標籤: series

The stage is set for the prestigious Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sunday, the second crown jewel race of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season. Appropriately, the longest race of the year features a large group of drivers.

There are 39 drivers on the Cup Series entry list for the Coca-Cola 600. One driver, Katherine Legge, is attempting “the double” and may arrive late to Charlotte after competing in the Indianapolis 500. Meanwhile, Corey Heim (23XI Racing) and Timmy Hill (Garage 66) are also part of the field.

Here is the NASCAR entry list for this weekend’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

RELATED: NASCAR weekend schedule Charlotte

NASCAR Cup Series Entry List: Coca-Cola 600

Matt Johnson is the senior NFL and college football editor for Sportsknot. His work including the weekly NFL and college… More about Matt Johnson

The Montreal Canadiens faced the Buffalo Sabers in Game 7 of their second round series, hoping to pick up another thrilling, upset victory.

Before puck drop, the Habs announced they would be making a lineup modification, replacing fourth-line forward Joe Veleno with rookie Oliver Kapanen, who made his series debut.

It was another exciting matchup, and the Habs managed to emerge with a 3–2 victory, qualifying for the Eastern Conference Finals in the process.

Let’s look at the highlights!

veteran effect

The Canadiens got off to a great start, culminating in Philippe Danault’s first goal of the playoffs. The veteran took advantage of an excellent forecheck from Josh Anderson, not to mention a very smart pass from defenseman Caden Guhle.

At that point in the game, high-danger scoring chances were already 3–0 in favor of the Habs, and it should be noted that when the team scored first in Game 7 their score was 12–2.

Philippe Denault gave us the lead by scoring early. #GoHabsGo 1-0 lead.

Great work by Josh Anderson on the forecheck. pic.twitter.com/J7YNSsGK5k

– Montreal Hockey Now (@MTLhockeynow) 18 May 2026

important goals

Depth players continued to play a key role in the game, as evidenced by Zachary Bolduc’s third goal of the playoffs. Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki provided excellent assists in the game.

Considering that he had an up and down regular season, Bolduc’s increase in effort and results throughout the playoffs is more than admirable.

He is still a very young player and has a long career ahead of him. Enjoying a relatively successful playoff run will go a long way in instilling a certain amount of confidence.

Zachary Bolduc gives #GoHabsGo 2-0 lead!!!! pic.twitter.com/5RZRLvucwi

– Montreal Hockey Now (@MTLhockeynow) 19 May 2026

classic adversity

One thing that is crystal clear when analyzing the Canadiens is that they have the potential to be a world-class team.

They also put together some of the worst hockey you’ll ever see, as it happened for much of the second period.

The Sabers took advantage when Jordan Greenway, with the help of several of his friends, found a way to beat Dobbs, who was creating havoc in front of the Sabers crease.

Same game, different scene! 👀 #game7 #Stanley Cup https://t.co/8DFxUckEk9 pic.twitter.com/NtsKIDdBRH

– NHL (@NHL) 19 May 2026

best referee on earth

The Sabers decided to restart Dobbs, and like the referees in most of these playoff games, the referees failed to do their job.

This was truly a terrible job done by experienced officers who should know better.

And this is clearly a recurring issue that has been plaguing the league.

Dobbs gets crushed (again, this is happening a lot in these playoffs).

No penalty. Absolutely.#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/rnSi615H0q

– Montreal Hockey Now (@MTLhockeynow) 19 May 2026

Given that the refs decided to game manage, which is exactly what no one wants to see, the Sabers got the advantage of not killing a penalty.

Soon after, Rasmus Dahlin leveled the game.

A moment for defense personnel‼️#LetsGoFellows pic.twitter.com/Jl8payY2Bp

– Buffalo Sabers (@BuffaloSabres) 19 May 2026

need a hero

The final 10 minutes of the third period will go a long way in determining whether the Canadiens can truly rise to the occasion, as they have done so many times in the regular season, or whether they will showcase their lack of experience by blowing another lead in an elimination game.

The Habs played timidly for most of the second and third periods, which led to a lot of time in the defensive zone.

You could argue that he had no trace of murderous tendencies.

The good news is that they had a chance to win the game with just one more shot, as the teams were tied 2-2 in overtime.

Alex Newhook, one of the most important players for the Canadiens in the playoffs, played the hero, scoring with just a few minutes remaining in overtime.

Alex Newhook!!!!

The Montreal Canadiens are going to the Conference Finals!!!! #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/USlIPc5p3Z

– Montreal Hockey Now (@MTLhockeynow) 19 May 2026

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 advance to the Eastern Conference Finals after defeating the Buffalo Sabers 4–3 in their second-round series.

The Sabers won Game 1 and Game 4, but the Canadiens were the better team, as shown by their dominant performances in Game 2 and Game 3. That being said, Buffalo deserves credit for its impressive comeback in Game 6.

All things considered, advancing to the Conference Finals is quite an accomplishment for the league’s youngest team, but the hard work is far from over.

Next playoff opponent

The Canadiens will face the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Finals, a powerhouse team that has yet to taste anything but success in the 2026 NHL Playoffs.

The Hurricanes easily defeated the Ottawa Senators 4–0 in the first round series, outscoring them 11–5 in the process. They continued their momentum into the second round, where they once again had a dominant performance, defeating the Philadelphia Flyers in four consecutive games and defeating them 13–5.

Simply put, they have been the best team in the playoffs, and by a wide margin.

They are sure to be very well rested compared to the Canadians, although that may not be an advantage given the situation. While the Habs have lacked rest, they have maintained their lead by playing every two days and facing equally competitive opponents.

While the Hurricanes have not played a game since May 9, meaning they will be facing a very cold winter ahead of the Eastern Conference Finals.

Given that Game 1 of the series is scheduled for May 21, the Hurricanes will not have played an NHL game in a dozen days, leaving a significant amount of rust for these highly-tuned athletes.

Of course, his lack of game-time action in recent days will be mitigated by the fact that the Hurricanes are one of the most talented teams in the league.

Montreal Canadiens Vs. Carolina Hurricanes conference finals

• game 1 – Thursday, May 21. Time TBD – @CarolinaHurricanes
• game 2 – Saturday, May 23. Time TBD – @CarolinaHurricanes
• game 3 – Monday, May 25. Time TBD – @MontrealCanadiens
• game 4 – Wednesday, May 27. Time TBD – @MontrealCanadiens
• *game 5 -Friday, May 29. Time TBD – @CarolinaHurricanes
• *game 6 – Sunday, May 31. Time TBD – @MontrealCanadiens
• *game 7 – Tuesday, June 2. Time TBD – @CarolinaHurricanes

*if necessary.

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

Starting Monday night, one of the best rivalries in Major League Baseball returns. The Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres will face off at Petco Park for a three-game set. The teams have dueled for first place in the National League West for most of the year. Both teams won on Sunday, giving the Dodgers a half-game lead over San Diego. One of them will leave the series alone atop the NL West, but who has the edge?

on the mound

• Monday: Michael King (SD) vs. Yoshinobu Yamamoto (LAD)
• Tuesday: Griffin Canning (SD) vs. Emmett Sheehan (LAD)
• Wednesday: Randy Vasquez (SD) vs. Shohei Ohtani (LAD)

Monday’s game proves to be the most viable pitchers duel of the three, with King and Yamamoto facing off in a battle of the aces. The former has boasted a 2.63 ERA and 1.09 WHIP in his first nine starts. King has been a reliable player for San Diego. Yamamoto, on the other hand, has looked a little rough lately (which is hard to say for a pitcher with a 3.60 ERA). He has scored 11 runs in his last three matches. Yamamoto and the Dodgers will be hoping to bounce back in tonight’s series opener.

Canning and Sheehan both had breakout 2025 campaigns, posting respective ERAs of 3.77 (16 starts) and 2.82 (12 starts). He has not been that good this year with scores of 10.64 and 4.54. Canning’s sample size is very small across three sports. His debut was very good (1 ER, 5.0 IP) but he has been bad since then (12 ER, 6.0 IP). To win the second game, they will have to survive Los Angeles’ strong lineup.

Ohtani has been the best starting pitcher in all of MLB. He boasts a 0.82 ERA in 44 innings. This means he will not be in the lineup for Los Angeles. Vasquez hasn’t been as good, but still has a career-best 2.68 ERA. San Diego hopes to have the two face off in a pitchers duel. Vasquez will have to hold his own against the Dodgers’ lineup if the Friars are to win.

starting lineup

Both the lineups have struggled to score runs recently. Both lineups broke into one Big Way this weekend. The Dodgers defeated the Los Angeles Angels 31–3, while San Diego defeated the Seattle Mariners 17–7. This was a huge success for two clubs who have been weak offensively over the past few weeks.

This should (hopefully) turn out to be a high-scoring series in the pitcher-friendly environment of Petco Park. The Padres won the last series at Petco Park, although the Friars were defeated by Los Angeles, 10–9.

player to watch

Recently there have been some heated clashes between the two sides. They will hope to continue that streak of success in this week’s series against their division rivals. Here are some things to look for on each side:

Gavin Sheets

Sheets has had a remarkable stretch with the Padres. He hit 19 home runs in 2025 and found his stride after a mostly average season with the Chicago White Sox. He leads the Friars with nine homers (four of which have come in his last five games!), and is on pace for 35 home runs. Although it is high, he could easily complete 20 passes for the first time in his young career.

miguel andujar

Andujar was signed at the end of the offseason for just $3 million, which will serve as platoon and valuable bench depth at the designated hitter spot. That’s too much. The Padres’ best hitter is slashing .291/.313/.480 entering Monday’s game. He has four RBI in his last seven games and has provided several big opportunities for San Diego.

shohei ohtani

Just because he’s only hitting in two out of three games doesn’t mean he can’t perform well. Although Ohtani has been one of the best starters in the league, he has been below average at the plate. That changed in a big way against Anaheim, with Ohtani going 6 for 13 with three walks over the weekend. If he can keep this up, it would be a big boost for the series and the LA season.

teoscar hernandez

Hernandez had a similarly hot weekend after an all-time low in the season. He went 4 for 12 with a walk, a home run and five RBI in the three-game series. He remains a legitimate power threat at the plate but has actually batted more for average recently. Over his last seven games he has batted .407. This might seem like another hot streak, but he’s also batting .327 in his last 15 games. This reads more as quality contact than a random bounce.

call to the bullpen

The Dodgers (somewhat surprisingly) have a better bullpen ERA than the Padres. He has a 3.06 ERA compared to San Diego’s 3.81 mark. That being said, the Friars have had to cover far more innings (205.1) than Los Angeles (144.1). And ERA isn’t a particularly good indicator of who is better, but it is a helpful benchmark for run prevention.

The Padres have an array of high-leverage relievers, headlined by closers Mason Miller, Jason Adam, Jeremiah Estrada, Adrian Morezon and rookie flamethrower Bradgley Rodriguez. Those guys got plenty of comfort this weekend when San Diego’s starters managed to cover 16 innings against Seattle. If the Dodgers hope to win the game they will need to build a lead with the Friars starter out.

Although newcomer Edwin Diaz won’t be pitching for Los Angeles in the near future, Tanner Scott has surprisingly filled the closer’s role quite well. Scott boasts a 1.47 ERA after a disappointing 2025 season. Behind him are Will Klein and Alex Vessia. Klein has solidified himself as a key reliever in his second season with LA veteran Blake Treinen, struggling but still owning a serviceable 3.68 ERA. Other than those four, the Dodgers are short on depth, but not as bad at leaving late games as the 2025 group.

Justin Allgaier, Corey Day and Sam Mayer finished among the points leaders heading into Saturday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Dover Motor Speedway. As that race comes to a close, it’s time to check out the latest NASCAR O’Reilly standings following Saturday’s action.

Here are the O’Reilly Series points leaders after Saturday’s race at Dover.

NASCAR OARS STATUS NOW

Matt Johnson is the senior NFL and college football editor for Sportsknot. His work including the weekly NFL and college… More about Matt Johnson

Who won the NASCAR race today? Corey Day held off Justin Allgaier in the closing laps to win Saturday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Dover Motor Speedway. With the race officially over, it’s time to take a look at the results.

Let us bring you the NASCAR results from the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Dover today. We’ll follow up with the total points and full BetRivers 200 results. Also you can find O’Reilly Series Stage Results.

RELATED: NASCAR Truck Series results at Dover

NASCAR OARS Results at Dover: BetRivers 200

Read more: NASCAR prospects whose stock is rising

NASCAR Stage Results Tonight: O’Reilly Series

Here are the results of the NASCAR OARS Stage today at Dover.

Matt Johnson is the senior NFL and college football editor for SportsKnow. His work including weekly NFL and college… More about Matt Johnson

RFK Racing is facing the possibility of needing to run one of its three The Chase contenders in an unnamed car next season. If the team wants to change this, it may have to pay a heavy price.

The Athletic’s motorsports reporter Jordan Bianchi wrote this week that the low-end estimate for securing a permanent charter in the Cup Series is “close to $100 million,” and it could be even higher.

RELATED: Elite RFK Racing drivers could lose chartered status in 2027

RFK currently has a charter lease from Rick Ware Racing for the 2026 season. However, that charter was sold to Legacy Motor Club to complete the team’s expansion to three full-time drivers in 2027.

A charter in excess of $100 million is the kind of price tag that teams like Spire Motorsports, 23XI Racing, Hendrick Motorsports and Team Penske can possibly afford. The same was not necessarily the case with RFK’s financial situation.

This puts RFK in the same situation that team owners in the National Football League are increasingly facing. Although this is more extreme – NFL franchise value now exceeds $7 billion – NASCAR teams will need to target partnerships with private equity groups to afford the rising costs.

RELATED: Young driver named favorite for new charter at Legacy

At that point, Puck’s John Orand reported in January that private equity groups and media corporations had “informal conversations” about a possible process of taking a minority ownership stake in NASCAR. Similarly, the teams also have similar interests, with Spire’s pockets an example of how financial support from private equity can help fund operations.

Therefore, if RFK wants to obtain a charter to ensure that Ryan Preece, Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher are all eligible for the races and can receive full slotted purses for their finale, they will need to find the funds to obtain another charter.

What NASCAR charters may be available?

NASCAR still has four charters it can sell, but none of them are likely to be made available to RFK. Under the new agreement signed this year, NASCAR can create and sell four new charters to a new OEM entering the Cup Series, which is expected to be Ram.

This leaves the only options for RFK to lease or purchase the charter outright from another team. Spire, 23XI, Penske, Joe Gibbs Racing, Richard Childress Racing and Trackhouse Racing have no intentions of downsizing.

Meanwhile, Hyak Motorsports has extended Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s commitment to another season with a full-time driver in the Cup Series. Similarly, Wood Brothers Racing is expected to retain Josh Berry.

He leaves Rick Ware Racing and the Haas factory team. The most likely option would be for RWR to sell its only remaining charter, but even that may require some convincing as it would take Cody Ware out of the Cup Series.

Read more: NASCAR prospects whose stock is rising

Matt Johnson is the senior NFL and college football editor for Sportsknot. His work including the weekly NFL and college… More about Matt Johnson

Who won the NASCAR race tonight? Kyle Busch dominated the Truck Series race at Dover Motor Speedway, leading 147 of the 200 laps in the ECOSAVE 200. It was classic dominance from Busch, who went pole-to-pole, and lapped most of the field on Friday night.

Let’s look at the NASCAR Truck Series results from Dover tonight. We’ll start with the overall ECOSAVE 200 results and score totals for the entire region. Ahead you can find the results of the Truck Series stage today.

NASCAR Truck Results at Dover: ECOSAVE 200

NASCAR Stage Results Tonight: Truck Series

Here are the results from today’s NASCAR Truck Series stage at Dover.

Matt Johnson is the senior NFL and college football editor for Sportsknot. His work including the weekly NFL and college… More about Matt Johnson

The Vegas Golden Knights (4-2) scored early and often, including two from Pavel Dorofeyev, as they defeated the Anaheim Ducks (2-4) 5-1 in Game 6 to reach the Western Conference Finals for the fifth time in their nine-year history. Consider that only half of the 32 NHL teams, all of which have been in existence much longer than the Golden Knights, have reached the conference finals five or more times. Additionally, the Golden Knights have now won 14 series, the most in the NHL since the franchise entered the league after moving to Tampa Bay. Despite leading the series 3-2, they improved to 9-1 all-time.

Just 1:02 into the game, William Carlson lofted Mitch Marner on a breakaway and Marner scored what was perhaps his most spectacular goal of the postseason. Marner stopped in front of Anaheim netminder Lucas Dostal, turned to his backhand, slid the puck tight behind Dostal, then pulled the puck through his legs and hit it to his forehand while he still had his back to Dostal. It was Marner’s seventh goal of the postseason and his league-leading 17th postseason point. Marner also got involved in the Golden Knights’ second goal a little more than seven minutes later.

With Anaheim on the power play, the Golden Knights were fouled out of their own zone. Despite trailing by a man, the Golden Knights skated into Anaheim territory on a three-on-two break. Marner skated harmlessly into the zone, while Brett Howden took a quick drive toward the net and past the Anaheim defense. Howden then immediately established himself in the bottom of the right circle and took a cross-ice, diagonal pass from Marner and one-timed it past Dostal on a down-and-out. This was, at the time, a league-leading eighth post-season goal for Howden, which is notable as he had scored only 12 goals in 58 regular season games. The goal was also a notable fourth short-handed goal of the postseason for the Golden Knights.

The Golden Knights’ other special teams unit also got in on the action with 2:41 left in the first period. With Anaheim forward Alex Killorn down for hooking, the Golden Knights’ power play came in handy and scored with just five seconds left on the man-advantage. In a must-see shot from center point, Shea Theodore (4) fired a puck through heavy traffic that went past Dostal’s right ear and put the Golden Knights ahead with a trio of goals.

The first period of the Golden Knights was as impressive as the Bellagio Conservatory. By the end of the period, the Golden Knights had scored at even strength, short-handed and on the power play. The three goals came on just nine shots, while holding Anaheim to just four. The Golden Knights also won 61.1 percent of faceoffs in the first frame.

Anaheim was finally able to solve Carter Hart in the second, but would need a power play to do so. After Golden Knights forward Nick Dowd kicked the puck out of play and was whistled for delay of game, Anaheim went to work on its third power play opportunity of the game. Mikael Granlund (5) delivered a brilliant cross-ice centering pass to Troy Terry that knocked down Hart with the side of his glove at 12:46 of the second minute to pull Anaheim to within two, 3-1. Despite allowing shorthanded goals, the Anaheim power play improved significantly as the series progressed. With the power play tally, the Ducks improved to 4-for-9 on the power play in the last three games after going 0-for-11 in the first three games. This would be the only goal scored in the second and the score remained 3–1 at the second intermission.

Any hopes Anaheim had of a comeback were ended by the Golden Knights early in the third. While Anaheim outshot Vegas 15–3 in the frame, it was the Golden Knights who scored twice. Less than three minutes into the third, Ivan Barbashev caught Anaheim defenseman John Carlson’s failed clearing attempt, then delivered a slick backhand pass to Pavel Dorofeyev (8) in the right circle, who fired a wrist shot past Dostal’s blocker at 2:52 of the third. Just ten minutes later, Dorofeyev scored another goal on a poorly angled shot from below the right circle to give the Golden Knights a 5–1 lead. The goal moved Dorofeyev past teammate Brett Howden for most postseason goals in the NHL with nine.

At the end of the third, Anaheim pulled Dostal and fired a large number of shots at Hart, but none found the back of the net and the Golden Knights won the series. The Golden Knights will now advance to the Western Conference Finals where they will face the NHL’s best regular-season team, the Colorado Avalanche. Game 1 takes place on Wednesday at 5PM PT in Denver.

notes

• Vegas defenseman Braden McNabb served a one-game suspension for interference against Anaheim center Ryan Poehling in Game 5. McNabb has played in 757 games for the Golden Knights in the regular season and postseason combined, the most in franchise history.
• Anaheim went into Game 6 with a 7–0 all-time lead at home.
• Anaheim did not lose consecutive games this postseason and finished the season 4–2 at home, with the only two losses coming in Vegas.

statistics

• Shots on goal favor Anaheim, 32–21.
• Amazingly, the faceoff winning percentage was exactly the same as Game 5, 53.1% to 46.9% in favor of Vegas.
• Vegas was 1-2 on the power play, while Anaheim was 1-5.
• Anaheim had the edge in hits, 30–24.
• Vegas stopped 13 shots, while Anaheim stopped 11.
• Anaheim had three more possessions than Vegas, 20–17.
• Anaheim got a slight edge in takeaways, 5-4.

Here are the Montreal Canadiens and NHL news items you may have missed Tuesday.

montreal canadiens news

• Believe it or not, several key players have yet to score a goal at 5v5 in the playoffs. Well, if you watched the games, I’m sure you believe it, and you probably know we’re discussing Juraj Slafkowski, Cole Caufield, and Ivan Demidov. The good thing is that if they start scoring at 5v5, the Canadiens will be in great position. [The Most Surprising Statistic From The Habs Playoff Run]

• The Canadiens dropped Game 4 by a score of 3–2, but they had ample opportunities to not only tie the game, but win it on the power play. They managed to score a goal on the power play in seven opportunities, while the Sabers found the back of the net twice on the man advantage. [Canadiens Highlights: Weak Powerplay Sinks The Habs]

• Yes, the Habs lost, but netminder Jacob Dobbs offered a save of the year candidate late in the third period.

Jacob Dobbs, ladies and gentlemen! pic.twitter.com/wAnyaXHPg4

– TVA Sports (@TVASports) 13 May 2026

• Former Canadiens captain Guy Carbonneau was the Stanley Cup winner who got the ball rolling at the Bell Center on Tuesday.

Guy Carbonneau carries the Habs torch for Game 4 at Bell Center pic.twitter.com/Es2SWBYOvd

– /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) 12 May 2026

• The Center Videotron in Quebec City has already sold 12,000 tickets for Game 5. For those of you who are a little too young to remember the Nordics rivalry, it’s a sign that times are changing.

The very popular Game 5 viewing party at the Videotron Center. 👍

Details ➡️ https://t.co/O1dn48R5IU pic.twitter.com/8vRToOAYGr

– TVA Sports (@TVASports) 12 May 2026

• Dobbs fever continues in downtown Montreal. This is similar to the Halach-mania of 2010.

The Habs fan who made Jacob Dobbs’ stop sign got it signed by the man himself 🔥 pic.twitter.com/kaTddWwoWq

– /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) 12 May 2026

• For the record, this was posted before Game 4, but it’s encouraging to see the Habs have one of the most active passers in the slot.

Internal slot passes per game
Playoffs (complete with controls)
1. Carolina Hurricanes- 4.75
2. Montreal Canadiens- 4.2
3. Buffalo Sabres- 3.89
4. Vegas Golden Knights – 3.3

– MeghanThat (@MeghanThat) 12 May 2026

• Victoire Captain Marie Philippe-Paulin only does two things: scoring goals and crushing Mandy’s delicious salads. And his salad is finished. With a Pauline goal in Game 5 vs. Minnesota Frost, Montreal reached the Walter Cup final for the first time in its history, and would face the talented Ottawa Charge.

target for government benefits

Power play goal! pic.twitter.com/WoukuYGZ7b

– xz – Victoire de Montreal (@PWHL_Montreal) 13 May 2026

Sportsknot Network

• Sunny Mehta took over his former club-Florida Panthers when he made his first appointment at New Jersey Devils. Mehta announced the hiring of Braden Burch as Assistant General Manager, adding significant experience and championship pedigree to his hockey operations department. [New Jersey Devils]

• Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin spent some time in DC after the season ended. However, the 40-year-old is officially heading back to his native Russia for the summer. Ovechkin recently completed his 21st season with the Capitals. Now, he will look to make a decision on his future as he becomes an unrestricted free agent this summer. [Washington Capitals]

• Colorado Avalanche general manager Chris McFarland is a finalist for the Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award, the league announced Tuesday. Voting is completed by a panel of NHL general managers and league officials, as well as some print and broadcast media, at the conclusion of the first round. [Colorado Avalanche]

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 (6-4) will take on the Buffalo Sabers (5-4) in Game 4 of their second-round series on Tuesday, with puck drop scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.

The Habs will have a chance to clinch the series with a win, although a third consecutive major league win will be difficult.

While the Sabers won Game 1 after coming from behind significantly, the Canadiens were clearly the better team in Game 2 and Game 3, and outscored the Sabers 11–3 in that span.

Sunday’s game, in particular, was one of the Habs’ most impressive performances, as both the first line and depth players provided vital attacking play. It was the epitome of a complete team effort, and a sign that this very young team is arguably peaking at the right time.

Beyond the skaters’ play, netminder Jacob Dobbs has been excellent, and has managed to improve most of his statistics compared to the regular season. He has become the epitome of consistency for the Canadiens, and although some out-of-town analysts have suggested he may want to tone down the emotional aspect of his playing style, this would weaken not only the player, but the team.

Dobbs is heavily invested in every game and that’s the way he likes it.

And you can’t argue with the results.

Another storyline worth monitoring in Game 4 was the increase in post-whistle violence from Game 3. The Sabers got the ball rolling when Beck Malensteen ran down Dobbs, while Arbor Czekaj responded with an ugly punch straight to the chin of Sam Carrick at the final whistle.

Both players were fined for their actions, which if we’re being honest won’t change a thing going forward. Another surge in fraud is expected on Tuesday.

Possible Lineup Changes

Head coach Martin Saint-Louis rarely changes his lineup after wins, and in the playoffs he keeps his cards incredibly close to his chest. With that in mind, any changes to the lineup will need to be confirmed after both teams take the ice for pre-game warm-ups.

Montreal Canadiens Projected Lineup

Cole Coffield – Nick Suzuki – Juraj Slafkowski

Alex Newhook – Jake Evans – Ivan Demidov

Alexandre Texier – Philippe Danault – Josh Anderson

Zachary Bolduc – Kirby Dach – Joe Veleno

Mike Matheson – Alexandre Carrier

Lane Hutson – Noah Dobson

Arbor Zekaj – Caden Guhle

jacob dobbs

jacob fowler

Buffalo Sabers Projected Lineup

Peyton Krebs – Tage Thompson – Alex Tuch

Jason Zucker – Ryan McLeod – Jack Quinn

Zach Benson – Josh Norris – Josh Doan

Jordan Greenway – Tyson Kozak – Beck Malensteen

Rasmus Dahlin – Mattias Samuelsson

Bowen Byram – Owen Power

Logan Stanley – Connor Timmins

Alex Lyon

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen

How to watch Hubs Vs. saber

Montreal Canadiens vs. Buffalo Sabres, Tuesday, May 12, 2026, will be broadcast on CBC, Sportsnet and TVA Sports. A quick recap with highlights will be available on SportsNote once the final whistle blows.

Additional NHL Playoff Analysis

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

NASCAR driver Caden Honeycutt is coming off one of the best weekends in racing this season, winning four races including his first Truck Series win. Although he is dominating in trucks at the moment, it won’t be long before he moves up to the Cup Series.

In the latest episode of The Teardown, The Athletic’s NASCAR reporter Jordan Bianchi said he expects Honeycutt to make it to the Cup Series by 2028.

“It’s turning heads right now and he’s got some ways to go. But the path he’s on, he’s someone I would expect to be in the Cup Series in 2028.”

The Athletic’s Jordan Bianchi on when Caden Honeycutt could reach the Cup Series

Honeycutt, who turns 23 in June, entered the season ranked sixth among the top NASCAR prospects in 2026 by Fox Sports’ Bob Pokrass. With Jesse Love and Corey Haim both potentially getting full-time Cup Series rides for the 2027 season, Honeycutt could be one of the next in line and be even higher ranked a year from now.

He has proved that he can win anywhere. Honeycutt’s first Truck Series win came over the weekend when he won four races, including two CARS races and a win in the ARCA Menards Series.

That’s why Honeycutt was chosen to replace Ham in the No. 11 truck with the Tricon garage. Although he has not repeated the historic results delivered by Hamm last season, he leads the Truck Series in points (312) with the most top-fives (five) and fourth-most laps (68) among full-time truck drivers.

Winning four different races with four different teams speaks volumes about Honeycutt’s talent behind the wheel. The Truck Series championship means a lot to him this season and if all goes well, it’s fair to think he’ll become a 24-year-old Cup driver in 2028.

Matt Johnson is the senior NFL and college football editor for Sportsknot. His work including the weekly NFL and college… More about Matt Johnson

Jesse Love is coming off a heartbreaking loss at Watkins Glen in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, losing to Cup Series driver Connor Zylisch on the final lap. Luckily for Love, he may soon join his friend at the highest level.

On Sunday night’s episode of The Teardown, Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic said there are Cup Series teams interested in Love as a full-time driver.

“You talk to the people in the garage, they think he’s really talented. There are some Cup teams who are interested in him.”

The Athletic’s Jordan Bianchi on Cup Series teams’ interest in Jesse Love

RELATED: NASCAR OARS Standings, See Where Jesse Love Sits

Love, age 21, was rated by Fox Sports’ Bob Pockross as the second-best NASCAR prospect in 2026. He is part of Richard Childress Racing’s development program and rides part-time in the No. 33 car which he splits with fellow O’Reilly Series driver Austin Hill.

Although he is the defending O’Reilly Series champion, wins have not been common for Love at this level. He is winless in 13 races this season and only three in his OARS career. That said, he has consistently been one of the best drivers at this level and has a bright future.

Evaluating the future of Jesse Love’s Cup Series

The most natural fit for Jesse Love if he gets a full-time Cup Series ride next season would be with Richard Childress Racing. Most in NASCAR expect Kyle Busch to leave RCR for another team in 2027, leaving the No. 8 car open for Love.

This would allow him to become a full-time Cup Series driver at just 22 years old, racing for a team that has been a bit disappointing in recent years. However, making the transition from Bush to Love will allow RCR to prepare for his future, and any progress he makes as a rookie can be viewed as a step forward in his development rather than frustration every week that Bush doesn’t finish in the top 10.

There is another team worth considering. Legacy Motor Club will add a third charter for the 2027 season, with Jimmie Johnson looking for someone who can help improve the team. Love could be the guy who can put Legacy in position to post some more top-20 finishes.

Ultimately, we remain confident that Love will drive the No. 8 next season, with 23XI Racing driver Riley Herbst taking the third car in the Legacy. Herbst’s absence on the 23XI will be filled by Corey Hamm, while Bush will be fielded with the second team.

Matt Johnson is the senior NFL and college football editor for Sportsknot. His work including the weekly NFL and college… More about Matt Johnson

The Anaheim Ducks defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 4-3 in Game 4 at Honda Center on Sunday night, tying the Western Conference Second Round series 2-2.

Cutter Gauthier had three assists, and the Ducks finally got a power play when they needed it most.

Beckett Seneca, Alex Killorn, Mikael Granlund and Ian Moore scored for Anaheim. Lucas Dostal made 18 saves, and the Ducks improved to 4–0 in these playoff losses.

Anaheim finally gets the man right

Anaheim went to the power play in the first period and Seneca scored past Carter Hart at 8:43 to make the score 1–0.

Seneca continues to advance in these playoffs. NHL.com reported that he joined Bobby Ryan as the only rookies in Ducks history to score in three consecutive playoff games. For a fan base that has been waiting for young talent to become real stars in the postseason, this is a very strong sign.

Vegas responded immediately. Pavel Dorofeyev equalized at 10:22 after Mitch Marner’s shot went loose near the crease. However, there is no panic from Anaheim. Granlund later put the Ducks ahead 2-1 after changing the direction of his shot and slipping it under Hart.

Killorn’s goal changed the atmosphere

At 17:58 of the second period, Killorn banked the puck in from near the goal line for Anaheim’s second power-play goal of the night. This was the play that seemed most impressive. Vegas had tied the game on a goal by Brett Howden early in the period, and Anaheim needed a clean response before halftime.

Reuters reported that the Ducks were 0-for-11 on the power play in the series before breaking twice in Game 4. That’s no small change, it’s the kind of detail that can swing a series, especially against a Vegas team that doesn’t typically allow many second chances.

Ian Moore made a major contribution

Moore made it 4-2 at 3:43 of the third period with the goal-winner. Moore has played well in the last two games, which makes this moment even better. Not every playoff hero comes with the spotlight already on him.

Vegas continued to push late in the game. Tomas Hertl cut the lead to 4–3 with 1:04 remaining after the Golden Knights pulled Hart for an extra attacker. Marner finished with three assists, and after the game he had an NHL-leading 16 playoff points.

For Ducks fans, this was one of those games that gave hope for the rest of the series. The power play woke up, the kids contributed to it and the veterans helped stabilize it. Now it’s one of the best three, and Anaheim has made this series very lively.

Game 5 is on Tuesday, May 12 in Las Vegas and Game 6 is on Thursday, May 14 in Anaheim.

Who won the NASCAR race today? Shane Van Gisbergen did it again on the road course at Watkins Glen, overcoming a late stop to pass more than a dozen cars on the final stage and hold off Ty Gibbs and Connor Zylisch for the win.

Let’s look at the NASCAR results at Watkins Glen today. We’ll start with the full Go Bowling at The Glen results with total points. Additionally, you can find NASCAR Cup Series stage results.

Bowling at the Glen Results

Here are the NASCAR results today at Watkins Glen.

NASCAR results: Cup Series stage results at Watkins Glen

Here are the results from today’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series stage.

Matt Johnson is the senior NFL and college football editor for SportsKnow. His work including weekly NFL and college… More about Matt Johnson

We head into the NASCAR All-Star Race, concluding Sunday’s finale at Watkins Glen with a points race for 12th in the Cup Series regular season. With two weeks left until the next points race, let’s take a look at the state of NASCAR right now.

Following are the Cup Series points leaders right now after Sunday’s race at Watkins Glen. Ahead, you can find out how many points drivers are behind the Chase cutline.

NASCAR Cup Series points leaders: standings after Watkins Glen

NASCAR Standings Today: The Chase Cutline

Matt Johnson is the senior NFL and college football editor for SportsKnow. His work including weekly NFL and college… More about Matt Johnson

Who won the NASCAR race today? Connor Zylisch passes Jesse Love in the closing turns in the final lap of the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Watkins Glen, securing another road-course victory. It proved to be an eventful race, as shown in today’s NASCAR results for the O’Reilly Series.

Let’s look at the NASCAR OARS results at Watkins Glen today. We are starting with the completed Mission 200 at The Glen results with total points. After that, you can find the results of O’Reilly Series stage.

NASCAR O’Reilly results at Watkins Glen

Here are today’s NASCAR results for the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series.

O’Reilly Series Stage Results: Watkins Glen

Here are the results from today’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series stage.

Matt Johnson is the senior NFL and college football editor for SportsKnow. His work including weekly NFL and college… More about Matt Johnson

Who is on the pole for Sunday’s NASCAR race? Cup Series qualifying results at Watkins Glen brought the usual suspects to the forefront on the road course. With the field set, we can now take a look at the Go Bowling at The Glen lineup.

We’ll kick things off with NASCAR’s starting lineup for Watkins Glen on Sunday, with qualifying times listed for each driver. Additionally you can find starting grids for go bowling at The Glen.

Glenn bowls in starting lineup

Here is the NASCAR starting lineup at Watkins Glen following Cup Series qualifying results.

RELATED: NASCAR Truck Series results at Watkins Glen

NASCAR starting grid: Cup Series lineup at Watkins Glen

There is go bowling and The Glen starting grid.

Matt Johnson is the senior NFL and college football editor for SportsKnow. His work including weekly NFL and college… More about Matt Johnson

It took more than half a game for either team to score in Game 2 between the Vegas Golden Knights (1-1) and Anaheim Ducks (1-1). There were no such problems in Game 3, as the Golden Knights scored early and often, including a hat trick from Mitch Marner, to win Game 3, 6–2, and take a 2–1 series lead.

The Golden Knights scored on five-on-five, short-handed and power plays in the first period. It was his third, three-goal period of the playoffs. Just 1:06 into the game, Jack Eichel, stationed near the bottom left wall, delivered a perfect cross-ice pass to defenseman Shea Theodore (3), who beat Anaheim goalie Lucas Dostal from the crease. Anaheim forward Ryan Poehling appeared to screen Dostel and never saw the shot, which was Vegas’ first shot of the game.

The Golden Knights’ top playoff penalty kill unit continued their stellar play and scored their third short-handed goal of the postseason to give Vegas a 2-0 lead. Mitch Marner moved the puck into the Anaheim zone against a tired Anaheim group. Once over the blue line, he dropped the puck to oncoming Braden McNabb (1), who skated down the left wing and flicked a wrist shot from the faceoff dot inside the left circle that went under Dostal’s glove at 12:13 of the first.

Just as the Golden Knights scored early, they also scored late. On his first power play opportunity of the game, and with just 4.6 seconds remaining in the period, Marner (4) got a loose rebound that Dostal could not stop and stuffed it just inside the left post to give the Golden Knights a 3–0 lead. However, the news was not good for the Golden Knights in the first start, as they lost their captain Mark Stone to injury after only 4:24 of play.

It was a disappointing first period for Anaheim, as they had more shots (11 to 8), more power play chances (2 to 1), more hits (15–11), and eight fewer assists than the Golden Knights (11 to 3), yet found themselves in a 3–0 deficit. He also made a goal change to start the second period, pulling Dostal and calling on Ville Husso.

While Husso made some early saves, Marner and the Golden Knights quickly addressed that as well. A tic-tac-toe passing sequence between Brett Howden, Theodore and Marner followed, which ended with Marner (5) taking a stick tackle around Husso and slicing the puck inside the empty net on his backhand at 9:19 of the second to put the Golden Knights up 4–0.

Marner, who moved into the top line in Stone’s absence, continued his dominance and completed a natural hat trick at 17:56 of the second. The combination of William Carlson and Marner wore Anaheim down a lot. Karlsson won a puck battle below the goal line and got the puck to Marner, who then stepped out from behind the net and fired a harmless shot toward Husso that bounced under his right pad to increase the Golden Knights’ lead to five. The goal completed the first postseason career hat trick for Marner and also set a new career high for points in a playoff game with four.

Anaheim finally got a chance to get past Vegas netminder Carter Hart at 6:30 of the third. Alex Killorn took a poorly angled slap shot from just below the right circle that hit Hart under his right armpit and rolled into the net. Both of the Golden Knights’ defensemen struggled to clear the puck, but Anaheim rookie forward Beckett Seneca (3) dived on the loose puck and was able to knock it over the goal line to ruin Hart’s shutout bid and make the score 5–1.

Chris Kreider (2) pulled Anaheim to within three when he found himself alone in the crease with the puck on his stick and fired a shot past Hart’s glove at 15:09 of the third. The goal was Kreider’s 50th career playoff goal. However, that was as close as Anaheim got, with Howden (6) scoring into an empty net at 18:04 of the third minute to give the Golden Knights a 6–2 lead.

notes

• The Golden Knights’ penalty kill has killed 27 of 28 penalties so far in the postseason.
• The loss was Anaheim’s first at home in the playoffs. They were ahead 3-0 at Honda Center.

figures

• The shots on goal gave Anaheim a 33–28 victory.
• Hits were 53–23 in favor of Anaheim.
• Power play chances were three for Vegas and two for Anaheim.
• Faceoff winning percentage favored Vegas 56.9% to 43.1%.
• Blocked shots heavily favored Vegas 20-6.
• Vegas had double the gift, 16-8, but the takeaway was also double, 8-4.

The Montreal Canadiens were in Buffalo on Friday night, hoping to tie the series with the Sabers before returning to Quebec.

It was one of the Habs’ best games of the playoffs, an impressive effort resulting in a comfortable 5–1 win.

The Sabers allowed more hits than the Canadiens, but it was a case of the home team chasing for most of the game.

In every metric that mattered, the Canadiens were the better team.

Let’s look at the highlights!

he is a boy

The Habs needed a strong start, a rare thing when examining their season, to avoid suffering another loss against a suffocating opponent.

Newfoundlander Alex Newhook scored his second goal of the playoffs less than two minutes into the first period, with assists from Caden Guhle and Lane Hutson. The latter, in particular, enjoyed an absolutely fantastic outing on Friday night.

Quick aim!

Alex Newhook tipped in a Guhle pass to make it 1-0. #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/Kju6PiXdEC

– Montreal Hockey Now (@MTLhockeynow) 8 May 2026

Second

The Canadiens didn’t rest on their laurels and doubled their lead moments later when Mike Matheson’s excellent point shot found the back of the net.

All things considered, this was easily Montreal’s best time in the playoffs. They were effective at 5v5, as shown by their 7–0 advantage in high-danger scoring chances.

This might even be Montreal’s best time this season.

Make it 2-0!

Mike Matheson extended with a precise shot from the point #GoHabsGo lead! pic.twitter.com/tataTgmqIw

– Montreal Hockey Now (@MTLhockeynow) 8 May 2026

Enlist you Newfoundlanders and follow me!

Newhook was not satisfied with his only goal.

He scored his third goal of the playoffs early in the second period, through a brilliant pass from veteran Jake Evans.

Given that Montreal’s first line has struggled to generate anything resembling the offense it did in the regular season, it must be said that Montreal’s depth players have done a great job of helping the Habs overcome a very difficult situation.

We also have to give full marks to Noah Dobson on this play, as he took a big hit to start the rush.

I am a boy!

Alex Newhook makes it 3-0 #GoHabsGo With his second goal of the game. pic.twitter.com/3OMQpD1Nmz

– Montreal Hockey Now (@MTLhockeynow) 9 May 2026

dolly dagger

The Sabers ended Dobbs’ shutout bid, leading to Zach Benson taunting the Canadiens netminder in what can only be described as a desperate attempt to throw him off his game.

But Dobbs lives for that type of thing.

Benson adopted only Greece.

Dobbs was born in this.

Molded by.

He lives to chirp, and chirps to live.

It’s surprising, Or notBenson’s whizzing effort did little more than boost the Habs’ effort, not to mention a great goal by defenseman Alexandre Carrier to put his team up 4–1.

(editor’s Note:The tweet below erroneously mentions “Logan Thompson”. In fact, it was Sabers forward Tage Thompson.)

Alex Carrier makes it 4-1 #GoHabsGo After Logan Thompson’s fall.

All Canadians in this. pic.twitter.com/b31wIilax1

– Montreal Hockey Now (@MTLhockeynow) 9 May 2026

The Montreal Canadiens will be back in action on Sunday facing the Sabers at the Bell Center for Game 3. 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

NASCAR is at Watkins Glen this weekend, where the Truck Series at the Glen Truck Series begins racing with the Bully Hill Vineyards 176 on Friday afternoon. We got a great battle in a field that included Cup Series drivers like Connor Zylisch, Carson Hocevar and Shane Van Gisbergen, making for some interesting NASCAR Truck Series results at Watkins Glen.

After a penalty in the final stages, Caden Honeycutt returned to the front of the field and defeated Zylisch and Van Gisbergen to earn his first Truck Series victory.

Let’s jump straight into the NASCAR results for today’s Truck Series race at Watkins Glen. We start with the full Bully Hill Vineyards 176 at The Glen results followed by the Truck Series stage results.

NASCAR Truck Series results at Watkins Glen

NASCAR Stage Results Tonight: Truck Series at Watkins Glen

Here are the results from tonight’s NASCAR Truck Series stage for the Bully Hill Vineyards 175 at The Glen.

Matt Johnson is the senior NFL and college football editor for SportsKnow. His work including weekly NFL and college… More about Matt Johnson

Caden Honeycutt entered the weekend sitting at the top of the NASCAR Truck standings heading into Friday’s road course race at Watkins Glen. He solidified his position on the leaderboard, scoring his first win in the Truck Series.

Let’s take you to the NASCAR Truck Series points leaders right now after Friday’s race at Watkins Glen.

NASCAR Truck Series Ponts Leaders Today

RELATED: NASCAR predictions for Watkins Glen

NASCAR Truck Series Standings: The Chase Battle

This is what the Chase Cutline looks like now after the Truck Series race at Watkins Glen. Note, Corey Heim (8th in the NASCAR Truck Series standings) is not eligible for The Chase.

RELATED: NASCAR Truck Series results at Watkins Glen

Matt Johnson is the senior NFL and college football editor for SportsKnow. His work including weekly NFL and college… More about Matt Johnson

Here are the Montreal Canadiens and NHL news items you may have missed Tuesday.

montreal canadiens news

• The Buffalo Sabers should be considered the favorites in the second round of the NHL playoffs, but the discrepancy between the Sabers and Habs is not significant. Statistically speaking, they are much more evenly matched than the Canadiens and Lightning. All things considered, this should be another tightly contested series. [Canadiens Vs. Sabres Series Preview: Head-To-Head]

• Slovak forward Juraj Slafkowski is not feeling any effects from the first-round series against the Lightning, and he has a great way to describe his current health status.

Juraj Slafkowski today explains how he’s feeling after a physical series vs. the Lightning:

“I think I’m good, you know? I can’t really be too stupid. I don’t know what to say, I’m fine, you know? It didn’t really hurt, I’m just ready to go. I didn’t even waste any time. I just… pic.twitter.com/dTQcVLIoRE

– /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) 5 May 2026

• Canadian prospect Bryce Pickford was named the top defenseman in the WHL, which is not surprising when we consider he enjoyed a standout season from an offensive standpoint. In 55 regular season games, Pickford scored an incredible 45 goals and 38 assists. He would add 12 more points to his tally in the playoffs.

🐅 discrepancy 🐅

Congratulations to Tigers Captain Bryce Pickford on being named the 2026 WHL Defenseman of the Year! 🏆#WHLAwards | #GoHabsGo | @CanadiensMTL pic.twitter.com/hkUufVvgg1

– Medicine Hat Tigers (@tigershockey) 5 May 2026

• It’s hard not to avoid naming Darren Reddish’s wasted goal in Game 1 of the first-round series against the Lightning as the NHL’s ‘Moment of the Round’. Does someone want to tell the NHL that the Lightning actually lost that game, let alone the series?

Some notes if possible.

1 – The series ended a few days ago.
2 – The Lightning actually lost the series.
3 – This powerplay goal was boring.
4- The boring goal was from a game the Lightning lost, in a series they lost.
5 – The NHL really had a moment with this one. https://t.co/QTqAnJKDfe

– Montreal Hockey Now (@MTLhockeynow) 5 May 2026

• It is to Nikita Kucherov’s credit that he loses with much more grace than he wins, although there is a very low threshold to explain this.

Nikita Kucherov on early exit: “I think it’s on us to be able to create chances at 5-on-5 and on the power play. Credit to (Montreal) they did well, but we have to be a lot better.” pic.twitter.com/1eswreh1Ov

– Rachel West (@rachelwest__) 5 May 2026

• We have to give it to Jacob Dobbs, this is a solid chuckle in the heat of the moment, and it turns out he was right.

Jacob Dobbs explains what he said to Nikita Kucherov in Game 7:

“I know you guys are nervous. I know you’re nervous.” pic.twitter.com/kYJrfo1hk4

– /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) 4 May 2026

• The Laval Rocket evened their series against the Toronto Marlies (2-2) with an impressive 4-0 win on Tuesday. Alex Belzile (2), Samuel Blais (2, 3), and Laurent Dauphin (2) provided the goals for Laval, while Kaapo Kahkonen stopped all 18 shots sent his way to secure the shutout.

On PK 🚀 https://t.co/Y2XWzaB9gZ pic.twitter.com/W3BhI96gx9

– xy – Rocket de Laval (@RocketLaval) 6 May 2026

Sportsknot Network

• The NHL Draft Lottery took place on Tuesday night, and believe it or not, the Toronto Maple Leafs were awarded the No. 1 overall pick.

2026 #nhldraft Lottery results are in! ➡️

Now, who will be the first overall pick? Find June 26th in 2026 #nhldraft! pic.twitter.com/dGheSkDPTd

– NHL (@NHL) 5 May 2026

• It was believed that the Edmonton Oilers and Vegas Golden Knights would be a classic encounter of heated rivals who have stood in each other’s way for many years. Instead, it was the upstart Anaheim Ducks, who proceeded to play one of their best defensive games of the playoffs and send the Golden Knights to overtime in Game 1 of their round two series. [Vegas Golden Knights]

• New Jersey Devils forwards Nico Hischier and Timo Meier are set to represent Switzerland at the 2026 IIHF Men’s World Championship, being held from May 15 to May 31, 2026 in Zurich and Fribourg, Switzerland. [New Jersey Devils]

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 will face the Buffalo Sabers in the second round of the 2026 NHL playoffs. As we did in the first round against the Tampa Bay Lightning, we will preview the series by analyzing some of the most important 5v5 statistics powering teams during the regular season.

Next we’ll look at how the Sabers and Habs performed when they faced each other on four occasions. We’ll also evaluate special teams and x-factors in a follow-up article.

Canadiens and Sabers regular-season statistics (5v5)

Like the Lightning, the Sabers are expected to have the edge at 5v5 based on regular season results, but the discrepancy between the Habs and Sabers is much less noticeable.

In other words, even though the Sabers take more shots, score more expected goals, and have a greater share of high-danger scoring opportunities, the Canadiens are definitely still in the mix.

Shooting and goaltending

The Sabers have the advantage as far as netminding goes, although we must remember that Montreal’s regular season numbers include Samuel Montembeault’s results.

During the playoffs, rookie goaltender Jacob Dobbs has produced a .923 save percentage (all situations), though the Sabers have also received excellent netminding from Alex Lyon, who is sporting an impressive .955 save percentage.

Once again, Montreal’s only advantage in the regular season was shooting percentage, although Buffalo was also a top-5 team in that regard. They are also a better team when it comes to their high-danger shooting efficiency.

Target

The final metrics are fairly straightforward.

The Canadiens scored a lot of goals, but the Sabers did a slightly better job. The same can be said about his ability to reduce opponents’ goal scoring.

Canadiens Vs. Sabers Head-to-Head Statistics

To get a better idea of ​​how they played head-to-head, we pulled the numbers from their four meetings in the regular season. Both teams won few games, and each game was played before February. In other words, a lot has changed since then, but it’s still worth keeping in mind.

The Canadiens outshot the Sabers at 5v5 (8–6), and yet, Buffalo held the edge in shot share, expected goals and high-danger scoring opportunities, though there was no notable difference in the latter.

Montreal Canadiens Brass Tacks

The numbers suggest the Sabers are the favorites, but that’s not a surprise.

And dismissing the Hubs in this series certainly isn’t enough. It won’t be easy to emerge from the seven-game series with a win, and they will once again be considered underdogs, but the Canadians have a strange way of bringing out their best when they are facing adversity.

In fact, the Lightning had the advantage in almost every statistical category going into the first round of the NHL playoffs, and yet, the Canadiens still found a way to win.

Very good! Alex Newhook took the puck out of mid-air to score and deliver #GoHabsGo 2-1 lead! pic.twitter.com/FOpO7QTPxh

– Montreal Hockey Now (@MTLhockeynow) 4 May 2026

Buffalo’s style of play is slightly more aggressive than Tampa’s, in that they out-muscle their opponents, reducing the number of passing and skating lanes available and thus creating a no-fly zone between the blue lines.

If that’s not disappointing, it’s a particularly efficient strategy to deal with a situation that should push the league’s youngest team to its limits.

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 NASCAR Cup Series travels to Watkins Glen International this weekend for the 12th points race of the season. This will be the second road course on the schedule so far, with two others bringing in the usual full-time drivers for this weekend’s 38-driver field.

Here is the NASCAR entry list for Go Bowling at The Glen this weekend.

RELATED: NASCAR predictions for Watkins Glen

NASCAR entry list for Watkins Glen

Matt Johnson is the senior NFL and college football editor for Sportsknot. His work including the weekly NFL and college… More about Matt Johnson

The first round of the NBA Playoffs is in the books and there were some surprises with the Houston Rockets, Boston Celtics and Denver Nuggets being eliminated. This creates even more intrigue in our latest set of second round and NBA playoff predictions.

Let’s take a look at our NBA Conference Semifinals predictions.

(4) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (1) Oklahoma City Thunder

There’s still no timeline for Luka Doncic’s return, so we’re assuming he won’t play in the Western Conference Semifinals. For the Los Angeles Lakers, that means relying on 41-year-old LeBron James, as he averaged nearly 40 minutes per game alongside Austin Reaves against Houston. Not only do the Oklahoma City Thunder have NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the best player in basketball at the moment, but they rarely turn it over as a team (12.0, second lowest in the NBA) and they are excellent defensively. The Lakers’ lack of shooting and bucket-getters will be immediately exposed in this series, and it will be over quickly.

• Prediction: Oklahoma City Thunder beat Los Angeles Lakers

(6) Minnesota Timberwolves vs. (2) San Antonio Spurs

Anthony Edwards’ injury certainly makes this series more interesting. It now appears the Minnesota Timberwolves star will return for the Western Conference Semifinals; The only question is how effectively he will play despite the bone injury. Minnesota went 2–1 during the regular season series, but the final two matchups in January were decided by a total of 4 points. However, the Timberwolves will be without Donte DiVincenzo. All eyes will naturally be on the head-to-head battle between Victor Wembanyama and Rudy Gobert. Given the ridiculous level at which Wembanyama is playing on both ends of the court, we’re rooting for San Antonio to win with his star power and depth.

• Prediction San Antonio Spurs won six games

(4) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (1) Detroit Pistons

The Cleveland Cavaliers and Detroit Pistons both barely survived the first round, so there should be no rest vs. rust debate for the Eastern Conference Semifinal matchup. What Cleveland brings to the table is the All-Star guard tandem of Donovan Mitchell and James Harden, each of whom is capable of taking over a game. However, there are two issues for the Cavaliers. First, Detroit can bring defensive intensity and offensive scheme to both Mitchell and Harden. More importantly, while Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley are very good veterans, Pistons centers Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart bring far more physicality. We don’t think Cleveland has the toughness or consistency to win this series.

• Prediction: Detroit Pistons advance in six games

(7) Philadelphia 76ers vs. (3) New York Knicks

The New York Knicks are probably the best team left in the Eastern Conference. That said, the Philadelphia 76ers are playing underdogs and there’s nothing Joel Embiid would love more than to eliminate the Knicks to punch their ticket to the Eastern Conference Finals. Where New York may run into a little trouble is the fact that Embiid may be a stopper against Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges isn’t bringing anything offensively. Philadelphia could pull off another upset if everyone stays healthy, but it’s far from certain and New York has better answers for Embiid than Boston. Ultimately, the deeper and more defensive-minded team advances.

• Prediction: New York won seven matches

Matt Johnson is the senior NFL and college football editor for Sportsknot. His work including the weekly NFL and college… More about Matt Johnson

Kathryn Legge will get back behind the wheel of a NASCAR Cup Series ride, and take a seat in the No. 78 car with Live Fast Motorsports on Mother’s Day weekend at Watkins Glen International.

As reported by JaySki.com, Legg is partnering with Live Fast Motorsports and Cosmetics Chevrolet to race the No. 78 car at Go Bowling at The Glen on Sunday. It will be his first Cup Series race since the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in October.

RELATED: NASCAR predictions for Watkins Glen

Legge, age 45, made his Cup Series debut in the 2025 Shriners Children’s 500 last March. While she ultimately finished 30th, Live Fast Motorsports and NASCAR received some criticism for giving Phoenix her first race in a Next Gen car.

Why is Watkins Glen a good fit for Katherine Legge?

Legge’s return behind the wheel in the Cup Series at Watkins Glen International seems like a perfect fit. He has years of experience racing on road courses, including this track.

She drove the No. 78 car there for LFM last year and handled herself well in the Chicago street race and finished 19th. He has also made 10 career starts in his racing career, including a GTD win with Andy Lally at the Six Hours of the Glen in 2017.

Given the improvement he showed as he gained more experience in the Cup Series, this should prove to be a good move for LFM. Although the No. 78 car will be nowhere close to challenging for the win, there is at least a chance that Legge will record the third top-25 finish of his Cup Series career.

RELATED: NASCAR Schedule Watkins Glen

Matt Johnson is the senior NFL and college football editor for Sportsknot. His work including the weekly NFL and college… More about Matt Johnson

Who won the NASCAR race today? Chase Elliott won the Wurth 400 on Sunday, holding off Denny Hamlin on the final restart to get his second win of the season, in a race that featured plenty of cautions There were few surprises in NASCAR’s results today.

Let’s go straight to the Wurth 400 results from Texas Motor Speedway. As we always do, we’re starting today with complete NASCAR results with total points for all 36 drivers. Also you can find the results of the Cup Series stage in Texas today.

Wurth 400 results: race winners and points

NASCAR Stage Results Today: Cup Series at Texas Motor Speedway

Here are today’s NASCAR stage results for the Cup Series race, the Wurth 400 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Matt Johnson is the senior NFL and college football editor for Sportsknot. His work including the weekly NFL and college… More about Matt Johnson

A surprising number of the points leaders had strong performances in Sunday’s Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway, the Wurth 400. However, on a day that also included DNFs for Joey Logano, Christopher Bell and Ty Gibbs, there is still a lot of shakeup in the NASCAR standings.

Let’s take a look at the NASCAR Cup Series points leaders today after Sunday’s race at Texas Motor Speedway. Additionally, we have included a table for The Chase cutline to show how far back drivers are from 16th place in The Chase.

NASCAR Cup Series leads after 11 races

NASCAR Standings: The Chase Cutline

Matt Johnson is the senior NFL and college football editor for Sportsknot. His work including the weekly NFL and college… More about Matt Johnson

Who won the NASCAR race today? Kyle Larson held off Justin Allgaier on the final laps and a late restart at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday afternoon, capping a spectacular end to a race that started with plenty of cautions.

Chaos quickly took over. There was a first-lap accident involving Taylor Gray, William Sawalich and Corey Day. The accident caused damage to the cars of the three top drivers in the O’Reilly Series, who were second in the race and brought out another caution on lap 9, again due to slipping on the track, with a third accident on lap 19.

Let’s look at the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series results from Texas Motor Speedway today. We start with the final results and total points from the Andy’s Frozen Custard 340 and follow that with the results from the OARS stage.

RELATED: NASCAR starting lineup for Sunday, Cup Series qualifying results at Texas

NASCAR Truck Series results in Texas

RELATED: NASCAR Predictions for Texas Motor Speedway

NASCAR OARS Stage Results in Texas

Here are the results from tonight’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series stage.

Matt Johnson is the senior NFL and college football editor for Sportsknot. His work including the weekly NFL and college… More about Matt Johnson

Saturday’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Texas saw a few early cautions, with Tea Chase contenders like Corey Day and Taylor Gray suffering costly DNFs. As you might expect, this resulted in some major changes to the NASCAR O’Reilly Series points leaders after 12 races.

Let’s dive into the NASCAR OARS standings right now after today’s race at Texas Motor Speedway. Additionally, you can see where drivers stand below the Chase cutline.

NASCAR OARS points leaders right now

NASCAR O’Reilly Series Standings: The Chase Bubble

The focus here is on how many points below the cutline the drivers are for The Chase through 12 races.

Official 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series results at Texas Motor Speedway

Matt Johnson is the senior NFL and college football editor for Sportsknot. His work including the weekly NFL and college… More about Matt Johnson

Who won the NASCAR race tonight? Carson Hocevar came out on top in overtime of Friday night’s Truck Series race at Texas Motor Speedway. The SpeedyCash.com 250 featured a field of drivers that included Hocevar, Ross Chastain, and Kyle Busch. We got to see a phenomenal battle between Bush, Hocevar and Caden Honeycutt, then a battle between Hocevar and Gio Ruggiero with 3 to go before a caution to force OT.

Let’s look at the NASCAR Truck results at Texas Motor Speedway. We will present the entire SpeedyCash.com with 250 results, including total points. Then you can find today’s NASCAR Truck Series stage results.

NASCAR Truck Series results in Texas

RELATED: NASCAR Predictions for Texas Motor Speedway

NASCAR Stage Results Tonight: Truck Series at Texas

Here are the NASCAR Truck Series stage results for tonight’s SpeedyCash.com 250.

Matt Johnson is the senior NFL and college football editor for Sportsknot. His work including the weekly NFL and college… More about Matt Johnson

The Tampa Bay Lightning forced their Eastern Conference First Round series into a seventh game with a 1-0 overtime win over the Montreal Canadiens in Game 6 at the Bell Center on Friday night.

The Atlantic Division rivals were held scoreless through more than 69 minutes of action before Gage Goncalves hit a loose puck past Jacob Dobbs for the game’s only goal. Brandon Hagel crossed a checker at the right point and fed Dominic James in the bottom right circle. James threw the puck on net, where Goncalves got a shot at it.

Dobbs got a slice of the shot, but Goncalves got to the loose puck and put it into the net at 9:03 for the win.

The goals came after each goaltender made game-saving stops in OT. Seconds after Lightning star Nikita Kucherov was called for tripping 5:30 into overtime, Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy blocked Game 1 hero Juraj Slafkovsky’s one-timer from the right circle. The Lightning killed off the remaining penalties, and Kucherov almost won it by coming out of the box, getting the puck in the Montreal zone and forcing Dobbs to make a spectacular stop to keep the game scoreless.

Vasilevskiy, who allowed a soft goal in Montreal’s 3–2 win in Game 5 that proved to be the winner, bounced back with a flawless, 30-save effort. Dobbs finished with 32 saves as the teams played their fourth overtime game and sixth one-goal game in the series that has become a classic.

The series returns to Benchmark International Arena in Tampa for Game 7 on Sunday. But playing at home may not be to Bolt’s advantage; The home team has lost four out of six matches in this series.

To say that the scoreless first period was played at a fast pace would be an understatement. With the Lightning in “win or go home” mode and the Canadiens eager to end the series in front of their home fans, both teams were excited. The Canadiens had 26 hits in the opening 20 minutes; The Lightning, not known as a physical team, had 15.

Cole Caufield, Montreal’s 51-goal scorer during the regular season, almost opened the scoring less than three minutes into the game; He beat Vasilevskiy but hit the post. That happened when Tampa Bay’s Yanni Gourde picked up a foul play from Dobbs and took a shot to the back of the net, but couldn’t connect on the wraparound, causing the puck to slip through the crease.

Vasilevskiy faced tougher chances as the period progressed, robbing Jake Evans from close range twice and denying Ivan Demidov from the right circle on a 2-on-1.

The Canadiens got their first power play of the game when Jake Guentzel was called for an unnecessary high-sticking penalty with 11 seconds remaining, but nothing was generated.

The pace was a little less frenetic in the second period, but the result was the same – no goals. This was largely due to some late heroics from Vasilevskiy, who lived up to his status as a Vezina Trophy finalist – especially after Charles-Edouard was called for slashing at 16:54. He denied Caufield again from 20 feet, then robbed Demidov from the right circle after a perfect setup and denied him again on the rebound.

The Canadiens continued to control the game after the power play ended and Vasilevskiy kept the game scoreless for 40 minutes on a last-second effort by Philippe Denault.

Montreal controlled the first five minutes of the third period, but the game changed after Montreal defenseman Caden Guhle was called for slashing Guentzel at 5:11 to break up a solo scoring chance. Tampa Bay did not score but applied a lot of pressure and dominated the game for most of the rest of the period.

The Lightning got a late power-play opportunity when Demidov was called for goaltender interference with 3:17 left after fouling Vasilevsky.

Tampa Bay controlled the puck for almost the entire power play, but couldn’t get past Dobbs, who made big saves on Kucherov, Radish and the point, then denied Brandon Hagel’s tip-in attempt shortly after the penalty ended.

Tampa Bay finished regulation with a 28–27 edge in shots on goal and an 81–58 differential in attempts.

Key takeaways after the Lightning survive by defeating the Canadiens 1-0 in Game 6

Vasilevsky stepped forward

The Lightning were swept in Game 5, but were even at 2–2 before Vasilevskiy was defeated by a blocked shot 99 out of 100. He more than atoned for it in Game 6, earning the 70th playoff win and eighth shutout of his career.

The “Big Cat” was everywhere, leaving Montreal shooters (and team executives) shaking their heads.

“He was excellent tonight,” D’Astas told Scripps Sports. “Because of them we’re going back to Tampa. It was fun to see.”

Hegel said having Vasilevskiy in goal allows him and his teammates to play with more freedom.

“You can go out and play your game and not have to worry about what’s behind you,” he said. “It seemed as if Vasi would never allow another goal.”

Goncalves an unlikely hero

On a team with stars like Kucherov, Vasilevskiy and Hegel, it’s easy to lose sight of players like Goncalves, who is a bottom-six forward and does a lot of attacking work. He was scoreless in the series before getting an assist in Game 5 and had not scored a goal since March 17.

But he missed the game-winner by tipping defenseman Caden Guhle and refused to leave the game after Dobbs blocked his first-time attempt.

“I talked to him before the game about what he needs to do in this game, be where he needs to be,” Cooper said. “It was only fair that such a goal was needed to win. It was a brilliant game by both teams.”

win or go home, take 2

The Lightning probably could have flown home even without the plane – such is the feeling of a season-saving overtime win. But as Cooper said, “We haven’t won anything yet.”

Both teams have had success in Game 7. The Lightning have won seven of 10, including four of five played at home. This is their first Game 7 since the first round in 2022, when they defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 2–1.

Montreal is 15-9 in Game 7s, including a 7-6 mark on the road. The Canadiens’ last Game 7 came when they defeated Toronto 3–1 in the second round in 2021. Ironically, Corey Perry scored the game-winning goal – the same Corey Perry who would be trying to help the Lightning end his former team’s season.

Hegel said, “These are the moments you live for.”

Jon Krieger covered his first New York Rangers game (against the California Golden Seals) in November 1975 and it… More about Jon Krieger

Who’s on the pole for tomorrow’s NASCAR race? Carson Hocevar topped the NASCAR Cup Series qualifying results today at Texas Motor Speedway and topped the Wurth 400 starting grid.

Now that Cup Series qualifying has come to a close, let’s take you through NASCAR’s starting lineup for Texas tomorrow. We’ll start with the Wurth 40 lineup noting the qualifying times for each driver. Also you can find the NASCAR starting grid for Sunday’s race in Texas.

RELATED: NASCAR Predictions for Texas Motor Speedway

NOTES: Bubba Wallace (No. 23 car) is running from behind in a backup car after hitting the wall during Cup Series practice at Texas Motor Speedway., Austin Dillon (No. 3) starts at the back of the field after an engine change.

Wurth 400 starting lineup: Texas Motor Speedway

Here is NASCAR’s starting lineup based on Cup Series qualifying results this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway.

RELATED: NASCAR Truck Series results at Texas Motor Speedway

NASCAR starting grid: Cup Series

Here is the Wurth 400 starting grid.

Who is on the pole for Sunday’s NASCAR race?

Carson Hocevar is on the pole for tomorrow’s NASCAR race at Texas Motor Speedway, with Spire Motorsports teammate Daniel Suarez also on the front row for the Wurth 400.

Matt Johnson is the senior NFL and college football editor for Sportsknot. His work including the weekly NFL and college… More about Matt Johnson

NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series driver Corey Day is coming off his first win, driving to victory at Talladega Superspeedway and proving he is one of the top prospects in racing. With a seat potentially opening up next season in the Cup Series at Hendrick Motorsports, there has been some speculation that Day might get a ride at only 21 years old.

Speaking on Day’s win on the latest episode of Action Detrimental, future Hall of Fame driver Denny Hamlin was asked if he thought Hendrick’s top prospect could race in the Cup Series next season.

“Next year? Oh man, that’s quick. I wouldn’t recommend it, but you never know.”

Denny Hamlin on whether Corey Day can reach the Cup Series in 2027

RELATED: Denny Hamlin eyes revenge on fellow driver

• Corey Day Statistics (O’Reilly Series): 399 points, 1 win, nine top-10s, four top-5s, 1 pole, 1 DNF, 191 laps led, 8.09 average starting position, 8.36 average finishing position

Day, who won’t turn 21 until November, is widely viewed as one of NASCAR’s top prospects in 2026. He signed a development contract with Hendrick through 2024 and ran 11 races with the team in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series last season.

The young driver of the No. 17 Hendrick car got off to a poor start in his first full-time season in the O’Reilly Series. After qualifying sixth, Day finished 27th at Daytona to start the season. However, in the last 10 races he has finished 12th or better in every race with an average finishing position of 6.5.

Between Day being out at OARS and Alex Bowman having a disastrous contract year, it seems likely the young driver will take over the No. 48 car at least next season. It would be a short-term gamble, but Hendrick can see it as a long-term move to prepare Day for his future with a top team and he will gain valuable experience racing in a consistent Next Gen car.

However, Connor Zylisch is a perfect example of why HMS wants to play slowly with Day’s development. The 19-year-old had a historic dominance in the O’Reilly Series last year, winning 10 races and leading 1,013 laps. Now driving the No. 88 for Trackhouse Racing in his rookie season, he has the third-worst average finishing position (27.0) and fourth-worst average starting position (28.3) among full-time Cup Series drivers through 10 races.

The car and support staff that Day will have in the No. 48 car will certainly be better than the one that worked with Zillisch this season at Trackhouse. However, this could ultimately be detrimental to the young driver as expectations would be higher and his early struggles racing in a top-flight car would be more pronounced.

Hamlin’s advice that Day should spend two full seasons in the O’Reilly Series, with perhaps a few Cup starts mixed in, is probably the right approach for the rising player. If all goes well and he continues to sharpen his racing with experience in OARS, he will soon be in the Cup Series.

Matt Johnson is the senior NFL and college football editor for Sportsknot. His work including the weekly NFL and college… More about Matt Johnson

The Tampa Bay Lightning provided a stern test on Sunday night, coming back from two goals down to defeat the Montreal Canadiens 3-2 at the Bell Center and even their Eastern Conference First Round series at two-up.

Brandon Hagel’s second goal of the game with 4:53 remaining in regulation capped the comeback. Hagel was battling for position in front of Montreal goaltender Jacob Dobbs when Nikita Kucherov fired the puck on net from the right board near the top of the circle.

The shot hit him and hit the net, giving the Lightning their first lead of the night.

Hegel tied the game at 2-2 at 1:40 of the third period, winning inside position in front of the net and converting a cross-crease pass from Kucherov into a power-play goal.

Jake Guentzel’s goal in the final minute of the second period put Tampa Bay on the board, after which Montreal took a 2–0 lead on goals by Zachary Bolduc and Cole Caufield.

Andrei Vasilevskiy made 16 saves for his 69th career playoff win. Dobbs stopped 17 shots.

Teams get two days off before Game 5 at Benchmark International Arena on Wednesday night. The Lightning will try to win consecutive playoff games for the first time since the 2022 Eastern Conference Finals, when they lost the first two games to the New York Rangers before winning the next four.

The Lightning had an early chance to take the lead when Montreal was called for fouling just 2:04 after an early face-off. They controlled the puck in the offensive zone for most of the two minutes, but Dobbs blocked a rocket from Darren Raddish and Canadiens defenseman Caden Guhle got his stick on Braden Point’s open shot from the slot.

Montreal did not get a shot on goal until Caufield tested Vasilevskiy at 6:20. But after Bolt took consecutive penalties, the Canadiens got six shots in a span of 3:48 – Max Crozier was called for high-sticking at 7:22 and Yanni Gourde was called for cross-checking at 9:10. Vasilevskiy was up to the challenge, blocking a shot by Game 3 hero Lane Hutson and denying Game 1 hero Juraj Slafkowski on a rebound.

The final nine minutes of the period contained hit penalties by the Canadiens (who finished the period with a 23–10 lead), but few testing shots on either goaltender. Montreal finished the period with a 9–6 lead in shots on goal, but the Lightning held them to just three at 5-on-5 and none at all in the final 8:04 of the period.

The first half of the second period was much the same. Tampa Bay did nothing on the early power play after Josh Anderson was sent off for boarding 41 seconds into the period and neither team produced much offense.

But the game changed shortly after intermission when the Canadiens finally opened the scoring.

Bolduc took a pass at the Tampa Bay blue line and cut to the net, with Reddish trying to stop him. As Bolduc approached the net, Vasilevskiy made a poke-check, but it hit the Canadiens forward and bounced into the net at 10:06, giving Montreal a 1–0 lead.

Guentzel took a bad slashing penalty at 12:24 for hitting Dobbs after a save, and the Canadiens took advantage of it at 13:29 thanks to smart play from their top line. Nick Suzuki controlled the puck in the left corner and Caufield, a 51-goal scorer during the regular season, went to the front of the net before deflecting a perfect pass past the helpless Vasilevskiy for the 2-0 lead.

But the Lightning appeared to get a jolt of energy when Crozier, playing his first game of the series, leveled Slafkowski at center ice with a brutal but clean hit just before the 18-minute mark.

Guentzel then responded with a power-play goal to put the Lightning on the board with 54 seconds remaining. With the teams playing 4-on-4, he moved the puck around the net, passed it to JJ Moser at the right point, raced in front of the net and converted a sensational pass by Moser for his first goal of the season, cutting the deficit to 2–1.

The Lightning didn’t produce much on the power play in the first two periods, but they were nearly flawless after Oliver Kapanen was called for high-sticking 51 seconds into the third. Tampa Bay worked the puck around the offensive zone before a Kucherov-to-Hagel combination tied the game.

Kucherov’s play on the winning goal surprised the Canadians. He caught a quick glimpse of Hegel heading to the front of the net and fired the puck on the goal, where he caught a piece of Hegel and headed it into the net for the win.

Key Takeaways After Lightning Even Series By Beating Canadiens 3-2

Hegel continues to score

Lightning has scored 11 goals in this series. Hegel has six of them, as his pair in the third period evened the best-of-7 series. Needless to say, Hegel leads all NHL players in postseason goals – no one else has more than four.

He also helped the Bolts make some history.

Hagel promoted the 10th multi-goal comeback playoff win in Lightning history, and their fourth on the road. It was his first appearance since defeating the New York Rangers 3–2 in Game 3 of the 2022 Eastern Finals. It was also the fourth consecutive comeback win in this series; Montreal and Tampa Bay are the first set of teams to combine to start a series with four consecutive wins since the St. Louis Blues and Winnipeg Jets played five such games in the 2019 Western Conference First Round.

Crozier’s hit might have changed the series

The Lightning looked like they were headed home in an attempt to avoid a fourth consecutive one-upmanship in the Stanley Cup playoffs when Caufield’s goal gave the Canadiens their first two-goal lead of the series. The Bell Center crowd was roaring, the Canadians were flying and Bolt looked a little surprised.

Then Crozier, who hadn’t played for the Lightning in the postseason since 2024, stepped up — literally.

The 26-year-old, who played 35 games for Tampa Bay this season, finishing with a goal and 10 points, caught Slafkowski near the red line as he received a pass and flattened him with a clean but devastating hit.

The Canadian barked at Crozier but did not attempt to retaliate for the attack, which caused a fire under the lightning. The jolt of energy was palpable, and became more intense after Guentzel’s goal made the score 2–1 less than 90 seconds later.

“He makes a big play and comes back to the bench,” defenseman Ryan McDonagh said on the Scripps Sports postgame show.

the resident comes again

The Lightning trust Vasilevskiy to deliver when it matters most. he did the same in game 4

The “Big Cat” did not face many shots – Montreal attempted 48 but managed only 18. Following the Lightning playoff loss he improved to 16–0 with 16 saves in his last 16 games.

His biggest stop may have been the one he made on Ivan Demidov over the middle, though Montreal’s star rookie found a dead spot in defensive coverage and was alone in the slot.

This was a game the Lightning had to win – and Vasilevskiy made sure they did.

Jon Krieger covered his first New York Rangers game (against the California Golden Seals) in November 1975 and it… More about Jon Krieger

It was chaos Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway, with a massive shakeup in the NASCAR standings today thanks to “The Big One” in the Jack Link’s 500. Throw in some of the highest-scoring drivers this season getting DNFs along with a first-time winner, you get movement in the NASCAR points standings today.

Let’s take a look at the NASCAR Cup Series points leaders right now. After Jack Link’s 500 on Sunday, we are now in the race for 10 points this season. We’ve listed the point difference between The Chase contenders below points leader Tyler Reddick and the points difference between those behind The Chase cutline and in 16th place.

Official 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Standings

The NASCAR Cup Series is on top right now

Official results of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series at Talladega Superspeedway

Matt Johnson is the senior NFL and college football editor for Sportsknot. His work including the weekly NFL and college… More about Matt Johnson

Who won the NASCAR race today? Conor Zillisch won his first Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway, and delivered an iconic moment of his celebration by driving around the track as he got out of the car. This ended a chaotic race in Dega.

After an unexpected incident in Stage 1, “The Big One” came within minutes of the second stage at Degas with a huge crash that took out the likes of Bubba Wallace, Ryan Blaney, William Byron, Joey Logano and Kyle Larson. Additionally, penalties kept Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch and Chase Briscoe from finishing in the top 15.

Let’s look at the NASCAR results from Talladega today. We are starting with 500 results for the entire Jack Link including the total points earned in Dega. Also you can find the results of the Cup Series stage today.

RELATED: Huge NASCAR wreck at Talladega Superspeedway

Jack Link’s 500 Results at Talladega

Here are the NASCAR results from Talladega Superspeedway.

RELATED: NASCAR O’Reilly Series results at Talladega Superspeedway

NASCAR results today: Cup Series stage results at Talladega

Here are today’s NASCAR stage winners and Cup Series stage results for the Jack Link 500.

Official standings for the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series straight after Talladega

Who won the NASCAR race at Talladega?

Matt Johnson is the senior NFL and college football editor for Sportsknot. His work including the weekly NFL and college… More about Matt Johnson

The Montreal Canadiens (2-1) will host the Tampa Bay Lightning (1-2) in Game 4 on Sunday, with puck drop scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.

The Habs emerged with a 3-2 overtime win on Friday, marking the third consecutive game in which these teams required extra time to decide a winner.

On the surface, this may seem like a close battle, but once we look at the numbers a bit, it becomes clear that the Canadiens have gained a significant advantage in a very important category: high-danger scoring chances.

In fact, before Sunday’s game, the Canadiens had controlled 75% of quality scoring opportunities, the best result of any playoff team through three games. This doesn’t mean they are dominating the Lightning, but it is an important development for the Habs, as they typically struggle when it comes to controlling the best opportunities over a period, let alone an entire series.

For fun, here are the HDCF% of the various teams in the playoffs after three games. It reflects the share of high-danger scoring chances a team generates.

#GoHabsGo Leading the league by a huge margin with 75%. https://t.co/vtaVVh8y3G pic.twitter.com/1XZdiqMTul

– Montreal Hockey Now (@MTLhockeynow) 25 April 2026

You could argue that Tampa Bay’s obsession with slick hockey is backfiring, as the Canadiens have not only created four times as many high-danger scoring chances, but they’ve also been bolting in the process, with defenseman Arbor Zekaj and forward Josh Anderson leading the physical charge.

Czekaj has also put up some of the best numbers among all NHL defensemen in the playoffs, forming a very solid third pairing with Jaden Struble.

If the Lightning continue to focus on extracurriculars, the Habs will have a great chance to take the series by establishing a 3-1 lead with a win on Sunday. However, if Tampa Bay begins playing regular hockey, it will make matters more complicated for the Canadiens.

Possible Lineup Changes

Neither Victor Hedman nor Charles-Edouard D’Estes are expected to be available for the Lightning, and although it’s likely we’ll see Canadiens defenseman Noah Dobson back in uniform in the relatively near future, he will not play against the Lightning on Sunday.

We’ll know more about what’s next for Noah Dobson within 48 hours. @CanadiensMTL @TVASports

– Renaud Lavoie (@RLavoieTVA) 26 April 2026

Any lineup changes will be confirmed once the teams take the ice for pregame warm-ups, as both coaches are keeping their cards pretty close to their chests at this point in the postseason.

Montreal Canadiens Projected Lineup

Cole Coffield – Nick Suzuki – Juraj Slafkowski

Alex Newhook – Oliver Kapanen – Ivan Demidov

Zachary Bolduc – Kirby Dach – Alexandre Texier

Jake Evans – Philip Danault – Josh Anderson

Mike Matheson – Alexander Carrier

Caden Guhle – Lane Hutson

Jaden Struble – Arbor Zekaj

jacob dobbs

Tampa Bay Lightning Projected Lineup

Gage Goncalves – Brayden Point – Nikita Kucherov

Brandon Hegel – Anthony Cirelli – Jake Guentzel

Zemgus Girgenson – Yanni Gourde – Nick Paul

Corey Perry – Dominic James – Scott Sabourin

JJ Moser – Darren Raddish

Ryan McDonagh – Eric Cernak

Declan Carlyle – Emil Lilliberg

Andrei Vasilevsky

How to watch Hubs Vs. bolt

Montreal Canadiens vs. Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday, April 26, 2026, will be broadcast on CBC, Sportsnet and TVA Sports. A quick recap with highlights will be available on SportsNote once the final whistle blows.

Additional NHL Playoff Analysis

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

In a surprising development, the 8th-seeded Orlando Magic continued their stellar performance to take a 2-1 series lead against the No. 1-seeded Detroit Pistons. The Magic got an excellent performance from Paolo Banchero with a near triple-double. The Pistons—who had never really been challenged in the Eastern Conference all year—were now firmly on their heels.

It’s quite clear that the Montreal Canadiens are dealing with a special strategy from the Tampa Bay Lightning in their first-round series.

Whether it’s taunting goaltenders, running at players from behind, or engaging in shenanigans after every whistle, the Lightning have embraced the idea that they are the villains in this series.

And yet, when evaluating the numbers at 5v5, the Canadiens have actually had the most hits, and by a good margin too.

The Habs have averaged 37 hits per game, good for 7th out of 16 playoff teams. The Lightning, on the other hand, have only had 33 hits per game, the fourth-lowest result in the NHL.

Arbor Zekaj referred to himself as a “villain” vs. the Habs on the Tampa Bay Lightning today:

“If they want to think that way, fine. We’re here. We’re ready for whatever they offer us.” pic.twitter.com/1cktWPcG71

– /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) 23 April 2026

Most of the heavy lifting has been done by Arbor Zekaj, who currently ranks fifth in the NHL with 17 hits. He joined Josh Anderson, who had 13 hits, as the only Canadiens players to take 10 or more body checks in the series.

And yet, the wolf pack mentality clearly exists. Every Canadiens player, including Oliver Kapanen, has managed to put up at least one hit against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Habs coach Marty St. Louis on the Lightning’s intimidation tactics today:

“We’ve talked about it. Did we look scared? I don’t think so. If they want to play that game, we’re able to play that game. We’re equipped to do it.” pic.twitter.com/wdH47yGu2X

– /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) 23 April 2026

You could argue that while the Bolts are so focused on trying to take hubs out of their game, they’re forgetting to focus on the thing that’s most important: creating scoring chances.

The Canadiens have controlled 75% of high-danger scoring opportunities at 5v5, meaning they are not only killing the Lightning, but they are also creating the lion’s share of quality shots.

Montreal Canadiens Brass Tacks

It has something to do with the matchups, which has worked to the Canadiens’ advantage.

Reporter: “Are you still sick and tired of Scott Sabourin?”

Josh Anderson: “I just didn’t pay attention to him tonight. I didn’t see him on the ice much…” pic.twitter.com/j0PMD9lghC

– /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) 25 April 2026

For the record, John Cooper kept Scott Sabourin on the ice for nine minutes against Anderson. At the time, Anderson’s expected goal share was above 90%. Playing away from Sabourin, his xGF% dropped to 43.8%.

In other words, having Sabourin on the ice alongside Andersen is actively hurting the chances of victory for Tampa Bay, which is desperate to win a pyrrhic physical contest.

It’s an odd strategy from a coach with as much experience as Cooper, especially since the Lightning were the clear favorites in the series.

That doesn’t mean the Habs have avoided taking the bait at every opportunity, but they’ve done a great job focusing on the big picture while their opponents focus on the dirty play.

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 NASCAR Cup Series is at Talladega Superspeedway this weekend for the Jack Link’s 500. While there was no practice already scheduled for the superspeedway, Cup Series qualifying on Saturday was wiped out due to weather. As a result, NASCAR’s starting lineup for Sunday was determined by the metric.

While there were 41 competitors for Sunday’s race at Talladega, canceled qualifying meant Casey Mears (No. 62 car) would not make it into the 40-driver field. NASCAR’s starting lineup for Talladega was determined by metric scores taking into account recent results.

RELATED: NASCAR starting lineup for O’Reilly Series race at Talladega

As always, we’ll start with the Cup Series starting lineup for tomorrow’s race. Below that you can find Jack Link’s 500 starting grid. Again, there is no qualifying time to list.

jack link’s 500 starting lineup

Here is the NASCAR Cup Series starting lineup for Sunday’s race at Talladega Superspeedway.

RELATED: NASCAR predictions for Talladega

NASCAR starting grid for Talladega: Cup Series race

Here’s Jack Link’s 500 grid for Sunday’s Cup Series race.

RELATED: NASCAR weekend schedule for Talladega Superspeedway

Who is on the pole for the NASCAR race at Talladega?

Tyler Reddick is on the pole for Sunday’s NASCAR race at Talladega Superspeedway. Jack Link’s 500 starting grid was determined by metric scores after Cup Series qualifying was ended due to rain.

Matt Johnson is the senior NFL and college football editor for Sportsknot. His work including the weekly NFL and college… More about Matt Johnson

The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series is racing at the prestigious Talladega Superspeedway this weekend, with a field of drivers filled with top prospects and a few up-and-comers. Prior to Saturday’s race, NASCAR’s starting lineup for the O’Reilly Series race was determined in Friday night qualifying.

Of note, the drivers’ field this weekend includes O’Reilly Series debutant Tyler Ancrum in the No. 32 car. Meanwhile, King Carruth is behind the wheel of the No. 88 for JR Motorsports, while Natalie Decker appears in the No. 35 car. Of note, the drivers with the 10 fastest times advanced to the second round of qualifying.

Let’s take a look at the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series qualifying results from Talladega today. We will move forward with qualifying times with the AG-Pro 300 starting lineup, followed by the O’Reilly Series starting grid for Talladega.

RELATED: NASCAR predictions for Talladega

NASCAR O’Reilly Series starting lineup at Talladega

Here is the starting lineup for the AG-Pro 300 following the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series qualifying results.

RELATED: NASCAR weekend schedule for Talladega Superspeedway

AG-Pro starting grid: O’Reilly Series qualifying results

Here is the NASCAR starting grid for Saturday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race.

Matt Johnson is the senior NFL and college football editor for Sportsknot. His work including the weekly NFL and college… More about Matt Johnson

Get back on the wagon. The Buffalo Sabers know how to counter-attack.

The Sabers won 3–1 over the Boston Bruins at TD Garden in Game 3, taking a 2–1 lead in their first-round playoff series.

After the loss of Ukka Pekka-Luukkonen in Game 2, Lindy Ruff chose goaltender Alex Lyon – who was excellent. Lyon turned down 24 of 25 shots for a .960 save percentage, while the Sabers effectively controlled the game despite a scoreless first period.

Boston had its first bloody play early in the second period when Tanner Jeannott headed past Lyon at 3:26 on an assist from Charlie McAvoy to take a 1–0 lead.

However, the Sabers responded quickly. Bowen Byram tied it 1-1 at 10:58 of the second minute with a wrist shot set up by Noah Ostlund and Owen Power. Buffalo outshot Boston 8–6 in the period and carried the momentum into halftime.

The third period was that of the visitors. Alex Tuch (one of the game’s three stars) gave Buffalo its first lead at 4:03, making snap shots past Peyton Krebs and Byram for a 2–1 lead.

The Sabers played hard defensively and limited Boston’s chances, with Lyon making several key stops. Noah Ostlund—who was making his Stanley Cup playoff debut in place of the injured Josh Norris—sealed the win with an empty-netter at 18:36 off an assist from Jack Quinn, making the score 3–1.

Buffalo scored with 28 shots to Boston’s 25. Neither team converted on the power play (0-for-5 for BUF, 0-for-4 for BOS), but the Sabers were more disciplined overall and won key faceoffs (51% to 49%). The physical game began late on with several scuffles and cross-checking penalties after the whistle in the final minutes.

The Sabers and Bruins will get some rest here, next up for Game 4 on Sunday at 2:00 p.m.

James is the fully certified New Jersey Devils beat reporter for New Jersey Hockey Now on SportsNote and … More about James Nicholls

Who is racing in NASCAR this weekend? The NASCAR entry list for this weekend’s Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway is the most crowded field of drivers all season. There are 41 entrants for the Jack Links 500 on Sunday, meaning no one will make the cut after qualifying on Saturday.

In addition to the 36 full-time drivers competing in Sunday’s NASCAR race, there are five additional competitors. Jesse Love is in the No. 33 car for Richard Childress Racing, Joey Gass is driving the No. 44 car for NY Racing Team, Casey Mears will drive the No. 62 for Beard Motorsports, Chad Fincham is in his own car in Garage 66 and Daniel Dye is getting a chance with Live Fast Motorsports in the No. 78 car.

RELATED: Controversial NASCAR driver added to Cup Series entry list at Talladega

Let’s take a look at the crowded NASCAR Cup Series entry list for Talladega Superspeedway.

NASCAR Entry List Martinsville: Cook Out 400 Field

RELATED: NASCAR weekend schedule for Talladega Superspeedway

Matt Johnson is the senior NFL and college football editor for Sportsknot. His work including the weekly NFL and college… More about Matt Johnson

It’s not every night you watch double overtime… and see the game-winning goal put away… and fill with joy when you hear Nickelback play, but for the Carolina Hurricanes and their fans, Monday night was the night they defeated the Ottawa Senators 3-2 in a heated contest.

In the first period, the second line – which had been the dominant line in Game 1 – struck first as Logan Stankoven, with assists from both his linemates, Taylor Hall and Jackson Blake, beat Linus Ullmark through the five-hole.

It wasn’t until the second period that more scoring occurred, starting with Sebastian Aho’s spectacular tip-in goal about eight minutes in, with the only assist from Jordan Staal, just seconds after concluding a successful penalty kill.

However, it didn’t take long for the Senators to pull back, as Drake Batherson gave Ottawa its first goal of the series when he provided a rebound off his own intercepted pass to Claude Giroux.

Soon, Dylan Cozens tied the game with a five-hole goal on Frederick Anderson with assists from Ridley Gregg and Jake Sanderson – the latter of whom intercepted a pass from Logan Stankoven.

There was a flurry of crickets on the scoresheet in the third period, although there was notable pushback from the Senators, who outscored the Hurricanes 8–5 in the frame.

After overtime, chances were there on both ends of the ice, but the Hurricanes got lucky late in the frame… or so they thought.

Controversial offside call wipes out Hurricanes overtime game-winner

With just over three minutes remaining, Staal crossed the blue line and passed to Jordan Martinook, who drew a hooking penalty on Warren Foegele as he prepared to launch the puck on net. Anderson made a strong run to the bench after the extra attacker hit the ice for a delayed penalty, and with 2:42 left in the period, Mark Jankowski put it past Ullmark, which was immediately followed by a celebration by the team and fans.

However, this was followed by an official league review. The referees eventually declared after some discussion that the play was offside, ruling that Staal did not have control of the puck when crossing the blueline, and ruled out a goal that Jankowski had scored.

In addition, the referee also announced that Martinook would take a penalty shot instead of a power play.

Intelligently and humorously, Hurricane’s DJ starts blasting rockstar by Nickelback, whom Martinook has often cited as his favorite band, to try and energize him for the shot. However, the twine was never found in the shot.

The game soon went into a second overtime, and with 13:53 remaining, Martinook sealed the deal with a 3–2 victory – the first overtime game-winning goal of his 12-season career. As they celebrated the victory and walked off the ice, their signature victory song, all I do Is Win Not played by DJ Khaled, and instead, he started yelling rockstar For goalscorers.

storm notes

Throughout the game, the Hurricanes managed their minutes remarkably well, with no skater exceeding 35 minutes of ice-time. The Senators were not so lucky, with three defensemen exceeding that number, one of whom, Sanderson, played over 43 minutes.

The gift was a big issue for Storm. Despite having only two more than the Senators, both goals against them came from them. Additionally, sloppy puck management in the offensive zone led to a few more chances than desirable.

The Nickelback connection to Martinook goes a little deeper than just being a favorite band. During their ‘Get Rollin’ tour, they stopped at Coastal Credit Union Music Park in Walnut Creek, Raleigh, on September 14, 2023, where Martinook performed rockstar On stage with him.

Rachel Barkley is a beat writer covering the Carolina Hurricanes for Carolina Hockey Now on SportsNote. Painting Stories…More About Rachel Barclay

Just three weeks after NASCAR Truck Series team Kaulig Racing parted ways with driver Daniel Dye after making insensitive comments on a livestream in March, the recently reinstated driver will now find himself competing in multiple Cup Series races later this season.

Live Fast Motorsports announced Monday that Daniel Dye will drive the No. 78 car in four Cup Series races, including the Jack Link’s 500 this coming weekend at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama.

RELATED: Daniel Dye, Kaulig Racing Part Ways

Even setting aside Dye’s suspension and insensitive comments, his results in the Truck Series and O’Reilly Auto Parts Series are an odd decision by Live Fast Motorsports. The 22-year-old driver has no experience in the Cup Series, and his results in the lower series do not guarantee a multi-race seat at the highest level.

He has raced 48 times in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, including The LEUNA at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 14. He finished 15th in that and has only finished in the top-20 in two of his three OARS races this year. In his last 21 races in that series, his average finishing position was 21.9.

READ MORE: Cletus McFarland reveals when he’ll run in the next O’Reilly race

In the Truck Series, he failed to finish in the top-12 in the three races before his suspension. Going back even further, his average finishing position was 16.44 with only one top-five finish (Talladega) in his last 13 Truck races.

As far as off-track, in addition to the insensitive comments, Dye was arrested in April 2022 while a student at Father Lopez Catholic High School and was charged with a felony, but that was later reduced to a misdemeanor.

As for why Dye is getting this ride with Live Fast Motorsports in the Cup Series, it’s worth noting that his father, Randy Dye, is a former pro late model driver who owns the Daytona Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram dealership in Daytona Beach and serves on the NASCAR Foundation’s board of directors. Money and influence certainly seem to have been heavy factors in the opportunity given to Dye.

Matt Johnson is the senior NFL and college football editor for Sportsknot. His work including the weekly NFL and college… More about Matt Johnson

A week after YouTuber Cletus McFarland was denied entry into the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Talladega Superspeedway this upcoming weekend, he has now revealed when he will next get the chance to drive an O’Reilly car for Richard Childress Racing.

McFarland announced on Instagram Monday afternoon that he will drive the No. 33 car for RCR in the Sports Illustrated Resorts 250 at Nashville Superspeedway on May 30.

“Look guys, your boy is going back to O’Reilly Racing. On May 30, I’ll be in the No. 33.”

Cleetus McFarland announced he will compete in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race on May 30 at Nashville Superspeedway.

McFarland, age 31, made his O’Reilly Auto Parts Series debut on April 4 in the North Carolina Education Lottery 250 at Rockingham Speedway. He struggled in qualifying, posting the fourth slowest lap time, and found himself at the back of the field for most of the race. However, he avoided the wreck and finished the day in 32nd, with NASCAR drivers praising him for being successful throughout the race.

NASCAR ultimately determined that he had not performed adequately despite having enough time to prepare for the race at Talladega in the upcoming AG-Pro 300 on Saturday. Instead, his next opportunity to drive came last weekend in the ARCA Menards Series at Kansas Speedway.

RELATED: NASCAR’s schedule for Talladega this week

While McFarland only finished 20th, he ran much better than the No. 30 car. He demonstrated the ability to make passes on the outside, weaving his way through the field to reach seventh place with 41 laps to go, and he was in 10th place with 25 laps to go in the race. Unfortunately, the engine explodes and he is forced to rescue her to avoid an accident.

McFarland continues to earn praise from fellow drivers and NASCAR media members for his dedication to improving his craft, devoting significant time to learning in the simulator and gaining insight from his teammates.

He will now have six weeks to prepare for the O’Reilly Series race at Nashville, another opportunity to gain experience in the car. While McFarland will almost certainly finish at the back of the field in the Sports Illustrated Resorts 250, NASCAR and the CW Network will get great TV ratings from it, and the race will help him improve even more moving forward.

Matt Johnson is the senior NFL and college football editor for Sportsknot. His work including the weekly NFL and college… More about Matt Johnson

Sunday’s Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway saw plenty of dominance from the likes of Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell and Tyler Reddick. Several drivers further solidified their positions at the top of the NASCAR standings today, with Kyle Larson and Bubba Wallace also performing well.

Let’s take you through the NASCAR standings today after Kansas. As always, we’ve noted in our table where the cutline is right now for The Chase through a nine-point run this season. We’ve also covered the biggest movers in NASCAR standings this weekend.

RELATED: AdventHealth 400 Winners, Losers and Analysis

NASCAR points standings now: Cup Series points leaders after Kansas

Official 2026 NASCAR Cup Series results at Kansas Speedway

Matt Johnson is the senior NFL and college football editor for Sportsknot. His work including the weekly NFL and college… More about Matt Johnson