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Celtics vs. Knicks second-round playoff preview, odds and prediction

Celtics vs. Knicks second-round playoff preview, odds and prediction originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

A new chapter in the classic rivalry between Boston and New York will be written over the next two weeks when the Celtics and Knicks clash in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

The Celtics are the defending champions and eliminated the Orlando Magic in five games in the first round. The Knicks dispatched the Detroit Pistons in six games.

This is the first Celtics-Knicks playoff series since 2013, and it’s the first time they’ve met in the postseason after the first round since 1984, when the Celtics defeated the Knicks in Game 7 of the conference semifinals. Boston is 4-3 all-time in playoff series versus the Knicks.

The Knicks made two blockbuster trades in the offseason to acquire center Karl-Anthony Towns and forward Mikal Bridges. The hope for the Knicks was that those moves would give them a better chance to beat top contenders in the East like the Celtics. But the Knicks went 0-4 against the Celtics in the regular season, and three of those losses were by 13 or more points.

The Knicks had no answers for Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum in those four games. Tatum averaged 33.5 points on 53.5 percent shooting and 47.8 percent from 3-point range. His efficient scoring helped the Celtics put up 125 points per game against the Knicks.

Boston also shot 50 percent from the floor and 43.5 percent on 3-pointers. If the Knicks’ defense doesn’t improve dramatically, this will be a short series.

Will the Celtics continue their dominance over the Knicks and advance to the conference finals for the fourth straight season? Or will the Knicks pull off the upset and get to the conference finals for the first time since 2000?

Check out our full Celtics-Knicks preview below:

Series schedule

  • Game 1: Monday, May 5 in Boston
  • Game 2: Wednesday, May 7 in Boston
  • Game 3: Saturday, May 10 in New York
  • Game 4: Monday, May 12 in New York
  • Game 5: Wednesday, May 14 in Boston*
  • Game 6: Friday, May 16 in New York*
  • Game 7: Monday, May 19 in Boston*
  • *If necessary

Regular season head-to-head

Oct. 22 at Boston: Celtics 132, Knicks 109

Feb. 8 at New York: Celtics 131, Knicks 104

Feb. 23 at Boston: Celtics 118, Knicks 105

April 8 at New York: 119 Celtics, Knicks 117 (OT)

Celtics vs. Knicks stats comparison

Here’s a breakdown of Boston and New York’s season stats and NBA rankings from the 2024-25 season.

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Celtics will win the series if…

Kristaps Porzingis continues to dominate his former team.

Porzingis has been inconsistent in the 2025 playoffs so far. He scored 20 points in Game 2 against the Magic and 19 points in Game 4. But he only chipped in five points in Game 1, seven points in Game 3 and nine points in Game 5. He also pulled down less than 10 rebounds in four of five games versus Orlando.

The Celtics need a lot more from Porzingis, especially as a scorer, to beat the Knicks. Sam Hauser and Payton Pritchard struggled to make a consistent impact offensively in Round 1. Jrue Holiday missed the last three games of the Magic series. It’s unknown how effective he’ll be coming back from injury.

It can’t just be that Tatum and Brown show on the offensive end of the floor. Someone needs to be a reliable No. 3 option, and Porzingis is best suited for this role.

The good news for the Celtics is the Knicks seem to bring out the best in Porzingis. He loves playing against his former team. The veteran center averaged 24.5 points and two blocks per game, while shooting 50 percent from the floor and 45.5 percent on 3-pointers versus the Knicks in the regular season. Since joining the C’s, Porzingis is averaging 22.4 points versus New York.

Porzingis scored 34 points in an overtime victory against the Knicks at MSG on April 8.

Porzingis’ ability to score from anywhere on the floor and defend the rim against Knicks drives to the paint (especially Jalen Brunson) will play a pivotal role in this series.

Knicks will win the series if…

The Knicks’ role players step up.

Jalen Brunson averaged 26.8 points per game against the Celtics in the regular season. If he’s healthy enough to play, he can score 30-plus any night. You can count on him to provide strong offensive production. The same can’t be said for many of his teammates.

Even if Karl-Anthony Towns plays well in Round 2 — and that’s a serious IF, because he struggled at times versus the C’s this season — the Knicks will still need a few other players to step up.

OG Anunoby averaged 18 points per game in the regular season, but only nine per game against the Celtics. Boston limited him to a 29.6 field goal percentage and a 13.3 3-point percentage. He also struggled defending Jayson Tatum.

The same goes for Mikal Bridges, who scored just 13.8 points per game versus the Celtics and shot 31.8 percent from beyond the arc in those matchups. Bridges is a very good defensive player, but you wouldn’t know it by watching him defend Tatum this season.

Tatum scored 35 points on 13-for-19 shooting when Bridges was the primary defender in their four regular season matchups.

One of the reasons why the Knicks gave up so many draft picks to acquire Bridges last summer was for him to guard the best wing players New York would face in the playoffs, including Tatum and Brown.

It’s impossible for the Knicks to win this series if Bridges and Anunoby don’t contribute at an elite level, especially defensively against the Jays.

Odds

The Celtics are favored to win the series.

  • Celtics to win series: -800
  • Knicks to win series: +550

Prediction

Celtics in five.

The Celtics are a bad matchup for the Knicks. They also have homecourt advantage, much more playoff experience, a deeper roster and the best player in the series in Tatum. Boston is a little banged up, so injuries could definitely be a factor, but it’s probably going to take a near-perfect effort from New York to pull off the upset.

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Lakers moving forward: What we learned from the exit interviews

Lakers star Luka Doncic, left, gives a first bump to general manager Rob Pelinka, right, before a playoff game.
Lakers star Luka Doncic gives a fist bump to general manager Rob Pelinka, who earned a contract extension after landing the All-Star guard in a trade with Dallas. Now the club's top basketball executive has a roster to restock, starting with a center, he acknowledged Thursday. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

JJ Redick and Rob Pelinka sat in the nearly identical places on the team’s practice court as they did last June when Redick was introduced as the Lakers' head coach. In the time since that decision last June, a lot has changed for the Lakers.

Pelinka earned a contract extension and an elevated front-office title after trading for Luka Doncic. Redick went from coaching unknown to a successful culture builder, even if his boldest strategies in the playoffs didn’t keep the Lakers from being eliminated after just five games for the second straight year.

“Every year we embark training camp, the journey of a season, with the goal of putting another banner up, and any season we don’t do that, we’ve fallen short of our ultimate goal here,” Pelinka said as he began Thursday’s news conference. “That said, this season was full of some exciting things that we really need to lean into for our future. One is the coach sitting next to me. JJ brought just a complete revival of energy and incredibly hard work ethic, attention to detail, a spirit to our team, to our group, to our franchise as a rookie coach that we haven’t seen in a long time.

“Our level of confidence, my level of confidence couldn’t be higher.”

Still, Thursday wasn’t about celebrating any of that — at least not on the surface. The rawest and most prevalent emotions were still tied to the Lakers’ losing 4-1 to Minnesota in a best-of-seven series in which were beaten by “the better team,” Redick said.

“Coming into the building today, sort of an eerie, familiar feeling,” Redick said. “I’ve always felt like a team is a living organism. And that season, you’ve got to feed the organism, and you hope that it’s healthy. Certainly, every organism has some chronic issues, and you try to address those. Then when you come in after the season, it feels like a funeral.

Read more:Plaschke: Lakers' season ends in humiliation … and hope

“It feels like the death of that organism.”

Exit interviews, which were conducted with players Wednesday night and with Redick and Pelinka on Thursday, give a sense of the initial autopsy — with hints and promises of what the future should hold.

Here are the biggest takeaways from Redick's and Pelinka’s comments on Friday:

The roster

Pelinka addressed the elephant in the room — the lack of a giraffe on the court.

“I'll say in general, it's very clear and it was clear then, and we spoke to it that this team and this roster needs more size and needs a center position,” he said. “That's a very clear and obvious byproduct of trading potentially the best big in the league to Dallas to get a point guard. Of course, that's going to open up a huge hole. And as I said before, the trade deadline and the moments up to it don't allow you the requisite time to explore every single unturned stone to add a big to our roster. We just didn't have the time after the Luka trade. But now we do.”

So what kind of center?

“I think in terms of center traits, it would be great to have a center that was a vertical threat, lob threat, and someone that could protect the interior defensively. I think those would be keys,” Pelinka said. “But there's multiple different types of centers that can be very effective in the league. There's also spread centers that can protect the rim. We'll look at those as well. So I wouldn't want to limit the archetype, but we know we need a big man.”

Pelinka also said he believes in the Lakers’ core.

Lakers forward LeBron James talks to a referee as he walks to the bench alongside teammate Luka Doncic.
Lakers forward LeBron James talks to a referee as he walks to the bench alongside teammate Luka Doncic during Game 5 of the playoff series against the Timberwolves. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

“The level of confidence in Austin Reaves, LeBron James and Luka Doncic is at an all-time high still. So no change in how we feel about those three guys,” Pelinka said. “And in terms of assessing it, we lost the series, so we did not accomplish what we wanted to do, which was win in this series. But in every series, to me, it's like a game of chess. You learn and then when you get to play the game the next time, you're better. But I think those three guys have incredible promise playing together.

“And we will collectively do a better job to make sure they're surrounded with the right pieces to have ultimate success. And we talked at the beginning what ultimate success is here. And we're going to put in the work to allow that group of guys to win a championship.”

LeBron James and his role as the Lakers build the roster

“LeBron is a GOAT, one of the GOATs of the game. And he’s been a completely selfless leader. And I think we saw that in this playoff series, moving to playing more off the ball and committing more to the defensive end,” Pelinka said. “I think it’s just a testament to his championship DNA and character. And I think LeBron’s going to have high expectations for the roster. And we’re going to do everything we can to meet those. But I also know that whatever it is, he’s still going to give his 110% every night, whether that’s scoring, assisting, defending, rebounding, leading. We know that’s always going to be 100%, and that never wavers.”

On what needs to improve

The most direct criticism of the team came from Redick, who said he believed the Lakers needed to be in better condition to compete for a title.

“I think I'll start with the offseason and the work that's required in an offseason to be in championship shape. And we have a ways to go as a roster,” Redick said. “And certainly, there are individuals that were in phenomenal shape. There's certainly other ones that could have been in better shape. That's where my mind goes immediately is we have to get in championship shape.”

The spotlight on decisions as Lakers head coach

Lakers coach JJ Redick, left, slaps hands with guard Luka Doncic as he walks off the court after injuring his back in Game 5.
Lakers coach JJ Redick slaps hands with guard Luka Doncic as he walks off the court after injuring his back during Game 5 on Wednesday night. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

“We all know what the Lakers is," Redick said. "I talked about it when I did my opening press conference, I know what I signed up for and I know there's a lot of blame that gets placed on me and I'm willing to accept that. Believe me, no one's harder on me than me. In terms of our players, I think they handled it well all season. And we certainly had ups, and we certainly had downs, and we were able to weather that as a group. I think it's hard sometimes to admit this and maybe this is hard sometimes for a coach or a player to admit this. We lost to a better team. That's just the reality. We did. And we put ourselves in a position to win Games 3, 4 and 5 and we weren't able to do that in the fourth quarter.

“And that's where I think you really have to evaluate and really try to grow from as a coach and certainly as a group, whatever that group looks like next year. Minnesota is a great basketball team. They really are.”

On coaching Luka Doncic

“I think our first conversation when he flew into L.A. that night, he wants to be coached. He wants to be held accountable,” Redick said. “And I think he's expressed to me and what I've expressed to him is very similar. I want to bring out the best version of Luka. And that's what he wants from me. And so that's the partnership going forward. That's the expectation. And that's the baseline of what we're trying to do. Let's try to bring out the best version of Luka and hopefully win a championship doing that.”

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

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Former Sabre Hall Signs Three-Year Deal With Hurricanes

Former Sabre Taylor Hall signed a three-year contract extension with Carolina on Wednesday 

The Carolina Hurricanes were the first club to move to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs earlier this week, with three former Sabres in William Carrier, Eric Robinson and Taylor Hall contributing to them getting past the New Jersey Devils in five games. On Wednesday, the Hurricanes announced that they have signed the 33-year-old Hall to a three-year, $9.5 million contract extension. 

The Edmonton Oilers 2010 first overall pick was part of the three-way deal with Colorado and Chicago in January that also saw winger Mikko Rantanen go to the Canes. Hall was a rental in the final year of a four-year deal he signed with Boston and finished the season with 18 points (9 goals, 9 assists) in 31 games. 

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The Calgary native joined the Sabres in 2020 on a one-year, $8 million deal with Buffalo in 2020 after winning the Hart Trophy in 2018 and being dealt to Arizona, to play under former Oilers head coach Ralph Krueger. His tenure with the Sabres was disastrous, as Hall scored two goals in 37 games and was dealt to Boston in April 2021 with Curtis Lazar for Anders Bjork and a 2021 second-round pick that turned into Russian forward Aleksandr Kisakov.

Here is how some former Sabres did in the playoffs on Wednesday:

Joel Armia(MTL) 1A, +1, 9:53 TOI, 2 Hits

Montreal was eliminated by Washington in five games. 

Sam Reinhart(FLA) 1G, 1A +1, 20:09 TOI, 7 SOG

Evan Rodrigues(FLA) 13:58 TOI

Dmitri Kulikov(FLA) -1, 21:57 TOI, 7 Hits

Zemgus Girgensons(TB) -1, 8:27 TOI, 5 Hits

Florida eliminated Tampa Bay in five games, and will play the winner of Ottawa-Toronto. 

Follow Michael on X, Instagram, and Bluesky @MikeInBuffalo

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Pistons star Beasley boldly claims he's ‘best shooter in the world'

Pistons star Beasley boldly claims he's ‘best shooter in the world' originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Pistons guard Malik Beasley made a bold claim about his shooting abilities after the New York Knicks eliminated Detroit in Game 6 of their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series on Thursday night.

“It’s been us against the world, our team,” Beasley told reporters at Little Caesars Arena after his team’s 116-113 loss. (h/t NBACentral). “… Obviously the pain hurts. [Ausar Thompson] was pissed. He is the best defender in the world. He feels like he should have got a stop on that last possession.

“I’m the best shooter in the world. I feel like I should have got it on the last possession.”

The Pistons had one more chance late in the fourth quarter to send the elimination game into overtime after Knicks star Jalen Brunson hit a go-ahead 3-pointer over Thompson for a 116-113 lead. But on the next play, a pass from Cade Cunningham to Beasley went through his hands and out of bounds, and Detroit’s season was over.

While Beasley is an accomplished shooter, averaging 16.3 points per game on 43-percent shooting from the field and 41.6 percent from deep this season, Dub Nation certainly would argue that title still belongs to Warriors star Steph Curry.

At 37 years of age, Curry remains one of the game’s most lethal shooters, posting a 44.8 shooting percentage from the field during the 2024-25 NBA season and still finishing third in threes per game (3.8) during his 16th campaign.

Not to mention Curry owns the NBA’s single-season (402) and all-time (4,058) 3-point records, and he doesn’t just kill his opponents from deep, sniping from mid-range, floaters, and everywhere else on the court. He also further etched his name into basketball shooting lore last summer with his “Golden Dagger” in the 2024 Paris Olympics, which sent Team USA home with a gold medal on the world’s biggest stage.

In short, Curry’s list of shooting accomplishments could go on and on.

It’s hard to argue that any one player is the “best” at anything in the NBA, let alone the world, and everything is subjective. But in this case, the consensus tends to lie in Curry’s favor.

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Canadiens: Curtain Call For Savard

Apr 30, 2025; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Montreal Canadiens defenseman David Savard (58) hugs teammates after game five of the first round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena. Photo Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

Lost in the sorrow of elimination was that Montreal Canadiens veteran defenseman David Savard played the last game of his career on Wednesday night. As the Habs were getting ready to shake hands with the Washington Capitals, the hulking blueliner was wiping away his tears, not because his team was eliminated, but because it truly was the end of the road for him.

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Speaking to the press after the game, coach Martin St-Louis said:

Our youth wouldn’t be where it is right now without David Savard. It’s been an honor for me to coach that man, a professional who leads by example with all the kids growing up in our culture. He’s not the only one, but I know we won’t have that influence anymore. He was surrounded by excellent vets, the Gally, Dvo, Andy, Matheson, Carrier…We have a damn good group. So, my emotions…of course, it’s a shame the season is over, but I’m so proud of this group.
- St-Louis on Savard and his group.

The saying may be “If you can’t beat them, join them, " but Savard pulled a reverse-Marian Hossa, he beat the Canadiens in the Stanley Cup final in 2021 with the Tampa Bay Lightning, and signed with them as a free agent. Little did he know he was going to have to step right into Shea Weber’s skates, not so much as the player, but as everyone’s dad in a group that became younger in a hurry with Weber, Carey Price, and Paul Byron’s careers almost ending in that last game against Tampa Bay.

He signed a four-year contract with a Cup finalist team, and a few months later, he found himself in a full-blown rebuild. He stuck with it, though, taking everyone under his wing and helping this young defensive core mature.

Drafted in the fourth round by the Columbus Blue Jackets at the 2009 draft, Savard spent 11 years in their organization before being traded to the Lightning at the 2021 trade deadline. He played 14 regular-season games with the Bolts and 20 playoff tilts before raising the holy grail.

Over his 15-year career, the shot-blocking machine played 870 games, gathering 54 goals and 188 assists along the way for a total of 242 points and 467 penalty minutes. In 62 playoff games, he put up 17 points and 20 penalty minutes. He wasn’t an offensive defenseman by any stretch of the imagination, but he was a reliable defenseman with an imposing presence you could rely on.

While Savard was understandably sad as he left the ice on Wednesday night, at least he was able to call it a day on his own terms. His decision wasn’t dictated by a career-ending injury like Weber's or contract negotiations that went south like Andrei Markov's.

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Juan Soto's two-homer game a silver lining in Mets' loss to Diamondbacks: 'We knew he was close'

The Mets may have lost Thursday’s matinee against the Arizona Diamondbacks, giving them their first series loss at home this season, but there was at least one positive to take away from the rubber match, as Juan Soto blasted his first two home runs at Citi Field as a Met.

Soto, signed to the richest contract in baseball history, had gone 15 games at Citi Field as a member of the Mets without hitting a home run, but he launched two solo shots on Thursday, both of them going to left-center, as he showed off his patented opposite field power.

And if you ask manager Carlos Mendoza, the two-homer performance was something that’s been in the making for at least the past few days.

“It’s always good to see it, and we knew he was close,” Mendoza said after the 4-2 loss. “Whenever you have a guy who controls the strike zone as well as he does, continues to hit the ball hard even when he goes 0-for. I’ve been saying it for the past couple of days.

“Today I think the first at-bat was 110 [mph] right at the shortstop. Yeah, he’s hitting balls on the ground, but now finally not only hitting balls in the air, but when he’s going in that direction, left-center, he’s a pretty dangerous hitter, and it was good to see that today.”

“It feels good always to come through to help the team,” added Soto. “It just feels good... When I’m hitting the ball well that way, I feel [like] things are starting to get better for me at the plate. I start seeing the ball better and deeper and it’s a good sign.”

After signing a historic 15-year, $765 million contract with the Mets, external expectations for the 26-year-old were sky high. And while he may have gotten off to a slower start by his all-world standards, Soto was still going a good job of working the count, getting on base, and scoring runs in front of a red-hot Pete Alonso.

And now his offensive numbers are trending upwards, with his OPS at .822 after Thursday’s performance.

According to Soto, there’s never been any extra pressure to perform at a high level, no matter what his contract looks like.

“What pressure? I don’t have any pressure,” Soto said. “Mendoza has been really clear with me to make me feel comfortable and going out there to play. I don’t have any pressure at all so it’s just two homers that weren’t enough to get the win."

Even with the loss on Thursday, it’s hard to take anything away from what the Mets have accomplished over the first month-plus of the season. They’re now 13-3 at home, 21-11 overall, and have been riding their starting pitching, strong defense, and timely hitting to a 3.0-game lead in the ultra-competitive NL East.

“I feel like we’ve been doing a really good job,” Soto said. “We gotta give credit to our bullpen and the starting pitching – they’ve been great. We have a couple of guys out who are hurt, but they’ve been showing up everyday day in and day out since Day 1 so really happy, really excited to play behind those guys”

“Look where we’re at,” he added later. “We just gotta keep doing the same thing we’ve been doing since Day 1. Try to get on, get them over, get them in. That’s all we gotta do.”

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Ottawa Senators Push To Extend Series (Again), Determined To Force Game 7

If you believe that hockey teams can carry momentum from one game to the next in a Stanley Cup Playoff series, then the Senators might as well set up a proper stall in their locker room for Ol' Man Momentum.

Since Jake Sanderson's overtime goal in Game 4, Big Mo has been on Ottawa's side and will be again on Thursday night – at least to start Game 6 of the Battle of Ontario.

May 1, 2025: Senators fans congregate early at Canadian Tire Centre before Game 6 of the first round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Ottawa Senators (Marc DesRosiers-Imagn Images).

After losing the first three games of the series—two of them in overtime—the Senators have responded nicely, winning each of the past two games, including a 4-0 win in Toronto on Tuesday.

For Ottawa hockey fans, most of whom don't much care for the Leafs, this momentum has restored faith and excitement in the series. So, on Thursday night, Canadian Tire Centre is expected to be, as Brady Tkachuk put it on Tuesday, "pure insanity."

Brady Tkachuk On Thursday's Game 6 Atmosphere in Ottawa: 'I Expect Pure Insanity'Brady Tkachuk On Thursday's Game 6 Atmosphere in Ottawa: 'I Expect Pure Insanity'In the moments after being announced as one of the game's three stars on Saturday night in Ottawa, Senators captain Brady Tkachuk gestured to centre ice, telling fans the team would be coming back for Game 6.

"This is not just about our team,” Tkachuk said on Thursday. “It's about our city. You could feel the excitement, and we're going to need it tonight. I mean, the amount of energy, pride we get from our fans, this city, it's something that I don't really think they know the impact that they have on our team.

"The season's on the line again tonight, so it's going to be a lot of fun."

For Tkachuk and the Senators, it's been baptism by fire. Their young core is learning all the things that only actual playoff experience can teach. They're getting exposure to a completely different kind of intensity and learning what it takes to succeed in these fierce circumstances when everyone is watching. It will serve them well for the rest of this season, however long it runs, and on into next season and beyond.

Head coach Travis Green shared that view when asked about where the Senators have made their biggest strides in this series.

"A lot of areas,” Green said. “Just the comfortability of playing playoff hockey, the importance of certain parts of the ice. Things you talk about all year that get magnified during playoff hockey. You grow up watching playoff hockey, but until you play it you don't really know where that intensity level gets to until you actually go through it. So probably, if I have to name one area, it would be the intensity part of it."

Toronto faces a different kind of intensity via pressure. As if they didn't already have enough—from being the heavy favourite, or their 58-year Stanley Cup drought, or the fear of being the fifth team in NHL history to blow a 3–0 series lead—now they're having to hear daily about their historical inability to close.

Going back to 2018, they’re now 1–13 in playoff games where a victory would have eliminated their opponent. And in those games, according to NHL.com, the Leafs have gone 0-26 on the power play.

Not only has the Leafs' power play come up empty in the past two games, but they've also given up a short-handed goal in each. That’s the risk teams run when they roll with their five best forwards and defencemen. It often creates extra danger at both ends.

As far as changes go on Thursday, veteran forward Max Pacioretty will slide up to the second line with William Nylander and John Tavares. He takes the place of Pontus Holmberg, who has zero points in the series. So, that's a roster edit that feels like a 'What took you so long?' kind of move.

The Sens aren’t messing with anything. They're hoping to cling to their momentum to force Game 7 and a chance at history on Saturday night.

By Steve Warne
The Hockey News

For more great Senators coverage from The Hockey News, be sure to check out THN.com/Ottawa.

Gaud's Plan: Adam Gaudette's Decision To Sign In Ottawa Works Out PerfectlyGaud's Plan: Adam Gaudette's Decision To Sign In Ottawa Works Out PerfectlyAdam Gaudette has quietly been one of the best stories of the Ottawa Senators’ season – a tale of a player struggling to get back to the NHL, joining forces with a team struggling to get back to the NHL playoffs.
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(Game 6) Wild Vs Golden Knights: Game Preview, Line Combinations

Mandatory Credit: Bruce Fedyck-Imagn Images.

ST. PAUL, Minn - The Minnesota Wild is back in action tonight for Game 6 against the Vegas Golden Knights. It is a win or go home situation for the Wild as they look to force a Game 7 back in Vegas with a win tonight. 

The Wild are not expected to make any changes tonight. Head coach John Hynes said this morning that Filip Gustavsson should start tonight. He left Game 5 after the second period with an illness. 

We won't know the lines until warmups but the Wild are expected to roll out the same lineup tonight as Game 5. 

For the Golden Knights, Pavel Dorofeyev will miss tonight's game. Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy said this morning that Dorofeyev is listed as day-to-day. 

Victor Olofsson will come in and replace Dorofeyev in the lineup. He played in the first three games of the series until the Golden Knights decided to play Tanner Pearson for the last two games. He assisted on the Game 5 overtime winner.

Here are tonight's projected lines (subject to change). 

Wild Projected Lines

Kirill Kaprizov - Joel Eriksson Ek - Matt Boldy

Marcus Foligno - Ryan Hartman - Mats Zuccarello

Marcus Johansson - Freddy Gaudreau - Gustav Nyquist

Yakov Trenin - Marco Rossi - Justin Brazeau

Defense:

Jonas Brodin - Brock Faber

Jake Middleton - Jared Spurgeon

Jon Merrill - Zach Bogosian

Starting Goaltender: Filip Gustavsson

Scratched: Declan Chisholm, Devin Shore, Jesper Wallstedt, Liam Ohgren, Vinnie Hinostroza, Zeev Buium.

Injured: None

Black Aces:Hunter Haight, Cameron Crotty, Carson Lambos, Travis Boyd, Brendan Gaunce, Samuel Hlavaj, and Ben Jones. 

Golden Knights Projected Lines

William Karlsson - Jack Eichel - Mark Stone

Brandon Saad - Tomas Hertl - Victor Olofsson

Ivan Barbashev - Nicolas Roy - Reilly Smith

Tanner Pearson - Brett Howden - Keegan Kolesar

Defense:

Brayden McNabb – Shea Theodore

Nicolas Hague - Alex Pietrangelo

Noah Hanifin - Zach Whitecloud

Starting Goaltender: Adin Hill

Scratched: Alexander Holtz, Ben Hutton, Ilya Samsonov, Kaedan Korczak, Cole Schwindt. 

Injured: Pavel Dorofeyev

Make sure you bookmark The Hockey News' Minnesota Wild page for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns and so much more.

Wild Related News

Wild's Filip Gustavsson Expected To Start In Goal For Game 6Wild's Filip Gustavsson Expected To Start In Goal For Game 6ST. PAUL, Minn - There was some concern when Filip Gustavsson left Game 5 after the second period with an illness and then to not return to the bench for the rest of the game.  Golden Knights Face Wild For Game 6 Tonight Without Their Top Goal ScorerGolden Knights Face Wild For Game 6 Tonight Without Their Top Goal ScorerST. PAUL, Minn - The Vegas Golden Knights will be without its top goal scorer from the regular season. Head coach Bruce Cassidy confirmed this morning that Pavel Dorofeyev will not play tonight. 
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Signing Evolving Young Star Defenseman Must Be Priority For Sabres This Summer

Bowen Byram (Timothy T. Ludwig, USA TODAY Sports)

The Buffalo Sabres have clear goals in this off-season, including being a better defensive team. But one of the biggest tasks for the Sabres has to be getting a key defenseman locked up under contract for as long as possible.

We’re speaking, of course, of young defenseman and pending RFA Bowen Byram. The 23-year-old is coming off a season in which he set personal-bests in assists (31) and points (38), and Sabres GM Kevyn Adams cannot afford to let Byram get away.

It’s definitely going to be costly to get Byram’s signature on a contract extension. He’s been making $3.85-million for the past three seasons, and a healthy raise will put him in the area of $6-to-$8-million per season. But while that amount of money will carry with it a certain degree of sticker shock for Sabres fans, what’s the alternative here – letting Byram walk away? That would hurt Buffalo more than figuring out how to keep him in a Sabres uniform.

You have to know there will be teams prepared to pay Byram that amount. And considering that the NHL’s salary cap ceiling will rise exponentially in the next few seasons, giving Byram a major raise won’t hurt as much as it would in a flat-cap situation. Most teams are paying quite a bit to keep their top-four defensemen happy, and Byram is definitely a top-four talent on the back end.

For that reason, Adams has to do whatever it takes to keep Byram in the fold. If the Sabres are going to finally take that next competitive step and get into the playoffs next season, they need to have Byram’s dynamic performance working for them. Buffalo ownership can’t let a million dollars here or there be the reason why Byram chooses to play elsewhere, and signs an offer sheet with a different team that drives up his asking price even higher than it’s already projected to go. He’s still not close to his prime, so investing in him now makes a lot of sense.

Sabres Facing An Off-Season Of ChangeSabres Facing An Off-Season Of ChangeThe Buffalo Sabres, at their season-ending press availability, were all singing from the same hymn book, and the song was Bruce Hornsby’s “Gonna Be Some Changes Made”. The questions that will be utmost in the minds of a frustrated fanbase will be what kind of changes, and in the end, will those changes have the desired effect of ending the club’s 14-year playoff drought. 

Byram isn’t a lockdown defensive specialist, but he is a savvy offense-minded D-man whose skill set would be highly-valued by many teams. The Sabres landed a solid talent when they acquired him from the Colorado Avalanche, and now their job is to keep him around for the foreseeable future.

And if they don’t, Sabres management will be rightfully ripped for letting an above-average asset get away.

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Phillies fail to finish sweep, give Nationals 3 unearned runs in series finale

Phillies fail to finish sweep, give Nationals 3 unearned runs in series finale  originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Phillies’ defensive lapses were costly Thursday night as they searched for a sweep over the Nationals. 

Washington took the series finale, winning a 4-2 game at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies are 17-14 entering a three-game series vs. the Diamondbacks that begins Friday night in Philadelphia. 

Taijuan Walker was charged with four runs over 5 2/3 innings, but only one was earned. He allowed four hits, struck out two and walked three. 

Nationals rookie Brad Lord registered his first MLB win by tossing five innings of two-run ball.

Walker recorded the game’s first out with a tremendous defensive play. He chased down a CJ Abrams chopper and then flipped the ball to Bryce Harper with his glove right before tumbling to the infield dirt. 

On the mound, Walker threw strikes on 15 of his first 28 pitches. He walked a batter in each of the first two innings but steered clear of any damage. 

Walker pitched with effective variety through five innings and his control improved. The Nationals ground out three times in the fourth, including a hard Josh Bell one-hopper that Harper picked. 

Lord matched Walker’s scoreless work with four tidy innings, but the Phillies broke the ice in the fifth. Max Kepler lined an opposite-field double with one out and Alec Bohm’s base hit to right-center drove him in. 

The Phillies’ lead was short-lived. 

Following an Abrams leadoff double, James Wood’s shot up the middle deflected off of Walker’s thigh. He moved a bit gingerly after grabbing the ball and throwing out Wood but stayed in the game. Washington then tied the contest up with a Nathaniel Lowe RBI single and pulled ahead when a Keibert Ruiz grounder scooted under Harper’s glove. Lowe scored and Ruiz sprinted to third base. The Nats went up 3-1 on a Luis Garcia Jr. single. 

Rafael Marchan caught Walker and J.T. Realmuto sat. Marchan was 0 for 4 in his first start since April 20 and had two defensive miscues in the sixth inning — first a passed ball, then a low throw to second base that skidded into center field and gave the Nationals a fourth run. 

The Phillies got one back in the sixth, though they couldn’t capitalize on opportunities to add more.

Nick Castellanos’ grounder rocketed off of reliever Jose Ferrer’s calf and ballooned high into the air. The ball eventually descended to Ferrer, but Castellanos legged out an infield RBI hit. That put runners at the corners with one out, but Kepler struck out looking and Bohm waved at a low 3-2 changeup. 

The Phillies’ bullpen did its job — Orion Kerkering, Joe Ross and Carlos Hernandez all had clean outings — but a comeback wasn’t in the cards. Castellanos grounded into an eighth-inning double play. Johan Rojas tripled with two outs in the ninth but Marchan then lined out to center.

Suarez gearing up for debut 

Ranger Suarez is ready to roll for his season debut Sunday vs. the Diamondbacks. He said pregame that his back stiffness hasn’t been an issue since spring training.

“The rehab went great and everything’s going according to plan,” Suarez said.

The lefty is optimistic he’ll be able to stay healthy the rest of the season. 

“I wish I could tell you, but I don’t really have an answer for what’s caused so many injuries in the past,” he said. “But we’re working twice as hard this year. We’re training every day, working really hard every day, and I’m feeling great physically. So I’m hoping, with the extra effort we’re putting in … that it’s going to help it.”

Suarez threw 78 pitches in his last rehab outing with Triple A Lehigh Valley. 

“We can probably up that a little bit, but he won’t be full (on Sunday),” Thomson said. 

The Phillies now have their rotation mapped out through next Tuesday. Jesus Luzardo, Aaron Nola and Suarez will pitch the D-Backs series and Zack Wheeler will open a road series against the Rays. Whether or not he sticks in the rotation, Walker will certainly be part of the picture moving forward. 

“He’s on the club, absolutely,” Thomson said. “He’s pitched very well.”

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Phillies fail to finish sweep, give Nationals 3 unearned runs in series finale

Phillies fail to finish sweep, give Nationals 3 unearned runs in series finale  originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Phillies’ defensive lapses were costly Thursday night as they searched for a sweep over the Nationals. 

Washington took the series finale, winning a 4-2 game at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies are 17-14 entering a three-game series vs. the Diamondbacks that begins Friday night in Philadelphia. 

Taijuan Walker was charged with four runs over 5 2/3 innings, but only one was earned. He allowed four hits, struck out two and walked three. 

Nationals rookie Brad Lord registered his first MLB win by tossing five innings of two-run ball.

Walker recorded the game’s first out with a tremendous defensive play. He chased down a CJ Abrams chopper and then flipped the ball to Bryce Harper with his glove right before tumbling to the infield dirt. 

On the mound, Walker threw strikes on 15 of his first 28 pitches. He walked a batter in each of the first two innings but steered clear of any damage. 

Walker pitched with effective variety through five innings and his control improved. The Nationals grounded out three times in the fourth, including a hard Josh Bell one-hopper that Harper picked. 

Lord matched Walker’s scoreless work with four tidy innings, but the Phillies broke the ice in the fifth. Max Kepler lined an opposite-field double with one out and Alec Bohm’s base hit to right-center drove him in. 

The Phillies’ lead was short-lived. 

Following an Abrams leadoff double, James Wood’s shot up the middle deflected off of Walker’s thigh. He moved a bit gingerly after grabbing the ball and throwing out Wood but stayed in the game. Washington then tied the contest up with a Nathaniel Lowe RBI single and pulled ahead when a Keibert Ruiz grounder scooted under Harper’s glove. Lowe scored and Ruiz sprinted to third base. The Nats went up 3-1 on a Luis Garcia Jr. single. 

Rafael Marchan caught Walker and J.T. Realmuto sat. Marchan was 0 for 4 in his first start since April 20 and had two defensive miscues in the sixth inning — first a passed ball, then a low throw to second base that skidded into center field and gave the Nationals a fourth run. 

The Phillies got one back in the sixth, though they couldn’t capitalize on opportunities to add more.

Nick Castellanos’ grounder rocketed off of reliever Jose Ferrer’s leg and ballooned high into the air. The ball eventually descended to Ferrer, but Castellanos legged out an infield RBI hit. That put runners at the corners with one out. Kepler then struck out looking and Bohm waved at a low 3-2 changeup. 

The Phillies’ bullpen did its job — Orion Kerkering, Joe Ross and Carlos Hernandez all had clean outings — but a comeback wasn’t in the cards.

Castellanos grounded into an eighth-inning double play. In risky style, Johan Rojas tripled with two outs in the ninth. A replay review confirmed he was safe at third.

“It’s something I’ll be talking to him about tomorrow,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “It was a little too close for me.”

Marchan then swung at the first pitch and lined out to center for the night’s final out.

Suarez gearing up for debut 

Ranger Suarez is ready to roll for his season debut Sunday vs. the Diamondbacks. He said pregame that his back stiffness hasn’t been an issue since spring training.

“The rehab went great and everything’s going according to plan,” Suarez said.

The lefty is optimistic he’ll be able to stay healthy the rest of the season. 

“I wish I could tell you, but I don’t really have an answer for what’s caused so many injuries in the past,” he said. “But we’re working twice as hard this year. We’re training every day, working really hard every day, and I’m feeling great physically. So I’m hoping, with the extra effort we’re putting in … that it’s going to help it.”

Suarez threw 78 pitches in his last rehab outing with Triple A Lehigh Valley. 

“We can probably up that a little bit, but he won’t be full (on Sunday),” Thomson said. 

The Phillies now have their rotation mapped out through next Tuesday. Jesus Luzardo, Aaron Nola and Suarez will pitch the D-Backs series, and Zack Wheeler will then open a road series against the Rays. Whether or not he sticks in the rotation, Walker will certainly be part of the picture moving forward. 

“He pitched so well,” Thomson said. “He mixed his pitches. For the most part, he got ahead of hitters and attacked the zone. He’s kept us in games and I trust him.”

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What we learned as Giants waste solid Verlander start in loss to Rockies

What we learned as Giants waste solid Verlander start in loss to Rockies originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

BOX SCORE

SAN FRANCISCO — Just swept by a division rival? Here’s a four-game series against the worst team in baseball.

The Giants (19-13) could not have asked for a better matchup as they looked to get back on track and avoid their first three-game losing streak of the 2025 MLB season.

However, they didn’t take advantage of it.

Justin Verlander, in search of his first win with San Francisco, toed the rubber against Colorado Rockies (6-25) lefty Kyle Freeland (ND, 6 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K), and came close to notching that elusive first victory before a late-game bullpen collapse helped extend San Francisco’s losing streak to three games.

Here are three observations from the Giants’ 4-3 loss to the Rockies:

Unc Still Got It

Ownage was a theme early on Thursday night, and it started with the man on the mound for the Orange and Black.

Verlander (ND, 6 1/3 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, BB, 4 K) was 3-1 with a 3.18 ERA in 39 2/3 innings pitched in six career starts against Colorado before Thursday’s outing.

While his 2025 season, on the surface, has been a bit of a mixed bag thus far, the 42-year-old has been rather unlucky at times. Verlander’s expected ERA (xERA) prior to Thursday’s start was 3.90, nearly a full run lower than what his initial ERA (4.70) was.

This was the third consecutive start Verlander surrendered two or fewer runs in at least six innings of work, and it’s clear the future Hall of Famer has turned a corner and is pitching like the consistent innings-eater the Giants hoped he could be.

Verlander departed with one out in the top of the seventh, and walked off the field to a well-deserved standing ovation before his bullpen blew an opportunity in the top of the eighth for him to secure his first win with the Giants.

Heating Up At The Right Time?

It was a very slow start to the season for Willy Adames, but there are signs of life.

The veteran shortstop is batting .304/.414/.478 with one home run, four RBI and five walks over his last seven games and looks much more confident at the plate.

San Francisco still managed to start the season off strong despite Adames’ early struggles, and if the player with the largest contract in franchise history is turning things around, as evidenced by a 2-for-4 night at the plate on Thursday, it should bode very well for the Giants’ middling offense.

The same can be said for Heliot Ramos, who, similarly to Adames, had been struggling, but is batting .318/.444/.591 with two homers in his last seven games, including a 112.8-mph rocket off his bat in the top of the first that gave the Giants an early lead.

Streak Snapped

It’s no secret the Giants have the Rockies’ number in recent years. And that’s putting it lightly.

Since the beginning of the 2021 season, San Francisco is 27-6 against Colorado at Oracle Park and had won 12 consecutive home games against its division opponent before Thursday’s loss.

The 27-6 record against the Rockies also is the best home record by any team against a division opponent since 2021.

Despite the series-opening loss, beating up on the lowly Rockies should continue to be a theme this season.

Download and follow the Giants Talk Podcast

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Florida Panthers local Scripps Sports crew to offer full pregame coverage throughout Stanley Cup Playoffs

Apr 28, 2025; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers center Anton Lundell (15) and Tampa Bay Lightning center Brayden Point (21) face off during the third period in game four of the first round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Amerant Bank Arena. (Rich Storry-Imagn Images)

There are very few negatives that come with advancing past the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Actually, this may be the only one.

Once teams move to round two, their respective local game broadcasts go away. The only networks that can broadcast past the first round are the national rightsholders.

That means Game 5 in Tampa Bay was the last game that Florida Panthers play-by-play voice Steve Goldstein and analyst Randy Moller will be calling this season.

That’s the bad news.

But don’t fret, because there is some good news.

While there won’t be any more games to call for the Panthers’ local Scripps Sports broadcast team, fans will still be able to get playoff info and analysis from the crew before every single playoff game.

Starting with Game 1 of the second round, Scripps will be offering a full 30 minute pregame show that the entire Panthers’ crew, which includes Goldstein, Moller, Katie Engelson, Jessica Blaylock and Ed Jovanovski, will be a part of.

Additionally, each show will have coverage both in studio and on site for every game, home and away.

For those who crave the local flavor during the most important games the Panthers will play, this news should come as music to your ears.

We’ll find out soon enough who Florida will be facing in the second round, either Toronto or Ottawa, but either way, Goldie and his gang will be there to cover it, every step of the way.

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Looking for a sleeper RB for your dynasty league? Well, the Cowboys drafted him

(This article was written with the assistance of Castmagic, an AI tool, and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy. Please reach out to us if you notice any mistakes.)

Every fantasy football summer, there’s a running back whose name lingers in the later rounds, only for savvy managers to snatch him up and ride a surprising wave of production. In this year’s dynasty rookie drafts, that name should be Jaydon Blue.

[Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Football league for the 2025 NFL season]

After listening to Matt Harmon and Nate Tice break down the rookie class on the latest Yahoo Fantasy Forecast, it’s crystal clear: Blue checks every sleeper box. Here’s why making him a priority in your dynasty drafts might be the move that wins your league.

Subscribe to Yahoo Fantasy Forecast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen.

Unlike many Day 3 running backs who flash speed, Blue isn’t just a home run hitter. As Nate Tice noted, “He ran a sub-4.4. He’s 195 pounds. Usually, those guys bounce all their runs … [but] he runs between the tackles.”

That last part is crucial. So many undersized backs get pigeonholed into gadget or outside-only roles, but Blue presses the hole, sets up blockers and runs with vision and patience. Tice likened his style to Dolphins star De’Von Achane, noting, “He can do the real running back stuff — run between the tackles, has vision, sets up his blockers, runs with tempo.” There’s more than just “track speed” here; there’s legitimate, translatable football skill.

Let’s be real: the Dallas Cowboys’ RB room is ripe for the taking. As both hosts discussed, Blue’s only real competition right now is Javonte Williams and Miles Sanders — both players whose best days may be behind them.

“Javonte Williams is on the roster. Miles Sanders is on the roster. He’s [Blue] better than that. He’s a better running back than those guys, even if he’s smaller,” Tice said. Unless Dallas pulls off a surprise signing, there’s nobody on the roster who profiles as an obvious roadblock. And as Harmon pointed out, when you add in Dallas’ physical, mauling offensive line, Blue’s skill set could be maximized right away.

The Cowboys always build with their run game in mind. Nate Tice explained, “With this offensive line, they’re always going to run it. Dak [Prescott] wants to always have running be part of the offensive system.” Blue’s inside running prowess and ability to catch passes align perfectly with Dallas’ offensive DNA — a critical factor overlooked in rookie drafts.

And don’t forget the “Texas bump.” As Tice put it, the fact that Blue is a local product only helps his chances at getting opportunities and winning over the coaching staff.

Even as a fifth-round pick, Blue has the clearest runway among late-round rookie RBs. The hosts were quick to hammer home value: “How is he not going to see the field when we’re talking about Javonte Williams and Miles Sanders?” Harmon asked. The Cowboys will inevitably need fresh legs, and Blue could see meaningful carries from the jump.

Harmon summed up the excitement with: “He could outkick that Day 3 draft capital.” In the second round of their dynasty rookie mock on the latest Fantasy Football Forecast, Blue stood out for how easily he could surge up the depth chart and surprise the league, much like Isiah Pacheco did or past late-round breakouts.

In dynasty startups and rookie-only drafts, targeting Blue in the second or third rounds is a chance to capitalize on uncertainty and opportunistic roster construction. He’s not just a “sleeper” because he’s a real-life fifth-round pick — he’s a sleeper because he’s got NFL talent, an immediate path to touches and a coaching staff invested in his success.

If you want a running back who could shatter expectations and pay off big-time as the season unfolds, Jaydon Blue is your guy. Let your league-mates chase the obvious names. You’ll be the one with a future Cowboys starter before they know what hit them.