Since the start of spring training, Dodgers pitcher Blake Snell has faced nothing but questions about his lingering shoulder injury.
This even includes his Twitch video-game streams –– where one of his recent exchanges with a commenter went viral on social media this week.
When told by the user to “get off the injured list,” Snell answered by sarcastically tapping the body part that has sidelined him for the start of the season.
“Hey, shoulder,” Snell said. “Don’t have inflammation. Don’t pitch in the postseason, when your shoulder didn’t feel good. Don’t try to win a World Series. Oh, you can’t start the season because your shoulder still hurts from pitching?”
Since the start of spring training, Dodgers pitcher Blake Snell has faced nothing but questions about his lingering shoulder injury. Getty Images
If that was a moment of frustration for the two-time Cy Young Award winner, then Saturday afternoon brought a long-awaited reprieve.
For the first time this season, Snell faced hitters in a session of live batting practice. It was only 15 pitches over one simulated inning, but it served as an important milepost in his recovery nonetheless.
“I was looking forward to it a lot,” Snell said afterward. “I was very excited coming to the field today. Like, I finally get to throw and pitch and see where I’m at. See if I’m good, bad. Kind of figure myself out.”
Snell has done much self-reflection this offseason, making changes to his training program (hello, Pilates) and his diet (goodbye, junk food) as he enters his 11th big-league season.
Dodgers pitcher Blake Snell (7) has been eager to rejoin his teammates on the field this season. Getty Images
The one thing that required patience, however, was his fatigued left shoulder –– which gave him pain all winter following his 34-inning workload in the playoffs.
“He’s getting antsy,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “But I think that he’s just excited because he feels strong, he feels healthy.”
Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters
Indeed, Snell has felt his shoulder improving since early in camp. However, after the way his debut season with the Dodgers started last year –– when the $182 million free-agent signing tried pitching through early-season shoulder discomfort, only to spend four months on the IL –– he and the team opted for a more conservative approach.
The hope now is that Snell will start accelerating his ramp-up. On Saturday, the left-hander’s stuff looked sharp, helping him record outs in three straight at-bats against Tommy Edman (who is working through his own elongated rehab process) and Alex Call.
Indeed, Snell has felt his shoulder improving since early in camp. Jason Szenes for CA Post
Snell will likely toss several more live BP sessions to build up to three to four innings, then go out on a minor-league rehab assignment.
If all goes well, he could be back in the majors before the end of May. After making only 11 regular-season starts last year, he could still potentially double that total this term.
“I’ve done a lot of different things than I did last year when I was in this position,” he said. “I’m just very excited about how I feel right now, where I’m at, getting back to some normalcy again.”
Snell was also light-heartedly pressed on his Twitch interaction Saturday, joking that “I should watch my language a little bit, but outside of that it was pretty true.”
Asked if his shoulder is a good listener, Snell laughed again –– hopeful that, before too long, all shoulder-related questions, both in-person and online, will finally cease.
“I think so,” he said. “I’ve been listening to it, so to finally be able to talk [with today’s outing] back was good.”
The Chicago Blackhawks had their last weekend game of the season on Saturday afternoon, as they welcomed the St. Louis Blues to the United Center.
The Blues woke up with a very small chance to make the playoffs, but a Los Angeles Kings win earlier in the day eliminated St. Louis.
This game had a twist at the start. For one, Arvid Soderblom started the game, which is likely his last of the season. They also had Ethan Del Mastro scratched, replaced on defense by Sam Lafferty, who is a forward.
The ugly finish to the season continued for the Blackhawks, as the Blues skated out of town with a 5-3 victory. Jimmy Snuggerud scored to make it 1-0 Blues at 9:26 of the first period, but Ryan Greene responded to tie the game at 15:07.
Just 3:04 into the second period, Ilya Mikheyev gave the Blackhawks a 2-1 lead, which gave Sacha Boisvert his first career NHL assist, but Alexey Toropchenko tied it up at 4:10. From there, the Blues scored three more to make it 5-2.
In the third period, Ilya Mikheyev added his second goal of the game at 13:35. This one was a nice setup by Tyler Bertuzzi. Anton Frondell also earned an assist on the play, giving him 9 points in his first 10 NHL games.
That 5-3 score stood as the final despite an effort by Chicago to tie it up with Arvid Soderblom on the bench. The loss is their third straight in regulation.
To make matters worse, Frank Nazar left the game with an injury. A puck hit him in the face, and he immediately went to the locker room. Of course, Nazar already missed a lot of time during the winter with a jaw injury.
After the game, head coach Jeff Blashill confirmed that Nazar is day-to-day. There are only two games left in the season, so that could mean anything, but he did confirm that he thinks he avoided the "worst case scenario", which would be him having a broken jaw again.
Nazar is not the only injured player. Andrew Mangiapane left the game after crashing into the net, and Ethan Del Mastro ended up not even dressing due to injury. Both of them are also day-to-day.
This game had signs of a young team that is thin on bodies to play, frustrated, and out of gas. Two games are remaining to try and find a spark in front of their home fans before an incredibly important off-season.
The Chicago Blackhawks will be back in action on Monday night. They have their second-to-last match of the season, a home game against the Buffalo Sabres.
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.
CINCINNATI, OHIO - APRIL 11: Sal Stewart #27, Eugenio Suárez #28 and Elly De La Cruz #44 of the Cincinnati Reds celebrate after scoring during the first inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Great American Ball Park on April 11, 2026 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Cincinnati Reds dropped the final two games of their most recent road trip as the Miami Marlins put it to them pretty heavily. Then, on Friday, the Los Angeles Angels came into Great American Ball Park and knocked around Chase Burns en route to a 10-2 win over the good guys.
The Reds offense was sputtering. Their pitching, already held together by a series of unproven arms as Hunter Greene and Nick Lodolo sit on the injured list, was wilting. If ever there were a time for a team’s star to put the club on his back and show them how it’s done, it was Saturday, and fortunately for Cincinnati they’ve got Elly De La Cruz on whom to lean.
Elly went 3 for 4 with a pair of doubles and a walk, swiped a pair of bases, and scored to power the Reds offense, who pounced on Angels starter George Klassen for a 4-spot in the Bottom of the 1st en route to an eventual 7-3 victory.
Elly gets Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game treatment in this one, but it was actually Nathaniel Lowe who broke the game open initially. His bases-loaded double cleared the bags in that big 1st inning, as he rewarded manager Terry Francona for giving him a rare start in this one.
Other Notes
Brandon Williamson got the start in this one and had a hard time finding the plate. He walked 6 batters and needed 93 pitches to get through just 4.0 IP, though he did limit the damage to just 3 ER while on the mound.
Props to the bullpen, who combined to go the rest of the way with nothing but zeroes. Connor Phillips, Pierce Johnson, Graham Ashcraft, Tony Santillan, and Emilio Pagan got work in today – and that’s what the best of the bullpen theoretically lines up like when all are available.
Spencer Steer smacked a homer off the LF foul pole in this one, his second dinger of the year.
Sal Stewart got a rare start at 2B today with Lowe starting at 1B. Ol’ Sal walked twice and singled in a run in the 1st.
Ke’Bryan Hayes went hitless once again. He’s hitting .079/.146/.079 on the season so far and I truly don’t know how the Reds keep playing him all game, most every game.
DALLAS — The Rangers kept the third-best team in the NHL scoreless for nearly 53 minutes.
That is noteworthy for a club that has been eliminated from playoff contention for two and a half weeks now.
After a 2-0 loss to the Stars, aided by an empty-net goal, the only zero in the equation belonged to the Blueshirts — their 10th of the season.
Igor Shesterkin makes a glove save during the second period of the Rangers’ 2-0 loss to the Stars on April 11, 2026 at the American Airlines Center. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
No team in the NHL has been shut out more than the Rangers this season, and there are still two games to go.
The 2025-26 Rangers tied the franchise record for the most shutout losses in a single season, joining the 1928-29 team.
While eight of the 10 blankings came in the first 40 games of the season, with the last one on Feb. 5 against the Hurricanes, the Rangers have gone through too many spurts with zero offense.
Saturday’s game against the Stars, however, was still one of the team’s better performances this season.
“I think we came in kind of having to accept that it was going to be a low-event game,” Adam Fox said. “I think that’s kind of the way they play. Obviously, they have firepower, but they’re stingy defensively. They got a lot of big guys back there, and it just turned out the special teams ended up being the difference. I thought that was really just the story of the game.”
Neither team generated much on special teams for a majority of the 60-minute contest, but Dallas’ Jason Robertson was the first to make an impact by converting on the power play.
Jason Robertson (21) celebrates after scoring a third-period goal during the Rangers’ loss to the Stars. Getty Images
A holding penalty against Matthew Robertson set the Stars up with their fourth man-advantage opportunity of the game.
An incensed Robertson argued former Ranger Colin Blackwell was holding his stick.
The Robertson in green then collected a rebound and buried a backhander past Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin — for his 43rd goal of the season — with 7:11 left in regulation.
“You could tell, from both sides, the puck was bouncing a lot,” Mika Zibanejad said of the Rangers power play going 0-for-5 on the night, echoing similar comments Fox made. “I feel like the ice was eh at times, but I think just we had some opportunities to execute maybe a little bit better.”
There wasn’t much space on the American Airlines Center ice Saturday night.
The Rangers limited the Stars to three shots in the first and six in the second, but the visitors were kept in the single digits themselves in each of the first two frames.
It was more of a physical affair than anything else.
Captains J.T. Miller and Jamie Benn dropped the gloves in the second period, after the latter landed a massive hit on Vladislav Gavrikov.
“I just think all good teams have that,” Miller said. “It’s not really a decision. It’s just part of a pack mentality type of thing. There’s going to be hits that happen in the course of the season that people don’t like. It’s fiery game. It’s supposed to be this way. It’s been a part of the game for a long time, and I think our team’s done a good job over the last little while of sticking up for each other.
“There’s like an automatic thing to it. Now you just don’t think. We’re all really close in here. So, yeah, it’s a no-brainer, and obviously we’ve got a lot of guys doing it, so it’s awesome to see.”
The only lineup change Sullivan made to his group of skaters on Saturday was replacing Drew Fortescue with Urho Vaakanainen, who had missed the previous 11 games due to an upper-body injury and a few healthy scratches. As a result, Fortescue lost out on an $80,000 performance bonus he would’ve received if he played in 10 games. He can max out at nine.
By playing fewer than 10 games this season, Fortescue will fall into the 10.2(c) restricted free agent category and won’t be eligible for an offer sheet or salary arbitration at the end of his entry-level contract, according to the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Players aged 18-21 at the time they signed their ELC earn a year of pro experience by playing 10 or more professional games in any league while under an NHL contract.
Since Fortescue burned a year of his ELC by reporting to New York, he is set to become a RFA in the summer of 2028.
ARLINGTON, TEXAS - APRIL 5: Jack Leiter #22 of the Texas Rangers pitches against the Cincinnati Reds during the game at Globe Life Field on April 5, 2026 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Texas Rangers @ Los Angeles Dodgers
Saturday, April 11, 2026, 8:10 PM CDT (105.3 The Fan / Rangers Sports Network)
Cam Fowler had just scored a goal on Saturday afternoon to give the St. Louis Blues a 4-2 lead against the Chicago Blackhawks late in the second period.
It was a capper to a solid period for the visitors, but what they didn't know at the time was seconds before, their season was made official.
Despite the Blues' 5-3 win over the Blackhawks at United Center in Chicago, they were officially eliminated from postseason contention when the Los Angeles Kings downed the Edmonton Oilers 1-0.
The Blues (34-33-12) are seven points behind L.A. but with just three games left in their season, they can max out with only six points. It was more of a formality for a team that was trying to overcome at one point, a 14-point deficit that closed within three as late as April 5 but unlike last season when the Blues used a franchise-record 12-game winning streak to get in with 96 points as the second wild card out of the Western Conference, there were too many teams and too much a deficit to pull this off for a second straight season.
It almost felt at the time when the Blues fell 5-4 to the San Jose Sharks on March 30 when they lost that game with 22 seconds remaining in regulation, then fell to the Kings 2-1 in overtime on April 1, coming up with only one of a possible four points in those two games, that was like getting kicked into the coffin and waiting for someone to put the final nail down, which came Saturday.
The silver lining to this also is the Blues getting some good out-of-town news when the Detroit Red Wings fell to the New Jersey Devils, eliminating the Red Wings from playoff contention in the Eastern Conference.
As you may remember, the Blues hold the Red Wings' first-round pick from the trade that sent Justin Faulk to Motown. And depending on how the lottery plays out, the Blues can look mighty good having two potential higher-end picks on the positive end. But we'll know about how all that plays out when the NHL holds its draft lottery on May 5.
As for the game Saturday, 13 players got onto the scoresheet as the Blues split the season series with the Blackhawks (28-38-14) with five different goal scorers (Jimmy Snuggerud, Alexey Toropchenko, Jordan Kyrou, Cam Fowler and Dalibor Dvorsky) while Jonatan Berggren and Tyler Tucker each picked up two assists.
Snuggerud's 18th of the season put the Blues ahead 1-0 at 9:26 of the first period:
Down a goal early in the second, Toropchenko's first in 21 games (Feb. 4 at Dallas) tied the game 2-2 at 4:10 of the second period on this backhand breakaway:
Kyrou put the Blues ahead for good with the lone power play the Blues had in the game with this top shelf shot from the left circle at 12:06 of the second for a 3-2 lead:
Joel Hofer made 32 saves in the game for his 22nd win of the season, and with an assist, Dylan Holloway now has 29 points (12 goals, 17 assists) in 22 games since the Olympic break.
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.
DALLAS (AP) — Jason Robertson scored a power-play goal midway through the third period and added an empty-netter in the final minute while Jake Oettinger made 22 saves for his fourth shutout of the season as the Dallas Stars beat the New York Rangers 2-0 on Saturday and clinched second place in the Central Division.
The Stars were already assured of facing the Minnesota Wild in the first round of the NHL playoffs. They secured the position late in the third period when the Wild lost in regulation to the Nashville Predators.
Robertson collected a rebound of Matt Duchene’s shot and flipped a backhander into the far side to beat Igor Shesterkin with 7:11 left to play. Robertson has 44 goals, two short of his career high scored three years ago.
Duchene assisted on both goals.
It was Oettinger’s 34th win of the season. He was on the U.S. men’s team that Rangers head coach Mike Sullivan led to the gold medal at the Milan Cortina Olympics.
Shesterkin stopped 17 shots while absorbing only his second regulation loss in 10 career decisions against Dallas.
The Rangers began a season-ending three-game road trip. They’re last in the Eastern Conference and will miss the playoffs for a second straight season after winning the Presidents’ Trophy in 2024.
The Rangers, with the second-best road power play in the league, went 0 for 5 with the man advantage. That included 1:02 of 5-on-3 late in the second period.
Up next
Both teams will play on the road Monday, the Rangers at Florida and the Stars at Toronto.
DALLAS (AP) — Jason Robertson scored a power-play goal midway through the third period and added an empty-netter in the final minute while Jake Oettinger made 22 saves for his fourth shutout of the season as the Dallas Stars beat the New York Rangers 2-0 on Saturday and clinched second place in the Central Division.
The Stars were already assured of facing the Minnesota Wild in the first round of the NHL playoffs. They secured the position late in the third period when the Wild lost in regulation to the Nashville Predators.
Robertson collected a rebound of Matt Duchene’s shot and flipped a backhander into the far side to beat Igor Shesterkin with 7:11 left to play. Robertson has 44 goals, two short of his career high scored three years ago.
Duchene assisted on both goals.
It was Oettinger’s 34th win of the season. He was on the U.S. men's team that Rangers coach Mike Sullivan led to the gold medal at the Milan Cortina Olympics.
Shesterkin stopped 17 shots while absorbing only his second regulation loss in 10 career decisions against Dallas.
The Rangers began a season-ending three-game road trip. They’re last in the Eastern Conference and will miss the playoffs for a second straight season after winning the Presidents’ Trophy in 2024.
The Rangers, with the second-best road power play in the league, went 0 for 5 with the man advantage. That included 1:02 of 5-on-3 late in the second period.
Up next
Both teams will play on the road Monday, the Rangers at Florida and the Stars at Toronto.
DETROIT (AP) — Jesper Bratt scored his second goal with 3:34 left in the third period, helping the New Jersey Devils eliminate the Detroit Red Wings from the NHL playoff picture with a 5-3 win on Saturday.
Detroit extended the league’s longest active postseason drought, dating to the 2016 season when the franchise earned a berth for the 25th consecutive season in what was a remarkable run that included four Stanley Cup championships.
The Red Wings were in a playoff position for 148 days of the season, according to Sportradar, to raise expectations higher than they’ve been since the hockey-crazed state has experienced the playoffs a long time ago.
They went ahead against New Jersey in the first, second and third periods — and lost every lead.
On an odd-man rush, Bratt scored the go-ahead goal from the left circle off a perfect pass from Jack Hughes in the right circle with John Gibson flailing around in an attempt to stop the puck. Dawson Mercer added an empty-net goal with a minute left.
Gibson had 27 saves for the Red Wings and Jake Allen stopped 25 shots for the Devils.
Detroit’s Justin Faulk broke a scoreless tie midway through the opening period.
Olympic hero Hughes, playing about 25 miles from where he skated in high school at USA Hockey Arena, scored his 27th goal of the season a minute later.
The Red Wings went back ahead on David Perron’s goal with 8:01 left in the second period, but failed to keep the lead again. Bratt scored a game-tying goal, giving him at least 21 for a fifth straight season.
Emmitt Finnie scored a tiebreaking goal seven minutes into the third to put the Red Wings ahead again, but Cody Glass pulled the Devils into another tie midway through the period.
Kodai Senga had a throwback performance Saturday, but not in a positive sense.
In a reversion to the second half of last season, when the right-hander became easy work for opponents, Senga got jumped early by the A’s and couldn’t even last three innings.
Access the Mets beat like never before
Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Mike Puma about the inside buzz on the Mets.
Sloppy defense didn’t help and Luke Weaver imploded late, but this one was mostly on Senga in his team’s 11-6 loss at Citi Field amid plenty of boos that gave the Mets a four-game losing streak.
The Mets awoke offensively after three straight dormant games but never caught the A’s following Senga’s ugly abbreviated outing. Senga smacked his right leg in disgust with his glove as he walked toward the dugout after his removal in the third inning.
“The biggest thing was I wasn’t able to control very many pitches near the strike zone or over the plate,” Senga said through his interpreter.
Senga lasted only 2 ¹/₃ innings, surrendering seven earned runs on eight hits and two walks with three strikeouts before being removed at 72 pitches. It was a reversal from what the Mets had seen from Senga in his first two starts this season, when he was effective against the Cardinals and Giants.
“He didn’t have much, especially fastball command,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “He kept going to that sinker, just to see if he could get back in counts or get strikes, but he just didn’t have a feel for his pitches.”
Kodai Senga is taken out after giving up a three-run home run to Carlos Cortes during the third inning of the Mets’ 11-6 loss to the A’s on April 11, 2026 at Citi Field. Robert Sabo for NY Post
Bo Bichette ended the Mets’ scoreless drought at 17 innings with an RBI single in the first against lefty Jacob Lopez, giving the Mets a 1-0 lead.
Senga walked Denzel Clarke with the bases loaded in the second to give the A’s their first run. Lawrence Butler’s RBI fielder’s choice extended the lead to 2-1.
Senga’s troubles started with consecutive singles by Jacob Wilson and Jeff McNeil to begin the inning before Carlos Cortes walked with one out to load the bases.
Francisco Lindor had a defensive lapse in the inning — he was caught out of position on a grounder to Marcus Semien, costing the Mets a shot at a double play on Butler’s grounder that could have ended the inning. Semien instead ran to the base after fielding the grounder.
“I went after the ball and Marcus was there and didn’t make it to second base and we didn’t turn the double play,” Lindor said.
Bo Bichette celebrates with the third base coach after hitting a two-run homer during the fifth inning of the Mets’ loss to the A’s. Robert Sabo for NY Post
It continued a rough stretch for Lindor in all facets of the game — he’s batting only .167 following a 1-for-5 performance. He’s also had lapses on the bases, most recently Friday when he got caught off third base on a grounder.
“I feel like I’m locked in,” Lindor said. “I feel like I’m in the game and it just happens. I have got to be better.”
Tyler Soderstrom smashed a two-run homer against Senga in the third, following Shea Langeliers’ leadoff double. The blast was the first Senga had allowed this season.
Reliever Luke Weaver looks on after giving up a a three-run home run to Tyler Soderstrom (not pictured) in the Mets’ loss to the A’s. Robert Sabo for NY Post
The A’s started a second rally in the inning. Wilson singled — a ball that Semien missed with a bare hand — and McNeil hit a grounder off Mark Vientos’ glove for a single.
Cortes delivered the knockout blow to Senga with a three-run homer that buried the Mets in a 7-1 hole.
“It’s tough having back-to-back innings with high pitch counts,” Senga said. “But not every outing is going to be smooth sailing. Some outings are going to be tough. In a long season stuff like this is going to happen, so I want to reflect on this over the time before I go back out there, to make sure it doesn’t happen again or it’s better next time.”
Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez stands on second base before his blast ended up being ruled a home run. Robert Sabo for NY Post
Bichette’s first Mets homer cut the deficit.
With Lindor aboard, Bichette hit a shot to right that just cleared the right-field fence. The two-run homer gave Bichette a team-leading nine RBIs.
Francisco Alvarez’s blast leading off the bottom of the sixth sliced the Mets’ deficit to 7-4. The homer was Alvarez’s team-leading fourth this season. Before the inning was complete, Carson Benge scored the Mets’ fifth run. Benge walked and scored on Brett Baty’s sacrifice fly following Semien’s single.
Jorge Polanco homered an inning later to pull the Mets within one run. The Mets put the tying and go-ahead runs on base before the inning was complete, but Benge and Semien were retired in succession to end the threat.
Weaver’s second straight rough performance sank the Mets in the eighth. Weaver surrendered a three-run blast to Soderstrom after Langeliers’ RBI single gave the A’s a two-run lead.
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - MAY 17: Sam Reinhart #13 of the Florida Panthers skates against Charlie McAvoy #73 of the Boston Bruins in Game Six of the Second Round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs at the TD Garden on May 17, 2024 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Steve Babineau/NHLI via Getty Images) | NHLI via Getty Images
It’s not exactly the way you want to clinch a playoff spot, but you’ll take it!
After throwing away a point or two via a late regulation loss to Tampa Saturday afternoon, the Bruins officially clinched a playoff spot via a Detroit Red Wings loss later in the day.
The Red Wings, playing at home, needed to either beat New Jersey or lose beyond regulation to stay in playoff contention.
They did neither, allowing three New Jersey goals in the third period en route to a 5-3 loss that ended their slim playoff hopes.
While the B’s are officially in, there’s still plenty to be decided in the last few days of the regular season.
The Bruins and Ottawa will go back-and-forth over the first and second wild card spot, with Ottawa currently in WC1 via the regulation wins tiebreaker.
Both the Bruins and Senators have two games left:
Bruins: at Columbus, vs. New Jersey
Ottawa: at New Jersey, vs. Toronto
The Bruins will be playing out their string Sunday and Tuesday, while the Senators will be playing tomorrow and Wednesday.
There’s also the not-so-small matter of who the B’s (and Senators) will be playing in the first round.
It’s likely that the second wild card team will be facing the Carolina Hurricanes, though there’s a chance they could flop in their last three games and let an Atlantic team catch them.
However, the second wild card is almost certainly beginning the playoffs in Raleigh, while WC1 will be facing a to-be-determined Atlantic team.
Interestingly enough, that could be any one of Buffalo, Montreal, or Tampa Bay at this point, with the three teams separated by two points (prior to Montreal’s Saturday night game, at least).
I don’t think there’s an easy out in the Atlantic, but I’d prefer to play one of those three teams instead of Carolina.
Regardless, the Bruins are officially back in the playoffs after a season away.
Their last postseason game was on May 17, 2o24, a 2-1 loss to the Florida Panthers at TD Garden.
Given where the Bruins were predicted to finish this season, making the playoffs is no small feat.
Fedde pitched a fine game today. Michael Wacha pitched a better one.
Fedde made one mistake, starting the game after a short rain delay with a get-me-over first pitch to settle in, a pitch Maikel García deposited 412 feet away. Well, two mistakes, the other being a case of chronic White Sox pitcher inefficiency that made him leave the game after five innings and 85 pitches, 53 of them strikes.
Part of the inefficiency came in the second inning, when a walk, an infield single and a hit batter loaded the bases, but García grounded out to end the only time the Royals had a runner in scoring position against him. Otherwise, Fedde walked no one else and only gave up one more hit.
Small problem, though — if Fedde was lights barely visible, Wacha was lights fully out. In the first inning, he threw 11 pitches, all of them strikes, and then tossed six more strikes to start the second. He was as efficient as Fedde wasn’t, cruising through eight innings on just 88 pitches, 63 of them strikes.
Wacha did allow the Sox offense four hits, doubles to Andrew Benintendi (raising his average to .184) and Lenyn Sosa (raising his to .179) and singles to Reese McGuire (now hitting a hearty .125) and Murray, who got his first-ever big league hit on a grounder up the middle:
And the Sox only struck out eight times in the game, so that’s some form of progress.
Sean Newcomb did a nifty six-up, six-down in relief, but then the Royals added a run off Jordan Hicks in the eighth on a García double and two fly balls. That was totally unnecessary against the Sox, who now have scored eight runs in their last six games, with seven straight games of three runs or fewer and 11 such games of the 15 this year.
The White Sox are now 5-10 on the young year — a 54-win pace, in case you’re keeping track. The finale in KC is at 1:10 p.m. Central tomorrow, with the Sox going with the famous “undecided” (as opposed to the equally famous TBA or TBD), as it would be Shane Smith’s turn in the rotation and Smith is enjoying Charlotte.
Apr 6, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Ryan Feltner (18) delivers a pitch in the sixth inning against the Houston Astros at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
The Colorado Rockies will try to limit the damage after two straight walk-off losses to the San Diego Padres.
In good news, the starting pitching has been stellar and both games have been competitive throughout. Thursday, Jimmy Herget opened with a 1-2-3 inning, paving the way for Chase Dollander to take a bulk of the game, with that approach still working nicely for the youngster’s development. Yesterday, Tomoyuki Sugano worked through six innings and looked sharp outside of a couple solo homers surrendered in the fifth.
For the bad news, the fight fell short at the hands of an electric 12th-inning grand slam on Thursday and a three-run shot in the bottom of the ninth yesterday (seriously, Padres… a calm walk-off RBI single wouldn’t have been enough for you?).
The blueprint for a win is there as the Rockies have looked sharp out in Petco Park. A series split is still on the table, but that begins with a solid pitching battle today, as Ryan Feltner takes the mound for the Rox against old friend Germán Márquez.
The two pitchers have had an extremely similar start to their 2026 season. Márquez (1-1) and Feltner (1-0) have both notched one win across two starts, have pitched 8.0 and 8.1 innings respectively, and have each given up four runs and tossed five strikeouts. Feltner has been a tad more efficient, giving up just four hits to Márquez’s 14 and giving up just one home run to Márquez’s two.
It will surely feel surreal to see Márquez in his first action against his old club after a 10-year career in purple. Márquez made some waves when signing with San Diego, stating that he was “excited to play with a team that wants to win,” and lamenting that “when [he] was young, [he] had a team that liked to win,” taking a shot at the downward trajectory of the Rockies in his time with the team.
It may also be surreal, then, for Márquez to face off against this scrappy, new-look Colorado club. While it’s probably far too early for bulletin board material — and while there is much to be seen about where these teams ultimately end up this season — it could make for a nice statement if the Rockies can turn the tides of the series today against a franchise mainstay that has moved on.
First Pitch: 6:40 p.m. MDT
TV: Rockies.TV
Radio: KOA Rockies Radio Network (850 AM / 94.1 FM)
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 10: Former Padres pitcher and Hall of Famer Trevor Hoffman hugs Manny Machado #13 of the San Diego Padres before the game against the Colorado Rockies at Petco Park on April 10, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Matt Thomas/San Diego Padres/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Colorado Rockies (6-8) at San Diego Padres (8-6), April 11, 2026, 5:40 p.m. PST
Don’t troll in your comments; create conversation rather than destroying it
Remember Gaslamp Ball is basically a non-profanity site
Out of respect to broadcast partners who have paid to carry the game, no mentions of “alternative” (read: illegal) viewing methods are allowed in our threads
The Kings' Anze Kopitar waves to fans after his final regular-season home game, a 1-0 win over Oilers on Saturday. (Scott Strazzante/For The Times)
When the final horn sounded Saturday on the Kings’ 1-0 matinee win over the Edmonton Oilers, Anze Kopitar made his way to center ice, a microphone in his hand and his heart in pieces.
"Thank you very much," he said to the fans, his voice cracking. "Thank you for being here."
Kopitar then held his hands in front of him and folded his fingers into the shape of a heart before skating away — not quite into the sunset, but headed in that direction.
Kopitar announced in September that this season would be his last, so unless the Kings make the playoffs — a distinct possibility after the team's fourth win a row and fifth in six games, its best streak of the season — Saturday marked the final home appearance of a brilliant 20-year career spent entirely in Los Angeles.
The Kings' Anze Kopitar vies for position in front of the Oilers' Darnell Nurse during the second period on Saturday at Crypto.com Arena. (Scott Strazzante/For The Times)
And the announced crowd of 18,145 at Crypto.com Arena made sure he knew that parting is such sweet sorrow, standing and cheering long after the game had ended.
“Eventually it was going to happen,” Kopitar, 38, reflected before the game. “Whether it was this year or two years from now, there was going to be a last day. And I’m very OK with my decision.”
Kopitar will leave having written his name all over the Kings’ record book. He’s the all-time franchise leader in points (1,314), assists (862), game-winning goals (79) and games played (1,518). He ranks third in goals (452) and power-play goals (129).
And most importantly, he played a starring role on the Kings’ only two Stanley Cup championships, leading both the 2011-12 and 2013-14 teams in goals, assists and points.
“Over 700 people have put the Kings’ uniform on,” said Daryl Evans, who was one of the 700 before retiring to become a broadcaster with the team. "He stands at the top of the mountain as one of the greatest — if not the greatest — to do so. He’s a great hockey player, as we can all see. But he’s a better person off the ice.”
It’s that second part, Evans said, that will make Kopitar difficult to replace.
“Records are made to be beaten. But the intangibles, the things that he did as the team’s captain, the leadership that he provided, the type of a player he was, very unselfish,” Evans said. “He’s one of those guys who’s a special player.”
The Kings got the only goal they would need Saturday 7:34 into the first period when Artemi Panarin stripped Edmonton’s Evan Bouchard of the puck at the Kings’ blue line and took off the other way, skating in alone on Oilers’ goalie Connor Ingram, then beating him on a wrist shot from between the circles.
Kings players react as Anze Kopitar speaks to fans after his final regular-season home game, a 1-0 win over the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday. (Scott Strazzante/For The Times)
The goal was Panarin’s ninth in 23 games since joining the Kings just ahead of the Olympic break. Edmonton nearly pulled that back midway through the period when Curtis Lazar tipped the puck by Kings’ goalie Anton Forsberg, only to have defenseman Cody Ceci dive through the crease and swipe it away with a desperate one-handed wave of his stick.
Forsberg was brilliant the rest of the way, stopping 27 shots to post his 11th career shutout and win his season-best fourth game in a row, preserving the Kings' one-point lead over Nashville in the race for the Western Conference's final wild-card playoff berth.
The son of a coach, Kopitar was born in the former Yugoslavia, in the mining town of Jesenice near the border with Austria, an area that became part of Slovenia when that country declared independence just before Kopitar’s fourth birthday.
At 16, he led the new country’s first-tier professional league in scoring, so he moved to Sweden in search of a challenge — and led that country’s top junior league with 49 points in 30 games. That drew the attention of the Kings, who took Kopitar with the 11th overall pick in the 2005 draft.
Fourteen months later he became the first Slovenian to play in the NHL, making his debut as a teenager and scoring two goals against the Ducks. He never looked back — nor looked to play elsewhere, twice signing contract extensions with the Kings rather than test the free-agent market. (Not that he needed to test the free-agent market since he made more than $140 million in his two decades with the Kings, becoming the best-paid player in team history.)
“I've always felt extremely comfortable in L.A.,” said Kopitar, whose two children were born here. “The organization has been world-class since I got here, so I had no desire to go anywhere else.”
Anze Kopitar celebrates with the Stanley Cup after the Kings' win over the New Jersey Devils in 2012. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
As a result only six players in league history have played more games with a single organization, making Kopitar’s name synonymous with the franchise.
“The greatest to play for the Kings,” said Luc Robitaille, the franchise leader in goals (557) as a player and now the team’s president. “What’s he meant to this franchise — you know this franchise never won and he came along and we won two [Stanley Cups]. So he deserves all the credits and everything that’s coming his way.”
He’s also among the last of a dying breed: a two-way center who stood out on both ends of the ice, but was also gentlemanly enough to win the Lady Byng trophy three times. Only one player has won the NHL’s top sportsmanship award more often this century.
“Every coach would love to have him because he never cheats the game,” Evans said of Kopitar, who this month was also nominated for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, which recognizes the player who “best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to ice hockey.”
“He’s got a lot of pride and he doesn’t want to let his teammates down,” Evans said. “He’s been a student of the game from Day 1. He plays the game the right way. If you could tell a player ‘watch somebody,’ there’s a guy you want to watch.”
Kopitar’s numbers have declined this season, owing partly to a pair of lower-body injuries that caused him to miss significant time in both October and January. That’s left him on pace to finish with fewer than 16 goals in a full season for just the third time while his 24assists and 36 points are career lows.
But he has the best plus/minus number on the team and he’s winning a career-best 57.7%of his faceoffs, including four crucial draws deep in the Kings' end in the final minute Saturday.
“It’s been, obviously, an up-and-down season,” he said. “Some good, some bad, some ugly.”
Kopitar admits the goodbyes have been emotional at times. On his final visit to Madison Square Garden last month, for example, he and former teammate Jonathan Quick exchanged several hugs after the game.
“I’m enjoying it,” he added. “I’m not sad about it. I guess I’m staying in the moment and enjoying the moment.”
The Kings' Anze Kopitar tries to flip a shot past Edmonton goaltender Connor Ingram Saturday at Crypto.com Arena. (Scott Strazzante/For The Times)
The Kings can extend Kopitar’s farewell tour by at least a couple of weeks by making the playoffs, a task that's looking much more likely than it did a week ago. After Saturday's win the Kings not only lead Nashville in the wild-card race, holding a game in hand over the Predators, but they are just two points out of third place in the Pacific Division standings.
"He hopes he's going to play here again," Kings coach D.J. Smith said of Kopitar's possible postseason encore.
Just where and when the team might open the postseason — if, indeed, it qualifies — is up in the air since the Kings could finish anywhere from first to fifth in the division, leaving them with more than a dozen possible playoff scenarios. So when the team leaves for its final three-game trip of the season Sunday, the players have been told to pack for 10 days.
Either way Kopitar isn’t changing his mind; when the Kings’ season ends — whenever that is — his career will end as well. So will his time in Los Angeles since Kopitar is selling his Manhattan Beach home and moving back to Slovenia to accept a new role as a full-time father.
“I’m going to be a dad,” he said. “I’m going to just relax and see how long it takes to get bored and then we’ll figure it out from there. Of course I’m going to miss this place. But it was a family decision, obviously, to move.
“As much as this place is super nice and the community was great to us, it’s time to slow down the tempo a little bit and enjoy life. But I’ll make it back here for sure.”
