LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kevin Fiala had the perfect bounce-back game after being scratched one night earlier for violating a team rule.
The Los Angeles Kings' forward had a goal and an assist in Wednesday night's 6-3 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights.
Fiala was a healthy scratch Tuesday at San Jose after missing a team meeting when his alarm didn't go off. He said his iPhone was broken and he tried to use his iPad as an alarm, which didn't work.
“We'll never do that again,” Fiala said. "I was lucky to have a game today and not in like three or four days. I think it was easier to let go and to have a good game today. And hopefully we can all forget it now.”
Coach Jim Hiller said before the game that he had talked with Fiala, and that both had moved on from the incident.
The healthy scratch though came during what was a bad four-day stretch for Fiala. He was benched during the third period of last Saturday's game against Utah after picking up two penalties that gave him five minors in five games.
“It might look like, ‘Oh, he got benched, and now he misses (a meeting).’ I’m not worried about Kevin. Kevin’ll get it back,” Hiller said. “There’s nothing malicious with anything Kevin did. Kevin is a team guy. He wants the team to have success. Sometimes he has problems controlling his emotions and taking penalties. But it’s nothing that he’s doing purposefully, I was happy to see him rewarded tonight.”
Fiala got on the scoresheet midway through the second period when he assisted on Anze Kopitar's goal to extend Los Angeles' lead to 4-0.
Fiala then scored his third power-play goal of the season 6:23 into the third period to give the Kings a 5-0 advantage.
“He’s the game breaker. We need him to get on the scoresheet," captain Anze Kopitar said. "We want to get him on the power play and get him chances. For him to get a couple of points tonight, it’s sure it’s going to be good for him.”
Fiala has five goals and eight points in nine games. After having his third career 70-point campaign with 29 goals and 73 points last season, he admitted to putting too much pressure on himself.
“You always want to be better than last year. The real answer is it’s tough sometimes," he said. "Mentally, sometimes you just try to do too much or think too much about goals because all those expectations The simple thing is just to be in the moment and, just to take it game-by-game. Sometimes it’s not that easy. I struggled a little bit this season with that. And hopefully with this it can help me to just take it game-by-game and stay in the moment and control what I can control.”
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Los Angeles Kings left wing Kevin Fiala, left, and Vegas Golden Knights right wing Alexander Holtz battle for the puck during the third period of an NHL hockey game, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Los Angeles Kings defenseman Brandt Clarke (92) celebrates his goal with left wing Kevin Fiala (22) during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Utah Hockey Club, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)
SAO PAULO (AP) — Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is undergoing double hernia surgery on Thursday at a hospital in the country's capital, his family said.
Bolsonaro, who has been hospitalized since Wednesday, has been serving a 27-year prison sentence since November for an attempted coup.
He was granted court permission to leave prison after federal police doctors confirmed that he needed the procedure. The surgery in Brasilia is expected to last about four hours, the DF Star hospital medical team said in a statement Wednesday.
Doctors say Bolsonaro's double hernia causes him pain. The former leader, who was in power between 2019 and 2022, has gone through several other surgeries since he was stabbed in the abdomen during a campaign rally in 2018.
Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who oversaw Bolsonaro’s coup trial and sentenced him to prison, authorized the procedure, but denied the former president’s request for house arrest after he leaves the hospital.
Bolsonaro doesn't have any contact with the few other inmates at the federal police headquarters in Brasilia, where he is held and where his 12-square-meter (around 130-square-foot) room has a bed, a private bathroom, air conditioning, a television and a desk, according to authorities.
He has free access to his doctors and lawyers, but other visitors must receive approval from the Supreme Court. On Wednesday, de Moraes authorized Bolsonaro’s sons to visit him while he's hospitalized. His wife, Michelle Bolsonaro, is accompanying him.
Early Thursday, his eldest son, Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, told reporters before the surgery that his father had written a letter confirming he had appointed him as his political party's presidential candidate in next year’s election. Flávio Bolsonaro announced on Dec. 5 that he will challenge President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who is seeking a fourth nonconsecutive term, as the candidate of Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party.
The senator read the letter to journalists, and his office released a reproduction of it to the media.
“He represents the continuation of the path of prosperity that I began well before becoming president, as I believe we must restore the responsibility of leading Brazil with justice, resolve and loyalty to the aspirations of the Brazilian people,” Bolsonaro said in the handwritten letter, dated Dec. 25.
The former president and several of his allies were convicted by a panel of Supreme Court justices for attempting to overthrow Brazil’s democratic system following his 2022 election defeat.
The plot included plans to kill Lula, Vice President Geraldo Alckmin and de Moraes. There was also a plan to encourage an insurrection in early 2023.
Bolsonaro was also convicted on charges that include leading an armed criminal organization and attempting the violent abolition of the democratic rule of law. He has denied any wrongdoing.
Follow the AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro points to his electronic ankle monitor that the Supreme Court ordered him to wear, at Congress in Brasilia, Brazil, July 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Minervino Junior, CB/D.A Press, File)
