Sports
Facing Thunder, Rockets aim to crowd Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Nov 29, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) shoots the ball against the Los Angeles Lakers in the second half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images Injuries haven’t done much to disrupt the Oklahoma City Thunder as they approach the quarter-pole of the regular season schedule, with their performance confirming that their ascension to the top of the Western Conference standings last year wasn’t a fluke.
Even without Chet Holmgren and Alex Caruso, both sidelined by hip injuries, the Thunder remain in first place in the West. Their 101-93 road victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday was their fourth in succession and seventh in nine games, with Oklahoma City set to conclude a four-game road trip against the Houston Rockets — just 1 1/2 games back of the Thunder — on Sunday.
The Thunder have been forced to grind a bit offensively without Holmgren, ranking 12th in the league in offensive rating (114.4 points per 100 possessions) over the nine games that he has missed with a pelvic fracture. Oklahoma City remains buoyed by its league-leading defense, but while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a game-high 36 points against the Lakers, the Thunder shot only 40.9 percent while missing 27 of 40 3-pointers.
Losing Holmgren certainly undermines offensive efficiency, but the Thunder experienced similar issues last season after racing out of the gate and establishing themselves as a Western Conference title contender by winning 22 of 31 games before the calendar flipped to 2024.
“It’s similar to last season where we got off to a good start … and teams started to scheme and throw different things at us,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “And the first time through that you see those things can be challenging. But you’d rather see them in November and December than wait to see them later in the year because it allows you to calibrate. It allows you to work on those things.”
Only one of the Rockets’ six losses has yielded a double-digit margin: a 126-107 road loss to the Thunder on Nov. 8. Houston’s other five losses came by a combined 21 points, making its performance against Oklahoma City an early outlier and worthy of intensive review.
Gilgeous-Alexander scored 29 points on 11-of-16 shooting while logging only 29 minutes in the victory. Although he produces matchup difficulties for most opponents — Gilgeous-Alexander is third in the NBA in scoring (29.8 points per game) — the Rockets aim to construct a sounder approach to defending him this time around, with a blueprint established against other high-scoring guards serving as the template on Sunday.
Dillon Brooks and Amen Thompson are likely to share the individual responsibility in defending Gilgeous-Alexander, but the Rockets’ aggressiveness must set the foundation for their plan.
“We were back on our heels a little bit too much and he was getting a head of steam getting downhill and attacking,” Rockets coach Ime Udoka said of Gilgeous-Alexander. “We’re going to switch and do what we do there but similar to (Tyrese) Maxey and Anthony Edwards, where we were the aggressor in our switches, being aggressive and not sitting on our heels where he’s attacking downhill the whole time, we’d like to do that.
“Just show him more of a crowd. He was free to move and had a lot of room to operate. We’re going to make him guess a little bit more.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Senators extend Maple Leafs' skid with resounding win
Feb 28, 2026; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Ottawa Senators defenseman Thomas Chabot (72) celebrates with team mates at the bench after scoring a goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first period at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images Dylan Cozens had two goals and an assist, Drake Batherson scored twice and the visiting Ottawa Senators defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-2 Saturday night.
Thomas Chabot added a goal and an assist for the Senators, who are 1-0-1 since the Olympic break. Linus Ullmark stopped 21 shots.
Morgan Rielly and William Nylander scored for the Maple Leafs, who are 0-3-0 since the break.
Joseph Woll allowed five goals on 28 shots before Anthony Stolarz replaced him late in the second period and made 12 saves.
The teams have split two games this season, with two more to come in the final month of the regular season.
Rielly scored from the left circle from Auston Matthews’ cross-ice pass from the right circle at 2:52 of the first period. It came two seconds after Cozens finished serving a roughing penalty.
Chabot leveled the game when he scored as the trailer from the high slot on Brady Tkachuk’s pass at 10:59 of the first.
The teams were tied after 20 minutes despite Ottawa holding a 16-2 advantage in shots on goal.
Cozens pounced on a loose puck to score from the edge of the crease at 3:03 of the second period. It came after Chabot’s shot from the left point was blocked in front of the net by Toronto’s Troy Stecher.
Batherson scored at 13:05 of the second on Ottawa’s third attempt during an onslaught on the Toronto net. Nylander answered 51 seconds later when he poked in his own rebound in the goalmouth.
Batherson came back to score on a 28-foot wrist shot at 15:15 of the second. Cozens added a power-play goal at 16:06. The Maple Leafs were serving a delay of game penalty after their unsuccessful challenge of Batherson’s goal.
A skirmish broke out early in the third period after a jam around the Toronto goal, resulting in two fighting majors and four minors.
Batherson had a chance at a hat trick but was foiled on a breakaway at 10:02 of the third period.
Toronto went on an ineffective power play at 10:27 that ended hopes of a possible rally.
Ottawa’s Shane Pinto rang the crossbar with a laser at 13:27.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Cole Caufield, Canadiens grab early lead, cool off Caps
Feb 28, 2026; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens forward Cole Caufield (13) celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal against the Washington Capitals during the first period at the Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-Imagn Images Cole Caufield scored two first-period goals and the Canadiens went on to beat the Washington Capitals 6-2 on Saturday night in Montreal.
Nick Suzuki had a goal and two assists for the Canadiens, who have points in seven straight (5-0-2). Jakub Dobes made 27 saves and improved to 9-0-2 in his past 11 starts.
Alex Ovechkin scored both goals for the Capitals, who had won three straight. Anthony Beauvillier had two assists and Charlie Lindgren made 19 saves for Washington, which was playing the second of a back-to-back after a 3-2 home win against the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday.
The Capitals went 0-for-4 on the power play after going 0-for-5 on Friday. Montreal was 0-for-3.
Caufield gave the Canadiens a 1-0 just 30 seconds into the game when he intercepted Jakob Chychrun’s pass, skated in on a breakaway and beat Lindgren with a wrist shot.
Ovechkin tied it at 13:16. Dobes made the save on Declan Chisholm’s shot from the point, but couldn’t control the rebound and Ovechkin knocked in the loose puck from the right post.
Caufield made it 2-1 at 14:19 when he backhanded in a loose puck at the right post after Lindgren made the save on Jayden Struble’s point shot.
Mike Matheson increased the lead to 3-1 at 12:22 of the second when he took a pass from Zachary Bolduc on the rush, skated down the open slot and beat Lindgren glove side with a wrist shot.
After Washington’s Aliaksei Protas hit the post, Suzuki gathered the rebound, skated down into the Washington end and fed Kirby Dach, who scored on a one-timer from the slot to make it 4-1 at 16:34.
Ovechkin pulled the Capitals within 4-2 at 12:12 of the third, scoring from the low slot when he tipped in a pass from Dylan Strome.
Suzuki sent a back-hander into an empty net at 16:44 to make it 5-2, then Jake Evans sent a shot nearly the length of the ice into an empty net for a short-handed goal during 6-on-4 play at 18:35.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Sabres pile up goals early, cruise past Lightning
Feb 28, 2026; Tampa, Florida, USA; Buffalo Sabres forward Peyton Krebs (19), forward Alex Tuch (89) and Tampa Bay Lightning forward Anthony Cirelli (71) battle for the puck during the first period at Benchmark International Arena. Mandatory Credit: Morgan Tencza-Imagn Images Josh Norris scored twice as Buffalo found the net four times in the first period, and the Sabres easily won their third straight outing since the Winter Olympics break in a 6-2 rout of the host Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night.
The visitors’ victory pushed their road point streak to a season-best nine games (8-0-1). The Sabres play six of the next seven contests on home ice.
Rasmus Dahlin hit the net and had two assists, while Zach Metsa had a goal and a helper. Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch also scored, and goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 36 saves.
Following a four-game absence for an upper-body injury, Zach Benson was back and contributed an assist as the Sabres finished 4-1-1 in February’s shortened slate because of the Olympic Games in Italy.
Tampa Bay’s Victor Hedman tallied one goal and had an assist, and Dominic James scored. However, its 10-game home winning streak and Nikita Kucherov’s league-high 12-game active point streak both ended.
Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy surrendered five goals on 14 shots in 21:54 of ice time. Jonas Johansson stopped 20 of 21 shots in relief.
After losing 4-3 to the Lightning on an overtime goal by Jake Guentzel on Feb. 3, the Sabres struck twice in 50 seconds in the rematch after toppling the Florida Panthers 3-2 on Friday.
Dahlin slid left-to-right through the slot and whistled one past Vasilevskiy at 5:25 of the opening period. Before the visiting celebration could die down, Norris swooped in from the right side and beat the netminder between the pads for a 2-0 lead.
At 8:16 on Buffalo’s fifth shot, Norris stunned the Atlantic Division-leading Lightning again by redirecting Bowen Byram’s shot through two Lightning defenders and Vasilevskiy for his second tally.
Thompson maneuvered his way in and slipped in the club’s fourth goal with less than five minutes left. The Team USA gold medalist extended his point streak to seven games, his third streak that length thus far.
In the second, Metsa’s early goal chased Vasilevskiy from the match, but James put the Lightning on the board at 16:03.
Shortly after Guentzel was ejected for receiving a game misconduct and an unsportsmanlike penalty 2:02 into the third, Tuch hit the net at the 3:53 mark. Hedman scored his first at 5:27 for the final marker.
–Field Level Media
