The Pittsburgh Penguins will have a couple of their injured players with them this week in California.
Defenseman Kris Letang, who left during the third period of Saturday's game against the New York Rangers, will be on the road trip. He's currently day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
Forward Kevin Hayes, who suffered an injury at the begginng of training camp after taking a big hit along the boards from defenseman Ryan Graves, will also be on the road trip. Hayes has been skating recently and could rejoin the team for practice as he continues to recover.
Per Dan Muse, injured forward Kevin Hayes and defenseman Kris Letang will travel with the team for it[s upcoming three-game road trip.
Hayes is in his second season as a Penguin and finished the 2024-25 season with 13 goals and 23 points in 64 games. He was acquired from the St. Louis Blues after he spent only one season with them (2023-24).
The Penguins are 2-1-0 to start the 25-26 season and will face the Anaheim Ducks, Los Angeles Kings, and San Jose Sharks this week before heading back to Pittsburgh. The first game of the three-game trip will be on Tuesday against the Ducks.
Former Gold Coast Titan flyhalf lured back by Rugby Australia
Coach Joe Schmidt selects 34 players for Tests starting 25 October
Carter Gordon could be the Wallabies’ flyhalf again by the end of the month after securing a release from his NRL deal to be part of Australia’s spring tour.
The 24-year-old’s move to the Queensland Reds was confirmed on Monday after Rugby Australia secured a release from the second and final year of his Gold Coast contract.
NEW YORK (AP) — Anthony Beauvillier scored in the second period, Charlie Lindgren stopped 35 shots, and the Washington Capitals beat the New York Rangers 1-0 on Sunday night.
Beauvillier’s tip-in of a shot by Alex Ovechkin with 6:13 left in the middle period beat Rangers goalie Jonathan Quick and held up as the Capitals won for the second time in two nights. Washington defeated the Islanders 4-2 on Saturday at UBS Arena.
The goal was the first this season for the 28-year-old Beauvillier, who is playing for his sixth NHL team. Defenseman Declan Chisholm also had an assist, his first point with Washington in his 100th career game.
It was the 10th career shutout for Lindgren, making his first start this season.
The assist was the 728th of Ovechkin’s career. The 40-year-old forward entered his 21st NHL campaign with 897 goals, most in NHL history. Ovechkin is six games shy of becoming the eighth player to play 1,500 games with one franchise.
Lindgren made a sprawling glove save on Mika Zibanejad early in the second period, then stopped Sam Carrick with his stick from in close nine minutes into the period. He made 13 saves in each of the first two periods and nine more in the third, including a point-blank chance by Will Cuylle with 1:16 left.
The 39-year-old Quick also was making his season debut after Igor Shesterkin won two of the Rangers' first three games. He made 20 saves.
The Rangers had two power-play chances in the second period. Washington had one in the third.
The Rangers were coming off two road wins, 4-0 at Buffalo and 6-1 at Pittsburgh, after losing their home opener 3-0 to the Penguins.
Washington lost its season opener at home, 3-1 to Boston.
The Rangers were missing forward Vincent Trocheck (out week-to-week with an upper body injury) and defenseman Carson Soucy, who was hurt in Saturday’s win against the Penguins when he fell awkwardly into the boards after a collision with Pittsburgh’s Rickard Rakell.
Australia captain to learn this week whether he will be fit for opener
Star quick says he is ‘less likely than likely’ to face England in Perth
Pat Cummins has admitted he is unlikely to play in the Ashes opener, conceding a return to proper bowling is still some time away.
Cummins is expected to learn this week whether he will be able to feature in Perth on 21 November, with officials conceding the quick is facing a narrow timeline.
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani works out at American Family Field in Milwaukee on Sunday ahead of Game 1 of the NLCS on Monday. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
All the Dodgers needed to do was slot Snell in for Game 1 on Monday, making him an option to pitch again on four days’ rest in Game 5. Then, they could have Ohtani go in Game 2 on Tuesday, allowing him to pitch before Wednesday’s scheduled off-day (which has been the team’s preference for the two-way star) and be available for another start if the series returns to Milwaukee for Games 6 and 7.
On Sunday, however, manager Dave Roberts announced a different plan.
Snell will indeed go in Game 1, trying to build upon the 1.38 ERA he posted in his first two outings this postseason.
But instead of Ohtani in Game 2, it will be Yamamoto who gets the ball — pushing Ohtani’s next pitching appearance to sometime later this series, Roberts said.
“We just don’t know which day,” Roberts said of when Ohtani will get the ball. “But he’ll pitch at some point.”
That alignment came as a surprise, but also had benefits from the Dodgers’ perspective.
Unlike Ohtani, who has gotten at least six days off between every one of his pitching outings since the start of July, Yamamoto has routinely pitched on five days’ rest this season. By starting him in Game 2, he can stay on that same schedule to pitch a potential Game 6 — something the Dodgers would have been less comfortable having Ohtani do.
By pushing Ohtani back to at least Game 3, of course, the Dodgers will sacrifice their ability to get him two starts in this series. However, even if he pitches in one of the Dodgers’ home games later this week, Ohtani could come out of the bullpen in a potential Game 7; the kind of relief opportunity the team had hinted at for weeks down the stretch this season.
Because Ohtani will make just one pitching start in the NLCS, Roberts said it’s not as imperative that it come before an off-day, either.
“You have two other guys that potentially can pitch on regular rest,” Roberts said. “So [it’s about] how do you get your best pitchers the most innings in a potential seven-game series?”
Outside of pitching considerations, however, there’s another reason delaying Ohtani’s next pitching outing could also make sense.
In the NLDS, Ohtani went one for 18 at the plate with nine strikeouts. He looked particularly out of sorts in Game 1, when he struck out four times in what was his first career playoff game both hitting and pitching.
Coming out of the series, Roberts emphasized the need for Ohtani to “recalibrate” at the plate, noting that the team was “not gonna win the World Series with that sort of performance” from its biggest star.
And while Roberts insisted on Sunday that Ohtani’s offensive slump had “no bearing” on the team shuffling its rotation, giving Ohtani two games at the start of the NLCS to solely focus on hitting certainly won’t hurt his efforts to straighten out his swing.
“I expect a different output from Shohei on the offensive side this series,” Roberts said.
For at the least the next couple days, that will be his only objective.
Former Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Lucas Carlsson has been placed on waivers by the San Jose Sharks.
Carlsson kicked off his professional career with the Blackhawks organization, as the Original Six club selected him with the 110th overall pick of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft. From there, he played his first two NHL seasons with the Blackhawks in 2019-20 and 2020-21, where he recorded two assists, nine blocks, 17 hits, and a plus-4 rating in 18 games.
Carlsson also spent a good amount of time with the Blackhawks' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs. In 124 games with Rockford over three seasons, the 6-foot defenseman recorded 15 goals and 62 points.
Carlsson's time with the Blackhawks ended when he was traded to the Florida Panthers during the 2020-21 season.
In 13 games this past season with the Sharks, Carlsson posted one goal, four points, 14 blocks, 14 penalty minutes, and a minus-2 rating. He also recorded 10 goals, 23 points, and a minus-1 rating in 45 AHL games with the San Jose Barracuda in 2024-25.
TORONTO — Toronto rookie Trey Yesavage says his family has been subjected to abuse since his impressive postseason debut last weekend against the New York Yankees.
“Living in this world where there’s so many different opinions and feelings which results in a lot of hate, it’s sad to see that people close to me are being attacked for my performances on the field,” Yesavage said Sunday before the AL Championship Series opener against Seattle.
“These people have done nothing to warrant negativity for my actions, whether that’s my parents, my brothers, my girlfriend, family,” he added. “It’s just really sad. I know I have the platform to address it, so I am. I hope that people can realize that those individuals have nothing to do with what happens on the field. If you have a problem, I’m a man. I can take whatever opinions anybody has about me or my life. So I just wanted to get that out there.”
Yesavage, scheduled to start Game 2 on Monday, declined to answer a follow-up question about the matter.
Blue Jays manager John Schneider said Yesavage didn’t speak to him before making his comments.
“It’s unfortunate that that’s a reality,” Schneider said of the abuse. “I commend him for saying what he said and for backing up the people that love and support him.”
Yankees rookie Cam Schlittler, who grew up a Red Sox fan in Walpole, Massachusetts, said his family received online abuse before he beat Boston to win the Wild Card Series for New York.
Making his fourth big league appearance, Yesavage set a Blue Jays postseason record by striking out 11 Yankees in 5 1/3 hitless innings in AL Division Series Game 2 on Oct. 5. Eight strikeouts came on the split-finger fastball of the 22-year-old right-hander, who induced 18 swings and misses, including 11 on the splitter.
“He’s definitely something that we’re going to have to figure out,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson. “The big split, they’re tough pitches, obviously.”
Yesavage went 1-0 with a 3.21 ERA in three September starts. Including his postseason start, he has 27 strikeouts in 19 1/3 big league innings.
“He’s pretty special,” Blue Jays teammate Addison Barger said. “To be able to do what he did in the regular season and in the Division Series, it’s kind of unrealistic, but he’s been able to do it. It’s been amazing to watch and we’re super excited to have him.”
The Mariners, who used three starting pitchers in Friday’s 15-inning win over Detroit, have not announced a starter for Game 2.
“We’re going to see how guys feel today and likely announce that after the game,” Wilson said.
While the Detroit Red Wings found themselves in an extremely uncomfortable position in the opening period of Saturday night's tilt against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Little Caesars Arena, they made sure that it wouldn't go the way of their disappointing season opener earlier in the week.
Despite trailing by a 2-0 score at the end of 20 minutes, the Red Wings rallied to take the lead by the end of the second period en route to what was a 6-3 triumph for their first two points of their centennial campaign.
Scoring the first of what would be two go-ahead goals on the night was future Hall of Fame forward Patrick Kane, who roofed a one-time shot past a sprawling Anthony Stolarz after a sneaky cross-ice pass from teammate Alex DeBrincat.
Kane had positioned himself at the side of the net and went completely undetected by everyone except DeBrincat, who sent him a perfect tape-to-tape feed.
Afterward, Kane chalked up the assist to being, as he called it, "pure chemistry".
"That's just pure chemistry right there," Kane said of DeBrincat's assist. "Him turning the corner, and trying to lose yourself behind some of their D, he made a great pass. He put it right in my wheelhouse, and I just had to get good wood on it and put it on net."
"It was a great play by him."
It's a chemistry that dates back to when both players were members of the Chicago Blackhawks, where they spent five seasons as teammates and were often involved in scoring plays with one another.
DeBrincat had a huge hand in Kane choosing to sign with the Red Wings as an unrestricted free agent in December 2023, and the friendship between their sons Archie and Patrick Kane III hasn't hurt either.
Head coach Todd McLellan not only notices their on-ice chemistry, but is keenly aware of how much both players simply love the game.
"You can start on the ice or start off the ice, I'll start off it," McLellan said on Sunday. "It's the joy of the game, they both love playing and they're both competitors. We've talked a lot about Kaner still being young and hungry and excited to be at the rink."
"Cat is just like that too, so the two of them have the joy for the game," McLellan continued. "As far as the connectivity on the ice, they've played together for so long and had various levels of success doing what they do that when it's the simple play, they can make it."
"But when it's garbage time and something odd is going on, they have a pretty good idea of where someone else is, and their release point."
Penn State's willingness to pay the second-biggest buyout in college football history is an expensive reminder of the cost of doing business at this level.
The Buffalo Sabres’ home rink – the KeyBank Center – is nearly 30 years old. And with new or renovated arenas popping up throughout the NHL, the Sabres were due to upgrade their facilities and get on par with the modern-day perks of a fresh start. And according to a WGRZ report, renovations to the KeyBank Center are being pegged as costing at least $400 million.
Sabres executive Pete Guelli confirmed to WGRZ that conversations had begun between the team, New York state, and Erie County, N.Y. regarding upgrading the facility, but cautioned that the discussions -- between the team, state, and county officials -- are only preliminary thus far. That's because the Sabres have been focusing on the construction of an NFL football stadium for the Buffalo Bills in the area – the second iteration of the Highmark Stadium.
“That's where I would categorize (talks as preliminary),” Guelli told WGRZ. “Obviously we're working through the (Bills’) stadium project, and we know that’s going to open up on time over the summer, and need to get through that, but we have to start planning.”
The Sabres have been in contact with architecture firm Populous – the design firm behind the new Highmark Stadium – regarding what a renovated KeyBank Center would look like. The WGRZ report indicated that the proposed renovations will be “substantial and touch every aspect of the facility, including the infrastructure, team areas and fan-facing experiences”.
“The dream scenario would be this super high-performing arena that had 200 events a year, and 2-million people coming to it, and an absolute beautiful mixed-use property on the waterfront in Buffalo,” Guelli said. “I think that’s a vision that everybody could get behind.”
This arena news will be welcome to devout Sabres fans who’ve supported their team throughout the organization’s 14-year Stanley Cup playoff drought. But it won’t matter what condition the arena or surrounding area is in if the on-ice results aren’t where everybody wants them to be.
The Sabres can’t point to their arena to explain why they haven’t been a playoff team for nearly a decade-and-a-half. It’s not the KeyBank Center’s fault that Buffalo simply hasn’t been able to get the job done.
So while it’s admirable that the Sabres have rink renovations on the radar, the focus in Buffalo will be squarely on the Sabres' win/loss columns. And it’s going to stay that way until the Sabres figure out how to become relevant again.
As we begin the 2025-26 regular season, some things in the NHL aren’t changing – namely, the Chicago Blackhawks are still a win-challenged team, as they’ve gone 0-2-1 in their first three games.
The Blackhawks have kept the scores close, as all three games were one-goal games. So, having only one standings point to show for it has to be disappointing to Hawks fans, players and executives.
That said, one of the bright lights of Chicago’s first three games is the performance of blossoming star center Frank Nazar. The 21-year-old is currently tied for third place in NHL scoring, with four assists and five points. It’s unfair to expect the second-year NHLer to sustain his current point pace, but after Nazar posted 12 goals and 26 points in 53 games with the Hawks last season, he’s now got the opportunity of a lifetime this season.
It was always going to be a tremendous long shot for the Blackhawks to be even in the conversation for a playoff berth, so the winless three-game start to the season can’t be a surprise. This is still a franchise with serious holes in the lineup, and there’s going to be pain ahead for Chicago, no matter what Nazar does.
But for Hawks fans who’ve suffered through the bad part of the competitive cycle virtually all teams go through from generation to generation, having another legitimate star player to invest their time, money and emotion into is no small step forward. Nazar is blossoming before their eyes, and Blackhawks fans are stoked to see it.
With a continued strong start, Nazar has the potential to open up even more opportunities for himself. Namely, we’re talking about him making Team America’s 2026 Olympic roster. With the U.S.’s center spots basically taken up by Toronto Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews, Vegas Golden Knights star Jack Eichel, New Jersey Devils star Jack Hughes, and New York Rangers star J.T. Miller, there’s not an opening for Nazar. But maybe Nazar gets on the roster to fill one of the two extra forwards spots. That’s not unreasonable for him to aim for.
So, having Nazar continue his hot streak helps the Blackhawks on numerous levels. If he plays well, he takes some heat off of Bedard, who has had to bear the brunt of the spotlight as Chicago’s foundational player. Nazar isn’t at Bedard’s stage right now, and he may never be. But as long as he continues to grow his game, there’s every chance he can establish himself as a fixture in the Windy City for many years to come.
Nazar’s usage has skyrocketed in the three games he’s played this year. After averaging just 15:52 of ice time last season, Nazar has played more than 20 minutes in two of his three games, and he’s averaging 19:53 of ice time in total. That’s a huge step forward, and new Blackhawks coach Jeff Blashill is going to be hitching his wagon to Chicago’s young core of players. That core now clearly includes Nazar, as he has been prominent at 5-on-5, the power play and the penalty kill.
Chicago still needs to stock up on as many elite young players as possible, so when the Hawks do as expected and finish at the bottom of the league again this season, there will be a payoff consolation from the draft system. The Blackhawks are going to wobble and fall over often in the next few years as they put parts in place for a sustained playoff push, but given how rare it is to find legitimate difference-makers, it has to be a thrill for Hawks management and coaching to know they have an emerging gem in Nazar.
A lot can still happen to Nazar as teams scout him and figure out his weaknesses, but Nazar can continue to stay one step ahead of his opponents and thrive in hockey’s top league. His start to this season is very encouraging for the Blackhawks and for Nazar himself, and it’s a good idea to keep your eyes on Nazar as he negotiates the ascent up the competitive mountain and carves out a great legacy in Chicago.
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The Florida Panthers took care of a little business on Sunday.
While much of the league was enjoying an off day, and the Panthers were preparing to hit the road for the first time this season, the team announced a contract extension for forward Jonah Gadjovich.
The big, bruising winger signed a two-year extension to stay on with the Cats through 2028 after establishing himself as a reliable option on Florida’s fourth line.
“Jonah has become an integral part of our locker room and a strong contributor for our group on the ice,” Panthers GM Bill Zito said in a statement released by the team. “He possesses a fearless attitude and unrelenting competitiveness, and we are excited for Jonah to continue with us in South Florida.”
News of the deal came on Sunday, which also happened to be Gadjovich’s 27th birthday.
During his first two seasons with the Panthers, Gadjovich accumulated six goals, eight points and 164 penalty minutes over 81 regular season games while adding another two goals and an assist in 16 playoff outings during Florida’s latest Stanley Cup run.
So far this season, he’s picked up an assist and a plus-one on-ice rating over the Cats’ first three games.
Gadjovich and the Panthers will be back in action on Monday night when Florida begins a five-game road trip against the Philadelphia Flyers.
Photo caption: Oct 2, 2025; Tampa, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers left wing Jonah Gadjovich (12) warms up before a game against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Benchmark International Arena. (Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images)
