Our sport-loving PM is willing to risk a bitter north v south furore, all for the sake of table tennis in Teesside
As someone who barely understands their own finances, let alone the country’s, I will admit that budget day doesn’t always register with me. Perhaps if there were outre outfits or horse-drawn carriages involved, like there are at the state opening of parliament, I’d get into it, but the only accessory of note is a briefcase and it doesn’t even glow mysteriously when you open it.
This week, however, the chancellor of the exchequer did manage to catch my attention. Somewhere amid the household energy payments and defence spending, he slipped in a cheeky £7m to assess a possible Olympic bid for the north of England. That’s only a preliminary step and a fraction of the cost of any actual bid – Tokyo and Paris spent more than £50m on theirs. Still, it’s enough to put thoughts in people’s heads of beach volleyball in Morecambe Bay or a British eight rowing to victory along the Tyne.
It took Yaxel Lendeborg only 10 days to climb to a place most NBA players can’t get to in 10 years.
He already is a marked man – by opposing coaches and opposing players.
He has zoomed up the scouting report on Golden State’s offense as the No. 2 concern. As the Los Angeles Lakers prepare to face the Warriors on Friday night, Yaxel’s name will be high on the board, right behind that of two-time NBA MVP Stephen Curry.
Lendeborg’s in-game conduct and postgame comments last week in the wake of Golden State’s opening-night loss to the Lakers in Los Angeles added spice to future meetings between him and Dončić. The rook didn’t flinch during or after, and the vet led his team to victory.
When they meet again Friday night at Chase Center, the usual sellout crowd will be casting curious eyes toward Lendeborg and Dončić. Will there be any heat between them? Will Luka hunt the rookie? Will Lendeborg – with his image already alongside Curry in promotional graphics – try to make a statement?
We hope that “yes” is the answer to all three questions.
Without referencing Dončić, Lendeborg made it apparent late Wednesday night that he is anticipating coming home for a rematch against the Lakers.
“I’m looking forward to the matchup,” Lendeborg told Tim Roye on postgame Warriors Radio. “I need that day off; it’s very much needed. But I’ll be ready to kill on Friday, or whatever day it is. I’m just trying to make sure that we get that win and continue to keep rolling.”
After losing their first three games, the Warriors are coming off back-to-back wins at Denver and Minnesota. Lendeborg shined against the Nuggets, producing game-highs in points (31) and rebounds (12) while adding six assists. The rook put up 26 points and eight rebounds against the Timberwolves but also acknowledged the worst part of his performance.
On a night when the Warriors led by as much as 24, he committed seven turnovers – six of which came in the second half to nourish Minnesota’s late comeback.
“That started with me,” Lendeborg said. “I was being way too sloppy with the ball. I had no control over it, and pretty much all those turnovers kind of gave them a little run. The crowd got into it, so they started feeling a little bit more confident, seeing a bunch of shots go in that weren’t falling in the first half.”
That instant self-reflection is among the many of Lendeborg’s encouraging traits. He knows he’s learning but makes no attempt to overlook the lessons.
“He feels terrible in there,” coach Steve Kerr told reporters at Target Center. “He’s not happy at all. And yet, he had 26 points and eight boards in his fifth NBA game.
“So, it’s a great lesson for him.”
The weakest component of Lendeborg’s game is his defense. His footwork is awkward, his rotations can be a beat late and he’s still calculating the timing and nuances of operating as the helper. He didn’t do much of that last year at the University of Michigan, largely because his 6-foot-9 body was on the wing while 7-foot-3 Aday Mara and 6-foot-10 Morez Johnson Jr. roamed the paint.
Lendeborg is, however, decent on the ball for someone with such a massive physique. That’s why he saw plenty of Dončić last week and can expect more on Friday.
Dončić, during his eight seasons in the league, has developed a reputation for being a brilliant offensive machine, frequent dialogue with officials and seeking to attack opponents who become irritants. His 36.0 points per game lead the league and his shooting percentages are more than respectable.
At the sight of Lendeborg, Luka will want to drop 40.
The fun of the matchup is that Yaxel would want nothing less than another round of spirited competition with a star for whom he says he “has lost all respect.”
Nothing Lendeborg has said or done in his first 10 days suggests any back-and-forth will have any effect. He has a high level of skill, but we’ve seen enough of his personality to realize he possesses the ancillary elements required for stardom. He’s not ducking the smoke and he absorbs critiques and advice from his NBA elders.
Let the challenges come. Game after game, throughout the season. A rookie needs barriers to clear, especially those with star quality.
An absorbing series took another turn on the fourth day in Cape Town, with twin centuries from Ryan Rickelton and Wiaan Mulder steering South Africa into a position of first control, and then strength.
A new MLB champion has been crowned, and now the baseball world will eagerly await a return to the diamond.
The timing of that return, however, is very much up in the air.
Major League Baseball owners and the MLB Players Association are a month away from a potential lockout. The two sides can work out a new collective bargaining agreement to prevent a work stoppage, but they are far apart on several key issues in labor discussions.
Those topics have to be negotiated and agreed upon, and they could shape the next half-decade of the league. Teams can’t return to play until both sides sign a new collective bargaining agreement.
When would a lockout begin, how long could it last and which issues are at the center of discussions? Here’s everything to know as the expiration date for the current CBA quickly approaches.
What is a lockout?
A lockout is a work stoppage when the owners of a sports league and the players’ union fail to agree on a collective bargaining agreement before the existing one expires. There are no games until the two sides agree on a new CBA.
Players are barred from team facilities and official activities during a lockout, they do not get paid and their images are expected to be removed from the league’s official website.
On the team side, franchises cannot sign players or make trades during a lockout, which could spark a free-agent frenzy in November.
When does the current MLB CBA expire?
The current collective bargaining agreement between MLB and the Major League Baseball Players Association will expire at 11:59 p.m. ET on Dec. 1. It was signed on March 10, 2022, after a 99-day lockout.
Why is there going to be an MLB lockout?
The MLB and MLBPA are at odds over money, namely a potential salary cap, its impact on the competitive balance of the league and the ramifications for players’ earnings.
The league believes a salary cap would help level the playing field for its 30 ballclubs. The highest-spending team in 2026, New York Mets, had a payroll exceeding $346 million, per Spotrac. On the other end, the lowest-spending team, the Cleveland Guardians, had a payroll below $75 million.
“In order for this game to reach its full potential, we need to continue to address concerns that our fans have, particularly concerns that go to the core of what we’re about — that is, competitive balance,” commissioner Rob Manfred said in July. “We need to make sure that fans in markets at the beginning of the season have a realistic belief that their team has a chance to win.”
However, spending did not equate to winning in 2026. The final four teams were No. 2 (Los Angeles Dodgers), No. 19 (Milwaukee Brewers), No. 28 (Tampa Bay Rays) and No. 30 (Guardians).
The Dodgers’ acquisition of two-time Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal ahead of this year’s trade deadline fueled debate about the competitive advantage big spenders can afford. Months later, their three-peat bid came crashing down in the NLCS at the hands of the Brewers, who swept that series and defeated the Rays for their first World Series title.
“It’s further evidence that the league’s purported ‘competitive balance’ justification for a salary cap holds no water,” Bruce Meyer, the acting executive director of the MLB Players Association, told NBC News in a statement ahead of the World Series. “But that’s never been the real reason why they want a salary cap. They want it to juice their profits and franchise values.”
The schedule has also been mentioned in labor talks.
In a recent bargaining session, MLB proposed cutting the regular season from 162 games to 154 games while expanding the Division Series from five games to seven starting in 2029. It also proposed having higher seeds choose their playoff opponent beginning in 2027.
“Returning to a 154-game schedule would allow us to introduce a weekly off-day, which is good for player health, while also creating a new national broadcast window to showcase our most exciting teams and players,” MLB spokesman Glen Caplin said. “A shorter regular season unlocks making October even better for our fans — with fewer weekday afternoon games, a longer Division Series and more opportunities to see the game’s best pitchers on the biggest stage. And allowing the top seeds to select their opponents in the first two rounds would create compelling storylines, intensify existing rivalries and create new ones.”
Other issues in labor discussions include the league’s drug-testing program and players wearing microphones in games for broadcast use.
How many games could MLB miss during the lockout?
It could be as few as zero, but there is no limit to the number of games that could be lost to a lockout.
When is the deadline for a new CBA?
There is no official deadline for the two sides to reach a new agreement, but there are certain cutoff dates where the season and league partners would be greatly affected.
The two sides were able to salvage a 162-game season in 2022 after agreeing to a new CBA on March 10, three weeks ahead of the originally scheduled Opening Day. The start of the regular season was pushed back a week to April 7, the end of the season was extended three days and nine-inning doubleheaders were added to make up for a condensed schedule. Even if MLB cancels early games next spring, they could reappear in the schedule if an agreement is reached shortly after.
Should the lockout persist later into the spring, it could impact the league’s broadcast partners. The Athletic, citing people briefed on MLB’s rights agreements, reported that the league’s national broadcast contracts would extend an additional year to 2029 if 60 or more games are cut from each team’s 2027 schedule. Local broadcasters could feel the affects even sooner if games are lost in the lockout.
Looking back at past MLB lockouts
There have been nine strikes and lockouts in major league history:
1972 MLB strike: Canceled 86 games. The owners conceded after 13 days.
1973 MLB lockout: Canceled no games. Owners and the MLBPA agreed on a three-year CBA and spring training games resumed.
1976 MLB lockout: Canceled no games. Players were locked out of spring training the first few weeks of March. No regular-season games were missed.
1980 MLB strike: Canceled no games. Players went on strike late in spring training and an agreement was reached before the beginning of the regular season.
1981 MLB strike: Canceled 713 games. The MLBPA went on strike after games on June 11 and games didn’t resume until Aug.10.
1985 MLB strike: Canceled no games. This in-season strike lasted from Aug. 6-7, but the games missed were made up at the end of the season.
1990 MLB lockout: Canceled no games. This lockout destroyed spring training and pushed the start of the season back a week, but the full 162-game season was played.
1994–95 MLB strike: Canceled 938 games and the entire 1994 postseason, including the World Series. At the time, it was the longest work stoppage in professional sports history (since surpassed by the 2004-05 NHL lockout).
2021-22 MLB lockout: Canceled no games. The first two series of the regular season, plus all of spring training, were originally canceled, but a 162-game season was salvaged when the two sides agreed to end the lockout on March 10.
A new MLB champion has been crowned, and now the baseball world will eagerly await a return to the diamond.
The timing of that return, however, is very much up in the air.
Major League Baseball owners and the MLB Players Association are a month away from a potential lockout. The two sides can work out a new collective bargaining agreement to prevent a work stoppage, but they are far apart on several key issues in labor discussions.
Those topics have to be negotiated and agreed upon, and they could shape the next half-decade of the league. Teams can’t return to play until both sides sign a new collective bargaining agreement.
When would a lockout begin, how long could it last and which issues are at the center of discussions? Here’s everything to know as the expiration date for the current CBA quickly approaches.
What is a lockout?
A lockout is a work stoppage when the owners of a sports league and the players’ union fail to agree on a collective bargaining agreement before the existing one expires. There are no games until the two sides agree on a new CBA.
Players are barred from team facilities and official activities during a lockout, they do not get paid and their images are expected to be removed from the league’s official website.
On the team side, franchises cannot sign players or make trades during a lockout, which could spark a free-agent frenzy in November.
When does the current MLB CBA expire?
The current collective bargaining agreement between MLB and the Major League Baseball Players Association will expire at 11:59 p.m. ET on Dec. 1. It was signed on March 10, 2022, after a 99-day lockout.
Why is there going to be an MLB lockout?
The MLB and MLBPA are at odds over money, namely a potential salary cap, its impact on the competitive balance of the league and the ramifications for players’ earnings.
The league believes a salary cap would help level the playing field for its 30 ballclubs. The highest-spending team in 2026, New York Mets, had a payroll exceeding $346 million, per Spotrac. On the other end, the lowest-spending team, the Cleveland Guardians, had a payroll below $75 million.
“In order for this game to reach its full potential, we need to continue to address concerns that our fans have, particularly concerns that go to the core of what we’re about — that is, competitive balance,” commissioner Rob Manfred said in July. “We need to make sure that fans in markets at the beginning of the season have a realistic belief that their team has a chance to win.”
However, spending did not equate to winning in 2026. The final four teams were No. 2 (Los Angeles Dodgers), No. 19 (Milwaukee Brewers), No. 28 (Tampa Bay Rays) and No. 30 (Guardians).
The Dodgers’ acquisition of two-time Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal ahead of this year’s trade deadline fueled debate about the competitive advantage big spenders can afford. Months later, their three-peat bid came crashing down in the NLCS at the hands of the Brewers, who swept that series and defeated the Rays for their first World Series title.
“It’s further evidence that the league’s purported ‘competitive balance’ justification for a salary cap holds no water,” Bruce Meyer, the acting executive director of the MLB Players Association, told NBC News in a statement ahead of the World Series. “But that’s never been the real reason why they want a salary cap. They want it to juice their profits and franchise values.”
The schedule has also been mentioned in labor talks.
In a recent bargaining session, MLB proposed cutting the regular season from 162 games to 154 games while expanding the Division Series from five games to seven starting in 2029. It also proposed having higher seeds choose their playoff opponent beginning in 2027.
“Returning to a 154-game schedule would allow us to introduce a weekly off-day, which is good for player health, while also creating a new national broadcast window to showcase our most exciting teams and players,” MLB spokesman Glen Caplin said. “A shorter regular season unlocks making October even better for our fans — with fewer weekday afternoon games, a longer Division Series and more opportunities to see the game’s best pitchers on the biggest stage. And allowing the top seeds to select their opponents in the first two rounds would create compelling storylines, intensify existing rivalries and create new ones.”
Other issues in labor discussions include the league’s drug-testing program and players wearing microphones in games for broadcast use.
How many games could MLB miss during the lockout?
It could be as few as zero, but there is no limit to the number of games that could be lost to a lockout.
When is the deadline for a new CBA?
There is no official deadline for the two sides to reach a new agreement, but there are certain cutoff dates where the season and league partners would be greatly affected.
The two sides were able to salvage a 162-game season in 2022 after agreeing to a new CBA on March 10, three weeks ahead of the originally scheduled Opening Day. The start of the regular season was pushed back a week to April 7, the end of the season was extended three days and nine-inning doubleheaders were added to make up for a condensed schedule. Even if MLB cancels early games next spring, they could reappear in the schedule if an agreement is reached shortly after.
Should the lockout persist later into the spring, it could impact the league’s broadcast partners. The Athletic, citing people briefed on MLB’s rights agreements, reported that the league’s national broadcast contracts would extend an additional year to 2029 if 60 or more games are cut from each team’s 2027 schedule. Local broadcasters could feel the affects even sooner if games are lost in the lockout.
Looking back at past MLB lockouts
There have been nine strikes and lockouts in major league history:
1972 MLB strike: Canceled 86 games. The owners conceded after 13 days.
1973 MLB lockout: Canceled no games. Owners and the MLBPA agreed on a three-year CBA and spring training games resumed.
1976 MLB lockout: Canceled no games. Players were locked out of spring training the first few weeks of March. No regular-season games were missed.
1980 MLB strike: Canceled no games. Players went on strike late in spring training and an agreement was reached before the beginning of the regular season.
1981 MLB strike: Canceled 713 games. The MLBPA went on strike after games on June 11 and games didn’t resume until Aug.10.
1985 MLB strike: Canceled no games. This in-season strike lasted from Aug. 6-7, but the games missed were made up at the end of the season.
1990 MLB lockout: Canceled no games. This lockout destroyed spring training and pushed the start of the season back a week, but the full 162-game season was played.
1994–95 MLB strike: Canceled 938 games and the entire 1994 postseason, including the World Series. At the time, it was the longest work stoppage in professional sports history (since surpassed by the 2004-05 NHL lockout).
2021-22 MLB lockout: Canceled no games. The first two series of the regular season, plus all of spring training, were originally canceled, but a 162-game season was salvaged when the two sides agreed to end the lockout on March 10.
The Sixers’ second meeting with the Knicks in 10 days will count in two places.
Friday night’s game at Xfinity Mobile Arena is part of the regular-season schedule, but it will also open Group Play in the fourth annual NBA Cup.
The Knicks enter as defending champions twice over. They won last season’s NBA Cup before completing their run to the NBA championship. The Sixers, meanwhile, will attempt to advance beyond the Cup’s opening stage for the first time.
Here is how the tournament works, what Philadelphia faces in East Group B and what has changed since the Sixers spoiled the Knicks’ banner night.
How does the NBA Cup work?
All 30 teams participate and are divided into six five-team groups — three from each conference. The groups were determined through a drawing based on last season’s standings.
Each team plays four Group Play games, facing every other member of its group once. Two are played at home and two are played on the road.
The Sixers share East Group B with New York, Cleveland, Miami and Indiana. Their schedule is:
Friday, Oct. 30: vs. Knicks
Friday, Nov. 6: at Cavaliers
Wednesday, Nov. 25: vs. Heat
Friday, Nov. 27: at Pacers
The three group winners from each conference advance to the eight-team Knockout Rounds. One wild card from each conference — the second-place team with the best Group Play record — also moves on.
Because each team only gets four Group Play games, there is little room for an off night. Head-to-head record is the first tiebreaker, followed by point differential and total points scored. That is why teams may continue attacking late in games that appear decided.
There is one new wrinkle involving overtime. If a Group Play game goes beyond regulation, the result still counts, but the teams receive a point differential of zero for tiebreaking purposes. Points scored in overtime are also removed from the total-points tiebreaker.
The Quarterfinals will be held Dec. 4 and 5, followed by the Semifinals on Dec. 8 and 9. Those games will be played at the higher seed’s home arena. The championship is scheduled for Dec. 11 at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Every Cup game also counts toward the regular-season standings except the championship. Players on teams that reach the Knockout Rounds receive prize money, with the amount increasing through each round. The league will also select a Cup MVP and an All-Tournament Team.
How have the Sixers fared?
The Sixers have gone 5-7 across the first three editions of the tournament and have never advanced beyond Group Play.
They finished 2-2 in both 2023 and 2024, then went 1-3 last season. Their only Cup victory in 2025 came in their final Group Play game against Brooklyn, after they had already dropped games to Boston, Detroit and Orlando.
New York experienced the other end of the tournament last season.
The Knicks defeated the Spurs, 124-113, in the championship game. Jalen Brunson was named Cup MVP after averaging 33.2 points across his six tournament appearances. The Cup became the Knicks’ first NBA trophy since 1973, several months before they added another.
Brunson is not the only former Cup MVP in East Group B. Every player to win the award is in the group: LeBron James won with the Lakers in 2023, Giannis Antetokounmpo won with the Bucks in 2024 and Brunson claimed it last year.
What worked for the Sixers in New York?
The Sixers beat the Knicks, 106-100, on opening night despite trailing by four at halftime.
Their defense shifted the game. New York shot 37 percent from the field, and Brunson finished with 21 points on 6-for-19 shooting.
The Sixers were especially effective when the Knicks tried to involve Joel Embiid in ball screens with Brunson. Philadelphia switched certain matchups before the screen arrived, sent extra pressure at Brunson when necessary and relied on James to rotate behind the play.
Philadelphia also created the kind of open-floor opportunities it wants this season. The Sixers scored 24 fast-break points and converted 14 New York turnovers into 22 points. Tyrese Maxey accounted for 12 of their fast-break points and finished with a team-high 28.
The Sixers did not shoot especially well, but their defense allowed them to attack before New York could get organized.
What has changed since the opener?
The Knicks’ season initially continued in the wrong direction.
New York followed its loss to Philadelphia with defeats against Boston and Orlando, opening 0-3. It has since responded with consecutive wins over Detroit and Chicago.
Brunson appears to have found his shot during that turnaround. He went 4 for 20 from three-point range over New York’s first four games before making six of his 10 attempts Wednesday against the Bulls. He finished with 38 points and seven assists in a 133-127 victory.
The Sixers have also changed since their first trip to Madison Square Garden. They enter Friday at 4-1 after Wednesday’s 114-109 win over the Pacers, when four players scored at least 20 points and three recorded double-doubles.
Availability could alter the rematch. Jaylen Brown is questionable with left knee soreness after playing in each of the Sixers’ first five games. James and Embiid are not listed on the injury report for the first leg of a back-to-back, while Dominick Barlow, Jabari Walker, Tacko Fall and Ariel Hukporti remain out. New York backup guard Jose Alvarado is out with a left ankle sprain.
A victory Friday would count the same as any other in the Sixers’ pursuit of a playoff spot. It would also give them the head-to-head advantage over the defending Cup champions in a four-game race where every result — and possibly every point — carries additional weight.
Who will win the fourth edition of the Emirates NBA Cup?
Introduced in the 2023-24 campaign as an in-season tournament, the NBA Cup offers teams and players an extra shot to lift a trophy, along with cash bonuses based on performance.
There will be new team jerseys, fresh colorful courts and a run to the final that will be played in a new location.
Here’s everything to know about how the tournament works, the schedule and how to watch.
When does the NBA Cup start?
This year’s tournament will begin on Friday, Oct. 30.
Most group stage games will be played on Fridays through Nov. 27, with additional contests on Nov. 24-25 before Thanksgiving.
The knockout rounds, starting with the quarterfinals, will begin on Dec. 4 and 5.
The semifinals and final were previously held in Las Vegas, but the league switched things up this year. Semifinals will be held at higher seeds’ home arenas and the final will be played at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
The NBA Cup has a similar format to the World Cup, with group play and a knockout round.
All 30 teams will compete in group play, having been placed into six groups of five teams within their conference. Teams face each of their group opponents once for a total of four group play games, two at home and two on the road.
If two or more teams are tied within a group, the following tiebreakers are used:
Head-to-head record in group play
Point differential in group play
Total points scored in group play
Record from the 2025-26 NBA regular season
Random drawing (in the unlikely scenario that two or more teams are still tied following the previous tiebreakers)
Eight teams advance to the single-elimination knockout rounds: the top team in each of the six groups and a wild-card team in each conference that’s awarded to the second-place finisher with the best overall record. Wild card tiebreakers follow the same tiebreaker sequence but begin with point differential.
Winning teams advance to the semifinals and then final.
Teams entered the season with only 80 scheduled games. The 22 teams that do not advance to the knockout round will play two regular-season games during tournament off nights on Dec. 6-7 and Dec. 9-10. The four teams that lose in the quarterfinals will play a regular-season game on either the Dec. 7, 9 or 10.
What are the groups for the NBA Cup?
The 30 teams were divided into six groups based on records from the 2025-26 regular season.
Pot 1:The teams with the three best prior-season records in a conference
Pot 2: The teams with the fourth- through sixth-best prior-season records in a conference
Pot 3: The teams with the seventh- through ninth-best prior-season records in a conference
Pot 4: The teams with the 10th-through 12th-best prior-season records in a conference
Pot 5: The teams with the 13th-through 15th-best prior-season records in a conference
And here are the six groups in total, with three in each conference.
All of the games count towards the 82-game regular-season standings, with the exception of the championship game. Teams that advance to the knockout round all receive a share of the prize pool, with teams advancing the furthest getting the largest allotment.
Players on the team that wins the NBA Cup will take home an extra $604,985 each, while the runner-up will receive $241,994 each. Semifinal losers will collect $120,997 each and the quarterfinal losers get $60,499.
The tournament winner also gets bragging rights, a trophy and even celebratory hats and shirts.
The NBA will also name the Most Valuable Player of the In-Season Tournament and the All-Tournament Team.
But, other than tournament games counting towards regular-season win-loss records, the tournament has no impact on the postseason bracket.
Where is the NBA Cup held?
Group play and the knockout rounds of the in-season tournament will be played at each team’s respective home arenas.
The NBA Cup Final will take place at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
How to watch the NBA Cup games
Most NBA Cup games will air on Prime Video, NBA League Pass or local stations. Select games will air on NBC and Peacock, as well as ESPN.
Australia coach says recalled 37-year-old adds depth to tour squad
Tom Hooper overcomes injury to be available for Nations Championship
Coach Les Kiss says veteran playmaker Kurtley Beale is in consideration for Australia’s Rugby World Cup squad after his shock recall for the Wallabies’ spring tour of the UK.
Beale answered Kiss’s SOS call for next month’s three Tests against England, Scotland and Wales, before the inaugural Nations Championship finals from November 21-23.
The Los Angeles Kings have had their struggles this season, but they always seem to save their best for the Ottawa Senators.
But on Thursday night, they nearly let a sure victory slip through their fingers.
Quinton Byfield scored in overtime to give the Kings a 6-5 victory, rescuing Los Angeles from a stunning collapse after the Senators scored four unanswered goals in the third period to erase a 5-1 deficit.
It was shaping up to be a disastrous evening for the Senators.
After giving up four unanswered goals in the second period, they trailed 5-1 with less than 13 minutes remaining in regulation. They had gone an incredible 25 minutes without registering a shot on goal and were down to just nine forwards.
But instead of folding up shop, the Senators somehow found another gear, scoring four straight goals to force overtime and salvage a valuable point from a game that appeared hopelessly out of reach.
Dylan Cozens led the comeback with two goals and an assist, while Drake Batherson had a goal and two helpers.
The rally began at 7:18 of the third period when Cozens scored his second goal of the season.
Just 33 seconds later, Batherson ripped one in off the crossbar to make it 5-3, suddenly giving the Senators some hope.
The comeback continued at 12:34 when Cozens scored his second of the night on the power play, poking the puck home to pull the Senators within one.
And with time running out, Shane Pinto completed the comeback. With just 1:40 remaining in regulation, Pinto redirected a hard pass from Batherson to tie the game at 5.
Somehow, a blowout had turned into a thriller.
Yes, Byfield's overtime winner denied the Senators the extra point, but it couldn't erase what they had accomplished in the final 13 minutes of regulation.
The overtime loss extended the Kings' unbeaten streak against the Senators to 13 games (10-0-3). It also marked the first time this season that the Sens have lost consecutive games, though not in regulation.
The game started well enough for the Senators, who opened the scoring on a goal by Tyler Kleven. The young defenceman jumped into the play and buried a rebound off a Fabian Zetterlund shot to give the Senators a 1-0 lead.
But things went downhill quickly from there.
After a questionable interference penalty against Artem Zub, the Kings took advantage on a deflection by Erik Haula. Corey Perry was perfectly positioned in front of Jonas Johansson, screening the Senators goaltender on the tying goal.
Perry seemed to be in the middle of everything the Kings did offensively.
Trevor Moore gave Los Angeles a 2-1 lead before Mikey Anderson scored from distance to make it 3-1, once again with Perry providing the screen in front.
By that point, the Senators were completely flat-footed. They eventually went 25 straight minutes without registering a shot on goal, and things only got worse when Joel Armia spun and fired a shot past Johansson to make it 4-1.
That ended Johansson's evening. After getting the start for a third consecutive game, the Belleville call-up was pulled in favour of Sam Ersson.
But the goaltending change did little to immediately spark the Sens.
Artemi Panarin ripped a shot off the post and in to give Los Angeles a commanding 5-1 lead. Once again, Perry was screening the Senators goaltender.
The Senators were also running out of healthy bodies.
Hayden Hodgson was assessed a five-minute major and ejected for a hit on Brandt Clarke. Andre Burakovsky left the game with a lower-body injury, while Nick Cousins was handed a misconduct, leaving the Senators to try and stage their come back with just nine available forwards.
With a four-goal deficit, a depleted forward group and virtually no offensive momentum, there was little reason to believe the Senators had a comeback in them. There were probably a lot of fans back home in Ottawa who opted for sleep over what seemed to be a beatdown.
But the Sens somehow turned what was shaping up to be their worst performance of the season into what will go down as one of their most memorable comebacks.
There will certainly be plenty for Travis Green and his coaching staff to address after an awful second period and that long, ugly stretch where the Senators could barely generate a shot.
But considering where they stood midway through the third period, that point must feel an awful lot like a victory.
ST. LOUIS – The St. Louis Blues felt the results would change if they stuck with their process and identity.
It didn’t happen Tuesday against the Montreal Canadiens, but on Thursday against one of the league’s hottest teams in the Boston Bruins, at least for one night, fortunes changed.
Robert Thomas and Philip Broberg each had a goal and two assists, and the Blues ended a two-game scoring drought in a 4-1 win against the Bruins at Enterprise Center to conclude an arduous five-game homestand against some of the top teams at 3-2-0.
“That’s one of the hottest teams in the League,” Thomas said of the Bruins. “I thought we played them really well all game. It feels great.”
Blues coach Jim Montgomery added, “What we want to take away from it is 3-2, but we probably should have been 4-1, and we played the elite in the League. All five teams that came in here. … We played really good teams, we matched up well and three of the last four games playing to what I believe is our identity. You can see the process starting to come and that we’re playing real good hockey. In three of those games, we outplayed really good hockey teams.”
The Blues (6-6-1) also got power-play goals from Jimmy Snuggerud and Jake Neighbours, and Joel Hofer, despite some risky but standard – for him – plays, was rock solid in goal with 31 saves, including 14 in the third period.
About the game …
* Stick with the process – Those that felt the doom and gloom of losing via shutout on Tuesday for the second straight game, 2-0, weren’t feeling the same way as the coaches and players felt, and they felt other than the score, which obviously matters, the parts to the game were played the right way and if they stuck to that similar process, the results would eventually follow.
The Blues pumped 46 shots and 80 attempts at Jacob Fowler on Tuesday but couldn’t solve the Canadiens goalie. They were able to beat the quality of a Jeremy Swayman on Thursday with four goals on 18 shots, and they broke their goal drought at 139:38.
“Montreal, I thought we played a strong game,” Snuggerud said. “I thought we honestly did tonight. Shots didn’t necessarily show that, but I thought we competed hard and brought the energy.
“… The message was this is the NHL and you’re going to face some really good goaltenders. I thought Fowler was really good a couple nights ago and that happens, but just stick with our game of how we finished in the third against Montreal and I thought we brought it tonight.”
* Getting two key power-play goals and quickly – The Blues were down 1-0 in the game on a James Hagens goal, and with the Bruins, who fell to 9-4-1, having been on a 7-0-1 run prior to their 2-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday, they were looking at a great challenge having to come back.
But using their special teams offensively fueled a turnaround, and it started with a set play off the face-off with Thomas winning a draw, Broberg attacking the middle of the ice and feeding Snuggerud for a one-timer to tie the game 1-1 at 15:43 of the first period:
Power play goal for St. Louis!
Scored by Jimmy Snuggerud with 04:17 left in the 1st. Assisted by Philip Broberg and Robert Thomas.
“It’s a play we’ve been working on,” Snuggerud said. “I think the puck kind of ended up in a really good spot where he was able to sink down and kind of find me on that one-timer there. I didn’t get a hold of it really well, but fortunately it went in.”
The key was winning the face-off, which Thomas did.
“Great vision by ‘Broby,’” Thomas said. “We talked about attacking a little bit more. He came flying off the wall and made two great plays. Especially scoring really early on the power play I feel like gives your team a lot of momentum. It was really good.
“There’s a lot of things going on. ‘Jakey’ jumping off the wall. ‘MacT’ creating the space. Their winger comes flying out and he’s getting in the lane and getting to the net. There’s a lot of stuff that’s going on that isn’t really noticed. But they make the play happen.”
Then there’s the put-away goal that Neighbours scored to make it 4-1 at 12:42 of the third period off another face-off win by Thomas, Broberg driving the middle of the ice, shooting it, Neighbours knocking it down and backhanding the puck past Swayman:
Power play goal for St. Louis!
Scored by Jake Neighbours with 07:18 left in the 3rd. Assisted by Philip Broberg and Robert Thomas.
“’Tommer’ was great on face-offs tonight and the intensity of the guys helping, 83 and 63 on the line, allowed us to win it back, and 6 and 21 on the second goal was just real good net conversion which is something that Vinny Prospal’s been harping on since the beginning of the year and that’s the best we’ve executed,” Montgomery said. “Obviously the goals went in, that’s nice. Big momentum swings for us.”
Snuggerud added, “’Broby’ brings that energy and that shooting mentality, which is nice to have, especially with different guys in front of the net there. It’s nice. Jakey’s really good there. It was a nice tip and a nice play. I think kind of emphasizing scoring within the first 5-10 seconds of the power play. I thought we executed that tonight.”
With Broberg and Adam Jiricek manning the points on the power play, the Blues were 2-for-3 and 25.7 percent on the season, good for sixth in the NHL.
“I thought it was a shooting mentality,” Broberg said. “Take it to the net. It was nice to see those two goals go in.
“Usually if you win the face-off, you get a little advantage. You try to take advantage of it. I think we made two good plays there. You just want to keep building on that.”
* Line changes pay dividends – Despite playing well Tuesday, the bottom line is the Blues didn’t score for a second straight game, and the coaching staff wanted a different, fresh look.
Montgomery played Neighbours with Thomas and Snuggerud, moved Pavel Buchnevich with Mason McTavish and Jonatan Berggren and flanked Dalibor Dvorsky with Dylan Holloway and Connor McMichael.
“Obviously we get shut out twice in a row. You’ve got to kind of switch some things up, but I think over the lats couple games, we started playing consistently the same way,” Thomas said. “It was nice to get rewarded tonight from that.”
That top line needed a boost and Neighbours provided a different perspective.
“They’re both such skilled players. Jake and ‘Holly’ both work hard, extremely hard in the corners,” Snuggerud said. “They’re both very smart hockey players. It’s fun to be able to play with them both in different scenarios.”
And the results as far as the coaches were concerned?
“I thought our work ratio together, people playing off each other was quicker and faster, especially on the forecheck,” Montgomery said. “I thought Jake Neighbours did a really good job of bringing some net front presence and below the tops, grinding it out on that line. I thought that the Dvorsky line had a lot of intelligent shifts for us, which was nice to see and I thought the (Pius) Suter line had a great game. I matched them up a lot against whenever (David) Pastrnak was on the ice and they did a really good job for us which enables me to free up our offensive lines against other lines.”
* Broberg continues to impact games – Broberg continues to impact the game at both ends of the ice and Thursday was no exception.
Along with the three-point game, he played 25:55 and affected the game with his speed and ability to jump into the offense after being a part of the group that had good defensive sticks breaking up plays.
“Anyone who can attack the middle of the ice, it creates all the offense (and) it opens everything up, especially from a defenseman,” Thomas said of Broberg. “The more they can get in the middle, and he obviously skates really well. He creates a lot of time and space for everyone out there. It’s great to see his confidence just grow and grow every game, especially shooting the puck and really attacking that middle. It takes some confidence to walk the blue line like that to make moves up there. He’s only going to get better. It’s really exciting for all of us to watch.”
Broberg’s fastest speed recorded this season has been 24.26 on Oct. 17 against the Nashville Predators, and his confidence with the puck continues to rise.
Just look at the goal he scored at 5:17 of the second period to make it a 2-1 game when he jumped into the play and took advantage of McMichael’s pass from behind the net to the high slot after a really good keep along the wall from Holloway:
St. Louis goal!
Scored by Philip Broberg with 14:43 left in the 2nd. Assisted by Connor McMichael and Dylan Holloway.
“I try to join the rush with my speed and my skating and help the team offensively and get back on ‘D,’” Broberg said. “You see open space and ‘Mikey’ made a great play there finding me. It was nice to see it go in.”
* Stick play was essential – Early in the game, Boston was taking advantage of the Blues going through the neutral zone and executing breakouts.
As the game wore on, you could see responsible sticks breaking up plays and turning the puck back the other way.
“There’s a lot of guys that had good sticks tonight,” Thomas said. “Super-important, especially through the neutral zone and on the track. You can create a lot off it by breaking up plays. I think a lot of guys did a good job of that.”
It was essential in the second period when the Blues took the game over on the scoreboard. It led directly to Thomas’ goal that made it 3-1 at 12:08:
St. Louis goal!
Scored by Robert Thomas with 07:52 left in the 2nd. Assisted by Justin Barron.
“Our sticks were really good, especially the second period,” Montgomery said. “I thought that was a clinic in how we need to play defensively. In all three zones but neutral zone was really important because we thought the first 10 minutes, they were picking us apart in the neutral zone and we were disjointed. Forwards weren’t holding the red line, which made defensemen back off and that’s why they can go east-west on us and they can make some high-end plays in the first 10.”
* Thomas has a really good shot, use it more – We’ve always felt like pass-first Thomas has a really nice shot and it was on display on his second goal this season when he was looking to shoot and realized the time and space he had from the blue line in after Justin Barron got him the puck.
“It was nice,” Thomas said. “I haven’t shot the puck a lot lately, so it was nice to get in a good area and rip it. Nice to see one go in. … I was looking pass, but I just kind of (kept) skating and kept skating and eventually I shot it.”
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LOS ANGLES (AP) — Quinton Byfield scored at 3:37 of overtime and the Los Angeles Kings beat the Ottawa Senators 6-5 on Thursday night after blowing a four-goal lead in the third period.
Byfield beat goalie Samuel Ersson with a snap shot from the high slot, with Drew Doughty picking up his third assist of the night on the play.
Erik Haula tied it for Los Angeles on a first-period power play and Trevor Moore, Mikey Anderson, Joel Armia and Artemi Panarin scored in the second to make it 5-1. Panarin capped the run on a power play after Ottawa's Hayden Hodgson was tossed for boarding defenseman Brandt Clarke.
Clarke missed the rest of the game because of an upper-body injury.
Ottawa roared back in the third, with Shane Pinto tying it at 5 with 1:40 left and Ersson off for an extra attacker.
Dylan Cozens scored twice in the period and Drake Batherson also connected. Cozens and Batherson struck in a 33-second span, and Cozens cut it to a goal with 7:26 remaining. Tyler Kleven opened the scoring for Ottawa in the first period.
Darcy Kuemper made 17 saves for Los Angeles.
Jonas Johansson stopped 12 of 16 shots before giving way to Ersson in the second. Ersson made 20 saves on 22 shots.
The Golden State Warriors seem to have landed a gem with the No. 11 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.
Yaxel Lendeborg has put his name among some of the greatest rookies of all-time with his first-week performance.
After an 0-3 start, the Warriors have won back-to-back games and Lendeborg has filled his role tremendously.
Yes, he's playing alongside a guy named Stephen Curry, who's been unstoppable the past two games − his 44-point night following a perfect shooting night. Still, Curry can't do it alone and with injuries to Jimmy Butler III and Moses Moody, Golden State needs players to step up. Lendeborg has so far.
The 24-year-old rookie has averaged 22.6 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 4.0 assists over his first five games.
His performances include 31 points in the Warriors' first win of the season, which came on the road against the Denver Nuggets. He added 12 rebounds and six assists. He shot 9-of-19.
He's continued to adapt to the NBA game, staying aggressive and getting easy opportunities at the free throw line. The rookie finished 12-of-13 from the charity stripe against Denver.
Lendeborg joined Hall of Famers Patrick Ewing, David Robinson and O'Neal as the only players in the draft lottery era (since 1985) to put up at least 85 points and 35 rebounds in their first four career games.
He scored 87 points in his first four career games, which is second-most for a player in Warriors history behind Wilt Chamberlain. Lendeborg is ahead of Joe Fulks (78 points in 1946-47); Paul Arizin (73 points in 1950-51); Rick Barry (71 points in 1965-66); and Chris Webber (68 points in 1993-94).
Lendeborg is still a rookie and he gets nervous out there, especially playing with Curry and Draymond Green, who have won four NBA championships together and understand what winning looks like.
Curry shot a perfect 8-for-8, scoring 24 points in their win against the Nuggets, but it was Lendeborg who led the team in scoring that night. Lendeborg is continually gaining confidence because the team leaders are encouraging it from him.
"Steph and Draymond's confidence for me," Lendeborg said after their win against the Nuggets. "After the game in Hawaii, where I think I had, like, three points, and only took three shots, I asked them just for some guidance, some advice, and they told me to just, you know, try to be confident, be aggressive, and play through mistakes. I'm gonna be in that position to do that."
The advice worked.
"Just hearing that from those two guys, I was coming into the game timid, like, I don't want to mess up what they got going on," Lendeborg said. "They pretty much just gave me free roam. So they helped me out, and from then, I just vowed to be a little more aggressive in each night."
In their 119-114 victory against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Oct. 28, Curry scored a season-high 44 points. Lendeborg was the team's secondary option with 26 points and nine rebounds. He had seven turnovers but that's a part of the opportunity for growth that Curry and Green told him about.
"I was telling (Luka) he sucks. He can’t score on me,” Lendeborg said after the game. “You talk and you can’t score on me. I said it the whole game."
Lendeborg said he "lost all respect" for Dončić after the game because the Lakers superstar was complaining to the officials for calls. Dončić scored 28 points on 7-for-18 shooting from the field and added eight rebounds and seven assists.
"It's about him complaining the entire game. And then you get foul call. Congratulations, bro," Lendeborg said. "And then you talk to me, like you did something great, bro. Come on, now. It kind of threw me off for a little while, 'cause, you know, like I said, I had so much respect for him. Gone."
Lendeborg gets his next opportunity Friday, as the Warriors look to win their third consecutive game and get back .500 on the season as they host the Lakers at the Chase Center in San Francisco. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. PT/10 p.m. ET.
The Vancouver Canucks looked like they might have put together one of their strongest team efforts after 40 minutes against the San Jose Sharks tonight, but three consecutive goals for the Sharks resulted in Vancouver ultimately suffering a 3–2 loss. Drew O’Connor and Liam Öhgren scored the goals for the Canucks, while Leevi Meriläinen stopped 21 of 24 shots faced.
Vancouver faced a brief scare early in the first period when Brock Boeser blocked a shot with what appeared to be the inside of his foot. After sitting on the bench for a little after, the forward went down the tunnel and to the Canucks’ dressing room. Öhgren took Boeser’s place on a power play soon after, though Boeser returned towards the end of the period and played out the remainder of the game.
Is Elias Pettersson back? That’s been one of the biggest topics of debate since the start of the season. Pettersson’s assist on O’Connor’s game-opening goal seems to have given many the belief that he may be back. The play started with Pettersson carrying the puck along the boards, chipping it and retrieving it after it bounced off Sharks defenceman Dmitry Orlov. He then pulled it between his skates while facing pressure from two different players to keep it in the zone before flinging it on net. O’Connor fetched the rebound and tucked it past Sharks goaltender Yaroslav Askarov.
The second period saw Vancouver take and kill two penalties, maintain a solid presence both offensively and defensively, and even double-up their lead thanks to a sharp snipe for Öhgren. This frame also featured a three-minute shift for defenceman Tom Willander during a sequence that saw San Jose press a little harder than they had through the majority of the game.
Vancouver has struggled significantly in the shifts following a goal allowed, and despite their strong effort tonight, this once again proved to be the case. Will Smith scored on a Sharks power play during the third period to give San Jose their first goal of the night. After that goal, Vancouver didn’t quite look the same as they did throughout the bulk of the game beforehand. San Jose was able to leverage that momentum into a sequence of strong O-zone time that left the Canucks without the same strengths they’d exhibited during the first and second periods of the game.
Because of that momentum, San Jose was able to tie the game at two goals apiece, once again thanks to a goal by Smith. Yet again, the shift after surrendering a goal did the Canucks in, as the Sharks found the back of the net 11 seconds later to take a 3–2 lead. The shifts following San Jose’s third goal saw Vancouver look nothing like how they did for the majority of the game — scrambly, disjointed, and chaotic. A two-minute 6-on-4 advantage near the end of the game couldn’t even give Vancouver a game-tying goal.
While Vancouver did surrender a two-goal lead and ultimately lost by a score of 3–2, by no means was this a bad game for a rebuilding team that is still learning in the early stages of their season. Before the three consecutive Sharks goals, the Canucks demonstrated a strong sense of confidence. It was clear Vancouver’s players were more eager to test out new things or try bolder plays than they have been as of late — from Pettersson’s stickhandling, to Öhgren’s hefty shot on Askarov, to Meriläinen’s steady saves after facing scoring chance after scoring chance for the Sharks while shorthanded.
All in all, tonight’s game served as a good learning lesson for the Canucks. While they put together a very strong 40-minute effort, they were unable to seal the win in the final 20, once again suffering a downhill-slide in the shifts following a goal surrendered.
Stats and Facts:
Elias Pettersson extends his current point streak to six straight games
Filip Chytil plays the second-most minutes of all Canucks skaters with 22:13
Marco Rossi and Max Sasson each log a 75% faceoff win percentage
Liam Öhgren scores in back-to-back games for the first time in his NHL career
Scoring Summary:
1st Period:
13:21 - VAN: Drew O’Connor (2) from Elias Pettersson
2nd Period:
18:56 - VAN: Liam Öhgren (4) from Filip Hronek
3rd Period:
8:00 - SJ: Will Smith (5) from Dmitry Orlov and Mason Marchment (PPG)
10:39 - SJ: Will Smith (6) from Macklin Celebrini and Michael Kesselring
10:50 - SJ: Mason Marchment (4) from Kiefer Sherwood and Nolan Allan
Up Next:
Vancouver Canucks vs. Toronto Maple Leafs, October 31, 4:00 pm PT
Oct 29, 2026; San Jose, California, USA; Vancouver Canucks left wing Drew O'Connor (18) shoots during the first period against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center at San Jose. Mandatory Credit: Bob Kupbens-Imagn Images
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PORTLAND, OR - OCTOBER 29: Cameron Boozer #27 of the Memphis Grizzlies handles the ball during the game against the Portland Trail Blazers on October 29, 2026 at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Cameron Browne/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
Getting a triple-double is not a common thing for any NBA player, and less so for rookies. Getting one this early in the season is even rarer.
The last rookie to get a triple-double by his fifth game was Lonzo Ball, who turned the trick for the Los Angeles Lakers in 2017-18.
Well, Cameron Boozer pulled it off against Portland Thursday night. The former Duke star finished with 18 points, 11 rebounds, and 12 assists against the Trail Blazers.
It’s still early, but at this point, it’s hard to argue that Boozer isn’t the leading candidate for Rookie of the Year.
More importantly, the Memphis Grizzlies are now 5-0.
