Sports
NHL roundup: Blue Jackets overtake Canucks for SO win
Mar 28, 2025; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Columbus Blue Jackets center Kent Johnson (91) scores a goal on Vancouver Canucks goalie Kevin Lankinen (32) during the shootout at Nationwide Arena. Mandatory Credit: Russell LaBounty-Imagn Images Boone Jenner had two goals and an assist and the Columbus Blue Jackets rallied from a three-goal deficit to post a 7-6 shootout win against the visiting Vancouver Canucks on Friday.
Kent Johnson scored the only goal in the three-round shootout. Jenner has four goals in his past three games for the Blue Jackets, who have won two straight after losing six in a row. Dante Fabbro had a goal and two assists, while Kirill Marchenko, Mathieu Olivier and Denton Mateychuk each had a goal and an assist. Columbus’ Elvis Merzlikins made 31 saves.
Aatu Raty scored twice for the Canucks, who had won two straight. Brock Boeser notched a goal and an assist, while Linus Karlsson and Tyler Myers also scored. Pius Suter and Kiefer Sherwood each had three assists and Kevin Lankinen made 32 saves.
The Blue Jackets tied it at 5-all with 3:14 left in the third period when Marchenko’s shot deflected in off Jenner on a power play. Then with 2:52 remaining, Olivier scored from the slot to put Columbus ahead 6-5, but Ratu scored from the top of the crease off a Dakota Joshua pass with 2:29 left.
Panthers 2, Utah Hockey Club 1 (OT)
Sam Bennett netted the only two goals for Florida, including the game-winner with 42 seconds left in overtime, to defeat Utah in Sunrise, Fla.
Bennett notched the winner off an assist from Brad Marchand, scoring off a backhand shot from the bottom of the left circle. Marchand made his Panthers debut after being acquired from the Boston Bruins in early March and missing time due to an upper-body injury.
Sergei Bobrovsky had 13 saves for Florida, which won its second straight. Sean Durzi scored for Utah, which dropped its third consecutive game, while Karel Vejmelka made 30 saves.
Hurricanes 4, Canadiens 1
Jackson Blake snapped a scoring drought with a goal and two assists as Carolina defeated Montreal at Raleigh, N.C.
The Hurricanes’ Taylor Hall and Sebastian Aho scored in a 2 1/2-minute span of the second period. Andrei Svechnikov scored into an empty net. Seth Jarvis and Blake each recorded assists on both of the team’s second-period goals. Frederik Andersen made 14 saves to secure a victory in his sixth consecutive outing.
Josh Anderson had the game’s first goal, but Montreal managed only seven shots on goal through the first two periods. Sam Montembeault made 21 saves in the Canadiens’ fifth straight loss.
Jets 4, Devils 0
Alex Iafallo scored twice to help Winnipeg to a win against visiting New Jersey.
Mark Scheifele had a goal and an assist and Kyle Connor had two assists for the Jets, who passed the idle Washington Capitals for top spot in the NHL. Connor Hellebuyck made 24 saves.
Jake Allen turned aside 15 shots for the Devils, who were missing Luke Hughes, held out with a lower-body injury for precautionary reasons. New Jersey has lost five of its past seven games (2-4-1).
Golden Knights 5, Blackhawks 3
Pavel Dorofeyev scored the go-ahead goal on a power play with 3:11 left and Victor Olofsson had two goals to boost visiting Vegas to a win against Chicago.
William Karlsson earned three assists and Mark Stone had a goal and assist as the Pacific Division-leading Golden Knights stretched their winning streak to five games. Brett Howden also scored and Adin Hill stopped 18 shots for Vegas.
Chicago remained afloat behind Ryan Donato’s first career hat trick. Ilya Mikheyev had two assists and Spencer Knight made 17 saves as the Blackhawks took their ninth loss in 10 games (1-8-1).
Ducks 5, Rangers 4 (OT)
Leo Carlsson scored once in a career-best four-point game and Mason McTavish netted the winner 59 seconds into overtime to give host Anaheim a comeback victory over New York.
Cutter Gauthier and Olen Zellweger each had a goal and an assist and Alex Killorn also scored for the Ducks, who recorded a pair of late goals in regulation to send the game into overtime. Lukas Dostal made 26 saves.
Adam Fox, J.T. Miller and Alexis Lafreniere each collected a goal and an assist for the Rangers, who have won just once in the past six outings (1-4-1). Mika Zibanejad also scored, and Igor Shesterkin stopped 28 shots.
–Field Level Media
Sports
CF Montreal wins first game under Philippe Eullaffroy, beat Red Bulls
Apr 18, 2026; Montreal, Province of Quebec, CAN; CF Montreal forward Prince Owusu (9) celebrates with teammate midfielder Victor Loturi (22) after scoring a goal against the Red Bull New York during the first half at Saputo Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-Imagn Images Prince Owusu recorded a goal and three assists as CF Montreal bested the visiting New York Red Bulls 4-1 in the home side’s first match under interim head coach Philippe Eullaffroy.
Owusu scored his fifth goal of the season, as Montreal (2-6-0, 6 points) claimed their 100th win all-time at Stade Saputo.
Montreal strode past the visitors’ backline with relative ease in the early going. Red Bulls (3-3-2, 11 points) captain Emil Forsberg failed to control a hurried pass from his goalkeeper, allowing Owusu to play in Victor Loturi, who blasted it past Ethan Horvath in the fifth minute to make it 1-0.
Owusu nearly extended their lead soon after when Ivan Jaime played him through on a one-on-one. The towering center forward opted to hold the ball up before sending it wide of goal.
Owusu made no mistake on his 39th-minute penalty, catching out Horvath with a sly stutter step and slotting it into the left corner to make it 2-0. The penalty came as a result of Dylan Nealis’s handball.
Montreal’s Matty Longstaff knocked balls into both nets at the start of the second half. Longstaff met Owusu’s perfectly threaded through ball to make it 3-0 in the 49th minute. The English midfielder then overhit an attempted backpass to goalkeeper Thomas Gillier four minutes later and inadvertently brought the Red Bulls back within two.
More than the flurry of goals, the single biggest change in Montreal’s approach was in their defensive setup. Eullaffroy’s zonal marking stood in stark contrast to Marco Donadel’s aggressive man-marking, the Red Bulls managing just one shot on goal all game long. Eullaffroy also started Samuel Piette in the midfield after the Montreal captain remained on the bench in their last two outings.
Owusu chipped the ball over Matthew Dos Santos and into the path of Kwadwo Opoku, who guided it into the open net to restore Montreal’s three-goal lead.
The victory marked Montreal’s first at home since August of last year. Both of Montreal’s wins this season have come against the Red Bulls. New York, meanwhile, has won just one of its last six league matches.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Carson Kelly's pinch-hit homer propels Cubs over hapless Mets
Apr 18, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Cubs pinch-hitter Carson Kelly (15) hits a three-run homer against the New York Mets during the sixth inning at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images Carson Kelly hit a tie-breaking three-run pinch-hit home run in the sixth inning Saturday afternoon for the host Chicago Cubs, who beat the skidding New York Mets 4-2.
The pinch-hit homer was the second of Kelly’s career and his first since Aug. 25, 2021, when he went deep for the Arizona Diamondbacks against the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Anthony Banda.
Ian Happ homered in the second for the Cubs, who have won four straight and have scored 51 runs while winning five of their last six games. Chicago scored 59 runs in its first 14 games this season.
Kelly’s homer off Brooks Raley made a winner of Jameson Taillon (1-1), who gave up one run on five hits and three walks while striking out four over six innings.
Mark Vientos provided the visitors a short-lived lead by homering in the top of the second for the Mets, who have lost 10 straight — their longest skid since an 11-game losing streak from Aug. 28-Sept. 8, 2004. New York hasn’t led at the end of an inning since first inning of an 11-6 loss to the Athletics on Apr. 11 — a span of 62 frames.
New York’s Bo Bichette scored when second baseman Nico Hoerner threw wide of the bag on Francisco Alvarez’s two-out grounder in the eighth. But reliever Ben Brown induced Vientos to ground out to third and strand two before Caleb Thielbar struck out two in a perfect ninth to earn his first save of 2026.
Freddy Peralta (1-2) took the loss after allowing three runs on three hits and two walks while striking out three over 5 2/3 innings. Peralta issued both walks with two outs in the sixth, after which Kelly took Raley deep on the first pitch he saw. The homer was the first surrendered by Raley since 2023.
The Cubs only managed five hits as Happ reached in 3-of-4 plate appearances with a pair of walks.
Francisco Lindor and Luis Robert Jr. had two hits apiece for the Mets, who were 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position.
–Field Level Media
Sports
WTA roundup: Elena Rybakina continues sizzling start to 2026
Elena Rybakina waves to the crowd after advancing to the quarterfinals after Sonay Kartal retired from their match at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif., Wednesday, March 11, 2026. Top-seeded Elena Rybakina continued her outstanding 2026 campaign by overwhelming sixth-seeded Mirra Andreeva 7-5, 6-1 on Saturday to reach the finals of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany.
Rybakina, who represents Kazakhstan, will face No. 7 seed Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic in Sunday’s final. Muchova pulled off a mild upset with a 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 victory over No. 4 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine.
Rybakina, who won the 2026 Australian Open and reached the finals at Indian Wells, exchanged breaks with Andreeva before winning four of five points on the Russian’s serve to capture the first set. She cruised in the second set, winning a combined 21 of 25 points on her first serves and Andreeva’s second service offerings.
The deciding set between Muchova and Svitolina looked to be going the distance, but the Czech won the final eight points of the match — four on her opponent’s serve in the ninth game — to set up the fourth all-time meeting with Rybakina. Muchova has won two of three prior matches, including a quarterfinal victory in January at Brisbane.
Rouen Metropolitan Open
Top-seeded Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine cruised past Germany’s Tatjana Maria 6-3, 6-0 to reach the finals in Rouen, France.
Kostyuk will take on teenage qualifier and countrywoman Veronika Podrez. She advanced in a walkover prior to her scheduled match against Romania’s Sonia Cirstea, who withdrew due to a leg injury.
Kostyuk, who will be trying to win her second WTA title and first since a 2023 championship in Austin, Texas, fended off all four break points in the match against the 38-year old German. Maria could not contain Kostyuk’s power, dropping 32 of 43 (74.4%) service points.
Podrez, 19, advanced to the semifinals with wins over Sloane Stephens, No. 7 seed Elisabetta Cocciaretto of Italy and Great Britain’s Katie Boulter.
–Field Level Media
