Good morning. The Rams found out Monday how much Sunday cost them. Four key players are out for weeks or for the season, including Davante Adams and Blake Grupe, and they worked out Matt Prater and Brandon McManus to be their next kicker. The Ducks lost 5-2 at Madison Square Garden to start their road trip, and the Lakers waived Dalton Knecht to set their roster for Wednesday’s opener. Tonight: the Kings and Ducks are both on the East Coast at 4, and Tampa Bay is at the Golden Knights at 7:30. Let’s get into it.
🚨 HEADLINES
🏈 “You don’t replace somebody like him.” Adams out 6-10 weeks, Turner 4-6, and Ford and Grupe done for the season — Arash Markazi at Rams Village.
🏒 Late goals only. The Ducks scored twice in the final 70 seconds and lost 5-2 to the Rangers — Allan Kreda at Madison Square Garden.
🏀 Knecht waived. The Lakers cut their 2024 first-round pick to get to 15 before the opener — Carlos Yakimowich.
🏈 Next man up. How UCLA’s receivers have held together through injuries — Jack Haslett.
See what else is trending at The Sporting Tribune.
📋 SCOREBOARD — MONDAY
🏒 NHL: Rangers 5, Ducks 2
🏈 THE MORNING AFTER
The Rams knew Sunday’s loss was bad. Monday, Arash Markazi reports, they found out how bad:
Davante Adams: ruptured hamstring, out 6-10 weeks.
Kobie Turner: groin, out 4-6 weeks and likely headed to injured reserve.
Poona Ford: ruptured triceps, out for the season.
Blake Grupe: torn ACL, out for the season, after the tackle on the kickoff in his first game as a Ram.
Myles Garrett is still out after knee surgery and won’t practice this week. Trent McDuffie is progressing, and there’s no timetable for tight end Terrance Ferguson.
“You don’t replace somebody like him,” Sean McVay said of Adams. “It starts with me,” he said again on the team’s energy and discipline. He did point to the defense, which held Arizona to 0-for-5 in the red zone.
Now the Rams need their third kicker in eight days. They let Harrison Mevis go after the blocked kick against Buffalo, and Grupe lasted one quarter. They planned to work out Brandon McManus and Matt Prater on Monday. Prater has made 29 of 31 field goals over the last two seasons, including the playoffs. McVay expects to “have something here in the next day or two.”
The Rams are 2-4, last in the NFC West, and have lost three of four. They play at the Raiders next on Sunday at Allegiant Stadium.
GO DEEPER
› Arash Markazi: Rams devastated by injuries after Cardinals loss (The Sporting Tribune)
› Eric Lambkins II: Rams go from Super Bowl favorites to NFC West cellar dwellers (The Sporting Tribune)
› Arash Markazi: Rams kicker Blake Grupe knocked out after suffering knee injury on kickoff (The Sporting Tribune)
TOGETHER WITH BETONLINE
Today’s TST Best Bets are brought to you by BetOnline.ag. Join here — new players get a 50% welcome bonus and up to $250 in free bets.
🏒 A LATE START IN NEW YORK
The Ducks’ trip to New York started about 15 hours late because of a mechanical problem with their charter, and the game went about as badly. Allan Kreda writes that Sean Durzi scored 78 seconds in, J.T. Miller scored on the power play, Gabe Perreault added one and Oliver Bjorkstrand scored twice. Dylan Garand had a shutout until Nick Jensen scored with 1:09 left, in his first game of the season. A.J. Greer added one with 33 seconds left. Leo Carlsson and Beckett Sennecke didn’t do much.
“I thought our top guys weren’t very good tonight,” Joel Quenneville said. It was Anaheim’s first road loss in four games this season. The Rangers, last in the East a year ago, are 6-0-0 at home. The Ducks are at the Islanders tonight, then New Jersey on Thursday and Philadelphia on Saturday.
GO DEEPER
› Allan Kreda: Ducks fall 5-2 to Rangers to start four-game trip (The Sporting Tribune)
🏀 THE LAST CUT
The Lakers waived Dalton Knecht on Monday, Carlos Yakimowich reports, to get from 16 players on standard contracts to the regular-season limit of 15. Knecht was the 17th pick in 2024 and scored 37 against Utah as a rookie, but the offseason added Quentin Grimes, Ziaire Williams and Matisse Thybulle on the wing. He averaged 7.1 points and shot 36.8% from three in 132 games. JJ Redick credited his improvement and acknowledged how tough the crowded wing group made his spot.
That sets the roster for Wednesday’s opener against Golden State at Crypto.com Arena. Redick still hasn’t named his starters around Luka Dončić, Austin Reaves and Walker Kessler, the three of whom shared the floor for only one half all preseason.
GO DEEPER
› Carlos Yakimowich: Lakers part ways with Dalton Knecht ahead of season opener (The Sporting Tribune)
› Carlos Yakimowich: Lakers Sunday Report: Three questions entering opening week (The Sporting Tribune)
🍔 THE DEALS BOARD
Active today across Southern California — brought to you by Ike’s Sandwiches, home of the world famous Arash Markazi sandwich, which has fried chicken, purple slaw, wasabi mayo, honey mustard, and cheddar on a Dutch Crunch roll. Just ask for the 500 at any Ike’s location.
🍔 Carl’s Jr. — free Famous Star with Cheese with a large drink, from the Rams’ interception Sunday. Code RAMS1221 in the Carl’s Jr. app’s Offers tab.
Expired: the Norms hotcakes from the Galaxy’s home goal ended Monday night. Coming Wednesday: a Lakers opening-night win over Golden State turns on two free tacos at Jack in the Box with code LETSGOLAKERS.
🏟️ THREE GAMES, ONE TUESDAY
Kings at Capitals at 4 on ABTV, the start of a five-game East Coast trip. The Kings are 0-4-2, the only winless team in the NHL, and average two goals a game.
Ducks at Islanders at 4 on Prime Video, the second stop on their trip, a night after the loss at the Garden.
Lightning at Golden Knights at 7:30 on ESPN, the end of the homestand. Vegas has scored at least five goals in three straight games and won 6-2 over Pittsburgh on Saturday. Adin Hill is 4-0.
Wednesday: Warriors at Lakers, opening night. Sunday: El Tráfico, and the Rams at the Raiders.
📌 AROUND THE MARKETS
UCLA’s receivers keep stepping up. Jack Haslett writes that the No. 9 Bruins have kept their passing game going since losing Mikey Mathews early in the season. Senior Semaj Morgan leads the team with 313 receiving yards, Landon Ellis had two catches for 57 yards against Wisconsin, and Brian Rowe Jr. and Aidan Mizell are getting more involved. “Teams are going to try to take something away, so other people have to be able to step up and make plays,” Bob Chesney said.
GO DEEPER
› Jack Haslett: How UCLA’s receiving core has stuck together for success (The Sporting Tribune)
› Jack Haslett: UCLA moves to No. 9 in AP Poll after defeating Wisconsin (The Sporting Tribune)
📺 WATCHLIST — TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20
🏒 NHL: Kings at Capitals — Capital One Arena — 4:00 p.m. — ABTV
🏒 NHL: Ducks at Islanders — UBS Arena — 4:00 p.m. — Prime Video
🏒 NHL: Lightning at Golden Knights — T-Mobile Arena — 7:30 p.m. — ESPN
🎟️ GOING TO A GAME?
Get-in prices across Southern California, Las Vegas and Hawaii — brought to you by TickPick, the no-hidden-fee ticket marketplace.
🏒 Lightning at Golden Knights — T-Mobile Arena — $40
🏀 Warriors at Lakers, opening night — Crypto.com Arena (Wednesday) — $120
⚽ El Tráfico, Galaxy vs. LAFC (Sunday) — $100
🌴 TST TRIVIA
Matt Prater, one of the kickers the Rams worked out Monday, held the NFL record for the longest field goal for eight years. How long was it?
Answer at the bottom.
🎧 THE SPORTING TRIBUNE TODAY
The Sporting Tribune Today airs weekdays at 7 a.m. and 11 a.m. ET on SportsGrid, hosted by Grant Mona and John Browner and built on reporting from our staff across Southern California, Las Vegas and Hawai’i.
📺 Watch on television. SportsGrid TV is available on DIRECTV and MyFree DIRECTV (Channel 4105 HD), Samsung TV Plus (2362), Local Now (2024), Vizio WatchFree (640), LG Channels (469) and The Roku Channel (250). You can also search “SportsGrid” on YouTube TV, FuboTV, Sling TV, Plex and Amazon Prime Video.
📻 Listen on radio and podcast. The show airs on SportsGrid Radio, distributed through Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Podbean, iHeartRadio and TuneIn — and continues across our regional partners through Westwood One Sports.
› Listen to the latest episode
Trivia answer: 64 yards, for Denver in 2013. Justin Tucker broke the record with a 66-yarder in 2021.
Thanks for reading! Follow us on X and Instagram, or drop us a line at tips@thesportingtribune.com.