Sports
Analysis: As Kings shift focus to another challenging playoff series, Ducks search for answers
The Kings and Ducks headed in opposite directions when they skated off the ice Saturday at Crypto.com Arena.
The Kings are going to the playoffs for a third consecutive season, the team’s longest run of postseason appearances in a decade. The Ducks, meanwhile, will be heading to the golf course again after Thursday’s regular-season finale, having missed the postseason for a sixth straight year, the longest drought in franchise history.
Saturday’s 3-1 win was the Kings’ fifth victory in six games. For the Ducks, it was their 50th loss of the season, a first in the 30-year history of the franchise.
But the gap between the two is narrower and more fickle than it might appear.
“It’s a hard game,” said Kings President Luc Robitaille. “You have to have a plan, you’ve got to stick to it, you’ve got to be a little bit lucky with injuries too.”
When that luck runs out, well, then you have the Ducks.
“You can look at any team that’s won, and they’ve had a little luck,” Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek said. “They’ve had a little, now they’re good. You can never take that away. But there’s always some sort of thing.”
Neither Robitaille nor Verbeek are crediting fortune alone for their teams’ successes and failures. But they’re not dismissing the impact either.
“If you’d say what are you lucky about, it’s more that [Anze] Kopitar and [Drew] Doughty are still really important players on our team,” Robitaille said of the team’s captains and five-time All-Stars, both of whom are in their mid-30s. “On other teams that has not happened.
“We feel we’re fortunate these guys are still premier players.”
Kings forward Kevin Fiala, right, celebrates with captain Anze Kopitar after scoring against the Vancouver Canucks on April 6.
(Ryan Sun / Associated Press)
For Verbeek and the Ducks, the opposite has been true. Forwards Trevor Zegras, Leo Carlsson and Alex Killorn and goaltender John Gibson have all missed substantial time to injury this season, which is a big reason why the Ducks are better than only two other teams in goals scored, goals allowed and goal differential.
“It’s not ideal when your best players aren’t in the lineup — and they’re not in the lineup together, which was the intended purpose,” said Verbeek, who took over as Ducks general manager 26 months ago. “But, hey, every team deals with that. It’s just a little more pronounced now because we haven’t quite gotten the complete depth in our lineup that I’m looking for when we’re going to be good.”
There’s more to it than that, of course, because the Kings also lost key players — Viktor Arvidsson, Carl Grundstrom and Mikey Anderson — to injury. But the Kings overcame that with stellar seasons from Kopitar (26 goals, 70 points) and Doughty (15 goals, 50 points) in conjunction with the combined 86 goals and 114 assists they’ve gotten from Trevor Moore, Adrian Kempe and Kevin Fiala. Veteran goaltender Cam Talbot, who is arguably having his best season in eight years, also has been a key contributor.
However, the biggest turning point in the Kings’ season came in early February when the team fired coach Todd McLellan and promoted longtime assistant Jim Hiller. The Kings have won 20 of 32 games since the change and clinched a playoff berth by beating Calgary on Thursday.
Kings coach Jim Hiller instructs his players during a game against the Calgary Flames on Thursday.
(Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)
“The system’s the same but I’m not sure it’s the same message,” Robitaille said. “We’re all grateful for what Todd has done. He put in a system that our guys believe in. Unfortunately it seemed like we needed just a different voice and Jim came in and his communication is different.”
Hiller, an assistant for 10 years with four NHL teams, has a reputation for being more of a players’ coach than McLellan, according to many around the team. However, Hiller said the biggest factor in the team’s success was the timing of his promotion. The Kings had lost 14 of 17 games heading into the All-Star break, which led to McLellan’s firing, then won five of their first six when the season resumed. They are a league-best 13-2-1 at home since the All-Star break.
“When you’re not winning, it’s heavy,” Hiller said. “So you try to lighten it and bring some fresh energy, see if that will help. I think coming out of the break the players were refreshed and ready to get going again.”
It’s going so well that Robitaille and general manager Rob Blake took some heat for not making a move at the March trade deadline, choosing instead to bolster the team with the return of Arvidsson and Anderson.
“You don’t want to make a trade just to make a trade,” Robitaille said. “If you’re going to make a trade, you have to say, ‘Is that guy better than our guy?’
“Our guys coming back, we like the way they play. We believe in the way our guys play. And when Arvidsson came back, it showed us that we’re right. Same with Mikey Anderson.”
The rebuilding Ducks, on the other hand, were active at the deadline, acquiring three draft picks and two useful players in forward Ben Meyers and center Jan Mysak while holding on to the core of their roster. Nothing has changed since the deadline — the team is 3-13-2 in their last 18 games.
Ducks forward Trevor Zegras controls the puck during a 3-1 loss to the Kings on Saturday at Crypto.com Arena.
(Nicole Vasquez / NHLI via Getty Images)
Now comes the playoffs — for the Kings, at least. If the team holds on to the third spot in the Pacific Division — it leads Las Vegas by three points with two games to play, both at home — it will likely begin the postseason by traveling to Edmonton to meet the Oilers for the third time in as many seasons.
“It doesn’t matter who we play. It’s going to be hard,” Robitaille said. “Every game is tight.”
The last two years, the team didn’t make it past the first round, so getting back to the players was a bare minimum this season. Getting past the first round is the expectation now, something the Kings haven’t done since winning their second Stanley Cup title in 2014.
However, the experience Anderson, Moore and other Kings players have gained over the last two seasons in the playoffs has Robitaille thinking back to the Kings’ first Stanley Cup championship team in 2012.
“The two years prior, we got [eliminated] in the first round,” he said. “And we were learning. We found a way to win all these 2-1, 3-2 games in the playoffs. That’s the way we’re playing now.
“You get in a playoff series and if you get one or two breaks, it makes it really hard for the other team to beat you. We played that style all year. We’re built more to play that playoff style.”
For the Ducks, it’s back to the drawing board. As for how long it will take to finish the picture, Verbeek couldn’t say.
“That’s a real tough question to answer,” said Verbeek, who has been a winner throughout his 38-year career as a player, scout and executive, twice hoisting the Stanley Cup. “The reason why it’s tough to answer is because at the end of the day, we’ve got a lot of young players and you don’t know how quick they’re going to make the adjustments to become impact players.”
“But I’m also being a realist,” he added. “I believe we’re going to have our time. It’s not quite yet, but I’m expecting next year to have our team pushing for a playoff spot. I’m not saying we’re going to make it. But I’m saying we should be involved.”
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After the World Cup group stage, things go from intense to do-or-die.
In previous years, the Round of 16 was the first knockout stage match, but with an expanded field of 48 teams— it is now the second.
Following the conclusion of the group stage, we now know all 16 Round of 32 matchups. As Brazil- Japan, Netherlands-Morocco and Portugal-Croatia are set to meet in powerhouse showdowns, other nations like Argentina (vs. Cape Verde) and England (vs. DR Congo) have much more favorable draws.
With that, let’s check out the odds for which countries are favored to win at least one knockout stage game and make it to the Round of 16, at FanDuel Sportsbook as of June 28.
This page may contain affiliate links to legal sports betting partners. If you sign up or place a wager, FOX Sports may be compensated. Read more about Sports Betting on FOX Sports.
To Reach Round of 16
Argentina: -1500 (bet $10 to win $10.67 total)
France: -750 (bet $10 to win $11.33 total)
England: -650 (bet $10 to win $11.54 total)
USA: -600 (bet $10 to win $11.67 total)
Spain: -550 (bet $10 to win $11.82 total)
Germany: -500 (bet $10 to win $12 total)
Brazil: -310 (bet $10 to win $13.23 total)
Canada: -300 (bet $10 to win $13.33 total)
Colombia: -250 (bet $10 to win $14 total)
Portugal: -230 (bet $10 to win $14.35 total)
Norway: -210 (bet $10 to win $14.76 total)
Switzerland: -210 (bet $10 to win $14.76 total)
Belgium: -195 (bet $10 to win $15.13 total)
Netherlands: -180 (bet $10 to win $15.56 total)
Mexico: -165 (bet $10 to win $16.06 total)
Egypt: -165 (bet $10 to win $16.06 total)
Australia: +100 (bet $10 to win $20 total)
Ecuador: +125 (bet $10 to win $22.50 total)
Morocco: +130 (bet $10 to win $23 total)
Ivory Coast: +130 (bet $10 to win $23 total)
France currently -750 to make the Round of 16 (Getty Images).
Here’s what to know about this oddsboard.
The Favorites: France and Spain are favored to win the tournament, making them heavy favorites to at least reach the second round of the knockout stage. In 2014, France made it to the quarterfinals, followed by a championship in 2018 and a runner-up finish in 2022. The last time it failed to make it out of the group stage was back in 2010. For Spain, it lost in the Round of 16 in both 2022 and 2018, and failed to make it out of the group stage in 2014, after winning the World Cup in 2010. However, in this betting market, Argentina is the heavily favored to make it to the Round of 16 as sportsbooks believe Cape Verde has an extremely small chance of upsetting the defending champions.
The Host Nations: The USA and Mexico are in great shape to win their Round of 32 matchups after winning their respective groups. Mexico officially won Group A after sweeping its group, while the U.S. clinched Group D after its win over Australia and Türkiye’s loss to Paraguay. And lastly, after its first-ever World Cup win, Canada will advance after finishing second in Group B.
Mexico has a familiar relationship with the Round of 16, having lost in that round every tournament from 1994 to 2018 — seven straight tournaments. In 2022, Mexico didn’t make it out of group play. As for the USA, it made the Round of 16 in 2022, did not qualify for the tournament in 2018, and made the Round of 16 in 2014 and 2010. Canada will play in its first knockout game ever.
Canada will face South Africa on Sunday, Mexico has drawn Ecuador on Tuesday, and the U.S. will play Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday.
SAN DIEGO — One after another, Kyle Tucker and Dalton Rushing broke up their offensive slumps with home runs.
The Dodgers’ sixth-inning rally, en route to a 15-3 victory against the Padres at Petco Park Saturday, featured blasts from the two hitters who needed individual victories at the plate.
Tucker, who entered Saturday with just a .700 OPS, had gone four straight games without a hit. Rushing went hitless in the previous five, in a rough seven-week stretch.
“It’s tough,” Tucker said of his uncharacteristically slow offensive start. “You just have to try and stay positive as much as you can. … We’re going to enjoy the win, but you’ve got another game tomorrow, and you’ve gotta move on to that. Anything that happened yesterday, you’ve got to move on, do your best at that, move on to the next game, and try to improve and try to help your team win.”
Tucker and Rushing’s home runs started the sunflower seed showers in a nine-run inning, which included a home run by Mookie Betts. Four of the runs scored in the sixth were unearned.
The Dodgers’ Dalton Rushing celebrates with Alex Freeland after hitting a home run against the Padres Saturday in San Diego.
(Tony Ding / Ap Photo/tony Ding)
The Dodgers took full advantage of the Padres’ defensive mistakes to jump-start their offense.
In the second inning, Max Muncy hit a line drive into the corner, and Padres right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. dove after it. But he missed the catch, and the ball bounced behind him. Muncy legged out a triple. And that put him in position to score easily on Tommy Edman’s double to the center-field warning track for the first run of the game.
The Padres evened the score with a Gavin Sheets’ solo home run off Dodgers starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who’d go on to limit the Padres to two runs through six innings.
Shaky defense, however, came back to haunt the Padres the next inning.
With Freddie Freeman standing on second base, after a leadoff double against Padres right-hander Randy Vásquez, Muncy hit a sharp grounder to second baseman Will Wagner, who muffed the play. Freeman raced around the bases, scoring on a close play at the plate.
Then Edman, who’s been swinging a hot bat since making his season debut last week, tripled to drive in Muncy.
That’s when Tucker, who went three for five with four RBIs Saturday, stepped up to the plate. He won a nine-pitch battle, sending a cutter over the right-field fence.
“Kind of been looking for it all year,” Tucker said. “I just kind of caught the ball at the right point of contact. I didn’t really stay through it great, but I put a decent enough swing on it, got it to work out.”
Rushing was next, and also went long in a two-strike count.
The Dodgers kept extending the inning, with two walks and three more hits, including Betts’ three-run homer off Padres reliever Ron Marinaccio. It was Betts’ third home run in as many games.
The Padres chipped away at the lead with an RBI single from Sheets off Yamamoto in the sixth and another run against Dodgers reliever Kyle Hurt, who gave up two hits and issued two walks in one-third of an inning.
But the lead the Dodgers compiled in the sixth inning, plus the four runs they tacked on in the eighth with Muncy’s infield single, Edman’s bases-loaded groundout, and Tucker’s opposite-field single, was too steep to overcome.
By the ninth inning, both teams had position players pitching.
Injury update
The Dodgers hope to activate Teoscar Hernández (strained left hamstring) from the 10-day injured list on Monday, manager Dave Roberts said before Saturday’s game.
Hernández homered in all three of his triple-A rehab games, entering Saturday.
“Triple-A pitching is not comparative to big league pitching, I think we all know that,” Roberts said. “But if he’s healthy, he’s an easy guy to bet on.”
Catcher Will Smith, on the other hand, has not returned to baseball activities since receiving an injection to address his neck injury.
“I think we’re all surprised how long it’s taken,” Roberts said. “I hope he’s back before the All-Star break. But the more time he’s off, he’s going to have to play some [rehab] games. So that kind of cuts into the time of return to us. So I don’t really know. I don’t want to add any pressure to him. I want him to be healthy and then once he’s healthy we can have that conversation.”
Sports
Knicks hand Mamdani-backed candidate cease and desist letter for using team’s logo in campaign: report
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A New York Senate candidate who has been backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has reportedly been issued a cease-and-desist letter by the New York Knicks for using the championship team’s logo as part of her campaign.
Promotional stickers read, “I voted for Aber Kawas,” using the Knicks logo, with the team’s name replaced with “Kawas.”
According to the New York Post, the Knicks demanded that the campaign “immediately remove all promotional materials incorporating Knicks Intellectual Property, including but not limited to the unauthorized Advertisements, and cease any further use of Knicks Intellectual Property.”
Aber Kawas, Youth Activities Director for the Arab-American Association of New York, speaks at a rally in Columbus Circle protesting proposals to restrict Muslim arrivals to the United States. (Andy Katz/Corbis)
“Neither the Knicks nor NBA [Properties] have authorized the Campaign to use Knicks Intellectual Property in any way, including the Unauthorized Advertisements, which are likely to mislead the public into believing that the Campaign is affiliated with, sponsored or endorsed by, or in some way connected with the Knicks,” Brian N. Warner, senior vice president and head of legal for Madison Square Garden Sports, said in the letter, according to the outlet.
“The Campaign’s activities in this regard constitute, among other things, trademark infringement, trademark dilution, false advertising, false association, and unfair competition.”
The Knicks and Mamdani have had beef that began last year when Mamdani’s mayoral campaign also used the Knicks logo in a similar fashion to Kawas. Mamdani was given a cease-and-desist letter, and the Knicks made it clear they were not endorsing anyone in the race, which Mamdani won.
The White House then used the Knicks logo in a post shortly after last year’s election to say, “Trump Is Your President.” The Knicks reached out to the White House, which then removed the post.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani gives New York Knicks player Jalen Brunson the keys to the city during the Knicks’ championship ticker tape parade in New York City on June 18, 2026. (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images)
NYC CANCELS KNICKS NBA FINALS WATCH PARTY OVER TRUMP VISIT AS MSG FIRES BACK
Knicks owner James Dolan and Mamdani also had a back-and-forth earlier this month about Knicks watch parties during the team’s championship run. The two came face-to-face at the championship celebration last week at City Hall, when Mamdani name-dropped Knicks legend-turned-Dolan rival Charles Oakley during a reminiscent speech about the Knicks, while Dolan took one final parting shot at the mayor and stiffed him in a photo op.
“I don’t need your vote. I don’t need to quote to you what happened. If you’re real Knick fans you know it already,” Dolan said.
Dolan did announce that the Knicks would go to the White House to visit President Donald Trump, who attended Game 3 of the NBA Finals. The Knicks would be the first NBA team to visit Trump.
Kawas, the Muslim daughter of illegal immigrants, is now the Democrat nominee for New York’s Senate District 12 and is also a socialist. She recently came under fire for rejecting the notion that Muslim Americans need to apologize for 9/11, an attack “a couple of people did.”
Aber Kawas, a Palestinian American community organizer and democratic socialist running for New York State Assembly District 34, and Rep. Claire Valdez attend a demonstration in New York City demanding a rent freeze on rent-stabilized apartments in Long Island City on May 7, 2026. (Selcuk Acar/Anadolu)
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“I’ve always been outspoken about the wrongful scapegoating of Muslim Americans, both before and after 9/11, and in this interview I was speaking about the harmful notion that Muslims should have to apologize for an act of violence they have nothing to do with,” Kawas told Fox News Digital Thursday morning.
Fox News’ Peter D’Abrosca contributed to this report.
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