Sanders ‘proud’ of Buffs’ comeback effort vs. USC
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Adam Rittenberg, ESPN Senior Writer
BOULDER, Colo. — Colorado Buffaloes coach Deion Sanders opened his news conference Saturday with some dark humor.
“A wonderful win,” he said, before smiling. “I’m just joking.”
Colorado didn’t win against No. 8 USC, falling 48-41 before a sellout crowd at Folsom Field that included celebrities from the sports and entertainment world. Led by quarterback Shedeur Sanders, the Buffaloes outscored the Trojans 27-14 in the second half and 14-0 in the fourth quarter, while outgaining coach Lincoln Riley’s offense 564-498.
Neither Deion nor Shedeur Sanders believes in moral victories — “I don’t know what that means,” Shedeur said — but Colorado’s strong second half against reigning Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams and the Trojans continued to reset expectations and optimism for a program that went 1-11 in 2022.
“Overall, I’m really proud,” Deion Sanders said. “Not only of the young men, [but] the coaches, the fan base, the student body. I’m truly proud of the way we represented Boulder today.”
After a 42-6 loss last week at Oregon, in which they were nearly shut out, the Buffaloes appeared headed for another reality check against a Pac-12 heavyweight. USC raced out to a 34-7 lead behind four touchdown passes from Williams, who finished with six and 403 yards. Colorado trailed 41-14 midway through the third quarter following the second touchdown reception by Brenden Rice, who started his career with the Buffaloes.
But Shedeur Sanders rallied his team with help from Omarion Miller, who set a Colorado freshman record with 196 receiving yards on nine receptions.
“We just had to lock in and understand, ‘Look, this is not going to be a recap of what happened last week. We just not going out like that,'” Shedeur Sanders said. “Whatever it takes. That was the whole motto this week.”
Shedeur Sanders corrected several reporters and provided the correct pronunciation of Miller’s name, adding, “Everybody, this is my man, Omarion! He went for a lot of yards today!” Sanders found Miller for a 9-yard touchdown through a tiny window on fourth-and-5 to bring Colorado within two touchdowns early in the fourth quarter.
Miller, an ESPN four-star recruit, had not recorded a reception in Colorado’s first four games but said he “dreamed about” a big performance against USC.
“I’ve got so much to prove, this is just one game,” Miller said. “Y’all ain’t seen nothing yet.”
Miller was one of several young players to emerge for Colorado, which played without three defensive backs who started the season — safety Myles Slusher, cornerback Travis Hunter and safety Shilo Sanders, who missed his first game with a kidney injury from the Oregon game. Freshman cornerback Cormani McClain, ESPN’s No. 14 overall recruit whose preparation Deion Sanders called out during the week, had a pass breakup in the end zone and helped cover up a botched PAT attempt by USC.
Deion Sanders said he wants McClain “to be that dude,” and added that both McClain and Miller “separated themselves from their yesterday,” which was “terrible.” He said both have now reset expectations for themselves going forward.
Shedeur Sanders, meanwhile, continued to raise the outlook after his fourth game of 348 pass yards or more and third with four touchdown passes. Deion Sanders, who nicknamed his son “Grown” because of his maturity, said he had no doubt Shedeur would have led Colorado for another touchdown if the Buffaloes had recovered an onside kick with 1 minute, 43 seconds left.
Deion Sanders called Shedeur “a baller” and “a now player.”
“He’s been built and reared for this his whole life,” Deion Sanders said. “The kid has always won, he’s always been dominant, he’s always been smart and intelligent and concise, he’s always been a competitor. … He’s always given us a chance to succeed in every level.
“I could go on and on, but I don’t want to sound like the dad. The kid can flat-out play.”
Asked about sharing a stage with Williams, Shedeur Sanders replied, “My stage is my stage.” His goal is for more complete games, as Colorado has been outscored 90-28 in the first halves of its past three games.
Deion Sanders said the team’s strong finish is important, but the team is still searching for its “true identity” after a 3-2 September in which Colorado became the biggest story in college football.
“If you can’t see what’s coming with CU football, you’ve lost your mind,” Sanders said. “You’re just a flat-out hater if you can’t see what’s going on and what’s going to transpire over the next several months. Something’s wrong with you.”
Sports
Ranking the top 50 players in the Stanley Cup playoffs: Where do Hellebuyck, MacKinnon, Kucherov land?
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Neil Paine
As the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs began, a number of storylines dominated the conversation: Can Connor Hellebuyck turn his historic regular season into a Dominik Hašek-esque postseason run for the ages for the Winnipeg Jets? Will the Colorado Avalanche–Dallas Stars showdown be a quasi-Cup Final right away in Round 1? Is it finally the year for Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl to win it all, after the Edmonton Oilers came so close last season?
But beyond the matchups and narratives, it’s also a good time to take stock of which players bring the most value into the postseason.
That’s where goals above replacement (GAR) comes in — my evolved spin on earlier all-in-one value stats like Tom Awad’s goals versus threshold and Hockey-Reference’s point shares. The core idea of GAR is to measure a player’s total impact — in offense, defense or goaltending — above what a generic “replacement-level” player might provide at the same position. It also strives to ensure the league’s value is better balanced by position: 60% of leaguewide GAR is distributed to forwards, 30% to defensemen and 10% to goaltenders.
To then assess who might be most valuable on the eve of this year’s playoffs, I plugged GAR into a system inspired by Bill James’ concept of an “established level” of performance; in this case, a weighted average of each player’s GAR over the past three regular seasons, with more emphasis on 2024-25. And to keep the metric from undervaluing recent risers, we also apply a safeguard: no player’s established level can be lower than 75% of his most recent season’s GAR.
The result is a blend of peak, recent, and sustained performance — the players on playoff-bound teams who have been great, are currently great or are still trending upward — in a format that gives us a sense of who could define this year’s postseason.
One final note: Injured players who were expected to miss all or substantial parts of the playoffs were excluded from the ranking. Sorry, Jack Hughes.
With that in mind, here are the top 50 skaters and goaltenders on teams in the 2025 playoff field, according to their three-year established level of value, ranked by the numbers:
Five series of the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs have begun, and two more will begin Monday. Meanwhile, the two matchups in the Central Division are on to Game 2.
Here’s the four-pack of games on the calendar:
What are the key storylines heading into Monday’s games? Who are the key players to watch?
Read on for game previews with statistical insights from ESPN Research, recaps of what went down last night, and the Three Stars of Sunday Night from Arda Öcal.
Matchup notes
Montreal Canadiens at Washington Capitals
Game 1 | 7 p.m., ESPN
You might’ve heard about the 2010 playoff matchup between these two teams a time or so in the past week.
In that postseason, the overwhelming favorite (and No. 1 seed) Capitals, led by Alex Ovechkin, were upset by the No. 8 seed Canadiens, due in large part to an epic performance in goal from Jaroslav Halak. Halak isn’t walking out of the tunnel for the Habs this time around (we assume); instead it’ll be Becancour, Quebec, native Sam Montembeault, who allowed four goals on 35 shots in his one start against the Caps this season.
Washington’s goaltender for Game 1 has yet to be revealed, as Logan Thompson was injured back on April 2. But there’s no question that there is a disparity between the offensive output of the two clubs, as the Caps finished second in the NHL in goals per game (3.49), while the Canadiens finished 17th (2.96). Can Montreal keep up in this series?
St. Louis Blues at Winnipeg Jets
Game 2 | 7:30 p.m., ESPN2
The Blues hung with the Jets for much of Game 1 and even looked like the stronger team at certain times, so pulling off the series upset remains on the table. But getting a win on the unfriendly ice at the Canada Life Centre would be of some benefit in shifting momentum before the series moves to St. Louis for Game 3. The Blues proved that Connor Hellebuyck is not invincible in Game 1, and they were led by stars Jordan Kyrou and Robert Thomas, who both got on the board.
The Jets have a mixed history after winning Game 1 of a playoff series, having gone 3-3 as a franchise (including the Atlanta Thrashers days) on such occasions. Like the Blues, the Jets were led by their stars, Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele, but the game-tying goal came from Alex Iafallo, who has played up and down the lineup this season.
Colorado Avalanche at Dallas Stars
Game 2 | 9:30 p.m., ESPN
The Stars might like a redo on Game 1 after the visiting Avalanche essentially controlled the festivities for much of the contest. Stars forward Jason Robertson missed Game 1 because of an injury sustained in the final game of the regular season, and his return sooner than later would be excellent for Dallas; he scored three goals in three games against Colorado in the regular season. Also of note, teams that have taken a 2-0 lead in best-of-seven series have won 86% of the time.
Slowing down the Avs’ stars will be critical in Game 2, which is a sound — if perhaps unrealistic — strategy. With his two goals in Game 1, Nathan MacKinnon became the third player in Avalanche/Nordiques history to score 50 playoff goals, joining Joe Sakic (84) and Peter Forsberg (58). In reaching 60 assists in his 73rd playoff game, Cale Makar became the third-fastest defenseman in NHL history to reach that milestone, behind Bobby Orr (69 GP) and Al MacInnis (71 GP).
Edmonton Oilers at Los Angeles Kings
Game 1 | 10 p.m., ESPN2
This is the fourth straight postseason in which the Oilers and Kings have met in Round 1, and Edmonton has won the previous three series. Will the fourth time be the charm for the Kings?
L.A. went 3-1-0 against Edmonton this season, including shutouts on April 5 and 14. Quinton Byfield was particularly strong in those games, with three goals and an assist. Overall, the Kings were led in scoring this season by Adrian Kempe, with 35 goals and 38 assists. Warren Foegele — who played 22 playoff games for the Oilers in 2024 — had a career-high 24 goals this season.
The Oilers enter the 2025 postseason with 41 playoff series wins, which is the second most among non-Original Six teams (behind the Flyers, with 44). They have been eliminated by the team that won the Stanley Cup in each of the past three postseasons (Panthers 2024, Golden Knights 2023, Avalanche 2022). Edmonton continues to be led by Leon Draisaitl — who won his first Rocket Richard Trophy as the league’s top goal scorer this season — and Connor McDavid, who won the goal-scoring title in 2022-23 and the Conn Smythe Trophy as MVP of the playoffs last year, even though the Oilers didn’t win the Cup.
Arda’s Three Stars of Sunday
For the last several seasons, much of the postseason narrative for the Leafs has been the lack of production from the Core Four. So this was a dream Game 1 against Ottawa for Marner (one goal, two assists), Nylander (one goal, one assist), John Tavares (one goal, one assist) and Matthews (two assists) in Toronto’s 6-2 win over Ottawa.
Stankoven’s two goals in the second period put the game out of reach, with the Canes winning 4-1 in Game 1. Stankoven is the second player in Hurricanes/Whalers history to score twice in his first playoff game with the club (the other was Andrei Svechnikov in Game 1 of the first round in 2019)
Howden had two third-period goals in the Golden Knights’ victory over the Wild in Game 1, including a buzzer-beating empty-netter to make the final score 4-2.
Sunday’s results
Hurricanes 4, Devils 1
Carolina leads 1-0
The Hurricanes came out inspired thanks in part to the raucous home crowd and took a quick lead off the stick of Jalen Chatfield at 2:24 of the first period. Logan Stankoven — who came over in the Mikko Rantanen trade — scored a pair in the second period, and the Canes never looked back. On the Devils’ side, injuries forced Brenden Dillon and Cody Glass out of the game, while Luke Hughes left in the third period but was able to return. Full recap.
0:44
Logan Stankoven’s 2nd goal gives Hurricanes a 3-0 lead
Logan Stankoven notches his second goal of the game to give the Hurricanes a 3-0 lead.
Maple Leafs 6, Senators 2
Toronto leads 1-0
The first skirmish in the Battle of Ontario goes to the home side, as the Leafs never let the Senators get very close in this one. Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Mitch Marner scored in the first, John Tavares and William Nylander tallied in the second, while Morgan Rielly and Matthew Knies put the game away in the third. Drake Batherson and Ridly Greig — scorer of a controversial empty-net goal against Toronto in 2024 — scored for Ottawa. Full recap.
0:42
William Nylander zips home a goal to pad the Maple Leafs’ lead
William Nylander zips the puck past the goalie to give the Maple Leafs a 4-1 lead.
Golden Knights 4, Wild 2
Vegas leads 1-0
In Sunday’s nightcap, the two teams played an evenly matched first two periods, as Vegas carried a 2-1 lead into the third. Then, Brett Howden worked his magic, scoring a goal to pad the Knights’ lead 2:28 into that frame, and putting the game to bed with an empty-netter that beat the buzzer. The Wild were led by Matt Boldy, who had two goals, both assisted by Kirill Kaprizov. Full recap.
0:31
Brett Howden buries Wild in Game 1 with buzzer-beating goal
Brett Howden sends the Minnesota Wild packing in Game 1 with an empty-net goal for the Golden Knights in the final second.
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