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WASHINGTON — The banged-up Washington Capitals could be getting a couple of their most important players back in time for the start of the playoffs or at least sometime in the first round.

Goaltender Logan Thompson has resumed skating, and forward Aliaksei Protas is on track to get back on the ice this week, coach Spencer Carbery said Sunday before the home finale against Columbus.

Thompson has been out with what the team is calling an upper-body injury, after leaving a game on April 2 at Carolina following a shot from Sean Walker that knocked off his mask. Carbery said Thompson skated on his own but did not face shots, which is a step in the process of returning.

Protas got an inadvertent skate cut on the top of his left foot April 4 against Chicago and has been walking around in a boot with the aid of crutches.

“He’ll be a little bit longer,” Carbery said. “Hoping that he touches the ice at some point this week.”

Washington is locked into the top spot in the Eastern Conference and visits the New York Islanders on Tuesday night and Pittsburgh on Thursday night to finish the regular season. The Capitals will begin the postseason at home either next Sunday or Monday, April 21, against the Montreal Canadiens or the Blue Jackets.

Who starts in net for that Game 1 remains a question. Charlie Lindgren has shouldered the load since Thompson was injured. He has an .866 save percentage since replacing Thompson against the Hurricanes, though much of that has been a result of mistakes and missed coverage in front of him.

“Right now just from a results standpoint, I want to let in less goals, 100 percent,” Lindgren said last week. “I don’t like letting in three goals every single game. I want to get that number down. … Just trying to figure out ways to work on my game and better myself because as we know goaltending in the playoffs goes a long way, and I want to make sure I’m doing my job and doing the best I can to put the team in the best situation possible.”

Thompson is having a career season, winning 31 of his 42 starts with a 2.49 goals-against average and a .910 save percentage. In late January, the 28-year-old signed a six-year, $35.1 million contract extension through the 2030-31 NHL season.

Protas is under contract through 2029 at a rate of $3.375 million annually. The 24-year-old has also shattered his career highs with 30 goals, 36 assists and 66 points, after putting up 55 points in his first 173 regular-season and playoff games in the league.

Carbery is trying to balance resting some older players versus getting the Capitals, who have lost six of their past nine games, ready for the postseason. Alex Ovechkin was a healthy scratch Saturday after getting honored Thursday night for breaking Wayne Gretzky’s career goals record, and No. 1 defenseman John Carlson got the night off Sunday.

“We’re just looking at it from an individual preparation standpoint,” Carbery said. “John, a veteran player. [He has] played a lot this year. I think he’s played every single game. We’re playing a back-to-back. I feel like it’s important for him to not play both and take today off.”

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Sources: Hokies fire Pry after 0-3 start, ODU loss

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Sources: Hokies fire Pry after 0-3 start, ODU loss

Virginia Tech has fired coach Brent Pry, sources told ESPN’s Pete Thamel on Sunday. Pry is set to be owed more than $6 million in his buyout.

The move comes a day after a 45-26 home loss to Old Dominion in which the Hokies were booed loudly while heading to the locker room for halftime.

Saturday’s loss dropped Virginia Tech to 0-3 on the season and 16-24 through four seasons under Pry.

The hot-seat talk bubbled up around Pry in November last season, and if the Hokies had lost to Virginia to end the season, a change may have been made at that point. But Virginia Tech defeated Virginia, and Pry’s second consecutive 6-6 regular season landed him in a bowl game.

But as the offseason included personnel changes, the talk around Pry’s status didn’t fade. He entered Year 4 with a new defensive coordinator — Sam Siefkes, a former linebackers coach with the Arizona Cardinals — and a staff that included former longtime Hokies defensive coordinator Bud Foster as an adviser/analyst.

It did not work in the early going. Though the Hokies played hard in a season-opening loss to South Carolina, they were pushed around by another SEC team, Vanderbilt, in Virginia Tech’s home opener a week later. The Commodores scored 34 consecutive points to close out a 44-20 win in which they trailed by 10 points at halftime.

That loss, however, proved to be just an opening act to Saturday’s stunning loss to in-state foe Old Dominion.

“Clearly, it starts with me,” Pry said after the loss to the Monarchs. “Coaches, players, everybody is accountable here. We’ve got to get back to the basics and find a way to be closer to the team we can be.”

Virginia Tech will host Wofford on Saturday before beginning ACC play the following week at NC State.

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UCLA fires coach Foster after Bruins start 0-3

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UCLA fires coach Foster after Bruins start 0-3

UCLA fired football coach DeShaun Foster after he started his second season at the helm 0-3, the school announced Sunday.

An impressive class in the transfer portal, including the addition of former Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava, seemed like a solid foundation for Year 2 under Foster, who rallied the Bruins to win four of their last six games to end the 2024 season.

But this season couldn’t have started off any worse. In the Rose Bowl on opening night, the Bruins fell to Utah 43-10. A week later at UNLV, they stumbled again, dropping a 30-23 decision. But those losses were just lead-ins to a puzzling 35-10 defeat at the hands of New Mexico in Week 3 at the Rose Bowl.

The Bruins, through three weeks, did not top 23 points in any game, and had allowed at least 30 in all three losses.

Foster had a 5-10 record in the 15 games he coached for the Bruins.

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Surging Rangers get Garcia back from stint on IL

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Surging Rangers get Garcia back from stint on IL

NEW YORK — The Texas Rangers got a key player back for their playoff push Sunday, when outfielder Adolis García was activated from the 10-day injured list.

García, who missed 10 games with a strained right quad, was set to bat fourth and play right field in the series finale against the New York Mets.

The IL stint was the second in a month for García, who was sidelined by a sprained left ankle from Aug. 13-22. The former All-Star and Gold Glove winner is batting .235 with 18 homers and 73 RBIs this season, but he hit .368 with two homers, nine RBIs and three steals in as many attempts in nine games following his return from the ankle injury before getting hurt while beating out a potential double-play grounder against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sept. 1.

“It’s always good to get one of your core guys back,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. “He was really swinging the bat well when he got hurt.”

Despite dealing with a litany of injuries, the Rangers entered Sunday on a six-game winning streak and with the best record in the majors (16-4) since Aug. 23. Texas was two games behind the Houston Astros and Seattle Mariners in the AL West race.

Second baseman Marcus Semien (left foot) and pitcher Nathan Eovaldi (right rotator cuff) are likely out for the regular season while shortstop Corey Seager is recovering from an appendectomy.

To make room for García, the Rangers optioned outfielder Dustin Harris to Triple-A Round Rock.

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