Sports
Avery Hayes' 2-goal debut propels Penguins past Sabres
Feb 5, 2026; Buffalo, New York, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Ryan Shea (5) dives as he takes a shot on goal during the first period against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images Avery Hayes lit the lamp twice in an unforgettable NHL debut as the Pittsburgh Penguins put a stop to their two-game losing streak with a 5-2 road victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday.
Fellow rookie Ben Kindel also found the back of the net twice for the Penguins. Pittsburgh’s Tommy Novak added a goal, and Arturs Silovs made 27 saves.
Tage Thompson tallied his 30th goal of the season and Jason Zucker scored early for the Sabres, who are 1-2-1 in their past four games.
Alex Lyon stopped 27 of the 31 shots he faced in the Sabres’ crease.
Zucker scored against his former team on the first shot of the night as he made a move around a defenseman and sent it into the top corner 1:46 into the contest.
Hayes scored a beauty on his first career shot. He sped around a defender to pick up a loose puck and fired it past Lyon to knot the contest at 1-1 with 10:42 left in the first period.
The undrafted 23-year-old Michigan native continued his dominant debut as he scored again with 1:13 left in the opening frame. He took a between-the-legs no-look pass from Anthony Mantha and sent his one-timer into the top shelf to make it 2-1.
Kindel boosted the margin to 3-1 with 12:16 left in the middle frame as the 18-year-old came roaring down on a 2-on-1 and picked the top corner.
Thompson sniped from a short angle on the power play to cut the deficit to 3-2 with 18:05 left in the third.
Silovs made his biggest save of the night with just over 11 minutes remaining. Thompson used his big frame to power past a defender, but the Penguins’ netminder read the superstar’s move and denied him of his potential second goal of the contest.
Novak extended the lead to 4-2 as the puck bounced out to him on the doorstep and he made no mistake with 4:27 left.
Kindel buried his second of the game into an empty net with 14 seconds left and the Penguins short-handed.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Trail Blazers hosting Wizards as they hunt down No. 8 seed
Mar 22, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; Portland Trail Blazers interim head coach Tiago Splitter reacts in the second quarter against the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images Fresh off a painful slip-up, the Portland Trail Blazers continue their pursuit of the No. 8 spot in the Western Conference when they host the Washington Wizards on Sunday.
The Trail Blazers had won five of six games, the previous two by 35 and 31 points, before dropping a 100-93 home decision against the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night.
The setback leaves Portland (37-38) 1.5 games behind the Los Angeles Clippers for the No. 8 berth — a play-in spot in which one win gets you into the main draw — with seven games remaining.
It was a missed opportunity for the Trail Blazers, and interim coach Tiago Splitter said the defeat was a blow for the team’s mood as well.
“Not great,” Splitter said of the team’s mood. “I think we all felt that we were in a growing moment, and this one hits hard.”
The Trail Blazers were sloppy with 25 turnovers, their fourth time with at least 25 this season and one off their season worst, which they accomplished twice.
Jrue Holiday scored 23 points, Deni Avdija added 20 and Jerami Grant had 19, but the trio of Toumani Camara (3 of 9), Donovan Clingan (2 of 9) and backup Scoot Henderson (3 of 11) were a combined 8-for-29 shooting for 23 points.
Portland scored just 17 points on 6-for-18 shooting to go with seven turnovers in the fourth quarter.
“Offensively, we were very poor,” Splitter said. “We didn’t make shots, turned over the ball all over. … We didn’t have it offensively.”
Grant exited the contest in the third quarter when he injured his right calf. He was slated to undergo testing Saturday.
“I’m always hopeful,” Grant said afterward. “Like I said, I can put some pressure on it, so it shouldn’t be too crazy.”
Washington (17-56) has dropped 17 of its last 18 games after losing 131-126 to the host Golden State Warriors on Friday night.
The Wizards lost 16 in a row before routing the Utah Jazz 133-110 on Wednesday in the second contest of a four-game road trip. But they returned to their losing ways after allowing 72 first-half points to the Warriors.
Rookie Will Riley had 22 points, five rebounds and five assists for Washington. The 20-year-old has topped 20 points four times this month and missed by one point on two other occasions.
Bilal Coulibaly had 21 points but was limited to 19 minutes by coach Brian Keefe for the second straight game. Bub Carrington had 16 points and played just 26 minutes, while Alex Sarr had eight points and nine boards while getting just 23 minutes of action.
“Our health of our players is our No. 1 thing,” Washington coach Brian Keefe said, explaining each of those players had a minutes limit. “We want to keep the rotation … similar rotations that they’re used to playing together. And when they hit (the minutes limit), that’s kind of it.”
Backup Anthony Gill scored 14 points on 7-for-9 shooting against Golden State and is averaging 13.3 points on 25-for-33 shooting (75.8%) over the past four games.
Sarr had 29 points and 12 rebounds when Washington notched a 115-111 home victory over the Trail Blazers on Jan. 27. Clingan collected 20 rebounds to go with 14 points for Portland.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Connor McDavid helps Oilers close gap on Ducks with win
Mar 28, 2026; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; Edmonton Oilers forward Connor McDavid (97) and Anaheim Ducks defensemen Ian Moore (3) battles for position during the first period at Rogers Place. Mandatory Credit: Perry Nelson-Imagn Images NHL points leader Connor McDavid had a goal and two assists for the Edmonton Oilers in a 4-2 win against the visiting Anaheim Ducks on Saturday afternoon.
McDavid increased his points total to 124 (42 goals, 82 assists) and stretched his point streak to four games (five goals, four assists).
Zach Hyman had a goal and an assist, Jack Roslovic and Matt Savoie also scored, Evan Bouchard had two assists, and Connor Ingram made 28 saves for the Oilers (37-28-9, 83 points), who have won three in a row to match their season high and pulled within three points of the Ducks for first place in the Pacific Division.
Beckett Sennecke and Cutter Gauthier scored, John Carlson had two assists and Lukas Dostal made 30 saves for the Ducks (41-28-4, 86 points), who entered the finale of the three-game road trip on a six-game point streak (5-0-1).
The Ducks gave up the first goal of the game for the 15th time in 17 games since the Olympic break.
Bouchard took a one-timer from above the right circle that went wide and hit the back of the net on the carom.
Carlson tried to sweep the puck into the corner, but it hit McDavid’s skate and ricocheted back toward the crease, where McDavid backhanded it into the net for his 42nd goal of the season and a 1-0 lead at 7:36 of the second period.
The Ducks were outshot 11-3 in the second period.
Roslovic made it 2-0 at 4:59 of the third when he slid the puck through Dostal’s pass off a feed from Hyman to finish a rush.
The Oilers scored again 1:11 later when Savoie redirected a cross-ice feed from Vasily Podkolzin into the net off another rush for a 3-0 lead at 6:10.
Sennecke spoiled Ingram’s second shutout of the season when he scored on a tip to cut it to 3-1 at 6:53.
Jeffrey Viel made a no-look pass from below the goal line to Gauthier out front and he scored his team-leading 37th goal of the season to cut it to 3-2 at 9:41.
Hyman sealed it with an empty-net goal with 17 seconds left for a 4-2 lead.
Ducks forward Troy Terry returned after missing the 3-2 overtime win at the Calgary Flames on Thursday with a lower-body injury, but Anaheim defenseman Radko Gudas and Pavel Mintyukov sat out the finale of the three-game trip with lower-body injuries.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Gary Woodland holds third-round lead at Houston Open
Mar 28, 2026; Houston, Texas, USA; Gary Woodland hits a tee shot on the ninth hole during the third round of the Texas Children’s Houston Open golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Erik Williams-Imagn Images Gary Woodland shot 5-under-par 65 on Saturday to maintain the lead through three rounds of the Texas Children’s Houston Open as he seeks his first victory in nearly seven years in Houston.
Woodland is at 18 under despite his highest score of the tournament.
Hard-charging Nicolai Hojgaard of Denmark posted the best round of the day with a 63, so he’s one stroke back going into Sunday’s final round at Memorial Park Golf Course
Woodland had four birdies on a six-hole stretch on the backside to maintain the lead. The last three of those birdies came with putts inside of 7 feet.
Hojgaard also was 4 under on that same six-hole stretch, with a 14-foot putt his longest birdie among those holes.
Both golfers had pars on No. 18.
Defending champion Min Woo Lee of Australia shot 67 to sit at 12 under, joined by Michael Thorbjornsen (66).
Lee took a bunker shot on one knee on No. 17, rolling the ball close enough for a birdie putt.
Sam Stevens (67) and Australia’s Jason Day (68) are at 11 under.
First-round leader Paul Waring of England moved back into contention by shooting 66. He’s at 10 under with Sahith Theegala (66) and Canada’s Sudarshan Yellamaraju (65).
–Field Level Media
