Canadiens vie to halt skid vs. Panthers, stay in wild-card race
Mar 28, 2025; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; Montreal Canadiens right wing Cole Caufield (13) looks on against the Carolina Hurricanes during the second period at Lenovo Center. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-Imagn Images Despite losing five games in a row, the Montreal Canadiens continue to be among a handful of teams in the hunt for the final wild-card spot from the Eastern Conference.
The Canadiens will try to keep pace when they visit the Florida Panthers on Sunday afternoon in Sunrise, Fla.
Montreal (33-30-9, 75 points) lost 4-1 to the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday in the third stop of its four-game trip. The Canadiens also lost the night before, 6-4, to the Philadelphia Flyers.
The string of losses has kept the Canadiens in a three-way tie with the Columbus Blue Jackets and New York Rangers for the final wild-card spot.
“You can’t dwell on it,” Montreal forward Cole Caufield said. “To say we’d be in this position at the start of the year, we’d grab that and do whatever it takes to be in this position. We can’t take it for granted. Every game matters. Every game counts. The next one is the most important.”
The Canadiens, who beat Florida, 3-1, in Montreal on March 15 behind 21 saves from Sam Montembeault, will turn around and host the Panthers again on Tuesday.
The Canadiens will then face three straight non-playoff teams, the Boston Bruins, Flyers and Nashville Predators.
Montreal defenseman Kaiden Guhle, who returned against Carolina after missing 21 games with a quad injury, said the team needs to get back to the style that made it successful during stretches this season.
“Our forecheck is our DNA,” Guhle said. “When we’re suffocating teams, I feel like we have the best forecheck in the league, and we have some really good skaters, some big bodies that get in there and make it really hard for their D to make clean plays, and I think that’s something that we’re struggling to get consistency with right now.”
The Panthers (44-25-3, 91 points) have won two in a row after posting a 2-1 overtime victory against the visiting Utah Hockey Club on Friday.
That win came five days after a 4-3 shootout victory against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the opener of the three-game homestand.
Florida has won seven in a row at home.
The Panthers went 4-for-4 on the penalty kill against Utah to improve to 35-for-39 this month.
“I think it’s been pretty solid the whole year,” Florida defenseman Niko Mikkola said of the penalty kill. “(Our opponents) have gotten some late goals, and that’s probably been the issue. We need the whole two minutes and to clear the puck. The last month, it’s been working.”
Brad Marchand played his first game for the Panthers on Friday since he was traded from the Bruins on March 7 and then needed time to recover from an upper-body injury. The 16-year veteran forward had the primary assist on the overtime winner by Sam Bennett.
“He hasn’t played for a month now and he steps right in and is dominating and controlling the game,” Bennett said of Marchand. “That’s tough to do in your first game back, especially on a new team. I think he’s going to fit here real, real nice.”
-Field Level Media
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Cincinnati rallies late to force eventful draw vs. Fire
Apr 18, 2026; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; FC Cincinnati defender Miles Robinson (12) (center) heads the ball clear away from Chicago Fire FC midfielder Dje D’avilla (42) during the first half of an MLS match at TQL Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kareem Elgazzar-Imagn Images FC Cincinnati scored twice in the final 15 minutes of regulation to earn a 3-3 draw against the visiting Chicago Fire Saturday evening.
Hugo Cuypers found the net twice for Chicago, extending his team lead to six goals on the season. But Cincinnati (2-4-2, 8 points) used goals in the 79th and 86th minutes to end the Fire’s (4-2-2, 14 points) three-match MLS winning streak.
The match was a battle, with 41 total shots, 16 shots on goal, 20 combined fouls and seven combined yellow cards.
After a scoreless 25 minutes to start, both teams heated up offensively, combining for three goals in the next 20 minutes plus stoppage time.
Cuypers got the scoring, connecting on a right-footed shot with assists from Philip Zinckernagel and Jack Elliott to give the Fire a 1-0 lead in the 26th minute.
In the 42nd minute, Cincinnati striker Tom Barlow tied the match when the rebound of Chris Brady’s save of Bryan Ramirez’s shot fell to his feet at the edge of the 6-yard box.
It looked like that 1-1 tie would hold going into halftime, but Cincinnati’s Samuel Gidi picked up a costly foul on Cuypers in the third minute of stoppage time. Zinckernagel took advantage with a right-footed penalty shot that got past Cincinnati goalkeeper Roman Celentano and gave the Fire a 2-1 lead.
Things went from bad to worse for Cincinnati three minutes into the second half when Cuypers scored again to increase the Fire’s lead to 3-1.
Just when time was starting to dwindle, Cincinnati roared back. Evander, who scored 18 goals a season ago, notched his first goal of the season in the 79th minute on a penalty kick set up by Mbekezeli Mbokazi’s foul of Gerardo Valenzuela on his run into the box.
Cincinnati then leveled in the 86th minute on an own goal from Chicago’s Dje D’Avilla directly off an Evander free kick.
Despite an extended 10 minutes of second-half stoppage time, neither team could find the net, with Brady making his eighth save to keep the game level.
Celentano finished with three saves.
–Field Level Media
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Charlotte FC score late, edge New York City FC
Apr 18, 2026; New York, New York, USA; New York City FC midfielder Maximiliano Moralez (10) fights for the ball against Charlotte FC midfielder Ashley Westwood (8) during the first half at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark Smith-Imagn Images Idan Toklomati and Kerwin Vargas scored second-half goals as Charlotte FC slipped past New York City FC 2-1 on Saturday night for their first road win in three tries this season.
Kristijan Kahlina had seven saves for Charlotte (4-2-2, 14 points), which avenged a three-match series loss to NYCFC in the opening round of the MLS playoffs last fall.
Charlotte FC, which has lost just once in their last six league matches, is tied for third place in the Eastern Conference.
Nicolas Fernandez scored in the third minute of stoppage time in the second half for slumping New York City (3-3-2, 11 points) which has not won in its last four games against MLS competition.
Matthew Freese had two saves for NYCFC, which has surrendered eight goals during their four-game skid.
After a scoreless first half, Charlotte struck in the 54th minute as Wilfried Zaha maneuvered through traffic in the middle of the field and created a window to send a pass downfield.
Harry Toffolo passed forward to an open Toklomati, who tapped a right-footed shot past the onrushing Freese.
It was the third goal this season for Toklomati and the third assist for Toffolo as Charlotte scored for just the second time this season in a road match after playing six straight games at home in all competitions.
Zaha was the missing piece for Charlotte on April 11 in a 2-1 loss to first-place Nashville SC as he was serving a red-card suspension.
The second goal for Charlotte came in the 90th minute as Pep Biel crossed to Vargas, who fired a left-footed shot inside the left post for his second goal this season.
New York City answered in stoppage time as Fernandez took a feed across the box from Hannes Wolf and scored with a left-footed blast from just outside the box to the top right corner.
NYCFC dominated the scoreless first half with its pressing defense and the creative, well-timed attacks of Maxi Moralez and Agustin Ojeada. While New York City fired 10 shots in the period, Charlotte took just one.
For the match, NYCFC outshot Charlotte 23-8, which gave 19-year-old forward Rodolfo Akolo his first MLS start.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Chris Sale dominant as Braves keep Phillies in a funk
Apr 18, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Atlanta Braves pitcher Chris Sale (51) throws a pitch against the Philadelphia Phillies during the first inning at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images Chris Sale worked seven strong innings and Mauricio Dubon provided a two-run single to lift the visiting Atlanta Braves to a 3-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday.
Sale (4-1) struck out seven and walked only one, giving up just one run and five hits. Austin Riley, Jonah Heim and Ozzie Albies each had two hits as Atlanta won for the eighth time in 10 games.
The Braves will look to complete a three-game sweep Sunday in the finale with the scuffling Phillies, who have dropped eight of 10. Philadelphia ace Cristopher Sanchez (2-2) gave up three unearned runs in six innings, yielding eight hits and a walk with eight strikeouts.
The game began in exciting fashion, as Ronald Acuna Jr. sent a blast to deep center, only to watch Brandon Marsh leap at the wall to rob a home run.
In the second, Philadelphia’s Felix Reyes launched Sale’s 2-0 fastball over the wall in right field for a home run in his first major league at-bat. However, that was the only offensive highlight for the hosts.
Atlanta promptly bounced back with two runs in the third. Sanchez struck out the first two batters of the frame before the next three hitters reached, including Albies on an error by second baseman Edmundo Sosa.
Riley’s infield hit tied the game, then Dubon’s bloop increased the lead to 3-1.
Sale sat down the Phillies with minimal stress in the third, fourth and fifth innings. He then went through the heart of the Philadelphia order in the sixth, getting Kyle Schwarber on a comebacker to the mound, striking out Bryce Harper and inducing a popup by Adolis Garcia.
Sale struck out two more in the seventh before exiting after 101 pitches.
Dylan Lee took care of the eighth for Atlanta before Robert Suarez logged a 1-2-3 ninth for his first save.
Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto exited due to lower back tightness. Rafael Marchan replaced Realmuto in the top of the seventh.
–Field Level Media
Cincinnati rallies late to force eventful draw vs. Fire
Charlotte FC score late, edge New York City FC
