DENVER — Alex Barré-Boulet didn’t just answer the call — he made it count.
The 28-year-old forward, the Colorado Eagles’ leading point producer and a key contributor for the Avalanche’s AHL affiliate, was summoned on short notice to replace Valeri Nichushkin, who was ruled out of Monday afternoon’s game against the Washington Capitals. Nichushkin was scratched after sustaining minor injuries in a multi-car accident while en route to the arena, forcing the Avalanche into a last-minute lineup adjustment.
Barré-Boulet Serves as Late Call-Up for Nichushkin
Barré-Boulet, who has recorded 12 goals and 25 assists for a team-leading 37 points in 36 games with the Eagles, received the call roughly two hours before puck drop. Unlike in boxing, where late replacements can decline a fight, hockey doesn’t afford that luxury. When the call comes, you go.
And Barré-Boulet made the most of his opportunity.
He recorded an assist in Colorado’s 5–2 victory, earning his first NHL point in more than two years. Just under six minutes into the opening period, Barré-Boulet left a pass for Parker Kelly at the top of the zone. Kelly carried the puck in, slammed on the brakes, and fed Cale Makar for a point shot that Kelly deflected past Capitals goaltender Charlie Lindgren to give Colorado a 1–0 lead.
The goal marked Kelly’s ninth of the season — a career high for the 26-year-old — but it carried added significance for Barré-Boulet. It was his first NHL point since December 21, 2023, when he scored for the Tampa Bay Lightning in a 5–4 win over the Vegas Golden Knights.
Credit: Jonathan Dyer. Barré-Boulet's last NHL goal to date.
Perhaps even more notable, Barré-Boulet hadn’t dressed for an NHL game in well over a year.
Barré-Boulet Makes an Impact
Making an impact on such short notice did not go unnoticed by head coach Jared Bednar.
“I liked him. That line did some good things for us. They drew a few icings, had a good forecheck, drew a penalty,” he stated. “They were able to sustain some o-zone time in the second period. We were able to jump out our top guys and get a favorable matchup a couple times.
“Short notice for sure and he came in and did a nice job. (Washington) shortened their bench a little bit, so did we. So they didn’t see a lot of ice time in the second half of the game.”
Prior to Monday night, Barré-Boulet had not appeared in an NHL game in more than 15 months. His last outing came on October 10, 2024, when he suited up for the Montreal Canadiens against the Boston Bruins in the final game of a brief two-game stint. He recorded no points and picked up two penalty minutes during that stretch.
Since then, Barré-Boulet has spent the bulk of his time with Montreal’s AHL affiliate, the Laval Rocket, where he enjoyed a strong 2024–25 campaign. In 64 regular-season games, he posted 22 goals and 41 assists for 63 points, then added three goals and 11 points in 13 playoff appearances.
Barré-Boulet was reassigned to the Eagles following the game, but he returned to the AHL having reinforced what the Avalanche saw during the preseason. His two-way play is no fluke. He has shown he is more than just a scorer — he is committed to rounding out every aspect of his game, a standard he has set throughout his professional career.
That approach will likely be rewarded with another call-up down the line when the Avalanche need him again.
TORONTO (AP) — Marcus Foligno had his first NHL hat trick to double his season goals total, Vladimir Tarasenko scored twice and the Minnesota Wild beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-3 on Monday night.
The 34-year-old Foligno in the second period at even strength and on a power play, then into an empty net in the third.
Ryan Hartman added a goal and an assist, and Kirill Kaprizov and defensemen Quinn Hughes and Brock Faber each had two assists. Hughes has two goals and 18 assists in 18 games with the Wild since being acquired from Vancouver on Dec. 12.
Filip Gustavsson stopped 27 shots. The Wild have won two straight to open a three-game trip after being swept on a three-game homestand. They beat Buffalo 5-4 in overtime Saturday.
Auston Matthews scored his 25th goal of the season and had an assist for Toronto. John Tavares and Nicholas Robertson also scored. Joseph Woll allowed five goals on 29 shots in two period. Dennis Hildeby stopped nine shots in the third.
The Maple Leafs had won seven in a row a home.
Foligno gave Minnesota a 3-1 lead at 6:53 of the second, Tarasenko followed with his second of the game at 8:24 and Foligno made it 5-1 on a power play with 46 seconds left in the period.
It’s another week here at BCB After Dark: the hippest spot for night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. We’re open again for business. We’re so glad you decided to stop by. Come in out of the cold. We can check your coat for you. The hostess will seat you now. Bring your own beverage.
BCB After Dark is the place for you to talk baseball, music, movies, or anything else you need to get off your chest, as long as it is within the rules of the site. The late-nighters are encouraged to get the party started, but everyone else is invited to join in as you wake up the next morning and into the afternoon.
Last week I asked you if, after the trade for Edward Cabrera and the signing of Alex Bregman, the Cubs were now the team to beat in the National League Central. Seventy-two percent of you agreed that the Cubs are now the favorites in the Central. Another 27 percent went with the defending champs, the Brewers. The Reds managed to eke out one percent of the vote, which was more than what the Pirates and Cardinals got.
Here’s the part where we listen to music and talk movies. The BCB Winter Science Fiction Classic is well underway, but you’re still free to join in the fun. But you’re also free to skip that. You won’t hurt my feelings.
Tonight we’re featuring the Charles Mingus Sextet in Norway in 1964 playing the Billy Strayhorn tune made famous by Duke Ellington, “Take the ‘A’ Train.”
Mingus is the bassist, of course, and Eric Dolphy plays bass clarinet. Jake Byard is on piano, Clifford Jordan on tenor sax, Johnny Coles on trumpet and Dannie Richmond is the drummer.
You voted in the BCB Winter Science Fiction Classic between Star Wars and Alien and Alien pulled off the upset. A mild upset, to be sure, but an upset nonetheless. I did call it the “Star Wars bracket” afterall. I do wonder if Star Wars’ reputation has suffered because of the uneven quality of all the recent intellectual property spinoffs. I’ve only seen a few of them and I haven’t really considered myself a “Star Wars fan” since I was about 14 years old. But I know that there are millions out there that still revere it. But the same is true of Alien, I guess.
Tonight we have the second semifinal of the “Star Wars” bracket between the number-one seed Blade Runner and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
Blade Runner (1982). Directed by Ridley Scott. Starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer and Sean Young.
Blade Runner is the one film that gets mentioned a lot as an alternative to 2001: A Space Odyssey when critics are naming the greatest science fiction film of all time. I guess Stalker and Metropolis might get a few mentions as well, but it’s those two that, it seems to me, get mentioned the most often. It’s not hard to see why. Both of them are science fiction films with ambition. They both are trying to transcend the genre and elevate it at the same time.
Here’s the opening scene of Blade Runner. I considered giving you the famous “tears in rain” speech as a clip, but since that’s a spoiler at the end of the film, I thought it best to avoid giving you that one for those of you who still haven’t seen it. But those of you already familiar with it can click on the link above if you want to relive it.
5. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) Directed by Nicholas Meyer. Starring William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy and Ricardo Montalban.
It’s entirely possible that I’ve seen The Wrath of Khan more than any other film. I don’t really keep track so I don’t know, but I’ve seen it a lot. If I just want a film for pure entertainment value, there’s not much better than The Wrath of Khan. There’s a saying that these kinds of films are only as good as their villain, and it doesn’t get much better than Montalban playing Khan here. But the film also takes advantage of our familiarity with the crew of the Enterprise and lets them play into their strengths as well. There’s also a video online where director Meyer explained how he made Shatner do take after take in order to tire him out and get a more subdued and world-weary Kirk. That somewhat explains the good job Shatner did here as well.
The scene where Khan reveals himself on Ceti Alpha Five.
Now it’s time to vote.
You have until Wednesday to vote. Coming up next, Brazil (1985) takes on Terminator II: Judgment Day (1991).
Welcome back to everyone who skips the music and the movies.
In the time between the Cubs failing to sign NPB-import Tatsuya Imai and the Cubs trading for Edward Cabrera, there was a lot of talk about the Cubs pivoting to free agent Zac Gallen to bolster their starting rotation. There was also a lot of talk about the Cubs interest in Zac Gallen earlier as Bob Nightengale erroneously reported, as Bob is wont to do, that the Cubs had come to terms with Gallen. Nightengale may have been wrong about the signing, but other writers did confirm that the Cubs were interested in the former Diamondbacks right-hander.
It did seem like the Cubs interest in Gallen was over after the recent moves. For one, trading for Cabrera lessens the need for a starting pitcher on the Cubs. Two, the signing of Alex Bregman puts the Cubs right up against the luxury tax threshold and it is widely assumed that even if the Cubs were willing to go a little above that, they wouldn’t go enough over it sign a major free agent.
But the market for Gallen, 30, has not developed like he and his agent Scott Boras would have liked. There are a few reasons for that. The first is that Gallen, an ace in 2022 and 2023 and not much worse in 2024, had a poor season in 2025. We’ll get into that a bit later. The other reason is that Gallen turned down a qualifying offer from the Diamondbacks and teams are reluctant to give up a draft pick on top paying a lot of money for someone who isn’t elite. If you just base it on his 2025 season, Gallen isn’t an elite pitcher anymore. So it seems that Boras is pivoting to his normal tactic in such situations—have the player sign a short-term deal that would get him back on the market for a big payday while h’e still young.
Thus, Bruce Levine dropped a bit of a bombshell over the weekend when he reported that the Cubs and Boras are still talking about a deal that would bring Gallen to Chicago on a short-term deal. Such a deal would put the Cubs way over the luxury tax threshold that they’ve been reluctant to cross in recent years, but it’s also not something that ownership can’t afford, from everything we know.
So why might the Cubs bust the budget and lose a draft pick for Zac Gallen? The Cubs starting rotation currently looks like this:
Matthew Boyd
Cade Horton
Shōta Imanaga
Jameson Taillon
Edward Cabrera
There’s also Justin Steele, who will return from elbow surgery sometime this year. Let’s pencil him in for June. The Cubs top pitching prospect, Jaxon Wiggins, could also be ready for the majors around mid-season or so.
There’s also Colin Rea and Javier Assad who can join the rotation or pitch out of the bullpen.
So if the Cubs already have 5 starters, two in reserve and two who could join the team midseason, why would they want Gallen so much they’d be willing to break the budget for him?
For one, the Cubs would hope that Gallen would be an improvement over one of the five pitchers currently in the rotation. If you have a chance to improve your team, you should. Yes, Gallen had a poor year last year with an ERA of 4.83. He had a career-low strikeout percentage. But he did improve greatly by the end of the season. In the final two months of the year, Gallen made 11 starts and put up an ERA of 3.32. His strikeout rate also increased back to what it had been from 2021 to 2024, when Gallen was good. If you think that Gallen figured out whatever was wrong from March to July, then Gallen is a near-ace pitcher who can be acquired for the price of a solid middle-of-the-rotation guy and for far fewer years.
But the biggest reason to do so is to just add depth to the rotation. We all know that in the National League Division Series, through an injury to Horton and just general ineffectiveness of Imanaga, the Cubs ran out of starting pitchers. Horton has battled injuries throughout his career. So has Cabrera. Truth be told, Boyd isn’t far removed Tommy John surgery in 2023. While the Cubs hope Steele will be back sooner rather than later, there is no guarantee of that.
On top of that, Boyd, Imanaga, Taillon and Rea are all free agents after this upcoming season. The Cubs are going to have to find more pitchers for 2027 and beyond.
The big reason not to sign Gallen is, if you look at the totality of his 2025 season, that he’s a declining pitcher on who has just passed 30. I don’t think 30 is as old for a pitcher as it is for a position player, but Gallen does have a lot of innings on his arm. If you don’t think Gallen’s last two months truly represent a return to form, then you probably don’t want to sign Gallen for any price, considering the loss of a draft pick attached.
The other reason is that because Gallen rejected a qualifying offer, the Cubs would lose their second-round draft pick for signing him. The good news is that the Cubs are getting a pick after the second-round for losing Tucker. It’s better to have two draft picks than one here, but at least the Cubs would only be moving down a few picks had they just re-signed Tucker and signed no one who’d gotten an offer.
I’m going to propose that the Cubs offer Gallen a two-year deal worth $40 million, with a mutual option for a third year for another $20 million. If the Cubs decline the option, there’s a $4 million buyout. If Gallen declines it, there’s no penalty. In any case, Gallen can go back on the market in two years and if he pitches well, get one last big deal. If he doesn’t pitch well, at least he’s guaranteed $44 million.
So should the Cubs offer this deal?
Thanks for stopping by tonight. It’s always good to see you. Please get home safely. Stay warm out there. Tell your friends about us. Recycle any cans and bottles. Tip your waitstaff. And join us again tomorrow evening for more BCB After Dark.
Goalie fights are rare in the NHL nowadays because linesmen try to keep combative netminders apart.
But there was one Monday night because Florida Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky charged down the ice and went after the San Jose Sharks' Alex Nedeljkovic before anyone could react.
The scrap happened during the third period after Florida's Evan Rodrigues hit Vincent Desharnais, who had tripped the Panthers' Mackie Samoskevich. Nedeljkovic left the crease to join the scrum, which drew the ire of Bobrovsky.
Bobrovsky had the gloves off and Nedeljkovic dropped his, and both masks came off. Nedeljkovic eventually took Bobrovsky down.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Brandon Bussi made 17 saves for his 18th win of the season, Seth Jarvis scored the go-ahead goal on a power play early in the third period and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Buffalo Sabres 2-1 on Monday.
Andrei Svechnikov had a goal and an assist for the Hurricanes, who have won three straight and secured at least one point for the eighth time in their past nine games. Sebastian Aho assisted on both of Carolina’s goals, giving him nine in five games.
Bussi improved to 18-3-1 and now has the most victories for a goaltender in his first 22 NHL starts. Six of his saves came on U.S. Olympian Tage Thompson, including a highlight-reel glove stop and another with two seconds remaining.
Rasmus Dahlin scored for the Sabres, who have lost back-to-back games for the first time since Dec. 5 and 8. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 26 of 28 shots as Buffalo began a five-game road trip.
The Hurricanes have a 13-game home winning streak against the Sabres, the league’s longest active streak of its kind.
AVALANCHE 5, CAPITALS 2
DENVER (AP) — Nathan MacKinnon had two goals and an assist to reach 1,100 career points and Colorado beat Washington.
Parker Kelly, Victor Olofsson and Artturi Lehkonen also scored to help Colorado bounce back from a 7-3 loss to Nashville on Friday night — the Avalanche’s first home regulation loss of the season.
MacKinnon joined Hall of Famer Joe Sakic as the only players in franchise history to reach 1,100 points. Scott Wedgewood made 22 saves, including several big ones in the third before Colorado scored two late goals.
Jakob Chychrun and Ethen Frank scored for the Capitals in the opener of a six-game trip. Alex Ovechkin added an assist to give him 1,665 points. He’s four away from tying Wayne Gretzky for the fifth-most in NHL history by a player with one franchise (Gretzky had 1,669 with Edmonton in the NHL, and another 104 with the Oilers in the WHA).
PENGUINS 6, KRAKEN 3
SEATTLE (AP) — Brett Kulak broke a second-period tie with his first goal of the season, and Pittsburgh beat Seattle.
Several other unlikely offensive contributors chipped in for the Penguins (23-14-11). Fellow defenseman Parker Witherspoon got the scoring started with a wrister from the point that slid past Seattle goalie Joey Daccord for his third of the season.
Pittsburgh center Connor Dewar scored short-handed in the first period and added an empty-net goal with 29.6 seconds remaining. Dewar’s first goal marked the third straight game the Kraken (21-18-9) have yielded a short-handed goal.
SHARKS 4, PANTHERS 1
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Will Smith scored in his second consecutive game after missing a month because of injury, and San Jose spoiled Matthew Tkachuk’s season debut by beating the two-time defending champion Florida Panthers in a game highlighted by a rare goalie fight.
Florida’s Sergei Bobrovsky beelined out of his crease and all the way down the ice to take on San Jose’s Alex Nedeljkovic, who had inserted himself into a scrum in the corner with 14 minutes left. Fans chanted, “Bobby! Bobby!” and cheered the netminder nicknamed “Bob” who has backstopped the team to back-to-back Stanley Cup titles.
The second meeting between the teams this season, and first since Nov. 8, got increasingly chippy with pushing and shoving after whistles and more than a few punches thrown.
Between the whistles, the Sharks also got goals from defensemen Vincent Desharnais and Mario Ferraro and 36 saves from Nedeljkovic. Barclay Goodrow sealed it with an empty-netter, and San Jose won hours after general manager Mike Grier signaled his team is going for it this season following a lengthy rebuild by acquiring winger Kiefer Sherwood in a trade with Vancouver.
Tkachuk skated just under 21 minutes and had three shots on goal in his first game since helping Florida repeat and hoisting the Cup in June. The 28-year-old winger, who was picked to play for the U.S. at the Olympics next month in Milan, underwent surgery last summer to deal with a sports hernia and torn adductor muscle.
Eetu Luostarinen scored the Panthers’ goal. Bobrovsky allowed three on 27 shots, giving up several juicy rebounds that San Jose capitalized on.
The Cavs couldn’t get anything to fall, going 8-35 (22.9%) from three (5th percentile). This was their lowest three-point percentage for a game this season. It’s a make-or-miss league. The best teams are typically the ones that make the highest percentage of threes. Their inconsistent outside shot is part of the reason why the results have been as they are.
This was Cleveland’s fourth time shooting 25% or worse from beyond the arc. They’ve lost all four times they’ve done so. Last season, the Cavs only shot 25% or worse three times.
The Cavs’ eight three-point makes tie their fewest for a game this season. The Cavs’ three-point volume has gone down considerably lately. They were in the 25th percentile for three-point attempts on Monday. Shooting fewer threes has been a recent trend. They’re 12th in three-point attempts since Dec. 13 and 18th in January. This comes after leading the league in attempts at the start of the season. The Cavs didn’t need more three-point attempts, considering how bad they were shooting it. However, it is alarming how much the pendulum has swung in the opposite direction. I’m not sure what the offensive identity of this team is on nights like this.
The Thunder outscored the Cavs by 45 points from three. It doesn’t matter how good you are in other areas. There’s no overcoming being outscored by this much from three. The Thunder shot extraordinarily well from deep as they connected on 23 of their 47 attempts (48.9%).
The poor shooting was compounded by not being able to finish inside as the Cavs converted just 47.2% of their shots at the rim (3rd percentile). The Cavs did their best to get to the rim. They went 17-36 on shots in the restricted area (90th percentile for attempts). But that doesn’t matter if you aren’t able to get anything to fall. The Thunder were able to pack the paint because of how bad Cleveland was shooting from three. They never could establish any kind of offensive flow.
Oklahoma City registered a 130.7 half-court offensive rating (99th percentile). The Thunder executed exceptionally well in the half-court. They swung the ball to the open man and trusted their offensive process. The Cavs dared players like Lu Dort to beat them with their outside shot, and they did.
The Cavs turned it over 21 times. This led to Oklahoma City getting 23 points off turnovers compared to Cleveland’s eight.
Cleveland outscored Oklahoma City 22-5 on second-chance points. The Cavs secured 24 second-chance opportunities to the Thunder’s four. The Cavaliers did this without letting the Thunder run in transition, as Oklahoma City was in the 9th percentile in transition points off of live offensive rebounds. This is the only area of the game the Cavs excelled in.
Cleveland’s 24th different starting lineup was outscored by 12 points in just over 10 minutes of play. The Cavs went with a starting group of Donovan Mitchell, Jaylon Tyson, Dean Wade, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen. That group struggled to get anything going offensively due to their lack of ball handling. They also didn’t do enough defensively to make it work. I understand and even agree with the reasoning behind this group. It just didn’t work.
The Cavs are 2-8 when Mitchell scores 21 or fewer points in a game he plays. The Cavs have gone as Mitchell has from a scoring perspective this season. When he scores more than 35, they usually win. When he scores 21 or fewer, they almost always lose.
Mitchell shot just 27.8% from the field. It was his third-worst shooting percentage for a game this season. Similar to his scoring numbers, the Cavs are 2-6 when he shoots under 40% from the field.
DENVER — Valeri Nichushkin was a late scratch Monday night against the Washington Capitals, as the Colorado Avalanche announced just before puck drop that the forward had suffered an upper-body injury.
Following the game, head coach Jared Bednar revealed that the 30-year-old was involved in a multi-car accident on his way to the arena.
CREDIT: GUERILLA SPORTS. Jared Bednar's post-game media availability.
To fill the void in the lineup, the Avalanche recalled Alex Barre-Boulet, who received the call roughly two hours before puck drop.
Barre-Boulet, an unoriginally undrafted forward who hails from Montreal, made the drive from Loveland and arrived in time to make his Avalanche debut, recording a point in Colorado’s 5-2 win. It marked his first NHL point since December 21, 2023, when he scored a goal for the Tampa Bay Lightning against the Vegas Golden Knights.
Meanwhile, Nichushkin is scheduled to be re-evaluated on Tuesday.
“It was a fender bender, but serious enough to keep him out of the lineup today,” Bednar said. “The roads were icy when the guys were coming in this morning and slick, and there was a multiple vehicle accident.”
The absence marks Nichushkin’s second injury-related setback this season. He previously missed eight games with a lower-body injury after blocking a shot in a November 11 game against the Anaheim Ducks, a 4-1 Avalanche win. Through 38 games this season, Nichushkin has recorded 11 goals and 27 points.
The San Jose Sharks picked up a big 4-1 win against the Florida Panthers on Monday. With this, the Sharks have improved to a 25-20-3 record and are now third in the Pacific Division standings.
The Sharks' victory against the two-time reigning Stanley Cup champions also featured a goalie fight.
Sharks goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic and Panthers netminder Sergei Bobrovsky dropped the gloves, much to the excitement of the fans in attendance.
With 14 minutes left in the third period, the Sharks and Panthers players got into a scrum after the whistle behind San Jose's net. This led to Bobrovsky charging down the ice and going after Nedeljkovic. From there, the two goaltenders had their fight.
Goalie fights don't happen too often, but when they do, they are always a treat for fans. Nedeljkovic ended up having the upperhand in the scrap, too, as he landed the takedown on Bobrovsky.
Alex Nedeljkovic vs Sergei Bobrovsky
First goalie fight since Mike Smith vs Cam Talbot (Battle of Alberta) on Feb 1, 2020 pic.twitter.com/1EgMnUwNyr
Besides having a good fight, Nedeljkovic also had a strong game between the pipes for the Sharks. He stopped 35 out of 36 Panthers shots he faced, which equates to a .972 save percentage. With this, there is no question that he had a great performance for the Sharks in this one.
Crosby had a strong performance in this game, recording two assists and now has 1,742 career points. He also compiled his 512th multi-point game, good for fifth-most in NHL history.
He's one away from tying Mark Messier and Marcel Dionne for the third-most multi-point games in NHL history.
Sidney Crosby has recorded 1,742 points through 1,400 games, which is the third most through the milestone contest in NHL history behind Wayne Gretzky (2,772) and Marcel Dionne (1,771).#NHLStats: https://t.co/NALxdZXR1Jpic.twitter.com/IBU2W7QHPn
This win catapulted the Penguins to second place in the Metro, at least for the time being. The New York Islanders will have the chance to retake that spot if they get at least a point against the Vancouver Canucks on Monday night.
The Penguins will be back in action on Wednesday against the Calgary Flames.
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Will Smith scored in his second consecutive game after missing a month because of injury, and the San Jose Sharks spoiled Matthew Tkachuk's season debut by beating the two-time defending champion Florida Panthers 4-1 on Monday night in a game highlighted by a rare goalie fight.
Florida's Sergei Bobrovsky beelined out of his crease and all the way down the ice to take on San Jose's Alex Nedeljkovic, who had inserted himself into a scrum in the corner with 14 minutes left. Fans chanted, “Bobby! Bobby!” and cheered the netminder nicknamed “Bob” who has backstopped the team to back-to-back Stanley Cup titles.
The second meeting between the teams this season, and first since Nov. 8, got increasingly chippy with pushing and shoving after whistles and more than a few punches thrown.
Between the whistles, the Sharks also got goals from defensemen Vincent Desharnais and Mario Ferraro and 36 saves from Nedeljkovic. Barclay Goodrow sealed it with an empty-netter, and San Jose won hours after general manager Mike Grier signaled his team is going for it this season following a lengthy rebuild by acquiring winger Kiefer Sherwood in a trade with Vancouver.
Tkachuk skated just under 21 minutes and had three shots on goal in his first game since helping Florida repeat and hoisting the Cup in June. The 28-year-old winger, who was picked to play for the U.S. at the Olympics next month in Milan, underwent surgery last summer to deal with a sports hernia and torn adductor muscle.
Eetu Luostarinen scored the Panthers' goal. Bobrovsky allowed three on 27 shots, giving up several juicy rebounds that San Jose capitalized on.
Puck drop was moved up an hour to a 6 p.m. EST start after the Miami Hurricanes made the college football national title game, which was being played in their nearby home stadium.
Up next
Sharks: Wrap up their road trip Tuesday night at Tampa Bay.
Panthers: Open a three-game trip Thursday night at Winnipeg.
When the San Diego Padres drafted Jackson Merrill in the first round of the 2021 MLB draft there was a great story told about the scouting of Merrill by Padres general manager and president of baseball operations A.J. Preller. That story was retold when Merrill signed his contract extension in 2025. Preller, in an attempt not to give away to other scouts his intent, tried to watch Merrill from the bleachers of a football stadium next to where the baseball game was being played. He got caught and then had to try and keep his true intent secret while gracefully talking his way out of the situation.
In the deal Preller made to bring in superstar outfielder Juan Soto, Merrill was intentionally left out. He seemed to be the one “untouchable” in the San Diego system that would not be part of the package.
When Merrill came to Padres Spring Training in February of 2024 he was a shortstop. He had been a shortstop all through his professional and high school career. The Padres had a shortstop, and Xander Bogaerts had been signed to a huge multi-year deal to play that position. At the start of workouts in Peoria, Preller and the Padres staff approached Merrill about learning to play the outfield, initially left field before he eventually settled in center field. He was willing and learned the position on the fly throughout that spring. At the end of Spring Training, Manny Machado and other Padres veterans approached the Padres coaching staff and Preller to lobby on behalf of Merrill to make the opening day roster…. as the centerfielder.
The 2024 season was a massive success for Jackson Merrill, the centerfielder. He played in 156 games with a .292/.326/.500 batting line and a .826 OPS. He hit 24 homers with 90 RBI and finished the season with a 4.4 WAR, a Silver Slugger Award, an All-Star selection and a second place finish to Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes for Rookie the Year.
Preller began trying to sign Merrill to a long-term contract before his breakout rookie season. Although unsuccessful at first, he kept trying. In April of 2025, barely into the new season, the Padres announced a nine-year, $135 million contract extension for Merrill. It included a $10 million signing bonus spread out over four years with $1 million in 2025 and $3 million in 2026, 2027 and 2028 as well as escalators over time and with plate appearances and top five MVP finishes. The Padres have a team option for 2035, and Merrill can play that into a player option. All-in-all, it could be a 10-year deal for $204 million.
Although the 2025 season was frustrating and injury-filled for Merrill, there is little doubt in most corners of MLB that he will bounce back this season. Going into his age 23 season, Merrill can work to carry the momentum he built at the end of 2025 when he was finally healthy. In his final 158 plate appearances, Merrill hit nine homers and 11 doubles and had a max exit velocity of 110.4 mph. Over his last 30 games, he hit .289/.325/.623 with a .948 OPS.
With just a little bit of luck and a normal Spring Training, Merrill could be the face of this franchise by the end of this season. When MLB Network ranked their best centerfielders for 2025, Merrill ranked second by their analytic assessment and was chosen first by program host, Brian Kenney.
While fans watch the massive contracts being awarded in free agency this offseason, Padres fans need to recognize that we have a one-in-a-million player in Merrill. Carrying five tools and a desire to win as well as leadership qualities and loyalty to his teammates and the city, Merrill can evoke memories of Tony Gwynn for fans.
Gwynn turned down bigger money in free agency, despite the urging of his father, and accepted a below-market deal to stay in San Diego and be a Padre (six-year, $4.6 million contract in 1985 and three-year, $12.25 million contract in 1991). It doesn’t take much imagination to figure out that Merrill could have waited until later in his career to sign an extension and gotten significantly more. Or he could have played out his arbitration years and signed a huge free agent contract. He chose to sign early, stating his desire to play in San Diego for the rest of his career and stating how grateful he was for the faith that Preller and the Padres had in him.
Merrill is a unicorn in modern baseball. While playing for one team for an entire career is rare, there is a chance Padres fans could see that with Merrill. He will be 33 if he plays out the entire contract. There could definitely be much more for him to do after that, but let’s hope that he has great success as a Padre for many years to come and finishes here, in San Diego, as he wishes.
The Florida Panthers played their first home game in weeks on Monday night but ultimately couldn’t come up with a win.
Florida started out strong, but the game quickly got away from them as the San Jose Sharks skated to a 4-1 win at Amerant Bank Arena.
Both teams skated to a scoreless first period, one that saw Florida lead 10-8 in shots but get clobbered 22-13 in attempts.
San Jose ride that momentum into an early goal in the second period.
After some early extended zone time, Sharks defenseman Timothy Liljegren fired a long shot on net that was stopped by Sergei Bobrovsky, but super sophomore Will Smith was right there to gobble up the rebound and deposit it behind Bob just 50 seconds into the middle frame.
They weren’t done there.
Another rebound goal, this one off the stick of Vincent Desharnais, quickly made it a 2-0 game at the 2:41 mark.
Less than four minutes after that, another rush play and another rebound ended up in the back of Florida’s net, this one scored by another Sharks defenseman, Mario Ferraro.
It took until the opening minute of the third period before the Panthers could finally get one on the board.
Florida cycled the puck through the offensive zone, eventually leading to Eetu Luostarinen taking a long shot from just inside the blue line that beat Alex Nedeljkovic on the blocker side just 42 seconds into the final frame.
A crazy sequence occurred a few mintues later.
It started with Vincent Desharnais tripping Mackie Samoskevich and Evan Rodrigues cross checking Desharnais in the corner to the right of Nedeljkovic.
A scuffle ensued and for whatever reason, Nedeljkovic jumped out of his net and joined the fray, throwing punches at Panthers players involved in the scrum.
Bobrovsky saw that and made a beeline 200 feet down the ice for Nedeljkovic, not hesitating to toss off his gloves and start throwing punches at the Sharks netminder.
Photo caption: Dec 7, 2024; Sunrise, Florida, USA; San Jose Sharks center Macklin Celebrini (71) moves the puck against Florida Panthers defenseman Gustav Forsling (42) during the third period at Amerant Bank Arena. (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)
WASHINGTON (AP) — James Harden scored 36 points, and when he finally missed a couple big free throws in the final seconds, the ball came right back to him as the Los Angeles Clippers edged the Washington Wizards 110-106 on Monday for their sixth straight victory.
Harden made two free throws with 36.9 seconds left to give the Clippers a 108-106 lead, and after the teams traded scoreless possessions, Kyshawn George missed a 3-pointer for Washington. Harden was fouled with 5.9 seconds left. At that point, he was 16 for 16 from the line, but he missed both free throws.
The Wizards couldn’t secure the rebound, and the ball bounced back to Harden, who was fouled again. This time he made both shots to seal the win.
Washington has lost seven straight.
Although the two teams have been headed in opposite directions of late, this game was close basically the whole way. Harden’s layup put the Clippers up by three, but Khris Middleton was fouled while shooting a 3 with 57.6 seconds left, and he made all three free throws to tie it at 106.
The Clippers were without the injured Kawhi Leonard for a second straight game. Trae Young (knee, quad) still hasn’t played since being traded to Washington from Atlanta.
Alex Sarr led the Wizards with 28 points. George had 18 points, six assists and six rebounds, but he missed a trio of key shots in the last couple minutes for Washington.
BUCKS 112, HAWKS 110
ATLANTA (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo had 21 points and 17 rebounds and Milwaukee snapped a three-game losing streak, holding off Atlanta after squandering a 23-point lead in the second half.
The Hawks led 105-104 on Jalen Johnson’s 3-pointer with 1:11 remaining before dropping their fourth in a row in the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day game played in the hometown of the civil rights icon.
The Hawks still had a chance after Nickeil Alexander-Walker connected from outside the stripe and Ryan Rollins missed a free throw for the Bucks. But CJ McCollum bobbled the ball and wound up flinging an off-balance shot that clanked off the rim to seal it for Milwaukee.
Atlanta nearly won after missing its first 21 shots from 3-point range. The Hawks trailed 54-38 at halftime and 74-51 approaching the midway point of the third period before finally coming to life.
THUNDER 136, CAVALIERS 104
CLEVELAND (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 30 points, Chet Holmgren added 28 and Oklahoma City rolled to a victory over Cleveland.
It is the 30th time in 42 games Gilgeous-Alexander has scored at least 30. The reigning NBA MVP is second in the league in scoring, averaging 31.8 points.
The Thunder — who improved to a league-best 36-8 — tied a season high with 23 3-pointers and made 48.9% from beyond the arc. Luguentz Dort made five 3’s and finished with 18 points, while Isaiah Joe (16 points) and Holmgren made four apiece.
It is Cleveland’s worst loss in a regular-season game in nearly two seasons since Kenny Atkinson became coach. The last time it lost by at least 30 was a 37-point defeat at Miami on March 24, 2024.
Donovan Mitchell led the Cavaliers with 19 points, while Jaylon Tyson had 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Jarrett Allen had 16 points in his 600th NBA game.
MAVERICKS 114, KNICKS 97
NEW YORK (AP) — Max Christie scored a season-high 26 points, Cooper Flagg had 18 in his first pro game at Madison Square Garden and Dallas rolled to a victory over New York, who were booed frequently in the first half while falling behind by 30.
The Knicks lost their fourth straight and ninth in 11 games, even with Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart back from ankle injuries to return them to full strength.
The Mavericks, meanwhile, are missing numerous injured players but the ones who did suit up ran the Knicks off the floor in the first half to win their third straight game. Flagg had missed the previous two, both victories over Utah, with a sprained left ankle. The No. 1 pick also had seven rebounds, while Naji Marshall scored 18 points.
Karl-Anthony Towns had 22 points and 18 rebounds for the Knicks, and Brunson also had 22 points. Mitchell Robinson had 12 points and 15 rebounds.
SPURS 123, JAZZ 110
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Victor Wembanyama had a season-high seven 3-pointers and finished with 33 points and 10 rebounds hours after being named an All-Star starter for the first time as San Antonio beat Utah.
Wembanyama, named to his second All-Star team and the eighth San Antonio player to start, shot 7 for 12 from 3-point distance and finished one shy of his career best, set Nov. 13, 2024, against Washington.
The Spurs had seven players score in double figures in winning their third straight and for the fifth time in seven games.
The backcourt trio of Stephon Castle (18 points), Dylan Harper (15) and De’Aaron Fox (14) combined for 47 points for San Antonio.
Keyonte George had 30 points and Jusuf Nurkic added 20 for Utah.
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — A goalie fight broke out with 14 minutes left in a game Monday night between the Florida Panthers and San Jose Sharks that had gotten increasingly chippy with post-whistle pushing and shoving.
Florida’s Sergei Bobrovsky beelined from his crease to even things up after San Jose’s Alex Nedeljkovic got involved in a scrum in the corner.
Panthers fans chanted, “Bobby! Bobby!” after the two netminders were done tussling. Cheers followed when Bobrovsky returned from a brief trip to the locker room.
Bobrovsky and Nedeljkovic each got a 5-minute major penalty for fighting and an additional 2-minute penalty for leaving the crease to take part in an altercation. They stayed in the game.
The goalie nicknamed “Bob” has backstopped the NHL’s southernmost team to consecutive Stanley Cup championships.
Lenni Hämeenaho is set to make his NHL debut tonight as the New Jersey Devils face the Calgary Flames in a regular-season matchup.
The 21-year-old was drafted 58th overall in the 2023 NHL Draft by the Devils.After being drafted by the Devils, Hämeenaho was called up to the New Jersey Devils on Saturday—marking his first NHL recall.
Ahead of stepping onto NHL ice for the first time, he spoke with NJD.tv about the upcoming debut.
“I feel great. It’s a dream to play the first NHL game,” Hämeenaho said. “I’m just trying to play my own game and bring my own strengths, play hard, and skate.”
Prior to his call-up, Hämeenaho had been playing with the Utica Comets of the American Hockey League (AHL). In his time with the Comets this season, he has recorded 21 points in 33 games.
Ahead of his debut, he told NJD.tv that his family would be tuning in from Finland, despite the time difference.
“It’s a late game, but I’m sure they’ll be up,” Hameenaho said. “It’s a big thing for me to tell them that it’ll be my first game. They were obviously happy and excited, and a little upset they couldn’t get here. But I’m sure they’ll enjoy and cheer me on back home.”
The puck will drop at 9 PM as the Devils take on the Calgary Flames for the first time this season, with Hämeenaho making his rookie debut.
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