The Philadelphia Flyers have made a roster move, as they have recalled forward Carl Grundstrom from their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
Grundstrom was acquired by the Flyers ahead of the 2025-26 season as a part of the deal that sent Ryan Ellis' contract to the San Jose Sharks. Following this, he was placed on waivers by the Flyers and started the season with Lehigh Valley after not getting claimed. Now, he is getting a chance on Philadelphia's NHL roster with this latest roster move.
Grundstrom has appeared in 11 games this season with Lehigh Valley, where he has recorded three goals, three assists, six points, and a plus-4 rating. This is after he posted three goals, six assists, nine points, and 172 hits in 56 games this past season with the Sharks.
In 292 career NHL games split between the Los Angeles Kings and Sharks, Grundstrom has recorded 43 goals, 33 assists, 76 points, 108 penalty minutes, and 736 hits.
There was nothing short of a collective feeling of excitement and anticipation amongst the Detroit Red Wings fan base when it was announced that defenseman Axel Sandin-Pellikka was among the three rookies that made the final roster cut out of Training Camp and the pre-season.
While fellow rookie Michael Brandsegg-Nygård has been returned to the American Hockey League, both Sandin-Pellikka and Emmitt Finnie continue to ply their trade at the NHL level representing the Red Wings.
Naturally, there's been a bit of an adjustment period for Sandin-Pellikka, who has been utilized in all situations by head coach Todd McLellan.
"I've learned it's a tough League, the best in the world," Sandin-Pellikka explained following Friday's practice. "You learn something every game, and you can't always be perfect. I try and tell myself that when Im pissed off at myself after a not-perfect game."
Sandin-Pellikka, who was arguably the most highly-regarded prospect in the Red Wings system and who enjoyed tremendous success while playing in his native Sweden, said he's still adjusting to the speed of the top hockey League in the world.
"The defensive part is one thing, the gaps and picking your guy up early, that's one thing I've learned," he said. "And in the offensive zone, it's not as easy to get pucks through as it has been before. I'm still learning and I'm getting more comfortable each game."
McLellan acknowledged that there have been improvements in Sandin-Pellikka's ability to anticipate the play and put himself in the best position, while there is still always room for improvement.
"He gave the answer that in my opinion he should give, because there is the pace of the play and the puck has been really good," McLellan said. "He makes some really good plays, but the play away when he's away from the play or something is going to happen, he needs to get used to that pace of reading and reacting a bit quicker."
"It's gotten better from where it was during exhibition, and he's improving," McLellan continued. "But the League is improving with him at the same time. He's hard on himself, but he's also a really good self-evaluator, so the answer he gave is a pretty accurate one."
Sandin-Pellikka has averaged just under 19 minutes of ice time per game so far in the 14 games that he's skated in, during which he's scored a goal while adding three assists. His plus/minus rating of -8 isn't what he'd like it to be, but that will change in time.
While it's still early in his NHL career, there's tremendous untapped potential still inside of the Swedish-born defenseman, who could ultimately become a building block down the line for the Red Wings.
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DENVER – Cards were stacked high against the Warriors to begin NBA Cup play Friday night against the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena, and they couldn’t pick up the pieces enough without Steph Curry. Not even close.
Draymond Green began the game draining a three from the right corner, and the Warriors then forced a shot clock violation on the Nuggets’ first offensive possession. The sequence wasn’t a sign of things to come. The opposite, in fact.
The Nuggets responded with a 12-0 run, and outside of a short stint in the second quarter, the Warriors were completely outclassed in an uncompetitive 129-104 loss.
Green (17 points) and Jimmy Butler (16 points) provided the only offense for the Warriors’ starters. The rest of the starting five scored two points in the first half, and 15 overall.
Quinten Post was a bright spot off the bench, scoring 14 points on a perfect 6-of-6 shooting and made his two 3-point attempts.
Nikola Jokić in 28 minutes barely missed a triple-double. The three-time NBA MVP scored an easy 26 points on 12-of-15 shooting and also had nine rebounds and nine assists with one turnover.
The play of the game belonged to Bay Area native Aaron Gordon. The 30-year-old stepped into a time machine and channeled his Archbishop Mitty days, crossing Buddy Hield at the 3-point line and throwing down a monstrous dunk on Post.
Along with Curry’s second straight game missed to an illness, the Warriors also were without Al Horford. The veteran center was a late addition to the injury report with left foot soreness. Horford was seen at shootaround getting shots up, but he was icing his left foot pregame in the locker room, something that has been seen frequently to start the season.
Here are three takeaways from the Warriors dropping to 5-5 overall and 1-5 on the road.
Future Trio Drops Dud
With Butler and Green playing through pain, the Warriors’ starting five still featured two eventual Hall of Famers flanked by three players who want to lead the franchise into the future. Well, the future looked bleak in Denver.
The Warriors got absolutely nothing out of Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody and Brandin Podziemski in the first half as the Warriors went into halftime down 66-49. Kuminga and Moody were both scoreless on a combined 0-of-7 shooting and missed all four of their 3-point attempts. Podziemski added a whopping two points, the same number of turnovers he had.
Kuminga’s one turnover in the first half came from simply dribbling the ball off his leg and out of bounds. He settled for bad shots, got stuck offensively and defensively and was a whopping minus-22 through two quarters. Podziemski was a minus-18 at the time, and Moody was a minus-4.
Steve Kerr had a long talk with Kuminga when he first came out of the game where the two didn’t seem to be on the same page, and he was deep in conversation with Podziemski going to the tunnel at halftime.
Another five minutes passed in the third quarter before Kuminga scored his first points. Moody finally did in the first minute of the fourth, and Podziemski ended with seven points – the most between the three of them. Their 15 points came on 7-of-29 shooting (24.1 percent), and they were 1 of 12 on threes.
The Non-Jokić Minutes
After playing the entire first quarter while dropping 11 points, three rebounds and six assists, Jokić took a seat to begin the second quarter. This was the Warriors’ time to make a run and cut an 11-point deficit. They did exactly that, going on a 10-0 run in the first two minutes and 15 seconds to make it a one-point game, forcing a Nuggets timeout.
All the sudden, the Nuggets’ offense wasn’t humming as loud and the Warriors were off to the races after a first quarter where in the halfcourt they were stuck in the mud. But just like that, the Nuggets then went on a 9-0 run of their own before a Pat Spencer 3-pointer put the Warriors back on the scoreboard.
By the time Jokić back in the game at the 4:16 mark of the second quarter, the Nuggets held a 17-point lead, 53-36. His backup, Jonas Valanciunas, scored eight points, grabbed two rebounds and made both his 3-point attempts in the second quarter as Jokic watched from the bench.
That was the game, right then and there. As soon as the Warriors made it competitive with Jokić his rest, they couldn’t find the extra gear to power them through against the bench unit of one of the better teams in the league.
Draymond Goes Boom
Pat Spencer and Will Richard, two role players at the back of the bench, brought the biggest spark when the Warriors were getting blitzed. The most promising sight, however, was Green’s willingness to be aggressive offensively as a scorer and let it fly from deep on a sagging defense.
The Nuggets kept begging Green to shoot, and for the most part, he kept playing into their game plan. And he made them pay on multiple occasions.
Green made two threes in the first half, and three more in the third quarter. He connected on three from the right corner, one from the left corner and another at the top of the arc. The defensive dynamo was 5 of 10 on threes, and the rest of the Warriors were 6 of 22 (27.7 percent) when he came out of the game for good.
Through nine games, Green now is shooting 44.7 percent from three (17 of 38) this season. Teams will keep daring him to shoot them, and he’ll have to keep showing he won’t hesitate to take advantage of that kind of defense
SACRAMENTO – Russell Westbrook had another big game against one of his former teams, but without big man Domantas Sabonis, the Kings spent most of the night on their heels in a 132-101 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday at Golden 1 Center.
Westbrook racked up 24 points, six rebounds and nine assists, falling just shy of adding to his NBA-record list of triple-doubles.
DeMar DeRozan had 18 points and five rebounds, while Drew Eubanks had a respectable night with 16 points on 8 of 11 shooting. Malik Monk added 15 points with three 3-pointers in the first group-play game of the NBA Cup in-season tournament.
The Kings (3-6) lost to the Thunder (9-1) less than two weeks ago when they had a healthy Sabonis, while Oklahoma City was without Chet Holmgren.
The tables were flipped on Friday, but the result was the same.
The Thunder held a dominant 60-34 advantage in the paint, led by center Isaiah Hartenstein, who finished with a game-high 33 points on 14 of 17 shooting from the field.
It didn’t help Sacramento that OKC came to town with a chip on its shoulder. The Thunder were coming off their lone loss of the season when they lost to the Trail Blazers in Portland on Wednesday.
Here are the takeaways from the Kings’ loss:
Doing without Domas
With the 6-foot-10 Sabonis not in uniform, the Kings were without their last line of defense and the Thunder were all too willing to try to take advantage.
The plan to go right at the heart of Sacramento’s D got off to a strong start, as the Thunder easily made their way deep into the paint and scored without much resistance. At one point, they had doubled the Kings’ production down low.
Kings coach Doug Christie tried several different options to fix the situation. Eubanks started and played 24 minutes. Newly signed Precious Achiuwa came off the bench with four points and three boards while rookie Max Raynaud rounded out Sac’s group of big men.
Russ against his old team
It has been seven years since Westbrook wore an OKC jersey but it’s clear he has a little extra juice every time he faces the Thunder.
The nine-time All-Star, who played his first nine NBA seasons with the Thunder, is the franchise scoring leader and all-time leader in triple-doubles. He came out roaring against his former team at Golden 1 Center. He made three 3-pointers and had 11 points in the first quarter and made good on 8 of 16 shots after his first attempt of the night was blocked by Chet Holmgren.
That was pretty much on par with what Westbrook had done against the Thunder in the past. Going into the night, he had an average of 18.8 points, 7.1 assists and 7.5 rebounds in 19 games against Oklahoma City.
Schroder shut down
It was a rough night for Dennis Schroder, at least when it came to scoring.
The 32-year-old point guard missed all 10 shots he took, including five misses from behind the arc. A minus-25 for the night, Schroder finished with two points and eight assists.
One of the Kings’ top offseason acquisitions, Schroder had been one of the team’s most consistent scorers through the first two weeks of the season, reaching double digits in scoring for six of Sacramento’s first eight games.
The Buffalo Sabres have announced that they have recalled defenseman Zac Jones from their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Rochester Americans.
Jones has been off to a strong start this season with Rochester, as he has recorded 13 assists in 11 games. Now, he will be looking to make an impact with the Sabres after landing this call-up.
Jones signed a one-year contract with the Sabres in free agency this summer. This was after the left-shot blueliner did not receive a qualifying offer from the New York Rangers, which made him an unrestricted free agent (UFA).
Jones played in 46 games this past season with the Rangers, where he scored one goal and set new career highs with 10 assists, 11 points, 28 hits, and 46 blocks. He also scored one goal in two games with the Rangers' AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack, during the 2024-25 season.
In 115 career NHL games over five seasons, Jones has posted four goals, 24 assists, 28 points, 67 hits, and 106 blocks.
When the Kings begin their six-game road trip Sunday in Pittsburgh against the Penguins, their fans won’t just be paying attention to the scoreboard; they’ll pray the Kings show a pulse.
Right now, Los Angeles Kings fans are leaving the arena early, and the area is starting to quiet down. The season might already be hanging by a thread if the Kings don’t get their act together.
It’s not just another loss for the Kings; it’s the fact that they're losing at home time after time, now falling to a 1-4-2 record on home ice, leading to boos echoing through Crypto.com Arena.
Following the King's recent defeat to the two-time defending champion Florida Panthers, Los Angeles has now lost five of their last eight games, including four straight home losses.
A team that was considered a playoff contender coming into the season now sits near the bottom at fifth place in their division. The offense has dried up, the defense looks dried up, with no effort being played out there, and even the goaltending, once the team's biggest strength, has shown cracks.
The effort on their home ice tells the tale, where boos are now common, like the sound of goal horns. It’s even more embarrassing that the Kings are way better away from their home, sitting at 5-1-2.
But the recent play the Kings have put forth at home doesn’t give confidence that they can come out of this six-game road trip playing five of the six teams above .500. If the Kings can’t at least go 4-2 or even 3-3 on this road trip, this stretch can define what their season looks like going forward.
By the numbers, the Kings' struggles at home are puzzling. Los Angeles has allowed 3.4 goals per game at home compared to 2.7 on the road, which suggests that when they play in front of their home crowd, they get too comfortable and fade, and don’t feel the need to play big like they would in a tough environment on the road.
Los Angeles will need to step up in their upcoming road trip if they have any hopes of making the postseason in a tough Western Conference. This trip should show us what the Kings are really made of and if they can rediscover their identity, reignite the defense, and prove they can compete every night.
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Thursday night in Los Angeles, the Florida Panthers got back to looking like the hard-working, defensive squad that they expect to be.
Coming off a frustrating 7-3 loss in Anaheim on Tuesday, Florida snapped back into focus and seemed to get better as the game went on, defeating the Los Angeles Kings 5-2 at Crypto.com Arena.
Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice walked the team through a ‘back to basics’ kind of practice on Wednesday, and while it may have taken a little while during the game in LA, the Cats showed that they can get back to playing their brand of hockey despite missing several key players.
Now we’ll have to wait and see if they can keep the good vibes rolling as their four-game western U.S. road trip continues.
Let’s get to Thursday’s takeaways:
BIG GAME FOR BOB
Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky was called upon early and often during Thursday’s win, and he answered the ball time and again.
Bob finished the game with 24 saves on 26 shots on goal, and he stopped nine of the 10 high danger shots sent his way by the Kings.
It felt like most of more difficult shots he had to stop came at critical moments of the game, allowing Florida the opportunity to pull away during the third period.
“Our goaltender was really good when he had to be,” Maurice said. “The timeliness of those saves was really important.”
BIRTHDAY BOY TICKLES TWINE
Sam Reinahrt has been asked to do a little bit of everything so far this season.
Not to say that’s any different than his usual workload, but with the absence several forwards who play a variety of roles, Reinhart has done what he can to lighten the load on multiple facets of the game.
On Thursday, Reinhart scored his seventh goal of the season on what was his 30th birthday.
He’s logged goals in five of Florida’s past six games, and two of those goals – including Thursday’s in Los Angeles – were game-winners.
“He's been so good.” Maurice said. “He plays with everybody for the most part, penalty kill, power play, one of the most impactful players in our in our room. And then as a leader, he's got that great balance. He can talk to the coaches about the X's and O's because he sees things on the ice so very well, but he also will do hard things that kind of keep him connected to the players.”
STILL SEARCHING FOR CONSISTENCY
We all knew that this season was going to be a challenge for the Panthers.
Losing Sasha Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk, Tomas Nosek and Dmitry Kulikov for big chunks of the season left the team with an unexpected mountain to climb before the playoffs, and they’re still figuring out how to navigate the bumpy terrain.
After a bit of a wake-up call in Anaheim, Maurice and his staff figured out which elements of the team’s systems needed to be emphasized and focused on, and they were able to quickly put those wheels into motion.
The challenge for Florida will be keeping that momentum moving in their favor.
“I didn't feel that was who we are in Anaheim, and I thought today we were closer to (our game),” Maurice said. “It's not going to be perfect right now, we got some challenges, obviously, with our lineup, but once you get used to that and embrace the fact that it doesn't have to be perfect, that you got to fight for some things, and grind, I thought that was our game tonight.”
Photo caption: Nov 6, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (72) defends the net as Los Angeles Kings left wing Kevin Fiala (22) handles the puck during the second period at Crypto.com Arena. (Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images)
After winning its first five games (for the first time in franchise history), San Antonio has dropped two straight — not so coincidentally just as Victor Wembanyama had two rather pedestrian games. The Suns and Lakers started being physical with him, denying him positions in the paint, and doubling him at times to get the ball out of his hands on the perimeter.
Watch those games and one couldn't help but think, "this team could use De'Aaron Fox." That wait is now over. Fox is set to return on Saturday when San Antonio takes on New Orleans in the second night of a back-to-back.
Fox had been out since before the start of training camp due to a right hamstring strain. San Antonio traded for him at the deadline last February, and in 17 games with his new team, he averaged 19.7 points and 6.8 assists a game, although expect those numbers to go up a little once paired with Wembanyama. The former All-Star was brought in to be the veteran, star guard paired with Wemby, with the hope that they would bring out the best in each other. However, the duo only got five games together last season due to Wembanyama's shoulder blood clots. The two still have a lot of familiarizing to do.
Fox joins a promising backcourt with reigning Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle (averaging 19.4 points, six rebounds and 5.7 assists a game this season) and No. 2 pick last June Dylan Harper (averaging 14 points a night off the bench, but currently out with a calf strain). The Spurs have started the season looking like a team ready to make a leap up the Western Conference standings this season, but they ultimately were going to need Fox back to do that.
The NCAA revoked the eligibility of six men’s college basketball players on Friday as a result of three separate sports-betting cases that involved a power-conference school and allegations of players throwing games to lose by more points than the spread.
With Marcus Smith at full-back and a highly mobile back five in the pack, Steve Borthwick could play with the handbrake fully off
Much has happened in the 27 months since Fiji were last at Twickenham and beat England. You would certainly have had decent odds back then on the home side’s reserve prop Joe Marler becoming a national TV treasure, a fever dream roughly on a par with Claudia Winkleman shaving off her hair and packing down at loosehead. Who knew?
But here we are in an increasingly parallel universe. Big Joe now has Alan Carr and Sir Stephen Fry on speed dial while England, since the 30-22 defeat in August 2023, have also undergone their own extreme makeover. Having been a team who, by the admission of their own coach early in his tenure, “weren’t good at anything” they are now hoping to extend an eight-match winning run after defeating Australia comfortably last week.
In today's edition: Action-packed weekend of sports, Broncos win ugly on "Thursday Night Football," NFL midseason awards, Heisman watch, NBA reads, and more.
Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen battle for the title, just as Juan Manuel Fangio, Nino Farina and Luigi Fagioli did 75 years ago
With no little pleasing symmetry, 75 years on from a three-way fight for the inaugural Formula One title, the championship is entering its decisive phase once more with three protagonists in the running and the promise of an enthralling denouement of the kind that has graced some of the sport’s greatest seasons.
Heading into this weekend’s São Paulo Grand Prix, McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen all remain in the hunt. Norris leads Piastri by one point, with the defending champion, Verstappen, 36 points back, after a late-season resurgence.
Team’s participation in Vuelta was dogged by protests
The main sponsor of the Israel-Premier Tech (IPT) team of the four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome has pulled out of funding the team, despite a pledge to rebrand and distance itself from its Israeli identity. The Canadian company Premier Tech, in a statement issued on Friday, said that it had decided to “step down as co-title sponsor of the team, taking effect immediately”.
“Although we took notice of the team’s decision to change its name for the 2026 season,” the statement said, “the core reason for Premier Tech to sponsor the team has been overshadowed to a point where it has become untenable for us to continue as a sponsor.”
