Adam Engstrom was inserted in the lineup, playing the first NHL game of his career, which meant that Arber Xhekaj was a healthy scratch for the first time since Kaiden Guhle went down to an injury. It wasn’t easy, but in the end, the Canadiens prevailed.
Nick Suzuki seemed to be skating better tonight. He was clearly playing through the pain for a couple of weeks after a selfless shot block against the Philadelphia Flyers. Since being separated from Juraj Slafkovsky, Suzuki and Cole Caufield had been trying to get used to playing alongside Zachary Bolduc, and on Wednesday night, they looked like they belonged together.
The trio was behind the Canadiens’ two first-frame lamplighters, even though the first one came on the power play, all three were on the ice, and Bolduc finally got his fifth of the season. He hadn’t scored since October 22 against the Calgary Flames, and the goal is sure to help with his confidence.
Suzuki scored the second goal interestingly. Bolduc gave the puck away to the Mammoth high up in his own zone before getting it back and launching the attack the other way. Seconds later, Suzuki scored his sixth goal of the season, which was also the 400th point of his seven-year career. Four hundred points in just 477 games, that's 0.84 points-per-game.
The pivot wasn’t done, though. He added a second goal in the third frame and finished the game with three points, just like Zach Bolduc, who achieved the feat for the first time in his career.
The Second Period Slump
We often hear in hockey about players being plagued by the sophomore jinx. After solid rookie seasons, they underperform the following year with no rhyme or reason. The Canadiens are a bit like that, but it’s about the second year for them, it’s about the second period,
Martin St-Louis’ men were playing an intelligent and mostly prudent game in the first frame, not forcing the play and taking what the game was giving them, as the coach had so often preached. Nine minutes into the second, however, Alex Carrier sent the puck into the stands and was given a delay-of-game penalty, which woke the Mammoth up.
Even though the host had not scored on the power play since the start of November, they didn’t miss the opportunity, scoring three goals in just over four minutes and noticeably shifting the momentum.
Before the game, the Habs had a minus-eight differential in the middle frame; after that game, their differential now stands at minus-11. This is unacceptable, and St-Louis has got to find a way to keep his team performing for 60 minutes. While Jakub Dobes couldn’t be held responsible for the power play goal, he certainly would like to get that third goal back.
The Bounce Back
After a disastrous second frame, the Canadiens “bounced back” in the third. Not that the team effort was fantastic, but Dobes shut the door on the 15 shots he faced in the final 20 minutes, several of which were dangerous. Without him, the Habs do not leave Utah with two points tonight, thanks to a 4-3 nailbiter of a win.
Meanwhile, the Canadiens only took five shots in the final frame (just like in the second), but they made them count. Montreal scored twice through Suzuki (his second of the game) and Ivan Demidov, who got the game-winning goal on a fantastic drag and release. His first goal in eight games.
Against one of the top penalty-killing teams in the league, the Canadiens managed to score two power-play goals on only three opportunities. Eager to start a winning streak, St-Louis really cut his bench in the final frame: Jared Davidson played only 5:23 on the night, Florian Xhekaj 8:51, and Joe Veleno 10:28. Meanwhile, Engstrom only skated 10:42 in his NHL debut.
The Canadiens will be back in action on Friday afternoon when they’ll visit the Vegas Golden Knights in the first game of a back-to-back, which they’ll conclude against the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday afternoon. It will be interesting to see who the coach sends between the pipes on Friday. Dobes has just signed the last two wins, while Samuel Montembeault is still trying to find his game. With a back-to-back, both will play…
The Florida Panthers dropped a tough one to the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday night.
Florida jumped out to a 2-0 lead against the visiting Flyers but couldn’t hold on, allowing a pair of very late goals en route to a 4-2 defeat at Amerant Bank Arena.
It was a game that the Panthers felt they could have, and should have, come out on top.
As has been the case in each game Florida has face the Flyers this season, Philly goaltender Dan Vladar played outstanding between the pipes, but that still shouldn’t have cost the Cats two points.
Here are Wednesday’s takeaways:
SOLID FIRST 40
Despite allowing a pair of second period goals, the Panthers were pleased with how they were playing through forty minutes.
Philadelphia got off only five shots during the middle frame and were outshot by the Florida 20-12 through the first two periods.
If not for several sparkling saves by Vladar, the Panthers likely would have pulled away.
“I liked the first two periods an awful lot,” said Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice. “I thought we were really quick with the puck, and our decisions, we were really confident with it, and that started to fade.”
DECISIONS SLOWED DOWN
As the game progressed, it felt like the Panthers started gripping their sticks a little tighter.
Passing lanes seemed to shrink and it became much more difficult to get shots on net, taking away from Florida’s ability to build momentum while simultaneously giving the Flyers more confidence.
That makes it all the more exasperating for the Panthers, as they were still in the driver’s seat in the game’s final minutes and had two points in their grasp.
“I thought we were slow with the puck,” said Maurice. “I think they got in on some pucks and we were just late getting to some loose pucks that were laying around, and they maintained that control. Their D got moving up top, and we needed to get in a few of those shot lanes.”
VERHAEGHE HEATING UP
One of the big positives to take from the past several games for Florida is the play of Carter Verhaeghe.
He has logged three multi-point outings over his past five games after having none all season, and he’s scored in consecutive games for the first time since Games 3 and 4 against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the second round of last year’s playoffs.
If Verhaeghe can resume producing the way he has during the majority of his time with the Panthers, it will go a long way toward helping the team keep pace in the playoff race while Florida’s injured players continue healing and working their way back to the lineup.
“I thought the three games prior to him scoring, he was moving pretty darn good, and it wasn't going for him,” Maurice said. “But he is now moving, and he's getting the puck off his stick, and he's faster with it, and he's faster…that line's been very good for us.”
Photo caption: Nov 26, 2025; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers center Carter Verhaeghe (23) moves the puck against Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Jamie Drysdale (9) during the first period at Amerant Bank Arena. (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)
From right, Dodgers pitchers Roki Sasaki, Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto embrace with their interpreters after the Dodgers defeated the Blue Jays, 6-5, in Game 3 of the World Series. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
A catch worthy of a statue. An out at home plate by history-making inches. A cheating outfielder steals a victory. A struggling first baseman steals a marathon. A sore-handed catcher steals a title.
The greatest postseason game by one player in baseball history. The greatest World Series by one pitcher in baseball history. The greatest moment by a Dodger benchwarmer in baseball history, a guy so embedded in the landscape of Los Angeles sports that he will be forever known simply by two abbreviated versions of his name...
It’s perhaps appropriate today to give thanks for the drama, thanks for the art, thanks for the breathtaking uncertainty of the diamonds of October.
Thanks, baseball, for creating the tableau for the Dodgers’ 13 most memorable playoff moments, one for every win, one for every scream, one for every occasion when you thought it couldn’t get any crazier.
Then it did.
The Philadelphia Phillies' Nick Castellanos is out at third after Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts gets the throw from Max Muncy and applies the tag in the ninth inning of Game 2 of the NLDS at Citizens Bank Park. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
The Wheel
Who knew the Dodgers could so deftly field a bunt play? And who knew that this teamwork would strike the first big postseason blow against their most talented postseason opponent?
Division Series, Philadelphia Phillies, Game 2, ninth inning, the Dodgers lead 4-3 but there is a runner on second with none out.
A normally fielded bunt by Bryson Stott would have moved Nick Castellanos to third and put him in perfect position to tie the game. But the Dodgers ran the little-used “Wheel Play” in which third baseman Max Muncy fielded the bunt and spun and threw to Mookie Betts to tag Castellanos and save the game.
Betts suggested the play. Manager Dave Roberts signed off on the play. The Dodgers teamwork made the play work.
“We do a pretty good job of putting each other in good spots to be successful,” Betts said afterward.
The rest of the baseball world soon learn just how successful.
Dodgers outfielder Andy Pages watches as Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Orion Kerkering can't field the ball cleanly in the 11th inning of Game 4 of the NLDS at Dodger Stadium. Hyeseong Kim scored on the play to win the game. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
This autumn, the Dodgers clinched the division series on a night of a singular, stunning meltdown.
Dodger fans will forever see Phillies’ reliever Orion Kerkering botching Andy Pages’ grounder, panicking, then throwing wildly home to allow Hyeseong Kim to score the winning run in the 11th inning of Game 4, sending the Dodgers to the championship series.
It was the play that launched the three-sentence scream heard around town at various times for the rest of the nutty postseason...
“That’s it? We won? We won!”
'Feeling Good'
The Dodgers cued up Shohei Ohtani’s walk-up song by Michael Bublé one afternoon in honor of his rarest of performances.
During the day off in the NLCS against the Milwaukee Brewers, Ohtani stunningly left the indoor cage and took on-field batting practice for one of the first times this season.
He was, at the time, two-for-his-last-25 with a dozen strikeouts. He was facing criticism that his pitching was affecting his hitting. The weight of the series was resting his giant shoulders.
He promptly put on a show, 14 of his 32 batting-practice swings resulting in home runs, including one that bounced off the right-field roof, a massive light show that contained a singular message.
“I got this.”
Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani hits one of his three home runs in Game 4 of the NLCS against the Milwaukee Brewers. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
But perhaps no single moment of the postseason was more enduring than Clayton Kershaw coming into World Series Game 3 against the Toronto Blue Jays with two out in the 12th inning and escaping a bases-loaded jam by inducing a ground ball by Nathan Lukes.
Because, it turns out, after 18 years, it was Kershaw’s last out as a Dodger.
And what if he had blown it? What if his legendary October demons had engulfed him one last time?
The way the crowd was so tensely silent during the Lukes at-bat, one got the feeling that everyone was thinking the same thing.
The collective sigh of relief was only overshadowed by the roar.
Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman reacts to his walk-off home run in the 18th inning in Game 3 of the World Series. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
But what I’ll remember most from this year’s heroics was the iconic celebration afterward, a dancing Ohtani skipping down to the bullpen with a dancing Roki Sasaki to engage in a group hug with a dancing Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
The three Japanese stars had truly found a home in Chavez Ravine, in each other, and in October.
The Dodgers had only a two-games-to-one lead in the World Series at the time, but was there any doubt their three Japanese stars would let them lose?
The Belly Flop
During the day off workout before the Dodgers would be faced with overcoming a three-game-to-two deficit in Toronto, Roberts issued the strangest challenge.
He claimed he could beat speedster Kim in a race around the bases.
The bet lasted barely 90 feet, as Roberts stumbled and face-planted just past second base, a pratfall which was captured on social media and celebrated by his laughing players.
His team loved the hell out of Roberts for doing it, and used the relaxed atmosphere to spark themselves to consecutive backs-to-the-wall victories.
“Of course it makes you smile and it makes you have a good time,” said Rojas.
Those good times were just beginning.
Dodgers second baseman Miguel Rojas gets the throw from Kiké Hernández, left, to double off the Toronto Blue Jays' Addison Barger to end Game 6. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
Señor October
Whether it’s hitting three home runs in an NLCS clinching game against the Chicago Cubs in 2017 or hitting a homer in the NLDS clinching game against the San Diego Padres seven years later, Kiké Hernández has seemingly always been in the middle of the dynasty Dodgers' success.
But never before had he stolen a game without his bat.
That’s what happened in the final breaths of Game 6 of the World Series when Hernández played against-all-orders shallow and picked off an Andrés Giménez line drive and threw to second to double off a straying Addison Barger and end the game with an intact 3-1 edge.
A role player during the regular season, Hernández had once again saved them when it mattered most.
Remember that catch and throw when you don’t see him again until next October.
The Dodgers' Miguel Rojas reacts while rounding the bases after his solo home run tied the score in the ninth inning of Game 7. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
Miggy Ro
This requires only one sentence, because it’s already been ingrained deep in your soul.
Two outs from elimination in Game 7, on a full-count pitch from Toronto closer Jeff Hoffman in the ninth inning, Miguel Rojas tied the score by hitting his only his second home run since the All-Star break.
Miggy Ro forever.
Oh, Yeah, Wait, One More
In the bottom of the ninth in Game 7, playing second base with the infield in, Rojas cleanly fielded a grounder and threw out Isiah Kiner-Falefa by inches at home plate to save the game.
Kiner-Falefa has since taken plenty of grief for not taking a bigger lead from third that would have allowed him to beat the throw, but the bottom line is, Rojas made the great catch and throw and Will Smith made the great play and the Blue Jays were simply doomed.
Miggy Ro forever… again.
Center fielder Andy Pages reaches to catch a fly ball hit by Blue Jays' Ernie Clement for the out as he collides with Kiké Hernández, left, to end the ninth inning of Game 7. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
The Statue
If the Dodgers were to hire a sculptor to encapsulate their 2025 playoff run, the artist would undoubtedly bronze a replica of Andy Pages leaping over Hernández in left field to snare an Ernie Clement fly ball with two out and bases loaded in the ninth to send the game to extra innings.
It was then that you just knew the Dodgers were going to win this. Somehow, the Dodgers were going to win this.
Dodgers catcher Will Smith is congratulated after he hit a solo home run during the 11th inning of Game 7. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
The Home Run
The most understated Dodger hit, possibly the most understated World Series Game 7 game-winning home run ever, an 11th inning drive that cannot be overstated for one reason.
Two months earlier, Smith had broken his throwing hand. Two months earlier. A broken throwing hand. For a catcher. Think about that.
From Bulldog to….
Orel Hershiser made Dodger history in 1988 with postseason pitching resilience that cemented his famous nickname.
Giants fans have one more thing to be thankful for today.
San Francisco reached an agreement with veteran left-handed reliever Sam Hentges on a one-year, $1.4 million contract, FanSided’s Robert Murray reported Thursday, citing a source familiar with the deal.
Free-agent reliever Sam Hentges and the San Francisco Giants are in agreement on a one-year, $1.4 million contract, according to a source familiar with the deal.
Hentges is a four-year MLB veteran who has tossed 206.2 innings across 168 games for the Cleveland Guardians in his career. The 29-year-old southpaw missed the entire 2025 MLB season while recovering from shoulder and knee surgery
The last time Hentges saw action was the 2024 MLB season, where he posted a 3.04 ERA with 27 strikeouts and five walks across 23.2 innings of work.
Since making the move to a full-time relief role in 2022, Hentges has logged a 2.93 ERA in 138 appearances.
His best season came in 2022, when he went 3-2 with a 2.32 ERA in 62 innings across 57 appearances while logging a career-best 1.3 WAR.
The reported addition of Hentges brings some clarity into San Francisco’s decision to non-tender lefty reliever Joey Lucchesi on Nov. 21, after he had a solid campaign with a 3.76 ERA while holding left-handed hitters to a .219 average and a .598 OPS in 38 appearances for the Giants.
San Francisco now has some option power in its bullpen, with Hentges joining fellow left-handed pitchers Erik Miller, Matt Gage and Reiver José Sanmartín as the Giants’ back-end southpaw options heading into the 2026 MLB season.
When the Detroit Red Wings were defeated by a 5-1 final score on Oct. 9 against the Montreal Canadiens in their home opener, head coach Todd McLellan stated in no uncertain terms that the group as a whole would not take the next step until they were able to figure out how to avoid such letdowns.
On Wednesday evening against the NHL-worst Nashville Predators, the Red Wings got another tough lesson in what McLellan was referring to.
The Predators, who also had the NHL's worst goals-per-game average, scored a season-high six tallies as part of a 6-3 win at Little Caesars Arena.
McLellan's frustration was evident in his postgame media availability as he had to once again re-hash the same thing he's repeatedly talked about.
“Until this team figures out that they have to value checking and defensive play, I’ll keep telling you the same things," McLellan said. "Lo and behold, here I am again. So back to the drawing board again."
Both Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider acknowledged that the Red Wings had a lack of focus in the third period, during which the Predators would twice score two goals in a span of less than 60 seconds.
When asked the potential reasons behind that lack of focus, McLellan didn't have the answer.
"I have no idea why our group would feel or think that way," McLellan said. "I have no idea."
As far as what he felt about the rest of their game, he pulled no punches.
“Didn’t like our game most of the night,” McLellan said. “I thought we were quite casual early in the game. Our passing was horrendous. There was nothing crisp about our game.”
The Red Wings missed an opportunity to gain a pair of valuable points in the standings on a night when teams they're competing with in the Atlantic Division like the Tampa Bay Lightning, Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators all managed to win their respective games.
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The Warriors will have to navigate the next week or so without superstar guard Steph Curry.
Golden State expects Curry to miss “a week or a little more” because of a quad contusion he sustained in Wednesday night’s loss to the Houston Rockets, ESPN’s Shams Charania and Anthony Slater reported Thursday, citing sources.
The Golden State Warriors anticipate Stephen Curry will miss around a week or a little more with a quad contusion suffered Wednesday night, sources tell me and @anthonyVslater. He's believed to have avoided any serious issue. Return will depend on how quad responds to treatment. pic.twitter.com/m1QwFXhhVc
The good news for the Warriors, per Charania and Slater, is that Curry appears to have avoided a serious injury.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr told reporters after Wednesday’s game that Curry was scheduled to undergo an MRI.
Curry sustained the injury late in the fourth quarter against the Rockets, and while he initially played through the injury, he was forced to head to the locker room in the final seconds of the loss.
Bottled up by the Rockets’ defense, Curry finished with 14 points on 4 of 13 shooting from the field and 2 of 9 from 3-point range.
If Curry misses exactly one week, he won’t play in the Warriors’ next three games — at home against the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday, at home against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday, Dec. 2 and on the road against the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday, Dec 4.
Beyond that, the Warriors have a road back-to-back against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday, Dec. 6 and the Chicago Bulls on Sunday, Dec. 7.
Because the Warriors didn’t qualify for the 2025 NBA Cup quarterfinals, they won’t play again until Thursday, Dec. 11 or Friday, Dec. 12.
So if Curry needs more than a week to recover, he could eye the unannounced regular-season game.
The Warriors went 1-2 when Curry missed a three-game stretch earlier this season due to an illness.
Sitting at 10-10 ahead of Saturday’s game against the Pelicans, Golden State appears to be at an inflexion point, with Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler calling out their teammates following Wednesday’s loss.
Wins already are hard to come by for the Warriors right now, and that task will be even tougher without Curry for the next few games.
SAN FRANCISCO – After the Warriors faded down the stretch Wednesday night, trudging into the locker room wearing a 104-100 loss to the Houston Rockets, Jimmy Butler III cleared his throat and spat out flames.
“We don’t box out,” Butler said. “We don’t go with the scouting report. We let anybody do whatever they want. Open shots, get into the paint, free throws. It’s just sad.”
A few minutes later, Draymond Green came along, throwing another level of heat directed at the play of the Warriors this season – again directed at the defense.
“Our defense is s—t,” Green said. “Because it’s not necessarily the numbers. How do you feel when you out there? And it’s just letdown after letdown. It’s bigger than the numbers, you know what I’m saying? Defense is about demeanor. If there’s letdown after letdown, then it kills your demeanor, it kills your bravado, then you’re just a soft team.
“It’s bigger than the numbers. Like, what does the other team feel when you’re defending them? And right now, they don’t feel no force. Even if you’re getting stops. Yeah, we got great coaches, we gon’ have a good scheme. But what about the force? We don’t have that.”
The Warriors, at least the accomplished veterans, don’t like the product they’re delivering to themselves and their fans. They came to training camp with visions of making one more run toward a championship, coming together to earn a fifth ring for Stephen Curry and Green, a first for Butler and a second for first-year Warrior Al Horford.
But 20 games into the season, the Warriors keep circling the block instead of marching toward their goal. Progress, regression, progress, regression. They return to the same place, profoundly displeased with their inability to cross the street and make real strides.
Standing in the locker room, Butler pointed at the cloth covering the board where the game plan and scouting reports are posted and defended the work of coach Steve Kerr and his staff, blowing off the notion of Kerr pointing the finger at himself.
“I just think we need to do what we’re supposed to, be out there doing as players,” Butler said. “I don’t care what Steve says. It’s not on him, and it’s not on the coaches. Y’all can’t see (the board), but it’s back there somewhere. Yeah, they write everything up there for us to do, and they put us in the position to be successful. We go over it the day before, the day of. We got to go out there and execute, man.
“So don’t listen to Steve. And he said, ‘This is on me,’ and he got to be better. Nah, it’s on these guys around this locker room.”
This is not the first time this season that Butler and Green have pointed out the team’s recurring inadequacies. They raised similar issues 16 days ago after the Warriors were blown out by the Thunder in Oklahoma City. Golden State’s record was 6-6 after that loss, and it is 4-4 since.
Circling the block.
Some of Golden State’s defensive statistics seem which seem acceptable, ranking 10th in defensive rating. Other statistics, not so much. The Warriors are 15th in field-goal percentage defense and 22nd in rebounding, both of which are central components of defense.
Butler and Green look beyond the numbers, and peer into the team’s overall disposition. How does it respond to even the slightest adversity? They don’t like what they see.
“When we’re making shots, we’re celebrating, we’re cheering,” Butler said. “We’re doing all those things. When we’re not and when the game’s not going our way, we put our head down and we mope. And then we don’t box out, we don’t get back, we foul, we do all the bad things.
“When it’s going good – you know, some people call it front-running – but when it’s going good, it’s all smiles.”
There were no smiles among the Warriors late Wednesday night. The locker room, rollicking on Monday, was dissatisfied and somber, partly because they lost a home game in which they held a 12-point lead at the half and partly because Stephen Curry left in the fourth quarter with a right quad contusion.
The Warriors have been better with Curry (9-7) than without him (1-3), but five weeks into the season, they’ve yet to sustain the slightest whisper of momentum.
How do the Warriors break this chain of futility?
“It requires individuals, all of us, as individuals, to take on your challenge,” Green said. “If you take on your challenge, then we can make the team thing work. The only way the team thing works is if we take on the individual challenge.
“And right now, we are individually – and I know everybody likes to twist words – we are individually f—ing awful.”
The Warriors are not bleeping awful by NBA standards; 17 teams have better a record, 12 are worse. They are, in certain aspects, deeply awful by the standard set by Curry and Green and expected by Butler.
When the vets spoke up two weeks ago, there was a welcome response. The Warriors won three in a row. And now, once again, the vets are speaking up, this time a bit louder.
The Buffalo Sabres are currently on a competitive roller-coaster ride. On Wednesday, they came into their game against the Pittsburgh Penguins on a high, as they’d won four of their past five games, and they climbed out of the Atlantic Division’s basement, Things were looking up.
Then, on Wednesday, the Sabres put in an effort that wasn’t good enough to beat a sliding Pens team and solidify Buffalo’s spot in the Eastern Conference standings. The Sabres were beaten 4-2 by the Penguins, and that development, combined with the Toronto Maple Leafs’ 2-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets, means that the Sabres once again are the worst team in the East.
.The Sabres managed to tie the game against Pittsburgh at the 7:20 mark of the third period on a Jason Zucker goal. But 31 seconds after Zucker’s goal, the Penguins struck again on a Bryan Rust goal to make 3-1. And from there, the Penguins never looked back. They got a good performance out of Tristan Jarry, and they limited Buffalo to only 19 shots on net.
But here’s the deflating part: in the highly-competitive Atlantic, all eight teams in the division played on Wednesday. And by the time the day was done, five Atlantic teams were victorious, so climbing up the division was for the most part extremely difficult. And because the Sabres were one of those three loser teams in the Atlantic, they had more separation between them and most of the teams in the division.
Thus, Buffalo can’t be content with just having a competitive game against any opponent. There’s a real and increasing pressure hanging over the Sabres, and every defeat they deal with is another nail in the coffin for coach Lindy Ruff and GM Kevyn Adams. And every loss is another step toward extending Buffalo’s Stanley Cup playoff drought to 15 years.
The Sabres’ next stretch of schedule is particularly daunting, as they take on the New Jersey Devils, Minnesota Wild, Winnipeg Jets (twice) and Philadelphia Flyers. All of those teams have had solid success this season, so Buffalo will be in tough to climb the Atlantic standings.
Buffalo’s poor start to the season now hangs over the Sabres. No matter what they do, they seem like they’re stuck at the bottom of the Atlantic.
The only way out of their current place in the standings is a slew of wins – and so far this season, Buffalo hasn’t shown they can do that.
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Labaron Philon scored 20 points, Aden Holloway added 17 points and a career-high 10 assists and No. Alabama beat Maryland 105-72 on Wednesday night in a consolation game of the Players Era Championship Tournament. It was the second emphatic win for the Crimson Tide (5-2) following a 10-point loss to Gonzaga on Monday.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was named the Most Valuable Player last season [Getty Images]
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 40 points to help the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 10th successive NBA win.
Listed as ill on Thunder's injury report, Gilgeous-Alexander starred in a 113-105 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves in the NBA Cup at Paycom Center.
The 27-year-old has registered at least 20 points in 91 consecutive games - the third longest streak in NBA history.
Anthony Edwards recorded 31 points and eight rebounds for the Timberwolves, who have lost three games in a row.
Oklahoma are only the fifth team in NBA history to begin a season with 18 wins and one defeat, while they have won all three NBA Cup games to lead West Group A.
The NBA Cup is an in-season tournament where teams compete for a trophy, but results also count towards the overall season standings.
The Thunder host the Phoenix Suns on Saturday, while the Timberwolves welcome the Boston Celtics.
The Toronto Raptors qualified for the quarter-finals with a 97-95 home win against the Indiana Pacers.
Brandon Ingram scored in the last second to seal the Raptors' ninth victory in succession.
Reed Sheppard put in a career-best 31-point performance as the Houston Rockets beat the Golden State Warriors 104-100 in San Francisco.
The Detroit Pistons missed out on a franchise record 14th straight win as Jaylen Brown scored 33 points and made 10 rebounds to lead the Boston Celtics to a 117-114 home victory.
New players have come in, too many of them, and that has meant a dilution of the collective will instilled by Klopp
Before this game Arne Slot had announced that he was “almost confused”. Which does at least raise some tantalising questions. Mainly, what is this Liverpool team going to look like when he gets there, when a state of full confusion is finally attained, when even Slot’s confusion stops being confusing and reveals its diamond-cut final form.
Britain’s most successful female UFC fighter on knowing when to stand her ground, why she won’t box in Saudi Arabia and aiming to win a world title in the next year
“I give my hidings and I take my hidings and so they have seen me with snapped ligaments in my knee, broken feet, broken toes, broken hands, stitches, broken legs,” Molly McCann says of the damage she has endured as a fighter and the impact it has had on her mum and her partner, Fran Parman. “It’s traumatic for Fran and even more traumatic for my mum. I’m 35 and I’ve been in the gym since I was 12. I had my first fight at 16. I’ve spent most of my life fighting.”
McCann boxed as a teenager and she won an ABA title. But, at a time when women’s boxing was still undermined, she turned to mixed martial arts and eventually became the most successful female British fighter in the UFC. McCann retired in March after 14 savage UFC bouts; but, within days, she became a professional boxer. On Saturday night she will have her second contest in boxing’s paid ranks.
The Ottawa Senators generally come up snake eyes in Vegas, but the house doesn't always win.
The Senators entered the game on Wednesday night with a 1-12-1 record against Vegas but finally conquered the Knights, 4-3. It figures that Shane Pinto would come up big in Vegas. He scored once and also had the only goal in the shootout.
Jake Sanderson led the Senators offence with a goal and two assists, Claude Giroux and Tim Stutzle each had two assists, and Linus Ullmark made 32 saves, including a few beauties in the third period and in the shootout.
The Senators opened the scoring just 51 seconds into the game. Shane Pinto’s harmless-looking, bad-angle wrist shot from the bottom of the circle somehow leaked through Vegas goalie Akira Schmid, a terrible goal by anyone’s measure. Pinto’s 11th goal of the season, tying him with Tim Stützle for the club lead, gave the Sens a 1–0 lead.
Jake Sanderson added to Ottawa’s lead on the power play just over 13 minutes into the game. Claude Giroux, standing at the top of the left circle, got it back to Sanderson at the top of the umbrella, and he one-timed a slap shot off the post and in past a screened Schmid.
With just over 3 minutes remaining in the first, Mitch Marner took a long stretch pass from Shea Theodore and dropped it for Brett Howden.
But the Senators restored their two-goal lead with just 17 seconds left in the period. Tim Stützle sprinted past everyone down the left wing and centered to Drake Batherson, who one-timed a snapshot past Schmid to make it 3–1 after one.
Just over 2 minutes into the second, Jack Eichel cut the lead to 3–2. Down at the goal line, Eichel found a loose puck and crammed in a backhand.
That score held up until the third, when former Senator Mark Stone tied it with a fluky power-play goal. Stone’s centering pass to the front of the net bounced off Stützle’s skate and in.
That power play was set up by a controversial high sticking call, as it appeared Eichel skated right into it. It was the second such penalty of the game, the first coming earlier in the period with Giroux down on the ice and getting called for tripping when Eichel skated over top of him and fell.
The Senators held on in a one-sided third period, getting outshot 11-5, but still clinching a point on the road.
This was the ninth overtime game this season for Vegas, which has only won one of those games. Ivan Barbashev had the best chance of ending the game in OT, charging in alone on Ullmark and ringing one off the post.
Shane Pinto had the only goal of the shootout for the Senators, who improved to 12-7-4 on the season. Their next game is on Friday at St Louis, where Brady Tkachuk is slated to return to the lineup.
By Steve Warne The Hockey News Ottawa
This article was originally published at The Hockey News Ottawa. Read more:
There were several firsts on Wednesday for the Pittsburgh Penguins when they took on the Buffalo Sabres in an important Thanksgiving Eve matchup.
The most prominent first was, obviously, the first NHL game of Penguins' center Tristan Broz's career, and he put forth a nice effort for Pittsburgh. It was also forward Ville Koivunen's first game back from injury, and he and Broz - frequent linemates in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (WBS) - had the opportunity to play on the same line for the first time at the NHL level.
But there was another player who was playing his first game after a stint on injured reserve. And he was the most important player on the ice for the Penguins en route to a 4-2 win.
With Buffalo pressing big-time in the second half of the game, Penguins' goaltender Tristan Jarry stood tall, keeping his team in the game and making some huge saves. He stopped 28 of 31 Buffalo shots on goal, and he was the main reason the Penguins got back in the win column Wednesday after dropping two straight games.
"He was outstanding," head coach Dan Muse said. "And I think, especially the second half of the game, he saw a lot more than we'd want him to see. But even in the second period, the first - I don't know exactly what it was, but - the first half of the period, there wasn't much for scoring chances for them. I thought we controlled play, and then, it kind of flipped.
"That's not easy for a goalie. You go a lot of the period there without seeing too much, and then suddenly, you see a lot. I thought that was a huge part of the game there where he was able to help us weather the storm with some big saves - especially that really long, extended shift that we had in the d-zone there in the second period."
There was no score - and not a whole lot of shots - for most of the first period until Penguins' defenseman Matt Dumba threw a knuckling puck from the right circle through a screen and toward the net and in. The score remained 1-0 in favor of the Penguins through the end of the second period, too, despite Buffalo beginning to push in the latter half of the middle frame.
Then - when the Sabres just kept pressing in the third period - the tying goal felt almost inevitable. And ex-Penguin Jason Zucker did register that tally with 7:20 to go in regulation.
The Penguins have certainly been in that position - the aftermath of a blown lead - plenty of times in the month of November. But, this time, they responded the right way.
Just 31 seconds later, Bryan Rust buried one from the right circle to put Pittsburgh back on top, 2-1, and less than four minutes later, Kevin Hayes added an insurance goal and his first of the season in the form of a net-front redirection off of a gorgeous feed from Erik Karlsson.
Buffalo's Jack Quinn did bring the Sabres within one with just over four minutes to go in regulation, but Connor Dewar responded with a late empty-net goal to seal the 4-2 win.
Here are a few takeaways from this win:
- There were ups and downs for Broz in his debut. He didn't have a great defensive zone showing on Buffalo's tying goal, and there were some jitters and adjustments earlier on in the game.
We'll see how everyone lines up Friday when the Penguins play the Columbus Blue Jackets, as - presumably - rookie Ben Kindel will be back in the lineup after being a healthy scratch Wednesday.
- Speaking of Kindel's scratch, I had no issue with it.
Yes, the Penguins have not played a lot of games lately, and resting him might seem silly to some because the Penguins hadn't played since Saturday.
But, remember this: The Penguins originally had a development plan in place for both Kindel and rookie defenseman Harrison Brunicke, and that kind of went off the tracks for both of them in opposite ways. While Brunicke found himself scratched for seven consecutive games on his way to an AHL conditioning stint that began Wednesday against the Hershey Bears, Kindel found himself as an essential part of the lineup because of the Penguins' injury situation, which means they couldn't really give him any planned breaks.
Wednesday was an example of them simply having the ability - for the first time in a while - to actually follow through on their development plan. With Broz able to slot in at third-line center, Kindel could afford to have a night off.
So, I wouldn't read into it too much, and I expect him back Friday. However, one thing I would keep in the back of your mind is that - especially if Broz does end up sticking around and the team continues to get healthier - it's no guarantee that Kindel won't play in the World Junior Championship.
I feel it's probably still unlikely for several reasons, but I wouldn't rule it out entirely.
- Dumba has looked a bit better in the last couple of games, and I think he's at his best when he's getting pucks to the net.
Of course, his goal Wednesday wasn't the hardest shot in the world, but Dumba does have a booming shot that he could sure use a whole lot more than he does. If he continues to activate more in the offensive zone, I think we'll see a better version of him moving forward.
I thought he was good Wednesday.
- Rust really needed a goal. And, man, was that goal huge.
For him personally, it had been going on seven games without a goal and six games without a point. Rust tends to score in bunches, and the Penguins really need him to score goals right now in the absence of Rickard Rakell and Justin Brazeau.
Hopefully, this gets him going.
Team-wise? The Penguins very well could have deflated entirely after surrendering yet another third-period lead. Instead, they responded with a quick goal and added another insurance goal in pretty quick order, almost as if to say, "Not this time."
When a team is mired in a funk, winning games this way can really help to boost morale and propel them forward, especially with a tough, condensed schedule ahead. The Penguins responded, and they hung on.
And it started with Rust's goal.
- Over 77 percent of the time in the NHL, teams in a playoff spot come Thanksgiving do indeed make the playoffs.
With a Utah Mammoth comeback against the Montreal Canadiens Wednesday, the Penguins are officially in a playoff spot come Thanksgiving.
A lot can happen this season, obviously. But remember this.
It's no small thing that the Penguins are tied for third in the NHL in regulation wins, which is the first tiebreaker. It's no small thing that - despite a rough November where their luck has run out - they still hold a winning record and seem to be in almost every hockey game, save for a few. And it's no small thing that they've been able to scratch and claw and still bank points - and hold a playoff position - despite being severely injury-depleted during this tough stretch.
If they continue to get the goaltending - and they get healthy - maybe, just maybe, this is actually a good hockey team. There is still a lot to clean up defensively, and they need to start scoring a whole lot more goals again.
But it's possible that we've seen the worst of it. Of course, that might not be the case, and the sport of hockey has an unpredictability that makes it fun and unique.
So, all I will say - for now - is that something does feel different about this team. There is a different air in the locker room. There is a different kind of fight in this group.
