Sports
Rangers' struggling defense could be tested vs. Senators
Oct 29, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; New York Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin (31) makes a save on Washington Capitals left wing Jakub Vrana (13) as Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba (8) defends in the first period at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images New York Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette was left shaking his head after his team found itself on the wrong end of a one-sided affair.
Sure, the scoreboard showed only a two-goal defeat. However, the final score was not indicative of how his team fared en route to losing for the second time in three games.
The Rangers will look to clean up loose ends on Friday night when they host the Ottawa Senators.
“There’s definitely detail to defense, but defense is attitude,” Laviolette said after New York’s 5-3 setback to the Washington Capitals on Tuesday. “There’s a lot of compete that goes into defense and the battles that have to take place.
“For me, they’ve been off for a couple of games out of the last three. And I think any good team starts with good defense and the way that they defend and their purpose defensively. It leads to getting pucks out of your end, and it leads to playing offense. When you don’t play defense well, you end up spending too much time in your end.”
That was the fate of the Rangers, who were outshot 46-19 by the Capitals. Twenty giveaways did New York no favors, either.
There were bright spots for the Rangers, however.
Will Cuylle scored a goal in his second straight game and linemate Filip Chytil also tallied to boost his point total to five (three goals, two assists) in his last four contests.
Chris Kreider scored his sixth goal of the season to pull even with Artemi Panarin for the team lead. Panarin, however, saw his season-opening eight-game point streak (six goals, nine assists) come to a halt.
Panarin collected seven points (three goals, four assists) to help New York defeat Ottawa in two of the three meetings last season.
Former Vezina Trophy recipient Igor Shesterkin turned aside all 25 shots he faced in a 4-0 victory over the Senators on April 15, improving his career mark versus the club to 3-1-1 with a 1.98 goals-against average and a .933 save percentage.
Shesterkin could be put to the test against Ottawa, which has erupted for 34 goals over its last seven games (4-3-0). The Senators have bookended that stretch with eight-goal performances, with captain Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stutzle and since-demoted Adam Gaudette each tallying twice in a lopsided romp over the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday.
“We’re hard on ourselves and we want to make a difference every night, and some nights you have it, some nights you don’t,” Stutzle said, per the Ottawa Citizen. “But (Tuesday) was a do-or-die for us. We just worked hard.
“We try to do that every night, and sometimes the puck goes in for you, sometimes not, but I think (Tuesday) we were supporting each other well in all three zones and we didn’t give up a lot.”
Stutzle and Claude Giroux also set up a pair of goals, with the former extending his assist streak to a career-high five games while the latter pushed his point streak to seven games (five goals, six assists).
–Field Level Media
Sports
Nolan Schanuel, Jose Soriano help Angels defeat Blue Jays
Apr 22, 2026; Anaheim, California, USA; Los Angeles Angels designated hitter Mike Trout (27) runs after hitting a home run during the fifth inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at Angel Stadium. Mandatory Credit: William Liang-Imagn Images Nolan Schanuel homered and also had a three-run, go-ahead double and Jose Soriano continued his historic start to the season with five more shutout innings as the Los Angeles Angels snapped a four-game losing streak with a 7-3 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday afternoon in Anaheim, Calif.
Soriano extended his scoreless inning streak to 24 2/3 innings while lowering his ERA to 0.24, the lowest ERA in a pitcher’s first six starts to a season since earned runs became official in both leagues (1913) with a minimum of 30 innings pitched. Soriano, who allowed seven hits and struck out four, has allowed just one run – a home run by Atlanta catcher Drake Baldwin – in 37 2/3 innings. He also became the first pitcher since at least 1900 to allow one total run (or fewer) in his first six starts to a season.
Mike Trout homered, walked twice and scored twice and Logan O’Hoppe and Bryce Teodosio each had two hits for Los Angeles. Brent Suter (1-1) picked up the win, striking out two during one inning of hitless relief.
Ernie Clement went 3-for-5 with an RBI and Nathan Lukes and Andres Gimenez each had a double and two hits for Toronto, which had a three-game winning streak snapped. Tommy Nance (0-2) suffered the loss allowing two runs in 1 1/3 innings of relief.
Los Angeles took a 1-0 lead in the third inning on Jo Adell’s bases-loaded sacrifice fly, driving in O’Hoppe who had singled.
Schanuel made it 2-0 in the fourth when he led off the fourth with his third home run and first since March 28, a 371-foot line drive just over the fence in right-center.
Trout extended the lead to 3-0 in the fifth when he drilled a 428-foot homer to the back of the bullpen in left, his eighth of the season. It was the 796th extra-base hit of Trout’s career, tying the team record set by the late Garret Anderson.
Toronto parlayed a walk and three hits, including an RBI double by Lukes and an RBI single by Clement, into three runs in the seventh to tie it, 3-3.
The Angels answered with four runs in the bottom of the seventh to regain the lead, 7-3. Trout walked, stole second and went to third on a single by Adell. One out later, Yoan Moncada walked to load the bases. Schanuel then followed with an opposite-field double into the left field corner to clear the bases and give Los Angeles a 6-3 lead. Vaughn Grissom drove in Schanuel with a bloop single to right.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Raptors identify areas to improve while down 2-0 to Cavs in series
Apr 20, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (45) passes while being defended by Toronto Raptors forward Brandon Ingram (3) during the first half during game two of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Rocket Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Dermer-Imagn Images The Toronto Raptors need to decrease turnovers and get more scoring from Brandon Ingram on Thursday night in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff matchup against the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Cavaliers lead the best-of-seven series 2-0 after their wire-to-wire 115-105 home victory Monday.
The Cavaliers have defeated the Raptors in 12 consecutive playoff games to equal the NBA postseason record for a winning streak against one opponent.
The Raptors, who are home for Games 3 and 4, committed 22 turnovers Monday for a total of 40 leading to 44 points over the first two games.
“I think it really came down to turnovers,” Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic said after Game 2. “They really cost us.”
Ingram, who often was Toronto’s top scorer in the regular season, had 17 points on 5-for-9 shooting in the first game, a 126-113 setback on Saturday, and seven points (3-for-15) on Monday.
“I’m confident I won’t miss all my shots and find a rhythm,” Ingram said at practice on Wednesday. “It’s tough when you feel like you’re not doing your job. But I like to sit in disappointment for a little bit, see where I went wrong, and then get back into the fight.”
“We need him to continue being aggressive in shooting,” Rajakovic said. “I’ve got absolute support for him. He’s going to make his shots.”
Cleveland forward Dean Wade scored eight total points over the two games, but he started both and is a key to the defense.
“We had it in the back of our minds to start Dean anyway because that five-man lineup has been so great for us all year,” Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson told cleveland.com after Game 2. “But the more we watched film as a staff, we just kept saying, (Ingram) is the head of the snake, so we need to put our best perimeter defender on him.’ That’s Dean.”
Wade, in his seventh season, all with the Cavaliers, said he enjoys the defensive role
“Sometimes, it’s a thankless job and I had to learn to love it,” he said. “But, man, I love it. I really do.”
Toronto center Jakob Poeltl also has struggled. He had two points and four rebounds in only 9:26 on Monday.
“He needs to be part of the solution for us,” Rajakovic said Wednesday. “He needs to be more aggressive. He needs to dominate the glass. … He’s going to be a big part of Game 3, and I believe he’s going to perform really well.”
The Raptors were without Immanuel Quickley (strained right hamstring) for the first two games, but the injury is improving.
“We’ll see where he’s at tomorrow,” Rajakovic said.
With Ingram struggling, Scottie Barnes led Toronto with 26 points on Monday and RJ Barrett added 22 points.
Donovan Mitchell scored 30 points for Cleveland in Game 2, James Harden added 28 points and Evan Mobley scored 25 points.
The February trade for Harden, an 11-time All-Star guard and the league MVP in 2018, has helped Mitchell.
“I mean, I can go stand on the wing,” Mitchell said. “And like I always say, you have a guy that can create his own offense for himself and for others. … it just makes it tough (to defend).
“And there’s also possessions where you can just go stand in the corner and allow him to be him. It’s definitely better on the body, I’ll tell you that. That’s one thing.”
Atkinson agreed.
“That’s part of it, right?” the coach said. “Keeping (Mitchell’s) usage at a reasonable level. Donovan can get worn down. So again, these are reasons why you bring James Harden on board.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Rangers place OF Wyatt Langford (forearm) on 10-day injured list
Apr 19, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; Texas Rangers left fielder Wyatt Langford (36) hits a single during the seventh inning against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images Texas Rangers outfielder Wyatt Langford has a Grade 1 flexor strain and was placed on the 10-day injured list Wednesday.
Langford, 24, exited Tuesday’s 5-1 home victory over Pittsburgh after the fourth inning due to a right forearm strain. He went 0-for-1 with a walk, extending his on-base streak to a season-high 11 games since April 6.
In a corresponding move, the Rangers recalled outfielder Alejandro Osuna from Triple-A Round Rock.
Langford is batting .238 with one home run, four RBIs and two triples in 20 games this season.
He said after Tuesday’s game that he felt discomfort after the first swing of his second plate appearance. Langford also exited the April 10 contest at the Los Angeles Dodgers in the sixth inning because of a right quad strain — causing him to miss three games.
“It’s pretty aggravating just having to deal with stuff like this,” Langford said after Tuesday’s game.
Texas selected Langford in the first round (fourth overall) of the 2023 MLB Draft out of the University of Florida.
He is batting a career .246 with 39 home runs, 140 RBIs, 53 doubles, seven triples, 44 stolen bases, a .330 OBP and .419 SLG in 288 games since 2024.
Osuna, 23, batted .212 (32-for-151) with two homers and 15 RBIs in 63 games as a rookie in 2025.
–Field Level Media
Nolan Schanuel, Jose Soriano help Angels defeat Blue Jays
Raptors identify areas to improve while down 2-0 to Cavs in series
