Legal Online Sports Betting in the US – 2025 Guide

So much for moving on from the memories of horrors in Florida. The Edmonton Oilers failed to keep up with the fast, swarming and dominating offense of the Florida Panthers in their home ice as fans cheered loudly for most of the game as the defending champions pulled off a 6-1 victory at home to take a 2-1 series lead.

Coming off a split in two intense games to start off the series, the Panthers went on to flip the script with a strong showing of their offensive prowess, setting the tone for the second half of the series as the defending champs keep the win. Fans at the Amerant Bank Arena were pleased to see the victory and went out celebrating down to the final minute.

The Oilers are now forced to regroup, find answers and try to solve the mystery of why they gave up so many goals. Now they find themselves in a tough spot with another game to go in Florida – a place that the team has dreaded so much after losing the last two games there. After all, two more of these disappointing games, and their wonder comeback season will come to a tough end.

A Big Game for Florida

Brad Marchand tallied another goal for the third game in a row and has set Stanley Cup Finals records in that regard. Sam Bennett dropped an NHL-leading 14th goal of the Stanley Cup Playoffs – everything worked well in favor of Florida.

Sam Reinhart also notched his first goal in three weeks together with an assist, while both Carter Verhaeghe and Evan Rodrigues each had a goal and an assist for the Panthers. Eetu Luostarinen had two assists, and Sergei Bobrovsky was his usual defensive self with a whopping 32 saves.

"We played super well and super disciplined, just like a veteran, older team who's been here," Florida forward Matthew Tkachuk said. "This is our third time at it. We know it's a series, and we've got to stick up for each other, but got to be smart too. I thought it was great that guys were sticking up for each other, and at the end of the day, it's just a big win and just one game."

The Panthers made the Oilers work for everything, and it turned out well as they made short work of the Western Conference Champions. They only allowed one goal, which would have been really quite stunning at this point.

A Nightmare Game for Edmonton

The Oilers were out of their usual selves in this loss. Corey Perry was the only player to score for the team, but both Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl could not log anything on the score sheet thanks to that swarming Panthers defense. McDavid had two shots on goal, while Draisaitl – the Game 1 hero – did not have any shot attempts, reminiscent of the previous series they played here.

"Oh definitely the third period is an unraveling," Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said. "I don't think we would have acted or played like that had the game been a one-goal or two-goal game. I don't know, boys being boys I guess, just trying to make investments for the next game."

Edmonton could not capitalize on the power play that time even if they had 11 tries, while the Panthers scored three goals off their own power plays. Darnell Nurse, Trent Frederic, Mattias Ekholm, Evander Kane and Kasperi Kapanen were also sent out of the game after receiving a 10-minute misconduct in the final 10 minutes of the game.

Well, for starters, Nick Chubb is indeed going to stay in the AFC, but this time, he is going to be in a quite different uniform – and a contender team at that. The Houston Texans are set to take in one of the best RBs in the game with Chubb set to suit up for the team as they now move to take their place on the deeper stages of the AFC playoff chain this time.

After all, an early playoff exit in the playoffs earlier this year did not bode well for the team, and the pressure is starting to mount up on CJ Stroud. Bringing in Chubb adds an offensive option for the team and it seems to be a pretty good move to come up with a veteran presence now more than ever.

Chubb, who has a lot of championship aspirations in his career, has been longing for that glory on the biggest stage of the NFL. After all, he has spent a total of seven years now, and he is still yet to come up with a strong finish that many fans have been looking for ever since he came into the league.

No More Reunions

Chubb entered the NFL with the goal of showing his worth in the biggest stage, and it did not take him long to hone and develop his talent well as he became a four-time Pro Bowl star in the league. He even had a promising rookie year with 996 yards and 10 total touchdowns. However, the frustrations of not being able to win the Super Bowl has definitely sent him down to another path.

According to sources, Cleveland also tried to come up with a deal for Chubb before the 2025 NFL Draft. However, the talks fell apart as both sides could not agree on an optimal deal that would satisfy both parties, thus abandoning the initially favored reunion between the two sides.

In his prime, Chubb was one of the highly acclaimed players in football. He was a beast on the field and dominated whenever he had the ball. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and it is safe to say that Cleveland will sorely miss Chubb’s antics in the coming season as he now takes his talents to a team that has much more potential to give him that one thing he’s been missing among his peers – a Super Bowl win.

Fans Broken Up on Chubb’s Departure

Many Cleveland fans were fond of Chubb’s game in the last seven years that the RB has made his presence felt in the game. However, it seems too hard to let go of a fan favorite to the point that they are now sending a lot of messages – with most of them really hilarious to be even considered a farewell message to the star.

“I will always be grateful to Mr. Chubb for not only his play, but his character and locker room presence. He's second only to Jim Brown in my book,” a fan said of Chubb’s contribution in the team. “I wish that young man nothing but success in all he does. I just hope he takes a day off when playing Cleveland.”

“Nick Chubb won the Browns their only playoff win of my lifetime,” another fan said. “Heroes are remembered. Legends never die. Thank you, Nick.”

While Cleveland fans have to move on, Texans fans are definitely getting some goosebumps of the excitement that is about to take place heading into the 2025 season.

If there’s worry about how the Los Angeles Dodgers are struggling right now, it does seem that the focus is expected to shift on how they are going to stay on track for a championship finish this year. Despite being able to respond with a 7-3 win against the St. Louis Cardinals, it seems that there’s going to be a lot of concern about their pace heading for the rest of the season.

Shohei Ohtani drilled the first pitch of the series finale on Sunday against the Cards, and he went on to gap in the left-center field before cruising to the second base with a stand-up double. He would go on to stay there for the next three hitters before Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman smashed line drives for outs.

The Dodgers went a mere 1-for-28 with runners in scoring position for the whole series. That is something that is very disappointing indeed considering the fact that they weren’t really playing that way. However, it does raise some concerns with this kind of play as they shift to battle another rival in the San Diego Padres.

The “Luck” Narrative

Well, there has been a lot of talk about how the Dodgers are simply relying on luck when it comes to their hits, and one can say that this is quite the 50-50 reality so far. That struggle on runners is definitely seen and felt well, but what was more evident in this stretch against the Cardinals was their lack of aggressive approach.

But in terms of bad luck, one can say that the Dodgers may have solved it – at least for now. That’s what manager Dave Roberts has to say, and it cannot be denied that they needed this one well.

“I don’t think that was there,” the manager said after his team’s 7-3 victory on Sunday afternoon. “There was a narrative out there for a little bit, but you know, it’s baseball, and so our guys kind of take it in stride. And I thought we were pretty good today with runners in scoring position.”

Los Angeles has gone 3-for-14 on those regard in the win, and they have certainly done a great job – or a satisfactory one at the very least, in avoiding what could have been the club’s second sweep for this season. No way they would have survived it in any other way, which says a lot about the hopes of a competitive run once more.

Surviving the Season?

Despite being third overall in the National League, it cannot be denied that this is starting out to be a disappointing season for LA. That comes bearing even more stakes for many people when you mention that the team was also the winner of the previous year’s World Series, so there’s that.

And yet, the Dodgers are only standing at meager 39-27. That is closer to the teams from the 4th to 8th seed teams in the National League, and a few wins behind the top seed New York Mets and the Chicago Cubs following suit.

This season has been about redefining what the Dodgers really are made of. Dealing with the complacency after winning, and learning more about each other as they seek to come up with some of the best rallies to get back on a more competitive track in the 2025 MLB season as well.