Sports
Rangers look for continued success vs. rival Islanders
Mar 2, 2025; New York, New York, USA; New York Rangers defenseman K’Andre Miller (79) celebrates his goal against the Nashville Predators with left wing Will Cuylle (50) and center Mika Zibanejad (93) during the second period at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images The New York Rangers and Islanders are coming off impressive showings against one of the league’s worst teams.
With the trade deadline rapidly approaching, the Islanders and Rangers get together for the second time in less than a week on Monday night at Madison Square Garden in New York.
The Rangers and Islanders are amongst six teams within five points of the Detroit Red Wings for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
The Rangers are tied with the Ottawa Senators and the Boston Bruins with 64 points. The Senators have a game in hand with the Rangers and two in hand with the Bruins.
The Islanders are in a tougher situation as their 61 points puts them behind five teams with 23 games remaining.
The Rangers won both meetings this season by a combined 10-3 margin and rolled to a 5-1 victory on Tuesday in Elmont, N.Y., when they scored three times in the opening period.
Last week’s rout of the Islanders is among three wins in four games for the Rangers since an 8-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Feb. 22. The Rangers bounced back from a frustrating 3-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs with a 4-0 victory over the Nashville Predators on Sunday when they held a three-goal lead in the opening 40 minutes.
The Rangers improved to 14-7-3 in their past 24 games following a 4-15-0 skid, a day after trading Ryan Lindgren and Jimmy Vesey to the Colorado Avalanche. The Rangers may trade other pending unrestricted free agents such as Reilly Smith, who was held out Sunday.
So far, the Rangers have made four major trades and their biggest was adding J.T. Miller in a Jan. 31 deal with the Vancouver Canucks. Miller has six goals since the trade and scored on the power-play in the second period before Jonathan Quick made 19 of his 34 saves in the third.
“We’ll take the points right now,” said Miller, who was initially traded by the Rangers in their 2018 rebuild.
“We need them again tomorrow.”
The Islanders are coming off consecutive first-round exits with a core that includes Brock Nelson and Jean Gabriel-Pageau as unrestricted free agents.
Nelson heads into his 900th career regular-season game with three goals and five assists over his past five contests after scoring twice and adding an assist in Saturday’s 7-4 rout over the Predators that was capped by goalie Ilya Sorokin scoring an empty-net goal after the Islanders scored three times on 19 shots in the opening period.
“All these games are important for us to put as good of a run as we can together,” Nelson said.
The Islanders are 3-5-0 in their past eight games since a seven-game winning streak Jan. 18-Feb. 1 and are hoping to produce another big night after scoring seven goals for the first time since March 7. Pageau scored for only the second time in his past 20 games while Kyle Palmieri scored for the fifth time in six games.
“Those games are big at this time of the season,” Pageau said. “We want to win them.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Late penalty extends New England's unbeaten streak vs. Charlotte
May 2, 2026; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; New England Revolution forward Luca Langoni (41) dribbles the ball against Charlotte FC midfielder Djibril Diani (28) in the first half at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Edward Finan-Imagn Images Carles Gil’s 97th-minute penalty kick lifted the New England Revolution to a tense 1-0 victory over Charlotte FC Saturday night in Foxborough, Mass.
The Revolution (6-3-1, 19 points) broke through during stoppage time after several minutes marked by defensive gridlock. The win extends the Revs’ unbeaten streak to six league games.
Matt Turner made three saves and kept a clean sheet for the Revolution, who outshot Charlotte (4-5-2, 14 points) 14-7. Charlotte keeper Kristijan Kahlina made three saves.
The Revs faced late drama when Charlotte’s Brandt Bronico was called for a handball in the box in the dying minutes of stoppage time, and the referee failed to call an advantage on the play, which would’ve counted Diego Fagundez’s goal.
However, Gil calmly sent Kahlina the wrong way and scored the ensuing penalty to give the Revs the late winner. The goal is Gil’s third of the season.
Charlotte manager Dean Smith has faced many questions about his team’s misfiring offense, and they remain unanswered. The team’s usually prolific offense struggled to create chances in the final third, and when they did, they failed to convert.
Charlotte’s biggest chance of the first half came when Idan Toklomati received the ball just 16 yards away from the goal with a clear shot. However, Toklomati slammed his shot against the crossbar, leaving the game scoreless in the 37th minute.
The two sides struggled to challenge each other throughout the match, settling for long-range, low-quality shots.
Charlotte’s Wilfried Zaha and Revs defender Mamadou Fofana had to be separated by teammates after a brief shouting match and a couple of shoves in the second half. Zaha, who then argued with New England manager Marko Mitrovic, was booked. The yellow card is his sixth in just nine league appearances.
Charlotte nearly found an equalizer in the game’s dying minutes when Morrison Agyemang headed a shot from short range. The shot seemed destined for the upper corner of the net, but Turner deflected the ball to preserve the Revs’ victory.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Joel Embiid, 76s knock out second-seeded Celtics
May 2, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) drives on Boston Celtics guard Hugo Gonzalez (28) during the second quarter of game seven of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-Imagn Images Joel Embiid had 34 points, 12 rebounds and six assists and Tyrese Maxey added 30 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to a 109-100 victory over the host Boston Celtics in Game 7 of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series Saturday night.
The 76ers won the final three games in the series. It was the first time in franchise history that Philadelphia has overcome a 3-1 series deficit.
Second-seeded Boston trailed 99-98 following two Neemias Queta free throws, but Maxey scored the next eight points to put Philadelphia up 107-98 with 15 seconds left.
Seventh-seeded Philadelphia received 23 points from rookie VJ Edgecombe. Paul George added 13. The 76ers’ bench totaled three points (all by Quentin Grimes.
Boston’s Jayson Tatum was ruled out of the game because of stiffness in his left knee. He left Game 6 with 4:03 remaining in the third quarter with a left leg injury.
Tatum averaged 23.3 points and 10.7 rebounds per contest in six playoff games this season. The six-time All-Star forward averaged 21.8 points and 10.0 boards in 16 regular-season games after returning March 6 from a devastating ruptured right Achilles tendon last May in the playoffs.
Jaylen Brown led Boston with 33 points and added nine rebounds. Derrick White finished with 26 points and Queta had 17 points and a team-high 12 rebounds off the bench. Celtics starters Baylor Scheierman, Luka Garza and Ron Harper Jr. failed to score. Reserves Payton Pritchard added 13 points and Sam Houser 11.
Philadelphia scored the game’s first nine points and led 30-15 following an Embiid jumper with 1:55 left in the opening quarter. The 76ers were up 32-19 after 12 minutes.
Boston scored 18 of the first 22 points in the second quarter and had its first lead, 37-36 after a Pritchard 3-pointer with 6:52 left in the first half. Philadelphia rallied to take a 55-50 halftime advantage.
An 8-0 run gave Philadelphia a 63-52 lead, and the 76ers were up 84-66 after an Edgecombe 3-pointer with 2:24 remaining in the third. It was 88-75 after three quarters.
Boston began the fourth quarter with a 16-4 run to cut its deficit to one point, 92-91, with 7:59 to play. The 76ers led 95-94 with 5:52 left.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Joel Embiid, 76ers knock out second-seeded Celtics
May 2, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) drives on Boston Celtics guard Hugo Gonzalez (28) during the second quarter of game seven of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-Imagn Images Joel Embiid had 34 points, 12 rebounds and six assists and Tyrese Maxey added 30 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to a 109-100 victory over the host Boston Celtics in Game 7 of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series Saturday night.
The 76ers won the final three games in the series. It was the first time in franchise history that Philadelphia has overcome a 3-1 series deficit.
Second-seeded Boston trailed 99-98 following two Neemias Queta free throws, but Maxey scored the next eight points to put Philadelphia up 107-98 with 15 seconds left.
Seventh-seeded Philadelphia received 23 points from rookie VJ Edgecombe. Paul George added 13. The 76ers’ bench totaled three points (all by Quentin Grimes.
Boston’s Jayson Tatum was ruled out of the game because of stiffness in his left knee. He left Game 6 with 4:03 remaining in the third quarter with a left leg injury.
Tatum averaged 23.3 points and 10.7 rebounds per contest in six playoff games this season. The six-time All-Star forward averaged 21.8 points and 10.0 boards in 16 regular-season games after returning March 6 from a devastating ruptured right Achilles tendon last May in the playoffs.
Jaylen Brown led Boston with 33 points and added nine rebounds. Derrick White finished with 26 points and Queta had 17 points and a team-high 12 rebounds off the bench. Celtics starters Baylor Scheierman, Luka Garza and Ron Harper Jr. failed to score. Reserves Payton Pritchard added 13 points and Sam Houser 11.
Philadelphia scored the game’s first nine points and led 30-15 following an Embiid jumper with 1:55 left in the opening quarter. The 76ers were up 32-19 after 12 minutes.
Boston scored 18 of the first 22 points in the second quarter and had its first lead, 37-36 after a Pritchard 3-pointer with 6:52 left in the first half. Philadelphia rallied to take a 55-50 halftime advantage.
An 8-0 run gave Philadelphia a 63-52 lead, and the 76ers were up 84-66 after an Edgecombe 3-pointer with 2:24 remaining in the third. It was 88-75 after three quarters.
Boston began the fourth quarter with a 16-4 run to cut its deficit to one point, 92-91, with 7:59 to play. The 76ers led 95-94 with 5:52 left.
–Field Level Media
Late penalty extends New England's unbeaten streak vs. Charlotte
Joel Embiid, 76s knock out second-seeded Celtics
