Sports
Predators aim to get even vs. Connor McDavid-less Oilers
Oct 26, 2024; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Nashville Predators left wing Filip Forsberg (9) drives the puck down the ice in the third period against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Casey Gower-Imagn Images The Edmonton Oilers are preparing to move on without their superstar for the time being.
Meanwhile, the Nashville Predators hope their early struggles are behind them.
With Connor McDavid injured, the visiting Oilers aim to win at Nashville for the second time this month on Thursday night.
Less than a minute into Edmonton’s Monday night contest at Columbus, McDavid exited after sliding hard into the boards with his left skate.
The Oilers went on to lose 6-1, ending a 2-0-1 stretch, but the bigger loss came with McDavid. The star forward will miss the next 2-3 weeks with an ankle injury, the team announced Wednesday.
“It’s tough any time you are playing without your best player,” Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch said. “Obviously, our team is going to look different.”
McDavid’s 10 points are tied with fellow standout Leon Draisaitl for the most on a team that has totaled just 22 goals while sitting 4-5-1 on the young campaign.
The Oilers will need others to step up in McDavid’s absence – after Draisaitl’s six goals, no other skater has more than three. Mattias Ekholm scored Edmonton’s lone goal late in Monday’s lopsided defeat.
“(McDavid’s) our leader and also the best player in the game,” said forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who has just four points on the season. “We’ve got to do a better job of stepping up when a guy like that goes down.”
McDavid had a goal and defenseman Brett Kulak posted his only two tallies so far this season during the Oilers’ 4-2 victory at Nashville on Oct. 17.
That marked the fourth loss amid the Predators’ 0-5-0 start, during which they were outscored 23-10. Since then, Nashville is 3-0-1 and has outscored opponents 13-8.
The Predators erased a 2-0 deficit at Tampa Bay on Monday before losing 3-2 in overtime. However, earning a point kept Nashville feeling confident amid its early-season turnaround.
“I thought we were resilient,” Predators coach Andrew Brunette said. “I thought we did a good job just trying to stay in the moment. … We wanted two (points) but got one.”
Steven Stamkos recorded a pair of assists in his return to Tampa Bay, where he spent the previous 16 seasons as the face of the Lightning franchise. Those were just the second and third points recorded by Stamkos during a rough start to his Nashville tenure.
“I mean, it takes time,” Stamkos said of transitioning to a new team and city after spending his career in one spot for so long. “Certainly, it’s been an adjustment period.”
Stamkos put four shots on goal against Edmonton earlier this month, but Filip Forsberg and Jonathan Marchessault provided the Predators’ scoring in that contest. Forsberg has 13 goals and 12 assists in 26 career games against the Oilers.
Nashville’s Juuse Saros (2.75 goals-against average) made 32 saves in that game. Backup Scott Wedgewood has a 3.54 GAA while splitting his two starts this season, both coming at home.
Edmonton’s Calvin Pickard (2.91 goals-against average) made one of his three starts this season at Nashville, recording 25 saves. Meanwhile, Stuart Skinner (3.51 GAA) has yielded nine goals on 48 shots faced in losing his first two road starts of 2024-25.
Draisaitl has 25 goals and 18 assists in 27 career games against the Predators.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Matt Boldy, Wild make big statement, rout Stars in series opener
Apr 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
Sports
Gavin Williams fans 11 in gem as Guardians stifle O's
Apr 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
Sports
Tyler Reddick rules AdventHealth 400 qualifying, collects another pole
May 11, 2025; Kansas City, Kansas, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Tyler Reddick (45) races during the AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Scott Sewell-Imagn Images KANSAS CITY, Kan. — A fourth victory from the pole position would suit Tyler Reddick just fine after the driver of the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota prevailed in Saturday’s highly competitive qualifying session at Kansas Speedway.
Reddick toured the 1.5-mile speedway in 29.142 seconds (185.300 mph) to claim his third pole of the season, his second at Kansas and the 14th of his career.
In doing so, Reddick edged his car owner, Denny Hamlin (185.179 mph), by 0.019 seconds for the top starting spot in Sunday’s AdventHealth 400, the ninth NASCAR Cup Series race of the year.
The pole was the fifth in the last six Kansas races for Toyota drivers.
The 2026 season already has been a remarkable one for Reddick, who won the first three races and added a fourth victory March 22 at Darlington Raceway. Reddick’s last three wins have come from the pole position: at EchoPark Speedway near Atlanta (starting on metrics after a qualifying rainout), Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, and at Darlington.
Should Reddick win on Sunday, he would become the fourth driver in Cup Series history –and the first since Dale Earnhardt in 1987 — to win five of the first nine events of a season. Reddick tops the series standings with a 62-point edge over second-place Ryan Blaney.
“We had a lot of good handling in our car for Atlanta,” Reddick said of his and his team’s ability to convert qualifying speed into race wins. “COTA, obviously I felt like the 12 (Blaney) and Shane (van Gisbergen) were really strong. I think just good handling, handling that you can trust, handling that stays with you in the long run (really helps). So, Darlington, same thing.
“Here, the speeds were a bit higher, and I didn’t know if we’d be able to get the pole, but it was really nice to see that the handling that we have, the short-run speed that we have, appears to be all there today.”
Bristol winner Ty Gibbs and defending series champion Kyle Larson posted identical times (29.192 seconds for 184.982 mph) and will start third and fourth, respectively, with Gibbs getting the nod on owner points. Larson is the two-time defending winner of the spring race at Kansas.
Chase Briscoe qualified fifth at 184.938 mph as Toyotas claimed four of the top five starting positions. Carson Hocevar was sixth, followed by Chris Buescher, Daniel Suarez, Blaney and Bubba Wallace.
–NASCAR Wire Service
Matt Boldy, Wild make big statement, rout Stars in series opener
Gavin Williams fans 11 in gem as Guardians stifle O's
