NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Nico Hischier scored 42 seconds into overtime to give the Devils a 3-2 win over the Nashville Predators on Thursday night after New Jersey’s Jack Hughes left the game in the first period and didn’t return.
Hischier’s slap shot from just beyond the left faceoff circle beat Nashville’s Justus Annunen high to the glove side for the winner. Dawson Mercer picked up the assist on Hischier’s eighth career overtime goal. Hischier leads the Devils with 18 goals and 23 assists in 54 games.
New Jersey’s Jesper Bratt tied the game at 2 midway through the third. Dougie Hamilton also scored for the Devils, who snapped a two-game skid. Jacob Markstrom made 27 saves.
Hughes left the game after three shifts in the first period. The team did not announce any injury status for the 24-year-old center.
Hughes’ latest absence comes two weeks before the U.S. is set to play its first game at the Milan Cortina Olympics. Hughes, along with brother Quinn, is a first-time Olympian. The U.S. has two sets of brothers, with Matthew and Brady Tkachuk also on the team.
Michael McCarron and Filip Forsberg scored for Nashville, which lost its third straight. Annunen made 32 saves.
McCarron staked Nashville to an early lead with a goal five minutes into the first period. Hamilton tied it at 1 midway through the second, extending his points streak to nine games.
Forsberg gave the Predators the lead 1:34 into the third period. With the goal, Forsberg moves into sixth place for career NHL goals by a Swedish player with 338 scores in 833 games. He trails Mats Sundin (564), Daniel Alfredsson (444), Markus Nasland (395), Tomas Sandstrom (394), Daniel Sedin (393).
Bratt’s 13 goal of the season came on a Predators turnover, flipping a shot over Annunen to tie the game.
ATLANTA, GEORGIA - JANUARY 29: Amen Thompson #1 of the Houston Rockets steals the ball from CJ McCollum #3 of the Atlanta Hawks during the second quarter at State Farm Arena on January 29, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. 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. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Atlanta Hawks were at home Thursday evening to take on the Houston Rockets. The Hawks were coming off a big win against the Boston Celtics the night before and riding a four-game winning streak. As for the Rockets, they were coming off a loss to the San Antonio Spurs last night, and looking to get back in the win column.
By no surprise, the Hawks were without Onyeka Okongwu after going through dental surgery earlier in the day. Jalen Johnson was also ruled out hours before the game because of calf tightness.
Just like against Celtics, the Hawks got off to a fast start in the first quarter with a 7-0 lead.
The Rockets started to settle in just a little and made a run to get even. The Hawks were able to still keep the lead, as CJ McCollum came in and was instant offense.
Both teams were cold for most of the quarter and were shooting around 30% from the field. The score going into the second showed it, as both teams had 23.
The poor shooting continued through the second quarter, and the Hawks tried to find easy buckets wherever they could. That’s how they got on the board with this connection from McCollum to Christian Koloko.
The Hawks never let the Rockets go off on a big run, and they had to rely on their defense when the shots weren’t falling. That wasn’t new to Daniels, as he got this steal that led to a McCollum three.
Going into halftime, the Hawks trailed the Rockets 43-42.
The Rockets started to pull away in the third quarter after a few missed shots and not being able to secure defensive rebounds. It was a ten-point lead for the Rockets at midway through the third, but the Hawks were able to go on a run of their own to cut deficit to three.
Going into the fourth quarter, the Hawks trailed 78-66.
Things didn’t get better for the Hawks when the fourth quarter started, as the Rockets built a 20-point advantage. The Hawks did their best to chip away at their deficit, but it was hard for them to get consistent stops on the other end.
With not enough scoring power on offense, the Hawks ultimately couldn’t string together enough buckets to cut their deficit, and Quin Snyder pulled the plug with about two minutes left after Kevin Durant hit a three-pointer to seal the deal for the Rockets.
McCollum finished with 23 points, Alexander-Walker finished with 20 points, and Corey Kispert finished with 17 points.
The Hawks will be back in action on Saturday against the Indiana Pacers.
The Los Angeles Kings (22-17-13) outshot the Buffalo Sabres (31-17-5) and had a lot of chances to make this a closer game, but a pair of unlucky calls against them and a strong night from Sabres goaltender Alex Lyon and forward Alex Tuch proved too much to overcome.
Despite playing a much better second period after a poor first, LA was unable to dig itself out of the hole at KeyBank Center, falling 4-1 in Buffalo.
Once again, struggling early on in regulation and falling in a 2-0 hole, doomed the Kings to make any run against the home team.
Buffalo struck first in the opening period. A pass from Ryan McLeod intended for Alex Tuch deflected off the Kings and slid past Darcy Kuemper for a fluky goal, giving the Sabres the early 1-0 lead.
The Sabres added to that lead a few minutes later after a faceoff win. Matttias Samuelsson stepped from the point and beat Kuemper's glove, extending the lead 2-0 despite LA holding the edge in shots made through the first 20 minutes of regulation.
Los Angeles had a lot of chances late in the period to score, but the defense from Lyon was excellent, with him on the crease for Buffalo, turning aside several chances the Kings had.
Second Period: Controversial Call
The Kings appeared to get on board early in the second period when Alex Laferriere knocked off the puck past Lyon, cutting the deficit to one, but the goal was overturned after an extended review due to goalie interference between Corey Perry and Lyon.
It was a big call: looking back on the play, it seemed the goalie had enough time to recover, but the call was upheld, and instead of 2-1, the score remained 2-0, and gave the Sabres a chance to extend it further in the second period.
Laferriere has the puck in net for the Kings.
It's ruled a goal, but the officials huddle for an extended time and call it no goal for goalie interference after contact between Perry and Lyon.
Moments later, Tuch finished from the slot off a point shot to extend the score 3-0 just like that, after the overturned goal from the Kings.
Near the end of the second period, Los Angeles finally broke through on the power play when Kevin Fiala fed Adrian Kempe off the high deflection on the power play to score, cutting the deficit to 3-1.
Down two entering the third, the Kings were desperate for a big play to get back in the game, but they never made it, as the Sabres' defense and goaltender made it tough for Los Angeles.
The dagger came when Tuch converted on the empty-net goal, finishing with three goals on the night and torching the Kings' defense, winning 4-1.
The Kings finished with a 38-32 advantage in shots and a 30-9 advantage in hits, but Buffalo made most of its opportunities on the Kings' 20 giveaways, which led to extended zone time for the Sabres to convert on offense.
It was nice to see Kuemper play well tonight after missing the last game against the Detroit Red Wings, finishing with 28 saves despite giving up three goals.
The biggest play was obviously the overturned goal at a critical moment on Laferriere's shot, who would've made it 2-1 in the second period, but instead it was 3-0 after two periods, and Los Angeles was never able to recover from then on.
The Los Angeles Kings drop their first game in this six-game road trip and will look to clean up this loss on Saturday against the Philadelphia Flyers at 9:30 P.M. PT
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WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 29: Kyshawn George #18 of the Washington Wizards dribbles the ball during the game against the Milwaukee Bucks on January 29, 2026 at Capital One Arena in Washington, DC. 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 Sabina Shysh/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
The Washington Wizards scored a second straight victory on Thursday in a 109-99 win over the Milwaukee Bucks at Capital One Arena.
The Wiz Kids did their thing with John Wall in attendance for his celebration night. But it wasn’t always pretty.
The first quarter was a brickfest for both teams. The Bucks missed seven of their first eight shots as the Wizards held them to 2 points for nearly the first 5 minutes of the contest. Milwaukee battled back to take a lead late in the period, but a four-point play from Bub Carrington and three free throws from Will Riley in the closing seconds helped Washington secure a 25-23 lead to close the first.
Tre Johnson suffered an injury in the opening minute of the second quarter. The sharpshooting rookie drained a contested baseline jumper plus the foul, but Ryan Rollins’ dangerous closeout led to Johnson rolling his ankle. Rollins was assessed a flagrant 1.
Johnson tried to battle through the injury. He played a few more minutes and even sank a floater before being ruled out for the rest of the game.
The Wizards took control of the contest before halftime, outscoring the Bucks 32-20 in the second to take a 14-point lead at the half. Kyshawn George had 13 points, while Justin Champagnie hustled his way to 10 points at the break.
Bilal Coulibaly punctuated the third period with a pair of powerful poster-worthy jams. The lead hovered at around a dozen throughout the quarter, with the Wizards entering the fourth up 82-72.
A few familiar faces made things interesting down the stretch. Former Wizards Kyle Kuzma and Ryan Rollins combined for 18 points in the final period, trimming the lead to 2 with 90 seconds left. Washington’s defense held firm to close the game, outscoring the visitors 8-0 the rest of the way.
The victory was the Wizards’ third this season over the Bucks, meaning 25 percent of the team’s wins so far this season have come against Milwaukee.
George led the way with 23 points, five rebounds, five assists, and a pair of steals. Sarr posted a 16-point, 17-rebound double-double with two blocks. Carrington had 13 points and six assists off the bench.
The Wizards get right back into the action Friday on the second night of a back-to-back against the Los Angeles Lakers.
There wasn’t much mystery to this one. The game was bad early, stayed bad, and only got uglier as the night wore on.
The Colorado Avalanche were handed a 7–3 loss by the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night at Bell Centre, as the NHL’s top team dropped its second straight game in as many nights and failed to find any sustained rhythm. Colorado has now lost six of its last eight and sits at 4-4-2 over its past 10 after opening the season at a record-setting pace.
Brock Nelson, Joel Kiviranta, and Ross Colton scored for Colorado. Scott Wedgewood, returning after time away following the birth of his second child, struggled in net, surrendering seven goals on 28 shots.
Nick Suzuki led the way for Montreal with two goals and an assist. Juraj Slafkovský, Kirby Dach, Alexandre Carrier, Jake Evans, and Noah Dobson also found the back of the net, while Ivan Demidov chipped in with two assists. Jakub Dobeš made 26 saves for the Canadiens.
Montreal wasted no time setting the tone. Just 56 seconds into the game, Lane Hutson found Dobson in the left circle, and the defenseman blasted a one-timer past Wedgewood to open the scoring.
Colorado responded quickly. A little more than three minutes later, Nelson continued his torrid January by toe-dragging around Hutson and snapping a wrist shot cleanly into the net to tie the game. It marked his 28th goal of the season and underscored his status as one of the league’s hottest scorers this month.
The momentum didn’t last. After Keaton Middleton was whistled for cross-checking, Suzuki capitalized on the power play by burying a rebound that kicked off Wedgewood’s pad, restoring Montreal’s lead.
The Avalanche then compounded their problems. Josh Anderson was called for tripping Martin Nečas, but Colorado’s power play imploded when they surrendered their ninth shorthanded goal of the season. Kapanen cleared the puck directly to Suzuki, who broke in alone and beat Wedgewood with a forehand fake before sliding home the backhand to make it 3–1.
Second Period
The middle frame opened with Cole Caufield taking a high-sticking penalty on Artturi Lehkonen, drawing blood but only earning a minor. Colorado couldn’t convert, and moments later frustration mounted when Nathan MacKinnon was slashed on the hands without a call.
Soon after, Sam Malinski was sent off for an accidental high stick on Demidov. While Malinski immediately apologized, Slafkovský took exception, only to be met by Valeri Nichushkin, who stepped in and dropped him with a forearm.
Midway through the period, Sam Girard nearly sparked a comeback with a breakaway, but Dobeš shut the door with a brilliant pad save.
The game took a scary turn minutes later when Josh Manson crushed Kaiden Guhle along the boards after Guhle reached for a puck with his head down. Guhle stayed down in obvious pain. Zachary Bolduc confronted Manson, but neither dropped the gloves. After review, officials assessed no penalty.
Montreal quickly made Colorado pay. Evans extended the lead after Wedgewood mishandled the puck behind his net, allowing Evans to wrap it into an empty cage. Less than a minute later, Dach added another on a wraparound that slowly trickled across the line, pushing the lead to 5–1.
Colorado finally stopped the bleeding late in the period when Kiviranta jammed home a rebound from the left doorstep off an initial shot by Malinski with 1:54 remaining.
Third Period
The Avalanche showed some life to start the third, forcing turnovers and generating early chances. On one sequence, Cale Makar tried to set up MacKinnon for a tap-in at the back door, but the puck bounced awkwardly off his stick.
Colorado broke through at 4:38 when Nichushkin danced around defenders and found Colton behind the net. Colton snapped the puck past Dobeš, ending a 25-game scoreless drought and briefly cutting the deficit to two.
Any hope of a comeback vanished quickly. Just 67 seconds later, Montreal restored its four-goal cushion on a 2-on-1 rush. After a turnover in the defensive zone, Dach fed Suzuki, who drew both Makar and Nečas before sliding a pass to Carrier in the left circle for a wide-open finish.
Slafkovský delivered the final blow midway through the period. His initial shot sailed wide, but Wedgewood slid out of position while trying to disrupt Kapanen, inadvertently pushing the puck back to Slafkovský, who calmly buried it into the open net to seal a 7–3 result.
For Colorado, it was another discouraging night that raised more questions than answers as their early-season dominance continues to fade.
Next Game
The Avalanche (35-8-9) are back in action Saturday morning, visiting Patrick Kane and the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena for an 11:30 a.m. puck drop.
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Nico Hischier scored 42 seconds into overtime to give the Devils a 3-2 win over the Nashville Predators on Thursday night after New Jersey's Jack Hughes left the game in the first period and didn't return.
Hischier's slap shot from just beyond the left faceoff circle beat Nashville's Justus Annunen high to the glove side for the winner. Dawson Mercer picked up the assist on Hischier's eighth career overtime goal. Hischier leads the Devils with 18 goals and 23 assists in 54 games.
New Jersey's Jesper Bratt tied the game at 2 midway through the third. Dougie Hamilton also scored for the Devils, who snapped a two-game skid. Jacob Markstrom made 27 saves.
Hughes left the game after three shifts in the first period. The team did not announce any injury status for the 24-year-old center.
Hughes’ latest absence comes two weeks before the U.S. is set to play its first game at the Milan Cortina Olympics. Hughes, along with brother Quinn, is a first-time Olympian. The U.S. has two sets of brothers, with Matthew and Brady Tkachuk also on the team.
Michael McCarron and Filip Forsberg scored for Nashville, which lost its third straight. Annunen made 32 saves.
McCarron staked Nashville to an early lead with a goal five minutes into the first period. Hamilton tied it at 1 midway through the second, extending his points streak to nine games.
Forsberg gave the Predators the lead 1:34 into the third period. With the goal, Forsberg moves into sixth place for career NHL goals by a Swedish player with 338 scores in 833 games. He trails Mats Sundin (564), Daniel Alfredsson (444), Markus Nasland (395), Tomas Sandstrom (394), Daniel Sedin (393).
Bratt's 13 goal of the season came on a Predators turnover, flipping a shot over Annunen to tie the game.
Within an hour after being drafted by the Islanders, Matthew Schaefer declared in an interview with former “Entourage” star Kevin Connolly, “We’re going to beat the Rangers every time we play them.”
Schaefer’s four-leg parlay cashed Thursday night, when he scored at Madison Square Garden to help the Islanders to a 2-1 defeat of the Rangers that marked their first time sweeping the season series since 2017-18.
“Getting drafted to this team, coming to play for the Islanders, I know there’s that big rivalry,” Schaefer said inside a packed visitors locker room after the fact. “Every game from here on out’s a playoff game, especially against the Rangers. It’s a big win for us.
“Like I said before, we want to beat them every time, and we want to keep doing that because I know it makes us happy, I know it makes our fans happy, and we get two points out of it.”
It’s the third time in the history of the rivalry that the Islanders have swept the season series, having also done so in 2015-16. It’s the first time they’ve won every game in regulation and the first time they’ve gone four full games against the Rangers without trailing.
New York Islanders defenseman Matthew Schaefer skates down ice during the first period on Jan. 29, 2026. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
That is sweet revenge after the Rangers swept the Islanders by a combined score of 23-5 a year ago, culminating in a 9-2 embarrassment at UBS Arena that marked a low point for the Isles.
“I think we owed them one,” captain Anders Lee said. “Last year didn’t go our way. I think we evened it up.”
Since then, it has been all Islanders, starting with the lottery balls dropping in perfect sequence for their 3.5 percent chance at winning the No. 1 overall pick, and the rights to draft Schaefer. Had they beaten the Rangers just once last season, the two teams’ lottery odds would have been reversed, and he might have been skating for the other team Thursday.
Instead, Schaefer was making their lives miserable — and, in the latest ignominy in what has been a veritable parade of them for the Rangers, so too was Carson Soucy.
Soucy, who scored four goals in 62 games across parts of two seasons with the Blueshirts before being traded to the Island this week, was not acknowledged on the scoreboard in his return to the Garden. He served up some revenge by lighting the lamp in his second game as an Islander, squirting a shot from the left point through Jonathan Quick’s pads to open the scoring at 17:18 of the second period.
New York Islanders right wing Max Shabanov (49) and New York Islanders center Kyle MacLean (32) celebrate the goal by New York Islanders defenseman Carson Soucy (4) against the New York Rangers during the second period at Madison Square Garden. Dennis Schneidler-Imagn Images
On a night in which it was all too evident that both teams had played 24 hours prior, that seemed to give the Islanders a bit of a jolt. Schaefer’s goal came under two minutes later, as the 18-year-old whipped in a shot that beat Quick short side through Simon Holmstrom’s screen.
His 14th goal of the season broke a tie with Bobby Orr for second on the all-time defenseman goal scoring list for 18-year-olds.
“Who’s that?” Schaefer joked about Orr, who made his debut 41 years before he was born.
The Rangers did not merely lie down from there. Mika Zibanejad’s one-timer from the left circle cut the lead to 2-1 early in the third period.
The game, which had been a dreary affair, creaked its way into life from there, and the Rangers were suddenly bearing down on Ilya Sorokin. The netminder twice stopped Gabe Perreault on grade A chances at the doorstep.
New York Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin defends the net against New York Rangers center Noah Laba during the first period. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
“It’s frustrating, for sure,” said J.T. Miller, having been the victim of Sorokin on a second-period slot one-timer and having drawn iron in the game’s opening minutes. “At some point, it’s hard to come up with answers other than put the puck in the net more often.”
The Islanders, who kept pace with the Penguins to stay tied on points — though behind on percentage — for second in the Metro, simply have more to play for than their counterparts right now. The most interesting thing happening for the last-place Rangers is up in Chris Drury’s box, as the team president and general manger tries to navigate a landing spot for Artemi Panarin.
On nights like this one, that seems to make all the difference.
“It was not our best game of the season, but that’s what good teams do,” coach Patrick Roy said. “They find ways to win.”
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Jaloni Cambridge scored 21 of her 29 points in the second half, Elsa Lemmila had 14 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks, and No. 11 Ohio State beat Wisconsin 81-58 on Thursday night.
Ohio State (19-3, 8-2 Big Ten) has won five straight against Wisconsin to lead the series 57-18.
Chance Gray added 10 points for the Buckeyes.
Cambridge scored 13 points in the last four minutes, 18 seconds of the third quarter, which included a 3-pointer that capped a 19-6 run and gave Ohio State a 56-45 lead going into the fourth. Cambridge then made a layup, a jumper and a 3 that pushed the lead to 18 with 8:27 left in the game.
Destiny Howell led Wisconsin (13-9, 5-6) with 29 points on 11-of-16 shooting, 5 of 7 from 3-point range.
The Badgers made four 3-pointers — two by Howell — in the first five minutes before Kyrah Daniels hit a jumper that gave Wisconsin a nine-point lead with 2:33 left in the first quarter.
The Buckeyes trailed 23-17 at the end of the first quarter, but limited Wisconsin to five second-quarter points and then outscored the Badgers 52-30 after the intermission — Ohio State's seventh 50-point second half this season.
Ohio State freshman Kylee Kitts, who redshirted at Florida last season, missed her third consecutive game (shoulder). The 6-foot-4 Kitts started each of the first 19 games and averaged 9.3 points and a team-high 7.1 rebounds per game this season.
Sep 9, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo (17) (left) and infielder Geraldo Perdomo (2) watch game play against the San Francisco Giants during the sixth inning at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: Robert Edwards-Imagn Images | Robert Edwards-Imagn Images
This one might prove a little controversial. For Geraldo Perdomo was only ranked sixth on MLB Now’s Top 10 Shortstops Right Now countdown. The complete ranking for MLB Now’s top-10 shortstops is listed below:
Bobby Witt Jr., Kansas City Royals
Corey Seager, Texas Rangers
Francisco Lindor, New York Mets
Gunnar Henderson, Baltimore Orioles
Mookie Betts, Los Angeles Dodgers
Geraldo Perdomo, Arizona Diamondbacks
Trea Turner, Philadelphia Phillies
Jeremy Peña, Houston Astros
Elly De La Cruz, Cincinnati Reds
Zach Neto, Los Angeles Angels
According to the network, “Each Top 10 Right Now ranking considers player performance over multiple seasons, offensive and defensive metrics, both advanced Statcast data and traditional numbers, and expert analysis by the MLB Network research team.” It is worth noting that it doesn’t just go on a single season (though the most recent one is likely more heavily weighted), and that probably hampered Perdomo’s ranking, since before 2025, he was probably “good, but not elite.” That said, I would be unsurprised if Gerry out-produces a couple of the players supposedly ahead of him, in 2026.
Next up of possible interest is the catcher ranking on Monday. Might Gabriel Moreno appear there? But I’ve little doubt we will certainly be back here on Tuesday night, when the subject is right field…
MONTREAL (AP) — Nick Suzuki scored power-play and short-handed goals and added an assist to help the Montreal Canadiens beat the struggling Colorado Avalanche 7-3 on Thursday night.
The NHL-leading Avalanche have lost six of eight to fall to 35-8-9.
Noah Dobson opened the scoring just 56 seconds into the game. Jake Evans and Kirby Dach scored in a 40-second span late in the second period. Dach had his first first goal and point since returning from a 31-game absence Jan. 20.
Alexandre Carrier and Juraj Slafkovsky scored in the third period, and Jakub Dobes made 26 saves to improved to 7-0-1 in his last eight starts.
Brock Nelson, Joel Kiviranta and Ross Colton scored for Colorado. Scott Wedgewood stopped 21 shots.
The Avalanche wore powder blue Quebec Nordiques jerseys in homage to the team’s former home of Quebec City.
For a second straight game, the Nashville Predators failed to get through the first minute of overtime, falling to the New Jersey Devils, 3-2, on Thursday in extra time at the Prudential Center in Newark.
On Tuesday, the Predators dropped another 3-2 result in overtime as David Pastrnak scored 15 seconds into the period.
The Predators have now lost five of their last six and three straight.
Against New Jersey, after failing to connect on their chance in front of the Devils net, New Jersey broke the other way and saw captain Nico Hischier go bar down on Justus Annunen to end the game 42 seconds into overtime.
The Predators jumped ahead first as Michael McCarron scored in the first period, putting away the puck in a net-mouth scramble and giving Nashville a 1-0 lead. It was his third goal of the year.
Jonathan Marchessault recorded the primary assist and now has three points in four games.
New Jersey's Dougie Hamilton scored the lone goal in the second period to knot the game up at two.
Filip Forsberg gave the Predators the lead back off of his 20th goal of the season, scoring off a quick pass from Adam Wilsby.
With the goal, Forsberg became sixth all-time for career goals by a Swedish-born player, recording 338 and breaking a tie with Henrik Zetterberg.
Halfway through the third, Jesper Bratt tied the game at three. Nashville did have a power play for 10 minutes, but failed to convert.
Annunen made 32 saves on 35 shots in the result. Nashville was outshot, 35-29.
The Predators drop their sixth overtime game of the season but earn a point in the effort, sitting at 54 total points.
They are three points outside of a Wild Card spot, but that gap will likely widen as the San Jose Sharks (57 points) have an early first-period lead on the Edmonton Oilers.
The Predators will face the New York Islanders next on Saturday at 6 p.m. CST at UBS Arena. It will wrap up a three-game road trip as the Predators return to Nashville on Monday against the St. Louis Blues.
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Olivia Gadecki and John Peers became the first team to win consecutive Australian Open mixed doubles titles since 1989 after beating the French pair of Kristina Mladenovic and Manuel Guinard 4-6, 6-3, 10-8 on Friday.
The Australians trailed 7-5 in the final-set tiebreaker before coming back to lead 9-7. On match point and with Peers serving, Guinard hit a backhand into the net to clinch victory for the home players at Rod Laver Arena.
Gadecki and Peers were the first reigning Australian Open mixed doubles champions to return to the final the following year since Mladenovic and Daniel Nestor in 2015. The 23-year-old Gadecki was born 13 years after Jim Pugh and Jana Novotna went back to back in 1988 and 1989.
The French team won the opening set on its second set point when Peers hit a shot wide, three games after Mladenovic double-faulted on set point and the Australian team broke to keep the set going.
In the second set, Gadecki and Peers went ahead 3-1 on a service break and then held to take a 4-1 lead, winning 13 of 15 points to put them in control of the set and level the match.
Mladenovic was trying to win her fourth Grand Slam mixed doubles title — she won Wimbledon in 2013 and the Australian Open in 2014 with Nestor and the 2022 Australian Open mixed doubles title with Ivan Dodig. She also has six Grand Slam women's doubles titles.
EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) — Nick Martinelli scored 34 points and Tre Singleton notched a massive double-double as Northwestern beat Penn State 94-73 on Thursday night.
It's the fourth time this season Martinelli has scored 32 points or more. He entered Thursday as the fourth-leading scorer in Division I at 23.4 points per game and has scored in double figures in all but one game this season. He was 13 of 19 from the field with four made 3-pointers.
Singleton racked up 17 points, 18 rebounds, four assists and two blocks for the Wildcats (10-11, 2-8 Big Ten). It was the freshman's first career double-double. Angelo Ciaravino added 20 points off the bench and Jake West had 13 assists.
The Wildcats led 45-40 at the half, but stretched that lead with an 11-2 run early in the second half, featuring five points from Martinelli and a pair of baskets from Ciaravino. The Nittany Lions drew back with an 8-0 run, before allowing a 9-0 run from Martinelli and Singleton to fall into a 17-point hole.
Freshman Kayden Mingo led the Nittany Lions (9-12, 0-10) with 15 points, as the Big Ten's youngest team remains winless in the conference. Ivan Juric added 14 points and six rebounds, while Josh Reed and Freddie Dilione V each scored 11 points.
Northwestern shot 60% from the field (38 of 63) and 55% behind the arc (12 of 22) compared to 49% and 33% for the Nittany Lions, respectively.
Up next
Penn State will host Minnesota on Sunday.
Northwestern will host Washington on Saturday. ___
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - SEPTEMBER 19: Ramon Laureano #5 of the San Diego Padres at bat against the Chicago White Sox at Rate Field on September 19, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Daniel Bartel/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The San Diego Padres acquired outfielder Ramon Laureano in the July trade deadline spree that saw them part with six prospects to the Baltimore Orioles. Outfielder/first baseman Ryan O’Hearn was the headliner in that deal but he is now gone via free agency.
Laureano had a team option of $6.5 million for 2026 that the team quickly picked up in November of last year. After starting 2025 with one of the worst left field rankings in baseball (FanGraphs had them at 27 out of 30 teams), the acquisition of Laureano made the biggest upgrade of all the deadline swaps.
After arriving from Baltimore, Laureano played 50 games for the Padres. He hit .269/.323/.489 with an OPS of .812. His combined numbers for 2025 came out to .281/.342/.512 with a .855 OPS. Laureano had 24 home runs and 76 RBI for the season. His only better numbers came in 2019, his second season with Oakland.
The 2025 season saw his best hard-hit rate, his best barrel rate and his best K rate of his career. He also had his lowest chase rate during 2026. He finished the season with an fWAR of 3.0, which would have left him tied for seventh in fWAR rankings for left fielders for the year.
FanGraphs recently published their projections for 2026 and believe that Laureano will take a big step back. They project him to play in 119 games with a .242/.314/.428 line and .743 OPS. His projected WAR is 1.8. If correct, that would make 2026 his third worst season since his debut in 2019.
A career change
After finishing 2023 with a .224 average and .675 OPS, Laureano made a decision to remake himself. He reworked his approach in the batting box with the intent of making better contact and seeing breaking balls better.
Standing deeper in the box, moving away from the plate, closing up his stance and choking up on the bat were all incorporated into his new approach. The results started to show in 2024 with improved outcomes but 2025 was when the new adjustments really made a difference.
Laureano now ranks in the 80th percentiles for expected batting average, barrel percentage, hard-hit percentage and in the 93rd percentile in expected slugging (see Baseball Savant stats).
Expect a decline?
The decrease in projected value from FanGraphs could be due to Laureano’s age. He is 31 years old and will be 32 in July. Although still able to be productive at the plate, statistics project declines year over year from the year 31 season on.
As the Padres already have several aging players committed to long-term deals, don’t expect them to sign Laureano to an extension, so it is safe to assume this will be a walk year for him. Based on the improvements he has made and his mentality and make up, Padres fans should not be surprised to see a career year from their left fielder.
His 2025 season ended early with a broken finger suffered while swinging the bat. That should be completely healed going into this spring. With a normal offseason and a healthy spring, expect Laureano to easily outperform the projections.
In 2025, Laureano set a career high with 488 PA. From 2018 to 2024, Laureano’s paced 17 HR and 13 SB per 488 PA. That’s about what Friedl posted last season (15/13). If given enough playing time, he could be a solid fantasy value just by being himself.
Besides having a solid base coming into 2025, Laureano made two improvements. His contact% jumped from 70.8% to 74.8%, which is his highest since 2021. With more contact, his strikeout rate dropped from 31% to 24 percent, pushing his batting average up to .281.
The other improvement was a career high 90.3 average exit velocity and 112.7 max EV. With the extra power, he tied his career high with 24 HR.
As for the stolen bases, his sprint speed has varied from just 27.6 to 27.9 over the past six seasons. Around 8 SB to 10 SB is a reasonable estimate.
One final note: several of our playing time estimates seem a little on the low side (450 PA to 500 PA). If he were to go into the 600 PA or more range, he’s a steal at his current ADP.
Final Take: If Ramón Laureano can keep the contact and power gains he made in 2025 while playing a full season, he becomes a solid sleeper.
The best in baseball
Si.com recently published an article suggesting the Padres have the best trio of outfielders in baseball. Not surprisingly, they expect Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jackson Merrill to carry the bulk of the offensive load. Although Laureano’s offense could regress slightly, they don’t expect the big regression FanGraphs does.
The biggest negative for Laureano has been his defense. Although he has a plus arm in the outfield, his speed and range have been below average. It is not likely he will get faster but his defense could improve with better technique and it should be watched closely as the new season gets underway.
Another aspect of Laureano’s game is his attitude and intensity. Having an edge and a serious approach on the field is a steadying influence with the young outfielders he works with. Laureano stood out for Padres fans soon after his arrival in San Diego. After a walk-off hit in the Aug. 9 game against the Boston Red Sox, Laureano showed his honesty and endeared himself to most fans.
Ramón Laureano got the bunt sign in extras but he says he doesn’t know the signs yet so he just hit the ball on the ground and won the game pic.twitter.com/x7ruF9Mf0v
NEW YORK (AP) — Carson Soucy scored against the team that traded him 72 hours earlier, Matthew Schaefer got the 14th goal of his stellar rookie year and the New York Islanders defeated the Rangers 2-1 on Thursday night.
Soucy became the first player to score for the Rangers and the Islanders at Madison Square Garden in the same season. The Islanders swept the back-to-back set between the crosstown rivals after winning 5-2 at home on Wednesday night.
Ilya Sorokin stopped 20 of 21 shots to pick up his 18th victory in 32 starts this season. Schaefer, the first pick in the draft last June, broke a tie with Hall of Famer Bobby Orr for the second-most goals by an 18-year-old defenseman in NHL history.
Schaefer’s goal came 1 minute, 35 seconds after Soucy beat former teammate Jonathan Quick short side from a tight angle. Soucy was playing just his second game with the Islanders since they gave up a third-round pick to get him in just the fourth trade between the New York teams and first since 2010.
Mika Zibanejad scored on the power play and Quick allowed two goals on 21 shots in his eighth appearance in 12 games since Igor Shesterkin was sidelined because of a lower-body injury. The long-term absences of Shesterkin and top defenseman Adam Fox exacerbated what was already a rough season for the Rangers, who recently signaled they are beginning a retooling process.
In line with that, they began sitting leading scorer Artemi Panarin rather than risking an injury that could prevent trading him before the March 6 deadline. Panarin is a pending unrestricted free agent whom the Rangers informed they were not re-signing.
The Islanders, who have won three in a row as they aim to make the playoffs, were without fourth-line center Casey Cizikas because of illness. Maxim Shabanov took his spot in the lineup.
