‘I’ve given it my all in every match,’ says Black Caps legend
He captained World Test Championship winners in 2021
The former New Zealand captain Kane Williamson will play no further part in the Test series against England after retiring from all international cricket with immediate effect.
Williamson brings an end to a 16-year career marked by numerous accolades and by captaining his side to the title in the inaugural World Test Championship in 2021.
Continue reading... Updates from the latest round of Championship matches
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Shoaib Bashir though is playing for Derbyshire up at CLS, and ex Derbyshire bowler Duanne Olivier for Durham, but no sign yet of Ben Stokes.
After a torrid spring with Kent, and losing his England place, Crawley has stepped away from CC cricket for the next two matches, despite the temptations of the Blackpool pitch
Continue reading...Less than a decade ago, the British GP was on the brink of disappearing but this July it will break the record for the biggest ever with 570,000 through the gates
The scale of change at the British Grand Prix in recent years will be writ large come July when the meeting is poised to become the biggest in Formula One history.
This year’s race is expected to sell out its new capacity of 570,000 over four days, which will be a record-breaking 50,000 increase on the previous highest attendance of 520,000 at the Australian GP in 1995. Only Wimbledon, across two weeks, will boast more numbers in the UK summer with Silverstone the largest event on F1’s calendar.
Continue reading...Erling Haaland swapped the football pitch for the ice rink as he and his Norway team-mates took in a Stanley Cup match.
The Norway contingent provided lively support for the Carolina Hurricanes in game five of the NHL play-off series against the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday.
The Manchester City forward, who will make his long-awaited World Cup debut against Iraq on 16 June (23:00 BST), cut a relaxed figure at the Lenovo Centre in Raleigh, waving to the crowd when the Norway team appeared on the scoreboard screen and swinging a Hurricanes rally towel around his head.
Arriving at the game in a grey polo shirt, he was later filmed beaming in a white and red Hurricanes jersey emblazoned with the number nine – the same number he wears for both club and country.
The Hurricanes, targeting their first Stanley Cup crown for 20 years, lead the Golden Knights 3-2 in the best-of-seven series, completing a 4-2 regulation win in game five.
Norway are playing at their first World Cup since 1998 – and their first major tournament since Euro 2000 – and have already made a mark despite not starting their campaign until next Tuesday.
The squad donned authentic Viking dress for an epic send-off photograph by acclaimed British photographer David Yarrow, titled The Vikings Are Coming, and have also paid tribute to their players' roots with a team photo featuring the shirts of their first clubs.
Norway are based in Greensboro, North Carolina – about 80 miles from the Hurricanes' Raleigh home – for the duration of the tournament, with the opportunity to watch the blue riband event of the NHL season coming less than a fortnight after the men's national ice hockey team shocked Canada in overtime to clinch the bronze medal at the World Championships.
After facing Iraq in their World Cup opener in Boston, Norway travel to New Jersey to play Senegal (23 June, 01:00 BST) before returning to Boston for a meeting with France (26 June, 20:00 BST).
Have you followed the big stories in football, cricket, cycling, tennis, motor sport, basketball, rugby and athletics?
Continue reading...New York Knicks (53-29, third in the Eastern Conference) vs. San Antonio Spurs (62-20, second in the Western Conference)
San Antonio; Saturday, 8:30 p.m. EDT
LINE: Spurs -5.5; over/under is 216.5
NBA FINALS: Knicks lead series 3-1
BOTTOM LINE: The New York Knicks look to clinch the series over the San Antonio Spurs in game five of the NBA Finals. The Knicks defeated the Spurs 107-106 in the last matchup on Thursday. Jalen Brunson led the Knicks with 36 points, and Victor Wembanyama led the Spurs with 24.
The Spurs have gone 32-8 in home games. San Antonio ranks ninth in the league with 28.1 assists per game. Stephon Castle leads the Spurs averaging 7.4.
The Knicks are 23-19 on the road. New York is eighth in the Eastern Conference with 27.4 assists per game led by Brunson averaging 6.8.
The Spurs make 48.3% of their shots from the field this season, which is 2.3 percentage points higher than the Knicks have allowed to their opponents (46.0%). The Knicks average 5.0 more points per game (116.5) than the Spurs give up (111.5).
TOP PERFORMERS: Wembanyama is shooting 51.2% and averaging 25.0 points for the Spurs. Devin Vassell is averaging 3.0 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.
Brunson is scoring 26.0 points per game with 3.3 rebounds and 6.8 assists for the Knicks. OG Anunoby is averaging 16.0 points and 3.9 rebounds while shooting 53.3% over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Spurs: 4-6, averaging 108.7 points, 44.2 rebounds, 23.9 assists, 8.2 steals and 5.6 blocks per game while shooting 43.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 107.6 points per game.
Knicks: 9-1, averaging 115.5 points, 45.8 rebounds, 26.0 assists, 8.2 steals and 4.1 blocks per game while shooting 48.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 102.6 points.
INJURIES: Spurs: David Jones Garcia: out for season (ankle).
Knicks: None listed.
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
RALEIGH, N.C.– The Vegas Golden Knights entered the third period of Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final in a familiar position: trailing their opponent by multiple goals. But on Thursday, for the first time in a long time, they weren’t able to come back from that multi-goal deficit.
The Golden Knights spent most of the regular season playing from behind. They finished the regular season with 1,965 minutes spent trailing their opponents– second only to the 32nd-place Vancouver Canucks– and still won the Pacific Division.
This is a veteran team that doesn’t panic and never says die. This is a team that has been able to erase multi-goal deficits at will and emerge triumphant on the other side. But they’ve been playing with fire all year, and they finally got burned.
Now, their season is on the line.
“We’re just gonna get ready for our next game,” said Golden Knights head coach John Tortorella following the 4-2 loss.
Game 6 against the Carolina Hurricanes is scheduled for 5:20 p.m. PST on Sunday at T-Mobile Arena.
The Golden Knights losing Game 5 to fall behind 3-2 in the series isn’t great for their hopes of winning the Stanley Cup. However, it’s possible that the final score wasn’t the worst loss the Golden Knights suffered in Game 5.
At 8:19 in the second period, William Karlsson took a hit from Sean Walker along the boards. It was a seemingly harmless play, a typical, run-of-the-mill check. But Karlsson went to the bench cradling his left arm, spent a few moments talking with the trainers, and headed down the tunnel. He did not return to the game, and ESPN’s Emily Kaplan reported that Karlsson left the arena to seek further medical attention.
Golden Knights head coach John Tortorella indirectly provided an update on Karlsson postgame– and it doesn’t sound good.
“He’s an important piece to us,” said Tortorella following the 4-2 loss. “Up the middle of the ice, penalty killer, power play guy. He’s a winner. But having said that– it’s all good stuff– he’s not gonna be with us, probably. We gotta find a way to fill that void, not with just one guy, but as a team.”
Game 5 was a strange game. The Golden Knights fought until the final horn and threatened until the last second. But in many ways, they lost the game nine minutes into the second period.
At 8:56 in the second, Jeremy Lauzon took a dumb penalty. As Logan Stankoven sped towards the corners to try and win a footrace to a loose puck, Lauzon caught him in the stomach with a cross-check and flipped the smaller winger like a sack of baby potatoes.
The Golden Knights killed it off. But as Lauzon stepped out of the box, Brayden McNabb boarded Jackson Blake and took another penalty. The Hurricanes took the lead a minute into the ensuing power play.
The Hurricanes, who were so sound when playing with the lead before this series, took off and never looked back. They tacked on another before the period ended and extended their lead on the power play halfway through the third.
“We had a really good start,” said Golden Knights head coach John Tortorella following the loss. “We lost momentum when we took back-to-back penalties.”
For the first time in 48 days, the Vegas Golden Knights look vulnerable. For the first time in 48 days, they lost two games in a row. For the first time in 48 days, they are trailing in a series.
John Tortorella isn’t worried.
Following the 4-2 loss, Tortorella sat at the podium and said that his team would be back at the Lenovo Center for Game 7. In fact, he guaranteed it.
“We’ll be back here,” he said. “We’re just gonna do it in a different order.”
Less than a minute later, he doubled down on his promise.
“I’m gonna leave my clothes here,” Tortorella swore. “That’s for sure. They’ll be in the hotel.”
The Golden Knights have a steep hill to climb, and without William Karlsson in the lineup, that hill becomes even steeper.
But there was a time when they looked like a one-and-done team. It’s been a while, but the Golden Knights have been down in a series before– and they were without Karlsson’s services then, too. And they certainly weren’t supposed to get past Colorado.
Yes, it’s a steep hill to climb. But they’ve spent two months proving everyone wrong. What’s one more time?
The Vegas Golden Knights lost Game 5 and key forward William Karlsson on Thursday, June 11.
But coach John Tortorella was in form afterward, essentially guaranteeing the Stanley Cup Final would return to Raleigh, North Carolina, for Game 7 and ripping a reporter's question about the goaltending.
"We're going to find a way," he said. "I'm going to leave my clothes here, that's for sure. They'll be in the hotel."
The Carolina Hurricanes won 4-2 as Jordan Staal scored for the fifth game in a row and first-line players Andrei Svechnikov and Sebastian Aho broke through with three goals. Brandon Bussi made 23 saves in his second consecutive start since replacing Frederik Andersen at the start of the third period of Game 3.
Tortorella took exception when a reporter asked if he considered replacing Carter Hart with Adin Hill for the start of the third period on Thursday. Hart has given up four goals in every game of the series.
"Oh for Christ - that could be the stupidest question I've heard," he said.
The Golden Knights had some positives with Pavel Dorofeyev scoring twice to end a drought. Jack Eichel had two assists.
But Hart will need to outplay Bussi in Game 6 and the Golden Knights will need to solve the Hurricanes' power play without penalty killer Karlsson for Tortorella's vow to come true.
Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal's five-game streak in the Stanley Cup Final tied an NHL record and put him in elite company.
He joined Hall of Famers Yvan Cournoyer (1973), Jean Beliveau (1956), Maurice Richard (1951) and Fred "Cyclone" Taylor (1918) with the streak. Staal would pass them if he scores in Game 6 on Sunday in Las Vegas.
Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said he's grateful that there are two days off before Game 6 in order to tamp down the excitement about winning the franchise's first Stanley Cup title since 2006.
"I don't think it will be too hard to focus this group," he said.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Golden Knights' John Tortorella vows Game 7 return, defends goaltender
The Golden Knights are on the brink of elimination from the Stanley Cup Final after losing Game 5 to the Carolina Hurricanes, 4-2, on Thursday.
The teams return to Vegas for Game 6 on Sunday, as the Golden Knights look to stave off elimination and force a Game 7, which would be in Raleigh, North Carolina on Wednesday.
Though Pavel Dorofeyev opened the scoring 6:52 into the game with a power-play goal to give Vegas a 1-0 lead, the Hurricanes answered shortly thereafter to thwart the Knights' energy, as Jordan Staal scored his sixth goal of the series.
Pav's 11th (!!!) goal of the playoffs
— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) June 12, 2026
🚪🚪🚪🚪🚪🚪🚪🚪🚪🚪🚪 pic.twitter.com/MtMvOk0epj
After being outscored 9-1 in the second period through the first four games, the Hurricanes outscored the Knights 2-0 on Thursday to secure a 3-1 lead after two periods, getting goals from Andrei Svechnikov and Sebastian Aho.
Svechnikov added a power-play goal in the third, to push Carolina's lead to 4-1 before Dorofeyev scored his second goal a little more than two minutes later to cut the lead in half.
Battlin' pic.twitter.com/uBO5Ov9FXd
— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) June 12, 2026
Carolina goalie Brandon Bussi was in lockdown mode, however, as he stopped 23 shots on the night.
Vegas netminder Carter Hart, who made 20 saves, allowed four goals for the fifth straight game.
Vegas Golden Knights right wing Pavel Dorofeyev (16) scores against Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Brandon Bussi (32) and defenseman K'andre Miller (19) during the third period in game five of the 2026 Stanley Cup Final at Lenovo Center.
The Vegas Golden Knights lost more than Game 5 against the Carolina Hurricanes. They lost a key player.
Golden Knights forward William Karlsson left the Thursday, June 11 game in the second period after absorbing a check from Hurricanes defenseman Sean Walker along the boards.
A trainer looked at Karlsson's arm on the bench and Karlsson skated to the dressing room. He didn't return and ABC reported that Karlsson left Lenovo Center to undergo further examination.
Golden Knights coach John Tortorella looked discouraged when the trainer came out to talk to him. He gave a discouraging postgame report on Karlsson's status for the rest of the series.
William Karlsson rentre au vestiaire après cette mise en échec reçue... pic.twitter.com/2RoHCW48lZ
— TVA Sports (@TVASports) June 12, 2026
Tortorella said he had no update on Karlsson but didn't sound positive about the player's status.
"He's not going to be with us probably," he said. "We've got to find a way to fill that void, not with just one guy but as a team."
Karlsson had two goals and two assists in the Final. He was limited to 14 games in the regular season, but his return late in the regular season was one of several factors that helped the Golden Knights clinch a playoff berth.
"He's an important piece for us," Tortorella said. "Penalty killer. Power play guy. He's a winner."
The Hurricanes lead the series 3-2 after the 4-2 victory and can clinch their first Stanley Cup title since 2006 on Sunday, June 14 in Game 6 at Las Vegas.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: William Karlsson leaves Game 5, 'probably' out for series
There were roughly 19,812 screaming as one — “O-G! O-G! O-G!” — family, friends and strangers who made no distinction, processing the unimaginable, releasing avalanches, tidal waves and mountains of emotions, inspired by 53 years of close calls and bad calls, of decades as a punchline and a punching bag, of a love that was rarely reciprocated and a hope that was never rewarded.
They stayed in their seats long after the final buzzer screamed victory, unwilling to leave the dream. They continued chanting through the concourses, down the escalators and outside nearby bars — “O-G! O-G! O-G!” — sporting jerseys that span the eras, smoking blue and orange vapes in a semicircle of ecstasy, making out as if V-J Day was just declared.
Inside the Knicks locker room, there was quiet.
Roughly 20 minutes had passed since OG Anunoby followed a game-saving block by sprinting to the rim and soaring through the lane for the game-winning tip-in with 1.2 seconds remaining in Game 4 of the NBA Finals, capping a record-setting 29-point comeback and putting the Knicks one win from their first title since 1973.
Anunoby had delivered the most important shot in Knicks history, overcome the constant injuries that capped his potential and rewarded the team that saw a soft-spoken role player in Canada as someone built for Broadway.
New York’s new hero sat at his locker, alone, icing both knees, looking through his phone as if the day had just begun, as if he didn’t just create one of the most iconic moments in the history of the most iconic arena, as if he didn’t yet realize his name will be lifted to the rafters with one more win.
Even in triumph, even on the receiving end of unending adulation, Anunoby stayed on-brand, displaying an expression that won’t reveal if he has a royal flush or a busted straight, speaking as if he’s charged by the word, more focused on the next play than the one that changed his life.
But he doesn’t have a say in what comes next. The spotlight he never sought has found a new home, stitched now and forever to the owner of two letters they’ll be chanting for years to come.
“OG is just, he’s unique,” Knicks coach Mike Brown said during this postseason run. “He’s special.”
Ogugua Anunoby was born in London on July 17, 1997, to parents of Nigerian descent. His mother, Grace, was a track and field star in her homeland, who died of cancer before Anunoby turned 1. His father, Ogugua Sr., raised seven children — including Anunoby’s older brother, Chigbo, who was a defensive lineman in the NFL — teaching at universities in Nigeria and England before moving the family to Missouri when Anunoby was 4 to become a professor of business and finance at Lincoln University.
“I do not intend to be immodest, but we tried to raise a proper family,” Ogugua Sr. told Sportsnet in 2017. “And when I say proper, what I mean is we are people who do things well. We value hard work, order and success. You don’t talk unless you have to talk. And if you have to talk, you should say something that doesn’t take away from the conversation, but enriches it.”
During Anunoby’s rookie season in Toronto in 2018, his father died in his sleep, at 66.
“It was tough not having a mother, but my dad did a really good job raising us,” Anunoby told Sportsnet at the 2017 NBA Draft.
Anunoby excelled in baseball — and was a big fan of the Carlos Delgado-era Mets — football and track, but was drawn to basketball, begging his father to buy a high-priced hoop for their Jefferson City home when he was 8.
Dr. Anunoby — who demanded his children read for at least one hour every night — complied, as long as it was put to good use.
“My dad always taught me discipline and to do everything with my best effort, to always do things on time and be respectful in everything I do,” Anunoby told the London Evening Standard in 2017. “My whole family is big on that so it’s very important to me and I try to do it in everything.”
Anunoby was a relatively unknown star at Jefferson City High School, outside the top 250 players in national recruiting rankings. He was a three-star, 6-foot-8 prospect who played in the shadow of AAU teammate Jayson Tatum and was left off the program of a tournament attended by Tom Crean, leaving Indiana’s coaching staff scrambling to learn the identity of the physical and explosive wing with an invisible ceiling.
“[He is] a quiet killer,” Crean, his former college coach, told The Post after Anunoby joined the Knicks. “He’s an old soul in a lot of ways, a very caring person, but he has got an incredible drive. I’d almost say it’s an insatiable drive to be great and to win.”
Anunoby spent two years with the Hoosiers, but saw his final season cut short after he suffered a torn ACL, resulting in the potential lottery selection falling to the Raptors with the 23rd overall pick.
In his second pro season, Anunoby earned a championship ring in Toronto, but missed the entire postseason run after undergoing an emergency appendectomy.
“I believe that created an incredible hunger for him because he wasn’t on the court for it,” Crean said. “It’s almost like, yeah, he got the ring and was a big part of it all season, but in his own mind, he didn’t feel the level of winning it.
“He was around the team and he’d been instrumental in getting to that point, but he wasn’t out there on the court at the end, and I think that’s what he truly wants more than anything else. That’s where that drive is for him.”
Anunoby’s 240-pound frame seemed chiseled from concrete, but it was constantly crumbling. Injuries limited him to an average of less than 53 games in the three seasons before the Raptors sent him to New York for former No. 3 overall pick RJ Barrett, Knicks fan favorite Immanuel Quickley and a second-round pick.
The Knicks were 17-15 and in eighth place in the Eastern Conference when Anunoby debuted with the Knicks on Jan. 1, 2024. They went 12-2 in his first 14 games in the lineup before an elbow injury sidelined him for nearly two months.
Anunoby returned in time to help the Knicks take a 2-0 second-round series lead against the Pacers, but he suffered a hamstring injury that sparked a Knicks tailspin, keeping him sidelined until he hobbled through five minutes of an excruciating Game 7 loss at the Garden.
The Knicks locked up Anunoby that offseason to a five-year, $212.5 million deal (the largest in team history), tying their title hopes to an injury-prone wing who had never been an All-Star.
Anunoby matched a career high by playing 74 games last season and set a personal best with 18 points per game, helping the Knicks make the conference finals for the first time in a quarter century. This season, Anunoby hit nearly 39 percent of his 3-pointers, while being selected to the NBA’s All-Defensive second team.
“OG is someone who brings it every night, does what’s asked of him, plus more,” Jalen Brunson said after the Game 4 win. “His work ethic, since the moment I’ve been teammates with him and seen him, has grown. His confidence has grown just because of his work ethic, everything that I’ve seen, he’s got exponentially better at.
“So regardless of what the outside world thinks of him, we know what we have in our locker room. And we have a superstar in that locker room.”
Anunoby’s importance has long been understood at the Garden, where fans emphatically assist PA announcer Mike Walczewski’s booming introduction of a player whose numbers will never convey the value of someone whose 7-foot-2 wingspan and basketball IQ impact every possession.
“He does everything,” Landry Shamet said in the locker room. “He’s a virtuoso.”
Anunoby was the Knicks’ best player during their first-round comeback against the Hawks, but he suffered a hamstring injury in Game 2 of the second-round series against the 76ers, threatening to derail another deep run. But the 28-year-old was back for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, contributing nine points, three rebounds and a steal in the overtime of what was then the biggest playoff comeback in team history.
Entering Game 5 of the NBA Finals in San Antonio, Anunoby ranks second on the Knicks in scoring (20.7), third in rebounds (6.2), second in steals (1.4) and second in blocks (1.1) in the postseason, while shooting 57.8 percent from the field and a team-best 50.6 percent on 3-pointers.
“He’s unbelievable,” Mikal Bridges said. “He’s different, man.”
He is forever different, forever elevated, forever linked to Willis Reed and Larry Johnson. He is the one who made Manhattan shake, the author of the improbable, who took a sledgehammer to Charles Smith’s layups and Patrick Ewing’s finger roll, who called for the ball, then backed up Captain Clutch, flying through the air and parting the clouds to grab a rebound that’s been out of reach for 53 years and put it home.
The legend has spoken — two letters to stand the test of time.
“Every time I talk to him, I say, I already know what OG Anunoby is going to do in the fourth quarter, and he did exactly what I thought he would do,” Karl-Anthony Towns said. “He gave us a chance to win, and that’s all you could ask for from the best two-way player in the NBA.”
RALEIGH, N.C. — The Carolina Hurricanes had spent the NHL playoffs waiting for their power play to get going, along with top-line performers Andrei Svechnikov and Sebastian Aho.
And they had spent the first four games of the Stanley Cup Final being outplayed in critical second-period sequences.
On Thursday night, it all came together, aligning to bring the Hurricanes within a victory of winning the Cup.
Svechnikov scored twice and Aho added a second-period goal in a breakout offensive game for both, helping the Hurricanes beat the Vegas Golden Knights 4-2 for a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series.
“I liked our effort for sure, and I hope we’re getting better,” coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “I think there’s certain areas of our game that are starting to look a lot like we need it to look. But I do think there’s still another level that we’re going to need to get to find that next one.”
Captain Jordan Staal found the net again for the fifth straight game in this series after Vegas had taken a 1-0 first-period lead, while Brandon Bussi finished with 23 saves in his second career postseason start.
Game 6 is Sunday night in Las Vegas, with the Hurricanes playing for the chance to hoist the Stanley Cup for the first time since Brind’Amour captained them to the title in 2006.
Aho’s goal in the second period marked his first of the series, coming when Sean Walker found him cutting to the left side after Jordan Martinook — swapped with Seth Jarvis to work alongside Aho and Svechnikov on the top line — won a puck battle behind the net on the forecheck.
Then there was Svechnikov, who entered Thursday with four postseason goals before striking twice on the power play. On the first, he whipped the puck past Carter Hart on the right side for a 2-1 lead in the second period.
On the second, he had a short putaway at the post off a sharp feed from Nikolaj Ehlers for a 4-1 lead, one of three assist for Ehlers on the night that included him having two delay-of-game penalties for putting a puck over the glass.
Before those second-period scores, Vegas had outscored Carolina 9-1 in the second period during the series.
And unlike most multi-goal leads in what has been a wild and thrilling series, this one held up with Bussi doing enough to stave off Vegas’ late push to climb back in it.
“It required everything we have,” Staal said on the ESPN broadcast.
Pavel Dorofeyev scored twice for Vegas, finding the net for the first time since Game 1 of the Western Conference Final sweep of Presidents’ Trophy winner Colorado.
“I thought we were still doing some good things,” Vegas’ Jack Eichel said. “We had chances.”
Hart entered this one as the first goaltender in Stanley Cup Final history to give up at least four goals in each of the first four games, then did it again to continue a difficult series while finishing with 20 saves.
Asked if he considered swapping to backup Adin Hill, coach John Tortorella responded: “That could be the stupidest question I’ve heard.”
Vegas had twice before been in a 2-2 series in these playoffs, in the first round against Utah and the second round against Anaheim. Both times, the Golden Knights won Game 5 and closed out the series in Game 6.
This time, they’ll have to win on home ice to force the series back to Carolina for a Game 7 on Wednesday night. And they’ll have to take two in a row against a Hurricanes team that hasn’t suffered consecutive losses since mid-January.
Not that Tortorella was fazed.
“We’ll be back here,” he said confidently, saying he would leave his clothes behind at the team’s hotel in expectation of returning to North Carolina.
Vegas played much of the night without center William Karlsson, who was being checked out on the bench for an apparent upper-body injury. Karlsson skated to the tunnel midway through the second period and didn’t return. Tortorella said the center was “not going to be with us, probably” in the coming games.
Jun 11, 2026; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; Carolina Hurricanes right wing Andrei Svechnikov (37) scores against Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Carter Hart (79) and defenseman Brayden McNabb (3) during the third period in game five of the 2026 Stanley Cup Final at Lenovo Center. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
Nathan Ray Seebeck/Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
Andrei Svechnikov scored twice and Sebastian Aho added a second-period goal in a breakout game for Carolina’s top-line performers, helping the Hurricanes beat the Vegas Golden Knights 4-2 on Thursday night to move within a victory of winning the Stanley Cup.
Captain Jordan Staal added his fifth goal in the series on a night when Carolina overcame multiple hiccups from these playoffs, from a shaky power play to being outplayed in the second period of this series.
And there had been the waiting game for Aho and Svechnikov — two roster mainstays in an eight-year postseason run — to find a better offensive groove.
It all came together in Game 5, with Svechnikov’s short putaway at the post on the power play giving Carolina a 4-1 lead midway through the third period. And unlike most multi-goal leads in what has been a wild and thrilling series, this one held up, with Brandon Bussi finishing with 22 saves in his second career postseason start.
That gave the Hurricanes a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series. Game 6 is Sunday night in Las Vegas, with the Hurricanes playing for the chance to hoist the Stanley Cup for the first time since coach Rod Brind’Amour captained them to the title in 2006.
Pavel Dorofeyev scored twice for Vegas, finding the net for the first time since Game 1 of the Western Conference Final sweep of Presidents’ Trophy winner Colorado. Carter Hart entered this one as the first goaltender in Stanley Cup Final history to give up at least four goals in each of the first four games, then did it again to continue a difficult series while finishing with 20 saves.
Vegas had twice before been in a 2-2 series in these playoffs, in the first round against Utah and the second round against Anahaim. Both times, the Golden Knights won Game 5 and then closed out the series in Game 6.
This time, they’ll have to win on home ice to force the series back to Carolina for a Game 7 on Wednesday night. And they’ll have to take two in a row against a Hurricanes team that hasn’t suffered consecutive losses since mid-January.
Vegas played much of the night without center William Karlsson, who was being checked out on the bench for an apparent upper-body injury. Karlsson skated to the tunnel midway through the second period and didn’t return.
The sport’s misguided morals mean England’s Test captain has been humbled for a meaningless infraction and kept off the stage for which he was made
There are times when it’s possible to keep sport in a sensible perspective, and then there are weeks it challenges your very sanity. This has felt like one of those.
Perhaps the US president erecting a cage‑fighting octagon in his back garden is – given the state of the world – not that crazy. After all, it’s probably less tacky than paving over the Rose Garden, or the proposed ballroom‑slash‑droneport‑slash‑triumphal‑arch. You say a World Cup referee has been denied entry to the US because he’s from Somalia? Well, really. Anyone who didn’t see that coming hasn’t been paying attention.
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The Iowa Cubs got battered by the Louisville Bats (Reds), 20-3. It’s the second-straight game Iowa gave up 20 runs.
Starter Connor Noland got the loss after allowing four runs on six hits over four innings. Noland neither walked nor struck anyone out.
Casey Opitz gave up three runs and allowed three inherited runners to score as part of an 11-run bottom of the eighth. But cut the I-Cubs third-string catcher a break—he was pitching on back-to-back nights.
Shortstop Scott Kingery hit a two-run home run in the seventh inning. He was 2 for 4.
Center fielder Kevin Alcántara went 2 for 5 with an RBI double in the fourth inning.
First baseman BJ Murray went 2 for 3 with two walks and scored on Alcántara’s double.
Rigth fielder Justin Dean was 2 for 5 with a double.
The Jaguar’s double.
Kingery’s first home run of the year.
The Knoxville Smokies cooked the Montgomery Biscuits (Rays), 14-5.
Starter Dawson Netz gave up four runs in the third inning on two home runs, a solo home run and then a three-run shot. Netz finished the night giving up four runs on four hits over 3.1 innings. He walked four and struck out three.
Tyler Ras went the next 3.2 innings, did not allow a run and went home with the win. Ras allowed three hits. He struck out four and walked one. Ras, whom the Cubs signed this past winter after the Rockies released him, has a 1.72 ERA and 34 strikeouts in 31.1 innings with Knoxville.
Right fielder Alex Ramírez hit a solo home run in the eighth inning. It was his fifth on the campaign. Ramírez finished 1 for 5.
Shortstop Jefferson Rojas was 3 for 5 with three RBI and one run scored. He was also hit by a pitch. Rojas is hitting .350 in the month of June.
DH Owen Ayers isn’t slowing down. Tonight he was 3 for 4 with a walk and a hit by pitch. He scored once and drove in one.
Center fielder Karson Simas went 2 for 4 with two walks and a steal. Simas scored three runs.
Second baseman Hayden Cantrelle was 2 for 3 with two walks. Cantrelle had three RBI and two runs scored.
Left fielder Carter Trice went 2 for 6 with a double and a two-run single.
A two-run single for Rojas.
A two-run single by Rojas plus an error scores three.
The Ramírez home run.
The South Bend Cubs were blown away by the Peoria Chiefs (Cardinals), 16-7 in a game that ended in the seventh inning after a tornado warning.
Cole Reynolds got rocked for eight runs on five hits over the first 3+ innings. Reynolds walked three, hit one batter and struck out one.
DH Drew Bowser hit his fourth home run of the year in the second inning with two men on. Bowser was 2 for 3 with a double and the home run.
First baseman Josiah Hartshorn continues to impress. Tonight he hit an RBI single in the third inning and a two-run home run in the fifth. It was Hartshorn’s sixth home run in just 15 games in South Bend and 11th overall. Hartshorn went 2 for 3 and scored twice.
Catcher Miguel Useche was 2 for 3 with one RBI and one run scored.
Wisconsin’s doubleheader was rained out, so South Bend’s magic number remains at three to clinch a first-half title.
Bowser’s home run.
RBI singles for Hartshorn and Useche.
We need to find a nickname for Hartshorn. Here’s his home run. Admittedly it was a fat pitch, but he didn’t miss it.
The Myrtle Beach Pelicans were four under par against the Augusta GreenJackets (Braves), 11-7.
Starter Noah Edders allowed four runs over four innings, but only one of the four runs was earned. Edders surrendered four hits (one of which was a solo home run) and one walk. He struck out a career-high eight.
Henry Cone relieved Edders, pitched the next three innings and got the win. Cone gave up one run on three hits. He walked three and struck out three.
First baseman Michael Carico clubbed a two-run home run in the fifth inning, his fifth on the year. Carico sent 3 for 4 with a double and the home run. He had four total runs batted in and scored twice.
Third baseman Derniche Valdez then went back-to-back with Carico with his fourth home run of 2026. Valdez was 2 for 4 with a double and the home run.
Center fielder Darlyn De Leon was 2 for 4 with four stolen bases. He scored twice. De Leon had five steals all season before tonight.
Catcher Logan Poteet drove in three runs with a two-run double and a bases-loaded walk. He finished the night 1 for 4 with the walk and the run scored.
Left fielder Edward Vargas went 2 for 4 and scored once.
Highlights.