標籤: drop

newcastle united He appears to have missed out on a contract with Mio Backhaus as he looks to beat Europa League finalists Freiburg.

BILD reports that Freiburg have dropped a ‘transfer bomb’ with the imminent signing of the 22-year-old.

Backhaus deal resolved

The newspaper reports that when current Noah Atubolu was in Istanbul for the Europa League final against Aston Villa in what was likely to be his last match for the club, they were busy signing his successor.

According to BILD, the deal for Mio Backhaus has been ‘virtually finalized’. Freiburg should make an announcement in the coming days. The German side will pay €15m for the U21 international.

This will include €3m in performance-related add-ons. This would represent a transfer record for both him and Werder Bremen.

Freiburg beat out the competition to secure the deal. Newcastle United and Brighton are pursuing Backhaus. There was also interest from Serie A sides.

Sport Witness covered a report this week Saying that the future of Backhaus would be resolved within 14 days. At the time, Newcastle seemed a likely destination.

Instead, the deal has gone to Freiburg. The fact that they could still offer European football despite the defeat to Aston Villa was probably a major contributing factor.

goalkeeper carousel

He will be part of an exciting era of goalkeepers in the Bundesliga. His move to Freiburg opens the door for Werder Bremen to sign Karl Heyn on a permanent basis from Arsenal. Current Freiburg number one Noah Atubolu will also move on.

Reports have linked him to Tottenham in recent months. BILD report that he is expected to fetch just over €20m for the German club. Presumably, that money will be used to pay for the €15m transfer of Mio Backhaus.

Either way, it appears Newcastle have missed out on this opportunity as they look to improve their goalkeeper options this summer.

What was at stake for the Anaheim Ducks and Vegas Golden Knights in Game 4 in Anaheim on Sunday night? Teams that take a 3–1 lead in a best-of-seven series win the series 90 percent of the time (247 out of 275). Additionally, if a Game 4 win comes en route to taking a 3–1 series lead, that team wins 92 percent (151 of 165) of the series. Given these percentages, the pressure was on the Anaheim Ducks (2-2), who rose to the occasion and scored two power play goals en route to a 4-3 win over the Vegas Golden Knights (2-2).

Both teams were without captains. Anaheim was missing Radko Gudas for the seventh consecutive game, while the Golden Knights were without captain Mark Stone due to an undisclosed injury. Stone played only 4:24 minutes in Game 3 before being sidelined with a non-contact injury. Without Stone in the lineup this season, the Golden Knights were 8–9–5 and a winning percentage of .519, while with him they were 31–17–12 and a winning percentage of .593.

The scoring began when Anaheim finally figured out the Vegas penalty kill and got the first goal of the game via the power play. The Anaheim power play was 0-11 before Game 4, but that changed at 8:43 of the first when Beckett Seneke (4) blasted a slap shot through Carter Hart’s five-hole from the top of the right circle to give Anaheim a 1-0 lead. It was Seneca’s third consecutive game with a goal in the series. Not only was the Golden Knights’ penalty kill perfect in the series before Seneke’s goal, it had killed 21 consecutive penalties and 26 of 27.

Just 1:40 into Seneke’s goal, the Golden Knights got a power play goal of their own, tying the game at one point. Jack Eichel took a slap shot from the top of the left circle that bounced off the glove of Anaheim netminder Lucas Dostal. Before Dostal could get the rebound, Pavel Dorofeyev (5) beat Anaheim forward Mikael Granlund on net, attacked the puck and put it into the net for Vegas’ third power play goal of the series in ten chances.

While Granlund could not tie Dorofeyev on the tying goal, after only 5:05, he atoned for his sins by scoring a goal on an awkward bounce. Granlund (4) fired a wrist shot from inside the left circle that hit the stick of Golden Knights forward Cole Smith, causing the stick to slip out of his hand. The deflection of Smith’s stick changed the trajectory of the puck, bouncing off the ice just past Hart and then through his tool to give Anaheim a 2–1 lead.

Vegas is known for its many high-profile magic shows, with William Carlson performing magic tricks such as Shin Lim delivering a pass to Brett Howden for a goal. Karlsson was the first to forecheck and got the puck on his stick under the goal line. As he was enduring a big hit from Jacob Trouba, he somehow delivered a backhand pass from an extremely tight area to Howden (7), who beat his man in front of the net and Karlsson was able to chip the pass over Dostal to tie the game at two. The goal came at 4:04 and Howden tied Minnesota’s Matt Boldy for most postseason goals. Mitch Marner picked up a secondary assist, moving him ahead of Minnesota’s Kirill Kaprizov for most points in the postseason with 15 points. Marner finished the night with three points, giving him seven points in his last two games.

Anaheim got its third power play opportunity of the game at the end of the second frame and solved the Vegas penalty kill for the second time in the game. After Seneca entered a beautiful area and did some perimeter passing, Alex Killorn (4) collected a loose puck in the bottom of the right circle, drove hard toward the net, and then fired a wrist shot that went under Hart’s left hand and in at 17:58 of the second.

After trailing by a goal to start the third, the Golden Knights started the frame on a power play due to Seneca taking a cross-checking call at the 20-minute mark of the second period. However, Anaheim was able to kill a penalty and then maintain that momentum to take a two-goal lead shortly thereafter. At the 3:43 mark of the third, Anaheim defenseman Ian Moore (1) took a slap shot from the left point with a puck that was near the rim. The shot deflected off the back of the net and deflected off Hart’s blocker, giving Anaheim a 4-2 lead. It was the first career playoff goal for the 24-year-old Moore, who was a healthy scratch for Anaheim in Games 2 and 3.

With Hart pulled for the extra attacker, Tomas Hertl (1) got on the board at 18:56 of the third minute to make things interesting, scoring his first goal in 29 games, on March 4, but it proved to be too little, too late, as the Golden Knights iced the puck with 10 seconds remaining, dashing any hopes of tying the game.

Three-to-two odds for blackjack in a Vegas casino are the best you can get. Likewise, whichever team wins Game 5 on Tuesday will take a three-to-two series lead and that team will certainly like its chances of going to the Western Conference Finals.

notes

• Anaheim’s win after leading by multiple goals was the Ducks’ 24th consecutive win in playoff history.
• With Mark Stone in the lineup, the Golden Knights are averaging 3.32 goals per game. His average without Stone in the lineup is 2.96. Similarly, the power play percentage is 22.6% with Stone in the lineup, but only 17.0% with Stone out.

statistics

• Shots on goal gave Anaheim a 23–21 victory.
• Faceoff win percentages were 52.9 percent for Vegas and 47.1 percent for Anaheim.
• Vegas was 1-3 on the power play, while Anaheim was 2-4.
• The Hits defeated Anaheim 34–27.
• Vegas had a 14-13 edge in blocked shots.
• Vegas had four more giveaways than Anaheim, 14 versus 10.
• Vegas won the takeaway battle 7-5.

Finding a goal in Game 2 proved as difficult as finding a single-zero roulette wheel in a Vegas casino for the Vegas Golden Knights (1-1), falling 3-1 to the Anaheim Ducks (1-1) on Wednesday night at T-Mobile Arena. Great play from Anaheim goaltender Lucas Dostal and two missed defensive assignments by the Golden Knights, which led directly to Anaheim goals, proved to be the difference in the game.

Although the first period was scoreless, it was not due to lack of opportunities. Anaheim had a golden opportunity to score the game’s first goal early in the first period when the Golden Knights took four consecutive penalties. First, Tomas Hertl was assessed a two-minute minor for high-sticking John Carlson at 3:14, then Mitch Marner was whistled for delay of game for shooting the puck out of play, and then just when things seemed like they couldn’t get any worse for the Golden Knights, Jack Eichel took a double-minor for high-sticking Mikael Granlund at 5:33.

The Anaheim power play shot an astonishing 50% in the first round against Edmonton, but went 0-4 in Game 1 and then went 0-4 on four consecutive first period chances in Game 2. The Golden Knights’ penalty kill was so effective that Anaheim recorded zero shots during a combined 1:42 of 5-on-3 play. The Golden Knights penalty kill has been stellar so far in the playoffs, boasting a 95% success rate before an ideal five-on-five performance in Game 2.

Besides the Golden Knights’ penalty kill, the other storyline of the first period was shot inconsistency. The Golden Knights went 12+ minutes without a shot, including a two-minute power play opportunity where they did not attempt a single shot. The Golden Knights recorded a shot from Hertl at 16:46 of the first and did not get another shot until Ben Hutton had a shot on goal at 3:57. Overall, the Golden Knights were outshot 13-4 in the first.

The Golden Knights may have noticed the shot inconsistency in the first because they came out firing in the second, recording three shots on goal in the first minute of the frame and outscoring Anaheim 11-7 in the period. Despite the Golden Knights taking a greater amount of shots in the second period, it would be Anaheim who would get the first goal of the game. A defensive lapse by the Golden Knights left rookie Beckett Seneca (2) open in front of their net, allowing him to receive a Jeffrey Wiel pass from below the goal line and he immediately took the puck, beating Golden Knights netminder Carter Hart to his blocking side at 11:23 of the second. It was only the second time in eight playoff games that Anaheim scored the first goal of the game.

With exactly two minutes left in the second, Anaheim got its fifth power play opportunity and a chance to take a two-goal lead, but the Golden Knights penalty kill once again came into play and the score remained 1–0 heading into the third period.

Another missed defensive assignment by the Golden Knights gave the Ducks an elusive two-goal lead at 6:36 of the third. Leo Karlsson (4) was left alone in front of the Golden Knights net and was able to receive a beautiful backhand, cross-ice pass from Troy Terry and chip the puck up and over the glove Hart, who had no chance to make the play.

The Golden Knights got their third power play chance of the game with 8:23 left in regulation and nearly scored on a wild scramble in front of the Anaheim net. With Dostel stretched flat on the ice, exposing a wide-open net, Ducks forward Mikael Granlund made a glove save on the Golden Knights’ shot attempt, destroying what little momentum the Golden Knights had generated from the man-advantage.

Trailing by two, the Golden Knights pulled Hart for an extra attacker with four minutes remaining in regulation, but Anaheim immediately scored into an empty net to take a 3–0 lead. Just when a shutout seemed inevitable for Anaheim, the Golden Knights got a late power play, during which Mark Stone (3) deflected an Eichel shot with just six seconds remaining, ruining Dostal’s shutout bid, which would have been Anaheim’s first shutout all season.

With the series now tied at 1-1, the venue will change to the Honda Center with Game 3 taking place on Friday night.

notes

Dating back to the regular season, Tomas Hertl has now played 28 games without scoring a goal.

Ivan Barbashev’s seven-game playoff points streak was snapped.

figures

Shots on goal for the game favored the Ducks, 28–22.

The number of hits each was even at 39.

Faceoff winning percentage favored the Golden Knights 63.2% to 36.8%.

Blocked shots favored the Golden Knights 19-14.

The Golden Knights had 19 rebounds, while the Ducks had 15.

The 2026 NFL schedule is expected to be one of the best in recent memory. The NFL begins the regular season on Wednesday, September 9, when the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks begin action. It will not be on a Thursday night to host the sport’s first regular season game in Australia. However, when will the game release the rest of the schedule?

This year’s NFL schedule release date could be between Tuesday, May 12 and Thursday, May 14, as reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter. In 2025, the NFL released the schedule on Wednesday, May 14 at 8 pm ET. The 2025 schedule was released on Wednesday, May 15.

If the pattern of the past two years continues in 2026, the schedule will be released on Wednesday, May 13. However, Schefter said to “circle” the week of May 11, specifically Tuesday through Thursday. Either way, it’s expected to be a major day within the NFL offseason.

NFL teams have made schedule releases a big event each offseason, even when their opponents are known in advance. It shows which week teams are playing their opponents, kickoff times, and when they have primetime games. Additionally, the NFL reveals the Thanksgiving and Christmas games, which are high-profile days in the game.

The Seahawks and New England Patriots are projected to have multiple primetime slots after making the Super Bowl in February. In fact, there is a possibility that Seattle and New England will play each other on Wednesday, September 9 to kick off the 2026-27 NFL season.

The game will reveal the 2026 schedule in about a month, and the official release date may be announced at the NFL Draft. For now, circle from Tuesday, May 12 to Thursday, May 14.

READ MORE: NFL Rumors – Kansas City Chiefs still eyeing potential big offseason move

Austin Konensky is a sports writer at SportsNut, covering the NHL, MLB, NFL, NBA and college football. His work…More about Austin Konensky

On Tuesday night’s heartbreaker at Rogers Arena, Mason McTavish broke a 3-3 tie at 5:45 of the third period.

From that point the game slowly went away from the Vancouver Canucks, with Troy Terry adding an empty-netter with five seconds remaining to confirm the Anaheim Ducks’ 5–3 victory.

Anaheim got two goals from Mikael Granlund, three assists from John Carlson and 27 saves from Lucas Dostal for its third consecutive win.

Reuters reported that the Ducks have now extended their point streak to five games and recorded their 24th comeback win of the season, which is tied for the NHL lead. It’s all positive for Ducks fans.

better beginning, same end

Let’s cut to the chase: This wasn’t a bad loss for the Canucks. It was not flat or lifeless. Even Sportsnet said the Canucks’ effort was better than that of St. Louis and Tampa Bay, and the shot count backed it up. Anaheim was only ahead 34–30.

Still the same weakness continued to be visible. Too many Grade-A looks against, too many open ice, too many chances that cause Kevin Lankinen to work harder than he should.

At 5:45 of the first period, Jake DeBrusk opened the scoring after taking a pass from low on the power play and sweeping the puck across the crease and inside the far post.

Anaheim responded in the second when Alex Killorn scored at 5:26, then Granlund put the Ducks ahead at 7:50 by batting in a puck that went over Lankinen.

The Canucks pushed back. Brock Boeser tied it 2–2 on another power play at 13:13 when Filip Hronek sold a slap shot, stepped around Ryan Poehling and passed the puck. That assist gave Elias Pettersson his 500th NHL point, a nice stat on a night that still went down poorly.

the answer that hurt

Barely a minute went into the third when Granlund scored again on the power play after Anaheim’s lengthy 5-on-3 second period.

Drew O’Connor made the score 3–3 at 2:22, completing a rebound for his 17th goal and a new career high. For a moment, the Canucks look like they may have some inspiration.

However, the game changed when Cutter missed a breakaway moment before Gauthier McTavish came on the ice, took a return pass from Jackson LaCombe and scored his first goal in 15 games over Lankinen’s glove.

The Canucks did not back down and continued to push.

Regardless, the Canucks have now lost three in a row, 13 of their last 16, and were officially out of playoff contention as of last weekend.

The Ducks, on the other hand, are leading the Pacific and look like a team that has finally come out the other side of a long rebuild.

The Montreal Canadiens were in Detroit on Thursday night, facing the Red Wings in a game steeped in playoff fallout.

In the end, the Red Wings emerged with a 3–1 victory, and in the process won one of the most important games of the schedule.

Let’s look at the highlights!

To assault

Neither team managed to break the ice in the first period, as makeshift hockey was on the menu, although it must be said that the Canadiens did a better job when it came to creating high-danger chances. The Habs took a 5–3 lead on high-quality shots, including a great scoring opportunity for Juraj Slafkowski that was set up by captain Nick Suzuki.

Great pass by Suzuki to set up Slafkowski for a great scoring chance. #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/lDiteUfVI0

– Montreal Hockey Now (@MTLhockeynow) 19 March 2026

Powerplay threat

There is a saying in hockey that states that generating a penalty will result in a potential windfall.

Or, more traditionally, put the puck on net and good things will happen.

The Canadiens don’t exactly follow this adage, as they take fewer shots with the man-advantage than most NHL teams, despite having a top-10 power play.

On Thursday night, we got a prime example of the principle at work, when a low-quality shot from Cole Caufield bounced off John Gibson and went straight onto the blade of Slafkowski. The 21-year-old Slovak player made no mistake and scored his 25th goal of the year.

If we wanted to be pedantic, we could describe it as a quick pass by Caufield rather than a shot, but the point stands.

If you want to take a boat ride in the river, you have to go down the river.

This is an important lesson that Canadians should keep in mind moving forward.

More shots. Always more shots.

Juraj Slafkowski scored his 25th goal of the year #GoHabsGo 1-0 lead! pic.twitter.com/n1joZ5wiXQ

– Montreal Hockey Now (@MTLhockeynow) 20 March 2026

coaching ireland

The Red Wings tied the game in the third period when a point shot by Patrick Kane hit Jacob Dobbs and then deflected off JT Comfer on what, all things considered, was an innocuous play. However, Canadiens head coach Martin Saint-Louis was furious, with most of his anger directed towards Alex Newhook and possibly Ivan Demidov.

Martin was angry on the St. Louis bench after Red Wings goal pic.twitter.com/lDM4eP6F8q

– TVA Sports (@TVASports) 20 March 2026

one mistake too many

It was a tight contest, usually requiring a bad bounce or a bad changeup to decide the outcome. In this case, Mike Matheson provided a terrific layup that gave Detroit its first lead of the game with about three minutes left in the third period. Shortly thereafter they would score an empty-net goal to seal the win.

Brutal turnaround for Mike Matheson.

The Red Wings took the lead with about 3 minutes left in the third. pic.twitter.com/nvjaEoio8s

– Montreal Hockey Now (@MTLhockeynow) 20 March 2026

The Montreal Canadiens are back in action on Saturday facing the New York Islanders at the Bell Centre. Puck drop is scheduled for 7pm ET.

All Montreal Canadiens stats are 5v5, via Natural Stat Trick, unless otherwise noted.

Mark has been covering the Habs for over a decade. He previously worked for the Journal Metro, The Athletic, The… More about Mark Dumont

The Montreal Canadiens hosted the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday night, a battle of two clubs on opposite poles of the trend spectrum.

The Habs are a team on the rise, while the Leafs are slowly realizing that their previous expectations were merely symptoms of delusions of sporting grandeur.

With this in mind, it was no surprise that the Canadiens defeated the Leafs, although the 3–1 score was a little favorable to the road team, as they lost to Montreal 33–18.

Let’s look at the highlights!

The future is now, old man

The Canadiens showed great pace to start the game, creating several high-danger scoring chances and frequent turnovers in the offensive zone.

This solid play ultimately culminated in rookie Oliver Kapanen’s 20th goal of the year, earning him a cool $212,500 to reach the goal-scoring bonus in his contract.

Oliver Kapanen opened the scoring with his 20th goal of the year.

A beauty, with Demidov and Newhook providing excellent assistance.

1-0 #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/cItuvSvIVs

– Montreal Hockey Now (@MTLhockeynow) 10 March 2026

tertiary scoring

Montreal once again took advantage of their great start as Philippe Danault scored his fifth goal of the year, a nice individual effort that featured quick hands from the oldest player in the lineup.

It should be noted that shots in the first period were 18–5 in favor of the Canadiens, a season-high for the home team. The Canadiens were so dominant that the Leafs enjoyed their second offensive-zone start of the game just minutes into the second frame.

Philippe Danault has fun and doubles the Canadian’s lead! 🚨🔵⚪🔴 pic.twitter.com/1iiU68de09

– TVA Sports (@TVASports) 10 March 2026

stem the tide

Toronto clearly lacked enthusiasm to start the game, but they increased their effort level significantly midway through the second period, as evidenced by the game when William Nylander limited Montreal’s lead to just one goal.

Cowan and Nylander connect to cut Habs lead in half pic.twitter.com/2cUZlI0DdH

– Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) 11 March 2026

Partiality? We don’t need no smelly prejudice

With all due respect to the good folks at Sportsnet, their coverage of Tuesday’s game was completely tilted toward the Leafs.

Keep in mind that the Canadiens beat Toronto by a wide margin and are miles ahead of the Leafs in the standings. Toronto’s season is essentially meaningless, with the playoffs out of reach, while Montreal is engaged in an extremely competitive playoff race. Sportsnet spent more time discussing Benoit-Olivier Groulx’s handful of changes than anything remotely related to the Habs.

Of course, we have to allow for some disappointing catering at the Toronto market, but based on the comments, you’d assume Toronto won the game handily.

Rather, it was the Canadiens who emerged with a solid 3–1 victory, a sign of things to come between the respective franchises.

The Montreal Canadiens are back in action on Wednesday facing the Ottawa Senators. Puck drop is scheduled for 7pm ET.

All Montreal Canadiens stats are 5v5, via Natural Stat Trick, unless otherwise noted.

Mark has been covering the Habs for over a decade. He previously worked for the Journal Metro, The Athletic, The… More about Mark Dumont

Jamal Murray is tired of the narrative. For years, the Denver Nuggets point guard has been labeled as the “Laker Killer”, a player who only finds his highest gear when the purple and gold are on the other side of the court. After Denver’s 120-113 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night, Murray decided he’d heard enough of over-the-top praise.

When reporter Ryan Blackburn asked if he played with more intensity against Los Angeles, Murray offered a three-word reality check that doubled as a cold-blooded mic drop: “I had 45 last game.”

The math certainly checks out. Just three nights earlier, Murray torched the Utah Jazz for 45 points in a tough 128–125 win. His point was simple: He’s not hunting the Lakers; He’s just hunting buckets, no matter who is standing in front of him. Whether it’s a divisive opponent or a dungeon dweller, the flamethrower keeps burning.

Against the Lakers at Ball Arena, Jamal Murray remained hot, especially during an impressive opening period. He dropped 20 of his 28 points in the first half, helping the Nuggets take a 16–3 lead, which they never relinquished.

While the Lakers kept things interesting for long periods of time, Denver’s star duo proved too difficult to handle. Nikola Jokic complemented Murray with a huge triple-double whenever Los Angeles threatened a comeback, steadying the ship by posting 28 points, 12 rebounds and 13 assists.

Despite losing the effort, the night was historic for the visitors. LeBron James officially broke Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s record for career field goals with his 15,838th bucket in the first quarter. James finished with 16 points before being sidelined briefly with an elbow injury, while Luka Doncic led the Lakers’ scoring effort with 27 points.

Despite the star power on the other side, the story remains Denver’s steady dominance. The Nuggets moved to 39-24, providing some much-needed relief in a crowded Western Conference playoff race. For Jamal Murray, it was just another day at the office, and if you think he’s only doing this because it’s the Lakers, he has 45 reasons from Monday night to prove you wrong.

This past weekend, the Los Angeles Lakers honored the great Pat Riley with a statue outside the Crypto.com Arena. But during the festivities, one of the biggest sound bites to come from the program was Riley’s suggestion that NBA coaches should wear suits and ties to games. Well, count Houston Rockets head coach Ime Udoka as one person who isn’t a fan of the idea.

Before the Rockets’ game against the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday, Ime Udoka said NBA coaches vote on whether or not they should wear suits and the overwhelming majority say no. During Udoka’s days as an assistant coach in the NBA, he used to wear suits.

“No, thank you,” said Udoka. “I enjoyed it at the time, but the Covid year obviously changed that. For comfortable packing, less thinking, I think about all of the above. They vote on coaches every year and I think 87 per cent of people say no. About five say yes and the others don’t care.”

Udoka got his start in coaching in 2012 as an assistant under Gregg Popovich with the San Antonio Spurs. He was a part of the Spurs staff until 2019 when he joined the Philadelphia 76ers for the 2019–20 season. He spent another season in 2020–21 as an assistant with the Brooklyn Nets before getting his first head coaching job with the Boston Celtics ahead of the 2021–22 season.

Udoka led the Celtics to the NBA Finals in his first year as head coach, ultimately losing to the Golden State Warriors in six games. He was let go from the Celtics in 2023 after serving a season-long suspension for violating team policies. He became the head coach of the Rockets ahead of the 2023–24 season.