Sports
NHL roundup: Islanders blank Jackets to move into wild-card position
Mar 22, 2026; Elmont, New York, USA; New York Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin (30) celebrates with left wing Anders Lee (27) after defeating the Columbus Blue Jackets at UBS Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images Ilya Sorokin stopped all 26 shots he faced and made Bo Horvat’s goal on the first shot of the game stand up Sunday night for the New York Islanders, who edged the Columbus Blue Jackets 1-0 in a game with Eastern Conference playoff implications in Elmont, N.Y.
The Islanders (40-26-5, 85 points) snapped a two-game losing streak, moved ahead of the idle Detroit Red Wings (84 points) for the second and final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference and tied the Blue Jackets (37-21-11, 85 points) for third place in the Metropolitan Division, though Columbus has a game in hand.
The shutout was the seventh of the season for Sorokin and the 29th of his career, which extended his franchise record. He is tied for the franchise’s single-season record for shutouts with Glenn “Chico” Resch and Semyon Varlamov.
Jet Greaves recorded 21 saves for the Blue Jackets, whose 12-game point streak (8-0-4) ended.
Jets 3, Rangers 2 (SO)
Kyle Connor and Gabriel Vilardi scored in the first two rounds of the shootout and visiting Winnipeg ended a three-game losing streak with a victory over host New York.
Connor scored when he got a shot to trickle under rookie Dylan Garand’s pads and his shootout goal occurred after he had 11 shot attempts in regulation and overtime. Vilardi scored when he cut to the right and flicked a wrist shot by Garand. Backup goalie Eric Comrie stopped Vincent Trocheck and J.T. Miller in the shootout after making three saves during an interference penalty on Mark Scheifele in overtime. Adam Lowry and Vilardi scored in regulation for the Jets.
Tye Kartye and Mika Zibanejad scored tying goals in the second period as the Rangers lost their fourth straight. Garand made 35 saves in a solid NHL debut after being called up to replace backup goalie Jonathan Quick (upper-body injury).
Mammoth 4, Kings 3 (OT)
Nick Schmaltz scored his second goal of the game 1:46 into overtime and Utah beat Los Angeles in Salt Lake City.
Schmaltz entered the zone 2-on-1, kept the puck and beat Darcy Kuemper with a wrist shot. Lawson Crouse had two goals and an assist for the Mammoth, who have won three of four and hold the first wild-card spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.
Quinton Byfield had a goal and an assist for the Kings, who have lost three straight and trail the Nashville Predators by two points for the second wild-card spot in the playoffs from the West.
Golden Knights 3, Stars 2
Reilly Smith scored the go-ahead goal with 3:38 remaining as Vegas snapped a three-game losing streak with a victory over host Dallas.
Smith, a healthy scratch the previous five games, swatted in a rebound of Mitch Marner’s shot from the right side of the crease into the top right corner of the net for the game-winner. Brayden McNabb and Ivan Barbashev also scored goals and Adin Hill finished with 13 saves for Vegas.
Wyatt Johnston set a franchise single-season record with his 23rd power-play goal and Justin Hryckowian also scored for Dallas, which suffered just its second regulation loss in the last 19 games (15-2-2). Casey DeSmith made 30 saves for the Stars, who had a four-game win streak against the Golden Knights snapped.
Ducks 6, Sabres 5 (OT)
Troy Terry scored twice, including the game-winner at 1:29 of overtime in a win for Anaheim against visiting Buffalo.
Beckett Sennecke, Chris Kreider and Jackson LaCombe each had a goal and an assist for the Ducks, who have won three of their past four games. Ville Husso made 24 saves.
Zach Benson and Owen Power each had a goal and an assist, and Alex Lyon made 27 saves for the Sabres, who had won four straight.
Avalanche 3, Capitals 2 (OT)
Brock Nelson scored the game-winning goal at 1:22 of overtime as Colorado rallied past host Washington.
Nelson won the game for the Avalanche when Martin Necas set him up for a slap shot past Logan Thompson. Gabriel Landeskog and Nicolas Roy also found the back of the net for Colorado, which became the first team to secure a spot in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Necas had two assists, and Mackenzie Blackwood made 20 saves.
Alex Ovechkin and Justin Sourdif scored, and Thompson made 21 saves for the Capitals, who had previously won two straight games and three of their last four.
Predators 3, Blackhawks 2 (OT)
Filip Forsberg scored twice, including the game-winner 1:05 into overtime, to lift surging Nashville past host Chicago for its fourth straight victory.
Forsberg finished with three points, adding an assist on Steven Stamkos’ game-tying goal at 9:43 of the third period on a goal in front of the net moments after a Nashville power play expired. Back in the lineup after a two-game absence with an upper-body injury, Predators goaltender Juuse Saros finished with 26 saves.
Nick Lardis and Connor Bedard found the net for the Blackhawks, who have lost four of five with two defeats in that stretch coming in overtime. Spencer Knight stopped 30 shots in the losing effort.
Hurricanes 5, Penguins 1
Seth Jarvis had a goal and two assists and Carolina went 3-for-5 on the power play in a win over host Pittsburgh.
Nikolaj Ehlers had a goal and an assist and Sebastian Aho, defenseman Jalen Chatfield and Mark Jankowski also scored for the Hurricanes, who have won four of their last five. Frederik Andersen made 18 saves.
Egor Chinakhov scored the lone goal for the Penguins, who had their four-game point streak (3-0-1) snapped and were playing the second of back-to-back games. They beat visiting Winnipeg 5-4 in a shootout on Saturday afternoon. Stuart Skinner stopped 21 shots for Pittsburgh.
Islanders 1, Blue Jackets 0
Ilya Sorokin stopped all 26 shots he faced and made Bo Horvat’s goal on the first shot of the game stand up New York, which edged Columbus in a game with Eastern Conference playoff implications in Elmont, N.Y.
The Islanders (85 points) moved ahead of the idle Detroit Red Wings (84 points) for the second and final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference and tied the Blue Jackets for third place in the Metropolitan Division, though Columbus has a game in hand.
The shutout was the seventh of the season for Sorokin and the 29th of his career, which extended his franchise record. He is tied for the franchise’s single-season record for shutouts with Glenn “Chico” Resch and Semyon Varlamov. Jet Greaves recorded 21 saves for the Blue Jackets, whose 12-game point streak (8-0-4) ended.
Flames 4, Lightning 3 (OT)
Ryan Strome scored the winning goal in overtime as host Calgary beat Tampa Bay for its third consecutive win.
Victor Olofsson, Morgan Frost and Mikael Backlund also scored for the Flames (29-34-7, 65 points) and goaltender Devin Cooley made 32 saves. Calgary has won 54 consecutive games when scoring four or more goals, the fourth-longest streak in NHL history.
Ryan McDonagh, Darren Raddysh and Pontus Holmberg replied for the Lightning, who had a three-game winning streak snapped in the final outing of their four-game road swing. Goalie Jonas Johansson stopped 25 shots.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Yordan Alvarez bangs two more homers as Astros edge Rangers
May 27, 2026; Arlington, Texas, USA; Houston Astros designated hitter Yordan Alvarez (44) and left fielder Taylor Trammell (26) celebrate after Alvarez hits a go-ahead home run against the Texas Rangers during the eighth inning at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images Yordan Alvarez went 3-for-4 with two solo home runs, including a go-ahead blast in the eighth inning, and the Houston Astros beat the Texas Rangers 4-3 on Wednesday in Arlington, Texas.
Alvarez has hit five home runs in his last three games to pull even with Chicago White Sox slugger Munetaka Murakami for the American League lead with 20 homers.
Mike Burrows (3-6) allowed two runs on five hits with one walk and six strikeouts over seven innings. He retired 20 of his final 23 batters to help Houston win for the fifth time in its last six games. Bryan King gave up Joc Pederson’s leadoff homer in the bottom of the eighth before Enyel De Los Santos pitched the final 1 2/3 innings for his fourth save.
Alvarez broke a 2-2 tie by crushing a 3-0 sweeper from Tyler Alexander (1-1) to start the eighth. After Christian Walker walked, another run scored on Taylor Trammell’s sacrifice bunt when Alexander’s throw sailed past first baseman Jake Burger.
Pederson went 3-for-4 with a pair of solo homers for Texas, which has lost five of its last six. Pederson has gone deep three times in his last two games.
The Rangers claimed a 1-0 lead in the first inning against Burrows, who was greeted by Pederson’s leadoff single. Pederson moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on Brandon Nimmo’s one-out single.
Houston answered with a run in the second inning against Jacob deGrom, who was denied in his bid for his 100th career victory.
Trammell doubled to begin the inning, advanced to third on Cam Smith’s fly ball and scored on Braden Shewmake’s sacrifice fly.
Pederson began the third inning by depositing Burrows’ 0-1 changeup over the wall in right center.
Houston pulled even on Alvarez’s leadoff homer in the fourth against deGrom, who allowed two runs on four hits over six innings. He walked one and struck out six.
With two more home runs on Wednesday, Alvarez has 25 homers against the Rangers in 72 regular season games.
–Field Level Media
Sports
First-period spree brings Hurricanes to verge of Stanley Cup Final
May 27, 2026; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; during the first period in game four of the Eastern Conference Final of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-Imagn Images The visiting Hurricanes scored three times in less than three minutes in the first period and Frederik Andersen made 18 saves, lifting Carolina to a 4-0 victory over the Montreal Canadiens in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals on Wednesday.
The Hurricanes hold a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. Carolina can punch its ticket to the Stanley Cup Final for the third time in franchise history with a win in Game 5 on Friday in Raleigh, N.C.
Sebastian Aho scored a power-play goal and captain Jordan Staal and Logan Stankoven also converted in a 2:47 stretch late in the first period. Andrei Svechnikov added an empty-net tally late in the third period.
Andersen turned aside three shots in the third period to preserve his eighth career postseason shutout and fifth with the Hurricanes, surpassing Cam Ward for the most in franchise history. Andersen has three shutouts this postseason, one in each round.
Nikolaj Ehlers and defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere each notched two assists for the Hurricanes, who became the seventh team in NHL history to win each of its first six road games of a postseason.
Jakub Dobes made 39 saves on his 25th birthday for the Canadiens, who have lost four in a row at home and six of eight overall in Montreal during the playoffs.
Carolina opened the scoring for the fourth time in as many games in this series after Aho’s one-timer from the right circle beat Dobes inside the near post with 5:01 remaining in the first period.
Aho’s 11th career power-play goal in the playoffs eclipsed former captain Eric Staal for the most in franchise history.
The Hurricanes doubled the advantage 68 seconds later after defenseman K’Andre Miller skated below the goal line and backhanded a centering feed that caromed off the stick of Jordan Staal and into the goal. Montreal’s Josh Anderson was attempting to fend off Jordan Staal in front of the net.
Gostisbehere blocked a shot by Canadiens defenseman Lane Hutson, setting up a 2-on-1 rush that saw Jackson Blake feed Stankoven for his team-leading eighth goal of the playoffs 1:39 later.
Dobes extended his left pad to deny Blake on a breakaway to keep the game scoreless just over two minutes into the game.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Dodgers OF Teoscar Hernandez exits vs. Rockies with hamstring strain
May 23, 2026; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers left fielder Teoscar Hernandez (37) hits an RBI single during the ninth inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images Los Angeles Dodgers left fielder Teoscar Hernandez left Wednesday’s game against the Colorado Rockies after the second inning with a left hamstring strain.
Hernandez hit a ground ball to shortstop in his first at-bat and had a pronounced limp after running through the first-base bag. He grabbed at his left hamstring after reaching the dugout.
Hyeseong Kim replaced Hernandez in left field to start the third inning, his first appearance in left during two seasons in the major leagues.
In 51 games this season, Hernandez is batting .276 with seven home runs and 31 RBIs. After some early-season struggles, Hernandez entered Wednesday’s game batting .370 with three home runs over his previous 15 contests.
A veteran of 11 seasons, Hernandez is a career .261 hitter with 224 home runs and 692 RBIs in 1,149 games with the Houston Astros (2016-17), Toronto Blue Jays (2017-22), Seattle Mariners (2023) and Dodgers (2024-26).
–Field Level Media
Yordan Alvarez bangs two more homers as Astros edge Rangers
First-period spree brings Hurricanes to verge of Stanley Cup Final
