MLB
The Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees will play Major League Baseball's starriest World Series in decades. This figures to be the first World Series featuring five MVPs: the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts, and the Yankees’ Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton. Ohtani and Judge are the likely MVPs this year, marking the first Series to feature both since in 2012. This will be the first Series with a pair of 50-home run hitters in Judge and Ohtani. This is just the fifth World Series since the Wild Card Era started in 1995 involving the teams with the best records in each league.
The race was on to reach Shohei Ohtani first. The Los Angeles Dodgers superstar waited calmly as a horde of media rushed toward him on the eve of his first World Series. He didn't flinch at the wall of cameras and microphones shoved toward him to capture his every thought. Some of Ohtani's teammates laughed as they watched the chaotic scene. Ohtani patiently answered questions about his excitement at making the World Series after six losing seasons with the Los Angeles Angels, how his dog Decoy will likely be at the games and traded compliments with Yankees slugger Aaron Judge.
NFL
L.A. Rams 30 Minnesota 20
Demarcus Robinson caught two of Matthew Stafford’s four touchdown throws in the Los Angeles Rams’ 30-20 victory over the Minnesota Vikings. Cooper Kupp caught a TD pass and Puka Nacua had 106 yards receiving in their returns from injury absences. Stafford passed for 279 yards for the Rams, who won back-to-back games for the first time this season with an offense that looked exponentially more dangerous with its top two receivers back in uniform. Sam Darnold passed for 240 yards for the Vikings, who followed up their first loss of the season with an ineffective defensive performance.
— Minnesota quarterback Sam Darnold didn’t blame the officials for a missed face mask call when he was sacked for a safety late in the fourth quarter of the Vikings' 30-20 loss to the Los Angeles Rams. Instead, Darnold lamented the situation that pinned Minnesota deep in the first place. On second-and-10, Darnold got a couple clean seconds in the pocket before Byron Young barreled past left guard Blake Brandel and took down Darnold for a safety, to put the game out of reach. Referee Tra Blake said in a pool report that he and umpire Carl Paganelli did not have a clear view.
Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay expects star receiver Cooper Kupp to stay right where he is. McVay criticized media speculation about the possibility of the Rams trading Kupp after the Super Bowl 56 MVP returned from injury in Los Angeles’ 30-20 victory over the Minnesota Vikings. Kupp had been blanketed by trade rumors this week as he neared a return from a four-game injury absence. The 2021 AP Offensive Player of the Year had five catches for 51 yards and a touchdown against the Vikings in the second victory in five days for the Rams.
NHL
Sergei Bobrovsky made 24 saves for his 400th career win as the Florida Panthers defeated the New York Rangers 3-1. Anton Lundell opened the scoring 44 seconds into the contest, beating Igor Shesterkin from alone in the slot with his fifth goal. Verhaeghe added his first at 2:42. Alexis Lafreniere scored 4:44 into the first period for New York's only goal of the game. Sam Bennett's second-period goal gave the Panthers a cushion. Florida held on to win in a rematch of last spring’s Eastern Conference Final, which the Panthers won in six games.
Casey DeSmith made 25 saves, Tyler Seguin and Matt Duchene had a goal and two assists each and the Dallas Stars handed the Boston Bruins their third straight loss, 5-2. The Stars also got goals from Jason Robertson, Logan Stankoven and Roope Hintz. Mason Marchment had two assists as Dallas scored four unanswered goals after David Pastrnak gave Boston to a 1-0 lead at 11:57 of the first period. Jeremy Swayman made 27 saves for the Bruins, who cut the Stars’ lead to 4-2 on Justin Brazeau’s goal at 10:41 of the second period.
Patrick Kane scored a go-ahead, power-play goal with 3:32 remaining and the Detroit Red Wings extended their winning streak to three games, beating the New Jersey Devils 5-3. Christian Fischer and Alex DeBrincat scored 26 seconds apart late in the first period for Detroit. Dylan Larkin also supplied a power-play goal and Michael Rasmussen added an empty-netter, while Cam Talbot made 40 saves. Nico Hischier scored two power-play goals for the Devils, and Erik Haula scored in his 700th game.
Matt Boldy broke a tie 54 seconds into the third period, and the Minnesota Wild remained unbeaten in regulation, topping the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-2 on Thursday night. Minnesota improved to 5-0-2. Marc-Andre Fleury made 23 saves for his first victory of the season and the 562nd of his career. Boldy’s power-play goal gave Minnesota a 3-2 lead. Kirill Kaprizov scored twice, the second into an empty net, and Joel Eriksson Ek had a goal. Brandon Hagel and Nikita Kucherov scored in the second period for Tampa Bay. The Lightning lost for the first time in four home games. Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 14 saves in his third loss in a row.
Craig Berube ran a gauntlet of emotions Thursday morning. The Toronto Maple Leafs coach was poised to face the St. Louis Blues — the team he led to its only Stanley Cup in 2019, and the one that fired him last December — looking for a bounce-back performance following an ugly effort two nights earlier. Berube was all smiles, evening joking with reporters that he didn’t know the location of his championship ring. The feeling was decidedly different at the final buzzer. Berube cut a disappointed figure after Toronto bumbled its way to a 5-1 loss.
Justus Annunen had 25 saves, and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Utah Hockey Club 5-1 for their fourth straight win. Ross Colton opened the scoring with his seventh goal of the season. Cale Makar also scored in the first. Casey Mittelstadt and Ivan Ivan scored in the second period. Joel Kiviranta had an unassisted goal late to cap the scoring. Mitteldstadt, Nikolai Kovalenko and Mikko Rantanen each had a pair of assists for the Avalanche. Karel Vejmelka made 21 saves in his second start for Utah but has allowed nine goals over two games. Lawson Crouse had Utah’s lone goal.
Pyotr Kochetkov made 30 saves and assisted on Eric Robinson’s empty-netter, helping the Carolina Hurricanes beat Calgary 4-2 on Thursday night for the Flames’ first loss in regulation this season. Martin Necas had a goal and an assist and Jack Roslovic and Seth Jarvis also scored for Carolina (4-2-0). Sebastian Aho had an assist to extend his points streak to five games. Jake Bean scored his first goal for the Flames (5-1-1). Jonathan Huberdeau also scored and Dan Vladar made 39 saves. Quick goals by Necas and Roslovic to start the second period gave Carolina a 3-0 lead.
Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, last season’s Vezina Trophy winner, recorded 27 saves to spark the undefeated WInnipeg Jets to a 3-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday night. Scoring for the Jets were Nino Niederreiter, Colin Miller and Kyle Connor. All three goals came in the second period. Cole Perfetti assisted on all three goals. Brandon Saad scored both goals for the Blues. Robert Thomas assisted on both goals.
The San Jose Sharks made some unfavorable history Thursday night, having failed to win any of their first eight games in consecutive seasons after a 3-2 loss to the Los Angeles Kings. San Jose is the first team to hold that dubious distinction since the Boston Bruins in the 1960-61 and 1961-62 campaigns. The Sharks are 0-6-2 this season after opening last season 0-10-1. First-year coach Ryan Warsofsky said the team could not allow such failings to become acceptable. Warsofsky also was critical of the lack of carryover in performance from game to game.
NBA
Jayson Tatum had 25 points and 11 rebounds, and the Boston Celtics cruised to a 122-102 victory over the Washington Wizards. Jaylen Brown scored 27 points in the Celtics’ first away game of the season. Derrick White had 19 and Payton Pritchard added 15 as the defending NBA champions extended their winning streak against Washington to five games. Jordan Poole scored 20 of his 26 points before halftime in the rebuilding Wizards’ season opener, and Jonas Valanciunas added 18 in his Washington debut. After taking its first double-digit lead just before halftime, the Celtics outscored the Wizards 34-19 in the third quarter put the game out of reach.
Klay Thompson has set a Dallas record for 3-pointers in a debut with six as the Mavericks beat San Antonio in his first game after 13 seasons with Golden State. Thompson scored 22 points playing alongside Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving for the first time in the Mavs' 120-109 victory. The five-time All-Star and four-time champ with the Warriors made his first two shots with the Mavs. That was after missing all 10 in his final game in a play-in tournament loss with Golden State last season.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 28 points, Chet Holmgren added 25 as part of a stellar all-around performance and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Denver Nuggets 102-87 in the season opener for both teams. Holmgren proved to be a handful on both ends of the floor. He tied a career high with 14 rebounds, and had five assists and blocked four shots. Reserve Aaron Wiggins added 15 points. It was an important divisional game right out of the gate. The Thunder and Nuggets both finished 57-25 last season, with the Thunder earning the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference by virtue of a tiebreaker. Reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic had 16 points, 13 assists and 12 rebounds for Denver.
Anthony Edwards hit a pair of free throws with 2.4 seconds remaining and the Timberwolves spoiled Sacramento’s opener by beating the Kings 117-115. Edwards got fouled by Domantas Sabonis on a drive with the game tied and calmly hit the free throws to give him 32 points to help Minnesota get the win. Keegan Murray’s 3-point attempt rimmed out at the buzzer for the Kings. Julius Randle led the Timberwolves with 33 points in his second game after being acquired in a trade from the New York Knicks earlier this month.
The NBA is now investigating why Philadelphia center Joel Embiid did not play in the team’s nationally televised season-opener against Milwaukee. The league confirmed the probe on Thursday. It was opened as part of the NBA’s player participation policy that went into effect last season. Such a move was to be expected: The NBA has said that any time a star player misses a game an investigation can be opened to “promote compliance” with league rules and can include “independent medical review and related determinations regarding player availability.”
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Rasheem Biles, Kyle Louis and Braylan Lovelace areturned first-half interceptions for touchdowns and No. 19 Pittsburgh breezed past Syracuse 41-13. Pitt improved to 7-0 for the first time since 1982 behind a defense that harassed Kyle McCord from the first snap and never relented. McCord threw five picks in all as the Orange fell to 5-2. Pitt's three pick-6s were the most in an FBS game since USC had three against Rice in 2022. Eli Holstein threw for 108 yards and two scores for Pitt, which has won 19 of its last 23 meetings with Syracuse.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
South Florida coach Amir Abdur-Rahim, who led the Bulls to the American Athletic Conference’s regular-season championship a year ago, has died. He was 43. The school announced his death Thursday, saying he died from complications that presented while he was undergoing a procedure at a Tampa-area hospital. Abdur-Rahim was a rising star in the coaching world. He got the USF job after leading Kennesaw State to the NCAA Tournament in 2023. He was an immediate success with the Bulls, going 25-8 and winning a game in the NIT. Abdur-Rahim was a brother of G League president and former NBA player Shareef Abdur-Rahim.
SOCCER
Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi played in only one Major League Soccer loss in 2024. It was at home against Atlanta United. Messi makes his MLS Cup playoff debut Friday night, and it's at home against Atlanta United. Inter Miami, which set the MLS records for most points and best winning percentage in the regular season, gets a big challenge right out of the gate in the playoffs by facing Atlanta in a best-of-three Eastern Conference first-round series. Messi is coming off a hat trick in the regular-season finale, a 6-2 romp past New England.
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