Sports
Predators stumble into Minnesota after shutout loss
Dec 30, 2024; Winnipeg, Manitoba, CAN; Nashville Predators defenseman Roman Josi (59) skates after the puck against the Winnipeg Jets during the second period at Canada Life Centre. Mandatory Credit: Terrence Lee-Imagn Images If their first matchup is any indication, the second meeting of the season between the Minnesota Wild and Nashville Predators could come down to a fortunate bounce here or a well-placed deflection there.
Minnesota earned a 3-2 overtime win the first time it faced Nashville, on Nov. 30. The Wild will try to find a way to escape with another home-ice victory when the teams meet on Tuesday evening in Saint Paul, Minn.
A month ago, the Wild scored first before the Predators responded with two goals. Minnesota pulled level in the second period, and captain Jared Spurgeon delivered the winner one minute into overtime.
Minnesota coach John Hynes wants to see his team focus on fundamentals in its final game of the calendar year. Hynes was less than happy after the Wild fell 3-1 at home against the Ottawa Senators on Sunday night in their most recent game.
“When we’re playing a detailed, smart game, you give yourself the best chance to win,” Hynes said. “We want to pride ourselves on being smart. We want that as a competitive advantage to our team.”
Nobody on the Wild seemed irked by Hynes’ comments. If anything, the players agreed.
“We have to get on the forecheck,” forward Mats Zuccarello said. “We also have to make plays. We’ve got to make the plays that need to be made.
“Sometimes, it’s chip-ins. Sometimes, it’s weak-side ‘D’ joining. Sometimes, it’s carrying the puck in, creating like that. Sometimes, we don’t make those plays when we have to.”
Nashville also is eager to show improvement. The Predators will play on short rest against the Wild after they lost 3-0 on the road against the Winnipeg Jets on Monday night.
It was the second loss in a row for Nashville, which is 4-7-1 in 12 games since the last time it faced Minnesota.
The Predators hope the addition of forward Vinnie Hinostroza can help. He made his NHL season debut Monday and did not record a point in 11:27 of ice time.
The 30-year-old veteran has appeared in 375 career NHL games, and Nashville is his sixth team. He led the American Hockey League with 33 points and 22 points through 26 games when the Predators promoted him over the weekend.
“It feels great,” Hinostroza said. “The guys here are great. (I experienced) that in training camp, so it’s easier to walk in the locker room when you know all the guys are approachable and nice to be around.”
The Wild will turn to either Filip Gustavsson or Marc-Andre Fleury in net. Gustavsson is 16-6-3 with a 2.25 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage after stopping 34 of 36 shots vs. the Senators. Fleury is 6-3-1 with a 2.81 GAA and an .898 save percentage.
Nashville could give the start to backup Justus Annunen one night after No. 1 goalie Juuse Saros yielded three goals on 28 shots against Winnipeg.
Annunen is 8-5-0 with a 2.83 GAA and an .894 save percentage this season, 2-1-0 with a 1.80 GAA and a .941 save percentage since he was acquired by Nashville from Colorado in a Nov. 30 trade. The 24-year-old from Finland has faced Minnesota once in his career, earning a win for the Avalanche last season by stopping 44 of 46 shots.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Flyers strike in 3rd to snap Bruins' 8-game point streak
Feb 28, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Flyers left wing Noah Cates (27) reaches for the puck against the Boston Bruins in the first period at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images The Philadelphia Flyers scored back-to-back goals to start the third period and held on to defeat the visiting Boston Bruins 3-1 on Saturday afternoon.
Travis Konecny and Jamie Drysdale both scored and assisted on each other’s goals for Philadelphia, which has won two of its three games since the Olympic break. Drysdale tallied the eventual game-winner with 8:05 left.
Sean Couturier added an empty-net goal with 55 seconds remaining, Christian Dvorak recorded two assists, and Dan Vladar was excellent with a 26-save performance to help the Flyers win.
Boston’s Charlie McAvoy extended his point streak to nine games with a third-period goal that cut the hosts’ lead to 2-1.
Jeremy Swayman made 14 saves for Boston, which entered on an eight-game point streak (5-0-3).
With the game scoreless through two periods, the Bruins looked to take a 1-0 lead 1:05 into the third as Hampus Lindholm’s point shot beat Vladar, but the goal was immediately waved off due to goaltender interference.
Instead, Konecny scored first at 3:41. After Dvorak’s shot into the zone hit a stanchion behind the net, he recovered the bounce and made a tight backhand feed to his oncoming linemate to bury into an open side of the net.
Drysdale doubled Philadelphia’s lead at 11:55 by slipping down the slot on a Konecny pass and firing an open wrist shot past Swayman’s blocker.
The Bruins found an answer from McAvoy 1:08 later. Pavel Zacha won the faceoff right to Hampus Lindholm, who found his fellow defenseman cutting to the net to make it a 2-1 game.
Swayman followed up that goal by stopping Konecny on a breakaway with 5:36 left, but Boston could not find an equalizer.
Philadelphia had a 7-6 shot advantage in a scoreless first. Swayman made one of his best early saves halfway through as Trevor Zegras fired a turnaround shot from the slot.
Vladar made two close-range stops on Morgan Geekie within the first eight minutes of the second period, including one early in Boston’s second power play. The first stop occurred when David Pastrnak set up Geekie for a one-timer in the slot at the 5:00 mark.
Less than a minute after Vladar’s second stop on Geekie, Swayman returned to the highlight reel at the other end of the ice. Konecny’s wraparound put the puck on goal before Swayman robbed Dvorak with the glove on a rebound effort coming to the doorstep.
After Boston’s first man advantage came up empty, Vladar made another big save as Sean Kuraly separated from the Flyers’ defense for a breakaway with 5:43 left in the second.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Heat rally in 4th quarter to take down Rockets
Feb 28, 2026; Miami, Florida, USA; Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant (7) argues with Miami Heat forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. (11) during the first quarter at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images Bam Adebayo posted a double-double, and Andrew Wiggins ignited a fourth-quarter rally after returning from an in-game injury to lead the Miami Heat to a 115-105 victory over the visiting Houston Rockets on Saturday.
Adebayo paired 24 points with 11 rebounds to help the Heat snap a two-game skid. Pelle Larsson (20 points) and Tyler Herro (18) contributed to the balanced scoring attack for the Heat, who also received double-digit efforts from Jaime Jaquez Jr. (14 points) and Kel’el Ware (13 points and a game-high 15 rebounds) off the bench. The Heat shot 50% overall from the floor.
But it was Wiggins, who took an elbow to the jaw from Rockets center Alperen Sengun and needed stitches in his cheek to close the gash, who led a critical fourth-quarter surge. He assisted on a Ware alley-oop and a Larsson 3 to put the Heat ahead 100-92 before his transition dunk resulted in a three-point play and a 111-103 lead with 2:24 remaining.
Wiggins finished with 12 points, six rebounds, four assists and three blocks.
Kevin Durant scored a game-high 32 points and added eight assists for the Rockets. Amen Thompson (20 points, 11 rebounds) and Tari Eason (10 points, 11 boards) added double-doubles, while Reed Sheppard chipped in 14 points and five assists for Houston.
The Rockets turned an early run, capped by a Sheppard 3, into a 14-4 lead, only for the Heat to respond with an 8-0 rally. Adebayo hit a 3-pointer to give Miami a 27-26 lead, and the Heat carried a 32-28 advantage into the second quarter after hitting 6 of 13 from beyond the arc in the first.
Miami extended its lead to double digits on a Ware tip-in, and led 41-28 before the Rockets scored their first basket of the second quarter with an Aaron Holiday 3-pointer at the 7:07 mark. That ended a 19-2 run by the Heat and sparked another Houston rally, featuring Sheppard and Durant combining to hit three 3-pointers and tie the game at 48.
The Rockets led 52-51 at the intermission after Miami missed 7 of 8 3-pointers in the second.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Braeden Carrington explodes for 32 points as Wisconsin routs Washington
Feb 28, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; Wisconsin Badgers guard Braeden Carrington (0) shoots a three point shot over Washington Huskies guard Zoom Diallo (5) during the second half at Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images Braeden Carrington came off the bench Saturday to score a career-high 32 points and Wisconsin knocked down 17 3-pointers to earn a 90-73 Big Ten Conference road win over Washington in Seattle.
Nick Boyd added 22 points, nine rebounds and five assists for the Badgers (20-9, 12-6 Big Ten), while Nolan Winter chipped in 13 points and nine rebounds. Wisconsin canned 44.7 % of its 38 3-point attempts, with Carrington going 9 of 15.
Freshman Hannes Steinbach led the Huskies (14-15, 6-12) with 22 points and 11 rebounds, his 18th double-double of the season and the most by a Big Ten player since Jared Sullinger of Ohio State collected the same total 29 years ago. Zoom Diallo scored 21 points.
Washington made 46% from the field but simply couldn’t mute the Badgers’ potent perimeter game. Bouncing back from an 85-71 upset loss Wednesday night at Oregon, Wisconsin earned a 39-35 edge on the boards and committed only six turnovers.
The final margin flattered the Huskies a bit. The Badgers led by as many as 28 points in the second half and cleared the bench by the time Washington scored the final seven points to make the margin more respectable.
Wisconsin set an early tone by stepping up its defense from the loss at Oregon. It held the Huskies without a field goal for a 6:04 stretch of the first half and opened up a 17-4 lead with 13:28 left when Carrington converted a 3-pointer.
Steinbach made two foul shots with 6:51 left to pull Washington within 22-14 but the Badgers pulled away when Carrington hit a 3-pointer and fed Winter for a layup and a 27-14 cushion.
With Boyd canning a short jumper from the baseline, Wisconsin went into halftime with a 36-21 advantage. The Huskies made only 7 of 28 field goals in the first 20 minutes and were outrebounded 25-17.
Boyd led the charge with 14 points in the half, sinking 7 of 14 shots from the field.
–Field Level Media
