Leeds and Burnley are trying to hold off Blades at the top and thrilling race for playoff spots must be whittled down
Ao Tanaka sat in the away dressing room and started crying. The Japan midfielder had just helped Leeds win a vital match at Middlesbrough this month but they were not tears of joy. “I asked Ao: ‘Why?’” said his manager, Daniel Farke. “He said: ‘I don’t know boss, I’m just so empty.’”
Given it is April and, with four games remaining, a gruelling, painfully tight, Championship promotion race is drawing towards a denouement, no one seemed too surprised. “It’s hard for all my players at the moment,” said Farke, whose team could, like Burnley, be promoted as early as Easter Monday. “We’re working for the most emotional club in the UK and the outside world is always nervous and panicking.”
The puck dropped on the Montreal Canadiens’ 82nd game of the season at the Bell Centre on Wednesday night, with the Carolina Hurricanes in town. Martin St-Louis’ men had already failed to clinch a playoff berth in their last three games, and expectations were high in Montreal, especially since the visitors decided to rest some of their regular players. Rod Brind’Amour even went as far as using Jesperi Kotkaniemi as his top-line center.
Although Juraj Slafkovsky is only 21, he skated in his 200th NHL game on Wednesday night. He started the game with 50 points, tied with the career high he had established last season, but he didn’t have to wait too long to top it, registering an assist on the game’s opening goal scored by Kaiden Guhle.
While he took a silly penalty in the second frame, as has often been the case lately, he played a great game. He was on the ice for three of the Canadiens’ goals, blocked three shots, and landed a hit. His physical play also led to Nick Suzuki's goal, and when he learns to play like that on a consistent basis, he will become a real threat for opponents.
This Habs goal by Nick Suzuki doesn’t happen without the big hit & board battle win by Juraj Slafkovsky
In the second frame, rookie blueliner Lane Hutson got an assist on Kaiden Guhle’s second goal of the game, it was his 60th helper, tying Larry Murphy’s record for the most assists in a season by a rookie defenseman. If his name wasn’t already penciled in as the Calder Trophy winner, it should be now.
Guhle Bounced Back
After a disappointing game on Monday in which he took a penalty that became the turning point, Kaiden Guhle played a massive role in the Canadiens’ win. He scored two goals, landed seven hits, blocked three shots, and logged nearly 24 minutes of ice time.
On nights like these, it’s easy to see why Kent Hughes decided to make Guhle the first young core piece of his defense. He can do it all, excel on defense, contribute to the offense, and pump up the team with his physical play.
It Wasn’t Perfect, But It Was Enough
While the 4-2 scoreline could lead to believe the Canadiens dominated, it wasn’t the case. There was an agonizing stretch for Canadiens’ fans in the second frame when the score was tied 1-1 and during which the Hurricanes dominated even though they were icing a watered-down version of their roster. It was a display reminiscent of the loss against the Chicago Blackhawks.
With 8:49 left in the second stanza, the Canes had a 12-2 edge in shots on goal for that frame, and the Habs looked like they were playing nervously. The captain took charge four minutes later, and Suzuki scored a big goal to give Montreal a lead that Guhle doubled minutes later. Then, in the final frame, after the Canes had gotten back to within one, there was a lot of defending, and the Habs really needed to work to close out the game, with the coach cutting his bench and using his more defensive players.
In the post-game presser, the bench boss was almost beaming with pride:
The last two minutes after we scored in the empty net, I could breathe a bit, and I was thinking about plenty of things, my dad came to mind, my mother too. My dad was a huge Canadiens fan […] As soon as I could, I went to see my dad in the room and gave him a big hug, I think he was even more stressed than our players.
- Martin St-Louis about the way he felt.
St-Louis was visibly proud of his team and can now look forward to experiencing the playoffs in Montreal while being on the home side. It will be the first time since spring 2017 that the Canadiens will participate in the playoffs in front of a real crowd. There was that magical run to the Stanley Cup Final back in 2021, but the building wasn’t full thanks to COVID. If tonight’s anything to go by, the atmosphere when the Canadiens take on the Washington Capitals in just over a week should be electric.
Canadiens stories, analysis, breaking news, and more! Tap the star to add us to your favorites on Google News, never to miss a story.
Editor’s note: Sheng Peng is a regular contributor to NBC Sports California’s Sharks coverage. You can read more of his coverage on San Jose Hockey Now, listen to him on the San Jose Hockey Now Podcast, and follow him on Twitter at @Sheng_Peng.
Alexandar Georgiev is moving on.
“I’ve already had a conversation with the GM, and he said they’re going with a different group for next year,” the pending unrestricted free agent shared, after stopping 25 of 27 shots in the Sharks’ season-ending 3-0 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday.
It was the Sharks’ 11th-straight loss.
Georgiev, 29, was acquired from the Colorado Avalanche in the Mackenzie Blackwood trade on Dec. 9.
It was a trying campaign for Georgiev, who had led the NHL in wins over the last two years.
Ousted by the team that he thought he’d be leading into the Stanley Cup playoffs this spring, the veteran netminder had to try and find his game on perhaps the worst defensive team in the league.
The Boston Bruins were the most disappointing team in the NHL this season, and the question now is: How do they retool their roster and get back into the Stanley Cup Playoffs as quickly as possible?
Bruins general manager Don Sweeney is about to face the biggest test of his career. He has to achieve two objectives at once.
The first is a quick retool that includes substantial roster improvements so the remaining prime years of David Pastrnak, Charlie McAvoy, Hampus Lindholm and Jeremy Swayman are not wasted. The second is for Sweeney to have an eye toward the future and dominate the 2025 NHL Draft.
Sweeney likely will have a top-five pick in every round this year, which he has never had during his decade-long tenure as B’s general manager. His draft record is average at best, and that must improve for the Bruins to have any sort of success both in the short- and long-term.
Here are five ways the Bruins can try to fix their roster and contend again next season (and beyond).
Jeremy Swayman regains his previous form
The easiest way for the Bruins to get back on track and make the playoffs next season is for starting goaltender Jeremy Swayman to play at the top 10 level he’s shown for most of his career.
Bruins goalie coach Bob Essensa and the rest of the staff need to figure out what went wrong with Swayman and which adjustments need to be made.
Expectations for Swayman went way up after his stellar 2024 playoff run and the offseason trade of Linus Ullmark that made the 26-year-old netminder the undisputed No. 1 in Boston’s crease.
Swayman’s 2024-25 season started with a contract dispute that resulted in him missing all of training camp and the preseason. He finally reached an eight-year, $66 million deal with the B’s a couple days before Opening Night.
Swayman was able to play a career-high 57 games without any injuries, but his performance dipped dramatically. His .920 save percentage from 2020-21 through 2023-24 was the sixth-highest among all goalies. He fell to a career-low .892 save percentage and a 3.12 GAA this season, while also ranking 92nd of 102 qualifying goalies with a minus-9.2 goals saved above expected, per MoneyPuck.
Last season, Swayman ranked fourth in goals saved above expected (plus-18.4).
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It was stunning to see Swayman go from leading the 2024 playoffs in save percentage and GSAA, and then play so poorly this past season.
Swayman is not as bad as he looked in 2024-25. We have multiple seasons of data to support that. And it’s not like the team defended well in front of him, either. But he can’t play this poorly again. He’s the league’s fifth-highest paid goalie. The Bruins don’t have the offensive firepower to overcome bad goaltending, so it’s on Swayman to return to the top 10 level he’s played at for most of his career.
Develop young talent
It’s impossible to retool, especially in a quick manner, without good young players coming through the system. You can’t plug all your roster holes in free agency and the trade market. It’s too expensive and just not feasible.
Teams have to draft and develop young players who make a meaningful impact at the NHL level. And as a bonus, these players are on cheap, team-friendly contracts.
The Bruins have not developed many NHL regulars in recent years, and the ones they have — John Beecher, Jakub Lauko, etc. — are not impact players. Only seven of the 36 players selected by the Bruins in the last seven drafts have played in an NHL game. Only two of those seven — Beecher and Mason Lohrei — have played more than 100 games.
Lohrei has the potential to be a top-four defenseman someday. He’s a gifted offensive player and an excellent skater. He tallied 33 points in his first full season with the B’s. It’s important for the Bruins to give him every chance to improve.
The Bruins also need to figure out the best development path for Casey Mittelstadt — a 26-year-old center acquired in the Charlie Coyle trade. Fraser Minten, who was acquired in the Brandon Carlo trade, has the makings of a very good middle-six forward. Will Zellers, a prospect acquired in the Coyle deal, led the USHL with 44 goals and shows great potential as a scorer.
Fabian Lysell, Boston’s 2021 first-round pick, finally played in the NHL this season and put together a couple encouraging performances late in the year. His speed and skill are desperately needed. Poitras has shown flashes of being a good NHL player despite a disappointing 2024-25 season.
Fabian Lysell wins a foot race to a loose puck and sets up Marat Khusnutdinov for his fifth goal of the season.
It’s OK to make big moves in free agency and the trade market once in a while, but there has to be a steady flow of young players coming up through the system. That’s how you build championship depth.
Find a legitimate top-six center
The Bruins were able to survive at center last season without Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci, both of whom retired after the 2023 playoffs. That wasn’t the case this season. The lack of suitable replacements for Boston’s two longtime centers was a massive problem.
Making matters worse for the Bruins is that there aren’t any good internal options. Matthew Poitras had a nice rookie season in 2023-24, but he underwhelmed this year, tallying one goal in 33 NHL games. He spent most of the 2024-25 campaign in the AHL. Poitras still has potential as an NHL player, but thinking he could fill a top-six role any time soon would be foolish.
There aren’t any other prospects capable of stepping into that position, either, which highlights the importance of the Bruins using their 2025 first-round pick on the best center available.
Elias Lindholm was expected to be a top-six center, especially when he signed for top-six money (seven years, $54.25 million) on Day 1 of free agency last summer. Lindholm largely underwhelmed, often producing at the level of a No. 3 center. He has tallied 65-plus points only once since 2018-19.
The trade market is the best place for the Bruins to find a top-six center in the near future (more on that below).
Swing for the fences in trade market, free agency
The Bruins will have around $28 million in cap space this summer, per PuckPedia. They need to re-sign right wing Morgan Geekie and defenseman Mason Lohrei — both restricted free agents — but Sweeney does have some financial flexibility to chase big-ticket additions in free agency and/or the trade market.
The No. 1 player who could hit unrestricted free agency is Toronto Maple Leafs wing Mitch Marner. The 27-year-old forward is an elite offensive player who has averaged 95.3 points over the last four seasons, including a career-high 100 this year. It’s unknown whether the Leafs will let Marner get to free agency, but if he does hit the open market, the Bruins would be wise to make a run at him.
A center is Boston’s No. 1 need, but Marner is one of the league’s top playmakers. His 73 assists ranked tied for third-most with Connor McDavid.
Nikolaj Ehlers also could become a UFA. The Winnipeg Jets forward has scored 20-plus goals in eight of the last nine seasons, and he’s hit the 60-point mark in each of the last two seasons. The Bruins need a top-six left wing with Brad Marchand no longer on the roster, and Ehlers certainly would be able to fill that role.
The best center who could become a UFA is Florida Panthers veteran Sam Bennett. He scored 25 goals — the second-highest total of his career — in 76 games. He’ll be 29 years old in June. Bennett is a solid player and a winner, but he’s not the type of player who the Bruins should spend major money to acquire. Marner is far better offensively and a little younger.
Outside of Marner, there aren’t any real game-changers in free agency. So that leaves the trade market as perhaps the best place to make substantial upgrades.
The Bruins, as a result of their trade deadline deals, have a lot of good trade assets to use in the offseason. For starters, they have more early-round draft picks coming up than they’ve owned in a long time. That haul includes four first-round picks and five second-round picks over the next three drafts.
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Top-six forwards are quite expensive to acquire via trade, and the Bruins might have to be creative to find a good deal. But the Bruins now have some talented prospects and a bunch of future draft picks, so they have the ammo to make a bold swing.
Hire the right coach
Richard T Gagnon/Getty Images
University of Denver’s David Carle could be a popular NHL head coach candidate this year.
The Bruins have had some really good head coaches over the last 10 years, but they’ve ended up firing all of them.
They fired Claude Julien during the 2016-17 season, which, in fairness, made sense at the time. They fired Bruce Cassidy after the 2022 playoffs and he won the Stanley Cup with the Vegas Golden Knights the very next season. They fired Jim Montgomery 20 games into this season and he helped the St. Louis Blues drastically improve and make the playoffs. Montgomery might actually receive some Jack Adams Award (coach of the year) votes.
This next hire — assuming it’s not interim head coach Joe Sacco — has to be able to develop young players and fix the special teams. The Bruins had the 29th-ranked power play and the 24th-ranked penalty kill this season.
The Bruins could look at an internal candidate such as Jay Leach, who has four years of assistant coach experience in the NHL. He also has four seasons of AHL head coaching experience with the Providence Bruins. Jay Pandolfo is the Boston University head coach, but before joining the Terriers, he was a Bruins assistant coach for several seasons. He would be a good candidate to pursue.
University of Denver head coach David Carle, who has done a tremendous job with that program (two national titles), should be ready for an NHL job. If the Pittsburgh Penguins move on from Mike Sullivan, would the B’s be interested in bringing back the Massachusetts native? Sullivan is an excellent coach who has won two Stanley Cup titles in Pittsburgh and also coaches Team USA.
The next coach will be the third that Sweeney has hired as GM. If he gets this one wrong, he might not get a fourth chance.
O’Sullivan returns to face grudge match in first round
Kyren Wilson begins title defence against debutant
Seven-time champion Ronnie O’Sullivan has been drawn to face long-term rival Ali Carter in the first round of the World Snooker Championship in Sheffield. The 49-year-old, who is seeded fifth, defeated Carter in the 2008and 2012 finals at the Crucible.
O’Sullivan has not played competitively since snapping his cue after withdrawing from the Championship League in January. He pulled out of five of the last six World Snooker Tour events on medical grounds but confirmed on Thursday that he will play in this year’s tournament.
Less than 24 hours after mutually agreeing to part ways with general manager Monte McNair, the Kings appear to have found his replacement.
Sacramento is finalizing a deal to hire longtime NBA executive Scott Perry as the organization’s next general manager, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Thursday, citing sources.
The Sacramento Kings are finalizing a deal to hire longtime NBA executive Scott Perry as their new general manager, sources tell ESPN. Perry spent three months with the Kings in 2017 before leaving for the Knicks. Perry started his exec career in 2000 with Detroit. pic.twitter.com/vlQUOeo55y
Perry previously was the Kings’ president of basketball operations for three months in 2017 before taking the Knicks GM job. Throughout his tenure with New York, the Knicks posted a 192-274 record across six seasons with two playoff appearances in 2021 and 2023 before the team parted ways with him after the 2022-23 NBA season.
Now he returns to Sacramento, where he inherits a team fresh off a disappointing 2024-25 season that ended in a 120-106 NBA play-in tournament loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday at Golden 1 Center.
Less than 24 hours after mutually agreeing to part ways with general manager Monte McNair, the Kings appear to have found his replacement.
Sacramento is finalizing a deal to hire longtime NBA executive and current New York Knicks general manager Scott Perry as the organization’s next general manager, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Thursday, citing sources.
The Sacramento Kings are finalizing a deal to hire longtime NBA executive Scott Perry as their new general manager, sources tell ESPN. Perry spent three months with the Kings in 2017 before leaving for the Knicks. Perry started his exec career in 2000 with Detroit. pic.twitter.com/vlQUOeo55y
Perry previously was the Kings president of basketball operations for three months in 2017 before taking the Knicks GM job. Throughout his tenure with New York, the Knicks posted a 293-337 record across eight seasons with four playoff appearances in 2021, 2023, 2024 and 2025.
The NBA Play-In Tournament is relatively new, but there’s been an obvious trend since its inception in 2021.
Over the past four years, none of the teams that entered as the No. 10 seed have ever won both play-in games to make the postseason.
This year, in the fifth edition of the play-in, the Miami Heat and Dallas Mavericks will both try to make history by advancing to the playoffs as the No. 10 seed.
Here’s a look back at the history of the lowest seeds in the play-in:
Has the No. 10 seed ever made it through the play-in?
No.
All eight No. 10 seeds (East and West) from 2021 to 2024 failed to make it to the playoffs.
What’s the best that a No. 10 seed has done in the play-in?
Of the previous eight No. 10 seeds, only two defeated the No. 9 seed to make it to the deciding game.
The Heat and Mavericks added two more wins to that total, so No. 10 seeds are now 4-6 in initial play-in games since 2021.
The first two No. 10 seeds to win the initial play-in game were both in 2023 with the Chicago Bulls and Oklahoma City Thunder. Both teams lost their next game (by double digits) to miss out on the playoffs.
So, history says the Heat and Mavericks shouldn’t even be competitive on Friday. Time will tell.
When is the NBA Play-In Tournament game?
The final two games of the 2025 Play-In Tournament will be held on Friday, April 18, to finalize the playoff field.
Miami Heat (10) at Atlanta Hawks (8), 7 p.m. ET, TNT
Dallas Mavericks (10) at Memphis Grizzlies (8), 9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN
And with the search for a new general manager underway, former Kings vice president of basketball operations and current New York Knicks general manager Scott Perry is expected to receive strong interest for the position in Sacramento and is considered a frontrunner, The Athletic’s Sam Amick and Anthony Slater reported late Wednesday night, citing league sources.
Amick and Slater also reported, citing league sources, that former Denver Nuggets general manager Calvin Booth also is expected to be given consideration.
Perry previously served as Kings vice president of basketball operations for three months in 2017 before he was hired as New York’s general manager. Throughout his tenure with New York, the Knicks have posted a 293-337 record across eight seasons with four playoff appearances in 2021, 2023, 2024 and 2025.
Booth, who was fired by Denver alongside championship-winning coach Mike Malone on April 8, previously interviewed with Sacramento for its general manager job in 2020 before the team hired McNair.
Whomever the Kings choose as their next general manager will have influence on the team’s search for its next coach, although current interim coach Doug Christie is well-positioned to keep the job, Amick and Slater reported, citing team sources.
Amick and Slater also reported, citing league sources, that McNair now could return to a front-office role with the Houston Rockets, where he spent 13 years before joining the Kings.
Defender reacted after ballboy threw ball away from him
Bayern were chasing goal to force extra time at San Siro
Bayern Munich’s Josip Stanisic said it was “stupid” of him to push a ballboy off his stool after he tossed the ball away in stoppage time of their Champions League match against Inter on Wednesday.
Welcome
to this edition of the Vancouver Canucks post-game analytics report.
This recurring deep dive breaks down the analytics behind each Canucks
game as recorded by Natural Stat Trick. In this article, we look back on Vancouver's most recent 4-1 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights.
The Canucks wrapped up their season with a decent night from an analtyics perspective. Vegas won the even-strength scoring chances battle 18-17, while also holding a 7-6 advantage in even-strength high-danger chances. Overall, Vancouver was able to stay in this game for two periods, but were unable to hold off the Golden Knights during the third period.
The heatmap is a good representation of why the Canucks only scored one goal on Saturday. Vancouver elected to take most of their shots from distance, and struggled to create second-chance opportunities in the crease. The hope is that next season, the Canucks can become a team with a stronger net-front presence, which should lead to more goals and chances.
To wrap things up, Nils Höglander had a strong game for Vancouver. During his 13:22 of ice time, he recorded an assist and finished with an xGF% of 61.85. In the end, Höglander finished the season on a high and showed that he deserves a spot in the top six next year.
Make sure you bookmark THN's Vancouver Canucks site and add us to your favourites on Google News for
the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more.
Also, be sure to leave a comment at the bottom of the page and engage
with other passionate fans through our forum.
It took less than an hour after the Kings were summarily dismissed from the postseason by the Mavericks — an ugly ending to the end of a messy season in Sacramento that saw the franchise take a step backwards.
The Kings and GM Monty McNair have agreed to part ways, a story broken by Sam Amick of The Athletic and confirmed by multiple reports. The Kings have yet to release an official statement on the move.
McNair had been voted NBA executive of the year by his peers in 2023, the year he helped build a team that won 48 games and snapped the franchise's NBA-record 16-year playoff drought. Under McNair, the Kings had a .488 winning percentage, which is not ideal but looks good compared to the .362 win percentage the 15 years prior.
McNair's exit is the latest example of how fast things have fallen off in Sacramento. In 2023, the Kings were one of the best stories in the NBA. However, while the Kings stood pat after that season (betting on internal growth that would never come as they hoped), the rest of the West made moves, got better, and passed the Kings. Sacramento fell to just 46 wins in 2024, but that only earned them the No. 9 seed, and they did not make it out of the play-in.
This season was a massive step back for the Kings. They had entered the season with internal expectations of making the playoffs, and last summer inked coach Mike Brown to an extension, with the support of All-Star guard De'Aaron Fox. However, Fox himself didn't sign an extension, keeping pressure on the organization to win and be consistent (the things that mattered to him). Those wins did not come, and after a 13-18 start to the season with a number of clutch losses — and Brown throwing his players under the bus in several press conferences — McNair decided he needed to do something. So he fired Brown.
Fox and Brown had a strong relationship, and the firing did not sit well with the star guard. Also, the Kings were not winning or showing consistency — the standards Fox had set — which led to him requesting a trade and ultimately being sent to San Antonio. Doug Christie took over the head coaching job, and while the team's luck changed in a few close games, the overall situation did not improve. Particularly the defense, which was exposed by Dallas when Sacramento was knocked out of the Play-In Tournament Wednesday night.
Now McNair is gone, too.
That leaves owner Vivek Ranadive facing some big questions this offseason: Who should be hired as the new head of basketball operations to replace McNair? Should Doug Christie have the interim tag removed and become the full-time head coach (he was 27-24 in the role), or is it time to bring in a new coach from the outside? Do they want to extend Zach LaVine's contract? On top of that, All-Star Domantas Sabonis wants to meet with management because he has questions about the franchise's direction and his future in it. If Sabonis asks for a trade, what does that leave players such as Malik Monk or DeMar DeRozan?
All of it sucks for Kings fans, who thought they had seen their team come out of a long dark ages to light the beam and make the playoffs, only to have the whole thing fall apart within a couple of years. It will be a long summer for them in the California capital and maybe a rough one for Kings fans.
With the clubs occupying first and second spot in the standings, the stakes are high for their Good Friday derby
Nestled at the eastern tip of the M62, the city of Hull may sit on the very tip of British rugby league’s geographical landscape but, right now, it is the epicentre of Super League.
Few cities are driven by a passion for rugby league quite like it. Both of the city’s clubs – Hull FC and Hull KR – have enjoyed spells in the upper echelons of Super League over the past 30 years but not since the early 80s, long before the advent of summer rugby, was there a time when both East Riding clubs were simultaneously competing for honours.
Tyler Herro joined the Miami Heat in 2019 [Getty Images]
The Miami Heat eliminated the Chicago Bulls to progress in the NBA play-in tournament - beating the six-time Championship winners 109-90.
Tyler Herro scored 38 points as the Heat set up a game against the Atlanta Hawks, with the winner earning the right to take on top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round of the Eastern Conference play-offs.
The Heat's victory came after three regular season defeats by the Bulls.
"Chicago humbled us this year," Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said.
"They have a unique style of play, the way they play with that pace, and they score.
"They had two games where we felt like we were in control of the game both times in the fourth quarter and they came storming back and had some impressive scoring quarters. Our guys really respected how much they could score."
Should Miami beat the Hawks, they would achieve a franchise record of reaching the play-offs for a sixth consecutive season.
Mavs to face Grizzlies
In the Western Conference, the Dallas Mavericks beat the Sacramento Kings 120-106 to set-up a play-in tie against the Memphis Grizzlies.
Klay Thompson scored 23 points - 16 of which came in the second quarter alone - to advance against the Grizzlies.
The winner of that tie will take on top-seeded Oklahoma City in the opening play-off game.
NBA acknowledge officiating errors
The play-in tournament features the teams who finished in seventh to 10th in both Conferences.
They face off to determine who fills the final two spots in their Conference play-offs.
Under the play-in format, seventh play eighth - with the winners going straight into the play-offs. The loser gets a second chance against the winners of an eliminator between ninth and 10th.
The Grizzlies, who finished eighth in the Western Conference, go into the 'second chance' game against the Mavericks having lost their first play-in tie, to the seventh-placed Golden State Warriors, in controversial circumstances.
The Warriors secured their play-off spot following a late flurry against the Grizzlies.
However, the NBA has since acknowledged officiating errors in the final moments of the match.
With the Warriors leading 117-116, the NBA's Last Two Minute Report said the Grizzlies should have been awarded the ball with 7.6 seconds left after Stephen Curry got the last contact on an out-of-bounds play.
It was Curry that then sank two free throws to give the Mavericks a 119-116 lead.
The Calgary Flames (40-27-14) will travel to the City of Angels
to face the Los Angeles Kings (48-24-9) for their final regular-season game.
This game was originally scheduled for Jan. 8, but was postponed
due to the wildfires in Los Angeles.
With the playoff pursuit now over, the Flames are expected
to set shape their future by suiting up Zayne Parekh, Sam Morton, Hunter Brzustewicz
and Aydar Suniev for their debuts against L.A. Full article on these skaters
here.
The Kings on the hand have already qualified for the Stanley
Cup Playoffs and are slated to face the Edmonton Oilers in the first round.
Several of their top players have been listed as day-to-day including defensemen
Drew Doughty, Joel Edmundson, Mikey Anderson, center Anze Kopitar, wings
Quinton Byfield and Tanner Jeannot. It will
not be a surprise to see them not in action, in hopes of being rested and ready
for the post-season.
HEADS 2 HEAD
At even-strength, Calgary’s save percentage is the third-highest
against Los Angeles. They average 30.5 shots on goal per game against the Flames, which is the ninth
in the league. The Kings’ power play is ranked tenth based on the performance
of the last 30 days. With L.A. not being at full strength, expect those numbers
to be different.
Dustin Wolf is expected to suit up for his ninth-consecutive
game and to his relief, his final of an outstanding season.
Meanwhile, the Kings’ save percentage is the fifth-best
against the Flames of all teams. However, Calgary averages a league-low 23
shots on goals per game to L.A. Both those numbers could look also look different with a younger Flames lineup. It will also be interesting to see how the power
play turns out. Before a rare two-power-play-goal night against Vegas on
Tuesday, the Flames were 3-for-20 in the man-advantage.
TALE OF THE TAPE (SKATERS)
TALE OF THE TAPE (GOALIES)
Puck drops at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles tonight at 7:30
MT/9:30 ET.
Richard T Gagnon/Getty Images
