It marked the first time Backstrom and Wilson took the ice at Capital One Arena since the first round of last year’s Stanley Cup playoffs in May. Both underwent major procedures in the offseason — Backstrom had hip resurfacing surgery and Wilson had ACL surgery.
“You can’t ever take it for granted, playing in the NHL, the fans, and the roar when Nick and I came out,” Wilson said, summing up the day. “It’s a pretty special feeling.”
Following nearly eight months of rehabilitation, both were cleared to make their long-awaited returns and were integrated quickly into the top six. Backstrom slotted in as the first-line center between Alex Ovechkin and Conor Sheary while Wilson played on the second-line right wing with Dylan Strome and Evgeny Kuznetsov. Both also got time on the power play, with Backstrom running the half-wall on the top unit and Wilson getting a look on the second unit.
“It meant the world,” said Backstrom, who skated on 18 shifts with 14:03 time on the ice. “Obviously, I missed this. Without knowing what my future is going to hold, it feels great.”
Wilson was among many who lauded Backstrom’s battle back.
“[Backstrom] has that demeanor that makes everyone around him better,” Wilson said. “He’s a guy that everyone around the room wants to play well for. He gets that buy-in from his teammates.”
Darcy Kuemper continued his strong play between the pipes as he made 37 saves and held off the swarming Blue Jackets for his second shutout in five games. Kuemper’s four shutouts lead the NHL this season.
Wilson finished with 14:10 time on the ice across 17 shifts, even turning down a fight — a key element to his game — during his return.
“You put in the work, everyone tells you that you’re good to go, but it’s different testing that at the NHL level,” Wilson said. “I’m happy to get that one out of the way. It felt a little better than I thought, but it’s definitely overwhelming when you get out there.”
Despite the Capitals getting two of their stars back in the mix, the ice wasn’t exactly tilted in their favor, as Columbus, coming off a 4-3 win over the Carolina Hurricanes, dominated in shots on goal and limited Washington’s chances at 5-on-5 and on the man advantage. However, Erik Gustafsson‘s goal just 2:43 minutes into the game secured the win for the Capitals.
Elvis Merzlikins made 18 saves for Columbus, who have dropped 10 of the past 12 games.
Washington’s Anthony Mantha was a healthy scratch for the first time in his Capitals tenure, as he and Nicolas Aube-Kubel sat out with Backstrom and Wilson returning.
ESPN baseball reporter. Covered the L.A. Rams for ESPN from 2016 to 2018 and the L.A. Angels for MLB.com from 2012 to 2016.
LOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani took a 100 mph fastball to his right shoulder blade in the bottom half of Thursday night’s ninth inning, marking the eighth time a batter had been hit in another tension-filled series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres.
Anger filled Dodger Stadium, by which point a sold-out crowd had mostly filed out. Players were ready to spill out of the dugout once more. But Ohtani raised his left hand and vigorously waved off teammates as he made his walk toward first base, clamoring for peace.
The fireworks had already taken place.
A half-inning earlier, Fernando Tatis Jr. took a 93 mph fastball to the right hand by Dodgers rookie right-hander Jack Little. It marked the second time in a span of three days that Tatis and Ohtani had been hit by pitches almost immediately after one another. More notably for the Padres, it marked the fifth time the Dodgers had hit Tatis since the start of the 2024 season, including three times over the past nine days.
Padres manager Mike Shildt walked toward Tatis and yelled in the direction of the opposing dugout. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts ran onto the field and shoved Shildt before being separated. Both bullpens and dugouts emptied, though order was restored before punches were thrown.
By the end of the night, two managers, one bench coach (Brian Esposito) and one pitcher (Robert Suarez, whose pitch hit Ohtani) had been ejected. The Padres held on for a 5-3 victory, and afterward, Padres star third baseman Manny Machado, a central character in this rivalry, said the Dodgers had better “pray” Tatis is not seriously injured.
“They need to set a little candle up for Tati tomorrow,” Machado said. “Hopefully [the scans] comes back negative. That’s not a good spot to get hit. I don’t care who it is, I don’t care who’s on the mound.”
Tatis wore a bandage on his right hand after the game and sounded dejected when asked how he was feeling.
“Not good,” he said.
Initial X-rays were inconclusive, Tatis added. A CT scan will determine the extent of his injury on Friday.
The Dodgers have hit Tatis a total of six times in his career. The 28 other teams have combined to hit him four times, according to ESPN Research.
“Just clean it up,” he said. “I’m here to play baseball.”
The Padres and Dodgers played five tight National League Division Series contests last fall — the Dodgers won the final two games while facing elimination, shutting the Padres out for 24 consecutive innings — but did not meet this season until June. Thursday’s contest marked the seventh time they had played one another in a span of 11 days. The Dodgers took two of three from San Diego last week, then three of four at Dodger Stadium this week — and every game seemed to bring with it some animus.
On Monday night, Dodgers outfielder Andy Pages was plunked in the left elbow guard, screamed in the direction of Dylan Cease, then later said he felt he was hit intentionally, perhaps because the Padres thought he was relaying signs from second base the prior inning. The following night, Tatis was hit by a Lou Trivino sinker to the upper back in the top of the third, and Ohtani got hit in the right leg by a Randy Vasquez fastball in the bottom half, triggering Roberts’ first ejection of the season. Later, Machado took issue with umpires not ejecting Dodgers reliever Matt Sauer when he hit Jose Iglesias in the left wrist after warnings had been issued.
Thursday took the emotions of this series to another level.
Trivino, who also hit Tatis when he led off the game from Petco Park on June 10, struck Bryce Johnson in the knee in the seventh inning. Two batters later, Tatis was brushed back by another Trivino fastball, prompting Shildt to scream in his direction. Tatis getting plunked again two innings later, after Roberts had begun to empty his bench while trailing 5-0, set everything off.
Shildt said he wasn’t sure if it was intentional. By now, he said, that’s beside the point.
“We got a guy who’s getting X-rays right now, is one of the best players in the game, fortunately on our team, and this guy has taken shots, OK?” Shildt said. “And before this series, and I can back this up with complete evidence, the track records speak for themselves — teams that I manage don’t get into altercations like this because teams that I manage don’t throw at people. But also, teams I manage don’t take anything.
“And after a while, I’m not going to take it. And I’m not going to take it on behalf of Tati, I’m not going to take it on behalf of the team, intentional or unintentional. It’s really that simple. That’s how this game is played. And if you want to call that old-school, then yeah, we’ll play old-school baseball.”
Roberts noted that Little, who sparked the benches-clearing incident when his pitch hit Tatis, was making his major league debut.
“Obviously,” Roberts said, “I think anyone knows there was no intent.”
“And so as [Shildt] comes out, and he’s yelling at me and staring me down, that bothers me,” Roberts added. “Because, to be quite frank, that’s the last thing I wanted. I’m taking starters out of the game, trying to get this game over with and get this kid a couple innings. I took that personal. Because I understand the game, and I understand that it doesn’t feel good to get hit.”
Roberts said he believes the Padres intentionally hit Ohtani with a pitch Thursday night, echoing the same sentiments from Tuesday.
“This is a right-handed pitcher going crosscourt to hit Shohei up and in,” Roberts said of the pitch, which came on a 3-0 count. “That’s a hard throw. And I don’t know how many left-handed hitters Suarez has hit with the fastball, but clearly there was intent behind it.”
With the series over, the Dodgers hold a 3½-game lead in the NL West over the second-place San Francisco Giants, fresh off acquiring Rafael Devers. The Padres trailed by five games.
They won’t see the Dodgers again until August.
“We’re going to get after it for the next two months,” Shildt said, “and they’ll be on the schedule two months from now, and we’ll be ready.”
ESPN baseball reporter. Covered the L.A. Rams for ESPN from 2016 to 2018 and the L.A. Angels for MLB.com from 2012 to 2016.
LOS ANGELES — Federal agents with the United States Department of Homeland Security set up outside Dodger Stadium on Thursday morning, sparking outrage on social media and triggering more protests against immigration enforcement in the city.
The Los Angeles Dodgers, who said they denied the federal agents access to the stadium’s parking lot, subsequently postponed plans to unveil initiatives to assist local immigrant communities.
“Because of the events earlier today, we continue to work with groups that were involved with our programs,” Dodgers president Stan Kasten said. “But we are going to have to delay today’s announcement while we firm up some more details. We’ll get back to you soon with the timing.”
A caravan of white, unmarked vans and SUVs arrived at the Gate A entrance of Dodger Stadium, off Vin Scully Avenue, at around 8 a.m., with agents saying they had detainees to process, according to local media reports and firsthand accounts.
The security guard on hand told the agents that they were not allowed on private property, prompting federal officials to circle outside to Gate E, the downtown-facing entrance to the ballpark’s parking lot where dozens of protesters gathered.
The Los Angeles Police Department later arrived on the scene, and everyone was dispersed by around noon PT.
The Dodgers initially posted on their X account that the federal officials were with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The federal agency, however, refuted its presence at Dodger Stadium through its X account.
“False,” U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement posted. “We were never there.”
The Department of Homeland Security said the agents were with the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), which attempted to access the stadium.
“This has nothing to do with the Dodgers,” DHS posted to X. “CBP vehicles were in the parking lot very briefly, unrelated to any operation or enforcement.”
ICE and CBP are both federal agencies under the Department of Homeland Security.
Protests against ICE raids in Los Angeles began earlier this month after federal agents arrested dozens of workers in the city. Protesters blocked a major freeway and set cars on fire in the following days, prompting police to respond with tear gas, rubber bullets and flash-bang grenades.
In the wake of those protests, and a decision by President Donald Trump’s administration to activate more than 4,000 National Guard members and 700 active-duty Marines over the objection of city and state leaders, the Dodgers were criticized for not making any public statements in support of immigrants.
The team solidified plans to work with immigration groups earlier this week and was planning to unveil them Thursday, until the presence of federal agents further inflamed the situation.
Despite the protests, immigration-enforcement activity has continued throughout Los Angeles, with city leaders and community groups reporting ICE presence at libraries, car washes and home improvement stores. School graduations in the city have increased security over fears of ICE action, with some schools offering parents the option to watch via live streams.
DETROIT — Pittsburgh Pirates reliever Dennis Santana was involved in an altercation with a fan he said “crossed the line” during the second game of Thursday’s doubleheader with the Detroit Tigers, and at one point, he was seen leaping and swiping at the person.
“You guys know me — I’m a calm demeanor type of person,” Santana said after the game through an interpreter. “I’ve never had any issues for any of the teams I’ve played for. This guy crossed the line a few times.”
Santana declined to disclose what the fan said.
“He crossed the line, and I’d like to leave it at that. I’ve never had anything like this happen in my eight years in baseball,” he said.
In videos posted to social media, Santana can be seen pointing out the fan to a police officer before jumping and swinging at the person, who is in the front row above the Pittsburgh bullpen at Comerica Park.
Santana did not complain about how security officers handled the situation.
“My job is as a pitcher, not as security, so I can’t discuss their job,” he said. “I respect them and what they do.”
The fan appeared to be wearing a Tigers hat and a shirt honoring Pirates Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente.
After jumping at the fan, Santana was escorted away by Pirates bullpen personnel and held back by a teammate.
Santana entered the game in the ninth inning, pitching to one batter before the game was delayed by rain. The Pirates won 8-4.
Santana said he discussed the incident with Pirates manager Don Kelly.
“He knows I regret what I did,” Santana said. “You know I’m a professional.”