Following the loss, Carolina’s captain Justin Williams had a rather colorful way to describe what transpired. “Sometimes you’ve got to eat a poop sandwich,” he told reporters after the game. “It doesn’t taste good, and you have to chew on it for a little bit and we’ll have to do it for a couple of days. Get the taste out of our mouth next game.” Carolina has faced a 2-0 hole in the 2019 playoffs before....

It’s a series 265 days in the making. That’s how long it has been since these two teams met in the 2020 Eastern Conference finals and when Tampa Bay won the series in six games. It’s also how long it has been since they’ve faced each other in any kind of game. And here’s the plot twist: In reality, it’s likely this would have been the Eastern Conference final pairing if things had been per usual this year....

NHL trades in August are a rare occurrence, especially those involving a noteworthy player. The Hurricanes shipping three-time 30-goal scorer Jeff Skinner to the Sabres last week certainly caught most observers off guard. The Skinner trade was the latest move by the Hurricanes’ new management in their ongoing roster shakeup. During the 2018 NHL draft in June, general manager Don Waddell traded Noah Hanifin and Elias Lindholm to Calgary for Dougie Hamilton, Micheal Ferland and prospect Adam Fox....

Last summer, it was Toronto Maple Leafs forward William Nylander, whose negotiations dragged on well into the regular season before he finally inked a new contract. This year, it’s Nylander’s teammate Mitch Marner. With no progress in sight between Leafs management and the Marner camp, talk of the 22-year-old right winger signing an offer sheet with a rival club fills the Toronto airwaves. A report earlier this month claimed the New York Islanders or Montreal Canadiens could pitch an offer sheet to the Leafs winger, though both lack sufficient cap space to pry him out of Toronto....

Activity has also increased in the trade market. Three players from our recent listing of 10 most likely to be moved – Alec Martinez, Tyler Toffoli, and Brenden Dillon – were traded earlier in the week. Here’s a look at the latest rumors involving the top trade candidates entering the final weekend before deadline day. Chris Kreider, New York Rangers The 28-year-old left winger is still considered the best player potentially available....

What would Bozak do away from Phil Kessel? What would he do in different minutes? We might be on the verge of finding out — the Leafs are trying to trade the 28-year-old, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman: It’s certainly a move they should be trying to make; Bozak’s offensive production is decent enough (15G, 21A) despite the Leafs’ trainwreck of a season, and it’s tough to imagine his value improving much over the next few years....

So, you’d think the best hockey talent to come along since Sidney Crosby would pop up on national American TV a couple times this season. You’d also be wrong. MORE: Could these veteran goalies be on the move this summer? Exactly zero Oilers games are on the 106-game slate schedule for NBC and NBC Sports this season. The odd Edmonton game will probably pop on NHL Network, but … does that really count?...

Now in Miami, the Nicaraguan opposition leader spilled the beans of the horrors happening in his country, and especially to its farmers who face getting their land confiscated for a Pacific-to-Atlantic canal. But for Mairena, it’s actually more of an international plea to help to his fellow countrymen fed up with a government they call corrupt, vile, heinous and ruthless. “The streets in Nicaragua are fully militarized,” Mairena said in the Miami Herald....

Lucien Favre’s men were behind Monaco on goal difference after their title rivals’ win over Bastia on Saturday, but have now restored a three-point advantage over Leonardo Jardim’s side. They also move four points clear of Paris Saint-Germain in third after the champions’ mixed league form continued with defeat to Montpellier. Alassane Plea shone in the absence of the injured Mario Balotelli and he opened the scoring after 23 minutes by racing on to Dante’s high pass before beating goalkeeper Alban Lafont with an early finish to make it nine league goals this season....

In a boxing world of brutality and bluster, it is a graceful and modest prayer. Not surprising, though, for a former two-time heavyweight champion of the world whose new autobiography is titled ““The Humble Warrior.’’ Far more surprising is that on the eve of Holyfield’s Nov. 9 bout in Las Vegas with world champion Mike Tyson, the nation’s boxing fans are praying, too–not for an upset, but that Evander won’t be beaten senseless, or worse....

Sandmann gained widespread notoriety, nearly all of it initially negative, after the January 2019 incident, which happened during a school trip for a Washington, D.C. anti-abortion protest with Kentucky’s Covington Catholic High school. Sandmann recounted the fallout of the incident going viral while denouncing the media and praising President Donald Trump during his short speech. “What I thought was a strange encounter quickly developed into a major news story complete with video footage,” Sandmann said....

“My heart is broken. Even though my brother and I have had a complicated relationship, my love for him has never ever faded. I have always held on to the hope that he would somehow, someday want to walk a healthy path and eventually find the help that he so desperately needed,” 42-year-old Nick wrote in an Instagram post in which he shared pictures of him and his brother who died at the age of 34....

Kyrgios was beaten 7-5, 4-6, 7-5, 6-7 (3-7), 6-4 by Khachanov, the 27th seed, in a hard-fought contest. Following his defeat, the 27-year-old Australian walked towards his bags, then smashed his racket into the court four times. On the final hit he let go of the racket, which sprung across the court appearing bent and misshapen. Kyrgios then grabbed a second racket from his bag, which he then threw, leaving it visibly damaged....

The Alabama coach defended his decision to allow Taylor to play, stating that it was a “university decision”. Taylor was dismissed from Georgia last July after he was arrested for aggravated assault/domestic violence, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. A police report from the University of Georgia Police Department stated that Taylor tried to choke and hit his girlfriend. MORE: Taylor latest second-chance recipient | NSD: What we learned | Team rankings...

On Wednesday, Netflix announced a new series, History of Swear Words, starring the national treasure himself, Nicolas Cage. The series will span six 20-minute episodes and will take viewers into the intricate history of everyone’s favorite four- and five-letter words. In the just-released trailer for the upcoming series, the Oscar-winning actor meticulously explains the origin of one word in particular while putting the finishing touches on a painting of a flower....

Hard-core fans know that Franzel was accused by some of acting as a “spy” for CBS ahead of this season. This apparently involved eavesdropping on player group chats and reporting to CBS if any All-Stars were creating pregame alliances. While this rumor hasn’t been confirmed, shortly after the it surfaced, former winner Derrick Levasseur revealed on Twitter that he “wasn’t happy with Nicole.” Levasseur is notably absent from the season, despite being one of the most respected players in recent years....

Hayes — a 6-7 forward — originally entered the 2016 NBA Draft last month, but he never hired an agent, which made him eligible to come back to school. MORE: Best and worst college basketball hires | Illinois dismisses Nunn “I’m coming back,” Hayes said via the Wisconsin State Journal. “There are a lot of pros to not going pro.” “It was better to work on the skills I would need a year in the NBA a year in advance, rather than three months prior,” he told ESPN....

The Super Eagles come into the encounter full of optimism having silenced Poland 1-0 before their home fans thanks to Victor Moses’ second-half strike. For Mladen Krstajic’s men, they got spanked 2-1 by Morocco at the Stadio Olimpico – a slight setback to their 2018 World Cup preparations. And against the three-time African champions, they will be at their best to return back to winning ways as that will boost their confidence....

The charges stem back to comments Milton made from November 2019 to around September 2020 when he allegedly misled investors about the development of company products. “Trevor Milton, the defendant, engaged in a scheme to defraud investors by inducing them to purchase shares of Nikola Corporation [‘Nikola’], the electric- and hydrogen-powered vehicle and energy company that Milton founded, through false and misleading statements regarding Nikola’s product and technology development,” the indictment read....

It reached another peak last week when Mirotic returned to full practices for the first time since the injury. When the native of Montenegro spoke to the media for the first time, he said that he finally accepted the apology that Portis had been trying to make to him since the incident happened. However, there is doubt about the sincerity of that acceptance. The 26-year-old also stated that he hopes to be the starting power forward again sooner rather than later, something that was set in stone before Portis punched him in the face....