NHL:
Tyler Ennis had a hat trick to lead the Ottawa Senators to a 5-0 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night. Drake Batherson and Alex Formenton also scored for Ottawa, while Matt Murray made 32 saves for his third win of the season and 14th career shutout. The win came at a cost: Batherson went hard into the boards late in the first period and did not return. Dylan Gambrel also suffered an upper-body injury. This was the first of a four-game homestand for the Senators, who continue to play without fans.
In other NHL ice action:
Connor McDavid scored with 23.4 seconds left in overtime, powering the Edmonton Oilers to a 3-2 comeback win over the Vancouver Canucks Tuesday night. The Edmonton captain tapped a pass from Darnell Nurse into the net for his 20th goal of the season. Ryan McLeod finally got Edmonton on the board and Leon Draisaitl added a power-play goal to knot the score at 2-2. Mikko Koskinen had 25 saves for the Oilers. Tyler Motte, with a short-handed tally, and Elias Pettersson scored for Vancouver, while goalie Spencer Martin had 47 saves.
Mattias Ekholm scored the go-ahead goal late in the second period and the Nashville Predators beat the Seattle Kraken 4-2. The Predators also got goals from Filip Forsberg, Luke Kunin and Matt Duchene in their third straight win. Roman Josi added two assists, and Juuse Saros made 32 saves. Jared McCann and Adam Larsson scored for the Kraken, who had won three of four — one of the best stretches of their inaugural season.
Mason Marchment scored twice and added an assist as the Florida Panthers defeated the Winnipeg Jets 5-3 on Tuesday night. Anton Lundell also had a goal and assist, and Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Bennett also scored for the Panthers. Sergei Bobrovsky made 32 saves for Florida, which ended a five-game trip 3-2-0 and is 8-6-5 overall away from home this season. Paul Stastny, Kyle Connor and Pierre-Luc Dubois scored for the Jets. Connor Hellebuyck, playing his 12th straight game, made 27 stops.
Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang led a four-goal, third-period barrage to give the Pittsburgh Penguins a 6-3 win over the Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday night. Pittsburgh trailed early in the third before its offensive show, when Letang scored twice and Crosby netted his 11th for the Penguins. Pittsburgh has 17 wins in its last 19 games.
Sebastian Aho’s second goal of the game 3:49 into overtime gave the Carolina Hurricanes a 4-3 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights after blowing a two-goal lead late in regulation. Nino Niederreiter and Vincent Trocheck scored 57 seconds apart in the second period and Aho had a power-play goal in the third for Carolina. Andrei Svechnikov’s second assist of the game came on the winning goal.
Joe Pavelski had two goals and two assists, and the Dallas Stars extended their winning streak to four games with a 5-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils. Roope Hintz scored for the fourth straight game and rookie Jacob Peterson got his eighth goal as Dallas swept its four-game road trip.
Zach Parise scored the tiebreaking goal with just over eight minutes left in the third period and Ilya Sorokin made 14 saves as the New York Islanders edged Philadelphia 4-3 on Tuesday night. The reeling Flyers notched their franchise-record 13th straight loss. Meanwhile, Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Keith Yandle has broken the NHL record by playing in his 965th consecutive game.
NBA:
LeBron James welcomed Anthony Davis back with a lob pass for the game’s first basket, then turned to this own offense to score 33 points in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 106-96 victory over the Brooklyn Nets.
Davis had eight points in 25 minutes after missing 17 games with a sprained left knee and the Lakers got good nights off the bench from Malik Monk and Carmelo Anthony.
James added seven rebounds and six assists, punctuating his performance with steals and dunks about 15 seconds apart midway through the fourth quarter in front of a roaring road crowd that didn’t have most of its own stars to cheer.
When James got his sixth point on Tuesday during the Los Angeles Lakers’ game at Brooklyn, it pushed his career total to 36,387 in his career. And that meant he was exactly 2,000 points shy of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
In other NBA action:
Anthony Edwards had 40 points and the Minnesota Timberwolves rallied in the fourth quarter to beat the Portland Trail Blazers 109-107 on Tuesday night. Karl-Anthony Towns had 17 points and 17 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who improved to 24-23 to surpass their win total from all of last season when they finished 23-49. Jusuf Nurkic had 20 points and 14 rebounds for the Blazers. It was his sixth straight double-double, longest streak of his career.
Stephen Curry had 18 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, rookie Jonathan Kuminga put on a show in the fourth and scored 22 points, and the Golden State Warriors routed Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks 130-92. It was a tough night for Dallas seeing Tim Hardaway Jr. go down with a broken fifth metatarsal bone in his left foot. The guard was helped off with 7:16 left in the second quarter and didn’t return. Hardaway went down awkwardly on a drive and grabbed at his foot, but was able to get up and shoot free throws.
Luke Kennard scored seven points inside the final 9 seconds, including a go-ahead four-point play with 1.9 seconds remaining, and the Los Angeles Clippers overcame a 35-point first-half deficit to stun the Washington Wizards 116-115. Kennard hit a 32-footer out of a timeout. Then, after Washington committed a 5-second violation, Kennard sank another 3 running to his right while absorbing a foul from Bradley Beal. He finished with 25 points. Amir Coffey scored a career-high 29 points for the depleted Clippers.
Jayson Tatum scored 36 points and Jaylen Brown had 30 points and 10 rebounds before both rested the entire fourth quarter as the Boston Celtics routed the Sacramento Kings 128-75. Robert Williams finished with 13 points and 17 rebounds for the Celtics, who got off to a torrid start and never let up on the Kings, even when both teams went to reserves for the fourth quarter. Boston stretched its lead to 60 points before it was over.
Nikola Jokic had 28 points, 21 rebounds and nine assists, and the Denver Nuggets beat the Detroit Pistons 110-105 on Tuesday. Monte Morris made four free throws in the final 11.5 seconds to clinch the game. Jeff Green added 20 points for the Nuggets in the second game between the teams in three nights. Cade Cunningham led Detroit with 34 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.
Joel Embiid scored 12 of his 42 points in the fourth quarter as the Philadelphia 76ers pulled away from the short-handed New Orleans Pelicans for a 117-107 win. Tobias Harris added 33 points for the 76ers, who opened a five-game homestand by winning their 12th of the last 15. Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 31 points and Willy Hernangómez had 29 for the Pelicans. After an impressive first half in which they twice had leads of 10 points, the Pelicans kept it close through most of the second half. But Embiid took over during crunch time in the fourth.
Pascal Siakam had 24 points and matched his career high with 12 assists, Gary Trent Jr. scored a season-best 32 and the Toronto Raptors never trailed in a 125-113 victory over the Charlotte Hornets. OG Anunoby scored 24 points, Chris Boucher had 12, Malachi Flynn 11 and Dalano Banton 10 as the short-handed Raptors overcame the absences of starters Fred VanVleet and Scottie Barnes. LaMelo Ball scored 25 points and Miles Bridges had 22 for the Hornets, who had won three straight road games.
Dejounte Murray and Jakob Poeltl combined for 37 points in three quarters to help the San Antonio Spurs coast to a 134-104 victory over the Houston Rockets Tuesday night. Murray had 19 points and 10 assists and Poeltl had 18 points with nine rebounds by the end of the third quarter, and neither played after that with the Spurs up by 31.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL:
No. 1 Auburn survived a scare from Missouri, winning 55-54 in the program’s first-ever game as the nation’s top-ranked team. K.D. Johnson scored 17 points, including five straight within the final 90 seconds. He converted a three-point play with 1:29 remaining to put Auburn ahead 53-51, then added a layup with 45 seconds left for a four-point advantage, and the Tigers held on from there. Walker Kessler had 13 points and 12 rebounds for Auburn, which shot 30% from the field. Javon Pickett led Missouri with 17 points, and Jaron Coleman added 10.
In other men's college basketball action:
Johnny Juzang and Jules Bernard scored 15 points each and seventh-ranked UCLA used gritty defense to beat No. 3 Arizona 75-59. The Wildcats lost for the first time in Pac-12 play. The Bruins improved to 14-2 overall and 6-1 in the league, tying Arizona for first place. UCLA took the lead for good during a 12-0 run in the first half on the way to winning its fourth in a row. Arizona fell to 16-2 overall. Bennedict Mathurin scored 10 of his 16 points in the second half to lead the Wildcats.
Adama Sanogo scored 19 points to lead No. 20 UConn to its fourth straight win, a 96-73 rout of Georgetown. Isaiah Whaley and Jordan Hawkins each added 15 points for the Huskies (14-4, 5-2 Big East), who never trailed. R.J. Cole had 14 points, seven assists and six rebounds, while Tyrese Martin chipped in with 13 points. UConn ran past the Hoyas, outscoring them 27-6 on the fast break and dominated the boards, outrebounding Georgetown 40-28. Aminu Mohammed had 15 points to lead Georgetown ( 6-11, 0-6), which lost its seventh consecutive game and sixth straight to start the conference season.
Kellan Grady scored eight points in overtime, including consecutive 3-pointers about a minute apart, and Sahvir Wheeler added two free throws to lift No. 12 Kentucky over Mississippi State 82-74 on Tuesday night. Grady finished with 18 points and Oscar Tshiebwe added 21 points with 22 rebounds for Kentucky (16-3, 6-1 Southeastern Conference). Wildcats coach John Calipari got his 800th career victory. Iverson Molinar scored 22 of his 30 points in the second half to lead Mississippi State.
Trent Frazier scored a game-high 16 points, and No. 24 Illinois held on to beat No. 10 Michigan State 56-55 and take sole possession of first place in the Big Ten. The Illini led by as many as 15 points early in the second half before Michigan State mounted a furious comeback in the final four minutes. Down by two, the Spartans had a chance to tie the game with less than a second left after Coleman Hawkins fouled Malik Hall as Hall drove to the basket. He missed the first free throw and made the second, then time expired.
Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua and Kendall Brown both had a double-double as fourth-ranked Baylor won its third game in a row since rare consecutive losses, beating Kansas State 74-49. The 18-2 Bears were home for the first time since consecutive losses in the Ferrell Center two weeks ago that ended their 21-game winning streak and cost them their No. 1 ranking in the AP poll. The 10-9 Wildcats led Baylor only after Ismael Massoud made a 3-pointer on their first shot of the game.
Justin Moore scored 16 points, Collin Gillespie had 14 and No. 14 Villanova beat DePaul 67-43 on Tuesday night. The Wildcats beat the Blue Demons for the 22nd straight time. The Wildcats last lost to DePaul in 2008. Javan Johnson led the Blue Demons with 16 points. Eric Dixon scored 11 points for the Wildcats. Villanova hit 11 3-pointers.
Paolo Banchero scored 19 points as ninth-ranked Duke pulled away late from Clemson for a 71-69 win Tuesday night. Wendell Moore Jr. scored 13 points for Duke, Joey Baker added 11 and Mark Williams registered his fourth double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds. PJ Hall led Clemson in scoring and on the glass with 14 points and 10 boards. Hunter Tyson scored 13 points while Chase Hunter had 12. Tyson’s layup with 3:19 remaining gave Clemson a two-point lead late. But Duke closed the game on an 8-4 run — four of those points by Banchero.
MLB:
David Ortiz was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first turn on the ballot, while steroid-tainted stars Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens were denied entry to Cooperstown in their final year under consideration by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.
Ortiz, a clutch slugger and 10-time All-Star over 20 seasons mostly with the Boston Red Sox, was named on 77.9% of ballots, clearing the 75% threshold needed for enshrinement. He’s the fourth primary designated hitter voted into the Hall.
Bonds, Clemens, Curt Schilling and Sammy Sosa were all rejected in their 10th and final years on the BBWAA ballot.
Elsewhere in the majors:
Major League Baseball withdrew its plan for more limited salary arbitration a day after the union withdrew its demand for greater free agent eligibility. The clubs also accepted the union’s framework to funnel additional money to pre-arbitration-eligible players from central revenue, offering a $10 million pool. Time is dwindling for an agreement. Spring training is scheduled to start on Feb. 16 with opening day on March 31 threatened if there is not a deal by the end of next month.
The Chicago White Sox have added another name to their rich Cuban history, agreeing to a contract with outfielder 23-year-old Oscar Colás. Considered one of the top international free agents, Colás received a $2.7 million signing bonus. The team also agreed to terms with outfielder Erick Hernández that included a $1 million bonus.
In a flurry of changes in the Chicago Cubs front office, Matt Dorey is taking on the role of vice president of player personnel with Jared Banner taking on Dorey’s previous position of vice president of player development.
NFL:
New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton, whose 15-year tenure with the club included its only Super Bowl championship and also a one-season suspension stemming from the NFL’s bounty investigation, is retiring from coaching. Payton informed the team today that he is leaving his first and only NFL head coaching job with a 152-89 regular-season record — and nine playoff appearances — in 15 seasons. The Saints won the NFL title in 2009.
In other NFL news:
Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll has had his second interview for the New York Giants head coaching job. The Giants plan to meet with current Giants defensive coordinator Pat Graham on Wednesday and former Miami coach Brian Flores on Thursday.
Ryan Poles has been hired as Chicago’s general manager almost 15 years after the former offensive tackle signed with the team as an undrafted free agent and then failed to make the final roster. He was the team’s director of college scouting in 2017 when Kansas City drafted Patrick Mahomes with the No. 10 overall pick. The team has yet to hire a coach to replace Matt Nagy.
Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has emerged as the front-runner for the Minnesota Vikings’ general manager job. He is the vice president of football operations for Cleveland. The Vikings targeted Adofo-Mensah and Kansas City executive director of player personnel Ryan Poles as their finalists. Poles was hired on Tuesday as Chicago’s general manager. Adofo-Mensah also interviewed with the Bears.
The four NFL divisional round playoff games had the highest average viewers on record with 38.2 million tuning in on television and digital platforms. Kansas City’s 42-36 overtime victory over Buffalo averaged 42.74 million on CBS, making it the most-watched divisional playoff game on any network since the 2017 Green Bay-Dallas game on Fox.
TENNIS:
Danielle Collins has joined fellow American Madison Keys in the Australian Open semifinals. Collins swung the match in her favor with a key service break in the final game of the opening set on her way to a 7-5, 6-1 quarterfinal win over Alize Cornet. The 28-year-old American equaled her best previous performance at Melbourne Park — she also advanced to the semifinals in 2019.
Collins will play the winner of the following quarterfinal on Rod Laver Arena between former French Open champion Iga Swiatek and Kai Kanepi.
Keys will play top-ranked Ash Barty in the other semifinal on Thursday.
In other tennis action:
Second-seeded Daniil Medvedevis expecting one of the toughest challenges to his bid to collect a second consecutive Grand Slam singles title when he plays 21-year-old Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime. They’ve played twice recently and the Russian player has won both matches.
Fourth-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas will play Jannik Sinner in the other men’s quarterfinal.
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