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The San Francisco Giants will host the New York Yankees to start Major League Baseball’s season on March 25, the earliest Opening Day other than international games.

MLB said Tuesday the other 28 teams open the following day, with Kansas City at Atlanta, Minnesota at Baltimore, Washington at the Chicago Cubs, Boston at Cincinnati, the Los Angeles Angels at Houston, Arizona at the Los Angeles Dodgers, Colorado at Miami, the Chicago White Sox at Milwaukee, Pittsburgh at the New York Mets, Texas at Philadelphia, Tampa Bay at St. Louis, Detroit at San Diego, Cleveland at Seattle and the Athletics at Toronto.

San Francisco started the 2023 season at the Yankees. Other than international games, the previous earliest openers were this year on March 27.

Five games are scheduled for March 27 next season and all 30 teams are to play the following day.

The final day of the regular season is scheduled for Sept. 27, the earliest since 2020.

In their second of three seasons playing most home games in West Sacramento, California, the Athletics will host consecutive three-game series at the Triple-A Las Vegas Ballpark against Milwaukee and Colorado from June 8-14. The A’s, who played in Oakland from 1968-2024, hope to move into a new Las Vegas stadium in 2028.

Plans are not yet finalized for a Phillies-Twins game at Dyersville, Iowa, during Aug. 13-16 and for a two-game Padres-Diamondbacks series at Mexico City on April 25-26. The Field of Dreams, site of the 1989 movie, hosted the Yankees and White Sox in 2021, and the Cubs and Reds the following year before closing for renovations.

A contemplated Yankees-Blue Jays series at London in June likely won’t take place because of scheduling issues caused by West Ham being home for their Premier League final match on May 24, delaying when Olympic Stadium would be available for conversion to baseball.

While regular-season games were to be played in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in September 2025 and 2026, according to the collective bargaining agreement, none were scheduled for this season and none have been announced for next year.

MLB scheduled a rivalry weekend for May 17-19, featuring Dodgers at Angels, Boston at Atlanta, Cincinnati at Cleveland, San Francisco at Athletics, Yankees at Mets, Milwaukee at Minnesota, Kansas City at St. Louis, San Diego at Seattle, Miami at Tampa Bay, Baltimore at Washington and Cubs at White Sox. Other regional matchups that weekend include Arizona at Colorado, Toronto at Detroit, Texas at Houston and Philadelphia at Pittsburgh.

Matchups are the same as May 16-18 this year, with home teams reversed.

The All-Star Game, announced in 2019 for Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park to mark the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, will be played July 14.

Off days were built into the schedule to accommodate World Cup matches at stadiums that share parking lots: on June 17 and July 3 at Arlington, Texas; June 20 and July 3 at Kansas City, Missouri; and June 19 and July 1 at Seattle. Because of the off day, the Mariners will host the Red Sox in a doubleheader on June 20.

The Yankees and Mets will play in the Bronx from Sept. 11-13, marking the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. They played at Citi Field to mark the 20th anniversary.

In the fourth straight season of a balanced schedule, a team will play 13 games against each division rival and six or seven against each other club in its league for a total of 62. The remaining 48 games are against interleague opponents, with a single three-game series against each of the 14 other clubs in the opposite league. Teams will be home against the same interleague opponents they hosted in 2023.

The American League used a balanced schedule from 1977-2000 and the National League from 1993-2000.

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Bruins say Lindholm to be sidelined a few weeks

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Bruins say Lindholm to be sidelined a few weeks

BOSTON — Bruins center Elias Lindholm will miss at least a few weeks because of a lower-body injury, coach Marco Sturm said Friday.

Lindholm was helped off the ice after a collision with Buffalo‘s Jordan Greenway in the Bruins’ 4-3 overtime victory Thursday. Lindholm, 30, has nine points (4 goals, 5 assists) in 13 games.

Marat Khusnutdinov, who scored the overtime winner against the Sabres, is set to center Boston’s top line against Carolina on Saturday. The Russian is in his first full season with Boston. He has a goal and an assist in eight games.

The Bruins also will be without defenseman Jordan Harris for at least two months after a procedure to repair a right ankle fracture. Harris was injured in a 4-3 loss to the Florida Panthers on Monday.

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Devils, goalie Markstrom agree to 2-year extension

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Devils, goalie Markstrom agree to 2-year extension

The New Jersey Devils agreed to a two-year extension with goalie Jacob Markstrom on Friday, with an average annual value of $6 million.

Markstrom, 35, was entering the final year of his contract, which had the same cap hit. This move helps the Devils lock in a three-year window in which they believe their group can contend.

The Swedish-born goaltender was a massive acquisition for the Devils in June 2024 as New Jersey traded defenseman Kevin Bahl and a first-round pick to the Calgary Flames to secure its new franchise backstop and stabilize the team.

The Devils’ brain trust, including general manager Tom Fitzgerald and executive vice president of hockey operations Martin Brodeur, has loved having Markstrom in the organization. Markstrom, a big but agile goaltender at 6-foot-6, 205 pounds, has also formed a strong bond with goaltending partner Jake Allen.

The Devils are 8-3-0 before Saturday’s road game against the Los Angeles Kings. Markstrom hasn’t been his strongest, going 2-2-0 with a 5.13 goals-against average and an .830 save percentage in four appearances. He has also been sidelined briefly by injury.

However, the Devils are banking on his body of work, including his spectacular play in last year’s first-round series against the Carolina Hurricanes. Markstrom posted a .911 save percentage, but New Jersey, which was severely hobbled by injuries, lost to Carolina in five games.

Markstrom has finished top five in Vezina Trophy voting twice in his career and has gone 28-18-6 in the past year-plus with the Devils, including a 2.67 GAA and four shutouts in 53 games. A 2008 second-round pick of Florida, Markstrom has appeared in 538 games with the Panthers, Canucks, Flames and Devils. He has a .908 career save percentage.

The Devils sought a shorter-term deal but also wanted to capitalize on a thin goaltending market. Allen, also 35, is signed through 2030.

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Marchand nets ‘special’ goal for pal’s late daughter

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Marchand nets 'special' goal for pal's late daughter

SUNRISE, Fla. — Brad Marchand put the puck in the back of the net for the Florida Panthers on Saturday night then pointed a finger in the air and looked to the sky.

The reason was obvious.

This goal was for Selah.

Marchand’s sixth goal of this season and the 430th of his career was unlike any other. It came three days after he was home in Nova Scotia paying tribute to the life of 10-year-old Selah Panacci-MacCallum — the daughter of his close friend JP MacCallum. Selah died Oct. 24 of adrenal cortical carcinoma, a rare form of cancer.

“The hockey gods always come through,” Marchand told the Panthers’ broadcast after the second period in an interview aired throughout the arena. “It was a really, really tough week. That’s a special one to get for Selah.”

Marchand missed Florida’s game Tuesday against the visiting Anaheim Ducks to be with his friend’s family in Nova Scotia and did so with the Panthers’ blessing. Marchand filled in for JP MacCallum as the coach of the under-18 March and Mill Co. Hunters in Halifax on Wednesday night; Marchand co-owns that team.

That game Wednesday was a fundraiser for the MacCallum family.

“We fully appreciate the things that are most important, and hockey’s very, very important,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said earlier Saturday. “But there’s some things that just easily outweigh it, and they need to be dealt with. And what he’s going through is real.

“There’s things that just trump the game of hockey.”

Marchand said his bond with JP MacCallum goes back for many years and that he simply had to make the long trip home to pay tribute to Selah.

“She lived life to the fullest,” Marchand said during Saturday’s in-game interview. “And walking away from the week, I have such a new perspective on life and what it all means and how precious it is and how precious time is. It’s every day. It’s not just a game. It’s not just a sport. It’s how we live every single day, and she lived to the fullest.

“To carry on her memory, that’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to live every day to the fullest, enjoy it, and we’re not going to take it for granted.”

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