Sports
Atlantic Division lead on line when Lightning, Sabres meet
Feb 27, 2026; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Buffalo Sabres center Tage Thompson (72) shoots the puck as Florida Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad (5) defends during the first period at Amerant Bank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images The Buffalo Sabres went all-in at the trade deadline on Friday to toughen up for the postseason, and they kept winning in the process.
Owners of an NHL-high streak of six wins, they added to their roster then beat the Nashville Predators 3-2 on Saturday night to open a five-game homestand.
The Sabres will host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday night in the third meeting between the Atlantic Division foes, who each have 82 points atop the standings though the visitors have two games in hand. They split the two previous games and will close the season series on April 6 in Buffalo.
The franchise welcomed four players via trade on Friday, but only center Sam Carrick made his Buffalo debut. Logan Stanley, Luke Schenn and Tanner Pearson – all acquired from the Winnipeg Jets — were scratched.
Carrick, acquired from the New York Rangers, centered the fourth line between Zach Benson and Beck Malenstyn as the Sabres moved to 12-2-1 in the past 15 contests with Saturday’s win.
Josh Doan was credited with the game-winning goal with his 19th tally to put the Sabres ahead 3-1 early in the third period, but he pointed to Carrick’s late defensive play and two faceoffs as being key.
“The last 30 or 40 seconds was really good,” Doan said after Nashville made it a one-goal match with 3:52 left. “Obviously, (Sam) winning a faceoff there at the end is huge for us. That’s what he’s unbelievable at and part of the reason he’s such a good hockey player.”
Tage Thompson continued his torrid pace on the offensive end.
Stretching his point streak to a career-high 10 games with a goal, the Team USA gold medalist (team highs with 34 goals, 66 points) became the third Buffalo player in 15 years to reach that length.
Jack Eichel (17 games and nine games) and Sam Reinhart (11) also did it.
The Lightning inserted their own snarl into the lineup with Friday’s addition of Corey Perry, whom they acquired from the Los Angeles Kings for a second-round pick. It is the second career stop with the Lightning for the veteran.
“He has this ability to bring guys into the fight,” Lightning GM Julien BriseBois said. “He knows when and how to raise the temperature on the ice.”
Perry, 40, also knows about finding the net, which he showed in his Tampa Bay debut — a 5-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday.
Playing on a grinding line mostly with Scott Sabourin and Conor Geekie, Perry later found himself in a forward group with Brandon Hagel and Anthony Cirelli in an explosive first period, netting his first goal with the Lightning on a pass from Hagel.
The tally was one of four in the first period that put the Lightning ahead 4-1.
The assist was the 200th of Hagel’s career, but Perry drew the attention afterward.
“It’s exciting to be back and be a part of this team,” Perry said following the Lightning’s 5-2 win. “It is like coming home, especially when you know a lot of guys in that room.”
In his fourth consecutive start, goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy made 27 stops to improve his record to 29-10-3.
However, the 2019 Vezina winner has made four starts in eight days and could turn the net over to Jonas Johansson in Buffalo.
The backup netminder has made just five appearances (three starts) in 22 games since the turn of the new year and is well rested.
Nikita Kucherov posted four assists to reach 100 points for the sixth time.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Manchester City look to extend win streak, take on Everton
[Subscription Customers Only] Jun 30, 2025; Orlando, Florida, USA; Manchester City forward Erling Haaland (9) celebrates scoring their second goal with midfielder Rodri (16) during a round of 16 match of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup at Camping World Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Lee Smith-Reuters via Imagn Images Manchester City will try to keep pace with Premier League front-runner Arsenal on Monday night when they pay a visit to an Everton side still on the fringes of the European picture.
City (21-5-7, 70 points) will begin the day six points back of Arsenal with two matches in hand after the Gunners dispatched Fulham 3-0 on Saturday. The Cityzens won’t be even on games played until May 13, when they make up a postponed match against Crystal Palace that was delayed because of City’s triumphant League Cup run.
As a result, there continues to be the appearance of a chase, although the teams would finish level on points if they win out.
Manager Pep Guardiola insists it shouldn’t matter.
“It’s normal, so it’s the calendar,” Guardiola said on Friday. “Sometimes you play first. Sometimes behind. It is what it is. So, nothing changes in these stages, and you know exactly what you have to do.”
City have won six in a row in all competitions, the last three by a single goal: A 2-1 home league win over the Gunners on April 19, a 1-0 league victory at Burnley three days later, and a 2-1 FA Cup semifinal triumph over Southampton on April 25.
Erling Haaland scored once in both league fixtures to bring his EPL-leading total to 24. In the FA Cup semifinal, Jeremy Doku and Nico Gonzalez scored inside the final 10 minutes to complete a late rally.
Everton (13-13-8, 47 points) finished Saturday in 11th place, but only four points out of seventh, which currently would earn a berth in the UEFA Europa Conference League. Should City win the FA Cup, it could be the top eight English league finishers who earn a spot in Europe.
And if Everton could return to continental competition for the first time since 2017-18, it would conclude a much-improved first season at their new Hill Dickson Stadium, after bringing the curtain down on historic Goodison Park last May.
“We still believe there could be something out there for us. And we’ll keep pushing,” manager David Moyes said. “Building Everton back up is a process which I think is going to take quite a bit of time, but I think the first year or so here, we’ve certainly put decent foundations down. And hopefully we can continue to build on it.”
The Toffees are looking to avoid a third consecutive league defeat for the first time this season after a 2-1 home loss to derby rivals Liverpool on April 19 and a 2-1 away defeat at West Ham last weekend.
Beto, one of two Everton players with eight goals, departed the former contest late with a head injury and missed the latter fixture working through the league’s concussion protocol. He should be available Monday night, Moyes said.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Yankees tee off on Orioles to win third straight in 4-game series
May 3, 2026; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge (99) hits a two run home run in the third inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images Jasson Dominguez scored the tiebreaking run in the sixth inning before hitting a two-run homer and an RBI double during a seven-run eighth as the New York Yankees pulled away for an 11-3 victory over the visiting Baltimore Orioles on Sunday afternoon.
The Yankees won for the 13th time in 15 games and beat the Orioles for the 11th time in the past 12 meetings.
Aaron Judge hit a two-run homer off Baltimore rookie Trey Gibson. Ben Rice hit his 12th home run of the season in the first and doubled ahead of Judge’s 13th homer in the third.
Rice exited after the Yankees batted in the third because of a bruised left hand. The Yankees announced X-rays were negative and the first baseman is day-to-day. Rice appeared to get injured fielding a low pickoff throw from Max Fried and was replaced by Paul Goldschmidt.
Dominguez started the tiebreaking rally with a double to left field against Grant Wolfram (1-1) and advanced to third on a groundout by Austin Wells. Ryan McMahon, facing a drawn-in infield, followed with a single that first baseman Coby Mayo couldn’t handle after diving to stop it.
Dominguez started New York’s big inning with a two-run drive into the right field seats off Andrew Kittredge for a 6-3 lead. After an RBI sacrifice fly by Trent Grisham, Goldschmidt ripped a two-run single after the Yankees executed a double steal.
Following a sacrifice fly by Jazz Chisholm Jr., Dominguez added a double to left field for an 11-3 lead.
The Orioles tied it twice before losing their fourth straight and for the 12th time in 18 games.
Blaze Alexander had an RBI single in the third before getting thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a double. After Judge’s 413-foot drive bounced into Baltimore’s bullpen in left field, Leody Taveras hit an RBI infield single and Tyler O’Neill scored on a double play grounder by Jeremiah Jackson in the fourth.
Fried allowed three runs on six hits in 5 1/3 innings. The left-hander struck out six and walked three.
Fernando Cruz (3-0) got the final two outs of the sixth and the first out of the seventh. Brent Headrick ended the eighth by getting a double play grounder against Mayo.
Gibson allowed three runs on four hits in 4 2/3 innings during his major league debut.
The four-game series concludes Monday.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Cam Smith drives in 2 in 10th, Astros edge Red Sox
May 3, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Houston Astros right fielder Cam Smith (11) hits a two run RBI against the Boston Red Sox during the tenth inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images Cam Smith had three hits, including a two-run single in the top of the 10th inning, to help the visiting Houston Astros earn a 3-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Sunday.
Smith’s two-out single came against Zack Kelly (0-2) and drove in Braden Shewmake and Jose Altuve.
Boston had the bases loaded with one out in the bottom of the 10th, but Bryan Abreu got Ceddanne Rafaela to ground into a double play to end the game.
Jarren Duran hit a solo home run for the Red Sox, who stranded 13 runners and were 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position. Duran’s home run was his third of the season and his second of the series. He hit a three-run homer in Boston’s 3-1 victory Friday night.
Abreu (1-2) pitched two scoreless innings to get the win. He gave up one hit, walked one and struck out one.
Willson Contreras collected three of Boston’s nine hits in the loss.
Christian Walker and Christian Vazquez each had two-hit games for the Astros, who won two games in the three-game set.
Boston starting pitcher Ranger Suarez was pulled after four scoreless innings because of hamstring tightness. He gave up three hits, walked one and struck out three. Suarez threw 70 pitches.
Duran’s home run off Houston reliever AJ Blubaugh opened the scoring in the fifth. Houston tied the game in the sixth, when Walker reached on an infield single, took third on Altuve’s double and scored on a sacrifice fly by Brice Matthews.
The Red Sox had a chance to win the game in the bottom of the ninth. An error on Abreu allowed Contreras to reach second with two outs in the inning, but Roman Anthony grounded out to first to end the inning.
Houston had the bases loaded with no outs in the 10th, but Altuve grounded into a 6-2-5 double play. Following a walk to Matthews, Smith delivered his two-run single.
–Field Level Media
