Sports
NHL roundup: Oilers stars hit milestones in rout of Kings
Feb 26, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid (97) and Los Angeles Kings right wing Alex Laferriere (14) battle for the puck during the second period at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Griffin Hooper-Imagn Images Connor McDavid had a goal and an assist for his sixth straight 100-point season, Leon Draisaitl notched his eighth straight 30-goal campaign, and the Edmonton Oilers ended a season-high four-game skid with an 8-1 romp over the host Los Angeles Kings on Thursday night.
McDavid has reached triple digits nine times overall in his career, third most in NHL history behind Wayne Gretzky (15) and Mario Lemieux (10).
Draisaitl had a goal and three assists, Zach Hyman a goal and two assists, Jake Walman scored twice, Andrew Mangiapane produced a goal and an assist and Connor Ingram made 21 saves for the Oilers, who were coming off a 6-5 loss at the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday.
Warren Foegele scored for the Kings, who have dropped five in a row (0-4-1) to remain three points out of a playoff spot. Darcy Kuemper stopped 11 of 15 shots before he was replaced by Anton Forsberg, who finished with 18 saves for Los Angeles.
Wild 5, Avalanche 2
Matt Boldy had two empty-net goals and added two assists, Joel Eriksson Ek also scored twice and Minnesota beat Colorado in Denver in a matchup of two of the league’s top teams.
Filip Gustavsson made 44 saves for Minnesota, which has won six in a row and tightened the race in the Central Division. Mats Zuccarello also scored, and Kirill Kaprizov had two assists.
Martin Necas had two goals, Nathan MacKinnon contributed two assists and Mackenzie Blackwood turned away 31 shots for the Avalanche. Colorado leads the NHL with 85 points and the Wild have 80, tied for second most in the league.
Hurricanes 5, Lightning 4
Carolina’s Sebastian Aho broke a third-period tie with a power-play goal and the Hurricanes overcame blowing a three-goal lead to beat Tampa Bay in a matchup of the Eastern Conference’s top two teams in Raleigh, N.C.
Logan Stankoven and Taylor Hall both had a goal and an assist and Nikolaj Ehlers also scored — all in the opening seven minutes — for the Hurricanes, who were in their first game since the Olympic layoff. Seth Jarvis also supplied a goal and an assist and Andrei Svechnikov assisted on two goals for Carolina. Brandon Bussi made 24 saves.
Brandon Point posted a goal and an assist for the Lightning, who opened their post-break schedule a night earlier by defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs. Brandon Hagel, Nikita Kucherov and Dominic James also scored for the Lightning, who were without head coach Jon Cooper for the second night in a row following the death of his father.
Red Wings 2, Senators 1 (OT)
Dylan Larkin scored his second goal of the game at 1:50 of overtime as visiting Detroit beat Ottawa.
John Gibson made 26 saves for the Red Wings, who had lost four of five (1-3-1) before the break. Lucas Raymond notched two assists.
Brady Tkachuk scored for the Senators, who had won five of six before the break. Linus Ullmark turned away 18 shots.
Panthers 5, Maple Leafs 1
Brad Marchand scored two goals as Florida resumed play following the Olympic break with a win over Toronto at Sunrise, Fla., in a battle of teams looking to climb into Eastern Conference playoff contention.
Evan Rodrigues added a goal and an assist for the Panthers while Carter Verhaeghe and Matthew Tkachuk also scored. Anton Lundell added two assists and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 28 shots for Florida, which was on a 1-5-0 run ahead of the break.
John Tavares scored for the Maple Leafs, who have lost their first two games after the break. Joseph Woll made 32 saves.
Bruins 4, Blue Jackets 2
Boston erased an early one-goal deficit with three straight goals and held on to defeat visiting Columbus.
Viktor Arvidsson tallied twice and Sean Kuraly and Morgan Geekie also lit the lamp for the Bruins, who are 5-0-3 in their past eight games. Joonas Korpisalo made 36 saves, and Michael DiPietro stopped two shots after Korpisalo briefly exited in the second period with an injury.
Adam Fantilli had a goal and an assist, Kirill Marchenko also scored and Mason Marchment assisted on both goals for the Blue Jackets, whose seven-game winning streak ended. Elvis Merzlikins stopped 19 shots.
Islanders 4, Canadiens 3 (OT)
Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored the game-winner at 1:46 of overtime as New York rallied for a victory at Montreal.
Matthew Schaefer scored twice, Anders Lee tied the game late and Simon Holmstrom had two assists for the Islanders, who have won three in a row. Ilya Sorokin made 21 saves.
Noah Dobson tallied twice against his former team, Cole Caufield added a goal and Samiel Montembeault made 22 saves for the Canadiens, who have lost two of three (1-0-2) but extended their point streak to six (4-0-2).
Penguins 4, Devils 1
Connor Clifton and Egor Chinakhov scored 50 seconds apart during a three-goal third period to help Pittsburgh, minus superstar Sidney Crosby, break open a tight contest and beat visiting New Jersey.
Tommy Novak opened the scoring, Evgeni Malkin recorded two assists, Blake Lizotte added an empty-netter and Arturs Silovs was stout in making 28 saves for Pittsburgh. Crosby will miss at least four weeks with a lower-body injury suffered while playing for Canada at the Milan Cortina Games earlier this month.
Paul Cotter scored for the Devils, who are second-to-last in the Eastern Conference standings and matched a season high with their fifth consecutive loss, which is part of a 1-7-0 rut. Jacob Markstrom made 31 saves.
Predators 4, Blackhawks 2
Ryan O’Reilly scored a game-winner late in the third period to help power Nashville past visiting Chicago.
Roman Josi made a beautiful pass to O’Reilly, who tipped the game-winning goal past Spencer Knight to secure the victory for the Predators with 3:16 left . Filip Forsberg, Steven Stamkos and Matthew Wood also scored, while Justus Annunen improved to a perfect 4-0 in his career against the Blackhawks with the 21-save performance.
Connor Bedard was dominant in the loss while scoring for the Blackhawks and Tyler Bertuzzi also found the back of the net. Spencer Knight finished with 22 saves for Chicago.
Flyers 3, Rangers 2 (OT)
Matvei Michkov scored twice, including the overtime winner, as Philadelphia battled back to edge host New York and extend the Rangers’ slump.
Michkov skated around J.T. Miller and snapped a shot five-hole past Igor Shesterkin at 2:10 of the extra frame for his 15th of the season. Trevor Zegras scored the other goal for the Flyers, who trailed 2-0 midway through the game.
Samuel Ersson made 23 saves as Philadelphia won for just the fourth time in its past 11 games (4-4-3). Sam Carrick and Alexis Lafreniere had the goals for the Rangers, who have dropped five straight (0-4-1) and are 2-11-2 since their Winter Classic victory over the Florida Panthers on Jan. 2.
Flames 4, Sharks 1
Nazem Kadri scored twice and goaltender Dustin Wolf continued his mastery against the team he grew up supporting as visiting Calgary beat San Jose. The Flames have won 50 consecutive games when scoring four or more goals.
Connor Zary and Mikael Backlund both netted one goal and one assist for the Flames, who posted a second consecutive victory. Wolf, who hails from nearby Gilroy, Calif., made 34 saves to win for the 10th time in 12 career clashes with the Sharks.
Tyler Toffoli opened the scoring for the Sharks, who have lost five straight (0-4-1). Yaroslav Askarov stopped 25 shots.
Blues 5, Kraken 1
Dylan Holloway came off the injured list to produce three goals and an assist, leading St. Louis past visiting Seattle.
Pius Suter had a goal and two assists for the Blues, who won for just the second time in 10 games (2-7-1). It was St. Louis’ first game after the three-week Olympic break. Jordan Kyrou also scored for St. Louis. Jonatan Berggren and Justin Faulk earned two assists and Joel Hofer made 23 saves.
Kaapo Kakko scored for the Kraken, who have lost their first two games coming out of the break. Philipp Grubauer made 27 saves.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Knicks and Nuggets Blow Big Leads: What Went Wrong in Game 2?
Roughly 5,000 feet of elevation separate Denver and New York City.
Still, gravity works the same regardless of where one stands. Just ask the NBA teams in both towns.
“You get too high, and you get, I don’t want to say cocky, but feeling yourself,” Nuggets guard Tim Hardaway Jr. said.
That sensation went south on either side of the country Monday night.
After squandering sizable leads that would have cemented commanding 2-0 advantages in their respective first-round playoff series, the Nuggets and Knicks now find themselves bracing for a fight.
Should their opponents ultimately have their number, Denver and New York will look back with disdain on 19 and 14. Those were the Game 2 cushions the teams coughed up as the No. 3 seeds in the Eastern and Western Conference.
“It’s a game we should’ve won,” Knicks guard Josh Hart said. “In the playoffs, we can’t give away games.”
Be that as it may, the Knicks did just that against the Atlanta Hawks. They controlled the outcome for much of the night and took a 12-point edge into the fourth quarter after leading by as many as 14.
Then New York shot 5-for-22 from the floor in the final 12 minutes compared to 10-for-15 for Atlanta. Fighting through vulgar chants from the Madison Square Garden faithful, Hawks star CJ McCullom scored six straight points down the stretch during one key sequence on the way to a game-high 32.
“In that fourth quarter, you could tell [the Hawks] were playing with a level of desperation,” Knicks coach Mike Brown said. “There were four 50-50 balls, and they got three of the four. We always use that stat to gauge the level of aggression in a game. In that fourth quarter, their aggression stepped up.”
New York’s melted at the same time. How many late possessions saw the Knicks pass or hold the ball around the perimeter before settling for subpar looks from 3-point range? The Knicks went 3-for-11 from deep as part of their flop.
Denver led the Minnesota Timberwolves by 19 points early in the second quarter before crumbling. The Nuggets still were ahead by three points to start the fourth quarter but a combined 2-for-12 shooting effort from pillars Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray in the final 12 minutes took a toll.
“I feel like we had the game in hand, and then we just didn’t make our shots,” Murray said.
As with the Knicks and Hawks, the reversal of fortunes stemmed both from the hosts’ miscues and an outstanding effort from a visiting player, as Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards had 30 points.
“Great leadership, positive,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. “He recognized he needed to get into attack mode and get downhill a little bit more. He did that.”
The Knicks and Nuggets no doubt sensed the need to amp up their own urgency as things started slipping away Monday.
That neither could act upon it didn’t signal the end for either New York or Denver, of course. But now there’s unnecessary added weight for the climb back to the top.
Sports
Pistons seek return to identity vs. Magic after Game 1 shocker
Apr 19, 2026; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Detroit Pistons forward Tobias Harris (12) is defended by Orlando Magic guard Desmond Bane (3) in the second half during the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Little Caesars Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images After an exceptional regular season, this wasn’t the start to the NBA playoffs that the Detroit Pistons envisioned.
Reeling from a stunning Game 1 loss in which only two players reached double figures, the Eastern Conference’s top seed heads into Game 2 Wednesday against the visiting Orlando Magic facing early pressure to reset the best-of-seven series.
The eighth-seeded Magic controlled the opener from the start, never trailing and leaning on a balanced offensive attack. Paolo Banchero led the way with 23 points while Franz Wagner scored 11 of his 19 in the fourth quarter to help close out the 112-101 win.
For Detroit, the issue wasn’t just the loss — it was how it happened. The Pistons never established their defensive identity and struggled to find consistent offense beyond star guard Cade Cunningham, two areas that will be central entering Game 2.
“It starts, always, with us defensively,” said Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff. “When you go back and watch the film of that (game), we weren’t ourselves defensively. The telling tale is typically when we play them, they go to the free-throw line a ton.
“… We went 38 (times) but they went 19. So that means we weren’t playing our brand of basketball, being physical, being handsy, being aggressive. That kind of sets the tone for us.”
Offensively, the Pistons leaned on Cunningham, who scored 39 points, but got little other support — scoring their fewest points in nearly three months, since a loss to the Phoenix Suns on Jan. 29. Detroit will need more help from All-Star center Jalen Duren, who was held to just eight points and seven rebounds in Game 1.
“They came out ready from the jump,” Duren said. “We didn’t really meet their intensity. They’ve been playing with their backs against the walls the last few weeks, so they were already kind of already rolling. I think we just got to do a better job meeting that intensity.”
Duren said the Pistons remain confident despite the loss, which extended their home playoff losing streak to 11 games, the longest in NBA history.
“We know the type of team we are,” Duren said. “We feel like we’re the better team. We know that we’ve just got to make adjustments and come out smarter, come out playing harder.”
Orlando coach Jamahl Mosley said he has talked to his team about not becoming too overconfident coming off Sunday’s win.
“It’s one game at a time,” Mosley said of his message to the team. “It’s the reality that, yeah, you did get the Game 1 win, but now you have to go and figure out how to get a Game 2 (win). There’s going to be, obviously, the positive talk about what you’ve done, and thinking there’s reasons to celebrate, but at the end of the day, it’s one game, and that’s the most important piece that we’ve talked about: just taking it one game at a time.”
Banchero said the team has received the message, and he believes the key for the Magic is to play defense like they did in the opener.
“I thought we were on a string, just communicating, talking out coverages,” Banchero said. “I think it’s just going to continue to take that, being aggressive, being the aggressors on defense and just not trying to give them much. Obviously they’re going to make shots, but just not trying to give them any free looks.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Lynx star Napheesa Collier (ankle) targets June for on-court work
Mar 2, 2026; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Unrivaled Co-founder Napheesa Collier at Barclay’s Center. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images The Minnesota Lynx said Tuesday that star forward Napheesa Collier’s rehab from left ankle surgery is “progressing as expected,” and she could resume on-court activities in early June.
The team plans to release updates on Collier’s progress when available.
The timeline means Collier will miss, at minimum, the first month of the WNBA season, which begins May 10 for the Lynx.
Collier underwent surgery on her ankle on March 24 after sustaining a severe injury during the 2025 playoffs. Per reports at the time, she sustained a Grade 2 tear of three ligaments in the ankle and a muscle in her left shin on a collision during Game 3 of the playoff semifinal series vs. Phoenix.
Collier, 29, averaged a career-high 22.9 points and shot 40.3% from 3-point range to go with 7.3 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.5 blocks per game last year. The back-to-back WNBA Most Valuable Player runner-up, Collier is a five-time All-Star and earned MVP honors in the 2024 Commissioner’s Cup final and the 2025 All-Star Game.
–Field Level Media
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