The perfect NHL backup goaltender can be a real unsung hero.
But what makes an effective backup?
First of all, you want an experienced goalie who will push for playing time while also accepting their status as the second option between the pipes. You also need them to be able to play at a moment’s notice, and for long stretches if necessary. And you need them to be affordable and a calming influence in the dressing room.
These are all things we see in New Jersey Devils veteran netminder Jake Allen.
“When you talk about being the best backup, (Allen is) going to give you everything you want out of a backup,” former NHL netminder Devan Dubnyk said on The Hockey News Big Show. “Whether it’s (playing) a game every two weeks or five games in a row…I think that’s an important part of a backup goalie – being in the dressing room, having energy, being involved, whether you’re playing or not.”
Allen, 35, has appeared in eight games with the Devils this season, posting a 5-2-0 record, a 2.48 goals-against average and a .904 save percentage. Starter Jacob Markstrom, meanwhile, is 4-3-2 with an .875 SP and 4.17 GAA while being injured during part of October.
Allen can handle a larger workload, having played in 42 games with the Montreal Canadiens during the 2022-23 season. And of course, Allen is a Stanley Cup champion from his days with the St. Louis Blues when Jordan Binnington took over starting duties. His $1.8-million cap hit makes him a bargain, and the Devils will hope he can continue to fit in his role for the full five-year contract.
“It’s being comfortable with that role and not getting upset, not having higher expectations than you should,” Dubnyk said. “With Jake Allen, you look at him, and he’s ready to perform, however that is. He’s going to contribute in practice – he’s going to contribute in the dressing room.
“And if he hasn’t played in two weeks, he’s going to come in and win you a game. If Markstrom’s not playing well, you need (Allen) to come in and win a game, win two games, three games…and then if Markstrom gets hurt, he’s able to come in and be your starting goalie. And not just kind of a keep-your-head-above water starting goalie – a good starting goalie.”
Dubnyk pointed to veteran goaltender Alex Stalock, his teammate during their time with the Minnesota Wild, as an example of a goalie who thrived as a secondary option.
“There were long stretches where he didn’t play,” Dubnyk said of Stalock, who last played in the NHL with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2022-23. “But every single day, he contributed to the team. He worked his butt off in practice, he was funny in the dressing room, he always had energy, he was always joking. He brought something to the group every single day, even when he wasn’t playing.
“And then when he did go out and play, (Stalock) worked his butt off and he gave the team a good effort. These are all pieces that make a good backup goalie, and then with Allen, you have the bonus side of it, where we’ve having a conversation of who is the starter (in New Jersey) right now.”
Allen now has 14 NHL seasons under his belt, so there isn’t much he hasn’t seen. He’s been a starter, an understudy and a winner at the game’s highest level.
Take it from another goalie who’s been an elite performer – Allen deserves a lot of credit for excelling in a role that many goalies have failed at.
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Championship leaders Coventry bounced back from their first league defeat of the season as they came from behind to beat Sheffield United 3-1 at the CBS Arena.
The former Sky Blues defender Sam McCallum put the Blades ahead in the first half before Tatsuhiro Sakamoto and Bobby Thomas scored after the break. Brandon Thomas-Asante added a third at the end to secure a ninth win of the season.
Two days after Rick Tocchet pleaded for more from his team and pretty much apologized to fans, the Flyers answered their coach’s call in roller-coaster fashion.
They raced out to a 3-0 lead Tuesday night and then rallied from a 4-3 third-period deficit to beat the Canadiens, 5-4, in a shootout at Bell Centre.
Trevor Zegras scored the lone tally in the skills competition, putting him at a blistering 15 for 23 lifetime. He added two assists in regulation.
Tocchet’s club went off for three goals in the opening 7:50 minutes of the game. But Montreal sent the building into a frenzy with four second-period goals to erase a dominant first period by the Flyers.
Nikita Grebenkin, though, tied things up in the final stanza with his first career NHL goal.
The Flyers’ breakthrough offensively came after the team scored just three goals in a back-to-back set last weekend on home ice, resulting in two disappointing losses and some boos at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
“The fans pay a lot of money here to watch games,” Tocchet said Sunday night. “I don’t think we gave them a half-decent product the last two games. I think it was kind of a boring game. It falls on myself, I’ve got to get these guys to start to show some will. The Flyer fans, if they see some will, they’ll cheer you on. If they don’t, you’re going to get booed.”
In the first period Tuesday night, the Flyers (7-5-1) got a pair of goals from Bobby Brink and one from Cam York.
The club improved to 3-0 in the shootout and handed the Canadiens (9-3-1) their first loss after regulation. The Flyers lead the NHL with nine shootout wins over the last two seasons.
They picked up their first victory at Bell Centre since April 21, 2022. They were 0-3-1 in their previous four trips to Montreal and had been outscored 20-10.
• The Flyers were desperate for an offensive jolt.
They came in allowing the NHL’s fifth-fewest goals per game at 2.58. But they also came in scoring just 2.58, tied for the league’s fifth-fewest per game.
Brink’s second goal was on the power play and so was York’s marker.
Grebenkin gave the Flyers a huge lift a little over midway through the third period when it was starting to look like the team’s big start was going to be totally wasted.
York (one goal, one assist) and Travis Konecny (two assists) joined Brink and Zegras with multi-point efforts.
He made a pair of big stops in overtime and the Canadiens couldn’t crack him in the skills competition.
Montreal flipped the game in the second period. Their second and fourth goals came on the power play.
Lane Hutson made a brilliant move to set up Kirby Dach’s game-tying 3-3 goal. Ivan Demidov gave the Canadiens the lead with an absolute rip on the man advantage.
The Flyers put 42 shots on Montreal netminder Sam Montembeault, who stopped 38 of them.
• For the first time since signing with the Flyers in the offseason, Christian Dvorak faced his old club. The 29-year-old center played in all 82 games for the Canadiens last season, helping Montreal reach the playoffs.
Dvorak played the most minutes of any Flyers forward with 23:56.
• The Flyers are back in action Thursday when they visit the Predators (8 p.m. ET/NBCSP).
The Sixers squandered a large lead and an opportunity to take sole possession of first place in the Eastern Conference on Tuesday night.
Once up by 24 points, the Sixers fell to a 113-111 loss to the Bulls at United Center. Chicago moved to 6-1 and the Sixers dropped to 5-2.
Nikola Vucevic drilled a go-ahead corner three-pointer with 3.2 seconds left. Quentin Grimes then had a good look at a game-winner, but he missed a top-of-the-key three-point attempt.
Tyrese Maxey’s 39 points on 14-for-26 shooting led the Sixers. Joel Embiid had 20 points on 7-for-21 shooting.
Josh Giddey posted a triple-double with 29 points, 15 rebounds and 12 assists. Vucevic recorded 19 points and 10 boards.
Paul George (left knee surgery recovery) and Dominick Barlow (right elbow laceration) were the two Sixers out in Chicago. The team will travel to Cleveland and face the Cavs on Wednesday night.
Here are observations on the Sixers’ loss to the Bulls:
Maxey passes Covington
The Sixers’ offense continued to look like one of the NBA’s best in the first quarter. They racked up 45 points over the first 12 minutes and led by as many as 21.
Embiid drew a foul on Vucevic 16 seconds in. He wrapped up the first with a pair of free throws and finished the quarter with nine points.
While the Sixers had several contenders, Maxey was the star of the period. He made four three-pointers in the first quarter and dished out four assists. Maxey’s third long-range jumper moved him past Robert Covington for second on the Sixers’ all-time list. Early in his sixth season, he’s at 728 career threes.
After a poor start and overall subpar shooting season last year, Maxey has been prolific. He’s made at least three triples in every game and shot 32 for 66 (48.5 percent) beyond the arc.
Maxey displayed more of his considerable variety in the second quarter — mid-range jumpers, a four-point play, a tough scoop shot. He was also active defensively, blocking a shot and swiping a steal in the backcourt.
McCain’s return
Jared McCain checked in off the Sixers’ bench late in the first quarter for his first action since Dec. 13.
McCain missed all three of the jumpers he tried in the first half. The 21-year-old mostly blended in, which wasn’t a surprise given he hadn’t appeared in an NBA game for nearly 11 months.
The only shot McCain attempted in the second half was a leaner that Dalen Terry blocked. He played 15 minutes and had no points on 0-for-4 shooting, two assists and one rebound.
Offense goes missing
Kelly Oubre Jr.’s driving layup early in the third quarter gave the Sixers an 87-56 advantage. Following his 29-point night in the Sixers’ win over the Nets, Oubre posted 18 on 7-for-11 shooting.
The Sixers’ offensive pace, ball movement and overall production badly dropped off and the Bulls went on an extended run. Chicago cut its deficit to 89-77 on a Kevin Huerter fast-break layup.
Maxey sat to start the fourth quarter and the Bulls trimmed the Sixers’ lead to eight points. As soon as Maxey checked back in, he scored an and-one bucket.
Embiid returned to the floor with 5:39 left. His post-up and isolation scoring has often been enough for the Sixers to hold off opponents, but the big man kept coming up empty in Tuesday’s fourth quarter.
The Sixers gave Embiid regular touches and he was unable to deliver anything against Vucevic.
He missed four mid-range jumpers and an end-of-shot-clock three. Embiid also committed a turnover that led to a Giddey layup.
Maxey couldn’t find a run-stopping answer either and appeared to finally feel the effects of so many nights with 40-plus minutes.
The Sixers’ final point of the game was a Maxey free throw with 4:26 remaining. They were bound to pay for that complete lack of offense and now find themselves hoping to avoid an 0-2 back-to-back.
When it comes to the lineup and rotation of the 2026 Boston Red Sox, the unknowns may outweigh the knowns. With trade possibilities looming and free-agent decisions to be made, Craig Breslow and Co. have a lot of work to do in the coming months to try to build a winner.
Some clarity came on Tuesday, though, when Trevor Story opted in to the final two years of his contract, according to several reports.
The decision was largely expected, as Story is due $25 million in each of the next two seasons. His deal also has a $25 million club option for 2028, with a $5 million buyout if the team opts to move on from the shortstop. Essentially, Story and his agents believed a guaranteed $55 million was a safer bet than going to market and seeking more.
For a soon-to-be 33-year-old who just had his first healthy season since 2021, that’s surely a smart move.
From the Red Sox’ perspective, it at least provides one sure thing in an infield full of question marks.
Alex Bregman, who shared the left side of the infield with Story last year, opted out of his contract. Bregman and agent Scott Boras are banking on a team willing to go above and beyond the $80 million that was left on his Red Sox deal. And even though Bregman will be 32 years old in March and missed seven weeks with a quad injury last season, he was productive and played exceptional defense at third base, potentially making him pricier than the Red Sox are willing to go this winter.
The backup plan if Bregman gets a big-money deal elsewhere is most likely Marcelo Mayer, who was called up to the majors after Bregman’s injury last May. Though the fourth overall pick of the 2021 draft got off to a slow start, he posted a .788 OPS in June and registered 11 extra-base hits over the final 100 at-bats of his season. He may be ready to play every day … if he can stay healthy.
A wrist injury (suffered on a check swing) limited him to just 87 games between Triple-A and Boston last year. He played in just 77 games in 2024 and 78 games in 2023. The Red Sox haven’t indicated their level of concern for Mayer’s proclivity for injury, but it’s a worthwhile question to wonder if they’d be motivated to trade Mayer if it helped land a frontline starting pitcher like Joe Ryan.
Either way, while the Red Sox might like to pencil in Mayer at third (or second) base next season, it doesn’t feel like a sure thing.
And all of that only covers one side of the infield. The other side’s even messier.
Six players spent time at second base in 2025.
One of them — Ceddanne Rafaela — just won the Gold Glove in center field. He should get the Rafael Devers treatment of being told to put his infielder’s glove away permanently.
One was David Hamilton, who posted a .590 OPS. Another was Romy Gonzalez, who’s primarily a platoon player who can hit lefties. One was Nick Sogard, and the other was the biggest question mark of them all: Kristian Campbell.
Campbell, of course, started the season in the majors, batted .423 in his first eight games, signed a long-term contract, and then struggled mightily offensively and defensively before getting sent down to Worcester in mid-June. He never made his way back to the big leagues.
Just like with Mayer, the Red Sox would like to pencil in Campbell as an everyday big leaguer in 2026, but his .799 OPS in 73 Triple-A games last year doesn’t indicate that he’s necessarily ready for that role.
And then there’s first base.
Triston Casas manned the position before his season-ending knee injury, though he was hitting just .182 through 29 games when he went down. At this point in his career (he made his MLB debut in 2022 and has played 251 games), Casas may simply not be the player the Red Sox hoped he’d be by now.
Gonzalez and Abraham Toro tried to hold down first base in the months that followed, but it wasn’t until the DFA’d Nathaniel Lowe was signed in August that the position was somewhat stabilized.
The Red Sox will surely be looking for an upgrade from “somewhat stabilized” at first base next year. With a number of free agents available — with Pete Alonso, Josh Naylor and Ryan O’Hearn atop the list — the Red Sox could solve this one with money. Just like with Mayer and Campbell, the team can’t feel overly confident relying on Casas.
Taken together, the Red Sox have a number of unresolved situations around the infield. And that’s ignoring the fact that they have four starting-caliber outfielders in Rafaela, Roman Anthony, Wilyer Abreu and Jarren Duran, and a designated hitter in Masataka Yoshida with a sub-.700 OPS.
As previously stated, a busy winter begins now for Breslow and the front office. But at the very least, they know for now that their shortstop will be Trevor Story.
That is, unless like he did in 2022, and again in 2023, and again in 2024, he suffers a significant injury.
In that sense, the only real sure thing learned on Tuesday is that the Red Sox will continue to pay Story a boatload of money while hoping for the best.
Opening Day is a mere 142 days away. The clock is officially ticking.
The Calgary Flames are giving one of their top young blueliners another look at the big stage. The team announced Tuesday that defenceman Yan Kuznetsov has been recalled from the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers.
Kuznetsov, 22, has quietly put together a solid start to his season in the minors, notching two goals — including a game-winner — and a plus-5 rating in 10 games. He’s been a steady force on the Wranglers’ back end, showing the kind of two-way maturity that’s been steadily building since he turned pro.
This marks Kuznetsov’s sixth year in the Flames organization, split between his time with the Stockton Heat and now the Wranglers. He made his NHL debut last January against the Ottawa Senators, where he held his own in limited action — a short but promising glimpse at a player many see as being next in line for a bigger defensive role.
Last season, Kuznetsov put together one of his best AHL campaigns, finishing with a plus-21 rating — the best on the team — and 21 points (6 goals, 15 assists) in 72 games. That mix of defensive reliability and growing offensive confidence earned him a two-year contract extension over the summer, with the deal turning into a one-way contract in its second year. It’s a clear sign the organization expects him to stick at the NHL level sooner rather than later.
A second-round pick in 2020, Kuznetsov has now suited up for 226 AHL games, logging heavy minutes against top competition and establishing himself as a key piece of Calgary’s defensive depth.
In a recent report from the New York Post, Arthur Kaliyev’s ex-girlfriend has accused the former Los Angeles Kings right winger of multiple scandals.
According to his ex-girlfriend, Lauren Mochen, Kaliyev had an alleged “gambling addiction” that led to trouble within the Kings organization, including former teammates, the team’s staff, as well as the front office.
Mochen tells the story of Kaliyev’s off-ice lifestyle, revealing the factors that led to him being waived by Los Angeles in January of last season.
This alleged gambling addiction of Kaliyev’s is the root of Mochen’s story. Not only did it create tension in their relationship, which ultimately ended, but it also apparently caused friction between Kaliyev and members of the Kings when he played there from 2021 to 2024.
Mochen told the New York Post that Kaliyev claimed his family “controlled his NHL income,” and other stories that tied into the 24-year-old ultimately asking for her to cover his expenses.
In addition to Mochen constantly aiding Kaliyev financially, she believes that part of it was a cover-up of an alleged “gambling problem.”
“He did some strange things,” Mochen told the New York Post. “If the TV was on, and it wasn’t a sporting game, the TV had to be off. He refused to watch anything besides sports. He behaved as if he had bets placed on every single game that was on my TV. He would sit there checking his phone, checking and flipping back and forth between games.”
She said that it got to the point where Kaliyev owed money to teammates on the Kings, as well as tips to the training staff in Los Angeles.
Former Kings GM Rob Blake took matters into his own hands, consulting with Kaliyev’s agent Ian Pulver, that the player needed to right his wrongs within the team.
Eventually, on Jan. 5, 2025, Kaliyev was waived and claimed by the New York Rangers 24 hours later. Up to that point in the 2024-25 season, the 24-year-old did not feature in a single game for Los Angeles.
Mochen said she intends to press further charges against Kaliyev, as he allegedly “scammed her out of more than $50,000.”
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SAN FRANCISCO – No more messing around. The Warriors, for the most part, got the memo and mostly acted accordingly, beating the Phoenix Suns 118-107 on Tuesday night at Chase Center.
The Suns scored the first five points of the game, but never led again after that. Frustrations from two ugly losses to lesser teams missing their main talent turned to focus for the Warriors back on their home court. The Warriors assisted 20 of their 25 made shots with only five turnovers in the first half to mount a 19-point halftime lead.
They then reverted back to some bad habits and tallied seven turnovers in the third quarter, allowing the Suns to make it a nine-point lead going into the fourth quarter. Having to bring Steph Curry back in for the final three and a half minutes of a game the Warriors led by as many as 25 points is less than ideal. But the Warriors held on for a badly needed 11-point win.
Curry in 34 minutes scored a team-high 28 points with four rebounds, three assists and five 3-pointers.
Behind him in the scoring category for the Warriors was Moses Moody, who after scoring 20 points against the Memphis Grizzlies a week ago had scored just 12 points since. Moody against the Suns put up a season-high 24 points in 34 minutes off the bench, going 7 of 11 from the field and 5 of 8 from deep.
Devin Booker did all he could for the Suns, scoring 38 points for his sixth 30-point game already this season.
The only downside to the win was Jimmy Butler not playing the second half because of lower back soreness. Butler’s back tightened up earlier Tuesday, but after going through a pregame warmup on the Warriors’ practice court, Butler felt healthy enough to play. He was a plus-17 in 14 minutes with two points, four rebounds and two assists.
Here are three takeaways from the Warriors’ win against the Suns.
Bench Mob
Instead of a one-man show or relying solely on their stars, a rolodex of Warriors contributed to their win. Chief among them was Moody and the rest of his bench buddies. Moody on his third three pumped his right fist and played into the crowd’s reaction. Those three points put the Warriors ahead by 23 points and gave Moody his 300th career 3-pointer.
Moody passed Dorell Wright for 18th place on the Warriors’ all-time list of made threes. Multiple Moody threes staved off rallies from the Suns.
The bench in the first half scored 41 points, which were a new season high for an entire game. They wound up with 63, which were 44 more than Phoenix’s reserves.
Along with Moody’s big night, Brandin Podziemski scored 13 points, Buddy Hield had 12, and every bench player but Hield and Gui Santos had a positive plus/minus. Whenever the Warriors play a back-to-back, production from the bench is paramount.
QP + TJD Combo
They play the same position but couldn’t be more different as players. With Al Horford out for the first night of a back-to-back, coach Steve Kerr found a way to get the best out of centers Quinten Post and Trayce Jackson-Davis.
Post started and found his 3-point shot early after struggling the previous two games. He was 1 of 7 from long distance in losses to the Milwaukee Bucks and Indiana Pacers, and then made his first three attempts of the first quarter.
Jackson-Davis, after being a DNP-CD (Did Not Play, Coach’s Decision) in those two losses, replaced Post a little more than halfway through the first quarter and made his presence felt. As Post drained threes, Jackson-Davis rattled the rim, finishing two alley-oops in the final minute and a half of the quarter.
His first of the two came right after swatting away a layup, too.
Jackson-Davis in the first two weeks of the season scored a total of eight points in 27 minutes. Against the Suns, he played 15 minutes and dropped seven points on three dunks and a free throw. Post in 27 minutes scored a season-high 14 points while going 4 of 6 on threes to balance the Warriors’ two centers.
Draymond’s Defense
The best medicine to fix a leaky defense from two straight bad losses is an all-time great understanding the moment. That’s what the Warriors got out of Draymond Green early to get back in the win column. Nothing was getting by him, even when the Suns had the advantage on him.
Nobody shuts down a 1 vs. 3 in transition like the Warriors’ defensive wizard. When Jonathan Kuminga lost his dribble three and a half minutes into the game, Green ran back, stopped Booker and got in between Ryan Dunn and Royce O’Neal. Booker chose Dunn and Green met him at the rim, contesting and forcing a missed layup.
Not even two minutes later, Green again stopped a fastbreak by Booker and jumped out to the 3-point line to get vertical for Grayson Allen’s attempt. He missed and on the other side Curry hit his second three of the game for a six-point swing.
After leading the NBA in 3-pointers made per game (16.4) coming into the night, the Suns went 1 of 7 from 3-point range in the first quarter and were 5 of 15 through the first two quarters. Phoenix found some success in the third quarter, going 3 of 7, but ended four threes shy of their season average, and Green was a big reason why.
It's been multiple weeks since the Detroit Red Wings had Patrick Kane in the lineup after he was injured during their 2-1 overtime victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Oct. 17.
During that time, the Red Wings have won five of eight games, including three of their last four away from Little Caesars Arena. Thanks to their strong start to their centennial campaign, Detroit is in second place in the Atlantic Division and third overall in the Eastern Conference.
While it was recently confirmed that Kane would miss the entirety of the road trip which concludes on Tuesday evening against the Vegas Golden Knights, there was an optimistic outlook from head coach Todd McLellan about his potential timeline for a return.
After the Red Wings announced that forward Austin Watson had been re-assigned to the Grand Rapids Griffins, McLellan acknowledged that it meant Kane could potentially skate with the club on Thursday.
"That is a sign that there's a really good chance he could skate with us on Thursday," McLellan said.
"Again, we're not there yet, but we're getting feedback from some really important people, including Patrick, and we're hoping that he can practice with us and we'll see where it goes from there," he continued.
Kane had been on a scoring pace reminiscent of his Hall of Fame career, having tallied two goals while adding three assists for five points in the five games he played before going down.
For the second straight offseason he signed a one-year contract on June 30 to remain with the Red Wings. This December will mark two full years since he chose to join Detroit following his hip resurfacing surgery in 2023.
Following Tuesday's road finale against the Golden Knights, the Red Wings return home for a tilt against the New York Rangers on Friday evening, followed by a Sunday matinee matchup against Kane's former club, the Chicago Blackhawks.
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Clayton Kershaw hoists the World Series trophy at Rogers Centre on Saturday after the Dodgers' 11-inning win in Game 7. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
With confetti at his feet, a drink in his hand and a smile of equal parts relief and elation planted on his face, Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy gave the question of the night only a cursory thought.
Over the last six seasons, Muncy had been one of six Dodgers players to have a hand in all three of their recent World Series championships. He had become one of the faces of a team that elevated itself to historic all-time heights.
But when the topic of the club’s legacy came up, as he stood on the field in the wake of the Dodgers’ Game 7 thrill ride in Toronto on Saturday night, the 35-year-old veteran’s mind was occupied by another thought. The pride he felt emanated from a different source.
“The thing that I’m most proud of is the culture that we have created,” he said. “I hope that’s what’s talked about the most.”
In the public discourse, of course, it won’t be.
These Dodgers, with their star-studded roster and record-setting $415 million payroll and long-established reputation as big-spending villains who might be ruining baseball, have only further fueled debates about the financial inequities of the sport.
With a labor battle looming next year, they will be turned into a proxy — the prime example, critics will argue, of what’s wrong with the only major professional sports league in North America without a hard salary cap.
Some of those concerns will be justified (the Dodgers are spending at levels MLB has never before seen, and well beyond most of their competition). Others will be exaggerated (they are also spending within the league’s rules, and re-investing revenues back into their roster at a higher percentage than almost all other franchises).
The players themselves, however, really couldn’t care less.
Money, after all, might have given them the talent to win back-to-back World Series. But it took something else to help them get to, and especially conquer, the mental and physical test they faced in Saturday’s Game 7.
“When you come to the Dodgers, and you put on that Dodgers uniform, it’s all about, ‘How do you do what you need to do to win the game? How do you help the team win the game?’” Muncy said, his hoarse voice beginning to crack. “I seriously can’t put into words how much it means to me that we’ve created something that’s that special. that everyone knows about now.”
Dodgers second baseman Miguel Rojas, right, celebrates with Max Muncy after the team won Game 7 of the World Series. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Culture and camaraderie might be clichéd traits easy to point to in the wake of any World Series championship, but they were nonetheless present in the Dodgers’ quest to repeat this year.
Take the first big turning point of this postseason: The iconic “wheel play” the Dodgers ran to defend a bunt in the ninth inning of Game 2 of the National League Division Series.
That maneuver was suggested and executed by Mookie Betts — a player the Dodgers signed for $365 million five years ago to be a Gold Glove right fielder, but who moved to shortstop out of roster necessity on a full-time basis this season and transformed into a Gold Glove finalist.
Dollars might be the reason Betts now plays in Los Angeles. But it was his tireless daily routine of taking infield grounders, and his ability to learn from and overcome early-season growing pains, that made that moment possible.
“For him to play that caliber of shortstop, I think, is underappreciated,” president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said. “I don't think people are paying enough attention to how difficult that was.”
Clinching the NLDS required contributions from another star talent serving in an unexpected new role.
When rookie Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki signed with the Dodgers this offseason, it enflamed the external worries about their hoarding of talent. Sasaki, however, struggled as a starter, missed most of the year with a shoulder injury, then faced a decision ahead of the playoffs about whether or not to move to the bullpen.
He accepted, despite having never been a reliever in his professional career before. And in the playoffs, he fulfilled the team’s gaping hole at closer, highlighted by the three perfect innings he pitched in their NLDS-clinching Game 4 win.
From left, Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki celebrate after winning the World Series. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
“For Roki to come through in that spot after the year he’s had,” Muncy said at the time, “that was just so huge for us.”
The NL Championship Series was the one time the Dodgers clearly outclassed a playoff opponent, rolling past the overmatched Milwaukee Brewers behind historic starting pitching performances from Blake Snell (a $182 million signing last offseason), Yoshinobu Yamamoto (a $365 million signing the winter before) and Tyler Glasnow (a $136.5 million acquisition), then an all-time two-way showing in Game 4 from Shohei Ohtani (the $700 million man who has been at the center of the consternation over the Dodgers’ spending).
The World Series, however, brought an unexpectedly stiff challenge from the Toronto Blue Jays — who were heavy underdogs to the Dodgers despite their own top-five payroll of $278 million.
In the Fall Classic, the Dodgers’ sheen of invincibility was shattered. Their lineup struggled. Only Yamamoto maintained his previous level of dominance in the rotation. A long-suspect bullpen finally faltered. And in many facets of the series (in which the Blue Jays outscored the Dodgers 34-26 and hit .269 to the Dodgers’ .203 team average), the Dodgers looked second-best.
“I mean, big picture-wise, we didn't play very well,” Friedman said. “But those big pivotal moments is where our guys really showed up … Which I think gets at who they are, the compete, how much they care about each other, how much they care about bringing a championship back to LA in back-to-back years.”
There was Game 3, when the Dodgers prevailed in an 18-inning marathon by getting an unforeseen boost from little-known reliever Will Klein, who was willing to sacrifice his arm in a grueling four-inning outing despite spending most of this year stuck in the minors.
There was Game 6, when the team survived a potential season-ending, ninth-inning jam thanks to the veteran defensive instinct Kiké Hernández (the high-energy October stalwart who started every game of the playoffs after limited playing time in the regular season) and Miguel Rojas (who has become one of the emotional leaders of the team since being acquired in a 2023 trade for a minor-league prospect, despite also serving in a depth role for most of the summer) flashed on a victory-sealing double play.
“That's what makes us really tough,” Rojas said. “[We’re] competing every single day, and regardless of what the situation is, I think everybody [is able to] just kind of forget about the past and focus on the moment right now.”
The Dodgers trailed early, with Rogers Centre shaking after Bo Bichette’s third-inning three-run homer. They couldn’t lean on Ohtani, who looked gassed while starting the game as a pitcher on short rest. They had to claw their way back instead, playing from behind all the way into the ninth inning — when their season was two outs away from ending in failure.
“We just kept going and going and going,” Muncy said. “I’m just really proud of all the guys for not giving up hope.”
It would’ve been easy to do so. After two exhausting years — full of deep postseason runs and season-opening international trips and the daily pressure that came with their heavy offseason expenditures — the club’s tank appeared to be teetering on empty. Sheer talent, after all, can only sustain for so long.
“It's been a long journey for the team, for the organization, for every player out here,” Rojas said before Game 6. “It's been really stressful and everybody's mentally tired.”
But this, Muncy declared, is where the Dodgers’ culture kicked in.
“It’s all about the team. It doesn’t matter about yourself,” he said. “When you’re coming in off the field and you have a whole group of guys in [the dugout] saying, ‘Hey, great inning. Let’s scrap something together. Let’s get a guy on base. Let’s get a run in,’ that kind of means everything.”
In the end, the Dodgers conjured their most heroic moments for when they needed them most.
With one out in the ninth, it was none other than Rojas — who was uncertain to even play in Game 7 after aggravating an intercostal injury the night before — who tied the score with a miraculous home run swing.
“When you play the game right, treat people right, are the teammate like Miguel is, I think we said it in there, the game honors you,” first baseman Freddie Freeman said. “Just doing whatever he could to help this team win.”
From there, the Dodgers (turning to their fourth traditional starter out of the bullpen on the night) summoned Yamamoto, who did something no record-breaking contract could have ever predicted by throwing 2 ⅔ scoreless innings on zero days’ rest after his 96-pitch start in Game 6.
“Can’t evaluate that,” Friedman said.
“That’s going to go down in history as one of the best championship performances in any sport,” pitching coach Mark Prior added.
Will Smith, one of the few homegrown talents on a team of hired guns, delivered the winning swing with his home run in the 11th.
“To me, he kind of epitomizes a lot of the success that we've had looking back,” Friedman said. “In terms of our scouting process, our player development process, how well they work together, and then him coming through and having the impact he's had at the Major League level."
And fittingly, it was Betts who recorded the championship-clinching outs on a double-play chopper hit to him at short.
“A perfect bow on what was an incredible season for what he did at shortstop this year,” Friedman said.
All of it, Muncy proudly noted, exemplified what the Dodgers maintain was the ethos of their team; the kind of intangibles that won’t show up on a balance sheet or payroll list, even with all the money they’ve spent.
“That’s what we’ve created here,” Muncy said. “And that’s what I’m most proud of.”
“We kept going, and we persevered,” manager Dave Roberts echoed. “And we're the last team standing.”
Two teams with Finals aspirations in the East have key guards set to make their season debut in the next couple of days: Darius Garland in Cleveland and Jared McCain in Philadelphia.
McCain joins a backcourt of Tyrese Maxey (playing at an All-NBA level), rookie standout VJ Edgecombe and Quentin Grimes, a trio that has sparked Philadelphia to a 5-1 start to the season despite no Paul George and limited minutes from Joel Embiid. That 76ers backcourt is the future of the franchise and McCain looks to be a key part of that.
McCain, 21, looked like he was going to run away with Rookie of the Year early last season, averaging 15.3 points a game while shooting 38.3% from beyond the arc. Then, 23 games into the season, he suffered a torn lateral meniscus in his left knee that ended his season. That was healed and McCain was set to join Philly in training camp when he suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right thumb during a pre-camp workout, which required surgery and kept him out until now.
Darius Garland is set to make his return for the Cavaliers on Wednesday against the 76ers. His return is not yet official, but it was reported by Shams Charania of ESPN and has been expected to come soon.
Cleveland's offense has missed Garland's shot creation, the runaway best offense in the NBA a season ago is now bottom five in the league through seven games, with a 112 offensive rating, nearly 10 points per 100 possessions off last season's level. Garland was at the heart of that offense as a high-level shot creator next to Donovan Mitchell in the backcourt, averaging 20.6 points and 6.7 assists a game, shooting 40.1% from 3-point range, and being named an All-Star.
Garland suffered a turf toe injury just as the playoffs were getting underway last season, and he missed a couple of games in the first round against the Heat and then a couple more games in the team's second-round series against Indiana. Realizing they needed him, Garland tried to play through it against the Pacers but was not near himself, averaging 14 points a game on 34.2% shooting overall and 16.7% from 3. During the offseason, he underwent surgery on his toe and is just now ready to take the court.
DENVER — Coach Jared Bednar confirmed Tuesday morning that Mackenzie Blackwood’s rehabilitation from offseason surgery to repair a lower-body injury progressed more slowly than the organization initially anticipated.
As detailed in my earlier coverage for Mile High Hockey, Blackwood was seen taking shots on September 5 at Family Sports Center during the final minutes of an optional skate. He participated in the following sessions in a limited capacity, with Scott Wedgewood absorbing the bulk of the reps, a disparity that prompted some rinkside observers to question Blackwood’s health. Roughly a week later, he appeared in an injured-skate group, and the Vegas Golden Knights’ broadcast of a preseason game against Colorado on September 30 confirmed he had undergone surgery. However, those who witnessed Blackwood’s prior skates had already noticed he was struggling and appeared to be in pain while trying to push off his right leg. He rejoined the main group on October 6 but ultimately missed the entirety of training camp and the preseason.
Bednar told The Hockey News after morning skate that Blackwood did have a setback in his initial recovery.
“He was slow moving with his rehab throughout the whole course of the summer,” he stated. “He got on the ice in early August, and things weren’t feeling as good as what they probably should’ve been.
“So we reevaluated him; he got looked at by a couple of different people and changed his rehab and gave us a new timeline on his return. No real complications since that point.”
Blackwood Rusty, But Improving
Blackwood made his season debut Saturday, turning aside 20 shots in a 3–2 overtime loss to the San Jose Sharks. The 28-year-old, who was drafted by the New Jersey Devils in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft, also served as backup to Scott Wedgewood in Friday’s 4–2 win over the Vegas Golden Knights. Wedgewood, however, will get the start against the Tampa Bay Lightning (7:30 p.m. MT on Altitude+, TNT, HBO Max, truTV).
Bednar acknowledged that Blackwood is still shaking off some rust but noted that this week of practice should help him regain his timing and sharpness ahead of a road series against the Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks.
“He missed most of training camp; he’s been working kind of on his own and lacking team practice time at this point, so that’s why I think this week will be very good for him, practice yesterday; he got some work in today, we’re practicing again tomorrow and Friday, so it’s the most practices we’ve had all year, so I think that will help him get sort of used to game situations and he’ll be ready to go for the weekend.”
In 37 starts for the Avalanche last season, following his acquisition in a trade from the San Jose Sharks, Blackwood posted a career-best 2.33 goals against average and a .913 save percentage, compiling a 22-12-3 record.
Tonight's Game
As aforementioned, Wedgewood will get the start. In 11 starts this season, he's compiled a record of 7-1-2 with a 2.55 GAA and a .900 save percentage. We'll see if the 33-year-old is able to regain his form from the first couple of games of the season.
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On the latest episode of The Mets Pod presented by Tri-State Cadillac, Connor Rogers and Joe DeMayo welcome the official beginning of the offseason, as the 2026 Mets begin to take shape.
First up, the guys recap the World Series and look for lessons to learn from the Dodgers' success, then discuss the free agencies of Pete Alonso and Edwin Diaz, the return of A.J. Minter, as well as the prospect of Justin Willard as the team’s new pitching coach.
Then, Connor and Joe do a deep dive into several free agent options for the Mets in the position player group.
The show then goes Down on the Farm for a report on pitcher Jonathan Santucci, and answers Mailbag questions about the bullpen, the Dodgers being a threat to sign Diaz, trading for Vinnie Pasquantino, pursuing Alex Bregman and Josh Naylor, and which Mets player should enter the tournament to be John Cena’s final opponent in WWE.
Be sure to subscribe to The Mets Pod at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
This will be the second managerial gig of Weiss’ career. The 14-year big leaguer and 1988 AL Rookie of the Year helmed the Colorado Rockies, for whom he played four years, from 2013-16. That tenure was decidedly unfruitful, as Weiss posted a 283-365 record with an undermanned roster in Denver. After a year off, he joined the Braves as Snitker’s right-hand man for the 2018 season. Since then, the goateed 61-year-old has been a steady presence and key character during this extremely prosperous period of Atlanta baseball.
As such, his hiring represents cultural continuity for a Braves team coming off its worst season since 2017. Atlanta finished a distant fourth in the NL East, with a paltry 76-86 record. In an embarrassingly weak National League field — the Reds made the playoffs, despite being just four games over .500 — the Braves concluded the campaign seven games adrift in the standings.
Injuries and underperformance were dual culprits behind Atlanta’s disappointing 2025. Ronald Acuña Jr., Sean Murphy, Austin Riley, Chris Sale, Spencer Schwellenbach and Reynaldo López all missed significant chunks of time. Michael Harris II and Marcell Ozuna took steps back offensively. Spencer Strider failed to rediscover his peak form after missing all of 2024 while recovering from Tommy John surgery. Major free-agent signing Jurickson Profar was limited to 80 games after being hit with a PED suspension late in spring training.
So now Weiss is tasked with getting things back on track for a franchise that made seven consecutive postseasons, including winning six NL East titles, between 2018-24. It certainly doesn’t look like the most imposing turnaround job in MLB history; this Braves roster still has a plethora of enviable pieces. Simply put, another October spent on vacation would be considered a massive disappointment.
By promoting from within, the Braves and president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos are effectively doubling down on the status quo. Weiss is a known commodity. He knows the organization, and the organization knows him. He has been with the big-league club longer than every current Braves player except Ozzie Albies.
Critically, the players respect Weiss and listen to what he has to say. For an outside hire, that would have been an open question — or at least a process. Instead, the Braves can plug and play. It’s a sign that Antholopolous and his very small inner circle view 2025 as an aberration, not the start of a trend.
Weiss and his predecessor are, obviously, their own men. But both are cut from a gruff, hold-no-punches, old-school cloth. Like Snitker, Weiss is direct, honest, unapologetic. But while Snitker was no dinosaur, expect the new guy to be a bit more nimble with the analytical intricacies of modern baseball. Weiss’ hiring also means that Atlanta’s 2026 coaching staff will likely feature many of the same characters as in years past, though his bench coach role will need filling.
That it took more than a month between Snitker’s stepping down and Weiss’ stepping in is undeniably compelling. This was far from a preordained succession plan, even though Snitker was at Weiss’ introductory news conference on Tuesday. In the time since Snitker announced his retirement on Oct. 1, the Rangers, Angels, Giants, Twins, Nationals and Orioles all introduced new managers. That implies that Anthopoulos and Co., at the very least, discussed and considered making an outside hire.
But while a number of coaches were linked to this job — Tigers bench Coach George Lombard, Dodgers bench coach Danny Lehman, former Mets bench coach and big-league skipper John Gibbons — the buttoned-up nature of Atlanta’s front office has thus far prevented news of any interviews from leaking to the public.
That is, from a pessimist’s perspective, the biggest critique of Weiss’ promotion. The Braves have grown increasingly insular in recent years. That consistency can be valuable, but it also heightens the risk of an institution growing stale and stagnant. Weiss isn’t likely to arrive with any groundbreaking, new ideas — something that might have been helpful for an Atlanta team trying to keep pace in a rapidly evolving baseball world.
He is more of the same, which, considering how successful the Braves have been in recent years, might a good thing.
