PHOENIX — Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Walker Buehler is expected to make his return to the big leagues Monday after missing nearly two full years following Tommy John surgery in 2022.

“The plan is Walker’s going to start on Monday,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said after Wednesday’s 8-0 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. “We’re excited about that. Everything checked out. It’ll be good.”

The Dodgers play at home Monday against the Miami Marlins.

Buehler, a two-time All-Star, hasn’t thrown in a big league game since June 10, 2022, against the San Francisco Giants. He’s trying to become one of the few pitchers to bounce back from a second Tommy John surgery, which usually keeps pitchers off the mound for 12-18 months.

Buehler could make a talented Dodgers team even more formidable. He was one of the best pitchers in baseball during the 2021 season, finishing with a 16-4 record and a 2.47 ERA over 207⅔ innings.

Buehler had an extended rehab assignment in Triple-A over the past month as he prepared for his return, going 0-2 with a 4.15 ERA and 21 strikeouts over 21⅔ innings.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

EDMONTON, Alberta — Leon Draisaitl scored twice, and the Edmonton Oilers beat the Los Angeles Kings 4-3 in Game 5 on Wednesday night to win their first-round NHL playoff series.

Edmonton eliminated Los Angeles in the opening round for the third straight year after coming out on top in six games in 2023 and seven in 2022.

Zach Hyman — with his seventh goal of the postseason — and Evander Kane also scored for Edmonton, which only dropped a 5-4 loss in overtime of Game 2 in the best-of-seven series.

Evan Bouchard added three assists, and Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had two each as Edmonton’s offense broke out at Rogers Place. McDavid extended his points total to a playoff-leading 12 (one goal, 11 assists).

Stuart Skinner made 18 saves after posting a shutout in Edmonton’s 1-0 win at Los Angeles in Game 4.

Adrian Kempe, Alex Laferriere and Blake Lizotte scored for Los Angeles, and David Rittich stopped 22 shots in his second straight start.

The Oilers move on to the second round, where they’ll face the winner of a matchup between the Vancouver Canucks and Nashville Predators. Vancouver leads the series 3-2 heading into Game 6 on Friday in Nashville, Tennessee.

Down 2-1 in the second period, the Oilers scored three consecutive goals to take 4-2 lead.

Draisaitl had a power-play goal at 7:44 after a couple exchanges with McDavid to tie it. Rittich appeared to rob Draisaitl with a desperation glove save, but fans cheered as if it were a goal upon seeing the replay and officials ruled the puck crossed the line after a video review.

The Oilers’ power play went 1 for 4 but scored twice just after time expired on a penalty. Edmonton finished 9 for 19 with the man advantage in the series. Los Angeles was 0 for 1, going scoreless on 12 power plays.

McDavid and Draisaitl connected again just after a penalty expired with 7:39 left in the period for the German forward’s fifth of the playoffs.

The undisciplined Kings put Edmonton up a man again near the end of the period. This time, Hyman tapped home a puck on the goal line moments after Kings forward Pierre-Luc Dubois stepped out of the box to make it 4-2.

The Oilers hunkered down to hold off the Kings most of the third. But with the goalie pulled, Kempe deflected a shot past Skinner with 2:18 left to trim the deficit to one.

The Kings pressured for an equalizer in the final two minutes until Phillip Danault hooked Draisaitl with 19.7 seconds left – sending Edmonton on a power play and squashing L.A.’s chances of a comeback.

The Kings limited the Oilers to 13 shots in Sunday’s 1-0 loss and had the same game plan working early, holding Edmonton to one shot through the first 10 minutes of the game.

Kane, however, opened the scoring on Edmonton’s second shot of the night at 10:17 with a soft backhand that slipped past Rittich.

Los Angeles tied it with 28 seconds left in the first when the puck caromed around the boards and bounced in front of the net to Laferriere, who shot into an open net with Skinner out to play the puck.

Lizotte then scored 3:08 into the second to give Los Angeles its only lead of the game and quiet Rogers Place before Edmonton replied with an onslaught.

It’s the first time the Oilers have advanced from the first round in three straight years since 1990-92.

The Oilers fell 4-2 in the second round to the eventual Stanley Cup-champion Vegas Golden Knights last year.

McDavid became the sixth player to record 10 or more assists through the first five games of the playoffs – and the first in nearly 30 years. Draisaitl joined McDavid and Sidney Crosby as the third active player to record 10 points in four or more playoff series.

The 2023-24 NHL regular season was an entertaining one, with races for playoff position, point and goal leaders, and major trophies all coming down to the bitter end.

But not every fan base got to enjoy all of it so much.

With eliminations piling up, it’s time to look ahead to the offseason. Clubs that didn’t quite hit the mark this season will use the draft, free agency and trades in an effort to be more competitive in 2024-25.

Read on for a look at what went wrong for each eliminated team, along with a breakdown of its biggest keys this offseason and realistic expectations for next season. Note that more teams will be added to this story as they are eliminated.

Note: Profiles for the Atlantic and Metro teams were written by Kristen Shilton, while Ryan S. Clark analyzed the Central and Pacific teams. Stats are collected from sites such as Natural Stat Trick, Hockey Reference and Evolving Hockey. Projected cap space per Cap Friendly. Dates listed with each team are when the entry was published.

Jump to a team:
ANA | ARI | BUF | CGY
CHI | CBJ | DET | LA
MIN | MTL | NJ | NYI
OTT | PHI | PIT | SJ
SEA | STL | TB
WSH | WPG