The willingness of players to put the side’s best interests ahead of their own has fostered a sense of togetherness that has reaped rewards on the pitch
When David Moyes resigned as Sunderland’s manager in May 2017, after a calamitous 10 months culminating in relegation to the Championship, he waived all entitlement to a payoff. Moyes knew he had failed but, in mitigation, he inherited a poisoned chalice, something arguably confirmed as the club swiftly plummeted into League One. Now Moyes is back in his Merseyside comfort zone and Sunderland have finally returned to the top tier. When he leads his Everton team into the Stadium of Light, the Scot may be startled to see players of the quality of Granit Xhaka, Enzo Le Fée, Nordi Mukiele and Reinildo wearing red and white stripes. That quartet arrived from Bayer Leverkusen, Roma, Paris Saint-Germain and Atlético Madrid respectively. And to think Moyes regularly reiterated the belief that top footballers would not relocate to Wearside because they invariably wanted to live in the London or Manchester areas. Despite that, club sources indicate not one prospective signing queried its geography this summer. Much as the local council is attracting outside investment and IT professionals by rebranding Sunderland as a technology hub situated in “the city by the sea”, the football club is fast becoming a magnet for ambitious young players from across Europe.
Joel Embiid was named the NBA's most valuable player for the 2022-23 season [Getty Images]
Philadelphia 76ers centre Joel Embiid has been fined $50,000 (£38,000) by the NBA for what the league determined to be a "lewd gesture" on the court.
The incident occurred during Philadelphia's 109-108 loss to the Boston Celtics on Friday when Embiid, 31, scored while getting fouled and then made a chopping gesture to his groin.
Embiid has been fined for the gesture on multiple previous occasions.
In a post on X, which also contained the NBA's social media post detailing his sanction, Embiid appeared to suggest the gesture was similar to a signal that officials make when calling a foul for blocking.
He said: "Yall better start fining the refs for doing the 'lewd', 'blocking foul' gesture since I'm not allowed to do it."
Cameroon-born Embiid did not play in Sunday's 129-105 victory over the Brooklyn Nets, sitting out the match as he continues to manage his recovery from a knee injury which required surgery earlier this year.
The college basketball season has arrived, and broadcasting great Dick Vitale has taken a long journey to again meet the sport at its starting line. Surgeries, radiation treatments and chemotherapy amid a cancer fight kept him off the airwaves for two years until his return shortly before March Madness.
Lakers guard Luka Doncic controls the ball in front of Miami Heat guard Davion Mitchell during the first half of the Lakers' 130-120 win Sunday at Crypto.com Arena. (Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
Of course Luka Doncic made the one that didn’t count.
On a frigid shooting night when the star guard made just one three-pointer on 11 attempts, Doncic swished a 40-footer on a dead ball that elicited a roar from the Crypto.com Arena.
He instead made an influence in other ways.
Doncic overcame his bad shooting to still collect his first triple-double of the season, notching 29 points, 10 assists and 11 rebounds in the Lakers' 130-120 victory over the Miami Heat on Sunday. Fellow guard Austin Reaves was also struggling with his shot, making just four of 14 three-point attempts, but rallied for 26 points and 11 assists to just three turnovers.
Although their stars slogged through concurrent off nights, the Lakers (5-2) still shot 50.5% from the field. They tallied 33 assists to 11 turnovers. They won their third consecutive game.
“We did a lot of really good things and it could have been even better if me and Luka would've made a shot,” Reaves deadpanned. “But supporting cast and everybody around that played really well.”
Forward Jake LaRavia, who turns 24 on Tuesday, scored in double digits for the third consecutive game off the bench, finishing with 25 points — two shy of his season high — and eight rebounds. He’s averaged 21.7 points per game in the last three games.
Doncic, who missed three games with minor finger and leg injuries, scored 40 points in each of his first three games this season. Only Wilt Chamberlain had ever started a season with three consecutive 40-point games. But Doncic was happy to sacrifice the scoring streak Sunday.
“We get a win," Doncic said, "[it] doesn't matter how many I scored."
Doncic and Reaves struggled in the first quarter, shooting a combined two for seven from the field. Yet the Lakers still led by seven as the star duo combined for eight assists.
Center Jaxson Hayes was one of the main beneficiaries in that span, scoring 11 points on five-of-five shooting. He had a ferocious one-handed dunk off a Doncic assist that got Hayes so amped up that he head-butted the basket stanchion in celebration. He sank his first three-pointer since March 27, 2023, stepping confidently into a shot that put the Lakers up 23-13 and forced the Heat to call an early timeout.
Hayes finished with 15 points and five rebounds in his first start of the year as Deandre Ayton was held out because of back spasms. Ayton’s back flared up during the Lakers’ win in Memphis on Friday, causing him to sit out the entire second half. He was available to return in the fourth quarter, coach JJ Redick said after the game, but with the Lakers feeding off Hayes and Jarred Vanderbilt at center, the team didn’t want to risk further injury.
The Heat (3-3) finished the third quarter on a 20-7 run to pull within four points heading into the fourth quarter. Former UCLA star Jaime Jaquez Jr., playing in front of his hometown crowd, cut the lead to two with an emphatic one-handed putback dunk 58 seconds in the fourth quarter. A hush fell over the Lakers' crowd.
But Reaves helped quell the comeback effort.
He stumbled while trying to dribble behind his legs, but recovered to shoot a fadeaway mid-range jumper with 1.6 seconds left in the shot clock that put the Lakers up by six with 5:13 remaining in the fourth quarter. Less than 20 seconds later, Reaves threw a lob from just inside midcourt to a soaring LaRavia, who brought the crowd to its feet with a two-handed dunk.
When projecting how everything would look one month into the 2025-26 NHL season, most people didn't have the Pittsburgh Penguins as one of the league's top teams.
Yet, here we are on Nov. 2, and the Penguins sit pretty at third in the Eastern Conference standings and fifth in the league standings at 8-3-2 with 18 points. The only team in the NHL with more points than the Penguins are the Colorado Avalanche with 19.
They aren't bleeding odd-man rushes like they have in previous seasons. Their penalty kill is 15 of its last 16 and has seen some of the NHL's best power plays against Winnipeg and the Minnesota Wild. And they're locking down in third periods, where they have yet to blow a lead and have outscored the opposition, 20-9.
All in all, there's a little bit of everything. And, even if this team regresses to the mean at some point, there is still a decent chance that their hot start could end up making a world of difference for them at season's end - especially in a less-than-inspiring Metropolitan Division.
Right now, the Penguins are tied with the New Jersey Devils atop the Metro with 18 points, but the Devils have the edge with one more win. Below them, though?
Carolina needs help on the back end. They are relying on a rookie in Alexander Nikishin - a very good rookie, in all fairness - to fill the left side on their top pairing alongside Sean Walker, who probably wouldn't be a top-pair defenseman on most contenders. Beyond that, they have guys in Jalen Chatfield, Joel Nystrom, Mike Reilly, and Charles-Alexis Legault who are fine, but they definitely need more top-four talent, especially on the right side. And they really need a bus driver for their power play, which is dead last in the league.
Columbus - like Pittsburgh - is probably getting unsustainable levels of goaltending, and they could also use more talent as far as the center depth on their roster. While their forward group is pretty formidable in general - albeit very young - they need an upgrade down the middle in their top-six, as Sean Monahan isn't the ideal first-line center on a contender, and Adam Fantilli isn't quite ready for that role, either. And they can't seem to stop too many teams on the penalty kill and don't score much on the power play, so their special teams are bringing them down.
The Rangers lack scoring depth - and depth in a general sense - and rely too much on their goaltending to win them hockey games. They are 25th in the league in goals for with 31 in 13 games, and if you look at their bottom-six and bottom-four, this isn't particularly surprising. And it gets even worse when you see that no one in their top-six has more than eight points (hello, J.T. Miller), even if star defenseman Adam Fox has 11 and third-liner Taylor Raddysh leads the team in goals with five.
The Flyers - even if they have a little bit of talent sprinkled in on the forward front and some veteran reliability on the back end - do not have the goaltending to sustain themselves. The recently injured Samuel Ersson has an .876 save percentage, 28-year-old Dan Vladar is currently sporting a save percentage (.924) far above his career number (.897) and has never had this kind of workload, and the youngster Aleksei Kolosov - although promising in his first two appearances - does not have a track record of sustained success in professional hockey.
The Islanders are not only old, they're also generally unspectacular at every position. Their goaltending is 25th in the league in save percentage, and that starts with Ilya Sorokin, who has had a disastrous start that includes an .877 save percentage and 3.40 goals-against average in eight games. To be fair, their top-nine is producing at a pretty even distribution, and that group is definitely the strongest on the team. Bo Horvat has has a good start, too. But the only "spectacular" Isles player has been rookie sensation Matthew Schaefer, who is carrying this team's defensive corps on his back with 10 points and a league-leading (among defensemen) five goals.
The Capitals are a bit of a conundrum, and they should gain some ground as the season goes on. Goaltender Logan Thompson has been spectacular so far, as his .935 save percentage (eight games played) is fourth in the league among qualified netminders - but Charlie Lindgren has been the opposite, as he's sporting an .880 save percentage through four starts. They're struggling on both special teams units, and - beyond their top line and second-line center Dylan Strome - they're not getting much production from their forward unit. It's fair to wonder whether the Capitals were playing a bit above what they actually are last season while riding the high of the Gr8 Chase.
They are riding a combined save percentage of .918, which is third in the NHL - and those numbers probably aren't sustainable through an entire season for both Tristan Jarry (.923 save percentage, career save percentage at .910) or the inexperienced Arturs Silovs (.913, .890). More than likely, their goaltending is due for a regression at some point, even if they have some formidable help waiting in the wings in the AHL with Sergei Murashov and Filip Larsson.
Their team shooting percentage is also third in the league at 13.3, which - given the fact that Justin Brazeau (27.3 percent) and Anthony Mantha (25 percent) are both well above career averages, and Sidney Crosby is shooting at 33.3 percent (unsustainable, no matter how great he is) - is also due for a regression.
The left side of their blue line has been outplaying expectations. Parker Wotherspoon looks like a perfect defensive partner for Erik Karlsson on the top pairing, but he's never played more than 55 games in an NHL season and has never played top-pairing minutes. Ryan Shea has been spectacular in his age 28 season - already tying his career-high in goals (2) and surpassing his career high in points (7) - but it's fair to wonder if his level of play is sustainable. And the Penguins do not seem to have a current solution for the bottom-pairing on their left side.
Crosby, 38, is scoring at a 57-goal, 101-point pace, and Evgeni Malkin, 39, is scoring at a 114-point pace. Crosby's might be somewhat sustainable, at least in the points department. Malkin's - as great as he is - not so much.
Five of the current top-six teams in team save percentage are in the Metro, with Winnipeg at the top of the league (Rangers, Penguins, Blue Jackets, Capitals, and Flyers to follow). It's fair to say that all of those teams - except, perhaps, the Rangers, who have arguably the best goaltender on the planet - are due for a goaltending regression.
New Jersey is fourth in the league in shooting percentage right behind the Penguins at 13.1 percent - suggesting they could also be due for a regression there. In addition, the Rangers, Flyers, and Capitals are bottom-six in goals-for - which goes beyond strictly shooting percentage, especially in Philadelphia's case, as they are middle-of-the-pack (16th) in shooting percentage. In addition, the Penguins are second in the league in expected goals for (31.48) and 10th in expected goals per 60 (2.84), indicating that they're generating a lot offensively.
There is a good possibility that the Penguins' left side is outplaying expectations - and that Karlsson is playing miles better this season - simply because the new coaching staff is getting more out of the Penguins' defensive corps. Several defensemen, including Shea and Karlsson, have sung high praise for the work that head coach Dan Muse and defensive coach Mike Stothers have done for the unit - and for the new system the team is deploying, which plays to their strengths and emphasizes forward coverage.
It's never wise to bet against two surefire Hall-of-Fame centers who are desperate to bring this team back to contention - especially in what could be Malkin's final NHL season.
Last season, the final playoff spot in the East - and in the Metro - had 91 points. The Penguins have 69 games remaining to amass 73 more points and tie that 91-point mark, which amounts to 37 more wins. And 37 wins in 69 games probably isn't even required because it doesn't account for overtime and shootout loss points.
All in all, there are reasons suggesting that what the Penguins are doing may not quite be sustainable. But - given the shortcomings of other teams in their own division - they may not have to sustain this high a level anyway to end up a playoff team when the 2025-26 regular season concludes in April.
Pittsburgh Penguins prospect Jordan Charron has had an unbelievable start to the 2025-26 OHL season.
Charron, a fifth-round pick by the Penguins in the 2025 NHL Draft this year, scored his 14th goal of the season on Saturday night. He blew past a defender and scored on a mini breakaway to make it 3-0 for the Soo Greyhounds.
Charron has been a different player for the Greyhounds this season, compiling 14 goals and 20 points in his first 18 games. He already surpassed his goal total from last year (10) and is one point away from tying his point total from last year (21).
The offense has been spectacular to watch, but his skating has improved as well. He looks faster on the ice, and it was very evident by the way he blew past that defender for the shorthanded goal.
Charron was one of the standouts of development camp back in July. Even though it was only glorified practice, he still showcased his strong release each day and has carried that momentum into the 2025-26 season. He is currently projected to finish the year with 53 goals and 76 points.
This will be his final OHL season since he is committed to St. Lawrence University for the 2026-27 season.
Despite surrendering a late tally in regulation that knotted the score, the Detroit Red Wings are back on the winning side of things and have picked up their third win in four games so far on their road trip.
James van Riemsdyk scored the only tally in the shootout against the San Jose Sharks, resulting in a 3-2 victory. With the win, the Red Wings improved to 9-4 through 13 games and are back in a first-place tie atop the Atlantic Division standings with the Montreal Canadiens.
After a scoreless opening 20 minutes of play, it would be Lucas Raymond who broke the ice by beating former Red Wings goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic with a wicked wrist shot after maneuvering around Sharks defenseman Dmitry Orlov.
The Sharks responded early in the third period as Jeff Skinner deflected a pass from Philipp Kurashev past Cam Talbot.
Detroit then re-grabbed the lead midway through the frame after Moritz Seider beat Nedeljkovic from the point with a seeing-eye shot for his first tally of the season.
It was Seider who had a would-be tying goal on Friday evening waived off against the Anaheim Ducks after he was ruled to have used a distinct kicking motion.
As the Sharks pressed late in the third period, they found the equalizer thanks to rookie Sam Dickinson, who registered both his first career NHL goal and point.
Neither team found the back of the net in overtime, which included a breakaway opportunity from Alex DeBrincat, who had his four-game goal streak snapped.
Raymond, DeBrincat, and Larkin all were unsuccessful in the subsequent shootout, as were Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith, and Kurashev for San Jose.
In his first shootout attempt as a Red Wing, van Riemsdkyk beat Nedeljkovic with a blocker-side shot, and Talbot then stopped Tyler Toffoli's backhand attempt to secure the extra point for Detroit.
Talbot picked up his fifth win of the season by making 16 saves, while Nedeljkovic countered with 29 saves.
The Red Wings also played their eighth straight game without forward Patrick Kane, who was injured on Oct. 17; he has been confirmed to be unavailable at least through the end of the road trip, which has one more game remaining on Tuesday evening against the Vegas Golden Knights.
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Nov 2, 2025; Elmont, New York, USA; New York Islanders defenseman Matthew Schaefer (48) attempts a shot against the Columbus Blue Jackets during the third period at UBS Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Schneidler-Imagn Images
Dennis Schneidler-Imagn Images
NEW YORK (AP) — Matthew Schaefer added another milestone to his fast start with the New York Islanders on Sunday.
Schaefer had two goals in a 3-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets. Schaefer, who turned 18 on Sept. 5, became the youngest defenseman in NHL history with a multigoal game, moving in front of Hall of Famer Bobby Orr (18 years, 248 days on Nov. 23, 1966).
Schaefer, the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s NHL draft, has five goals and five assists in his first 12 games with New York.
“It has been fun to watch. He’s great skater. He’s super poised,’’ Islanders teammate Simon Holmstrom said. “He was able to score two big goals for us tonight.”
Schaefer scored a power-play goal when he converted a booming shot 5:53 into the first period. He tied it at 2 with 1:07 left in the third, and Holmstrom tapped a loose puck past goaltender Elvis Merzlikins for the winning score with 38 seconds remaining.
“Oh wow, it’s fun hockey to play and fun hockey to watch,’’ Schaefer said after the victory. “A couple of big goals in the last minute.”
Schaefer once again heard his name chanted by the home crowd at UBS Arena. It was a similar scene when he scored his first NHL goal during the Islanders’ home opener on Oct. 11.
“That was a big shift. That’s what happens when you put pucks on net,” Schaefer said of his tying goal as Islanders captain Anders Lee screened Merzlikins. “A big grind out of the guys.”
Schaefer became the third-youngest player in the NHL’s expansion era, since the 1967-68 season, to record two goals in a game. Only Jordan Staal (18 years, 41 days on Oct. 21, 2006) and Pierre Turgeon (18 years, 54 days on Oct. 21, 1987) accomplished the feat at a younger age.
Schaefer played junior hockey last season for the Erie Otters. Now he is manning the point on New York’s power play, regularly logging major minutes and contributing well beyond the scoresheet.
He is quick to deflect praise, crediting Lee with successfully impeding the view of Merzlikins.
“Teammates, I just have to rely on them,’’ Schaefer said. “I don’t think that’s going in if Leezy is not there screening the goalie. I don’t think he really saw much.”
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Cutter Gauthier and Beckett Sennecke each had a goal and an assist, goalie Lukas Dostal made 32 saves, and the Anaheim Ducks beat the New Jersey Devils 4-1 on Sunday night.
Frank Vatrano and Chris Kreider also scored for the Ducks.
Jack Hughes scored New Jersey’s lone goal in the third period, and Devils goalie Jake Allen had 26 saves.
Anaheim has won three straight and five of the last six to move into a first-place tie with Las Vegas and Edmonton in the Pacific Division, an encouraging start for a team trying to snap a seven-season playoff drought. Their 15 points is the most through 11 games since 2014-2015.
The Ducks took advantage of their second straight game against a road-weary Eastern Conference club, outscoring the Detroit Red Wings and Devils by a combined 9-3.
Anaheim scored three goals within the game’s first 22 minutes and dominated the first two periods before New Jersey came to life in the third.
Moments after Allen stuffed Sennecke at the doorstep, Hughes took a pass from Dawson Mercer on a two-on-one break and one-timed a shot past a sprawling Dostal.
But Dostal and the Ducks held off a furious Devils rally in the final minutes, and Kreider scored on an empty netter with 1:54 left to seal the win.
Anaheim scored on its first shot of the game. Sennecke took a pass from Gauthier as he crossed the blue line, shielded New Jersey defenseman Dennis Cholowski with his body as he charged the net and slipped a lunging shot under Allen’s right armpit.
The Ducks made it 3-0 just 1:54 into the second period when Gauthier scored from an almost impossible angle, snapping a left-handed wrist shot from just inside the right goal line under Allen’s left pad for his team-leading seventh goal of the season.
Up next
Devils: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night.
Ducks: Host the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night.
The New Jersey Devils suffered a 4-1 loss to the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center on Sunday night. Veteran goaltender Jake Allen made 26 saves on 29 shots.
Beckett Sennecke scored the game's opening goal 4:13 into the first period. A miscommunication by the Devils in the neutral zone, coupled with Simon Nemec caught puck-watching and not tracking back, allowed Anaheim to score on their first shot on Allen.
The Ducks extend their lead to 2-0 with five minutes remaining in the first period. Frank Vatrano scored his first goal of the season. Allen made seven saves on nine shots in the opening 20 minutes.
Cutter Gauthier's snap shot beat Allen on the Ducks' first shot of the second period. It was his second point of the night as he was credited with the primary assist on Sennecke's goal.
Jack Hughes ended Lukas Dostal's shutout at the 7:43 mark of the third period. The 24-year-old has 16 points in 13 games to start the 2025-26 campaign. Dawson Mercer picked up the primary assist to extend his point streak to four games.
Ducks forward Chris Kreider hit the empty net to secure a 4-1 Ducks victory with two minutes remaining in regulation.
The Devils will return to New Jersey with a 1-3-0 record after their four-game road trip. The team will prepare for a three-game homestand that begins on Thursday, when they host the Montreal Canadiens.
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One way to rebuild a team that failed to make the NCAA Tournament is to add a bunch of transfers with March Madness experience at their former schools. Paul McNeil is NC State’s only returning scholarship player, but the Wolfpack added nine Division I transfers. Six of the newcomers came from schools that won NCAA Tournament games last season.
The New York Rangers have sent Brennan Othmann to the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League and have recalled Jaroslav Chmelar.
After failing to make the Rangers’ opening-night roster, Othmann was given another opportunity to prove himself at the NHL level, as the Rangers called him up from the AHL to open up their four-game road trip.
However, Othmann played in just one game against the Calgary Flames before being scratched out of the lineup for the remaining three matchups.
Mike Sullivan outlined what he still wants to see from Othmann.
“This is the conversation that him and I have had throughout the course of training camp, before training camp started,” Sullivan said. “I sat with him after the Lehigh Valley, the rookie games, and trying to define for him what the expectation is, and how we could potentially earn a roster spot. And I think the most important element of it is just attention to detail, reliability, knowing your job, doing your job, play away from the puck.
“That was where his focus, I think, needed to be. We're looking for that element as an important aspect of him earning a roster spot. In the game the other night, there were some good things that he did. There were also some moments where attention to detail could have helped us keep the puck out of the net and things of that nature. We'll continue to work with Otter with respect to those details and what those mean.”
The Knicks snapped a three-game skid with Sunday's 128-116 win over the Bulls, avenging this past Friday's 135-125 loss and delivering Chicago's season-first defeat.
Takeaways
Jalen Brunson's 19 first-quarter points set the tone for New York (3-3), which built a 34-24 lead after 12 minutes. Brunson totaled 31 points on 10-of-22 shooting while adding five rebounds and three assists in 32 minutes. Especially as the Knicks seek consistency under coach Mike Brown, Brunson remains a constant. Since New York's season-opening win over the Cleveland Cavaliers, in which OG Anunoby led with 24 points, Brunson has been the game-high scorer, pacing the Knicks over the subsequent five contests.
Anunoby and Karl-Anthony Towns had their moments as they complemented Brunson with notable efforts in New York's starting five. While Anunoby added 21 points on 8-of-17 shooting, Towns finished with 20 points and 15 rebounds for his fifth double-double in six games.
Jordan Clarkson and Josh Hart answered the call off the bench after the Knicks' reserves struggled Friday at the Bulls (5-1). Clarkson scored 11 of his 15 points (on 6-of-11 shooting over 18 minutes) in the first half, picking up the slack behind Brunson. Hart, meanwhile, came alive in the second half -- while he plays through injury and adjusts to his new role -- with a 14-point, nine-rebound, three-assist performance over 26 minutes.
Mitchell Robinson's second game of the season, after debuting Friday, saw him start once again but play sparingly. He had an injury scare and was scoreless while grabbing five rebounds and blocking two shots in 13 minutes. His progression bears watching as New York gets set to play four games in six days between Friday at the Bulls and Wednesday against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Who's the MVP?
Brunson, whose tone-setting first quarter was a spark that the Knicks needed before the rest of the team pitched in.
NEW YORK (AP) — Kelly Oubre Jr. scored 29 points, Tyrese Maxey had 26, and the Philadelphia 76ers defeated the Brooklyn Nets 129-105 on Sunday night.
Oubre made 9 of 11 field goals and had 22 points in the first quarter, but limped off the court after injuring his ankle at the buzzer in the third. The forward was cleared to return to the bench with 10 minutes remaining in regulation but did not reenter the game.
Quentin Grimes added 22 off the bench and VJ Edgecombe had 16 points for the 76ers, who have won five of their first six games to start the season.
Philadelphia played without Joel Embiid (left knee), who was held out due to injury management two nights after scoring 20 points in 25 minutes in a loss at Boston.
The 76ers fared well without their All-Star center, shooting 52 percent from the field and leading by as many 28 points.
Philadelphia started the third quarter with a 3-pointer from Maxey to go up 76-55 before the Nets went on an 18-7 run to cut the deficit to 83-73 with 3:07 left.
Grimes scored the next three baskets for the 76ers to increase the lead 90-78 at the end of the quarter. Philadelphia then started the fourth quarter with a 9-0 run, capped by a floater from Maxey with 9:39 left in regulation and put the game out of reach.
Cam Thomas had 29 points and Michael Porter Jr. and Terance Mann each had 17 for the struggling Nets, who fell to 0-6.
It is Brooklyn’s worst start since the 2015-16 season when they lost their first seven games.
Up next
76ers: Continues their three-game road trip at Chicago on Tuesday.
Nets: Host Minnesota to conclude their three-game homestand on Monday.
The Buffalo Sabres’ past four games have all ended with a 4-3 score. The first three 4-3 games were all overtime losses for the Sabres, who fell to the Toronto Maple Leafs, Columbus Blue Jackets and Boston Bruins. But on Saturday, Buffalo’s three-game losing streak was stopped as the Sabres beat the Washington Capitals 4-3 in a shootout.
That said, it’s a measure of the competitive parity in the Eastern Conference and the NHL in general that, despite earning five of a possible eight standings points in their last four games, the Sabres’ latest win has given them a 5-4-3 record – the worst mark in the East.
Now, it had to be encouraging for Sabres coach Lindy Ruff and GM Kevyn Adams that goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stepped up with a stellar performance against the Capitals. In only his second game of the season, Luukkonen stopped 31 of 34 Washington shots for a .912 save percentage and 2.79 goals-against average. In addition, Luukkonen stopped all two shots on net he faced in the shootout. The Capitals’ three other shootout attempts didn’t manage to get through to Luukkonen, but that’s not a fact that changes Luukkonen’s otherwise strong game.
But back to our earlier point – the fact the Sabres got points in each of their past four games doesn’t mean that they were guaranteed to climb the ranks in the East. It would be easier for Buffalo if they played in the Western Conference, as there are six teams in the West who have records worse than the Sabres’ current mark. But Buffalo has to deal with the parity in the East and find a way to win many more games than they lose.
Otherwise, while it’s a positive for the Sabres to squeeze out “loser” points, the reality is that, without sustained winning stretches, Buffalo is going to stay where they are in the standings right now. So the pressure is squarely on the Sabres to start putting up ‘W’s and putting pressure on the teams above them in the East.
The Sabres’ next seven games – including two games against the Utah Mammoth and single games against the Carolina Hurricanes, St. Louis Blues, Colorado Avalanche, Detroit Red Wings and Edmonton Oilers – are all against teams that can beat them on any given night. It isn’t until Buffalo takes on the Calgary Flames on Nov. 19 and the Chicago Blackhawks on Nov. 21 that the Sabres have games they absolutely must win. Just about every game is a must-win for Buffalo.
Until that time, the Sabres have to demonstrate they can not only hang with the big boys at the top of the NHL’s pecking order, but thrive against them. Luukkonen (or any Sabres goalie) has to play well enough to give Buffalo a legitimate chance to win night-in and night-out, and if they don’t get an all-around solid showing from all their players, the Sabres are going to be cannon fodder for the 15th-straight year. And that will trigger massive change in Buffalo, both on the ice and in the organization’s management/coaching tree.
Simply put, the Sabres have to be consistently above-average from game-to-game if they’re to have any hope of rising in the highly-competitive Atlantic Division. The good news for Buffalo is that they’re currently only three points behind the Red Wings for second place in their division. The bad news is there are five teams in the way of themselves and Detroit. Some of those teams are likely to play well, which is why it’s paramount for the Sabres to reel off as many wins in a row as they can.
Thus far this season, Buffalo has managed only a pair of modest two-game win streaks. That has to change. The Sabres need many more three, four and five-game win streaks if they’re going to be a Stanley Cup playoff team this season. There’s no other way around it. If Buffalo can’t stitch together a slew of wins, week-in and week-out, the suffering is going to continue in Western New York for the long term.
And if it gets to that point, the Sabres are going to face widespread change to the organization. The stakes have been and always will be very high this season, and Buffalo can’t afford to have any prolonged rough stretches.
Because after their first 12 games of this season, there haven’t been enough victories to put the Sabres where their long-frustrated fans expect them to be.
