‘Super smart’ Rodrigues nets 2 as Panthers roll
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Greg Wyshynski, ESPN
SUNRISE, Fla. — After two games in the Stanley Cup Final, both Florida Panthers forward Evan Rodrigues and defenseman Niko Mikkola have scored more goals than Edmonton Oilers stars Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Zach Hyman … combined.
The Panthers took a 2-0 lead in the series on Monday night with a 4-1 win over the Oilers that was powered by two unsung members of their supporting cast. Rodrigues scored twice, giving him three goals in the Final. Mikkola scored a critical goal to tie the game in the second period, for only the second playoff goal of his career.
“It’s special. You try to embrace it, try to stay in the moment. It’s two big wins for our team. And I think we’ve already turned the page and we’re getting ready for Game 3,” Rodrigues said.
Florida coach Paul Maurice watched another brilliant defensive effort from his team in the victory: Not yielding anything against the heralded Edmonton power play, not allowing a single high-danger shot attempt at 5-on-5, keeping Edmonton’s stars without a goal and relying on goalie Sergei Bobrovsky (18 saves) to be the last line of defense.
But when Maurice needed goals, Rodrigues and Mikkola provided them.
“We play tight games. We’ve always played tight, hard games. We don’t necessarily score easily. That’s not a function of skill or talent,” the coach said.
Rodrigues, 30, is a nine-year NHL veteran who signed a four-year, $12 million deal with the Panthers as a free agent last summer. An analytics darling during his career with the Buffalo Sabres, Pittsburgh Penguins and Colorado Avalanche, he had 12 goals and 27 assists in 80 games for the Panthers this season.
His goal in Game 1 was a one-timer past netminder Stuart Skinner, set up by a pass from behind the net by center Sam Bennett, that built a 2-0 lead for the Panthers.
Game 2 started with Rodrigues delivering a punishing hit on the forecheck against Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse, who immediately grabbed his side in discomfort just four shifts into the game. Nurse would return in the second period, but he had only three shifts for the rest of the night.
Rodrigues’ first goal in Game 2 came at 3:11 of the third period to snap a 1-1 tie — and it was a score that might have been linked to Nurse’s injury.
Edmonton defenseman Evan Bouchard played 30:40 in Game 2 because Nurse was hurt. The typically steady defenseman made a glaring mistake, however, attempting to clear the puck from the Edmonton zone only to have it land directly on the stick blade of Rodrigues.
“I got in on the forecheck. Tried to make a play. Almost got myself in a little bit of a pickle trying to look to make a play versus moving my feet,” Rodrigues said. “Then the puck came back to me, and I wasn’t making that mistake again. So, I just kind of fired it on net, and it went through a couple legs. Obviously, really happy to see it go in.”
His second goal came on the power play at 12:26 of the third period. Bouchard was again victimized, this time by an Anton Lundell pass to Rodrigues, who tipped the puck past Skinner for a critical insurance goal.
That ended a streak of 34 straight successful penalty kills for the Oilers, tied with the 2001 St. Louis Blues for the third-longest such streak in Stanley Cup playoffs history.
Rodrigues became the first player in Panthers history with a multiple-goal game in the Stanley Cup Final. His three goals in the Final equals his total through the first three rounds this year.
His performance earned Rodrigues time on the Panthers’ top line with Aleksander Barkov and Sam Reinhart, as winger Carter Verhaeghe “kind of needs to change your address every once in a while,” according to Maurice. His performance also earned accolades from his teammates.
“So good, so happy for him. Proud of him. He reads the game so well. He’s a super smart player and I’m really happy to see him get rewarded right now,” winger Matthew Tkachuk said.
“I think he’s a bit of a chameleon,” forward Kyle Okposo said. “I think if you look at the teams that he’s played on and who he’s played with, it’s not an easy thing to go play with some of the top players in the world.”
As for Mikkola, his game-tying goal was quite an adventure.
The 6-foot-4 Finn had the puck in his own zone with Edmonton’s Evander Kane bearing down on him. Mikkola spun around and flung the puck … directly at his own goaltender Bobrovsky, who alertly knocked it away. Mikkola shook his head to acknowledge the blunder and then skated up ice.
“I tried to do defenseman-to-defenseman pass. Bobby was awake, which was good for us,” said Mikkola, drawing laugher after the game. “And the rest was nice.”
Moments later, Lundell stickhandled in the Oilers zone and dropped a pass to a trailing Mikkola who blasted a one-timer past goalie Skinner for the tie.
“Even if we were down one goal, everybody was calm and trusting the process,” Mikkola said. “I was little lucky. Got the one through.”
Mikkola, 28, was another free-agent coup for GM Bill Zito, signing a 3-year, $7.5-million deal. Almost a year later, he’s a major reason the Panthers are up 2-0 in the Stanley Cup Final.
Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final is Thursday in Edmonton. Since the Stanley Cup Final first went to a 7-game format in 1939, only 5 teams have come back to win a Final after losing the first two games.
Hard-throwing rookie Jacob Misiorowski is a National League All-Star replacement, giving the Milwaukee Brewers right-hander a chance to break Paul Skenes‘ record for the fewest big league appearances before playing in the Midsummer Classic.
Misiorowski was named Friday night to replace Chicago Cubs lefty Matthew Boyd, who will be unavailable for the All-Star Game on Tuesday night in Atlanta because he is scheduled to start Saturday at the New York Yankees.
The 23-year-old Misiorowski has made just five starts for the Brewers, going 4-1 with a 2.81 ERA while averaging 99.3 mph on his fastball, with 89 pitches that have reached 100 mph.
If he pitches at Truist Park, Misiorowski will make it consecutive years for a player to set the mark for fewest big league games before an All-Star showing.
Skenes, the Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander getting ready for his second All-Star appearance, had made 11 starts in the majors when he was chosen as the NL starter for last year’s All-Star Game at Texas. He pitched a scoreless inning.
“I’m speechless,” said a teary-eyed Misiorowski, who said he was given the news a few minutes before the Brewers’ 8-3 victory over Washington. “It’s awesome. It’s very unexpected and it’s an honor.”
Misiorowski is the 30th first-time All-Star and 16th replacement this year. There are now 80 total All-Stars.
“He’s impressive. He’s got some of the best stuff in the game right now, even though he’s a young pitcher,” said Yankees slugger Aaron Judge, who is a starting AL outfielder for his seventh All-Star nod. “He’s going to be a special pitcher in this game for a long time so I think he deserved it and it’s going be pretty cool for him and his family.”
Carlos Rodón, Carlos Estévez and Casey Mize were named replacement pitchers on the AL roster.
The New York Yankees‘ Rodón, an All-Star for the third time in five seasons, will replace teammate Max Fried for Tuesday’s game in Atlanta. Fried will be unavailable because he is scheduled to start Saturday against the Chicago Cubs.
In his final start before the All-Star game, Rodón allowed four hits and struck out eight in eight innings in an 11-0 victory over the Cubs.
“This one’s a little special for me,” said Rodón, an All-Star in 2021 and ’22 who was 3-8 in his first season with the Yankees two years ago before rebounding. “I wasn’t good when I first got here, and I just wanted to prove that I wasn’t to going to give up and just put my best foot forward and try to win as many games as I can.”
The Kansas City Royals‘ Estévez replaces Texas’ Jacob deGrom, who is scheduled to start at Houston on Saturday night. Estévez was a 2023 All-Star when he was with the Los Angeles Angels.
Mize takes the spot held by Boston‘s Garrett Crochet, who is scheduled to start Saturday against Tampa Bay. Mize gives the Tigers six All-Stars, most of any team and tied for the franchise record.
Royals third baseman Maikel Garcia will replace Tampa Bay‘s Brandon Lowe, who went on the injured list with left oblique tightness. The additions of Estévez and Garcia give the Royals four All-Stars, matching their 2024 total.
The Seattle Mariners announced center fielder Julio Rodríguez will not participate, and he was replaced by teammate Randy Arozarena. Rodríguez had been voted onto the AL roster via the players’ ballot. The Mariners, who have five All-Stars, said Rodríguez will use the break to “recuperate, rest and prepare for the second half.”
Arozarena is an All-Star for the second time. He started in left field for the AL two years ago, when he was with Tampa Bay. Arozarena was the runner-up to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the 2023 Home Run Derby.
Rays right-hander Drew Rasmussen, a first-time All-Star, is replacing Angels left-hander Yusei Kikuchi, who is scheduled to start Saturday night at Arizona. Rasmussen is 7-5 with a 2.82 ERA in 18 starts.
San Diego added a third NL All-Star reliever in lefty Adrián Morejón, who replaces Philadelphia starter Zack Wheeler. The Phillies’ right-hander is scheduled to start at San Diego on Saturday night. Morejón entered the weekend with a 1.71 ERA in 45 appearances.
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Jesse Rogers
CHICAGO — Former White Sox lefty Mark Buehrle was forever immortalized inside Rate Field as the team unveiled a statue in his honor Friday.
Buehrle, 46, played 16 years in the majors, including the first 12 with the White Sox, who he helped win a World Series in 2005. He won 214 games and pitched 200 innings or more in 14 consecutive seasons from 2001 to 2014.
“I can’t put it into words,” Buehrle said after the unveiling. “You don’t play the game for any of this. You never think of number retirements or statues. I can’t even wrap my head around it. It doesn’t make sense.”
The statue is an action shot of him throwing a pitch.
His wife and kids were in attendance and helped pull off the cover to unveil the statue while his 2005 teammates looked on. The event kicked off a weekend reunion for the World Series team which went 11-1 in the postseason, beating the Houston Astros in four games to take home the title.
Buehrle was a five-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glove winner, finishing fifth in Cy Young voting in 2005.
“Well-deserved,” former right fielder Jermaine Dye said of the statue. “Great teammate. Great leader. Definitely someone you want on a ballclub to lead a pitching staff.”
The White Sox rotation — led by Buehrle — threw four complete games in the ALCS against the Boston Red Sox in 2005, missing a fifth complete game by two-thirds of an inning. It’s an unheard of accomplishment in today’s game since starters infrequently go the distance.
Besides being an innings-eater on the mound, Buehrle was a fast worker — a favorite trait of his catcher, A.J Pierzynski. And he wasn’t someone who threw a lot of different pitches. He caught it and threw it without much input from behind the plate.
“He was fast,” Pierzynski said. “We had Jermaine Dye calling pitches from right field some games. We did come crazy things you wouldn’t recommend to people to do nowadays.”
Buehrle is a notoriously low-key guy who hates the spotlight but even he was moved by the team’s decision to honor him with a statue, which joins former slugger Harold Baines in the right-field concourse.
“I joked with him when I saw him,” Dye said. “I told him ‘Man it takes you getting a statue to get you out of the house.'”
Buehrle added: “I was literally nervous as can be today. This is not my comfort zone but by no means am I taking it lightly. This is incredible.”
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