Sports
Sharks look to halt Leafs' win streak, end their own skid
Mar 1, 2025; Ottawa, Ontario, CAN; The San Jose Sharks celebrate a goal scored by defenseman Timothy Lijegren (37) in the second period against the Ottawa Senators at the Canadian Tire Centre. Mandatory Credit: Marc DesRosiers-Imagn Images Contrasting streaks will clash Monday night, and both could be extended, when the San Jose Sharks visit the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Sharks have dropped eight in a row (0-5-3) after a 5-3 road loss to the Ottawa Senators on Saturday.
The Maple Leafs stretched their winning streak to five games on Sunday by defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-5 in overtime to complete a four-game road trip.
In prolonging their losing streak, San Jose was outscored 4-1 in the third period at Ottawa.
As one might expect, the frustration is growing.
“It’s pretty tough,” Sharks defenseman Jake Walman said. “It eats you a little bit from the inside. You kind of come into buildings where teams — I mean, it’s the reality of it — where other teams feel that they can play confidently against us, and at some point we’ve got to strike that down and turn a page.”
The Sharks are 0-2-2 to open their seven-game trip. They dropped the first game of the trip 3-2 against the Calgary Flames and lost the next two in overtime against the Winnipeg Jets and Montreal Canadiens, respectively.
“We’re in games right now,” Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro said. “We’re right there. But that small margin for error, it’s this big, right? We’re not finding a way to stay disciplined enough to play a full 60 minutes, or whatever it is, to pull out those wins. I think that’s just a little bit of the immaturity in our game as a whole, as a team.”
Will Smith, Tyler Toffoli and former Maple Leaf Timothy Liljegren scored for San Jose.
“I just hope, a couple years from now, that these games are going to be meaningful,” Walman said. “Just don’t want to get stuck in this position for very long.”
The Maple Leafs will be home for just the contest against the Sharks before hitting the road for three games.
They have won eight of nine but they have done so while not necessarily playing as well as they can. The Maple Leafs were not pleased with their performance in a 3-2 win over the New York Rangers on Friday when they were outshot 35-16 and twice surrendered one-goal leads.
They led 2-0 before five minutes had been played on Sunday, but trailed 3-2 after the first period. They led 5-4 after two periods but lost the lead 10 seconds into the third period.
“It’s not how we wanted to draw it up,” Toronto coach Craig Berube said. “We made a couple of mistakes and put ourselves in a little bit of a hole. But guys stayed with it, climbed out of it, and found a way to get the win.”
William Nylander won it with a solo effort in the overtime, carrying the puck along the left wing from the Toronto end before cutting into the high slot and shooting.
“It’s good to win those games,” Nylander said. “It’s the positive thing that you can take away from it. Even though we’re not playing great, we’re still able to win the game.”
Captain Auston Matthews scored in the second period on Sunday, his 390th career goal to move past Darryl Sittler into second on the Maple Leafs’ all-time scoring list. Mats Sundin (420) is first.
“It’s nice to be in the same sentence as a guy like Darryl Sittler, obviously a great Leaf,” Matthews said.
Toronto defenseman Christopher Tanev (shoulder) was put on injured reserve.
–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
