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Takeaways: Nashville Predators edge past league leading Coloardo Avalanche in shootout victory

It was a battle between David and Goliath at Bridgestone Arena on Tuesday. 

The last-place Nashville Predators hosted the top-ranked Colorado Avalanche. Nashville was coming off a blowout loss to Carolina, while Colorado had won 14 of its last 16. 

In a back-and-forth battle that saw the Avalanche force overtime in the final minute, it was a lone shootout goal by Ryan O'Reilly that gave the Predators the 4-3 upset victory. 

Jonathan Marchessault had the game-tying goal on the power play, which was quickly followed by Reid Schaefer's second career goal for a 2-1 Predators lead. In the third, Brady Skjei scored his first goal of the season to give Nashville a late 3-2 lead. 

Here are three takeaways from the Predators win over the Avalanche. 

Keeping pace early 

Similar to the first meeting, the Predators went down in the first two minutes of the game. In the Nov. 22 game, Nashville gave up a goal 15 seconds into the game. Tuesday, it was 72 seconds into the game, off a goal from Brock Nelson. 

However, unlike the previous meeting, the Predators' offense got going. Less than two minutes late, Jonathan Marchessault scored on the power play to tie the game up. It didn't stop there, as 1:25 later, Reid Schaefer scored his second goal of the season to give the Predators the lead.

Nashville kept the pressure on in the first period and kept pace with the best team in the league. Colorado tied the game to end the period, but Nashville looked like the better team throughout. 

The Predators managed to stay out of the penalty box in the first period and even had two power plays. It's a significant change from Nashville's past two games, where it has had 12 penalties over that stretch. 

Saros stands on his head 

Dec 9, 2025; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Nashville Predators center Ryan O'Reilly (90) celebrates with goaltender Juuse Saros (74) after defeating the Colorado Avalanche at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

The Predators had a significant fall off in the second period, getting outshot 13-5, but it was Juuse Saros who kept the game deadlocked at two. After a slow start to the game, Saros locked down and had one of his best performances of the season.

He made 39 saves on 42 shots and stonewalled the Avalanche in the shootout. Saros faced Martin Necas, Valeri Nichushkin and Gabriel Landeskog, and kept all three from finding the back of the net. 

Saros also made four saves in the overtime period, extending the Predators' game into the shootout. 

Nashville also had a hairy stretch in the second period where it struggled to stay out of the box. The Predators committed three penalties in the final five minutes of the second, but were able to kill off all three. 

Tuesday's victory was the most saves Saros has made in a game this season and the most he's swatted away since April 10, when he made the same amount of saves and faced the same amount of shots in a 4-3 shootout win over the Utah Mammoth. 

Penalties still in issue 

The Predators had a chance to close the game out in regulation, which would've been just Colorado's third regulation loss of the season. However, they were stung by penalties yet again. 

With Colorado pulling goalie Scott Wedgewood for an extra attacker and Nashville holding a one-goal lead in the final two minutes of the game, Erik Haula was called for tripping.

That put Colorado on a 6-on-4 power play for the rest of regulation. With eight seconds left, Cale Makar got Michael McCarron to bite on a backhand to forehand move, giving him an open lane. Makar fired it through traffic and it went in to tie things up. 

The Predators' penalty killers have been elite, but have been worked to the bone over the last three games. Nashville has committed 16 penalties in three games, but has only given up two power-play goals. 

It's a positive that Nashville's penalty kill has been so good, but the unit's goal is not to be on the ice as much. Tuesday's late call on Haula was the difference in ending a game that started at 8:50 p.m. CST early. 

Up next: St. Louis Blues (11-13-7) at Nashville Predators (11-14-4) on Thursday at Bridgestone Arena at 7 p.m. CST 

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Observations From Blues' 5-2 Loss Vs. Bruins

ST. LOUIS – A three-game winning streak on the line, a chance to gain a measure of revenge against the Boston Bruins. It was all on the line for the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday.

But an all-too-familiar script played itself out despite an early lead and a fight back, but in the end, it was the Bruins who scored three unanswered goals in the third period of a 5-2 win at Enterprise Center.

Robert Thomas scored twice, Pavel Buchnevich had two assists to extend his point streak to four games, and Joel Hofer made 26 saves but it wasn’t enough to prevent the Blues (11-13-7) from gaining that elusive three-game winning streak.

“I thought we were a little too loose after the first 10 minutes,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. “I liked our first 10 minutes of the game, and I didn’t mind our first whatever it was when we tied it up (in the third period). I don’t know if it was eight minutes into the third. That wasn’t too bad, but besides that, we were very loose not stopping in the house. Defensively, not sprinting to loose pucks enough.”

Let’s take a look at the game observations:

* Blues had a chance to grab game after tying it in third and failed – The Blues were down a goal heading into the third period against a team that had been spotless in that situation (13-0-0) heading into this game.

But when Thomas tied the game at 4:51, it leveled the score at 2-2, and on home ice, one would think the home side would step up the intensity and take control of the momentum.

That was hardly the case because the Bruins, now 14-0-0 when leading after two, found another gear and scored the next three.

The third goal, and ultimately the game-winner scored by Mark Kastelic, his second of the night, was a perfect example of the struggles the Blues have faced far too often.

First off, the Bruins chip a puck into the Blues’ zone, and Tyler Tucker gets beat to the goal line by Sean Kuraly. Now the scramble is on, even as Dalibor Dvorsky gets to the puck, having to make a quick decision, he softly banks it off the boards where Nikita Zadorov is waiting to pick it off. Off the wall, the Bruins defenseman throws it towards the goal, and the puck hits Kuraly, falls into the crease where Kastelic beats Justin Faulk to the loose puck and swat it in at 8:01:

One, you’d like to see Tucker win that race to the puck, and two, you want Dvorsky to protect it a little better or make a better decision instead of just loosely throwing a puck away knowing the point man is there waiting to intercept it, and then you need to see bodies in and around the net for better protection. All failed attempts.

“We've got to win the goal line race,” Montgomery said of Tucker. “Puck's dumped in, they've got one forechecker, our second-quick should have been there to be able to get that puck and get out of our zone. They were changing, and they got out there and they got five guys established and we never got possession again. They out-muscled us at the net.”

Defenseman Justin Faulk said, “the third goal changed momentum quite a bit. Felt like a little bit of a drop after that and then they were able to kind of take the momentum a little bit and add another one with the fourth.”

* Another struggling second period – The Blues had a lead by doing a lot of decent things.

But the second period for the most part outside of a good one Sunday against the Montreal Canadiens, the Blues are a minus-14 in the middle frame.

Make it minus-16 after getting outscored 2-0 and a 1-0 lead turned into a 2-1 deficit thanks to the Bruins (18-13-0) maintaining possession in the O-zone, the Blues scrambling and chasing for much of the period and generating little to nothing in the offensive zone. They were outshot 13-3.

“We just couldn't get it by their trap in the neutral zone, couldn't set up our forecheck and kind of get in with possession, chip it to a guy with speed to kind of set it up,” Thomas said.

“We turned the puck over too much in the last 10 minutes of the first and we talked about putting it to the goal line, needing to play a little more in their end,” Montgomery said. “I think we were loose with the puck and our angling of the puck was not where it needed to be, so it gave them a lot of momentum going towards their net.”

* Losing too many loose pucks, wall battles – It was one of those games where if a puck was along the wall, the Bruins were coming away with it. If there was a loose puck, the Bruins were coming away with it. If there was a battle for it in the open ice, the Bruins were coming away with it.

That comes with working harder to get it and maintain possession, and in a lot of cases, sustaining offensive zone time, and Boston was scoring not the pretty goals but the greasy ones with traffic at the net and even getting bounces to go their way.

It happened on Fraser Minten's first of two goals that tied the game 1-1 at 12:48 of the second:

It happened on Monten's second of the game at 11:33 of the third that made it 4-2 and for all intents and purposes, put the game away:

“In both zones, to be honest, right,” Montgomery said. “Their second-quick, which is the term we use, was quicker than ours.”

Why is that the case in the 31st game of the season? Yes, off nights do happen, but this team has little margin for error, and needing to put a winning streak together. That’s not a way to get it done, because a lot of the little things, including these, are what wins and loses hockey games.

* Bottom forwards struggled mightily – It’s tough to blame and point fingers at some of the guys in the lineup, but let’s face it, the Blues are a battered and bruised group right now, and when guys like Fraser Minten and Kastelic are each scoring two goals as some of the Bruins’ bottom six forwards who are also used in their top six when needed, it left some of the bottom-tiered guys open and vulnerable.

Aleksanteri Kaskimaki, playing in just his fourth NHL game, played 10:35 and was a minus-2; Dvorsky was a minus-1 in 12:13; Matt Luff, playing in just his second NHL game in two years, was a minus-1 in just 7:44 of ice time and he had a great chance to score early on an errant play that could have gone well for St. Louis; Logan Mailloux was a minus-2 in 9:49; even veterans like Oskar Sundqvist was a minus-3, so was Dylan Holloway; Brayden Schenn and Pius Suter each was a minus-2. But the guys playing fewer minutes and lesser roles were taken advantage of on this night and they had to be counted on even more when Nick Bjugstad went down with an upper-body injury early in the second period becoming the fifth forward in the last week-plus to be sidelined:

“Obviously it’s a team game as a whole,” Faulk said. “It’s not easy to take guys in and out of the lineup that are kind of every day guys, impact guys when we’re still trying to find our game a lot more consistently. It’s tough, but for sure the guys that are coming in, we’ve had to call up in our lineup are hungry and they’re going to give their best effort and try and help the team as much as they can. There’s definitely no lack of energy from the new guys, which is always a good thing. We just have to find a way to keep it going and find some continuity.”

* Undermanned organizational depth showing – The Blues are really being tested right now, both at the NHL level and even at Springfield of the American Hockey League. Maybe some of these call-ups aren’t ready for this kind of competition yet outside of Luff, who’s been here often before, but now it looks like Hugh McGing will be the latest to get into the lineup pending Bjugstad’s status, and it didn’t look like his equipment was going out to Centene Community Ice Center for Wednesday practice ahead of a road game Thursday against the Nashville Predators.

* Thomas, Buchnevich heating up, finding chemistry – The bear in the room for a lot of the Blues’ struggles has been the inability of the top-end guys to produce offensively.

Tuesday was another example of if the Blues are to get out of the doldrums, guys like Thomas and Buchnevich being on the same page and the consistency of playing together produces the benefits will go a long way.

Buchnevich not has five points (two goals, three assists) in a four-game point streak and Thomas has seven points (three goals, four assists) the past eight games, including three points the past two games all playing with Buchnevich.

The two combined for the opening goal at 5:27 on the power play when Thomas whipped a one-timer from the high slot past Jeremy Swayman on a high-low play to make it 1-0:

And Buchnevich made a heads-up play by intercepting Andrew Peeke behind the net and feeding Thomas in the slot for the 2-2 goal at 4:51 of the third:

“He’s been playing great lately making everyone around him better,” Thomas said of Buchnevich. “It’s not just one or two games. It’s been five or 10 games he’s been playing real well. He’s picked a lot of us up lately. He made two great plays and I was just able to bury it, but he’s playing real well.”

* Blues can’t string together three straight wins – Three tries, three failed attempts for the Blues to win another game beyond two.

It was Feb. 23-March 1 when the Blues won four in a row last year, their first three-game winning streak that fueled their second-half run. But that’s not something they can try and bank on all the time.

“It’s a hard league and that’s what we strive for is that consistency so you put yourself in that situation where the opportunity is there,” Faulk said. “It didn’t go our way tonight and we’ve got to come back and bounce back and try to put ourselves in that position again. It starts with one and just keep it rolling. Obviously consistency’s been a real big issue for us this year. I think overall our game’s been getting better. We just got to keep pushing and keep grinding and hope for the next one.”

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Avalanche Shootout Woes Continue as They Lose 4-3 Against the Nashville Predators

The first time the Colorado Avalanche are facing off against the Nashville Predators, this time on the road.  Outside of a hectic first period the Avalanche weren't able to get anything past Juuse Saros until just eight seconds left in the third to send it to extra time, though loosing in the shoot-outs 4-3.

Period 1:

Just over one minute into the period, Brock Nelson dekes around Roman Josi and beats Juuse Saros five-hole with a nifty backhand shot, making it 1-0 early. Joel Kiviranta is called for tripping, giving the Predators their first power play of the game. It's Jonathan Marchessault driving to the net, and his shot is denied, but he quickly recovers his own rebound and buries it to tie the game 1-1 on the power play. Just one minute later, Reid Schaefer scoops up the loose puck coming out of a puck battle in the corner and powers his way, stretching around Wedgewood and burying the shot to make it 2-1.

Nathan MacKinnon powers through the offensive zones and rifles a shot that forces Saros to kick out, and Artturi Lehkonen is waiting in front of the net and can bury the loose puck rebound to tie it 2-2. MacKinnon earns an assist on that play, and it's his 50th point of the season, and is the first skater in the NHL to reach the 50-point milestone, and is back-to-back, reaching it first last season as well. Cale Makar is called for tripping, but the Avalanche kills it off, ending the first period.

Period 2:

The Predators did a great job really limiting the chances the Avalanche created, deflecting or blocking multiple shot attempts within the period. A stretch of penalties comes the Predators' way as the period ends. Spencer Stastney is called for tripping 10 minutes into the period, the Avalanche's first power play, but they can’t convert.

Nicolas Hague is called for cross-checking, and the Avalanche can’t convert on the opportunity. However, Fedor Svechkov is called for delay of game right before the power play ends, giving the Avalanche a little time on the 5-on-3 before the period ends and the third starts on the power play.

Period 3:

The Avalanche started the period unable to convert on the power play with the remaining time. Almost six straight minutes on the power play without capitalizing is a bit concerning, even against an elite goaltender like Saros. Toews has a great opportunity created by MacKinnon, but Saros gets the right pad to stop his shot. Brady Skjeis shot on the blue line just beats everyone and through traffic to make it 3-2 with just under 6 minutes left in the period. 

Wedgewood is pulled with under three minutes left in the period. Eric Haula is called for tripping, so the Avalanche gets the remaining game on the power play. Cale Makar sends a wrister through traffic to beat Saros with eight seconds left to tie the game 3-3 and force overtime. That is Makar’s fourth game-tying goal with 15 seconds or fewer left on the clock.

Overtime/Shootout.

The overtime heads to the shootout as both teams get some opportunities but can’t convert. Ryan O’Rielly on the first shot just top shelf roofs it past Wedgewood, which would be the game winner as the rest of both teams' shooters would miss and the Avalanche lose 4-3.

Though one thing to note is that Filip Forsberg's shot is denied, but he hits an edge and crashes hard into Wedgewood. He also slams into the post, and the trainers check on him. The refs and concussion spotter signal to remove Wedgewood for Blackwood despite not seeing a shot, as the Avalanche couldn't go further into the shootouts.

The Avalanche are back in action against the defending Stanley Cup Champions, the Florida Panthers, on Thursday, December 11, at home.

For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.

NHL Approves Avalanche's Request to Wear Nordiques Jersey Against CanadiensNHL Approves Avalanche's Request to Wear Nordiques Jersey Against CanadiensIt's being reported that the Colorado Avalanche requested to wear the Quebec Nordiques jersey against the Montreal Canadiens, and the NHL approved it
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"When This Team Wants To Turn It On…": Says Knoblauch Of Oilers Losing Effort vs. Sabres

As a tired Buffalo Sabres came into Edmonton off a back-to-back, the red-hot Oilers understood they needed to strike early. "It's very important we do come out like we did the other night against Winnipeg," said head coach Kris Knoblauch ahead of the optional morning skate. He noted,"... we pounced on that opportunity the other night. We're in that same situation, and we want to make it easier for us. "

While clawing out a single point in an overtime loss, the Oilers did anything but.

Waiting until the third period to bring out their A-game, the Oilers took away their own momentum with untimely penalties and some questionable decision-making. Edmonton didn't play a terrible first 40 minutes, but it wasn't the same kind of 40 minutes that allowed them to walk through Winnipeg. Disjointed and lacking a shoot-first mentality, Edmonton changed its game in the final frame, falling just short and losing coverage in extra time to gift the Sabres the win.

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"When this team wants to turn it on and play well, most times they can play amongst the best. To be one of the best, you've got to be able to consistently to do that," said Knoblauch following the 4-3 loss. "I can think of probably, up to ten times we had the puck in the slot, and we didn't take a shot.... anytime you get in the dangerous ice, you should be looking to shoot." He added, "Very rarely should you be passing it up if you get the puck in the middle of the ice. We did that way too many times, at least half a dozen times."

Evan Bouchard had a rough game, too. A costly turnover in front of his goalie and losing his positioning in overtime, this was one of those games that frustrate fans, as it would a coach. Knoblauch said he would talk to Bouchard about it the next day, but didn't believe it would be productive to tear a strip off him during the action. 

As annoyed as Knoblauch seemed to be with the lost coverage and the questionable decision-making, he didn't think the game was a total disaster. 

"Overall, I thought we did a pretty good job. I don't like the fact that we took six penalties and that took away a lot of our game."

The Sabres pull out a 4-3 overtime win over the Oilers. Photo by:  © Walter Tychnowicz Imagn Images

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This was the same Sabres team that embarrassed the Oilers a few weeks ago. One of Edmonton's most disheartening performances, this game was supposed to be a chance to earn a bit more respect against a Buffalo team that had been leaking goals in the past three games. Before the game, Knoblauch noted, "They're a very dangerous team. They've got a lot of speed, whether that's their forwards or their defensemen. If you're caught sleeping or out of position, they're going to take advantage of that." After the game, both Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Zach Hyman shot down the notion that this was a team the Oilers were supposed to cake walk through. 

"That's just not the case in this league anymore," said Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. "Especially, they lost three in a row. They were in a back-to-back and gave up seven to Calgary. You know they're going to want to defend hard and play hard in front of their goalie." Zach Hyman didn't like the idea this was meant to be an easy win either. "You'd like to play a full 60, especially with the way we've been trending." He said the Oilers didn't fold when down 3-0, and they clawed a point out of a game they put themselve in a hole in. "Every team in the league now is a good team, you look at the standings and they're probably closer than they've ever been, maybe ever. No team is really out of it... There are no bad teams anymore, that's jus the way it is."

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Game Results

The first did not start the way the previous game did. Edmonton created only one shot in the first six minutes. The team started to find their rhythm as the halfway mark of the first approached. Mattias Ekholm got a good look with a slap shot, and Mattias Janmark broke in with Adam Henrique on a two-on-one. 

The Sabres struck first with just under a minute remaining in the first period. David Tomasek took a goaltender interference penalty. Rasmus Dhalin took the shot, and Josh Doan tipped it for a goal. Colten Ellis was pulled for concussion protocol after the Tomasek incident. The head-to-head contact on the play meant Ellis needed to come out. 

The Oilers got their first power play at 5:27 of the second period. The Oilers failed to capitalize. The Sabres scored again at 9:47. The Oilers challenged for a missed stoppage in play, meaning the official missed a play that was to be blown down. It appears Tuch punched the puck forward, and Thompson touched it first, which would have been a hand pass. The goal didn't count. 

Evan Bouchard coughed up the puck when he tried to walk it out from behind the net. Thompson took advantage and put it past Skinner. Zach Hyman then took an interference penalty, and it seemed clear the game was slipping away from Edmonton. Josh Doan scored his second of the game on the power play. Went between the legs on a beauty. 3-0 for the Sabres. 

McDavid scored in the first 10 seconds, on a play that Sabres coach Lindy Ruff was furious wasn't called for icing. At the 1:56 mark, Vasily Podkolzin potted a rebound and found the puck in a net-front traffic jam. 

With seven minutes left, Zach Hyman took a hooking penalty, which was certainly untimely considering the Oilers had all the momentum. Adam Henrique took another penalty for tripping, putting the Oilers down two men. The Oilers killed one, and the Sabres took one. 4-on-4 for 48 seconds. 

With one second on the clock, McDavid scored to tie the game at 3-3. Alex Tuch scored in overtime to give the Sabres the win. 

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No. 2 Michigan remains unbeaten in 89-61 rout of Villanova

Elliot Cadeau scored 15 of his 18 points in the first half to help Michigan build a 30-point lead, and the second-ranked Wolverines coasted to an 89-61 win over Villanova on Tuesday night. The unbeaten Wolverines (9-0) are the only team since at least the 1995-96 season to win six straight games by at least 25 points with at least two of those victories against ranked opponents, according to Sportradar. Michigan entered the game as the first team since Duke in 2009-10 to have a victory margin of 35-plus points in five straight wins, including two against ranked teams, according to Sportradar.

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Knicks set for NBA Cup Semifinal meeting with Magic after win over Raptors

The Knicks are officially heading to Las Vegas. 

New York booked their ticket to the NBA Cup Semifinals with their road win over the Raptors on Tuesday night.

Jalen Brunson led the way with 35 points, and the squad used a strong defensive second quarter to open a double-digit advantage that they never looked back from. 

The Knicks will now face the Magic on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. with a trip to the NBA Cup Finals on the line. 

Orlando beat the Miami Heat, 117-108, in the first Quarterfinals matchup Tuesday night. 

New York has made it out of the group stage in all three years of the NBA Cup's existence, but this will be their first time advancing to Vegas for the final four.

They were routed by the Bucks two years ago and fell to Trae Young and the Hawks last year. 

Standing in their way now is a pesky Magic squad, whom they have lost to twice in three tries this season. 

That lone victory, though, came with Karl-Anthony Towns sidelined this past weekend. 

“This locker room is ecstatic,” Towns said. “It’s an opportunity to represent our city, represent our team over in Vegas -- the Cup brings out a competitive edge in all of us in this league, and we’re just happy we have a chance to go out there and compete against the best of them.”

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Knicks use complete team effort to cruise past Raptors in NBA Cup Quarterfinals

The Knicks defeated the Toronto Raptors 117-101 on Tuesday night in their NBA Cup Quarterfinals matchup.

New York has booked a trip to Las Vegas for the NBA Cup Semifinals for the first time.  

Here are some takeaways...

- Both teams came into this Quarterfinal matchup shorthanded -- the Knicks were without Miles McBride as he undergoes further testing on his ankle injury, and Toronto was without former Knicks RJ Barrett (knee) and Immanuel Quickley (illness).

- You wanted high-flying NBA Cup action? You got it. Both teams had their scoring touch going early in this one, shooting a combined 61 percent from the field in a back-and-forth opening frame that ended with Toronto leading by four.

Jalen Brunson was once again leading the charge offensively for New York, knocking down all but two of his nine shots for a season-high 20 points over the first 12 minutes. Brandon Ingram did a nice job of matching him for the Raptors, putting up 17 points of his own on an efficient 6-of-7 shooting from the field.   

- The Knicks kept their hot scoring going and stepped up defensively to take things over in the second. Karl-Anthony Towns' monstrous jam helped them open the first double-digit lead of the game, and they outscored Toronto 34-13 to lead by 17 points heading into the halftime break. 

Brunson still had just two misses on 12 attempts and Towns chipped in 10 points and nine rebounds. 

- New York kept things rolling coming out of the locker room with Josh Hart leading the charge, putting up the team's first nine points of the third quarter. Hart quietly had a terrific first half, and his surge raised his total to 18 points on the night on a perfect 7-for-7 from the field and 3-for-3 from three over his first 19 minutes of action. 

The Raptors found their footing and put together a mini run, but still trailed by 15 heading into the final frame. 

- New York's offense continued rolling, and Hart's fourth three of the night made it a 20-point game early in the fourth. Toronto showed some fight down the stretch, but the Knicks ultimately never looked back, as they booked their ticket to the Semifinals with the 16-point victory. 

Brunson finished with a game-high 35 points, Hart had a season-high 21, Mikal Bridges chipped in 15, Towns piled up 14 and 17 boards, Anunoby had 13 against his former team, and Jordan Clarkson bounced back with 12 off the bench. 

- The Knicks have now won 10 consecutive games against the Raptors, stretching back to Dec. 2023.  

- New York pushed their winning streak to four, and they are 8-1 over their last nine games.  

Game MVP: Brunson

The captain was terrific offensively, pacing New York's offense and leading all scorers. 

Highlights

What's next

The Knicks head to Vegas for their Semifinal meeting with the Magic on Saturday at 5:30 p.m.

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Mets lose Edwin Diaz, what’s next at 2025 Winter Meetings, Will Sammon stops by | The Mets Pod

On a live episode of The Mets Pod presented by Tri-State Cadillac, Connor Rogers and Joe DeMayo welcome The Athletic’s Will Sammon to the show from the MLB Winter Meetings in Florida. The guys react to the shocking departure of Edwin Diaz to the Dodgers, look at ways the Mets can build a bullpen with other parts, and examine what might come next for David Stearns and company with Pete Alonso, starting pitching, and so many more question marks floating around the organization. Later, Connor and Joe open the Mailbag to answer questions about Bo Bichette, Tarik Skubal, and much more.

Be sure to subscribe to The Mets Pod at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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Flyers: How Ty Murchison Fared in Thrilling NHL Debut

If one game can be taken for anything concrete, the Philadelphia Flyers may have found themselves a useful new piece on defense with prospect Ty Murchison.

Murchison, 22, played 14:56 in a successful NHL debut that ended in a 4-1 win over the San Jose Sharks, and he earned every minute, including the one he played on the penalty kill.

This decision from the Flyers was less a pat on the back for hard work and strong performances in the AHL with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, and more of a belief that one of their young players who was playing well earned an NHL opportunity and a chance to stick.

Egor Zamula sat in the press box as Murchison, freshly called up from the AHL, took his place in the lineup.

Emil Andrae, Adam Ginning, and now Murchison have all gotten in over Zamula at different points this season, and the latter's extremely poor skating and lack of mobility may have been the difference-maker in favor of Murchison.

'My Heart Was Beating About a Hundred Beats Per Minute': Ty Murchison on His Flyers Call Up'My Heart Was Beating About a Hundred Beats Per Minute': Ty Murchison on His Flyers Call UpOn Sunday, Ty Murchison sat in Lehigh Valley’s facility thinking it would be a normal morning—practice, meetings, the routine that has been both comfort and crucible for a 22-year-old defenseman trying to force his way into the conversation.

"He can skate really well. That's what I like about him, and he's competitive," Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet remarked after the win. "I thought he did a great job for us tonight. I think he backed in a couple of times, but that's normal and we'll work with him on that."

"He's a good skater, and he's got some stiffness to him. That's what I like. When you have defense that can skate and have stiffness to 'em - I think he went into the corner one time, not scared, and took a hit from [Ryan Reaves], kind of went at it with him. That's a good luxury to have."

As Tocchet mentioned, Murchison was a little tentative at times, but it was normal for him to do that in his first NHL game.

One such instance was when Macklin Celebrini was driving down the wing on the rush with Murchison in defense, and the former Arizona State rearguard backed off and showed respect to the Sharks star instead of facing up.

That allowed Celebrini and the Sharks the space to create a dangerous scoring chance, but Flyers goalie Dan Vladar was well equipped to handle the task without much fanfare.

Flyers Acquire New Prospect Defender From LightningFlyers Acquire New Prospect Defender From LightningThe Flyers have made a small trade with the Lightning.

As for a better play, Murchison lost ground defending against Sharks winger William Eklund in the first period, and, while inches away from being whistled for a hooking penalty, Murchison stopped reaching with his stick and instead used his body to finish the Swedish winger into the wall, recording one of his defense-leading three hits.

No penalty was called, of course, and the Flyers managed to kill that play then and there.

Diving into some advanced analytics, Murchison's NHL debut was ultimately an even performance. The 22-year-old was outshot 10-7 at 5-on-5 and out-chanced 4-3, according to Natural Stat Trick, but that's hardly a bad showing from a first-timer.

"Just the speed. The speed is definitely a step up," Murchison said, reflecting on his NHL debut. "Coach Reirden has been amazing with helping me out with video and subtle stuff on the bench, and I'm asking a ton of questions and he's always got great answers."

Now that he's got a game - and a solid one - under his belt, Murchison is poised to continue playing for the Flyers at the NHL level, at least until Rasmus Ristolainen returns from injury.

That said, it's become clear the Flyers' former fifth-round pick has leapfrogged Ginning and Zamula if and when the Flyers need another left-shot defender.

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Lamar Wilkerson dazzles with career-high 44, Indiana rolls past Penn State 113-72

Lamar Wilkerson racked up a career-high 44 points as Indiana reached the century mark for the fourth time this season in their 113-72 win over Penn State on Tuesday. Wilkerson was an efficient 16-for-22 from the field, 10-for-15 from deep, and made each of his two free throws. A senior transfer from Sam Houston, Wilkerson's 10 threes set a single-game Indiana record, and his 44 points set a single-game record at Indiana's Assembly Hall.