It was a tense atmosphere from the onset at Little Caesars Arena during the Detroit Red Wings' home opener against the New York Rangers to begin the 2026-27 campaign.
Injured former captain Dylan Larkin was heavily booed when he was introduced alongside the other scratches, while multiple audible "Sell the Team" chants broke out from frustrated fans following Detroit's turbulent offseason.
It all culminated in a 2-0 shutout loss, marking the Red Wings' third consecutive home-opening defeat.
The Red Wings were playing without Larkin, who was announced as officially unavailable for Friday's game as well as Sunday against the Winnipeg Jets; whether he can play on Tuesday remains to be seen.
Detroit also didn't have defenseman Simon Edvinsson, who is in the midst of a contract stalemate and is currently in his native Sweden.
Meanwhile, the Rangers, who traveled from Manhattan to Detroit after playing Thursday evening, earned their second win in just over 24 hours.
Sean Durzi, whom the Rangers acquired from the Utah Mammoth in the Vincent Trocheck trade, connected on the power-play for the Rangers at 5:12 of the first period, whistling a one-timed shot through the pads of goaltender John Gibson for a 1-0 New York lead.
That would do it for the scoring until, with Gibson pulled for an extra attacker, Eeli Tolvanen hit the empty net with 1:16 left in the game.
The Red Wings fired 22 shots at Rangers goaltender Dylan Garand, who was appearing in only his fourth career NHL contest; he picked up his first shutout.
Meanwhile, Gibson stopped 19 of the 20 shots he faced.
Detroit had several chances to find the back of the net, most notably in the first period when a shot from rookie Anton Johansson, making his NHL debut, hit the post after being deflected by Andrew Copp.
Newcomer Viktor Arvidsson also came close, attempting to redirect a centering pass out of the air from close range, only to be denied by Rangers goaltender Dylan Garand.
However, Detroit managed only two shots on goal during the game's final frame.
Offense isn't going to be easy to come by for the Red Wings even if they had iced a full lineup, considering the combined 88 points lost due to the departures of both Patrick Kane and James van Riemsdyk.
The Red Wings have no choice but to put this loss behind them and prepare for their next game, a Sunday matinee affair against the visiting Winnipeg Jets.
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When it’s Big Blue Madness, basketball season is officially underway in the Bluegrass.
Friday night, a sold-out Rupp Arena welcomed the men’s and women’s teams in their first looks at both of them ahead of their upcoming seasons. It was a raucous crowd, with excitement building for the season.
Women’s Team shows off shooting ahead of highly anticipated season
The Women’s Basketball team tipped off the festivities as they entered the arena. Coming off a Sweet 16 berth last year, Kenny Brooks and the Cats have a lot of momentum coming into this season. The crowd at Rupp Arena clearly concurs, giving each player and Brooks a rousing ovation when they were introduced.
In the “Hot Shot” competition, Team 1 featured Asia Boone, Me’Arah O’Neal, Gabby Brooks, and Savvy Swords. They put up a solid 16 points to tip off the drill. They were followed by Team 2, featuring Clara Strack, Diana Collins, Emily McDonald, and Jemma Amoore. Behind a blistering start, they started draining shots from deep to take the lead.
On Team 3, a fan joined Ajša Sivka, Maddyn Greenway, and Dominika Paurová. They tied Team 1 with 16 points, meaning Team 2 won the drill.
Then came everybody’s favorite: The 3-point shooting contest. Asia Boone tipped it off with a solid 15 points, with Me’Arah O’Neal draining her final two shots to put up 18 points. A confident Emily McDonald made six in a row early and came up just one point shy of the lead with 17. All three advanced to the final round; Boone made all five shots on the final rack to accumulate 20 points.
McDonald responded by hitting her final shot to tie the score. It came down to O’Neal, who made all five from straightaway and then her final two shots on the last rack to tie the score at 20. That brought the tiebreaker to half-court, with a moneyball rack and the first player to make a shot winning the contest. Boone rattled one in after multiple rounds of attempts to take home the trophy.
Mark Pope welcomes back Karl-Anthony Towns
First of all, the thunderous applause started when Malachi Moreno was introduced. Then, things got real. A tall white sheet acted as a projector screen to play an intro video for Mark Pope, who appeared on a gigantic pedestal to address the crowd in Rupp Arena. Dressed in all black, including a Kentucky varsity jacket, Pope then said he had one more Cat to introduce. Pope unveiled that he was wearing a Karl-Anthony Towns No. 12 jersey, a fitting welcome home for one of the greatest Cats of all time.
Coming off winning the 2026 NBA Championship with the New York Knicks, Towns was greeted to a raucous ovation from the Rupp Arena crowd. In just one season with Kentucky, Towns averaged 10.3 points per game and 6.7 rebounds per game. Keep in mind, he played on Kentucky’s platoon squad. NBA scouts knew what Towns had, and he was drafted No. 1 overall in the 2015 NBA Draft.
In the NBA Playoffs this past Spring, Towns averaged 15.9 points per game and 10.6 rebounds per game, while shooting 55.1% from the field and 45.6% from 3-point range. Towns tipped San Antonio Spurs’ Dylan Harper’s final inbounds pass in Game 4 of the NBA Finals, enabling Josh Hart to hold serve underneath the basket against the Spurs’ Stephon Castle and cement the greatest comeback in NBA Finals history, with the Knicks coming back from down 29 points in the second half.
Mark Pope Shines Spotlight on coaching staff
I think it’s great that Pope took several minutes to highlight his assistant coaches and staff, particularly what each of their roles are. Pope introduced each of them, with all of the members in various entrances to different sections in the upper deck of Rupp Arena.
Earlier this week, Pope said there’s great synergy with this current coaching and basketball staff. That was on display Friday night at Big Blue Madness.
Lighting it up from deep
Mark Pope said earlier this week that he thinks this Wildcats’ team’s shooting will be elite and they have a depth of shooters. In the 3-point shooting competition, we saw glimpses of what that can look like. Mason Williams tipped off the competition with 24 points. Then, Alex Wilkins showed off his shooting potential with a blistering 31 points. Milan Momcilovic participated and got hot at the end to finish with 22 points.
Then, it was reigning 3-point champion Trent Noah, who went 4-5 on the final rack to finish with 18 points.
The final round came down to Wilkins and Ousmane N’Diaye. N’Diaye finished with eight points, with Wilkins following it with a raining performance at 21 points and deciding to dunk in the final ball for the win.
Milan wins fan $10,000
A fan named Jake from the crowd got two half-court shots to win $10,000. He missed both, but he was able to select one player on the team to shoot from half-court to win him the money. He chose Milan Momcilovic. Wise choice. Momcilovic calmly let it fly, banking it in and winning Jake $10,000.
McBride and N’Diaye WOW in dunk contest
Justin McBride started off the dunk contest with an explosive between-the-legs dunk. In the final round, Ousmane N’Diaye threw a pass off the backboard that he put back for an emphatic slam. McBride followed with a thunderous windmill reverse dunk that netted him a 50 score from the judges.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Alex Tuch scored twice in his first game for Washington, Alex Ovechkin opened his 22nd NHL season with an assist and the Capitals beat the Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes 5-2 on Friday night.
Tuch joined the Capitals in an offseason trade after five seasons with Buffalo. The 41-year-old Ovechkin assisted on Tuch's opening goal in Washington's three-goal first period.
Cole Hutson, Jakob Chychrun and Ryan Leonard also scored for the Capitals, and Logan Thompson made 31 saves.
Sebastian Aho and Logan Stankoven scored for Carolina, and Brandon Bussi stopped 22 shots. The Hurricanes opened Tuesday night at home with a 1-0 overtime loss to Florida.
Tuch opened the scoring at 6:33 of the first period, beating Busso with a wrist shot. Hutson scored on a snap shot with 8:27 left in the period, and Tuch connected on a backhander with 5:37 to go.
Jakob Chychrun made it 4-0 on a power play at 1:36 of second.
Aho got one back for Carolina on a power play with 3:10 left in the second, and Leonard made it 5-1 eight seconds later. Stankoven scored midway through the third.
As if the start of the 2026-27 season couldn't be more glum for the Philadelphia Flyers, one of their top prospects is already set to miss time through an injury.
On Friday night, Sokolovskii's club, the OHL London Knights, announced that the 18-year-old defenseman will be out week-to-week with a lower-body injury.
Sokolovskii is now the latest in a growing line of Flyers injuries, joining players like Denver Barkey, Nikita Grebenkin, and Helge Grans on the shelf.
So far, the Flyers' 2026 first-round pick has played in just one game for the Knights this season: a 7-4 win against the Owen Sound Attack on Sept. 25.
In that game against Owen Sound, Sokolovskii quickly got himself on the highlight reels, laying a devastating hit on Attack forward Lucian Bernat and sending his opponent's stick flying in the air in cartoonish fashion.
Of course, Sokolovskii would have to answer for that and fight Julian Brown, a 6-foot-4 fellow defenseman who he was teammates with last year on London before Brown joined Owen Sound.
Good to have you back, Maks!💥 Maksim Sokolovskii with the Finch Collision of the week! pic.twitter.com/wgzVguuJ9Y
Unfortunately for the Flyers and their new top prospect, Sokolovskii's season will get off to a bit of a slow start after he played in only 44 regular season games for the Knights last year, plus five playoff games.
The silver lining, on the other hand, is that the 6-foot-8 Russian blue liner looked pretty good in his lone OHL appearance this season, building on the growth that the Flyers saw from him over the course of the last season that vaulted him into the first-round conversation heading into the 2026 NHL Draft.
Sokolovskii was one of the more impressive, noticeable players throughout rookie camp and the early stages of development camp, so as long as the injury isn't a long-term deal, this bump in the road shouldn't end up hampering his development this season all that much, if at all.
The Ottawa Senators got some encouraging injury news on the eve of their 2026-27 NHL season opener against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Defenceman Jake Sanderson is expected to play Saturday night, although his status won’t be completely certain until the Senators see how he feels on game day.
Sanderson has missed a number of practices throughout training camp with an undisclosed injury. He returned to make his preseason debut against the Montreal Canadiens last Saturday, helped set up one goal, but left the game and did not return.
Though he was sent down on Friday, Hoyt Stanley was pleased earlier this week to make it through to the final 23 man roster (Senators YouTube).
Sanderson skated at practice on Friday and admitted it may take a little longer to get up to speed.
"Obviously, I've only played one period of preseason," Sanderson said. "I think, for me, I (need to) control what I can control, and that's my effort and my mindset, making sure I'm locked in."
Sanderson's expected return means rookie Hoyt Stanley has been returned to the Belleville Senators. Stanley was a surprise addition to Ottawa’s 23-man roster, largely because of injuries to Sanderson and Artem Zub.
Zub isn’t ready to return yet, but there was some encouraging news on that front as well. He is participating in practice again, although he remains in a yellow non-contact jersey.
There was also good news up front.
Warren Foegele will be in the lineup Saturday night after missing training camp following offseason surgery. After spending most of last season on the fourth line, he's expected to suit up tomorrow in a much better position to succeed alongside Tim Stützle and Drake Batherson.
Foegele says his mission is just to keep it simple. He's in the top six because newcomer Andre Burakovsky remains out. Like Sanderson, he also left last Saturday’s game against Montreal with an injury, but was back at practice Friday. Like Zub, Burakovsky was wearing a yellow non-contact jersey.
So while the Senators aren't completely healthy heading into opening night, their injury situation is beginning to look a lot better than it did just a few days ago.
Detroit Red Wings star Dylan Larkin received a big reaction from fans as he appeared at Little Caesars Arena amid his trade request.
And it included a heavy layer of boos.
Larkin wasn't playing on Friday, Oct. 2 because of an upper body injury but he was introduced along with the other players who weren't dressed. He gave a wave to fans after the reaction.
Larkin has five years left on his contract at an $8.7 million cap hit. The longtime captain lost his "C" and the Red Wings will start the season without a captain.
Red Wings fans chant, 'Sell the team'
Larkin wasn't the only person to hear it from fans.
Early in the first period, fans began chanting, "Sell the team."
The Buffalo Sabres practiced at Key Bank Center on Friday after losing 6-3 in Columbus in the season opener on Thursday, and had defenseman Olen Zellweger on the ice for workouts for the first time since leaving the preseason game against the Blue Jackets late last month following a hit from blueliner Carson Soucy.
The 22-year-old was acquired from the Anaheim Ducks over the summer for a second round pick, and skated alongside Owen Power, replacing righty Louis Crevier in the top four. Head coach Lindy Ruff indicated that Zellweger cleared concussion protocol and should be available to play in the home opener on Saturday against the defenseman he replaced as Power’s tandem partner, Bowen Byram, and the Chicago Blackhawks.
Crevier was shifted down to the bottom pairing, splitting time with Zach Metsa on the right side with lefty Matt Grzelcyk. Veteran Dennis Gilbert was sent back to Rochester, who open the 2026-27 AHL season against the Calder Cup champion Toronto Marlies at Blue Cross Arena.
In ex-Sabres news, Byram through two games with the Hawks is getting #1 defenseman ice time, averaging near 25 minutes, but has no points and is -4. This is less reflective of Byram as an individual, and more reflective of how dreadful Chicago is without Connor Bedard.
Another former Sabre had an auspicious debut for his new club, the Edmonton Oilers. Goaltender Devon Levi, allowed seven goals on 22 shots in a wild 9-7 victory over the Vancouver Canucks. On Friday, Alex Tuch will make his Washington Capitals debut against the Carolina Hurricanes.
The Miami Heat announced Friday, Oct. 2 that they are hosting "A Night in Vice City" to promote the highly-anticipated release of "Grand Theft Auto 6."
The event will serve as the backdrop for the Nov. 18 game against the Milwaukee Bucks, which is the night before the Nov. 19 release date for the latest edition of the popular and controversial video game. It also will be the first time Giannis Antetokounmpo faces off against the team that drafted him and facilitated his journey to superstardom.
In a news release, the Heat said that the partnership with Rockstar Games will transform the Kaseya Center into an immersive experience based on Vice City. The fictional location is where the latest edition of the game is based, "the darkest side of the sunniest place in America." In previews for "Grand Theft Auto 6," there's palm trees, alligators, exotic cars, gold chains, dark alleys and art deco buildings on the beach with neon lights. Basically, Miami.
For the game, the court will have a special design, the players will wear a new uniform and there will be other activations throughout the night. There is also a merchandise collection of T-shirts, hoodies and hats.
The Chicago Blackhawks are 0-2-0 to start the season. They didn't just lose to the Vegas Golden Knights and Utah Mammoth. They were blown out in both games by a combined score of 11-2. They didn't show any improvement from the first game to the second either. In fact, they got worse.
Now, the Blackhawks can't lie down and let the season slip away before it even starts. They have a match on the East Coast against the Buffalo Sabres to close out the three-game road trip to start the season. After that, they are headed to Chicago for the home opener.
"I have tons of belief in these guys," head coach Jeff Blashill said following the Utah game. "This is two games, neither more nor less. Does that mean there is urgency? Yes. We have urgency to go play a good hockey game on Saturday. My focus is us getting better as a group. That doesn't change. We are super young; it can't be an excuse. These guys have to step up."
Ahead of that game in Buffalo, Blashill may be looking for something to spark the team. There are a handful of routes he can go, and one of these three would make the most sense and be the most realistic:
1. Insert Kevin Korchinski and/or Ethan Del Mastro
The Chicago Blackhawks have been lousy defensively, especially when they are skating around their own zone. Protecting the house is paramount to winning hockey games, and they have done a poor job of it over two games.
The Blackhawks are never going to bench Bowen Byram or Alex Vlasic, who had the two worst nights of any defenders on the team against Utah. They are their two highest-paid blue-liners, so they will be relied on to figure out their game.
However, Sam Rinzel is a second-year player with plenty of development left. He could be someone who takes a seat in favor of Kevin Korchinski or Ethan Del Mastro. Although Artyom Levshunov has had flashes in the first two games, he is a candidate to watch a game from the press box as well.
Jeff Blashill was asked about the possibility of getting either Korchinski/Del Mastro into a game, and he left every door open.
"I’m not there. Probably," Jeff Blashill said when asked if he'd make a switch like that. "We’ll see. We consider everything, so we’ll look at it and see if we think the two other options are better than the options that played."
If those first two games aren't a reason to insert either Korchinski or Del Mastro, then why are they on the team? They were each solid in the preseason and earned their spots. Between that and the team's performance, why not now?
2. Change pairings in general
Jeff Blashill can also change up the pairs, regardless of who else gets inserted in. Bowen Byram and Alex Vlasic played poorly enough on Thursday to warrant splitting them up to see if that creates a spark. He changes the forward lines with ease, but why not the defensive pairs more?
If they get another game together to see if they can work through it, the logic is sound. However, they should be on short leashes based on their play. What was on display against both the Golden Knights and the Mammoth, but especially the Mammoth, is unacceptable in the NHL for any sustained period of time.
3. Create forward lines and leave them be
In the same vein, the forward lines have been in the blender a lot since training camp started. That hasn't been a recipe for success in the NHL, especially for the Blackhawks so far this season.
Everything will settle down when Connor Bedard, their best forward, returns. Until then, they have to find the right mix. It could come down to creating four balanced lines and leaving them be for a while. Injuries, like the one that Andrew Mangiapane is going through, can and will change things, but letting players develop chemistry is important.
So far, Chicago's best line has been their fourth line. Cole Smith, Jordan Greenway, and Ryan Greene make up that line, and they have yet to be separated. They play well together and are clearly getting used to each other. It may be time to allow the top three lines to do so as well.
Chicago has only scored two goals in two games. Greenway scored one of them, while Patrick Kane scored the other. For Greenway, it's a result of feeling good about his role on the team with that line. For Kane, his pure skill took over on one play.
"I don’t think there’s any lack of belief in our group," Blashill said. "We’re 0-2; that’s the fact of it. We haven’t played our best. But it’s neither more nor less than that."
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.
New York Rangers goaltender Dylan Garand (33) defends the net during the second period of a game against the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday, March 22, 2026, at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan, N.Y.
DETROIT — So, Dylan Garand will be the Rangers backup goalie in October after all.
Among the last round of cuts from training camp less than a week ago, the rookie netminder was in Hartford for just two practices before he was summoned back to New York for the Blueshirts’ home opener at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night and his fourth NHL start Friday night in Detroit.
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“Dylan and I have had a lot of conversations along the way,” head coach Mike Sullivan said. “I had a number of conversations with him when the decision was made to send him to Hartford. He knows that we believe in him. I don’t know that I have to say anything else. He’s a good, solid goalie. And we believe in him, and we know he’s going to make saves for us.”
It’s crystal clear now that Korpisalo was slated for the No. 2 job since the Rangers acquired him from Boston on July 1.
Devils center Nico Hischier (13) scores a goal past Rangers goaltender Dylan Garand (33) in the second period of a Rangers-Devils pre-season hockey game in Newark, N.J., Monday, Sept. 21, 2026. Bill Kostroun for NY Post
With a 24-year-old homegrown goalie in Garand pushing his way out of the pipeline, however, the Rangers called it a competition heading into training camp. Garand maximized his first NHL opportunity last season in the form of a 2-0-1 record and a .948 save percentage, but management believes he needs to be getting starter’s reps in Hartford to continue developing.
That led to the Rangers putting Garand on waivers just a few days after the Canucks claimed 24-year-old goalie Leevi Meriläinen from the Senators.
“I’m sure he was disappointed,” Sullivan said. “He’s a fierce competitor, and he wants to play in the NHL. That’s part of his personality that we love.”
Concerns over the possibility of Garand getting claimed may have been overblown, but they weren’t unwarranted. On the same waiver wire last weekend, the Jets claimed Clay Stevenson and the Devils picked up Remi Poirier.
It’s true, Garand’s sample size in the NHL isn’t quite big enough to take a flyer on, but young and untapped goalies were hot commodities this preseason. It sure worked out for Brandon Bussi and the 2026 Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes.
New York Rangers goaltender Dylan Garand (33) defends the net during the second period of a game against the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday, March 22, 2026, at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan, N.Y. Robert Sabo for NY Post
Waiving Garand ultimately worked out for the Rangers too, but only because he cleared.
Had Garand been claimed, this Korpisalo injury could’ve been a devastating blow to the Rangers. After Garand, the Rangers have a shallow pool of netminders in Spencer Martin (primarily an AHL journeyman) and Callum Tung (split last season between the ECHL and AHL).
Whether you believe Garand should’ve been tabbed as the backup in the first place, Korpisalo came to New York on the heels of a volatile couple of seasons. He has finished with a save percentage above .900 just once in the past six seasons, when he split the 2022-23 campaign between the Blue Jackets and the Kings.
Still, the Rangers naturally went with the bigger body of work than the unproven rookie.
The NHL opportunity for Garand was always going to come at some point this season, especially given Igor Shesterkin’s injury history.
It may be earlier than expected, but it’s here now.
Garand said he never wanted to go back to the AHL, and Friday night was his first chance this season to make his case.
It would be foolish to condemn the Philadelphia Flyers two games into a young 2026-27 season, but in those two games, against divisional opponents looking to take charge, the Flyers looked completely unprepared, outmatched, and disinterested in it all.
Through two games, the Flyers have, according to Natural Stat Trick, allowed the most shot attempts in the NHL at 5-on-5 (125) and rank 18th in the league in expected goals generated (1.92), which is the fewest amongst all teams that have played two games thus far, and still ranks below 11 teams that have played only one game, including their two opponents: Pittsburgh and New Jersey.
Starting their season winless at 0-1-1, the Flyers have already dropped points to two divisional opponents, with the 7-0 loss in their home opener against Pittsburgh especially egregious.
The actual on-ice play aside, the most concerning part of it all is that nobody has an actual answer as to what is going on with the Flyers. Not head coach Rick Tocchet, not the leadership group, not Christian Dvorak, and not Joseph Woll.
"I'm not sure. If it keeps happening, I guess we got bigger issues, and so we need to clean it up. Need to get back to playing the way that we know we can, and we know that works," Flyers defenseman Travis Sanheim said after the 3-2 overtime loss to the Devils on Thursday night.
"I'm not sure why we're kind of straying away from that when it's worked in the past."
Added Tocchet a short time later: "We got to really buckle down here, and the problem is we don't have much practice time, so we're going to have to do it on the fly here. ... I have no idea. We just talked as coaches, like, we'd have to maybe change some practices. We need more skill work. Unfortunately, we've only had five or six practices, but I don't know. I don't know, over the summer... but we are choppy with the puck."
Astute Flyers fans will recall that the reference to a lack of practice time was a common refrain repeated by Tocchet's predecessor, John Tortorella, throughout his rollercoaster tenure with the Flyers.
From Tortorella's time in Philadelphia, many things remain the same. The Flyers look most competitive when they have superb goaltending behind them, and they rely on a large volume of blocked shots and spontaneously manufactured offense to stay competitive.
Most of all, the power play is still the team's Achilles heel.
"Offensively, I think that some guys are squeezing it, too. And it's only our second game. I don't know why we're squeezing it," Tocchet added. "We got to relax if there's a play to be made."
On social media, it's become a bit of a source of consternation amongst fans how often Tocchet refers to players as "nervous" before or after games, and leading up to the season, Tocchet felt that his group was both anxious and excited to follow up their performance last season.
It's unflattering to the second-year coach, but also unflattering to a group of players - the veterans in particular - that's already been through this song and dance with Tortorella in 2023-24.
What happened to player development?
Porter Martone has been stuck on the end of the Flyers' bench in each of the team's first two games this season. (Photo: James Guillory, Imagn Images)
The one thing the Flyers have been able to hang their hats on in recent seasons is their player development, though that has stalled out in a major way at the beginning of the season.
Top prospect Porter Martone has been effectively benched in each of his first two regular season games of the year, and Alex Bump played just one shift in the third period against New Jersey and finished that game with a team-low 8:18 of ice time... in a game that went to overtime.
Meanwhile, Christian Dvorak, Tyson Foerster, and Trevor Zegras led the forwards in ice time; Dvorak made the turnover that sprung the Devils on Luke Hughes's game-tying goal halfway through the third period, and Zegras finished the game playing left wing next to Sean Couturier and Noel Acciari. He and Sanheim also combined for the turnover that led to Jack Hughes's game-winning goal in overtime.
But Martone, Bump, Matvei Michkov, and Carl Grundstrom finished the night as the bottom-four in ice time for the Flyers. The irony was that Martone was on the ice for the Flyers' first goal, and Grundstrom for the second.
I asked Tocchet his perspective behind those personnel changes, to which he responded, "I needed some lines here to somewhat control Jack. He was caving some of our lines, and so I just tried to get the best nine, I thought, for tonight."
Player development can be a self-fulfilling prophecy, though, and players like Bump, Michkov, and Martone will never be able to handle playing against elite players if they don't learn at some point.
The Flyers drafted Michkov and Martone to be those players themselves one day, but it's not going to happen with the process going the way it is.
Twenty-two-year-old David Jiricek has yet to play a game for the Flyers this season, and Tocchet had said on the record he told the player he has to get Jiricek in the lineup in one of these games.
Is Game 3 against the reigning Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes an appropriate time to turn to a young defenseman carrying high expectations with your team winless to start the season? Probably not, and that's another lose-lose situation right there, whether Jiricek plays or not.
Again, it is far too early to pull the plug on the 2026-27 Flyers, but how they show up and perform against the Hurricanes on Saturday night will give us a better idea of where they're headed, playing a third division rival in four nights.
Whoa, last night was fun, no? This playoff series win was at least five years in the making, which is exactly the last time the Braves won a playoff series. The Phillies have excelled at beating the Braves in October in recent years, but didn’t have a lot of luck with anyone else. I felt very confident in the 50-50 nature of this particular encounter, and felt Atlanta could pull this off if they don’t blow it. However that’s been the rub, nay a calloused blister formed over 35 years of (mostly) playoff disappointment. But Michael Harris and crew pushed through years of angst and pain into the next playoff round.
The Braves will have to refocus on the red-eye flight this morning and prepare for a much different encounter tomorrow. The Dodgers will be rested and preparing to kick off their run toward a third World Series title. This is not a team like the Phillies, who needed to scratch and claw to advance and brought a jumbled and rest-deprived starting rotation. Let’s have a look at that Dodgers rotation and what will greet the Braves.
Starting Rotation
The Dodgers healthy starting pitching options look like this: Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Tarik Skubal, Blake Snell, Justin Wrobleski, and Emmet Sheehan. Is that all they have and no Shohei Ohtani, huh Dodgers? They aren’t the Evil Empire 2.0 for nothing, folks. The best option to start Game 1 will be Yoshinobu Yamamoto. After him the Dodgers can run three left-hand starting pitchers at Drake Baldwin, Matt Olson and Michael Harris II. Let’s walk through Yamamoto first.
Those are some menacing red bars there. The other menacing part is the arsenal, which includes a 96 MPH fastball, split-finger, cutter, curveball, sinker, and slider. The four-season fastball usage has gone down season, and so have the strikeouts. But he has back-to-back 4.6+ WAR seasons, so it’s a pick-your-poison type of encounter.
I would expect the Yoshinobu to dial up the fastball some more in Game 1. There’s no reason to ration the fastballs or the MPH. He will enter Game 1 after 10 days of rest. The rested bullpen will be able to pick him up later in the game. If you’re looking for green shoots, Michael Harris is 2-6 lifetime versus Yamamoto. Drake Baldwin has a home in 3 plate appearances. All of NLWCS starters have hits off him except Matt Olson and Mauricio Dubon. But combined they’re 8-44 with 1 home run and a .182/.250/.333 line.
Next up will be the two lefties: Tarik Skubal, Blake Snell. Let’s grudgingly look at these lefty options.
If you don’t know Tarik Skubal, you may wish that you haven’t. He was the prize trade deadline target this July, and of course the Dodgers with their army of talent were able to get his services. He’s a back-to-back Cy Young award winner. He’s accumulated 1075 strikeouts in his age 29 season and 24.7 WAR. There’s no telling what it would take to sign him in the offseason. But right now, he’s bearing down on the Braves.
His fastball touches 100, works a devastating changeup off it, a sinker, slider, and why not a curveball as well. He’s also never faced the Braves as a team. Neat. For Game 3, Blake Snell has 28.3 career WAR, but has been limited to 104 innings over the last few years. He exited a game on September 16th after 1 inning with a groin issue. But it’s apparently okay now.
Tyler Glasnow might be waiting in Game 4. He’s been back after a back injury that warranted a 60-day Injured List stint. He’s put up a 4.46/2.14/2.88 line since. He struck out 7 Braves in five innings in a game that the Braves would eventually win on August 25th.
Dodgers Heavy Hitters
The Dodgers are second in position player WAR at 26.9 WAR and feature nine hitters with at least 10 home runs. Shohei Ohtani will not be pitching, but he brings a team-high 30 HRs and 139 wRC+. Mookie Betts has a .780 OPS at short. Max Muncy has 29 home runs and a .830 OPS. Old friend Freddie Freeman has been merely pretty good with a 120 wRC+. Then there’s Andy Pages and Will Smith as well, and Teoscar Hernandez with his torture devices. It’s a deep lineup, everybody.
Dodgers bullpen
Lefty Tanner Scott brings a 100 MPH fastball and 25 saves into this series. However the Braves victimize him for two losses to August. Those would be the Ha-Seong Kim game and another featuring Ozzie Alibes with an 8th-inning RBI single.
I’m deeply concerned about Game 1
Yesterday these guys were dumping champaign on each other deep into the night. Since June, the Braves are 5-10 in the first game of a road series when they don’t get a travel day. They appear to arrive in new cities rather flat. This time they will have Yoshinobu Yamamoto or Tarik Skubal waiting on them. Now, they do get a travel day this time. But they will also arrive with their starting rotation in a mess.
Chris Sale bookended the previous series. Starting him on Sunday for Game 2 would keep him in line to pitch Game 5, or perhaps be the fireman in a Game 4. But what does Walt Weiss do for Game 1? It’s too early for Tyler Mahle, Grant Holmes just pitched almost 1 turn through the order. No one knows yet if Bryce Elder will be available (at time of writing, at least). Martin Perez won’t be eligible to return until Game 3. And hero Ray Kerr just picked up 10 outs. So what can Walt Weiss do?
There’s Didier Fuentes, Brent Suter, Dylan Dodd and Robert Suarez as multi-inning options. JR Ritchie and AJ Smith-Shawver are also available. Weiss has limited options here. They might not have a starter and they may not score.
Are the Dodgers going to pitch to Ronald?
Ronald Acuña Jr went 1 for 9 in the NL Wild Card Series. However, he needed to be super patient. There were 4 walks, with one of those intentional in a Game 2 big spot. Overall, he had a very good .385 OBP versus the top end of the Philadelphia pitching staff. But it won’t fit The NarrativeTM and only the 1 for 9 will be remembered. However, look what he was served.
This is a classic Don Mattingly approach, especially as the Marlins manager. A heavy dose of inside pitches, and no fastballs in the healthy part of the zone. They dotted the upper inside corner, which is thankfully better than in his ear as in previous seasons. The walks definitely hurt the Phillies last night, mainly because of what Michael Harris would contribute. I’m not sure how the Dodgers will approach Ronald. But with some strong left handed pitching, they may not have to challenge him. Postseason games hinge on home runs, and they may elect to not give him that opportunity.
What happened to the outfield defense?
This was funny, but the play in right field overall in the Wild Card Series was bad, shambolic even. Even Michael Harris had trouble in the first inning of the series. But there’s a throughline between Ronald Acuña Jr and Bryce. Both have had numerous lower body injuries. Harper has been ailing since June. When Ronald would finally get comfortable at the plate this season, an injury would knock him off track.
While Harper has the offseason now to rest and perhaps consider options for his knee. The Braves will play again on Saturday afternoon. Designated hitter is an option for Acuña, but it’s also a position that Drake Baldwin needs while not behind the plate. Lane Thomas is returning, but I don’t know if this helps this particular situation. The Dodger Stadium’s right field has some nuance, so Ronnie will have to be on his toes.
So now, Ronald will be in a position where he may not have as many opportunities for power. And he may be hobbled in right field. Atlanta media is going to Atlanta media, and the national ones may pile on as well. So it’s essential for the Braves that Ronald make the most of this series. And it will save us a full offseason of hot takes.
Ray Kerr is not a playoff one-off
Kerr was acquired by the Atlanta Braves in exchange for the Braves assuming 4 million of Matt Carpenter’s contract over the 2023 offseason. I remember being very excited about this move. I saw a lefty with a 96 MPH fastball, 3 option years, and a 38/13 K/BB ratio. I thought at the very least that the Braves would have a bullpen arm in the prime of his playing years that they could bring up and down as needed. So upside would be 2024 Dylan Lee, and baseline a helpful arm. With Bryce Elder and Martin Perez possibly unavailable, he may be employed as a multiple inning option again this series.
Projected Pitching Matchups
Fangraphs is guessing Didier Fuentes versus Tarik Skubal in Game 1. They give the Dodgers a 62% chance to win. I think Brent Suter is more likely, though we may see both. And we may see Yamamoto first, because Suter versus Skubal feels like overkill.
Game 2 will feature Chris Sale versus Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Again, the Dodgers might flip the first too. But Fangraphs gives the Dodgers a 56% chance in this matchup.
Game 3 will be a battle of Tylers. Glasnow for the Dodgers will meet Mahle for the Braves. Fangraphs puts 56% Dodgers again.
I don’t feel comfortable guessing any deeper for this series. And I would argue with Fangraphs’ odds, but honestly those numbers feel slightly favorable. The Braves did win 5 of 6 matchups this season. So maybe these are okay.
Dodgers in 4?
In any other regular season scenario, I wouldn’t be worried about Los Angeles. The Braves tended to play up for good teams this year more than any other year. They have the second best winning percentage versus over-.500 teams. However, they will enter this round with depleted starting pitching, a sagging offense, and perhaps a metaphorical (not physical, please) hangover. But we might as well win now that we’re past the first round.
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One of the few areas where the Buffalo Sabres did not excel last season was on the power play. In spite of a unit that has one of the best offensive blueliners in Rasmus Dahlin, and one of the most consistent scorers in the NHL in Tage Thompson, the Sabres finished last season 21st in the league on the man advantage.
In spite of some changes to the unit’s personnel, Buffalo continued to struggle on the power play in the season opening 6-3 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday, as the Sabres went 0-for-4 on the night, including a full two-minute two-man advantage.
“We had our opportunities. I mean,.... just after the one expired, (Konsta) Heleinus scored, but (we had) a big opportunity with the five-on-three that we missed an opportunity," Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff said after the game. " I thought some of the puck decisions, five-on-four, we did have a couple good looks. Five- on- three, there were a couple times that I just thought, we deferred to the play that wasn't there. I thought our whole game, we tried to be a little bit too fancy."
Noah Ostlund signs extension with the Sabres
The special teams struggles were also apparent on the penalty kill, where the club finished in the top five of the NHL last season. Columbus scored twice on the man advantage in three opportunities, something that Ruff blamed on some new personnel getting utilized on the short-handed units.
The Sabres will hope to get a win against the Chicago Blackhawks in the home opener on Saturday. The Hawks have opened the season with two lopsided losses against Vegas and Utah without star center Connor Bedard, and have allowed 11 goals, while scoring only twice.
Hosts made to fight all the way in 11-try thriller
Bath went to the top of the Prem after beating Exeter Chiefs in a pulsating West Country derby at the Rec but they were made to fight all the way in an 11-try thriller.
Exeter trailed 26-10 at the interval but rallied to lead 33-31 midway through the second half before a yellow card for scrum-half Stephen Varney eventually proved decisive.
Dylan Larkin Receives Icy Reception From Red Wings Fans During Introductions Former Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin was met with a hostile reception from fans at Little Caesars Arena during the pre-game introductions. 
