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Bruins Rule Out Pavel Zacha vs Kings; Minten Moves to Top Line

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Bruins Rule Out Pavel Zacha vs Kings; Minten Moves to Top Line The Boston Bruins ruled out center Pavel Zacha for Saturday night's game against the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena, the team announced. Zacha is day-to-day with an upper-body injury, head coach Marco Sturm confirmed. The Decision on Zacha Zacha was hurt late in Friday's 4-2 comeback win over the Anaheim Ducks. Ducks defenseman Drew Helleson hit him on his final shift, and Zacha sat out the last 8:59 of the game. He had logged 17:04 of ice time and recorded two assists before exiting, according to Boston Hockey Now. "Pavel Zacha will be out [tonight]," Sturm said in Los Angeles. "He will be day-to-day with an upper-body injury." The injury comes at a costly moment. Zacha, 29, has two goals and three assists in eight games this season and had extended his point streak to four games Friday. His two assists in Anaheim both came on the man advantage, including the feed that set up Elias Lindho...

Poitras Breaking Out: Bruins' Young Center Shines in New Role

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Poitras Breaking Out: Bruins' Young Center Shines in New Role The Boston Bruins are off to a 6-2-0 start and sitting atop the Atlantic Division, and one of the most unexpected drivers of the surge is a 22-year-old center playing fourth-line minutes. Matthew Poitras, the Bruins' 2022 second-round pick, has three goals and one assist through five games — after scoring just seven goals across his first three NHL seasons — giving Boston the secondary scoring it desperately needed. Poitras finished off Friday's 4-2 comeback win over the Anaheim Ducks with the insurance goal, burying a two-on-one rush set up by James Hagens late in the third period. He is a plus-3 with eight shots on goal, and the Bruins are 4-1 in games he has played as the fourth-line center. Fourth-Line Role, First-Rate Production Poitras opened the season buried on the depth chart behind Pavel Zacha, Fraser Minten and Elias Lindholm, yet he has turned limited ice time into efficient finishing and a high-motor...

Red Sox Release Catcher Juan Montero After Six Years

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The Boston Red Sox have quietly begun their offseason housecleaning. The Worcester Red Sox released catcher Juan Montero earlier this week, ending the 24-year-old’s six-year run in the organization, according to the minor-league transactions log reflected on his official MiLB.com profile. The move was first reported Saturday. A Quiet End to a Six-Year Run Montero made his professional debut in 2021 and spent six seasons in the Red Sox farm system as a defense-first backstop. His profile was exactly that of a minor-league glove man: a solid defensive reputation tempered by limited offense and availability. Across 446 minor-league plate appearances, he slashed .209/.337/.302 with two home runs, 38 RBI and 122 strikeouts. The release clears a roster spot in Triple-A Worcester and signals that Montero was no longer part of the organization’s catching-depth plans. For Montero, it opens the door to free agency and a chance to catch on with another club before spring training. At 24, he remai...

Red Sox's Willson Contreras Fumes After Brother Snubbed for NLCS MVP

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Red Sox first baseman Willson Contreras made his feelings about the National League Championship Series MVP vote crystal clear Thursday night — then quickly tried to take it back. A Family Feud Ignites After the Pennant Shortly after the Milwaukee Brewers completed a four-game sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday to win their first pennant since 1982, Contreras took to Instagram to argue that his brother William — Milwaukee's star catcher — deserved the NLCS MVP award over teammate Jake Bauers. In a series of three now-deleted Instagram stories, Contreras posted a photo of his brother wearing a crown with the caption "THE REAL MVP," followed by a screenshot of William's postseason numbers captioned "Numbers don't lie." A third story carried the pointed line, "Tell me where you are from, and I'll give you the MVP," which many interpreted as an accusation of bias in the voting. Per reports from EssentiallySports and albat.com, Contrer...

Bruins Chase Fifth Straight Win Tonight Against Winless Kings

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The Boston Bruins are red hot, and they get another late night in Los Angeles tonight with a chance to make it five straight wins. The Bruins (6-2-0) visit the Los Angeles Kings (0-3-2) at Crypto.com Arena with puck drop set for 9 p.m. ET on NESN. Boston is riding a four-game winning streak after Friday night's 4-2 comeback over the Anaheim Ducks, where the Bruins trailed 2-0 before scoring four unanswered goals. Tonight is the third stop on a four-game road trip, and the Bruins have won both games so far on the trip. Swayman Returns to the Crease Jeremy Swayman is expected to start in net after Michael DiPietro earned his first NHL win on Friday in Anaheim, per NHL.com. Swayman has been excellent to open the season, going 5-1-0 with a 1.99 goals-against average and a .930 save percentage. Offensively, Boston keeps rolling through captain David Pastrnak. His third goal of the season Friday gave him 423 for his career, passing Brad Marchand for fourth on the Bruins' all-time goa...

Patriots Expected to Activate A.J. Brown for Jets Game

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The New England Patriots are expected to activate star wide receiver A.J. Brown off injured reserve on Saturday, and the plan is for him to suit up Sunday against the New York Jets at Gillette Stadium, according to a report from NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. Brown has spent the past four weeks on IR after suffering a high ankle sprain in his Patriots debut, a 13-10 season-opening loss to the Seattle Seahawks. The 29-year-old three-time Pro Bowler caught three passes for 26 yards in the first half of that game before leaving in the third quarter, and the injury was diagnosed as a high ankle sprain that landed him on IR the next day. The veteran opened his 21-day practice window on Wednesday and was a limited participant throughout the week. Head coach Mike Vrabel struck a cautious tone Friday, telling reporters, "I think he looks okay, like everybody. Some good plays, some bad plays. We're trying to see where his conditioning level is and see how he may feel here after practi...

Red Sox Land Three 2026 Gold Glove Finalists

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The Boston Red Sox may have fallen short in the Wild Card round, but their defense earned league-wide recognition this week. On Wednesday, Rawlings announced the 2026 Gold Glove Award finalists, and three Red Sox players made the cut: right fielder Wilyer Abreu, center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela, and third baseman Caleb Durbin. Abreu Eyes a Third Straight Gold Glove Abreu is the headliner of the trio. The right fielder has won the award in each of the last two seasons, and the 2026 numbers suggest he remains the class of the position. He led all major league outfielders with 28 defensive runs saved and paced all right fielders with 13 assists. The competition in right field includes Toronto's Nathan Lukes and Houston's Cam Smith, but Abreu's track record and run-prevention totals make him a strong candidate to capture a third consecutive trophy. He also posted a career-best 24 home runs and 76 RBIs at the plate, rounding out one of the best all-around seasons of any Red Sox p...