Jeremy Swayman made 29 saves, Patrice Bergeron had a goal and an assist and the Boston Bruins defeated the Nashville Predators 5-0. Brad Marchand, Craig Smith, Derek Forbort and Trent Frederic also scored for the Bruins, winners of three of four. Nick Foligno and Hampus Lindholm each had two assists. Juuse Saros made 25 saves for Nashville. The Predators have dropped three of four coming out of the All-Star break. Nashville’s hopes of getting back into contention for a playoff spot in the tough Western Conference are fading.
Jordan Kyrou and Brayden Schenn each had a goal and an assist and the St. Louis Blues extended their winning streak to three games with a 4-2 victory over the New Jersey Devils. Pavel Buchnevich and Alexey Toropchenko also scored for the Blues who swept the two-game season series and won for the ninth time in their last 10 homes games against the Devils. Robert Thomas had a pair of assists. Jordan Binnington made 34 saves. Dawson Mercer and Erik Haula scored for the Devils, who had their five-game point streak snapped. Mackenzie Blackwood made 31 saves.
Yanni Gourde had two goals and an assist and the Seattle Kraken beat the Philadelphia Flyers 6-2. Jared McCann, Justin Schultz, Oliver Bjorkstrand and Matty Beniers also scored for Seattle. Philipp Grubauer had 17 saves. Travis Konecny scored twice and Noah Cates had two assists for Philadelphia, which has dropped three straight. Ivan Provorov also had an assist. Carter Hart (15 saves) allowed four goals on 19 shots before giving way to Samuel Ersson (nine saves) in the second period.
NBA
Giannis Antetokounmpo broke Milwaukee’s career assists record before leaving the game because of a sprained right wrist, and the Bucks won their 12th straight, beating the Chicago Bulls 112-100. Brook Lopez scored a season-high 33 points. Antetokounmpo’s injury early in the second quarter cast a cloud over a team that appeared to have so much going for it heading into the All-Star break. The two-time MVP was hurt trying to block a finger roll attempt by Chicago’s Coby White. He jammed his wrist against the stanchion and stayed down grimacing in pain. Antetokounmpo finished with a season-low two points and three assists, giving him 3,274 over 10 seasons to break Paul Pressey’s record of 3,272 from 1982 to 1990.
The Boston Celtics have named Joe Mazzulla their full-time head coach, removing the interim tag he has held throughout the season after stepping in for Ime Udoka. Udoka was initially given a yearlong suspension before training camp for having an inappropriate relationship with a woman in the organization. The 34-year-old Mazzulla was an assistant under Udoka last season and will now replace his former boss, who won't return. He is the NBA’s youngest head coach. The Celtics beat the Pistons 127-109 on Wednesday night and head into the All-Star break with the NBA's best record at 42-17.
Salt Lake City is hosting this weekend’s NBA All-Star game for the first time in three decades. Team Giannis is set to take on Team LeBron Sunday night at 8. Coverage begins at 6 p.m. on TNT
MLB
The famed broadcaster and former St. Louis Cardinals star Tim McCarver has died. He was 81. During 60 years in major league baseball, McCarver played in two All-Star games and on two World Series championship teams. He was the preferred catcher for Bob Gibson in the 1960s and Steve Carlton in the 1970s. He later had a long run as one of the country’s most recognizable, incisive and talkative television commentators. For years, he teamed with Joe Buck on Fox sports telecasts. The Baseball Hall of Fame honored his on-air work in 2012.
Commissioner Rob Manfred says Major League Baseball can produce games digitally in conjunction with MLB.TV if Bally Sports regional networks are no longer broadcasting them. He says this is a chance to address the game blackouts that inspire so much anger among fans. Diamond Sports Group is the parent company of 19 Bally Sports networks. It skipped about $140 million in interest payments due Wednesday, starting a 30-day grace period that could be the prelude to a bankruptcy filing. Manfred acknowledged some teams could be at risk of losing revenue. He says MLB is prepared to help those teams.
GOLF
Tiger Woods had a loud and successful return to PGA Tour competition. Woods finished with three straight birdies for a 69 in the Genesis Invitational. That leaves him five shots behind co-leaders Max Homa and Keith Mitchell. Woods is playing for the first time against the world's best since he missed the cut in the British Open last July at St. Andrews. He looked to be losing ground with two bogeys in three holes, leaving him over par through 12 holes. And then he was flawless at the end. Woods says he hasn't heard such noise in a long time.
SKIING
American skier Mikaela Shiffrin won the gold medal in the women’s giant slalom at the world championships. Shiffrin held on to her first-run lead to beat Italian skier Federica Brignone by 0.12 seconds. Ragnhild Mowinckel of Norway took bronze. It’s Shiffrin’s seventh world title and 13th medal overall from 16 career world championship races. Shiffrin’s victory came a day after an unexpected split with longtime coach Mike Day. Shiffrin was the 2018 Olympic champion in the event and won five of the last six giant slaloms on the World Cup circuit. The victory makes her only the fourth female skier to win world titles in four different disciplines.
RACING
IndyCar driver Conor Daly raced Floyd Mayweather into the Daytona 500 for a second consecutive year by bobbing and weaving his way through myriad issues for the ill-prepared team. Daly’s attempt to make his first Daytona 500 was only announced last week. Daly will become the 62nd driver in history to race in both the Daytona 500 and the Indy 500. In May, he can become the 29th driver to compete in both races in the same year. His chances seemed slim from the moment Daytona International Speedway opened because of problems with his car.
The fast-food burger wars were on the menu in the run-up to the Daytona 500. McDonald's and Wendy's bickered this week over the paint schemes for their respective drivers. Bubba Wallace races with McDonald's golden arches on the car. Noah Gragson has Wendy's on his car. Wendy's took a shot at McDonald's ubiquitous logo selection and called it McBland. McDonald's retorted it had better results this week at Daytona.
