The Final Push Before the Olympic Break This is a critical week for the Kings to get some points before the NHL pause for the 2026 Winter Olympics beginning Feb. 6. The Kings have just two games left before this massive break, and both are against direct Pacific Division rivals Seattle Kraken and Vegas Golden Knights. How they finish this week will determine their mental and statistical standing for the next two weeks of downtime.
There were two special activities before kick-off. The FCB Women players wore special warm-up shirts with a message of support for Lena Oberdorf after the recurrence of her cruciate ligament injury. As well as that, both teams presented a "WE29" banner together in support of the DFB's bid to host UEFA Women's EURO 2029 (' WE29 - Together WE Rise'), with FCB captain Stanway wearing a WE29 armband during the game.
Although the Munich side fell behind in the second minute, they went on to secure a comfortable victory thanks to a brace from Lea Schüller and goals from Pernille Harder and Linda Dallmann. There were also four milestones to celebrate: Schüller scored her 100th competitive goal for FCB Women, Georgia Stanway made her 100th appearance in a Bayern jersey, 17-year-old Luzie Zähringer made her Bundesliga debut and Maria Plattner made her first appearance for FC Bayern's first team in a competitive match.
1999 - Braves coach Don Baylor is named as the new manager of the Chicago Cubs. 1894 - Charlie Sweeney, who pitched for the Providence Grays, St. Louis Maroons and Cleveland Blues is convicted of manslaughter in San Francisco, California. 1909 - The Boston Red Sox hire former Senators skipper Patsy Donovan as their new manager replacing Fred Lake. 1916 - Harry Frazee and Hugh Ward buy the Boston Red Sox for a reported $675,000.
Alex Ovechkin has played 21 seasons in the NHL and recently suited up in his 1,500th game, becoming only the 24th player in league history to reach the milestone. To put Ovechkin's longevity into perspective, ESPN shared a mind-blowing statistic during their telecast of the Capitals-Stars game. Ovechkin has played against 32 percent of all NHL players... ever. Meanwhile, fellow sports legends LeBron James (22 NBA seasons) and Tom Brady (23 NFL seasons) have played against 35 percent and 21 percent of their league's total players.
The goal was made possible due to some hustle by Protas on the forecheck. As Thunderbirds defenseman Theo Lindstein looked to break out of the zone, Protas's pressure forced him to make a poor pass, chunking his feed off the netting of Springfield's goal. Protas then picked up the loose biscuit and fed Thomas, who beat goaltender Georgi Romanov with a shot from between the circles.
