Sports
Bruins return home for Game 3 after flipping Sabres' home-ice advantage
Apr 21, 2026; Buffalo, New York, USA; Buffalo Sabres defenseman Mattias Samuelsson (23) tries to block a pass by Boston Bruins left wing Tanner Jeannot (84) during the third period in game two of the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at KeyBank Center. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images Following a Tuesday road victory, the Boston Bruins have snatched the home-ice advantage away from the Buffalo Sabres in their Eastern Conference first-round series.
That means the intense playoff feeling is alive and well as the scene shifts to Boston on Thursday night for Game 3 of the best-of-seven series.
“I feel like it was nasty from the first shift, from the first game,” Bruins defenseman Nikita Zadorov said after Tuesday’s physical battle which featured 94 penalty minutes, including 72 in the third period alone.
“It’s playoff emotions and intensity. It’s always going to be up there.”
First-year Bruins coach Marco Sturm was not completely dissatisfied with his team’s Game 1 performance, outside of Buffalo’s third-period rally to snag a 4-3 win.
But on Tuesday, the Bruins were 4-2 winners, responding to the loss with a rock-solid effort in front of goaltender Jeremy Swayman, who boasts a .932 save percentage through two games in the series.
Viktor Arvidsson netted two goals, including the opener of Boston’s three-goal second period that built a lead it would never relinquish. Morgan Geekie and Arvidsson’s linemate Pavel Zacha also scored.
“We did a lot of good things. We played our style of hockey, I would say definitely more than Game 1,” Sturm said. “Overall, it was a good game, but at the end of the day, it was only one game. … We’re gonna regroup, fly home and try to do the same thing at home.”
For the second-line trio of former Sabre Casey Mittelstadt, Zacha and Arvidsson, the strong effort followed a challenge from Sturm to get back to their hard-nosed style of play, matching that of the team. They delivered.
“They just needed a poke, that’s all,” Sturm said. “Knowing ‘Arvy’ very well, he’s a guy who takes it very seriously and takes it to heart. I knew he was going to have a big night.”
The Bruins will be looking for a repeat type of effort as the series resumes. Meanwhile, the Sabres have questions to answer if they want to get back into it.
The biggest is the team’s goaltending situation, as Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen was pulled in favor of Alex Lyon after allowing four goals on 20 shots.
“Just felt that there may be a chance we’re going to need (Lyon),” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said of the pull. “May play him next game, but just get him a period because he hasn’t played in a while.”
Lyon had not seen game action since April 4.
The second goal against Luukkonen was Geekie’s backhand lob from beyond center ice. If the momentum had not been on Boston’s side yet, that one turned it all the way.
“In those situations, if there’s a bad bounce, bad goal, you kind of have to stop the bleeding,” Luukkonen said. “Wasn’t able to do that (Tuesday).”
Buffalo did make things interesting in the waning minutes of regulation. Back-to-back goals by defenseman Bowen Byram and Peyton Krebs cut the deficit to 4-2 with 4:52 left.
A major reason for the struggles was another scoreless power-play night. Despite an overall shot advantage for the second straight game in the series at 35-27, the man-up unit was 0-for-5 on Tuesday and dropped to 0-for-31 over the last nine games.
“I think we’ll have to tweak some things,” Ruff said. “I think if you look at the last power play, we went with a little bit of a different look. … We had a scheme that we thought maybe would work a little bit better. I like the amount of shots we generated.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Report: Brazil's Estevao (hamstring) in doubt for World Cup
Chelsea’s Estevao down injured in a match against Manchester United on April 18, 2026. Brazil forward Estevao’s participation in this summer’s FIFA World Cup reportedly is in jeopardy due to a hamstring injury sustained during Chelsea’s weekend loss to Manchester United.
The 18-year-old prodigy suffered a Grade 4 hamstring injury and is “highly unlikely” to be ready for the start of the North American tournament on June 11, The Athletic reported on Wednesday.
Estevao limped off with the injury in the 16th minute of Chelsea’s 1-0 loss on Saturday and was in tears in the locker room after the match, according to coach Liam Rosenior. He reportedly underwent an MRI on Monday afternoon.
Estevao has registered eight goals and four assists in 36 appearances during his first season with the Premier League side, including three goals in seven Champions League matches.
Internationally, Estevao has tallied four goals in his last four appearances with the Brazilian national team and has 11 career caps.
Brazil, currently ranked No. 6 in the world, is in Group C for the World Cup with Morocco, Haiti and Scotland. The five-time World Cup champions open play against Morocco on June 13 in East Rutherford, N.J.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Caps D Rasmus Sandin recovering from ACL surgery
Apr 5, 2026; New York, New York, USA; Washington Capitals defenseman Rasmus Sandin (38) warms up before the first period against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Danny Wild-Imagn Images Washington Capitals defenseman Rasmus Sandin is recovering from surgery to repair his torn right ACL.
The 26-year-old Swede sustained the knee injury in a 6-3 win at Pittsburgh on April 11.
The typical timeline for a recovery from ACL surgery is an estimated six to nine months.
Sandin finished the season with 29 points (five goals, 24 assists) and a plus-4 rating in 73 games. He was third on the team with 127 blocks.
A first-round pick by Toronto in 2018, Sandin has 145 points (25 goals, 120 assists) through 382 career games with the Maple Leafs and Capitals.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Ryder Cup organizers defend nearly doubled ticket prices for '27
Oct 1, 2023; Rome, ITA; Team Europe captain Luke Donald poses with the Ryder Cup after Team Europe beat Team USA during the final day of the 44th Ryder Cup golf competition at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images Ryder Cup organizers are defending nearly doubling ticket prices for the 2027 event in Limerick, Ireland, from the last time Europe hosted the event in 2023.
Daily tickets to Adare Manor Golf Club, which will go on sale to Irish residents Friday before opening for the rest of the world in a ballot June 3, will be the most expensive in European Ryder Cup history at 499 euros ($584.45 USD). That’s a steep increase from the 260 euros ($304.54) that a daily ticket cost for the 2023 Ryder Cup in Rome.
“We acknowledge it’s an increase from Rome,” Richard Atkinson, the European Tour Group’s chief Ryder Cup officer, told BBC.
“That was four years ago and a lot has happened in the world since then. We are lower than Bethpage. We’ve tried to make this as accessible as possible to a wide demographic of people. Our practice day tickets will be from 89 euros and juniors from 20 euros.
“Our prices are proportionate to a global sporting event. This event has grown in stature and profile, it’s one of the biggest sporting events in the world. We’re confident in our pricing but we’ve made it accessible to everyone.”
Daily tickets for the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black Golf Course in Farmingdale, N.Y., cost $750 USD (640.34 euros).
This will be the first Ryder Cup in Ireland since the K Club in Kildare hosted the 2006 event. It also has a chance to be a historic one as Luke Donald seeks to become the first captain to lead his team to three straight Ryder Cup titles after Europe became the first visiting side to win since 2012 with its 15-13 victory in the U.S. last year.
Regarding the price hike, Atkinson discussed a number of ways in which officials are attempting to make the 2027 event the most fan-friendly Ryder Cup Europe has ever hosted.
“We have significant focus on the fan experience on site and from the moment the people arrive at 6:30 in the morning, they’ll be entertained not only by 24 of the best golfers in the world but also outside of the ropes, we’ll have an extensive entertainment program to keep the fans engaged,” he said. “We’ll have over 20,000 grandstand seats at Adare, that’s a record for any European Ryder Cup, we’ll have big screens on every hole.”
Higher prices don’t seem to be affecting the interest level. Atkinson told BBC that even before tickets go on sale, demand has been quite high as they expect about 250,000 fans in attendance over the course of the week.
“We’ve already had over a half a million people register their interest for tickets, so that tells you how significant the demand is,” Atkinson said.
“This is likely to be one of the largest we’ve ever delivered and one of the largest events to come to the island of Ireland so we couldn’t be more excited.”
–Field Level Media
Report: Brazil's Estevao (hamstring) in doubt for World Cup
Caps D Rasmus Sandin recovering from ACL surgery
