Sports
Bruins' fourth line flourishing ahead of first matchup vs. Utah
Oct 16, 2024; Denver, Colorado, USA; Boston Bruins center John Beecher (19) celebrates his empty net goal with center Mark Kastelic (47) in the third period against the Colorado Avalanche at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images Even the Boston Bruins — who will celebrate their Centennial Game in less than two months — still experience a first time for everything.
The Bruins’ first Western Conference road trip of the young season continues with another first on Saturday night, playing their first-ever game against the Utah Hockey Club in Salt Lake City.
“I hear the crowd is incredible here, I heard that the energy in (the Delta Center) is very good,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said after Friday’s practice at the Olympic Oval. “That gets (Utah) excited to play at home for the first time in five games.”
Boston opened the three-game trip by dominating the first two periods of a 5-3 victory over still-winless Colorado on Wednesday in Denver.
Montgomery believes it’s time to take away the fourth line label from his trio of John Beecher, Mark Kastelic and Cole Koepke. Both wingers, Koepke and Beecher, scored against the Avalanche to give them each a league-leading plus-9 rating. Kastelic is at plus-8.
“I mean, it’s impressive the way they’ve been playing and they’re earning all the ice time they’re getting, and their details, their work ethic, their puck support of one another offensively and defensively is allowing them to have tremendous success,” Montgomery told the Boston Globe.
Their importance to the group has quickly been realized.
“The whole line’s been amazing for us,” defenseman Hampus Lindholm said, per the Globe. “They’re the hardest workers out there and they earn everything they get.”
Beecher has goals in consecutive games.
Lindholm posted a goal and an assist to lead five Boston scorers against Colorado, while Joonas Korpisalo made 22 saves en route to his first win since being acquired from Ottawa in the offseason.
Utah, meanwhile, is back home following a four-game road trip. Wednesday’s 5-4 overtime loss at Anaheim left Utah just short of becoming only the fourth team in NHL history to win four of its first five games.
Despite allowing a game-tying goal in the third period before falling in overtime, coach Andre Tourigny was pleased with his team’s effort.
“I think they fought really hard. I really like our battle, our competitiveness,” Tourigny said. “I think all in all, there’s a lot of positives.”
Jack McBain and Barrett Hayton scored in the first period for Utah. Hayton already has four goals this season after tallying three in 33 games last season.
Another pair of back-to-back goals by Michael Kesselring and Clayton Keller in the third put Utah ahead 4-3 before Anaheim pulled even with 5:05 left.
Utah has scored at least four goals in every game except for Monday’s 3-0 shutout loss at New Jersey.
“I thought we were solid at times, we just made a few mistakes,” Kesselring said after Wednesday’s loss.
Injuries have forced the Utah Hockey Club to finish consecutive games with five defensemen. Robert Bortuzzo left Wednesday’s game in the third period, though he did return to practice on Friday afternoon.
Sean Durzi, who suffered an upper-body injury on Monday, was less fortunate. He will miss 4-5 months, with surgery possible.
John Marino (upper-body) is also “months” away from returning, Tourigny said.
“You cannot replace those guys,” Tourigny said. “What you have to do is do what you do best for longer. Everybody has to be a little bit more consistent.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Report: Joe Gibbs Racing lawsuit vs. Spire, Chris Gabehart gets trial date
Oct 25, 2025; Martinsville, Virginia, USA; Joe Gibbs Racing competition director Chris Gabehart before NASCAR Cup Series Xfinity 500 Practice and Qualifying at Martinsville Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Greg Atkins-Imagn Images Joe Gibbs Racing desired an earlier trial date for its lawsuit against Spire Motorsports and Chris Gabehart, while the defendants wanted a later trial date.
Neither side got what it wanted on Wednesday, as the judge presiding over the case split the difference and settled on a January start date, according to motorsport.com.
JGR is pursuing more than $8 million in damages due to allegations of misappropriation and tortuous interference by Gabehart, who left JGR to work for Spire.
JGR had been in pursuit of a November trial start, citing concerns about evidence and a desire to begin discovery as soon as possible. The defendants, in contrast, targeted next May, arguing that depositions could interfere with the current NASCAR season.
United States District Court Judge Susan C. Rodriguez of the Western District of North Carolina directed each party to “meet and confer and submit to the Court within 10 days a joint proposal as to pretrial deadlines as discussed,” indicating all parties are required to adhere to an agreed-upon schedule for all activities leading up to the trial date.
With Spire having a better-than-expected season after hiring Gabehart, JGR had filed an amendment to its original lawsuit earlier this week to address damages sustained through the use of “trade secrets.”
Spire driver Carson Hocevar is sitting in sixth after securing his first career NASCAR victory — and Spire’s first NASCAR win since 2019 — on April 26 at Talladega. Daniel Suarez, a new Spire driver this season, is in 14th in the standings. None of Spire’s three drivers last year finished in the top 20 of the standings.
“This sudden improvement in Spire’s Cup Series performance of course comes on the heels of Gabehart misappropriating JGR’s Confidential Information and Trade Secrets and providing Spire the same or similar services he provided JGR in the last year,” the amended filing says.
The judge in the case has also granted partial expediency on the issue of discovery, providing faster access to certain phone records directly related to the nature of Gabehart’s relationships with JGR and Spire, according to the report.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Cubs LHP Matthew Boyd injures knee playing with his children, put on IL
May 3, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Cubs pitcher Matthew Boyd (16) pitches against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the first inning at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images Chicago Cubs left-hander Matthew Boyd hurt his left meniscus while playing with his children at home on Wednesday morning and was placed on the 15-day injured list.
Cubs manager Craig Counsell said that Boyd had an MRI that revealed the knee injury and the pitcher will require surgery. The move was retroactive to Monday.
“It’s kind of unexplainable,” Counsell said. “Kind of an innocent, going down to the ground and getting back up.
“He woke up this morning a healthy player,” the manager added. “He’s just trying to process it and get all the information from the doctors to figure out what’s next.”
Counsell said the timetable for Boyd’s return will be determined after the surgery, but the team expects him to play again this season.
Boyd, 35, was on the IL from April 2-21 because of a left biceps strain. He is 2-1 with a 6.00 ERA, six walks and 31 strikeouts in 24 innings over five starts this season.
An All-Star for Chicago in 2025, Boyd is 62-78 with a 4.61 ERA in 218 career appearances (204) starts for the Toronto Blue Jays (2015), Detroit Tigers (2015-21, 2023), Seattle Mariners (2022), Cleveland Guardians (2024) and Cubs.
In a corresponding move, Chicago selected the contract of right-handed reliever Trent Thornton from Triple-A Iowa. They also designated lefty Charlie Barnes for assignment to clear room on the 40-man roster for Thornton. Righty Yacksel Rios was sent outright to Iowa.
Thornton, 32, is 0-0 with a 3.18 ERA in 5 2/3 innings over four games (one start) with Iowa this season. He has a career record of 14-19 with a 4.38 in seven seasons for the Toronto Blue Jays (2019-23) and Seattle Mariners (2023-25).
The Cubs already have starting pitchers Justin Steele (left elbow) and Cade Horton (right elbow) on the injured list.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Rangers ace Nathan Eovaldi halts Yankees' five-game streak
May 6, 2026; Bronx, New York, USA; Texas Rangers pitcher Nathan Eovaldi (17) delivers a pitch during the first inning against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images Nathan Eovaldi pitched eight stellar innings and was backed by two early homers as the visiting Texas Rangers quieted the New York Yankees in a 6-1 victory on Wednesday night.
After pitching seven innings in last Wednesday’s 3-0 home win over the Yankees, Eovaldi (4-4) struck out a season-high eight and walked none for the second time this season. The veteran right-hander allowed just three hits, including Aaron Judge’s major league-leading 15th homer in the sixth that snapped his scoreless string at 13 innings.
The Rangers scored more than five runs for the seventh time this season and ended a three-game losing streak by racing out to a six-run lead through four innings against New York’s Will Warren (4-1).
Corey Seager homered three batters into the contest and Evan Carter hit a two-run shot in the third. Seager added an RBI single after going 4-for-31 in his previous eight contests and not getting an RBI in his previous nine.
Ezequiel Duran contributed an RBI double and a bases-loaded sacrifice fly as Texas finished with more than five runs for the first time since April 23 against Pittsburgh.
Eovaldi made the lead stand up with ease. He often recorded quick outs and threw 72 of 101 pitches for strikes.
Eovaldi completed eight innings for the 16th time in his career and fourth time against the Yankees, whom he pitched for in 2015 and 2016. Jacob Latz pitched the ninth as the Rangers held the Yankees to five baserunners.
Judge hit his 12th homer in his past 23 games, but the Yankees saw a five-game winning streak stopped and lost for the third time in their past 18 games. New York scored 46 times in the previous five games, but finished with fewer than two runs for the fifth time this season.
Warren often fell behind hitters and was tagged for season highs of six runs on seven hits in four innings. Warren did get seven strikeouts, but he walked three as he threw first-pitch strikes to just 12 of 22 hitters.
Seager opened the scoring by lifting a 3-0 fastball into the right field seats and Texas added three in the third. After Duran’s double to left-center, Carter hit a 2-1 sweeper off the facing of the second deck in right for a 4-0 lead.
Following Duran’s sacrifice fly in the fourth, Seager made it 6-0 by lining a single to center.
–Field Level Media
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