標籤: skid

PHOENIX – Jordan Ott isn’t one to make excuses, but the Phoenix Suns’ plethora of injuries makes it easy to blame him. Although this is a valid and legitimate reason for the team’s struggles, the first-year head coach doesn’t want any sympathy.

However, he knows what his team needs.

“We just want everyone back,” Ott explained after the game following a 108–105 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. “In one rhythm, there will be a blessing. We just want everyone back.”

Jordan Ott pushes @YoungNBA How he hopes the Suns can find a rhythm to finish the season.

“We just want everyone back. It would be a blessing to be in a rhythm. We just want everyone back.” pic.twitter.com/GV8zaTJ73f

– Hayden Cilley (@HaydenCilley) 22 March 2026

Phoenix had six players on the injury report ahead of Saturday’s contest. Haywood Highsmith, Grayson Allen and Royce O’Neill were suddenly included in the last two games.

Some of it has to do with injury management, but most of it has to do with where the team is in the season. They are just a few weeks away from clinching a legitimate playoff berth.

Needless to mention, Devin Booker is playing through an ankle injury after what happened at the end of Thursday’s game. Ott’s summary was essentially a microcosm of where the group is in the season.

(He) knows what time of year it is, how important these games are, so he goes there. How can we help her more in the fourth trimester? So we’ll take a look. But it’s that time of year again. Sure, everyone is definitely feeling pain, tired and a little sore, but no one is going to save us,” Ott said.

Injuries have affected Suns’ success, according to Jordan Ott

Again, Ott doesn’t want people to feel sorry for him or the group. Injuries happen in the NBA, but they hurt whenever there’s a slight uptick in momentum.

The chemistry is slightly changed; People’s roles have expanded and they have adapted well. However, at some point, frustration continues to build as one thing takes over another.

Needless to mention, Phoenix had a chance to pull away after the first quarter, but Milwaukee scored 42 points over the next 12 minutes of action.

This set the stage for the final section to be an unpredictable contest. At that point, the Suns’ fatigue appeared, which is a bit concerning considering they are in the first leg of back-to-back sets.

There’s plenty of time to avenge the loss with a win on Sunday against the Toronto Raptors. But the five-game skid is their longest of the season, and they will need to right the ship if they want to stay on pace for a playoff or play-in spot.

After losing six of their last seven games, the Vegas Golden Knights were in desperate need of a win. Pacific Division aside, the losing streak was doing nothing for morale. Thus, Thursday’s 6-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins was exactly what the doctor ordered.

As has been the case in the past few games, the Golden Knights started strong. In the first period, they created 13 scoring chances while limiting the Penguins to six.

The Golden Knights broke the ice first at 8:41. Brett Howden forced Parker Wotherspoon into a turnover, and Colton Sissons tipped the puck over to Brayden Bowman. Bowman caught the puck, danced around Wotherspoon, and found Sissons for a back-door tap-in.

“Once we get that first [goal]That was big,” Brayden Bowman said after the game.

The Golden Knights doubled their lead just 5:02 into the second period. Pavel Dorofeyev drove the puck deep into the zone, and Tomas Hertl kept the game alive in the back of the net. Brayden Bowman blocked Pittsburgh’s first clearing attempt, and Cayden Korczak blocked the second. Korczak found Dorofeyev on the goal line, and Dorofeyev beat Artur Silovs off the gloves.

Trailing 2–0, the Penguins began to apply pressure; He came on the board at 8:26 of the second minute. Rickard Rakell got the spot over Braden McNabb; Bryan Rust received a pass for a back-door tap-in.

In recent games, the Golden Knights have struggled to stop the bleeding. They had no such problems on Thursday and responded with an own goal just 54 seconds after Raquel tallied.

The Golden Knights restored their two-goal lead at 9:20 of the second game. Mitch Marner intercepted Connor Dewar’s passing attempt, entered the zone, and executed a turnover with Pavel Dorofeyev. He received the puck above the goal crease, waited for Arturs Silovs to be out and fired it home in midair.

“He had a bit of a shock there [in the second period]Brayden Bowman said. I thought we responded well. They score, and then guys go out there and get it right back. This is a huge thing for the morale on the bench. I mean, we were up.

The Penguins cut the Golden Knights’ lead to one at 16:22 of the second minute. Ryan Shea sent a stretch-pass up the ice to Anthony Mantha, who was moving into the Vegas zone. Mantha protected the puck, deflected off Brayden Bowman and found Ben Kindel for a back-door tap-in.

The strong third period has defined the 2026 Golden Knights; Thursday was no different. Despite falling behind 11-6, they did not allow any more goals. The Golden Knights remained strong defensively and controlled 74.43% of the expected goal share.

The Golden Knights once again took a two-goal lead just 4:35 into the third minute. After a Penguins foul, Pavel Dorofeyev fouled Ville Kauvinen with the puck. Dorofeyev passed it to Mitch Marner who entered the zone. Marner returned to Dorofeyev trailing in the slot, and the winger got home his second of the night.

The Golden Knights added insult to injury at 6:20 of the third minute. Shea Theodore sent a stretch pass to Ivan Barbashev at center ice. Barbashev entered the Penguins zone, cut to the middle of the ice, and passed the puck to Jack Eichel; Eichel stepped into the slot and beat Arturs Silovs.

Despite trailing by three goals, the Penguins pulled Arturs Silovs for an extra attacker with 7:39 remaining in regulation. The Golden Knights held them to five shots on goal and Adin Hill turned them away.

Hill finished the night with 24 saves on 26 shots, a .923 save percentage and a 2.53 GSAX.

After several attempts – including Adin Hill’s bid on goal by the goalkeeper – Brayden McNabb hit the empty net with 59 seconds remaining in regulation.

Captain Mark Stone returned to the lineup after missing the previous six games due to an upper body injury.

It is no coincidence that, in their first game, the players attributed their strong performance during the 6–2 victory to the energy on the bench.

The players credited the energy on the bench for their strong performance during the 6–2 win.

“We had some good energy tonight,” Braden Bowman said after the game. “I think that’s important when we’re playing our best. We’ve got good energy on the bench, and I think that carries over onto the ice.”

Hannah Kirkel is a beat writer who covers the Vegas Golden Knights for Vegas Hockey Now on SportsNote. She studied more about Hannah Kirkel

The Vegas Golden Knights have a problem: They don’t play a full 60 minutes.

Throughout the season, they have struggled to get off to timely starts and only find their game when falling behind by several goals. However, they have managed to score points from most of those attempts. In the 62 games played this season, the Golden Knights have entered the third period trailing by at least one goal in exactly half of them. His record in those 31 games is 6-16-9.

These Golden Knights are nothing if not determined. This cardiac-return method is not a recipe for success; However, it is thoroughly entertaining.

History repeated itself on Wednesday when the Golden Knights played the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena. They scored the first goal, but entered the second round trailing by two goals. After an ineffective second period, they were able to tie the game in the third period. And in overtime, Tomas Hertl scored on the power play to complete the comeback, snapping a three-game losing streak, and giving his team a 4–3 victory.

For the first time in three games, the Golden Knights scored first Wednesday, striking just 1:50 after puck drop. Pavel Dorofeyev forced a turnover behind the Red Wings’ net, and Mitch Marner found Reilly Smith in the left circle for a short-side snipe.

His strong start could not last long. The Golden Knights did not manage another shot on goal for the next 8:24 of the game, and recorded only seven shots in the first period. The Red Wings tested Adin Hill 11 times and created seven scoring chances.

The Red Wings got the equalizing goal at 5:58 of the first period. Tomas Hertl lost his defensive assignment, and Emmitt Feeney fired a shot from just above the right circle. Marco Casper provided the screen, and Feeney’s shot sailed home.

The Red Wings took the lead 15:15 of the first. Brayden Bowman picked off Andrew Copp’s pocket to deny him a chance to score, but Simon Edvinsson became active from the point and got to the puck first. Edwinsson stepped into the spot unopposed and defeated Adin Hill with a sneaky wristlock.

The Red Wings increased their lead just 59 seconds later. The Golden Knights tried to break the puck, but Axel Sandin-Pellica forced a turnover at center ice. Lucas Raymond took it the other way, drove into the zone, and found Alex DeBrincat all alone in the high slot. DeBrincat fired a shot from distance that hit Adin Hill at wide receiver.

The Golden Knights fared better in the second period – but not by much. They missed their power play opportunities, but killed the two minor penalties they took. Despite spending a good portion of the period on the penalty kill, they managed to defeat the Red Wings 8–6.

If you looked at the box score, you would assume that the Golden Knights were dominant in the third period; You would be wrong. They defeated the Red Wings 8–7, but gave up 12 scoring chances and left Adin Hill out to dry on multiple occasions. However, Hill was up to the task and made one big save after another.

The Golden Knights got within one at 11:37 of the third. Rasmus Andersson tipped Noah Hanifin’s blast from the point, and the puck found Ivan Barbashev next to the crease. Barbashev scored his second goal in a row and his seventh in ten games.

Barbashev’s goal gave the Golden Knights some life and they finally started applying offensive pressure. They equalized with 3:24 remaining in regulation.

Mitch Marner forced a turnover, and Tomas Hertl got the loose puck first down. Hertl worked hard for Shea Theodore, who fired a wrist shot. Simon Edvinsson blocked Theodore’s shot; Hertl moved the puck behind the net and delivered a centering pass to Marner across the crease. Hertl’s pass was found and Marner shot over Cam Talbot.

In overtime, the Golden Knights were unquestionably the better team. They created three high-danger scoring chances, one of which led to a penalty for Noah Hanifin.

The Golden Knights completed the comeback just 19 seconds into the ensuing power play. Mitch Marner found Tomas Hertl next to the crease and Hertl headed in to give his team a 4–3 victory.

This Golden Knights team is far from perfect. They are inconsistent, their defensive positioning is prone to be poor, and they struggle to score in a way that such a talented team shouldn’t. And yet, despite all their shortcomings, they have a 29-19-14 record and lead the Pacific Division with 72 points.

Just imagine where they could end up if they could reach their full potential.

Hannah Kirkel is a beat writer who covers the Vegas Golden Knights for Vegas Hockey Now on SportsNote. She studied more about Hannah Kirkel

Monday night proved to be a momentous occasion for the 2025-26 Sacramento Kings amid a dreadful campaign that has left them behind in the NBA. They had struggled, losing all of their previous 16 games against the Memphis Grizzlies, and it didn’t look like their skid was going to end anywhere given how much the team has been ravaged by injuries, most notably Domantas Sabonis and Zach LaVine undergoing season-ending surgeries.

Miracles do happen, however, and the Kings, after appearing as if they were destined to lose all of their games for the remainder of the season, finally got back to winning ways – winning 123–114 over the tanking Memphis Grizzlies despite being on the road. This gave the Kings only their 13th win of the season in 59 matches, and required an incredible team effort to end their misery.

In a season that’s straight out of their worst nightmare, Kings fans are simply turning to humor to deal with the horrors of their team – with newly signed Killian Hayes being the butt of jokes aplenty.

“We’re on a 1 game win streak, we’re so far behind 😭,” @PlayoffKings hilariously commented.

“The Sacramento Kings win? In this economy?”. X user @compSciMatt wrote.

@yhmzotf said, “Killian Hayes is changing the Sacramento Kings.”

@sosynoidFr added, “Killian Hayes has won 100% of his games with the Sacramento Kings.”

@Pdmwoz reported, “Killian Hayes signed with the Kings and won his first game after 17 losses. Coincidence? I think that’s greatness 🔥✌🏼.”

Will the Kings’ ineptitude be rewarded with a draft-day award?

The Kings have the worst record in the NBA, but with the lottery odds the league has used the past few seasons, that’s no guarantee.

Still, even if the Kings end up with the first overall pick of the 2026 NBA Draft, they would be better off not making the mistake of settling for a fit instead of selecting the best player available on the board.