Sports
Slumping Oilers look to get back on track vs. short-handed Panthers
Feb 4, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Edmonton Oilers center Leon Draisaitl (29) is congratulated by defenseman Evan Bouchard (2) and left wing Zach Hyman (18) after scoring the game tying goal against the St. Louis Blues during the third period at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images Leon Draisaitl is dominating, but his Edmonton Oilers are slumping.
That, in essence, is the state of the Oilers, who are set to visit the Florida Panthers on Thursday night.
Draisaitl has scored 43 goals, leading the NHL by a wide margin. He also has at least one goal in six straight games.
Yet, the Oilers have lost four straight games.
“We’re a fragile group right now, and we’re reluctant to play our game,” Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said. “Confidence is a little hard right now.
“I think everyone is a little discouraged. We have to put these adversity moments behind us.”
Knoblauch said the Oilers — with superstars Draisaitl and Connor McDavid on their side — view themselves as one of the best teams in the NHL, and they are feeling pressure to live up to that status.
With 72 points — one less than the Panthers — the Oilers are still, at the moment, a playoff team, but the losing streak is of obvious concern.
“We’re going to have to dig one out sooner or later,” Oilers defenseman Mattias Ekholm said. “We’re in a bit of a hole right now.”
Draisaitl is doing his part during a nine-game point streak. He also has at least one point in 17 of his past 18 games. During that span, he has 14 goals and 14 assists.
McDavid leads the Oilers with 51 assists and ranks behind only Draisaitl with 73 points in 52 games.
But goalie Stuart Skinner is struggling with six losses in his past eight starts.
Meanwhile, the Panthers — the reigning Stanley Cup champions — are coming off a 4-1 road win over the Nashville Predators on Tuesday. Florida won without two of its forwards as Matthew Tkachuk missed his second straight game with a lower-body injury suffered during the 4 Nations Face-Off. In addition, Eetu Luostarinen missed the game as he and his wife are expecting a child.
The Panthers, who have won three of their past four games, beat Nashville with backup goalie Spencer Knight in net.
“We’re not thinking about patterns, streaks, trends or whatever,” said Knight, who made 18 saves. “We’re just trying to bring the game that we want to play every night.
“That’s our focus. We want to bring good habits every day.”
The Panthers are likely to rely on starting goalie Sergei Bobrovsky against the Oilers. Bobrovsky is 23-13-2 with a .903 save percentage and 2.65 goals-against average.
Sam Reinhart leads the Panthers in goals (31) and points (63). Aleksander Barkov tops the team with 40 assists, including two on Tuesday.
Playing without Tkachuk is no doubt difficult for Florida. He is the team’s emotional leader, and he is productive with 22 goals and 35 assists. He also leads the team with 11 power-play goals.
However, other Panthers players are stepping up in his absence. Defenseman Gustav Forsling leads the team with a plus-30 plus-minus rating. Fellow defenseman Aaron Ekblad (plus-nine) has also been solid.
Then there’s Carter Verhaeghe, who had the key goal with 6:55 left in the third period as Florida earned a 6-5 road win over Edmonton on Dec. 16. That goal snapped a 5-5 tie in a game that Florida once trailed 4-2.
Skinner and Bobrovsky were the goalies in that game — the most recent Edmonton-Florida matchup.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Yordan Alvarez homers twice, Ronel Blanco returns as Astros top Marlins
Jul 20, 2026; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros pitcher Ronel Blanco (56) reacts after retiring the side against the Miami Marlins during the fourth inning at Daikin Park. Mandatory Credit: Erik Williams-Imagn Images Yordan Alvarez produced his fifth multi-homer game of the season to help the Houston Astros snap a four-game skid with an 8-5 win over the visiting Miami Marlins on Monday.
Alvarez finished 3-for-4 with a pair of solo home runs. He posted his 12th three-hit game of the season and his 27th career multi-homer game to send the Marlins to their seventh straight loss.
The Marlins seized a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning against Astros right-hander Ronel Blanco, who was reinstated from the 60-day injured list to make his first start since May 17, 2025. Blanco missed 15 months due to Tommy John surgery.
His season debut was uneven. Blanco recorded eight strikeouts over 4 2/3 innings and allowed only two hits. However, Blanco issued three walks, and the two hits were two-run home runs from Joe Mack and Liam Hicks.
Mack followed a two-out walk issued to Jakob Marsee with a 409-foot blast to right field in the second. Blanco opened that frame with strikeouts of Hicks and Griffin Conine, but Mack followed Marsee by drilling a 3-2 fastball for his eighth homer of the season.
The Astros fashioned an immediate response against Marlins right-hander Janson Junk (4-6). Taylor Trammell ignited a six-run second inning with an RBI single that bounced into right and scored LaMonte Wade Jr. Two batters later, Lucas Spence walked to load the bases with one out for Jeremy Pena, who rallied from an 0-2 hole by delivering his second career grand slam.
Pena went the opposite way to right for his seventh homer of the season. Alvarez followed with a titanic shot into the upper deck in right-center field, his 32nd home run covering 428 feet.
Hicks shaved that 6-2 deficit in half in the fourth when he followed a leadoff walk from Xavier Edwards with his 14th home run, a 393-foot shot to right. Blanco rallied and retired the ensuing five batters, but a two-out walk to Kyle Stowers in the fifth spelled the end of his 86-pitch outing.
Alvarez greeted Marlins reliever Lake Bachar with a 419-foot laser to right-center leading off the fifth. Junk allowed six runs on five hits and three walks with three strikeouts over four innings.
Jose Altuve added Houston’s eighth run with a two-out single in the seventh following Isaac Paredes’ triple. Astros closer Josh Hader gave up three hits in the ninth, including Heriberto Hernandez’s run-scoring single, before locking down the win.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Washington gets to Kyle Freeland early, takes down Rockies
Jul 20, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; Washington Nationals second baseman Nasim Nunez (26) turns the first half of a double play against Colorado Rockies right fielder Tyler Freeman (2) in the fourth inning at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images CJ Abrams homered for the second straight game, one of three home runs for Washington, and the Nationals beat the Colorado Rockies 7-3 in Denver on Monday night.
Jacob Young also went deep and finished with three hits, Curtis Mead contributed three hits, and Andres Chaparro hit his fourth home run for Washington, which has won two in a row and leads majors with 147 homers.
Riley Cornelio (1-1) tossed 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief and Tom Cosgrove got the final six outs for his first save.
Jake McCarthy led Colorado with a pair of hits. The Rockies, who have dropped three of their first four out of the All-Star break, have the worst record in the National League.
The Nationals jumped on Colorado starter Kyle Freeland. James Wood drew a walk to lead off the game, Mead followed with a single to center and Chaparro hit the first pitch he saw from Freeland into the seats in left-center field.
Washington threatened for more in the first when Dylan Crews walked and Young singled with one out, but Freeland retired the next two batters to end the frame.
The Rockies loaded the bases in the third with two singles and a walk against Washington starter Andrew Alvarez, and Castro cleared them with a two-out double to center to tie it 3-3.
Alvarez allowed three runs on six hits over 4 1/3 innings.
Tempers flared in the fifth. Chaparro flew out to right field and on his trot back to the dugout ran over part of the mound, drawing the ire of Freeland. Benches and bullpens cleared but the incident didn’t escalate and no one was ejected.
Young broke the tie in the sixth inning when he led off against Freeland with his ninth home run. Abrams extended the lead in seventh when he hit a two-run shot off Antonio Senzatela, his 22nd homer of the season.
Freeland (2-9) gave up four runs on seven hits in his six innings of work.
The Nationals tacked on a run in the ninth with Daylen Lile’s two-out RBI triple.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Andrew Benintendi delivers winning runs as White Sox separate from Rangers
Jul 20, 2026; Arlington, Texas, USA; Chicago White Sox pitcher Jordan Hicks (44) throws to the plate against the Texas Rangers during the sixth inning at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images Andrew Benintendi delivered a bases-clearing double in the fifth inning and Miguel Vargas had three hits and two RBIs to boost the visiting Chicago White Sox to a 10-3 victory against the Texas Rangers on Monday.
Chicago scored five runs in the ninth inning and remained one game ahead of the Cleveland Guardians atop the American League Central.
White Sox starter Erick Fedde surrendered a leadoff home run to Joc Pederson and allowed Evan Carter’s RBI single one inning later before the staff settled in. They did so without catcher Kyle Teel, who left the game after sustaining a non-contact, left ankle injury while attempting to tag Ezequiel Duran as he scored on Carter’s hit.
White Sox pitching retired the next 13 hitters before Josh Jung worked a two-out walk against Jordan Hicks in the sixth.
Texas right-hander Jacob deGrom fell to 7-6 after an uneven outing. He set down the side in order in the second and fourth innings but navigated baserunners for much of the rest of his start.
Chicago scored its first run on a Vargas RBI double in the third inning. The White Sox broke the game open in the fifth, as four of the first five batters reached base.
Sam Antonacci singled to tie the game, and Vargas’ infield single loaded the bases two batters later. After Colson Montgomery struck out for the second out of the inning, Benintendi lined deGrom’s 2-2 pitch down the right-field line to give Chicago the lead.
Jake Burger belted a solo home run against Seranthony Dominguez to bring the Rangers within 5-3 in the seventh. The White Sox responded in the ninth, as Vargas doubled home a run ahead of Luisangel Acuna’s two-run single. Randal Grichuk added an RBI triple before Braden Montgomery punctuated the rally with an RBI double.
Antonacci had two hits for Chicago.
Fedde spaced two runs and four hits in four innings with six strikeouts while deGrom allowed five runs and seven hits in 4 2/3 innings. He walked two and struck out six.
Winner Chris Murphy (3-0) had one strikeout in 1 1/3 perfect innings.
Colson Montgomery left the game in the seventh with a right shin contusion.
–Field Level Media
Yordan Alvarez homers twice, Ronel Blanco returns as Astros top Marlins
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