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Penguins are hot, Rangers are not ahead of meeting

NHL: Pittsburgh Penguins at Vancouver CanucksJan 25, 2026; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Pittsburgh Penguins forward Ben Kindel (81) talks with forward Anthony Mantha (39) during a stop in play against the Vancouver Canucks in the third period at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Frid-Imagn Images

The Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Rangers are heading in opposite directions going into their game on Saturday afternoon in Pittsburgh.

The Penguins have won five in a row and six of their last seven and are in a playoff spot, while the Rangers, who have lost five of the past six games and 10 of 12, have the worst record in the Eastern Conference.

Pittsburgh’s latest triumph was a 6-2 home victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday night.

Anthony Mantha had a goal and two assists, Connor Dewar scored twice and Ben Kindel and defenseman Ryan Shea each added a goal and a helper.

Kindel, an 18-year-old rookie, has three goals in the last two games.

“You want those contributions from throughout (the lineup),” Penguins coach Dan Muse said. “I think guys have shown that. I think guys have found a way to make good contributions at both ends. We want to be seeing that. It was really good there tonight.”

Pittsburgh scored six straight goals, four in the second period, after falling behind 1-0 in the middle of the first.

Bryan Rust missed the first of three games due to suspension following his check to the head of the Vancouver Canucks’ Brock Boeser in a 3-2 win on Sunday.

The Penguins recalled forward Rutger McGroarty on Thursday from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League. He has two goals and an assist in 17 games with Pittsburgh.

They also placed defenseman Jack St. Ivany on injured reserve after he underwent surgery on his left hand, which he injured on Sunday against the Canucks.

Evgeni Malkin and defenseman Kris Letang did not practice on Friday. The team said their status will be updated Saturday.

The Rangers are coming off successive losses to the archrival New York Islanders in back-to-back games.

The Rangers lost 5-2 in Elmont, N.Y., on Wednesday and 2-1 at home on Thursday night.

Star winger Artemi Panarin sat out of both games because of roster management. The pending unrestricted free agent is expected to be traded.

“I thought for the most part the team competed pretty hard,” Rangers coach Mike Sullivan said after Thursday’s loss. “I thought we generated a fair amount of scoring chances. The goals are hard to come by now. I thought (Mika Zibanejad’s) line in particular had a number of Grade-A looks. Give (Islanders goalie Ilya) Sorokin credit, I thought he made some timely saves for them. There’s a fine line between winning and losing. I thought we played well enough to win.”

Zibanejad scored the only Rangers goal and Jonathan Quick made 19 saves.

“We had enough chances to score a few more and get a better result, but that wasn’t the case,” Zibanejad said. “As positive as we try to be, or try to look for the positives, it’s hard to be when you lose another game.”

The goal was Zibanejad’s 273rd as a Ranger, moving him past Andy Bathgate and into fifth all-time in franchise history. Zibanejad’s 337 career goals rank seventh all-time among Swedish players.

–Field Level Media

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Keith Horne surprise leader of Senior PGA Championship

Syndication: Florida Times-UnionKeith Horne and his caddie walk past a sign warning fans of oncoming dangerous weather on Friday during the first round of the Constellation Furyk & Friends, at the Timuquana Country Club.

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Keith Horne finds himself in an unexpected position — leading the Senior PGA Championship with 18 holes to go.

Horne, 54, fired a 5-under 66 during Saturday’s third round to seize a one-shot lead over four players at Concession Golf Club at Bradenton, Fla.

Sitting at 11-under 205 is a surreal feeling for Horne, who carded six birdies against one bogey in his stellar third round.

The South Africa native has one Top 5 finish and $327,937 in earnings to show for his 14 previous PGA Tour Champions events. If he finishes on top Sunday, he’ll add $540,000 and a major to the top of his resume.

“Of course, I’m surprised,” Horne said. “It’s such a strong field, such a quality field that’s playing this week. It’s not something we get to play in that often against the guys of this stature and quality. A lot of them are my idols. I watched a lot of them on TV.

“… It’s not something I sort of planned or played for. I just try to stick to my own game, and I think that helped me today without looking around too much at what I’m leading.”

Thailand’s Thammanoon Sriroj (66), Stewart Cink (70) and the Australian combo of Steve Allan (68) and Scott Hend (72) are the foursome tied at 10 under. Ben Crane (71) sits two shots back in sixth place.

Horne has spent most of his career playing overseas. He appeared in five Champions events in 2025, including tying for 28th at the Senior PGA Championship.

His best finish was a tie for 11th at the Principal Charity Classic. He made four of five cuts.

On Saturday, he had a bogey on his first hole before gaining the stroke back with a birdie on No. 3. Back-to-back birdies on Nos. 7 and 8 gave him momentum and he scored back-to-back birdies twice on the back nine during a five-hole stretch.

One thing Horne said he won’t do on Sunday: track who’s chasing him.

“No, I’m not a scoreboard-watcher,” Horne said. “I think you get two types of people. I’m not the most confrontational person so, you know, I’d rather just stay away and just stick to my own game.

“I think if I look up and I feel like I need to chase or push or beat somebody specific, it doesn’t help me. It only hinders me. I maybe just try too hard or put too much pressure on myself.”

Hend shared the second-round lead after rounds of 69 and 65, but he took a step backward Saturday with three bogeys over the first 11 holes. He rebounded with three birdies down the stretch to finish just one shot back.

He is well-aware the final round will feature a bunched-up leaderboard.

“Just stick to my game plan, play to my ability,” Hend said. “If I play to my ability, then I’ve got a chance to win. If I don’t win, then as long as I finish as hard as I possibly can, that’s fine.”

Brian Gay, who shared the second-round lead with Hend, shot 2-over 74 shares seventh at 208. Also part of that tie are Fiji’s Vijay Singh (67), Canada’s Greg Owen (68) and Spain’s Miguel Angel Jimenez (68).

–Field Level Media

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Matt Boldy, Wild make big statement, rout Stars in series opener

NHL: Stanley Cup Playoffs-Minnesota Wild at Dallas StarsApr 18, 2026; Dallas, Texas, USA; Minnesota Wild left wing Matt Boldy (12) celebrates center Joel Eriksson Ek (14) gaol against there Dallas Stars in the first period in game one of the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Thomas Shea-Imagn Images

Matt Boldy had two goals and an assist for the visiting Minnesota Wild in a 6-1 win against the Dallas Stars in Game 1 of their Western Conference first-round series on Saturday.

Kirill Kaprizov had a goal and two assists, Joel Eriksson Ek scored twice, Ryan Hartman had a goal and an assist, and Mats Zuccarello had three assists for the Wild, who are trying to win their first playoff series since 2015 after getting eliminated in the opening round eight times since then.

Jesper Wallstedt got the start over Filip Gustavsson and the rookie made 27 saves for Minnesota.

Jason Robertson scored and Jake Oettinger made 23 saves for Dallas, which lost Game 1 of its first-round series 5-1 against the Colorado Avalanche last season before rebounding and eventually reaching to the Western Conference Finals.

Minnesota was on the first power play of the game when Zuccarello passed the puck from above the left faceoff circle to Boldy just below the goal line. He made a touch pass to Eriksson Ek cutting into the slot area and Ek scored with a one-timer from the left hash marks for a 1-0 lead at 5:35 of the first period.

Minnesota scored 56 seconds into the second period to extend the lead to 2-0.

Kaprizov received a pass along the wall in the Dallas zone after he was left alone coming down the right side. He had room to skate just below the right faceoff dot before scoring shortside with a wrist shot for his 16th career playoff goal, tying Zach Parise for the most in franchise history.

Brock Faber shot a bouncing puck from just above the left circle that Hartman redirected into the net from in front of the crease to make it 3-0 at 3:28.

Boldy made it 4-0 at 6:30 when he tapped in a loose puck from the side of the net.

Robertson backhanded the puck into the net from in close while on a power play to cut it to 4-1 at 15:10 of the second period.

Eriksson Ek tacked on a power-play goal at 8:13 of the third period to make it 5-1, and Boldy scored into an empty net with 3:08 left for a 6-1 lead.

Game 2 is Monday in Dallas.

–Field Level Media

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Gavin Williams fans 11 in gem as Guardians stifle O's

MLB: Baltimore Orioles at Cleveland GuardiansApr 18, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Gavin Williams (32) throws a pitch during the first inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

Brayan Rocchio hit a three-run homer and Gavin Williams pitched seven strong innings to lead the Cleveland Guardians to a 4-2 victory over the visiting Baltimore Orioles on Saturday.

Bo Naylor also homered for the Guardians, who won for just the second time in the past five games. Cleveland had just three hits.

Williams (3-1) struck out 11 and allowed one run, three hits and one walk. It marked the second time this season and sixth time overall that he has struck out 10 or more in a game.

Cade Smith fanned the side in the ninth for his fifth save.

Leody Taveras and Gunnar Henderson (two hits) hit solo homers for Baltimore, which had just four hits while losing for the fourth time in the past five games.

Dean Kremer (0-1) pitched six innings for the Orioles and gave up three runs and two hits. He struck out seven and walked two.

Baltimore’s Pete Alonso and Colin Cowser struck out in all four at-bats. Dylan Beavers fanned three times as 16 Orioles went down on strikes.

Taveras came up with one out in the fourth and drilled a 1-0 curveball from Williams over the fence to right for the game’s first run.

Meanwhile, Kremer tossed 4 1/3 no-hit innings and his walk to Rhys Hoskins was followed by Daniel Schneemann’s line single to right. After Naylor fanned, Rocchio jumped on a 2-2 fastball from Kremer and deposited the ball over the fence in right to give the Guardians a 3-1 lead.

Williams picked up where he left off after the Taveras homer by retiring the final 11 batters he faced.

Hunter Gaddis replaced Williams and Henderson touched him up for a one-out solo shot to right in the eighth.

But Naylor got the run back leading off the bottom of the inning when he launched a 1-1 changeup from Albert Suarez into the bleachers in right.

Smith fanned Beavers, Cowser and Taveras while closing it out as Cleveland gained a 2-1 edge in a series that concludes Sunday.

–Field Level Media

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