Sports
Ducks blow lead, battle back to top Canadiens
Mar 15, 2026; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Anaheim Ducks left wing Cutter Gauthier (61) shoots the puck against Montreal Canadiens right wing Ivan Demidov (93) during the second period at Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images Cutter Gauthier’s goal with 2:30 left broke a tie and the Anaheim Ducks held on for a 4-3 win over the host Montreal Canadiens on Sunday night.
Leo Carlsson had two goals and an assist and Troy Terry a goal and two assists in his return after missing nine games with an upper-body injury for the Ducks, who had lost three of their previous four. Chris Kreider had two assists and Lukas Dostal made 27 saves.
Nick Suzuki had a goal and an assist and Alex Newhook and Cole Caufield also scored for the Canadiens, who lost their second straight. Jacob Fowler stopped 24 shots.
Gauthier’s winner was set up by a backhand pass from Jeffrey Viel, who was along the right boards. Gauthier took the pass in the right circle and whipped a shot past Fowler.
The game was tied 3-3 at the end of the second after five goals were scored in the middle period.
Terry tied the game at 3-3 with 4:21 left in the second period when his backhand shot from the inside edge of the right circle deflected in off the stick of Montreal’s Alexandre Texier.
After Carlsson scored the game’s first two goals — one 7:46 into the game and the other 27 seconds into the second period — Montreal scored three straight goals to take the lead.
Newhook put the Canadiens on the board 1:33 into the second, Caufield tied it a minute later and Suzuki gave Montreal a 3-2 lead with 6:54 remaining in the middle period.
Carlsson gave Anaheim a 1-0 lead 7:46 into the game.
The Canadiens twice hit goal posts a little more than a minute apart in the first period. Caufield hit the post with a little over six minutes left in the opening period and Newhook’s tip of defenseman Noah Dobson’s shot hit the post with around five minutes remaining in the frame.
Veteran defenseman John Carlson made his Anaheim debut after being acquired from the Washington Capitals. He had been sidelined with a lower-body injury.
Montreal’s Brendan Gallagher returned to the lineup after being a healthy scratch for the first time in his career in Saturday night’s 4-2 home loss to the San Jose Sharks.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Miko Rantanen, Stars double-up Penguins
Mar 28, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Dallas Stars center Wyatt Johnston (53) and Pittsburgh Penguins center Ben Kindel (81) fight for the puck during the second period at PPG Paints Arena. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images Miko Rantanen scored in his first game in nearly two months, and the Dallas Stars tallied three unanswered second-period goals to end a four-game skid and defeat the host Pittsburgh Penguins 6-3 on Saturday.
Rantanen and Jason Robertson each had a goal and an assist for Dallas (44-18-11, 99 points), which had gone 0-3-1 in its last four. The Stars trailed 1-0 and 2-1 in this contest before exploding for three goals, two on the power play, in the second.
Rookie Justin Hryckowian, Lian Bichsel and Mavrik Bourque also scored for the Stars, who swept the two-game season series with Pittsburgh after winning in Dallas in December.
Erik Karlsson had a goal and two assists for Pittsburgh (36-21-16, 88 points), which was playing without both Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby due to lower-body injuries.
Anthony Mantha and Noel Acciari also scored for Pittsburgh, which lost its third game at PPG Paints Arena in the past week. The Penguins were outscored 17-6 in those three home contests.
Mantha redirected a Karlsson slapshot to put Pittsburgh in front on a power-play goal just over two minutes into the game.
Hryckowian evened the score for Dallas early in the second period, capitalizing on a broken play that left him wide open in front of the net with the puck.
Karlsson answered for the Penguins 48 seconds later with a wrister for his 13th goal of the season. In the process, he broke two franchise records for defensemen.
The goal was his ninth in March, the most in a single month by a Penguins blueliner. This was also his ninth multi-point game in March, which broke Randy Carlyle’s mark, set in December 1980, for most multi-point games in a single month by a defenseman.
The Stars responded over the next few minutes. Robertson scored on the power play 7:12 into the period to even the game. It was Robertson’s 40th goal, tying him with Wyatt Johnston for the team lead.
Three minutes later, Rantanen, who had missed 15 games in a row with a lower-body injury, tallied his 21st of the season on another power-play opportunity.
Bichsel doubled the Stars’ advantage less than 90 seconds later on a strange sequence. He went behind the goal, stapled to Karlsson, proceeded to throw the Swede’s stick to the floor with no whistle, and then scored what turned out to be the game-winner.
Jake Oettinger improved to 7-1-0 in his career against Pittsburgh. He allowed three goals on only 12 shots, as Pittsburgh posted four, five and three shots over the three periods. Stuart Skinner made 20 stops for the Penguins.
Dallas, which entered with the fourth-best road record in the league, improved to 22-8-7 away from home.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Tobias Harris sparks Pistons to road win over Timberwolves
Mar 28, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Detroit Pistons forward Tobias Harris (12) dribbles the ball as Minnesota Timberwolves forward Julius Randle (30) and guard Terrence Shannon Jr. (1) defend during the second half at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images Tobias Harris scored 18 points on 7-for-10 shooting, and the Detroit Pistons pulled away for a 109-87 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday afternoon in Minneapolis.
Ronald Holland II and Daniss Jenkins chipped in 13 points apiece for Detroit (54-20), which won for the sixth time in its past seven games. Paul Reed added 12 points off the bench, and Jalen Duren notched a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds.
Donte DiVincenzo led Minnesota (45-29) with 22 points and made five shots from beyond the arc. Rudy Gobert finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds, and Julius Randle notched 11 points despite missing 11 of 13 shots from the field.
Detroit outscored Minnesota 60-43 in the second half to seal the victory.
The Pistons opened the second half on a 7-1 run to go ahead by double digits. Ausar Thompson made a layup to finish the run and put Detroit ahead 56-45 with 9:53 to go in the third quarter.
By the start of the fourth quarter, Detroit increased its lead to 14 points. Caris LeVert knocked down a pullup jump shot from 15 feet to make it 74-60 in favor of the Pistons.
The TImberwolves trailed by double digits for the duration of the fourth quarter. They fell behind by 20 points when Harris made a free throw with 6:04 to play.
The Pistons held on to a 49-44 advantage at the half.
Detroit led by as many as 13 points before the break. Duren made a pair of free throws to put the Pistons on top 37-24 with 9:40 remaining.
Minnesota responded with a 15-6 run to cut the deficit to 43-39 late in the half.
Both teams played without their top players. Anthony Edwards remained out for the Timberwolves because of inflammation in his right knee, and Cade Cunningham remained out for the Pistons as he recovers from a collapsed lung.
The Timberwolves also played without Jaden McDaniels (knee) and Ayo Dosunmu (calf). Terrence Shannon Jr. made his second career start in the backcourt.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Tobias Harris sparks Pistons to road win over Timberwolves
Mar 28, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Detroit Pistons forward Tobias Harris (12) dribbles the ball as Minnesota Timberwolves forward Julius Randle (30) and guard Terrence Shannon Jr. (1) defend during the second half at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images Tobias Harris scored 18 points on 7-for-10 shooting, and the Detroit Pistons pulled away for a 109-87 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday afternoon in Minneapolis.
Ronald Holland II and Daniss Jenkins chipped in 13 points apiece for Detroit (54-20), which won for the sixth time in its past seven games. Paul Reed added 12 points off the bench, and Jalen Duren notched a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds.
Donte DiVincenzo led Minnesota (45-29) with 22 points and made five shots from beyond the arc. Rudy Gobert finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds, and Julius Randle notched 11 points despite missing 11 of 13 shots from the field.
Detroit outscored Minnesota 60-43 in the second half to seal the victory.
The Pistons opened the second half on a 7-1 run to go ahead by double digits. Ausar Thompson made a layup to finish the run and put Detroit ahead 56-45 with 9:53 to go in the third quarter.
By the start of the fourth quarter, Detroit increased its lead to 14 points. Caris LeVert knocked down a pullup jump shot from 15 feet to make it 74-60 in favor of the Pistons.
The TImberwolves trailed by double digits for the duration of the fourth quarter. They fell behind by 20 points when Harris made a free throw with 6:04 to play.
The Pistons held on to a 49-44 advantage at the half.
Detroit led by as many as 13 points before the break. Duren made a pair of free throws to put the Pistons on top 37-24 with 9:40 remaining.
Minnesota responded with a 15-6 run to cut the deficit to 43-39 late in the half.
Both teams played without their top players. Anthony Edwards remained out for the Timberwolves because of inflammation in his right knee, and Cade Cunningham remained out for the Pistons as he recovers from a collapsed lung.
The Timberwolves also played without Jaden McDaniels (knee) and Ayo Dosunmu (calf). Terrence Shannon Jr. made his second career start in the backcourt.
–Field Level Media
