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Just like Thunder in Five before it, Panthers in Five went down in flames on Thursday night with Florida blowing a 3-0 lead and falling to the Edmonton Oilers 5-4 in overtime. The good news is that we are now guaranteed at least two more games in this series and just got to see one of the most thrilling games in the history of the Stanley Cup Final. It started with a dominant first period by Florida with Matthew Tkachuk scoring a pair of power play goals and Anton Lundell adding an even-strength score in the final minute when Edmonton turned over the puck behind its own net.

The second period saw three Edmonton goals with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Darnell Nurse flipping the puck over Sergei Bobrovsky’s shoulder and Vasily Podkolzin netting the equalizer on a backhand shot that was set up by Nurse’s wraparound try. Just as important as all the scoring, though, was backup goalie Calvin Pickard stonewalling the Panthers and keeping their total at three while the Oilers caught up. Florida stayed aggressive throughout the game, with one of its best chances coming midway through the second period when Lundell intercepted a pass on the forecheck and skated into the slot with no one but Pickard in front of him. Pickard came up with a monumental stop to keep the score 3-1, and Nurse scored the Oilers’ second goal of the night a minute later.

VASILY PODKOLZIN! TIE GAME! 😱 #StanleyCup

THIS. IS. WILD.

🇺🇸: @NHL_On_TNT & @SportsonMax ➡️ https://t.co/4TuyIATi3T
🇨🇦: @Sportsnet or stream on Sportsnet+ ➡️ https://t.co/4KjbdjVctF pic.twitter.com/2uqU8kA6gX

— NHL (@NHL) June 13, 2025

After Edmonton had tied the game, the Panthers controlled the action and looked to be on the way to scoring the game’s seventh goal, but they were denied over and over. Even with Pickard leaving the net wide open thanks to a brilliant pass from Carter Verhaeghe to Tkachuk, defenseman Mattias Ekholm stepped up and acted as a second goalie to keep the go-ahead goal off the board. Instead, it was the Oilers who broke the tie with Jake Walman slamming home a massive slap shot from the right circle after a Florida own-zone turnover caused by Edmonton’s Mattias Janmark.

It was setting up to be a supremely frustrating night for Florida, but after 40 scoreless minutes, it finally broke through when Sam Reinhart scored with just 20 seconds remaining in regulation. Reinhart tried to feed Tkachuk in the slot, but the puck trickled back to him on the left side of the net, where he slid the puck past Pickard’s pad for the cathartic equalizer. Reinhart’s score was the second latest game-tying goal in Stanley Cup Final history with the latest coming just days ago when Corey Perry tied Game 2 with just 18 seconds on the clock. This series is going down in the books one or way or the other.

LEON DOES IT AGAIN!!!! 🤩

HIS @ENERGIZER OVERTIME WINNER EVENS THE SERIES AT 2-2! #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/ZtXXQzYge3

— NHL (@NHL) June 13, 2025

Just like how Edmonton lost after Perry’s dramatic goal in Game 2, Florida would fall in this one when Leon Draisaitl attempted a one-handed backhand pass to Corey Perry on the edge of the crease. Instead of finding Perry, though, the puck deflected off of Florida’s sliding Niko Mikkola and got by Bobrovksy, who could not close the five hole in time. It was Draisaitl’s fourth overtime winner of these Playoffs and his second of the series. He is mega clutch, but so was Pickard, who made another incredible save minutes earlier when Mikkola fed Sam Bennett for a one-timer from the right circle. Pickard got just enough of the puck with his glove to deflect it off of the crossbar and keep Edmonton alive. That is just torture for Florida fans.

THIS! GAME! 😱🔥 pic.twitter.com/Xc19vXLPHh

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) June 13, 2025

Just like that, we are set up for an incredible weekend of sports with Oklahoma City trying to even the NBA Finals against Indiana on Friday night before the Stanley Cup Final shifts to Edmonton for Game 5 on Saturday night. Plus, we’ve got the U.S. Open during the day, and Oakmont is already making fools of all of the players out there.

Rough start for Rory on Friday.

It's an opening double bogey. He's now +6 for the championship. pic.twitter.com/WJWKSrr7Nm

— U.S. Open (@usopengolf) June 13, 2025

As a New York Rangers fan, I’m often left feeling like a fool, but on Thursday the franchise did the responsible thing and traded Chris Kreider to Anaheim in order to create some cap space for a veteran squad that missed the Playoffs this season. Kreider has been an amazing player for the Rangers during his 13-year career and he is the team’s all-time leader in postseason goals with 48, but he is also 34 years old and carries a cap hit of $6.5 million for each of the next two seasons. New York didn’t get back much in mediocre prospect Carey Terrance and a pick swap that exchanges the Ducks’ third-rounder for the Rangers’ fourth-rounder this year. This is all about dumping salary and getting younger to speed up the rebuild process. Soooooo exciting.

I may have lost with Florida and lost a franchise player with Kreider, but at least the Mets won. They beat Washington 4-3 to complete a second straight series sweep, but Kodai Senga injured his hamstring and Ryne Stanek and Edwin Diaz nearly blew a four-run lead in the ninth, so it was pretty maddening as far as wins go. This is why the phrase “I’ll take it” was invented. My day could have been a lot worse had Diaz not recovered in time to get a pair of ground outs after the Nationals put the go-ahead run in scoring position.

I just knew the Pacers were going to make the NBA Finals as painful as possible. I just knew it and I couldn’t bring myself to accept it. Everyone basketball mind I talked to said that the Pacers would not be dominated by Oklahoma City like the sportsbooks expected. Indiana was going to continue to defy the odds, and that is what has happened. I thought this series would be different because of how well the Thunder bounced back from their Game 1 loss, but Indiana took back control in Game 3 with a 116-107 victory despite trailing by four early in the fourth quarter.

Tyrese Haliburton came one rebound short of a triple-double with 22 points and 11 assists, but the real heroes for Indiana were Bennedict Mathurin and T.J. McConnell. While Oklahoma City only got 18 points from its entire bench, Mathurin scored 27 himself on 9-for-12 shooting while McConnell was a pest who looked like he wanted this game more than anyone else in the arena. He scored 10 points in just 15 minutes with five assists and five steals. Three times McConnell caught the Thunder napping and turned a typical inbounds play after an Indiana bucket into additional points for the Pacers. Those types of steals should not happen once in a game that means everything, let alone three times.

"It's hard not to root for a guy like that."

Tyrese Haliburton on T.J. McConnell 👏 https://t.co/NO7ZbuZuIG pic.twitter.com/UNcz2d3DNH

— NBA (@NBA) June 12, 2025

Listen to Haliburton talk about how scrappy and gritty McConnell is. This is a guy who should be happy to have a couple of minutes in garbage time, and yet he is having a major impact off the bench.

It’s frustrating enough to watch Indiana continuing to have success after the Knicks came so close to beating them, but what’s also frustrating is how this team is winning. The Pacers didn’t make a big move in the offseason to try and move up in the Eastern Conference pecking order. For the most part, they stuck with their guys from last year’s run to the Conference Finals and hung out in the middle of the standings all season. The front office didn’t panic after a slow start and when the Playoffs rolled around, the Pacers were a cohesive unit on which everyone knew their roles and was willing to sacrifice for the team. That makes me think that the Knicks would have been better off sticking with Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo instead of trading them for the flashy Karl-Anthony Towns. There are not many things more frustrating than thinking you were better off just doing nothing.

Then, after the season the Knicks doubled down on change and fired Tom Thibodeau without having a plan for a new head coach. While the Pacers embraced continuity and toughness following their win over the Knicks in the 2024 Eastern Conference Semifinals, the Knicks have twice swung for the fences with big moves. The first one just resulted in another heartbreaking loss to Indiana, and it’s hard to imagine the second one landing the Knicks a coach who was better suited to the franchise than Thibodeau.

The only thing to do now if hope that the Knicks come to their senses and hire Mike Malone while rooting for the Thunder to win the Finals in six games. Neither of those things will get the Knicks closer to a championship, but it’s what we have. We also have a Stanley Cup Final game tonight with the Panthers trying to take a 3-1 lead over Edmonton. I have been going pretty hard for Florida in this series, so hopefully it works out better than the basketball has so far.

In other good news, the College World Series starts on Friday and that means one thing: Jell-O Shots!

Not every school can say they made the CWS on their fourth postseason appearance but @RacersBaseball is coming to Omaha! Fun fact: Omaha's CBA team mascot was the Racers so some old heads probably already have gear! #roadtoroccos #cws2025 pic.twitter.com/R83QP4VxhM

— CWS Jello Shot Challenge (@CWSShotBoard) June 10, 2025

Imagine Penn State getting its name written on this board one day? If Murray State can do it, anyone can!

I really thought that the Knicks had a plan when they fired Tom Thibodeau after their loss to Indiana in the Eastern Conference Finals. Mike Malone had been let go by the Nuggets in April, and he was someone who knew how to win a championship with a versatile big man. However, in the past few days, it has become apparent that the Knicks have no idea who their next head coach will be. They’ve reportedly been shut down from interviewing a bunch of guys who already hold NBA jobs.

On Wednesday morning, the Mavs firmly rejected the Knicks’ request to speak with Jason Kidd, sources told ESPN.

Kidd joins Houston Rockets coach Ime Udoka and Minnesota Timberwolves coach Chris Finch as those whose teams have denied permission to interview with New York, sources confirmed.

Since the Knicks brought Thibodeau aboard in 2020, they’ve made the Playoffs in four out of five seasons and won 50 games in each of the last two seasons. This year, the Knicks defeated the defending champion Celtics to reach their first Eastern Conference Finals since 2000. But Thibodeau wasn’t good enough because of the Knicks’ collapse in Game 1 against the Pacers that featured Aaron Nesmith becoming automatic from three-point range and OG Anunoby fumbling away an open layup that could have put the game away.

I wasn’t totally shocked when the Knicks dismissed Thibodeau because I’ve become desensitized to bizarre NBA firings. It would be nice if the Knicks were different, though. Now instead of just having to tweak a roster that was a couple of games away from a Finals berth, the Knicks must replace a head coach who was a perfect fit for New York with his defense-first mindset and his experience as an assistant coach under Jeff Van Gundy.

It’s easy to see the Knicks spiraling from here if they don’t hire the right coach, don’t improve their defense, and see themselves passed by Indiana and Detroit in the Eastern Conference pecking order. Maybe the front office will settle on Malone after Jay Wright and Dan Hurley say no.

The good news is that my baseball team is thriving. The Mets just won their fifth straight game and got a complete game shutout from David Peterson. I think that’s just as impressive as a no-hitter these days considering that most of those feature multiple pitchers without one guy having to go the distance. I love to criticize Carlos Mendoza for treating his pitchers with kid gloves, but he did a great job letting Peterson pitch through some trouble in the seventh and eighth innings before having him finish the job in the ninth.

First career complete game shutout for @_David_Peterson! 👏 #LGM pic.twitter.com/Km3ZN3Slid

— New York Mets (@Mets) June 12, 2025

Peterson and the leap he’s taken this year have been very important to the Mets’ surprisingly effective starting rotation. It doesn’t feel so much like a fluke when guys like Kodai Senga and Peterson are delivering strong outings every fifth or sixth day.

I really thought tonight would be the night where the Mets fell back to the pack a little bit and stopped being unbeatable at home. That night might come, but it is not this night! On this night the Mets overcame a 4-2 deficit in the eighth inning and came back to defeat the Washington Nationals in the bottom of the 10th on Jeff McNeil’s RBI single!

.@JeffMcNeil805 FTW!!! pic.twitter.com/W4Bl4HATpf

— New York Mets (@Mets) June 11, 2025

The Mets looked pretty dead in the bottom of the eighth with two outs and nobody on base, but Starling Marte sparked them with a walk and Washington’s no-doubles defense (that never works) allowed Juan Soto’s line drive to right field to land in for an RBI double. Pete Alonso followed up with a clutch double of his own to tie the game. Then all it took was Edwin Diaz and “Great News” Reed Garrett shutting down Washington in the ninth and 10th innings, respectively, to set up McNeil’s game-winner.

What really impressed me about the Mets’ rally was how it came out of nowhere. New York had just one hit following Juan Soto’s solo shot in the third that cut Washington’s lead to 3-2. The offense had gone to sleep before being woken up by Marte’s walk and Soto’s big hit. Just as important as the hit, though, was Soto hustling home on Alonso’s double. With Alonso being thrown out at second base on the play, the Mets don’t get the tying run in if Soto doesn’t reach the plate before the tag. It was a good job by Soto to show some awareness and bust his butt to the plate.

Pete comes THROUGH!

Make the Polar Bear an All-Star! 🗳️👉 https://t.co/pvcqpJro0F pic.twitter.com/Wn7V3tSptG

— New York Mets (@Mets) June 11, 2025

Griffin Canning might not have had the finest game, but Soto and McNeil following up their strong performances in Denver with two hits and two RBI each is a great sign for the Mets going forward. Plus, the newest member of the bullpen Justin Garza got a couple of huge strikeouts to keep Washington from adding on in the top of the eighth.

With no NBA Finals or Stanley Cup Final on Tuesday night, the USMNT had a chance to steal the spotlight, but it got blown out by Switzerland 4-0. It would be embarrassing enough to get crushed by a legit European power, but Switzerland? That is inexcusable and there is less than zero excitement for the US with one year to go until the 2026 World Cup. Oh well, maybe the Mets will be defending a World Series championship by then… still a long way to go.

The College World Series field of eight is set, and the best story was saved for last with Murray State defeating Duke 5-4 to advance to its first ever CWS. It was miraculous enough that the Racers beat Ole Miss in two of three games to advance from the Oxford Regional, but they followed it up with wins in Game 2 and Game 3 of the Durham Super Regional to reach Omaha. The NCAA Baseball Tournament doesn’t get nearly as much attention as the basketball version, but that doesn’t make Murray State’s Cinderella run any less fun. It appeared to be over for the Racers when they lost to Duke in Game 1 on Saturday, but they bounced back with 19 runs in Sunday’s win before defeating the Blue Devils for a second straight time tonight.  Duke took a 3-2 lead in the fourth inning on a solo shot by Jake Berger, but Murray State equalized in the seventh on Jonathan Hogart’s second home run of the night before going ahead in the eighth on a Luke Mistone’s solo job.

MURRAY STATE TAKES THE LEAD!! 😤#RoadToOmaha x 🎥 ESPN / @RacersBaseball pic.twitter.com/LI9TzBIHyr

— NCAA Baseball (@NCAABaseball) June 10, 2025

With Murray State ahead 5-4 in the ninth, the umpires tried to end the game early by calling Duke for double play interference on the cleanest takeout slide I have ever seen. Fortunately the call was overturned, and the Racers were able to regroup and get the final out despite celebrating prematurely before the replay review. The College World Series will start on Friday with Coastal Carolina taking on Arizona. Murray State plays its first game on Saturday against UCLA. After last year’s CWS field was split between four SEC teams and four ACC teams, this year there is more diversity with only two SEC teams and one from the ACC. The Pac-12 would have led with three programs in Omaha if it had never broken up, but UCLA, Oregon State, and Arizona now all represent different conferences.

Down in South Florida, the Panthers took control of the Stanley Cup Final with 6-1 pounding of Edmonton. The last two times we had a repeat Stanley Cup Final, the titles were split between each team. Sydney Crosby and the Penguins lost to Detroit in 2008 before winning the Cup in 2009. Likewise, Wayne Gretzky’s Oilers fell to the Islanders in 1983 before defeating them in 1984. So history is on Edmonton’s side, but momentum is certainly not. The Oilers appeared to be setting us up for another classic game when Corey Perry slammed in a rebound on the power play to start the second period and make the score 2-1 Florida, but the Panthers struck back with a Sam Reinhart goal that took advantage of an Edmonton turnover deep in its own end. Sam Bennett followed up by undressing Stuart Skinner on a breakaway to put the Panthers up 4-1 and they ran away from there.

In baseball, we saw the best home run robbery in a long time when Denzel Clarke went way over the wall to take a big fly away from Nolan Schanuel. Poor guy only has 17 career home runs.

DENZEL CLARKE OMG! 🤯 pic.twitter.com/2QJBAkmZqN

— MLB (@MLB) June 10, 2025

The Mets and USA Soccer return on Tuesday, but the NBA Finals aren’t back until Wednesday. Remember, it’s Thunder in five.

That’s more like it, Thunder! It would be nice if Oklahoma City had defeated Indiana in Game 1 so we wouldn’t have to endure three days of talk about how the Pacers just have the “it” factor and how Tyrese Haliburton is underrated and how those plucky underdog Pacers just never give up. Still, I’ll take a standard issue thrashing in which the Thunder pulled away in the second quarter, led by 18 at halftime, and never let Indiana get close in the second half. The Pacers still have home court advantage thanks to their Game 1 comeback, but it’s nice to see them not go ahead 2-0 like they did in their first three series of these NBA Playoffs.

AARON WIGGINS OVER HALIBURTON 🔥

Richard Jefferson with some poetry on the call 😂 pic.twitter.com/QDGFFvNZ9j

— ESPN (@espn) June 9, 2025

Finally, someone had a response in Game 2 of a seven-game series. The Pacers were balanced as usual with seven players scoring in double figures and five players handing out four or more assists, but they were no match for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 34 points and eight dimes. Oklahoma City also got great bench performances from Alex Caruso and Aaron Wiggins during its 123-107 win. We have to wait until Wednesday for Game 3 because Adam Silver is too busy worrying about the center court logo to deal with the NBA’s real problems, but I’m confident that the Thunder will keep rolling and wrap up the title in five games.

Elsewhere in sports, the Red Sox won their rubber game against the Yankees 11-7 with both teams combining for eight home runs. Aaron Judge got a pair of dingers, but Boston made up for those and more with Trevor Story and Kristian Campbell going deep despite both slugging under .400 this year. The Red Sox are still a disappointment this season, but it’s nice to see Tampa Bay and Toronto come alive lately to make the Yankees sweat a little.

I’m actually sweating a little less these days, and it’s not just because of the weather in New Jersey refusing to acknowledge that it is almost summer. The Mets expanded their lead over the Phillies to four games in the loss column thanks to two sweeps going in opposite directions. New York won three straight at Colorado while Philly dropped three at Pittsburgh. It was nice to see the Mets’ offense finally play like it should at Coors Field over the last two days following a pitiful display against Antonio Senzatela on Friday night. Francisco Lindor helped New York escape with a win in that one, but the next two games were way more fun thanks to Jeff McNeil showing some surprising power. He homered once in the Mets’ 8-1 Saturday win and twice more during the 13-5 Sunday victory. McNeil’s batting average still isn’t where it was during his prime, but he was quietly having a vintage season even before this weekend’s explosion of offense.

One for the history books ✨#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/vdTYmMS3CR

— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 8, 2025

The most exciting event of the day was the men’s final at Roland-Garros. Jannik Sinner won the first two sets against Carlos Alcaraz, but the Spaniard stormed back to win the final three sets with the last two coming down to the tiebreaker. Alcaraz appeared to be cooked in the fourth set, but he survived three straight match points to take control of the match. In the fifth set, it was Sinner’s turn to come back, and he won a crucial game to make the score 5-5 when Alcaraz was serving for the championship. Sinner appeared to have regained momentum heading into the final tiebreak, but Alcaraz won the first seven points to put the match out of reach. The epic battle between the world’s top two players went five and a half hours and was the longest men’s final in Roland-Garros history. I’m thinking it will be a while until an American man has a chance to win a major tournament with Alcaraz and Sinner operating at a different level than everyone else.

Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final was pretty darn exciting with the Edmonton Oilers coming back from two goals down and winning on a Leon Draisaitl power play goal with 31 seconds left to go in overtime. However, Game 2 blew it out of the water with five first-period goals, a last-minute equalizer, and a breakaway winner in double overtime. My favorite part of the game was the Panthers and Oilers exchanging gorgeous goals midway through the first period. It started with Edmonton holding a 2-1 lead and Euto Luostarinen threading the needle to Seth Jones, who shot the puck into a net so wide open that I could have scored it.

Some pretty passing from the @FlaPanthers! 😱 #StanleyCup

🇺🇸: @NHL_On_TNT & @SportsonMax ➡️ https://t.co/4TuyIATi3T
🇨🇦: @Sportsnet or stream on Sportsnet+ ➡️ https://t.co/4KjbdjVctF

Team Players presented by @Budweiser pic.twitter.com/BVqp3DnzY5

— NHL (@NHL) June 7, 2025

That was nothing compared to Edmonton’s response, though. Connor McDavid put all of his world-class moves on display in one play and found Draisaitl to put his team back on top.

MCDAVID IS NOT FROM THIS PLANET 🔥🤯 pic.twitter.com/uvYbxLJPgH

— Spittin' Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) June 7, 2025

The greatest player in the world right now completely undressed one defender, then hit the toe drag on the next before finding Draisaitl for the easy finish. Not all assists are created equal. We need a separate category for that work of art. Maybe that goal should have been worth two, because it would be a while until Edmonton scored again. Florida lit the lamp twice in the second period to take the lead, including Brad Marchand’s first breakaway goal of the evening. The score remained 4-3 until the final minute of regulation, when Corey Perry made history by scoring the latest game-tying goal in Stanley Cup Final history.

COREY PERRY TIES IT WITH 17 SECONDS LEFT 🪱 pic.twitter.com/sKhNQORt2l

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) June 7, 2025

That is how you send a Canadian city into a frenzy. I don’t know how Perry pulled that off while he was wrapped about a Florida player, but it made for some spectacular drama. That excitement would continue for another period and a half until Marchand scored on a breakaway again, this time finishing with a backhand finish through Stuart Skinner’s legs.

BRAD MARCHAND WINS GAME 2 IN @ENERGIZER DOUBLE OVERTIME 🙌 #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/gJPpH215U4

— NHL (@NHL) June 7, 2025

It’s still unclear if Marchand touched the puck with the backhand, but I don’t know how it gets by Skinner without coming off of Marchand’s stick. Just like that, the Final was even at one game a piece. Since the NBA pushed its Game 2 to Sunday night, we have to wait until Monday for more puck action. Well, they could have done a matinee on Sunday, but that would be way too much fun.

While the first four periods of hockey were going on, the Mets somehow pulled out a 4-2 win in Colorado despite the Rockies loading the bases against Ryne Stanek with the scored tied in the eighth inning and no outs. Ryan McMahon hit a line drive that could have won the game for Colorado, but instead Brett Baty snagged it and fell on third base for a double play that the Mets desperately needed. Francisco Lindor followed up with his best Willis Reed impression, pinch-hitting with a broken toe and hitting a two-RBI double in the ninth to give New York the decisive runs.

Finally, we got some crazy news on Saturday with Penn State being expected to sign the top prospect in the 2026 NHL Draft. I might have to buy a B1G+ subscription package if that happens.

I really can’t stand Tyrese Haliburton. On Thursday night in Oklahoma City he came up with ANOTHER super clutch, last-second bucket to steal ANOTHER playoff game in which Indiana trailed in the final minute. This time, it happened to be Game 1 of the NBA Finals. I thought the Thunder were better than this, but they fell victim to Haliburton’s heroics, just like all the Eastern Conference teams before them. At least Oklahoma City only led by three points in the last minute of the fourth quarter before falling to the Pacers 111-110. In the three rounds prior, the Bucks, Cavaliers, and Knicks all blew games against Indiana in which they were lead by seven or more with less than 60 seconds to play.

Still, Oklahoma City led by 15 with less than 10 minutes to go, so this is still a big time collapse by a squad that had dominated the NBA all season and appeared ready to be coronated as champions. Some hot three-point shooting by Obi Toppin and Myles Turner helped Indiana get the deficit down to single digits, but NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander kept the Pacers at bay and pushed the lead back to nine points with three minutes left. However, consecutive three-point makes by Aaron Nesmith and Andrew “Nimrod” Nembhard made it a one-possession game at the two-minute mark. After Pascal Siakam scored by luckily rebounding an air ball chucked up by Nimrod, SGA had a chance to make it a three-point game with an open 15-footer, but he missed the jumper to set up Haliburton’s 20-foot winner over Cason Wallace.

New stage… same result.

ANOTHER game-winner for Tyrese Haliburton in his Finals debut 🤯🤯🤯pic.twitter.com/22QbhQNqyf

— NBA (@NBA) June 6, 2025

What really bothers me about Haliburton is that he thinks he’s proving the doubters wrong by hitting these clutch shots, but he’s really proving them right by not consistently performing like the hero he thinks he is. The man had 12 points before his last-second jumper in Game 1. “But he’s so unstoppable, he can pull up from anywhere!” Then maybe he should do so before his team falls into a big hole. Some more impulsive shots would have helped the Pacers avoid a few of their 24 turnovers.

I guess it’s cool that the Pacers are finding a way to win big without being a major market or tanking. That takes some serious coaching, management, and heart. Still, Indiana winning the Finals would be way more painful to take as a Knicks fan than if the Thunder come back and stomp them in five games. The Knicks could have and should have been in this spot if not for Haliburton’s jumper from Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals that bounces higher off the rim every time I imagine it. I think it went through the roof of Madison Square Garden and into outer space last time. If the Pacers win the NBA title, I’ll just think that the Knicks would have won if that ball had just fallen anywhere else but straight back down through the bucket.

The NBA’s ridiculous schedule means we have to wait until Sunday night for Game 2. The Pacers have gone up 2-0 in every series during this run, so it will be interesting to see if they can do it one more time. If OKC responds well, it might be a sign that this series can be different. While we are waiting for the NBA to return, the Edmonton Oilers have a chance to take a 2-0 lead over the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final on Friday night. As you might have heard, a Canadian club has not hoisted the Cup since 1993 and Edmonton is in Alberta, which is a province of Canada. The Panthers looked to be on their way to smashing Edmonton’s Stanley Cup dreams when Sam Bennett scored his second goal of the game to put his team up 3-1 early in the second period, but the Oilers answered a minute later to make it a one-goal game and found the equalizer off of Mattias Ekholm’s stick early in the third.

Edmonton controlled the action and had the best scoring chances throughout the third and deep into the overtime, but they were turned away by Sergei Bobrovsky until Leon Draisaitl buried a Connor McDavid pass into the net with 31 seconds to play. The game-winning goal sent Edmonton into a frenzy and brought McDavid one step closer to claiming the Cup for the first time in his career. We’ll find out tonight if the Oilers can build on the momentum or if the reigning champs will strike back!

You have to give me a lot of credit for continuing to pay attention to the Mets on the day that the Nintendo Switch 2 launches. We got the first new Nintendo console in eight years and the first new Mario Kart game in 11 years, and they were both released on the same day! It is a pretty exciting time to be a Nintendo fan, but the Mets are pretty exciting as well, especially when Pete Alonso is smashing the ball out of the park like he was on Wednesday night. His two-run home run in the first inning put the Mets ahead 3-0, and after Griffin Canning finished up one of his best starts of the season, Polar Bear put the game away with a three-run blast in the eighth. The Mets ended up with a dominant 6-1 win over the defending World Series champs thanks to Alonso’s powerful offense and Canning’s masterful six innings.

The victory clinched the season series for the Mets over the Dodgers, and that could come into play down the line since these teams are two of the National League’s top World Series contenders. The Mets could have done one better by winning on Thursday to take three of four in Los Angeles, but they decided to kill the good vibes instead. New York jumped out to a 4-0 lead thanks to solo shots off of Landon Knack by Alonso, Brandon Nimmo, and Starling Marte, but the Dodgers answered back with three runs in the bottom of the third. Right there it felt like the Mets would lose this game, but as usual they hooked us back in to believing in a possible victory. David Peterson settled down and ended up lasting seven innings without giving up another run. The former first-round draft pick is finally pitching a lot of innings this season and appears to be on his way to a career year. The amount of pleasant surprises on this New York pitching staff is really something.

Anyway, the Mets had several chances to add to their lead while Peterson was mowing down Dodgers, but they failed all of them until Alonso came up with a two-out RBI single in the eighth to make the score 5-3. Just when it looked like the Mets had found separation, though, Reed Garrett showed up with some not-so-great news. He threw six straight balls to Mookie Betts and Will Smith, and the next pitch was ripped into left field by Smith for an RBI double. After Smith reached third on Teoscar Hernandez’s fly out, Andy Pages hit a ground ball that gave the Mets a golden opportunity to throw Smith out at home. Smith even made it easy on the Mets by stopping between third and home even though it was too late to head back. However, instead of getting an easy out, Brett Baty double clutched and spiked the throw to the plate, allowing Smith to sneak in with the tying run. All that was left was for Michael Conforto to break an 0-for-30 RISP slump and drive in the go-ahead run.

Michael for the lead! pic.twitter.com/fzobYeUkGl

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) June 5, 2025

Unbelievable. The Mets blew late leads in both of their losses at Chavez Ravine, but at least Juan Soto is happily flipping water bottles in the dugout. Of course he was the only one in the top four of the Mets’ lineup that didn’t have a hit today. Maybe Soto is so happy because he remembered that he doesn’t have to do anything to collect money.

The Mets now head to Colorado to take on the Rockies, who are suddenly red hot from sweeping the Marlins. I’ll be pleasantly surprised if the Mets can pull off another sweep like they did last weekend.

The Mets love to tease and Wednesday night was no exception. They could have just gone down quietly after Tylor Megill allowed four runs in the bottom of the first inning, with the last two coming home on a Max Muncy monster bomb to right field. Instead, Megill not only saved the bullpen from disaster by lasting six innings, but he kept the Mets alive for the win by keeping Los Angeles off the scoreboard for the remainder of his time on the mound.

The Mets rallied while Megill settled in. Juan Soto took Clayton Kershaw deep in the third with a two-run shot that drew the Mets to within a run. In the fifth, Pete Alonso tied the game by lacing a two-out RBI double to center field and Brandon Nimmo followed up by beating Kershaw to first base for an RBI infield single that gave New York the lead.

Now that we had our hopes up that the Mets had a chance to take two straight from the Dodgers, it was time for the offense to go to bed while the bullpen imploded. However, the bullpen took its time with the implosion part. Brandon Waddell followed up Megill’s effort with a scoreless seventh before Reed Garrett took us on a ride in the eighth. The Dodgers were poised to take the lead when Shohei Ohtani led off with a walk, Mookie Betts followed up with a single, and both runners advanced on a passed ball by Francisco Alvarez. But as he has to often this season, Garrett came through with some GREAT NEWS and struck out Freddie Freeman before Teoscar Hernandez hit a ground ball to third that Ronnie Mauricio used to cut down Ohtani at the plate. All it took after that was a strikeout of Will Smith to complete Garrett’s escape.

It would have been cool for the Mets to take advantage of Garrett’s magic act and add on a run or two, but Luis Torrens’ bid for a two-out RBI double in the ninth was run down by Andy Pages in center field. Now it was up to Huascar Brazoban to save the game with Edwin Diaz unavailable.

I thought Brazoban would unavailable as well since he threw over 30 pitches the night before, but Carlos Mendoza works in mysterious ways. Brazoban would reward his manager’s faith by striking out the side… but only after Muncy led off the frame with his second home run of the night to tie the game 5-5.

FREDDIE! FREDDIE! FREDDIE! pic.twitter.com/nVC0ZFNbTr

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) June 4, 2025

The Mets went down feebly against Tanner Scott in the 10th without even advancing the ghost runner to third base. That left Jose Butto to deal with the top of the order with the winning run already in scoring position. Freeman made up for his failure in the eighth by launching a fly ball deep to left field. If the usually reliable Brandon Nimmo caught that ball we might have had a happier ending, but he turned and twisted and lost the ball so badly in the night that he was surprised when it landed a foot away from him on the warning track. Game over.

It would be great if tonight’s game against the Dodgers only went nine innings or maybe ended before 1:00 AM. We’ve got some quality entertainment in the earlier evening with the Stanley Cup Final beginning and the Women’s College World Series starting its championship series that I thought started last night. With Matthew Tkachuk and Connor McDavid playing for the Cup, there could be some rivalry juice left over from the 4 Nations Face-Off that captivated North America for a minute this winter. I know I’m rooting for Canada’s Cup drought to continue after the DISRESPECT its fans showed the good ole USA in February.