Sports
Knights trust in Carter Hart with Canes on cusp of taking Stanley Cup
Jun 11, 2026; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Carter Hart (79) makes a save during the third period against the Carolina Hurricanes in game five of the 2026 Stanley Cup Final at Lenovo Center. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images LAS VEGAS — For the third time in their brief nine-year history, the Vegas Golden Knights will have the Stanley Cup in T-Mobile Arena for an elimination game on Sunday night.
John Tortorella’s squad, which trails the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 in the best-of seven Stanley Cup Final, has one simple goal: make sure the NHL has to fly the coveted trophy to Raleigh, N.C., for a Game 7 on Wednesday night.
“It’s crunch time, it’s Game 6, we’re down, and we’ve got to find a way to win and take it back to Raleigh,” Vegas defenseman Rasmus Andersson said after practice Saturday morning at the team’s Summerlin practice facility.
Vegas is 1-1 in elimination games in Stanley Cup finals. It lost 4-3 in Game 5 to Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals to end the team’s inaugural season in 2018. But the Golden Knights got to skate around their home ice with the Stanley Cup in 2023 when they crushed the Florida Panthers 9-3 in Game 5.
Carolina, the former Hartford Whalers who became the Hurricanes in 1997, will be trying to win its second Stanley Cup. The Hurricanes won it in seven games over the Edmonton Oilers in 2006 with a captain named Rod Brind’Amour, who is now finishing up his eighth season as head coach in Raleigh.
The Hurricanes, who haven’t lost back-to-back games this season since Jan.12-13, will try to close out the series with three straight wins after defeating the Golden Knights 5-3 in Game 4 on Tuesday in Las Vegas and 4-2 in Game 5 on Thursday in Raleigh. Center Jordan Stall has scored a goal in all five games, tying a Stanley Cup Final record, while left wing Nikolaj Ehlers has put up back-to-back three-point games.
Asked what his message was to his team heading into Game 6, Brind’Amour replied, “We’ve got to put our best foot forward. That’s really the message.”
“It’s pretty crazy, but it’s one win away,” defenseman Sean Walker said. “We’ll just go into Vegas with the same mindset that we’ve had all playoffs, play our game and hopefully get the result we want.”
Walker delivered a crushing hit into the boards behind the net on Vegas center William Karlsson in the second period of Thursday’s game with an apparent arm/wrist injury. Karlsson is an original “Golden Misfit” remaining from the Golden Knights’ inaugural roster and a key defender, penalty killer and faceoff man who is plus-5 in the first five games.
Tortorella wouldn’t comment on Karlsson’s potential Game 7 status, but it seems quite possible his season is over either way.
“It obviously sucks losing Will, but it’s a next-man up mentality,” said forward Mitch Marner, who played right wing on Karlsson’s line with Brett Howden. “It’s obviously a tough hole to fill in a way, but at the same time, everyone on the ice has to do a better job defensive-wise helping out and making sure we take advantage of offensive chances.”
Marner, who played some center when Karlsson was sidelined during the regular season, and Tomas Hertl are the likely candidates to take over Karlsson’s center duties while veteran forwards Reilly Smith and Brandon Saad are the top candidates to move into the lineup. Marner leads all NHL players with 29 postseason points, while Howden is tops with 14 goals.
Goaltending has been a big focus in the series with the Hurricanes replacing veteran Frederik Andersen with Brandon Bussi at the start of the third period of an eventual 5-4 double-overtime loss in Game 3. Bussi, a waiver pickup from Florida in October, is expected to remain in net for Game 6, although Brind’Amour said “everyone is available” when asked about his goalie choice.
Meanwhile, Tortorella said Saturday he will stick with Carter Hart in net. This despite the fact Hart has just a .856 save percentage and 3.70 goals-against average in the finals while becoming the first goalie in Stanley Cup final history to allow at least four goals in the first five games of a series.
Vegas backup Adin Hill was a key member of the 2023 Cup-winning team with an 11-4 record, two shutouts, a 2.17 GAA and .932 save percentage in that postseason.
“I know there’s a better game in him,” Tortorella said of Hart. “I’ve seen it throughout the playoffs. I think he’s a very good goalie.”
“I haven’t been the best in this series, and I’ll be better the next game,” Hart said. “They’ve gotten some lucky bounces, and there’s a few plays I’ve got to make more saves, but at the end of the day, I prepare the same way, just like any other game, and I’ll be ready to go.”
–Steve Guiremand, Field Level Media
Sports
BetBoom, 9z, FURIA, Spirit win again at IEM Cologne Stage 3
Nov 5, 2022; San Francisco, California, USA; Fans do the wave between games of the League of Legends World Championships between T1 and DRX at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images BetBoom Team and 9z Team continued their torrid runs at the Intel Extreme Masters Cologne Major, joined by FURIA and Team Spirit in winning their Round 2 High matches on Friday in Germany.
BetBoom — who’ve battled all the way from Stage 1 to make it this far — upset Team Falcons 2-0, and 9z Team, who entered the tournament in Stage 2, beat Team Vitality 2-1.
BetBoom’s next opponent will be FURIA, who outlasted MOUZ 2-1 on Friday, while 9z will take on Team Spirit, who rallied 2-1 over Aurora Gaming.
Sixteen teams are still standing at the Counter-Strike 2 tournament that began with 32 entrants, competing for their share of a $1.25 million prize pool with the grand final scheduled for June 21. The champion receives $500,000.
Stage 3 utilizes a Swiss System format and all matches are best-of-three. The top eight finishers will proceed to the playoffs next week.
On Friday, BetBoom scored the only 2-0 win of the High matches by gritting out a 13-11 victory on Nuke and a 13-10 result on Ancient to stymie the Falcons. Kirill “Magnojez” Rodnov paced the all-Russian BetBoom squad with 47 kills and a 1.80 match rating.
Meanwhile, 9z lost to Vitality 13-4 on Inferno before bouncing back 13-9 on Mirage and 13-11 on Dust II. Ignacio “meyern” Meyer of Argentina carried 9z with 46 kills and the team’s only positive kills-deaths differential (46-39).
FURIA sandwiched a 13-5 victory on Nuke and a 13-7 win on Overpass around MOUZ’s 13-5 result on Inferno. FURIA relied on a match-high 56 kills from Kazakhstan’s Danil “molodoy” Golubenko.
Spirit fell 13-9 to Aurora on Dust II before drubbing their opponents 13-4 on Anubis and 13-5 on Nuke. Russian Danil “donk” Kryshkovets (46 kills), Belarusian Andrey “tN1R” Tatarinovich (44) and Russian Dmitry “sh1ro” Sokolov (43) led a balanced Spirit attack.
The four winners of the Round 2 Low matches move into the Mid matches for Round 3, while the losers will have to play win-or-go-home Round 3 Low matches.
The MongolZ blanked B8 2-0, Natus Vincere did the same against Legacy, Monte charged back to beat PARIVISION 2-1 and G2 Esports defeated FUT Esports 2-1.
Stage 3 continues Saturday with eight matches:
Round 3 High matches
–Team Spirit vs. 9z Team
–BetBoom Team vs. FURIA
Round 3 Mid matches
–Natus Vincere vs. The MongolZ
–Team Falcons vs. Monte
–Aurora Gaming vs. G2 Esports
–Team Vitality vs. MOUZ
Round 3 Low matches
–B8 vs. FUT Esports
–PARIVISION vs. Legacy
Intel Extreme Masters Cologne Major prize pool
1. $500,000
2. $170,000
3-4. $80,000
5-8. $45,000
9-11. $15,000
12-14. $15,000
15-16. $15,000
17-19. $10,000 — paiN Gaming, TYLOO, BIG
20-22. $10,000 — MIBR, M80, Astralis
23-24. $10,000 — GamerLegion, FlyQuest
25-27. $5,000 — Lynn Vision Gaming, NRG, Team Liquid
28-30. $5,000 — THUNDERdOWNUNDER, Sharks Esports, HEROIC
31-32. $5,000 — Gaimin Gladiators, SINNERS Esports
–Field Level Media
Sports
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani (knee) not in lineup vs. White Sox
Jun 11, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (17) advances to third base on a hit and run against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the fourth inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images Although Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts downplayed the severity of the left knee inflammation that caused Shohei Ohtani to be removed from Thursday’s game, the Dodgers star is missing from the lineup for Friday’s series opener at the Chicago White Sox.
Ohtani, who homered and reached four times in four plate appearances in Thursday’s 8-6 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates, was removed in the seventh inning after he experienced pain in his left knee/hamstring area on a stolen base attempt that was negated by a foul ball.
After the game, Roberts said the removal was precautionary and that his level of concern was “not high.”
“We tried to be smart about it and get him out of the game,” Roberts said after the game. “He told the trainer that he felt a little something behind his knee, and I just didn’t see any sense in risking it.”
Roberts also said Thursday that he felt good about the likelihood of Ohtani being in the lineup on Friday. But the Dodgers penciled in Santiago Espinal as their designated hitter for the Chicago opener.
Ohtani, 31, is hitting .305 with 13 homers and 40 RBIs this season, with a 6-2 record and a 1.06 ERA in 11 starts on the mound.
The four-time MVP (including each of the last three seasons) has a career .283 batting average with 293 homers and 709 RBIs across 1,081 games with the Los Angeles Angels (2018-23) and Dodgers (2024-26).
–Field Level Media
Sports
Canada rally for draw vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina in home World Cup opener
June 12, 2026; Toronto, Canada; Canada’s Cyle Larin celebrates scoring their first goal with teammates as Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Tarik Muharemovic looks dejected. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Sousa-Imagn Images Cyle Larin scored in the 78th minute as Canada salvaged a 1-1 draw against Bosnia and Herzegovina in their opening match in Group B play Friday in Toronto.
Jovo Lukic scored in the 21st minute for Bosnia and Herzegovina, who were playing their first World Cup match since being eliminated from group play in the 2014 event at Brazil.
Maxime Crepeau had two saves for Canada, who entered the match with an 0-6-0 record in two World Cup appearances (1986, 2022).
Nikola Vasilj had one save for Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Switzerland and Qatar, who are also in Group B, open against each other on Saturday afternoon. Either team could move atop the group with a win after Canada and Bosnia and Herzegovina each secured one point.
Bosnia and Herzegovina took the lead off a left-footed corner kick from Ivan Basic, which he fired to the goal mouth.
Sead Kolasinac flicked a header on for the 6-foot-4 Lukic, who was checked from behind by a smaller defender as he headed his shot from 2 yards out for the first goal of his international career.
To that point, Bosnia and Herzegovina had controlled the play with their size and physicality. But as the match wore on, the quicker Canadiens appeared better suited to the heat.
Canada had the better of the play for the rest of the first half but had difficulty putting shots on frame and creating quality chances.
Early in the second half, both teams had excellent chances to score. Canada’s opportunity came first as Stephen Eustaquio fed Richie Laryea, who was free on the left side of the box.
Laryea’s right-footed shot beat a diving Vasilj, but Bosnia and Herzegovina defender Kolasinac kicked the ball in desperation. It went off the crossbar and caromed high to safety.
Less than a minute later, Ermedin Demirovic broke free and ran down a throughball, but Crepeau bolted from the goal area and disrupted Demirovic’s attempt with an aggressive slide.
Canada got the equalizer as Promise David flicked a pass forward to Larin, who was just inside the middle of the box.
Larin, who had been subbed on just two minutes earlier, spun and fired a right-footed blast into the lower-right corner.
In the final minute of stoppage time, Canada got one last try as Laryea found Larin in the middle of the box but as he shot, defender Tarik Muharemovic smothered the attempt and cleared it from the box.
–Field Level Media
BetBoom, 9z, FURIA, Spirit win again at IEM Cologne Stage 3
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani (knee) not in lineup vs. White Sox
