3 Takeaways: Golden Knights Drop Second Straight At Home While Kings Draw Closer In Pacific Division
Facing Winnipeg's backup goaltender, Eric Comrie, the Knights stumbled through a sluggish start and couldn't catch up once the Jets got their offense started. Comrie made 26 saves in recording his second shutout of the season.
Vegas started Adin Hill, who made 16 saves before being pulled in the third period for Akira Schmid.
Here are three takeaways from the game:
WESTERN WOES: Vegas has split its 32 games since Jan. 14, with a majority of its wins coming against Eastern Conference foes. The Knights, who turned in a 10-2-2 mark in March, are 16-11-5 during that stretch, including 10-4-3 against teams from the East. That leaves a disappointing 6-7-2 against Western Conference foes in the same span.
"I'm concerned," coach Bruce Cassidy said. "This isn't a one-off. We should be prepared to play. We didn't."
The Golden Knights have seven games remaining - all against Western Conference teams.
ENEMY TERRITORY: With three road games on deck, the Golden Knights bring their fledgling offense north of the border for a date with a dangerous and hungry Calgary Flames team that is still looking for a playoff berth. The Flames (84) are five points back of the Minnesota Wild, who have 89 points and are in second place in the Wild Card race. Calgary will be playing its second game of a two-game homestand after Thursday's 4-1 win over Anaheim. The Flames have won two of their last three in Calgary. The Knights have won their last two meetings with the Flames, but the home team is on a 5-1 run with this series.
NOW WHAT, AGAIN: To revisit the same thought after Tuesday's loss to Edmonton, the Golden Knights have clinched a playoff berth, but are not out of the wild-card woods just yet. Vegas (98) is now only three points ahead of the Los Angeles Kings (93) and five in front of the Edmonton Oilers (91). Sitting in first and second of the Western Conference Wild Card standings are the St. Louis Blues and Wild, both from the Central Division. The Knights aren't in jeopardy of slipping out of the Pacific Division's top three, but could fall into second- or third-place with a late-season collapse. By doing so, they would face either the Kings or Oilers in the first round, rather than the Blues or Wild. The Knights have seven games remaining, including five on the road. They'll need to shake off their back-to-back losses at home and get back to winning if they want to wrap up their fifth Pacific Division title.
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Yahoo
7 minutes ago
- Yahoo
NBA summer predictions: Projecting the West's best teams and LeBron James' future with the Lakers
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Assuming Wembanyama remains healthy, he will be the best defensive player in the league, and on offense he will be set up by a trio of guards — Fox, Dylan Harper and Stephon Castle — who are explosive in their own right. They have added some veteran depth around Wembanyama, and they still have much of their existing core, including Devin Vassell. It is a team primed to make a leap from outside the play-in tournament into the hunt for a guaranteed playoff seed. Vincent Goodwill: The easy answer is the Spurs, almost because everyone else in the West is bunched together. We are assuming a full season of Victor Wembanyama and, if that happens, one season closer to him being fully actualized. More playmakers around him to make the game easier and one can expect his first of many DPOYs. Going from 34 wins to at least 43-44 isn't unreasonable. Tom Haberstroh: The Spurs. It's hard to pick any of the West teams that made the playoffs last season since almost all of them were basically 50-win outfits. Of the teams that were in the bottom half, the Spurs have the highest upside with Fox and Wembanyama healthy. I think the public is underestimating the potential for Wemby to establish himself as the NBA's best player by the end of the season. Which West team will make the biggest drop in the standings? Haberstroh: The Lakers. From a standings standpoint, I don't see how the Lakers stay at a No. 3 seed again. I'm a believer in Skinny Luka, but if LeBron James is at all checked out, there's not nearly enough depth on this roster to sustain a level required to having first-round homecourt advantage. I fear the talent drop-off after Luka Dončić, James and Austin Reaves will doom them this season. Devine: This sucks, but … the Kings. I'm just bracing for the worst in Sacramento, where Fox is gone, Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan are hosting a revival of the wildly-underwhelming-in-the-worse-conference Bulls, Domantas Sabonis exited the season hoping for a point guard, and Scott Perry responded with Dennis Schröder and (maybe?) Russell Westbrook. Maybe Doug Christie's got the goods to turn all of this into a team that doesn't find itself drowning well below .500 in the West. But maybe, before too long, last season's 40-42 mark feels like the start of another disastrously steep descent. Rohrbach: The Lakers. Listen: LeBron James will turn 41 years old this season, and he does not seem happy about his current status within the organization, or at least that is what his last public statement suggested. That has a chance to disrupt the team's chemistry throughout the season. Even if it does not, the Lakers face real defensive issues as they try to build lineups around James, Dončić and Reaves. The addition of Deandre Ayton at the center position does little to assuage concern. Goodwill: This is no indictment, but what if it's the Thunder? For the same reasons so many other teams in the West are bunched, what happens if the Thunder slide to an unfathomable 60 wins just from being a champion and taking everyone's best shot? It wouldn't be a mark of decline; remember, the Warriors of Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant went from 67 wins to 58 in a year, just because even dynastic defending is still damned hard. Who will finish with the top six seeds in the West? Goodwill: (1) Thunder, (2) Nuggets, (3) Rockets, (4) Warriors, (5) Timberwolves, (6) Clippers The Thunder are still built to be a regular-season juggernaut with youth and the like. Cameron Johnson over Michael Porter Jr. already looks to be an upgrade, but could we be giving the Nuggets too much assumed love when hardly anyone in today's NBA stays atop or near it for too long? Denver and Houston could flip-flop, as could the Timberwolves and Warriors in the 4-5 spots. A full 'best of the rest of' Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler could have them right around 50, but you can't assume health — a big reason why the graybeards in Los Angeles barely escape the play-in. Haberstroh: (1) Thunder, (2) Rockets, (3) Nuggets, (4) Clippers, (5) Warriors, (6) Timberwolves The West is going to be a bloodbath, but I have the most confidence in these teams locking in slots. I'm sincerely hoping we get Lakers-Mavs in a win-or-go-home play-in tournament game. Make it happen, basketball gods. Devine: (1) Thunder, (2) Nuggets, (3) Timberwolves, (4) Rockets, (5) Warriors, (6) Clippers Even if another 68-win campaign seems like a lot to expect, the champs take the top spot until proven otherwise. I loved the Nuggets' offseason, and feel plenty confident betting on Nikola Jokić to get them to 50-plus wins; I'm pricing in a slight adjustment period, though, for Houston after the addition of Kevin Durant, who brings both titanic scoring talent and, seemingly, a fairly particular emotional weather system with him everywhere he goes. Maybe I'm overly bullish on Minnesota, given the loss of Nickeil Alexander-Walker and the big bets that team president Tim Connelly has made on youngsters like Rob Dillingham, Terrence Shannon and Jaylen Clark to back-fill the rotation, but head coach Chris Finch is as good as it gets at maximizing his roster around supernova Anthony Edwards. 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Rohrbach: Go big or go home: LeBron James will not be on the Lakers at the end of the season. It made sense for the Lakers to trade James from the moment they traded for Dončić. Paying a 40-year-old max money is a hindrance to building a contender around a 26-year-old perennial MVP candidate. It just is. Who knows how the Lakers find a partner to match salaries for James, but they would be wise to acquire whatever they can for one of the game's all-time greats before he could leave them in 2026 free agency. Goodwill: The Sacramento Kings won't be as bad as everyone thinks. With that roster being logjammed, would a contender or wanna-be contender out East try to get Malik Monk or even DeMar DeRozan to solidify themselves in this Boston-Indiana sabbatical year? And maybe the Kings find themselves in a dogfight with the Lakers for one of the play-in spots. Bold, I know. Haberstroh: LeBron waives his no-trade clause and OK's a trade to the Cavs. He's coming home — again. It won't be easy, but if the Cavs get off to a slow start, Darius Garland's contract could be large enough to grease the wheels in a three- or four-team trade. Devine: Apparently, it's that the Lakers will be in the play-in tournament, Skinny Luka and all. I know. I'm just as surprised as you are!
Newsweek
2 hours ago
- Newsweek
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CBS News
5 hours ago
- CBS News
The Red Sox bats are slumping at the worst possible time
At this point of the season, every game matters for the Boston Red Sox. If they want to lock into a Wild Card spot and return to postseason baseball, Boston cannot be losing three straight games in frustrating fashion at home to sub-.500 teams. But the Red Sox are licking their wounds Wednesday morning after suffering one of the team's most crushing defeats of the 2025 season Tuesday night, losing 4-3 to the Baltimore Orioles in 11 innings. The Red Sox had their chances -- so many chances -- to win Tuesday night, but instead lost for a third straight time at home to a sub-.500 team. The Orioles swept their quick two-game visit to Fenway Park, which is salt in the wounds for Boston after the team dropped Sunday's series finale to the Miami Marlins. A 2-3 homestand against the Orioles and the Marlins (both of whom are 57-69 on the season) is a huge missed opportunity for the Red Sox to strengthen their place in the Wild Card standings. The Red Sox have fallen to the third Wild Card spot in the American League, while the suddenly hot New York Yankees sit in the top position over Seattle and Boston. Next up for the Red Sox? A four-game series in the Bronx starting Thursday night. The Boston offense had a number of chances Tuesday night, but the bats failed to capitalize in key situations. The Red Sox were a dreadful 0-for-13 with runners in scoring position, and left 13 runners on base. Ten of those runners were left on base over the final four innings, as the Red Sox came up empty in not one, not two, but three bases-loaded chances. The most frustrating failure by the Red Sox bats came in the bottom of the eighth inning, when Boston loaded the bases with no outs and scored no runs. With the Orioles on top 3-1, Boston got a runner on every base against Baltimore righty Kade Strowd. In came Rico Garcia, who is only with the Orioles after being DFA'd by three other teams this season, to face the heart of Boston's order. Garcia looked like a future Hall of Famer against the Red Sox as he struck our Jarren Duran on three straight pitches -- all changeups. He followed it up with a strike out of Trevor Story on four pitches. Then he struck out Masataka Yoshida on five pitches to end the Boston threat. "Yeah, we chased a lot today," Boston manager Alex Cora said the loss. "We haven't done that in a while. We had our opportunities to win the game early in the game, in the middle of the game, late in the game. It just didn't happen." The Red Sox got some ninth-inning heroics from newcomer Nathaniel Lowe, who crushed a two-run homer into the right field stands to tie the game at 3-3 and bring the ballpark to life. But that joy and euphoria did not last long at Fenway Park. Abraham Toro and Connor Wong followed with back-to-back strikeouts, before Roman Anthony, Alex Bregman, and Duran all walked to load the bases, as Yaramil Hiraldo completely lost the strike zone. Story stepped to the plate with a chance walk it off for the Red Sox, but he grounded out harmlessly to third to send the game to extras. After holding the Orioles off the scoreboard in the top of the 10th, the Red Sox loaded the bases again with one out in the bottom of the inning. But Toro grounded into a double play to end the threat. The Red Sox had plenty of chances throughout the game, but couldn't muster a single hit with a runner in scoring position. Story was the biggest offender, going 0-for-3, while Bregman, Toro, Yoshida (who struck out three times), and Duran all went 0-for-2 with runners in scoring position. In their current three-game skid, the Red Sox were just 3-for-28 with runners in scoring position and left 23 runners on base. Samuel Basallo put Baltimore ahead 4-3 in the top of the 11th with a scorching RBI fielder's choice that went just a few feet in front of Wong at home plate. The Red Sox had another chance in the bottom of the 11th, but a questionable decision on the base path led to another missed opportunity. After falling behind in extras, the Red Sox actually employed some smallball when Wong bunted ghost runner Nate Eaton to third base in the bottom of the 11th. Anthony followed and did his job by lifting a deep fly ball to center, but Eaton was held by third-base coach Kyle Hudson. Baltimore center fielder Colton Cowser had a great arm, but his throw from center way way off line and Eaton would have scored easily to knot the game at 4-4. Instead, he stayed at third, and was left there for good when Bregman popped out to end the game. Why not send the speedy Eaton? Cora explained the cautious approach after the game. "That's an impact arm in center field," Cora said of Cowser. "We prepare before the series and we decide who we're going to challenge or not. So we didn't challenge him." Given how the Red Sox hit -- or didn't hit -- when they had a chance to score runs Tuesday night, the team probably should have revisited their plan once they got to extra innings. Boston will have a rare Wednesday off, and then start a massive four-game series against the Yankees in New York on Thursday night. New York has won four straight and seven of its last 10 to regain the top spot in the AL Wild Card race, and the Red Sox need to treat this weekend's set in the Bronx as a make-or-break series. The Red Sox still hold a 2.5-game lead over the Kansas City Royals for the final AL Wild Card spot. But every game, every run matters at this juncture in the season. If things go south by the end of the season, it will be hard not to think back to all the missed opportunities against the Orioles on Tuesday night.
