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Grill’d apologises for jinxing 24-year-old with promotion
Piastri’s manager Mark Webber backs McLaren driver to rebound from Formula One woes
As Oscar Piastri desperately works to rebound from his recent Formula One woes, an Australian restaurant chain is doing its part to keep his title hopes alive.
After offering free burgers for every time the Australian made the podium, Grill’d burger chain has apologised for putting a “curse” on the McLaren driver.
Continue reading...Ben Rice, coming off a season in which he smacked 26 home runs and announced himself with hard contact all year, the Yankees are entering the offseason with a similar question to the one manager Aaron Boone had to solve on a near-daily basis: Where should he play?
Without Paul Goldschmidt on the roster, first base appears to be the most likely spot for Rice to take up on the diamond, after playing 370 innings there across 46 starts. When asked if he viewed Rice as the everyday first baseman,Brian Cashman gave a noncommittal answer.
"He very well could be," the Yankees general manager said while speaking on a Zoom call with reporters Wednesday.
"I view Ben Rice as having an everyday role in the big leagues for us next year, whether it's at first... right now the lane is first base, I have no doubt teams will continue to come after our players, Rice included, for trade conversations," Cashman continued. "But as of right now, yeah, he's in our lineup, and the more likely spot would be first base.
"But he can catch, as well. I have [Austin] Wells is our catcher, and him at first, but, again, you never know how the winds of change blow here every winter. And they'll be challenge trades made to us or by us, and most will lead nowhere, with one team insulting the other, vice versa. More likely than not, I see him at first base, without a doubt."
Despite the GM's remuneration on trades, Cashman said the Yans are "really proud" of the season Rice put together when he produced 58 extra-base hits, 65 RBI and slashed .255/.337/.499 for a .836 OPS (131 OPS+, 133 wRC+) with a thunderous 56.1 percent hard-hit rate (97th percentile in MLB).
"He's always hit, and he continued to back that up," Cashman said. "And he had a huge impact for us, thankfully, this year, especially when [Giancarlo] Stanton went down. He really filled in, softened that blow significantly by being Stanton in Stanton's absence for a period of time.
"And then obviously forced his way into the lineup on an everyday basis the rest of the way, and then has forced his way into our future on an everyday basis."
As far as the catcher position, where the Yankees fielded three left-handed batters on the roster with Rice, who caught 229.2 innings filling in between Wells (1001 innings) and J.C. Escarra (209 innings), Cashman was asked if adding a righty was a priority for the offseason.
"Only if we like one well enough," the GM said. "You'd like to have the balance if you can have it, no doubt about it. The catching market is very thin, but we'll see.
"It's a benefit of having balance at, without a doubt. So we'll see if something presents itself here in the marketplace."
Only good things happen when owners take a hands-on approach to roster decisions. Just ask Knicks and Kings fans.
Anthony Davis will miss his seventh straight game Wednesday night when Dallas hosts Phoenix, and his return date is up in the air as Dallas Mavericks governor Patrick Dumont has requested medical information that Davis is not at risk of aggravating the calf strain that has had him out, reports Tim MacMahon at ESPN.
[Davis] originally targeted his return for Saturday's road game against the Washington Wizards, but there was a disagreement between Mavs director of health and performance Johann Bilsborough and Davis' personal medical staff on whether that was prudent, sources said. Davis was held out after Dumont sided with Bilsborough, preferring to err on the side of caution, sources said.
One can understand Dumont's caution here. Players are often the worst judges of how fast they can return (especially from soft tissue injuries) — they are in the NBA in part because they believe they can overcome anything. While Davis has a personal medical staff, he pays them. The team is likely to be more cautious with players it has invested tens of millions of dollars in.
As noted by MacMahon, Dumont's decision against Washington likely was in part tied to his growing lack of trust in now-fired general manager Nico Harrison. Also in Dumont's mind is the fact that last season, when the Mavericks acquired Davis in the Luka Doncic trade, he was sidelined with an abdominal injury. Davis rushed back from that injury in the wake of all the criticism of the trade, only to aggravate it in his first game back, which kept him out for another six weeks.
That said, the idea of an owner becoming more hands-on in basketball decisions or medical decisions is concerning. Dumont needs to do a serious search, eventually hire a new GM with a long-term plan, then get out of his way.
George Lombard Jr. is the Yankees' top prospect and his timeline for a big league call is always the topic of conversation. Fans are talking even more about the potential of Lombard Jr. in the Yankees lineup this offseason due to the injury and ineffectiveness of Anthony Volpe at shortstop.
However, Yankees GM Brian Cashman tempered expectations for his young infielder on a Zoom call with the media on Wednesday.
When asked directly how far off he viewed Lombard Jr. from making it to the major leagues, the longtime GM said it was difficult to assess for a few reasons.
"Players that possess some high-ceiling talent, which Lombard has, once it comes altogether, it can come really fast, it’s just an avalanche of success of instant ready," Cashman said. "He could be coming on strong as early as next year or he might need some more time. The game will tell us more than anything else.
"Defensively, he’s ready to go and offensively, it looks like he needs more time and we’re looking to ride that time and those reps."
The 20-year-old tore through High-A ball this past season, slashing .329/.495/.488 with an OPS of .983 to go along with one home run and 13 RBI across 24 games. Those numbers warranted a promotion to Double-A, where he struggled at the plate.
Across 108 games with the Somerset Patriots, Lombard Jr. slashed .215/.337/.358 with an OPS of .695. He did see his home run output increase (8), but he struck out 124 times.
The Yankees are set in the infield heading into the 2025 season. Barring any offseason moves, Jazz Chisholm Jr. will be the Opening Day second baseman while Ryan McMahon will likely start at third base. Ben Rice will be at first and shortstop will be Jose Caballero until Volpe returns from shoulder surgery.
Those factors leave Cashman believing they won't see Lombard Jr. with the Yankees in 2026 but things can change quickly as the organization saw with another prospect in 2025.
"I wouldn’t think '26 is on the horizon, but I wouldn’t rule out some point in '26 at the same time because you saw what happened with Spencer Jones last year, where he started to tear through all levels," Cashman said. "And once it starts coming together, there’s no stopping a lot of these guys unless somebody's standing in front of them at the major league level. So, we’ll see."
Brian Cashman says that George Lombard Jr. is unlikely to come up next year but he isn't ruling out the possibility, either pic.twitter.com/CrJ25MXJkR
— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) November 12, 2025
Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns spoke again at the GM Meetings in Las Vegas on Wednesday.
Among the topics Stearns discussed this time around were the possibility of playing Jeff McNeil in center field again in 2026, the potential role for right-hander Dylan Ross this upcoming season, and the need to add multi-inning options to the bullpen.
Here’s what Stearns had to say…
Throughout his eight-year career with the Mets, McNeil has proven that he can play just about everywhere. And while second base and the corner outfield spots have been his primary positions, he’s also dabbled in center field. In fact, his 31 games as a center fielder were second most to only his time at second base (77 games).
So might McNeil fit into the Mets’ puzzle in center field? It doesn’t seem so, according to Stearns.
“I think probably less,” Stearns replied when asked if McNeil is in the mix for center. “I think we love Jeff’s positional versatility, but I don’t see us looking at that as a significant portion of his time for next year.”
Ross, originally a 13th-round pick of the Mets in 2022, has had a meteoric rise through the team’s farm system. After pitching just one game for Low-A St. Lucie in 2024 as he bounced back from a Tommy John revision procedure, Ross started 2025 with High-A Brooklyn but made his way all the way to Triple-A Syracuse, putting himself in the conversation for a late-season call to the majors thanks to his dominant 2.13 overall ERA and 83 strikeouts in 55.0 innings.
According to Stearns, the flame-throwing Ross could be a factor for the major league team as early as Opening Day.
“I think Dylan’s a guy who is going to come to camp with a chance to make our team,” Stearns said. “It’s a big arm. He’s a unique guy who can throw really hard and also zone up his secondary stuff. It’s elite stuff.
“We have to help him get in the zone a little bit more. He doesn’t need to be a premium strike-thrower, but he can get in the zone a little bit more and I think that can help him at the major league level. And we would expect him to contribute throughout the season next year.”
As the Mets’ 2025 season went downhill, perhaps one of the biggest issues for the club was the lack of length out of the starting rotation. As a result, the Mets had to mix and match constantly with their relievers, calling players up to add fresh arms on a just-about-daily basis.
With that in mind, Stearns indicated on Wednesday that adding multi-inning options out of the bullpen could be a priority for the Mets this offseason, mentioning there could be both internal and external candidates.
“Something we’ve talked about is, especially after the trade deadline, we got to the point where we had a lot of one-inning relievers in our pen,” Stearns explained. “You can do that for a short period of time, but when you combine that with lack of length out of the starters, which is what we had, especially in the month of August, it taxes you, and we got taxed. So, there’s a recognition that having some multi-inning flexibility out of the pen is going to be important for us.”
Steph Curry gets best of fellow alien Victor Wembanyama as Warriors beat Spurs originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN ANTONIO – We’re being duped and deceived more and more every day.
The internet feels less real every time we take out our phones and wonder if what we’re mindlessly scrolling past is AI or the latest trend that will fade away and get lost in the shuffle. Deep down, we want to believe. The belief fuels us and makes us fools all at the same time.
Thousands of UFO sightings already have been recorded this year with 50 days still remaining in 2025. Thousands. They create stories and eye rolls. Fuel, and fools. Aliens are among us.
Ask the 18,578 fans in the building to watch the Warriors and San Antonio Spurs for four quarters on Wednesday night and you yourself can become a believer, if you somehow aren’t already.
There were 21 players who ran up and down the court at Frost Bank Center in the Warriors’ 125-120 win, with two aliens taking center stage. A basketball fanatic and a baby who can barely open its eyes could point out which person was taken from a French hovercraft and dropped down on San Antonio to reign supreme on the basketball world.
Squint hard enough and you can see it. Watch him for more than a decade like Steve Kerr has and you know it by now. Oh yeah, the second alien is the one whose head is at the waist of Alien No. 1, Victor Wembanyama, when he’s flying in the air at him, but the ball sails over his outstretched left arm and through the net without touching a single part of the rim from the right corner.
“All it takes is that one shot, and in that third quarter I feel like he hit that 3-pointer that finally went down. And when that went down, the corner one, it was like, ‘Here we go,’ ” Al Horford said. “Then it was just … they were in trouble.”
Steph Curry threw both his hands up as a thank you to the heavens. Maybe to the overlords who graced his right hand at birth, too. It was a gesture of finally. They, being the Spurs, were in trouble.
“Thankfully, I made one,” Curry said. “Got a rhythm going and felt like I could make a couple more. It was a good second half.”
Indeed.
Curry scored 46 points one night after he and his Warriors teammates were embarrassed in Oklahoma City by the defending NBA champions in his first game back from an illness, scoring only 11 points against the Thunder’s machine-like defense. He admitted he still was battling a cold, which was clear when he spoke, hoping to play 24 hours later against the Spurs.
“Looks like he’s almost fully healthy,” Gary Payton II said. “Almost fully healthy. He probably would have gotten 50 if he was fully healthy. I’ll take the 46. Just to see him in a good rhythm is encouraging for everybody.”
Getting one game back under his belt helped Curry. His congestion still is there, but his lungs felt way different. Night and day, like the product Steph and the Warriors displayed against Wembanyama and the rising Spurs.
That three over Wembanyama actually was Curry’s second of the game, with his first being a circus shot from the left corner in the first quarter while trying to draw a foul on former Warriors teammate Harrison Barnes. The third quarter, however, is when flames started firing from his fingers.
Even after missing his first 3-point attempt of the second half.
Once he sneakily ran behind Wembanyama from the left side of the court and found his way to the right corner where Jimmy Butler found him in mid-air, it was game on. Curry in the third quarter alone scored 22 points, six fewer than the Spurs did as a team. In nine minutes.
He made three 3-pointers in three different ways during his third-quarter flurry, banked two 2-pointers – first from the right side and then the left – and forced his way to nine free throws. Yes, he made all nine.
Kerr jokingly used the word “routine” to describe Curry’s night in totality that also included five rebounds, five assists, five threes, two steals and 15 made free throws with just one miss.
“I’ve seen this,” Kerr continued. “How many times has he scored 40 in his career?”
The answer: 73.
“I’m kidding, obviously,” Kerr continued. “That was not routine. When you have the privilege with Steph for 11-plus years like I have, you get used to this. He’s the reason this whole thing has happened. He’s our Tim Duncan. He’s the sun in our solar system.”
Starring alongside Curry were the two who round out a Big Three on the other side of 35 years old. Jimmy Butler was Batman’s Robin with 28 points, six rebounds, eight assists and three steals. Draymond Green was their enforcer, making one of his 10 shot attempts but still finishing as a game-high plus-15 as he made Wembanyama fight as hard as he could for 31 points, throwing him out of whack for a season-high eight turnovers – the second-most in the Spurs star’s career.
It still all starts with Curry. It’s timeless. It’s art. It’s a Broadway show.
It’s an alien lifeform in a 6-foot-2 body that has outgrown his previous Baby-Faced Assassin nickname.
“You always have a chance when he’s on the floor, especially when he’s making incredible shots like he was,” Butler said. “That’s what we need, that’s what he’s going to give us. He’s going to do what he does. It’s our job, everybody else, to do what we’re supposed to do. The role players are the ones that are really going to win, and I’m one of those as well. The star is going to do what he does.”
Butler continued, sharing what he calls The Art of Getting Out The Way: “Give the ball to 30, and get out the way. The talent will create the disadvantage, and I think that’s what we focused on tonight. Give the ball to Steph, get out the way, and let Steph do what he’s been doing for so many years in this league and good things happen.”
Aliens are among us. One is known as Wemby. The other is named Wardell. You might know him as Steph.
Jun 9, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Luis Ortiz (45) reacts after giving up a home run during the fourth inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images
Ken Blaze-Imagn Images
NEW YORK — Cleveland Guardians’ pitcher Luis Ortiz pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges that he took bribes to help gamblers win bets placed on pitches he threw. His teammate, Guardians former closer Emmanuel Clase, has also been charged in the alleged scheme.
Ortiz, the 26-year-old former starting pitcher for the club, appeared in Brooklyn federal court after his initial arrest Sunday at Boston’s Logan International Airport.
He was released on a $500,000 bond until his next court date in December, and issued GPS monitoring. Ortiz, who has already surrendered his passport to authorities, was also ordered to limit his travel to New York, Massachusetts and Ohio.
The other conditions of his release include no gambling, no possessing firearms or illegal drugs and having no contact with co-conspirators, victims and witnesses.
Ortiz, wearing a black leather jacket and jeans, provided short responses to the judge’s questions in court and didn’t respond to reporters seeking comment as he left the courtroom with his wife and lawyer.
Clase, a three-time All-Star, will be arraigned at the same courthouse Thursday. His lawyer, Michael Ferrara, said Clase maintains his innocence.
“Emmanuel Clase has devoted his life to baseball and doing everything in his power to help his team win,” he said in an emailed statement Wednesday.
The two natives of the Dominican Republic have been on non-disciplinary paid leave since July, when MLB began investigating what it said was unusually high in-game betting activity when they pitched.
Prosecutors say Ortiz and Clase took several thousand dollars in payoffs to help two unnamed gamblers in their home country win at least $460,000 on bets placed on the speed and outcome of certain pitches.
They say Ortiz, who earned a $782,600 salary this year, rigged pitches in games against the Seattle Mariners and the St. Louis Cardinals this summer.
Prosecutors say he agreed in advance with bettors to throw balls instead of strikes on pitches in exchange for bribes and kickbacks.
Chris Georgalis, a lawyer for Ortiz, has denied the charges, saying payments between his client and individuals in the Dominican Republic that were cited in the indictment were for legal activities.
Prosecutors say Clase, who is on the fourth season of a $20 million, five-year contract, recruited Ortiz into the scheme. They say the Guardians’ all-time saves leader began providing bettors with information about his pitches in 2023, but didn’t ask for payoffs until this year.
Clase and Ortiz are each charged with wire fraud conspiracy, honest services wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy and conspiracy to influence sporting contests by bribery.
Following the pitchers’ indictments, Major League Baseball announced new limits on betting on individual pitches.
The indictments are the latest gambling-related allegations to roil American professional sports.
Last month, more than 30 people, including Portland Trail Blazers head coach and Basketball Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, were arrested in what authorities described as a gambling sweep involving leaked inside information about NBA athletes and rigged poker games backed by Mafia families.
Rebuild or retool? It’s the most common question asked about NHL teams on the outside of the playoff picture looking in.
There’s evidence that both approaches could work, but the recent trend of the NHL suggests that rebuilding is the path to take over a less-aggressive retool.
Team depth, defense and goaltending play critical roles in winning a Stanley Cup, but superstars are needed and are almost virtually the reason why teams win.
Some may look at the Florida Panthers as a recent example that depth matters more, but GM Bill Zito found a way to have an abundance of depth around his two superstars, Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk. Without the timely plays and consistency from that duo throughout the past three seasons, the Panthers don’t win the Cup.
The strongest current piece of evidence that tanking works is examining the NHL’s current point leaders.
Out of the top 33 scorers in the NHL with at least 18 points, 28 of them were first-round picks.
Of those first-rounders, 18 of those players were selected in the top 10, including 11 in the top three and seven first overall picks.
The usual suspects – Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar and Jack Eichel – are high in these rankings. Each player has been to the Stanley Cup final at least once, and three have won the Cup, providing the first piece of evidence that tanking has worked for these teams.
But to further prove it, four of the top six scorers – MacKinnon, Macklin Celebrini, Connor Bedard and Connor McDavid – were first overall picks. Leo Carlsson, who's tied for second in scoring, was drafted second overall, and William Nylander, who's tied for fifth, was selected eighth overall.
For a table of the top 33 scorers, click here.
The emergence of Carlsson has come quicker than some may have expected, but the talent was always apparent. With 11 goals and 26 points in 16 games, he has the Anaheim Ducks in first place in the Pacific Division with an 11-4-1 record.
The Ducks’ rebuild appears to be complete as many of their top prospects are not only featuring in their lineup but are playing critical roles. It took patience, but now with a No. 1 center in Carlsson, a No. 1 defenseman in Jackson LaCombe, a No. 1 goaltender in Lukas Dostal and top-end talent surrounding them, such as Cutter Gauthier, Troy Terry, Mason McTavish and Beckett Sennecke, the Ducks look poised to be a perennial contender for years to come.
Celebrini and Bedard sit in second and fourth in the NHL points leaderboard, respectively, and they’ve turned around their franchises.
Coming into the season, the expectations of the Chicago Blackhawks and the San Jose Sharks were very low. Many thought they would be in the race for another top-three pick, but the two young phenoms had other ideas.
Bedard, 20, is carrying the Blackhawks' offense despite the roster still being below average in terms of talent. With nine goals and 25 points in 16 games, Bedard has 11 more points than the next closest player, and the Blackhawks sit in fourth place in the Central Division.
The Blackhawks had some luck landing Bedard, moving up two spots in the draft lottery, but following the selection, they’ve built their defense corps from the ground up and have continued to add high-end prospects, such as Anton Frondell, Oliver Moore, Sacha Boisvert and more. They aren’t as far along as the Ducks, but the future is very exciting in the Windy City.
Celebrini, too, has his organization looking like a competitive team.
The Sharks are a very young team, headlined by Celebrini, Will Smith, William Eklund, Michael Misa, and Sam Dickinson, but they are becoming a harder team to beat. On most nights, they are outshot, but the high-end talent they possess creates numerous high-danger chances that they are skilled enough to finish consistently.
There are 20 first overall picks currently playing in the NHL, and seven of them rank in the top 33 in points. Some notable omissions who could easily join that group are Auston Matthews, who ranks just outside the top 50 after a slow start to the season, and Nico Hischier, who is playing like the Selke Trophy winner he is, allowing Jack Hughes to shine offensively.
The most recent first overall pick, Matthew Schaefer, leads NHL rookies in goals and points, and he sits in the top 10 for points by a defenseman. The New York Islanders weren’t tanking before selecting Schaefer, but following the selection, they’ve pointed their franchise's direction toward a youth movement, betting on the future.
Luck most certainly plays a role when tanking. Even with the worst record in the NHL, teams aren’t guaranteed to land the first overall pick, and they aren’t guaranteed to become a superstar. Occasionally, as happened with the New York Rangers, Buffalo Sabres and Montreal Canadiens recently, they select a player who won’t turn the franchise around but can be a big-time contributor.
The quarter mark of the NHL season is approaching, and plenty of hockey still needs to be played. But soon, teams will need to decipher where their season is headed.
With a projected top three of talented wingers Gavin McKenna and Ivar Stenberg, as well as 6-foot-4, do-it-all defenseman Keaton Verhoeff, organizations like the Calgary Flames and the Nashville Predators would benefit greatly from selecting a possible franchise cornerstone in the top three.
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The Los Angeles Kings seem to be trending in the right direction, with two straight victories to kick off a six-game road trip.
Not only were those wins huge for the team’s record and place in the standings, but it was also against the Pittsburgh Penguins, who had a hot start to the campaign, and the Atlantic Division leaders Montreal Canadiens.
In this week’s edition of The Hockey News’ power rankings by Jason Chen, the Kings were recognized for their recent performances and made a big jump compared to their previous ranking.
In this week’s ranking, Los Angeles has climbed their way into the top 10, taking seventh place. They stand between the Canadiens in eighth place and the Dallas Stars in sixth.
There were several question marks surrounding head coach Jim Hiller and his Kings in the early stages of this campaign. However, Los Angeles has been on a nice little run over the last 20 days or so.
“There was a little concern early in the season, but they’ve gone 7-2-2 since,” Chen wrote.
He also highlighted the team’s last two victories over Pittsburgh and Montreal. Against the Pens, the Kings soared in a third-period push, and solid goaltending from Darcy Kuemper along the way.
Report: Los Angeles Kings Not In Adrian Kempe’s Ballpark As Negotiations Are Back OnThe Los Angeles Kings and Adrian Kempe have reportedly resumed contract talks. However, it still seems that the two parties are on the same level just yet.When they faced the Habs in the Bell Centre, it was a tidy performance with the help of an explosive middle frame. Joel Edmundson, Quinton Byfield and Kevin Fiala each scored a goal in the opening six minutes of the second period. They didn’t give the Canadiens a sniffing chance after that.
Kings Road Dominance Continues With Victory Over CanadiensKings dismantle Canadiens with lockdown defense and promising offense, continuing their road dominance.Thanks to these results, the Kings jumped from 15th place to seventh in the matter of a week. This is the highest they’ve ever been ranked so far this season.
In the real NHL standings, Los Angeles controls the second spot in the Pacific Division with 20 points in 17 outings. With that, the team owns an 8-5-4 record and three points off from the division leaders, the Anaheim Ducks.
The Kings will look to continue their road dominance in their next game against the struggling Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday.
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.
Flyers have late goal wiped away, suffer OT loss to two-time defending West champs originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The Flyers had another tight, low-scoring game Wednesday night and couldn’t win it as they fell to the Oilers, 2-1, in overtime at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
Jack Roslovic scored the winner for Edmonton on a 2-on-0 opportunity after Cam York had a turnover.
The Flyers dropped to 4-3-3 in games decided by one goal. It was the seventh time they’ve gone to OT.
“Every game, it seems like it’s tight,” Rick Tocchet said. “We’ve just got to learn, we have the puck in overtime, hold onto it. We want to make plays and that’s the learning process — playing through pressure.”
Travis Konecny scored what could have been a game-winning goal for the Flyers on a deflection with 23.5 seconds remaining in regulation. But league-initiated review determined that Owen Tippett was offside.
“I have to be more patient, I guess,” Tippett said, “but it happens.”
The Flyers (8-5-3), who came in with the NHL’s third-fewest shots per game at 24.8, had just six at the midway mark Wednesday night.
But Matvei Michkov provided a spark by burying a game-tying power play goal with 4:22 minutes left in the second period.
Despite the loss, Tocchet’s club extended its point streak to four games (2-0-2).
“We thought we had it won,” the Flyers’ head coach said. “We have some other things we’ve got to shore up, but there were some stretches where I liked our game.
“Everybody expected us to be in last place, so I’ve got to give these guys a lot of credit. I’m proud of them.”
The Oilers (8-6-4) went into the third period with a 25-11 shot advantage on the Flyers.
The Flyers face Edmonton again Jan. 3 when they visit the two-time defending Western Conference champs.
• Dan Vladar was excellent again, making 30 saves on 32 shots.
The 28-year-old has given up two or fewer goals in eight of his 10 starts.
He wasn’t too happy when Mattias Janmark ran into him with 5:35 minutes left in the third period. After some pushing and shoving, which included Vladar, the Flyers ended up on a power play, but failed to convert.
“It was just a hockey play, it happens,” Vladar said. “It’s going to happen again, I’m pretty sure, whether it’s me or someone else. Just emotions.”
The Oilers struck first with under a minute remaining in the opening stanza. Evan Bouchard blasted one off a nice feed from three-time MVP Connor McDavid, who finished with one point.
The Flyers have actually slowed down the superstar center in his visits to Philadelphia. They’re 6-2-1 at home against McDavid’s Oilers teams. In those nine matchups, they’ve held him to 10 points (three goals, seven assists).
But it has been a different story up at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, where McDavid has put up 24 points (eight goals, 16 assists) on the Flyers over nine games. The Flyers are just 2-6-1 in those matchups.
“Having the puck helps, making him play defense, making them stop and start,” Tocchet said after morning skate. “I don’t care who it is, any team with great players, you want to make them stop and start, so you try to muck it up a little bit, too. He’s going to get his looks, he’s just too good of a player.”
Oilers netminder Stuart Skinner stopped 20 of the Flyers’ 21 shots.
• Michkov is really starting to find his form.
The 20-year-old winger has put a goal in three straight games. He now has four on the season and nine points.
He just looks like that dynamic scorer from last season when he delivered 26 goals and 63 points as a rookie.
His skating is there, he’s holding onto the puck and he’s determined to shoot it.
More: How Flyers are ‘staying with it’ on Michkov’s learning process
• Tyson Foerster was activated off injured reserve and returned to the lineup after missing the last four games because of a blocked shot.
To make room on the roster, the Flyers loaned Carl Grundstrom back to AHL affiliate Lehigh Valley.
The 23-year-old Foerster was back on his regular line with Noah Cates and Bobby Brink.
• Next up for the Flyers is a back-to-back road set as the club visits the Blues on Friday (8 p.m. ET/NBCSP+) and Stars on Saturday (8 p.m. ET/NBCSP).
Flyers have late goal wiped away, suffer OT loss to two-time defending West champs originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The Flyers had another tight, low-scoring game Wednesday night and couldn’t win it as they fell to the Oilers, 2-1, in overtime at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
Jack Roslovic scored the winner for Edmonton on a 2-on-0 opportunity after Cam York had a turnover.
The Flyers dropped to 4-3-3 in games decided by one goal. It was the seventh time they’ve gone to OT.
“Every game, it seems like it’s tight,” Rick Tocchet said. “We’ve just got to learn, we have the puck in overtime, hold onto it. We want to make plays and that’s the learning process — playing through pressure.”
Travis Konecny scored what could have been a game-winning goal for the Flyers on a deflection with 23.5 seconds remaining in regulation. But a league-initiated review determined that Owen Tippett was offside.
“I have to be more patient, I guess,” Tippett said, “but it happens.”
The Flyers (8-5-3), who came in with the NHL’s third-fewest shots per game at 24.8, had just six at the midway mark Wednesday night.
But Matvei Michkov provided a spark by burying a game-tying power play goal with 4:22 minutes left in the second period.
Despite the loss, Tocchet’s club extended its point streak to four games (2-0-2).
“We thought we had it won,” the Flyers’ head coach said. “We have some other things we’ve got to shore up, but there were some stretches where I liked our game.
“Everybody expected us to be in last place, so I’ve got to give these guys a lot of credit. I’m proud of them.”
The Oilers (8-6-4) went into the third period with a 25-11 shot advantage on the Flyers.
The Flyers face Edmonton again Jan. 3 when they visit the two-time defending Western Conference champs.
• Dan Vladar was excellent again, making 30 saves on 32 shots.
The 28-year-old has given up two or fewer goals in eight of his 10 starts.
He wasn’t too happy when Mattias Janmark ran into him with 5:35 minutes left in the third period. After some pushing and shoving, which included Vladar, the Flyers ended up on a power play, but failed to convert.
“It was just a hockey play, it happens,” Vladar said. “It’s going to happen again, I’m pretty sure, whether it’s me or someone else. Just emotions.”
The Oilers struck first with under a minute remaining in the opening stanza. Evan Bouchard blasted one off a nice feed from three-time MVP Connor McDavid, who finished with one point.
The Flyers have actually slowed down the superstar center in his visits to Philadelphia. They’re 6-2-1 at home against McDavid’s Oilers teams. In those nine matchups, they’ve held him to 10 points (three goals, seven assists).
But it has been a different story up at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, where McDavid has put up 24 points (eight goals, 16 assists) on the Flyers over nine games. The Flyers are just 2-6-1 in those matchups.
“Having the puck helps, making him play defense, making them stop and start,” Tocchet said after morning skate. “I don’t care who it is, any team with great players, you want to make them stop and start, so you try to muck it up a little bit, too. He’s going to get his looks, he’s just too good of a player.”
Oilers netminder Stuart Skinner stopped 20 of the Flyers’ 21 shots.
• Michkov is really starting to find his form.
The 20-year-old winger has recorded a goal in three straight games. He now has four on the season and nine points.
He just looks like that dynamic scorer from last season when he delivered 26 goals and 63 points as a rookie.
His skating is there, he’s holding onto the puck and he’s determined to shoot it.
More: How Flyers are ‘staying with it’ on Michkov’s learning process
• Tyson Foerster was activated off injured reserve and returned to the lineup after missing the last four games because of a blocked shot.
To make room on the roster, the Flyers loaned Carl Grundstrom back to AHL affiliate Lehigh Valley.
The 23-year-old Foerster was back on his regular line with Noah Cates and Bobby Brink.
• Next up for the Flyers is a back-to-back road set as the club visits the Blues on Friday (8 p.m. ET/NBCSP+) and Stars on Saturday (8 p.m. ET/NBCSP).
Arizona basketball coach Tommy Lloyd said redshirting is an option for Bryce James this season.
Joshua and Paul finalizing December bout
Fight expected in Miami on 19 or 26 December
Netflix to announce matchup on Monday
Anthony Joshua and Jake Paul are finalizing a deal to meet in a heavyweight fight in Miami this December, sources told the Guardian, with Netflix preparing to announce the bout on Monday. A source with knowledge of the negotiations said the deal is done and that the fight will take place on either 19 or 26 December.
Paul had originally been scheduled to fight Gervonta Davis on 14 November at the Kaseya Center, but the event was cancelled after Davis was removed from the card amid domestic violence allegations. Davis’s former partner, Courtney Rossel, filed a civil lawsuit in Miami-Dade County accusing the lightweight champion of battery, aggravated battery, false imprisonment, kidnapping and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Miami Gardens police confirmed they are investigating the alleged incident, which Rossel says occurred at the strip club where she works. She was granted a restraining order shortly afterwards.
Continue reading...The 11-4-1 New Jersey Devils hit the road tonight to face the 8-5-3 Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center.
This will be the first meeting of the season between the two teams. It marks the start of a five-game road trip for the Devils, while the Blackhawks begin a four-game homestand.
The Devils are coming off their first home loss of the season, a 3-2 overtime defeat to the New York Islanders on Monday. Their last road trip ended with a 1-3-0 record.
Head coach Sheldon Keefe reflected on that stretch when speaking with NHL.com:
“We didn’t like the way our last road trip went,” Keefe said. “It’s a five-game stand on the road. We have to play better on the road. It’s a good opportunity for us to get that right.”
The Blackhawks, meanwhile, enter the game riding a three-game winning streak, most recently defeating the Detroit Red Wings 5-1.
Former first-round draft pick Connor Bedard continues to impress. Bedard is on an eight-game point streak, collecting 11 points in his last five games. Bedard is tied for the team lead in goals (9) and leads Chicago with 25 points.
For comparison, Jack Hughes leads the Devils with 18 points this season, while Timo Meier has scored two goals in his last three games as he looks to extend his streak.
Ahead of the matchup, Keefe discussed the challenge of facing Bedard and the young Blackhawks roster.
“Lots of speed and skill,” Keefe said to NHL.com. “Bedard is playing on another level right now. We don’t need too many reminders—it wasn’t too long ago that we played San Jose and Anaheim, all these young guys taking significant leaps in their play. It’s a real challenge, but their defense has taken a step too. They have lots of confidence. It’s a challenge like every single game this season, and we’ll have to be ready.”
Devils:
Blackhawks:
Ahead of the game, Keefe announced several line changes after limited offensive production in recent outings.
The top two lines were shuffled, with Dawson Mercer joining Jack Hughes and Arseny Gritsyuk, while Jesper Bratt moved alongside Nico Hischier and Timo Meier.
“It’s been too long now that both those lines haven’t really connected offensively,” Keefe said to NHL.com. “I think it’s time for a different look.”
Bratt said he was eager for the opportunity to play with new linemates.
“It boosts you up to get new linemates—even if they aren’t really new, just familiar faces,” Bratt said to NHL.com. “It’ll be good to help the team get a little spark.”
This is the first of two meetings between the Devils and Blackhawks this season. They’ll face off again on March 29.
Forward Dawson Mercer said the team is eager to make a statement on the road.
“We feel being a great road team would be a huge step for us,” Mercer said to NHL.com. “We’ve been amazing at home. After our last trip, we want to end on a more positive note. Right now, we have a great opportunity—five games here to really prove that and turn the switch.”
Puck drop is scheduled for 9:30 p.m. ET in the Windy City.
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Steph Curry recalls lonely ‘pep talk' before huge third quarter in Warriors' win originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Lock in, Dub Nation.
That’s Steph Curry’s mantra, and the Warriors star put it to good use with a 46-point performance in Golden State’s 125-120 win over the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday at Frost Bank Center.
Curry scored 22 of those points in a red-hot third quarter — but things didn’t start out that way for the point guard. The 37-year-old shot 6 of 12 from the field and 1 of 6 from 3-point range in the first two quarters, but after he stayed out on the bench while the rest of the Warriors went in the locker room at halftime, everything changed.
“As a shooter, any time you’re missing short, you get in your head a little bit,” Curry told Bob Fitzgerald and Kelenna Azubuike about the moment on “Warriors Postgame Live” after the win. “That’s like the worst miss ever and I had about three or four of them, so I was just trying to talk to myself, you know, a little pep talk over there, get your mind right.
“But sometimes it’s nice to feel it in the arena versus in the locker room because you know you got to come back out here and do work.”
Curry’s halftime pep talk worked, and he came out firing in the second half. He scored 31 of his 46 total points across the final two frames on 7-of-13 shooting from the field, 4 of 10 from deep and a perfect 13 of 13 from the free-throw line.
That offensive explosion included a go-ahead 3-pointer in the third quarter that had Curry yelling, “Boom!” as he celebrated.
There’s no doubt the Warriors’ messaging in the locker room was exactly what the team needed to come back out and erase a 16-point deficit against the Spurs.
But sometimes, the best shooter in the world just needs to hear from himself first.