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Good morning! I have jury duty today, please send good thoughts. Coming up:
While You Were Sleeping: We’re narrowing things down
Forgive me for invoking the wrath of 2016 Lebron James this morning, but we sure do have a lot of playoff series — in both the NHL and NBA — that feel over at 3-1 after a full slate of postseason action last night.
Let’s start on the ice, because the NHL’s game ended last:
At nearly 1 a.m. ET, referees ruled that Ducks center Ryan Poehling’s overtime goal against the Oilers stood as called, ending the game and possibly the series. Anaheim is up 3-1 after another close win. Incredible game, though, with one of the closest replays you’ll see on that final goal.
Also up 3-1: The Sabres, who wrecked shop in Boston last night and made themselves at home on the road. Remember when we were worried about the shaky Buffalo start in this series?
Over: Colorado’s sweep of Los Angeles. Very much not over: Tampa-Montreal, now tied 2-2 after an incredibly gritty comeback from the Lightning in a tough environment. What a series.
Cole Burston / Getty Images
On the hardwood, things got chippy:
Lakers center Deandre Ayton earned an ejection late in L.A.’s blowout loss to the Rockets. The Lakers are still up 3-1. Read our full story.
I think Philadelphia’s time is up after a bad loss at home to Boston, despite Joel Embiid returning to the lineup. The same can be said of the Blazers, who could not handle Victor Wembanyama’s re-emergence. Both the Celtics and Spurs are up 3-1.
Not done: Toronto, whose ugly win over Cleveland tied that series at 2-2. It was a worrisome look for a Cavs team with dark-horse title hopes.
Plenty more playoff action awaits us tonight, of course. Moving on:
Final Thoughts … For Now: Super Bowl teams? From just the draft rankings?
There are still 135 days until the 2026 NFL season kicks off, and while there will be plenty to talk about between now and then, today feels right to put a bow on draft season. So I’ll leave you, for now, with two overarching thoughts.
First: Dane Brugler released his ranking of all 32 draft classes and, as he incredibly noted in the story, two of his top three classes last year — Seattle and New England — made the Super Bowl. That’s a good indicator, right?
Anyway, here are the top five and one team I winced at:
1. Browns
2. Giants
3. Raiders
4. Cowboys
5. Jets
29. Vikings
Do I expect two of those top five to make the Super Bowl again this year? No. But feel free to screenshot this and mock me when the Jets and Raiders are fighting over a ring.
And woof, the Vikings. This team entered last year with legitimate Super Bowl hopes. Now they have a bad draft class after a nightmare season. Kyler Murray should provide more stability at quarterback, but is there hope in Minnesota? Find my contact info at the bottom if you have some.
See Dane’s full rankings here.
Kenneth K. Lam/Baltimore Sun/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
Next: How are the nerves in Baltimore? It has been almost two months since Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta became a temporary pariah in NFL circles after nixing the Maxx Crosby blockbuster trade over a failed physical. Michael Silver spent some time with the Baltimore brain trust during the draft to poke around.
Two things that stood out to me:
It’s easy to forget amid the Crosby drama that the Ravens also fired longtime head coach John Harbaugh just after Baltimore’s season ended in Week 18. DeCosta did not make the decision, but he is in charge of running an organization that’s undergone tumultuous — a word that somehow feels light there — change in just three months’ time. I’d crumble, probably.
It seems as if the pariah tag has worn off a bit. DeCosta said he’s open for business, and his peers seem to agree.
There’s plenty more in Michael’s full story, which is worth a read today. DeCosta apparently likes being the heel. Also, the team owner requested to make a draft pick?
Almost done:
News to Know
Winslow Townson / Getty Images
Fury boils over Cora dismissal
The news cycle around a run-of-the-mill coach firing, notoriety-wise, would already be done by now if the Boston Red Sox’s ouster of Alex Cora was anything akin to normal. But despite the team’s 10-17 record, a furor continues to pulse (sorry) throughout the Boston fan base and clubhouse, as we learned yesterday. Multiple Red Sox players blasted their own front office, questioning the direction of the franchise and describing a sense of shock throughout the locker room. You can read all their comments here.
Brittany Ghiroli keyed in on a specific aspect of all this that I thought was smart: Why isn’t the owner talking about this seismic change? John Henry’s silence speaks volumes about the state of the organization.
In New Orleans, brotherly magic
Brothers Matt and Alex Fitzpatrick won the Zurich Classic in New Orleans yesterday, capping the PGA Tour’s lone team event with a birdie on No. 18 to win the title. It also meant more: With the win, Alex earned his Tour card, while Matt continued his red-hot start to 2026. I was in attendance Friday and followed these two, too. Super fun to see and honestly an underrated event. Read our full story here.
More news:
No surprises, meanwhile, on the LPGA Tour, as Nelly Korda went wire-to-wire to win the Chevron Championship, the first major of the year. It was never really in doubt.
Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia is heading to Ravens minicamp after going undrafted.
Incredible stuff from the London Marathon: Kenyan runner Sabastian Sawe set a world record and became the first runner to run a marathon in under two hours in a legal race. The craziest thing: The second-place guy broke the two-hour mark, too. Read our full story.
Natasha Cloud, who by all indications is a worthy WNBA player, remains unsigned two weeks before the season begins. Why?
Gotham FC and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani will offer $5 tickets in a push for affordable soccer. Nice.
The Yankees are calling up former top prospect Jasson Domínguez with Giancarlo Stanton injured. More details here.
NASCAR’s newest star, Carson Hocevar, won his first race yesterday. It’s a huge moment for the sport.
Watch Guide
📺 NHL: First round
7 p.m. ET on ESPN
Philadelphia has another chance to close out Pittsburgh in our early game, though the Penguins are favored in this home game. Las Vegas-Utah follows at 9:30 p.m. with the Mammoth up 2-1.
📺 NBA: First round
8 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock
Our most interesting game comes first, Pistons-Magic, in which Orlando can take a 3-1 lead over the East’s No. 1 seed with a win. Oklahoma City can finish a sweep of Phoenix at 9:30 p.m., while Minnesota — incredibly — can close out Denver at 10:30 p.m. Stacked night.
Get tickets to games like these here.
Pulse Picks
I remain fascinated by the new ABS system in baseball. Who’s using it best so far?
For the first time since stepping away, former Steelers coach Mike Tomlin — the newest NBC employee — opened up about why he finally left the job he held for 19 years.
The Alex Cora firing was a shock, sure. But it might not be the only MLB dismissal in the early going, as Matt Gelb writes.
There are also NHL teams sitting at home right now. Sean McIndoe scrounged up three positive thoughts for 16 hopeless teams.
Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: NFL Draft winners and losers from Sunday.
Most-read on the website yesterday: ☝️
📫 That’s all for now! Say hello at thepulse@theathletic.com, check out our other newsletters and connect with me on Instagram for more.