
Jason Robertson scored in his fourth straight game for the Stars and has goals in six consecutive contests against the Wild going back to the regular season. Miro Heiskanen also scored for Dallas and Oettinger made 40 saves.
Both Dallas goals came on its power play, which has scored eight goals in 19 chances during the series. The Wild are 3-for-19 with the man advantage and have just one goal in their past 15 opportunities.
However, Minnesota has registered 11 even-strength goals to just three for Dallas.
“It’s almost the blue paint wars,” Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said. “If you get there and find some pucks and win some battles . . . it’s really hand-to-hand combat in the blue paint for both sides.”
Stars defenseman Nils Lundkvist was ruled out of Game 5 on Monday after leaving Game 4 with a facial cut from the skate of Wild forward Michael McCarron in the second period.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Report: Cowboys signing WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling
Dec 21, 2025; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling (11) catches a pass during the fourth quarter against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images Wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling is signing a one-year deal with the Dallas Cowboys, NFL Network reported Monday.
Further terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Valdes-Scantling had 14 catches for 120 yards and a touchdown last season in 10 regular-season games with the San Francisco 49ers and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
He will be competing for playing time with CeeDee Lamb, George Pickens, Ryan Flournoy, KaVontae Turpin, Jonathan Mingo and Anthony Smith.
Valdes-Scantling, 31, has 219 receptions for 3,686 yards in 116 career games (69 starts) for the Green Bay Packers (2018-21), Kansas City Chiefs (2022-23), Buffalo Bills (2024), New Orleans Saints (2024), 49ers (2025) and Steelers (2025).
The Packers selected him in the fifth round of the 2018 NFL Draft.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Bruins on brink, Sabres one win away from first series W since '07
Apr 26, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Buffalo Sabres defenseman Owen Power (25) skates with the puck ahead of Boston Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy (73) during the third period in game four of the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images After taking a second straight home loss in “embarrassing” fashion, the Boston Bruins are on the brink of elimination as the scene of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series shifts back to Buffalo.
The Sabres will look to land the knockout punch against their Atlantic Division rivals and earn their first playoff series win since 2007 in Game 5 on Tuesday night.
Buffalo’s 6-1 win in Game 4 on Sunday quickly became a laugher. Four first-period goals were more than enough, and Alex Lyon was 39.9 seconds away from shutting out the Bruins in his second straight start in the series.
“We have an extremely high-competitive group. We all have a standard that we all carry ourselves to — and it wasn’t met,” said Boston goaltender Jeremy Swayman, who appeared to yell at his teammates while exiting the bench after being relieved by Joonas Korpisalo in the third period.
The Bruins have never come back from a 3-1 series deficit (0-25) and the Sabres have never let such a lead slip away (7-0) in each franchise’s playoff history.
While history certainly does not favor Boston, the series is not over yet.
“As far as I know, you have to win four games to move on. So they’ve got three. That means we still have a chance,” Bruins coach Marco Sturm told reporters after Sunday’s game. “I can cry about it, but I also have to push my guys for the next game and make sure our intensity is gonna be there.”
“We have a one-game mission,” Sturm added on Monday.
Buffalo’s dominant start on Sunday made Lindy Ruff one happy coach, and not just because his team scored the opening goal for the first time in the series and built a commanding lead.
“That first period was the best period we played all year,” Ruff said. “Puck pressure, scoring opportunities. We moved the puck and got the puck up ice. We didn’t spend much time in our end.”
On Sunday, six different Sabres scored goals, with four of them adding an assist as well.
One shining star in the series has been defenseman Bowen Byram, whose tally at the end of the four-goal frame marked his third in the last three games. He finished the game plus-3.
“He’s obviously been awesome all year and has brought it to another level in the playoffs,” said Owen Power, Byram’s defense partner. “It’s nice having him and all the other guys in here that have some playoff experience to lean on and have them help lead us.”
Byram won a Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 2022.
Power, Peyton Krebs and Alex Tuch have all notched points in all four games of the series, with Power and Krebs logging those streaks to begin their playoff careers. Krebs scored the first goal just 4:17 into Sunday’s game.
The rock-solid team effort has extended to the net, where Lyon took over for Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen in relief in Game 2 and has since posted a league-best .964 save percentage in the playoffs.
The vibes are good in Buffalo, but the message is clear: The Sabres still have to finish.
“We’ve done a good job in this series, but the fourth one is always the hardest,” Byram said of the challenge of closing.
The Bruins had to shuffle their Monday practice lines with forward Viktor Arvidsson and defenseman Nikita Zadorov both off for maintenance days. Arvidsson left Game 4 due to an upper-body injury and did not return.
“We still have to check with medical, but we have to wait until probably (Tuesday) on both of them,” Sturm said of both players’ status.
Ruff expects Buffalo forwards Jason Zucker and Tyson Kozak — who both missed time in Sunday’s third period — to be available going forward.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Wings' Paige Bueckers: Relationship with Azzi Fudd 'nobody's business'
Dec 7, 2024; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Connecticut Huskies guard Azzi Fudd (35) and Connecticut Huskies guard Paige Bueckers (5) celebrate after the game against the Louisville Cardinals at Barclays Center. Paige Bueckers and WNBA No. 1 overall pick Azzi Fudd are teammates again in Dallas, but the status of their relationship isn’t relevant to the Wings’ outlook in 2026.
The pair of former UConn teammates, who have been the team’s first-round picks in the last two WNBA drafts, announced that they were in a romantic relationship last July, months after winning the 2025 national championship with the Huskies.
When Fudd was asked about the relationship at her introductory press conference earlier this month, a member of the Wings’ public relations staff did not allow her to answer, stating that “We’re going to respectfully decline from commenting on our players’ personal lives.”
Bueckers said Monday, three days before Dallas’ preseason opener vs. Indiana on April 30, her focus is on basketball.
“There is something I want to address, and I only plan on addressing it once. If we continue to get asked about it, we will refer to this moment in time or use the time to deflect and talk about our teammates,” Bueckers said at Dallas media day. “‘Quite frankly, I believe me and Azzi’s personal relationship is nobody’s business but our own. And what we choose to share is completely up to us. … Me and Azzi have always been utmost professionals. We’ve always conducted ourselves as such. We’ve never let anything that happens off the court carry onto the court, and that’s what we’ll continue to do.”
Bueckers, the 2025 WNBA Rookie of the Year after averaging 19.2 points, 5.4 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game, also made it clear that she had nothing to do with the selection of Fudd.
“Azzi Fudd was the No. 1 draft pick because she earned it,” Bueckers said. “It had nothing to do with me and everything to do with who she is as a human being, as a basketball player, her resilience, her strength and her career-best year at UConn.
“Azzi is a great individual person, her own great individual person, and should be celebrated as such.”
Fudd averaged a career-best 17.3 points, 3.1 assists and 2.5 steals per game last season, making 48.1% of her shots and 44.7% of her 3-pointers as the Huskies, who were 38-0 before their Final Four loss to South Carolina.
–Field Level Media
Report: Cowboys signing WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling
Bruins on brink, Sabres one win away from first series W since '07
