NHL
Alexis Lafreniere scored the tiebreaking goal early in the third period and added two assists, Louis Domingue made 25 saves in his first NHL game in nearly 18 months, and the New York Rangers beat the Minnesota Wild 4-1. Vincent Trocheck also had a goal and two assists, Artemi Panarin had a goal and an assist, and Blake Wheeler also scored as the Rangers won for the eighth time in nine games. Their only loss in that stretch was a shootout defeat at Minnesota last Saturday. Brandon Duhaime scored for the Wild, and Marc-Andre Fleury finished with 24 saves. Minnesota snapped a two-game win streak and lost for the fifth time in seven games.
Charlie Coyle had his first career hat trick and Linus Ullmark made 27 saves to lead the Boston Bruins to a 5-2 victory over the New York Islanders. Coyle earned his third goal on an empty-netter spoon-fed to him by David Pastrnak. Coyle also assisted on a goal in the first period for four points on the night. The defending Presidents Trophy winners won for the 11th time in their first 13 games. They ended the night tied with Stanley Cup champion Vegas for the most points in the NHL, with 23.
The Pittsburgh Penguins snapped the Anaheim Ducks’ six-game winning streak with a 2-0 victory. Tristan Jarry and Magnus Hellberg combined on a 32-save shutout after Jarry left with an injury late in the second period. Radim Zohorna scored in the first period for the Penguins, who avenged Anaheim’s spectacular 4-3 comeback victory in Pittsburgh eight days ago. John Gibson made 34 saves against his hometown team for the Ducks, who hadn’t lost since Oct. 22 in their longest winning streak in two years.
Top draft pick Connor Bedard had his first multi-point game with two goals and two assists as the Chicago Blackhawks beat Tampa Bay 5-3, snapping an eight-game losing streak against the Lightning. The 18-year-old Bedard powered Chicago to its first win over the Lightning since a 4-3 shootout victory on March 5, 2021. Rookie defenseman Kevin Korchinski and ex-Lightning forwards Tyler Johnson and Corey Perry also scored for Chicago. Nick Foligno had three assists and Petr Mrazek made 31 saves. Anthony Cirelli, Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos scored for the Lightning, who lost in regulation for the first time in seven home games this season (4-1-2). Jonas Johansson made 24 saves.
Attorneys representing a former player suing the Chicago Blackhawks are speaking out. They say their client is a former player who was sexually abused by the team's former video coach. They say the player was inspired to come forward by another player who earlier sued the team over the same allegations and reached a settlement in 2021. Both players say the Blackhawks responded inadequately to their complaints of abuse and harassment. The allegations date to 2010, when Chicago won the Stanley Cup.
Elias Pettersson had a goal and two assists to take the NHL points lead and the Vancouver Canucks beat the Ottawa Senators 5-2 on Thursday night for their fifth straight victory. Pettersson has 24 points on seven goals and 17 assists. He has five goals and nine assists during a seven-game points streak. Ilya Mikheyev scored twice, Brock Boeser and J.T. Miller added goals and Casey DeSmith made 28 saves to help Vancouver improve to 10-2-1. Drake Batherson and Artem Zub scored for Ottawa, and Anton Forsberg stopped 11 of 16 shots. The Senators, coming off a 6-3 victory in Toronto on Wednesday night, dropped to 5-7-0 with their third loss in four games.
Cole Caufield scored a power-goal at 4:04 of overtime, Cayden Primeau stopped 27 shots for his first win of the season and the Montreal Canadiens beat the Detroit Red Wings 3-2 to snap a four-game skid. Mike Matheson had a goal and two assists, and Nick Suzuki had a goal and an assist for Montreal, which ended an 0-3-1 slide. Christian Fischer and J.T. Compher had goals for the Red Wings, who have lost six of eight (2-4-2) overall and four of their last five (1-3-1) at home. James Reimer finished with 23 saves. In the extra period, Caufield zipped a high wrist shot over Reimer’s left shoulder for his fifth goal of the season. It was Reimer’s holding penalty that had put Montreal on the power play.
Matt Duchene scored the go-ahead goal in the second period and the Dallas Stars rallied from a two-goal deficit, beating the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-2 and snapping a two-game losing streak. Mason Marchment, Craig Smith and Jason Robertson also scored, and Tyler Seguin contributed a goal and an assist. Duchene and Nils Lundkvist each added a pair of assists, and Jake Oettinger stopped 28 shots in his sixth win for Dallas. The Stars have 11 road points in eight games. Boone Jenner and Kirill Marchenko scored and Spencer Martin stopped 27 shots for Columbus, which has lost three straight and seven of its last eight games, including a loss in Dallas on Oct. 30.
Kyle Connor had a hat trick and added an assist to help the Winnipeg Jets beat the Nashville Predators 6-3 on Thursday night. Connor has 11 goals this season, five in the last two games. Cole Perfetti, Mason Appleton and Brenden Dillon also scored, Mark Scheifele had three assists and Laurent Brossoit made 20 saves. Winnipeg improved to 7-4-2. Filip Forsberg scored twice for Nashville, Philip Tomasino added a goal and Juuse Saros made 31 saves. Nashville has lost two in a row and four of five to fall to 5-8-0.
Robert Thomas scored the tiebreaking goal and the St. Louis Blues beat the Arizona Coyotes 2-1. Oskar Sundqvist also scored and Joel Hofer had 19 saves as the Blues won for the third time in their last four games. Lawson Crouse scored for Arizona, and Karel Vejmelka finished with 31 saves. The Coyotes lost for the second time in three games. St. Louis finished 0 for 7 on the power play, falling to a league worst 1 for 35 — including 0 for 18 at home — with the man advantage. Thomas snapped a 1-all tie at 6 minutes of the second period, tipping in a feed from Pavel Buchnevich. It extended Thomas’ points streak to five games.
Oliver Bjorkstrand scored his second goal of the game with 32 seconds remaining and the Seattle Kraken beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-3 on Thursday night after squandering a two-goal lead. Bjorkstrand knocked in a shot off a rebound. Jaden Schwartz and Matty Beniers also scored to help the Kraken hand the Avalanche their first home loss in five games this season. Philipp Grubauer had 23 saves against his former team. He also helped knock off Colorado last season in the first round of the playoffs. Bowen Byram, Nathan MacKinnon and Valeri Nichushkin scored for Colorado in the second of three meetings with the Kraken.
Tomas Hertl scored one goal and set up another to help the San Jose Sharks win their second straight game following 11 consecutive losses to open the season, 3-2 over the slumping Edmonton Oilers. In a matchup of the NHL’s two worst teams so far this season, it was Connor McDavid and the Oilers who ended up on the losing end. Hertl assisted on Fabian Zetterlund’s goal that opened the scoring in the first period and then took advantage of a fortunate bounce to score midway through the second period. Mackenzie Blackwood made 39 saves for San Jose.
NFL
Bryce Young repeatedly said he needed to play better. Carolina coach Frank Reich said he needed to do a better job. It was the same message from Chuba Hubbard and Terrace Marshall. Following another anemic offensive performance, it’s clear the Panthers know their offense isn’t playing well enough to win. But still, nothing has changed. Carolina was shut down by Chicago in a 16-13 loss, finishing with a season-low 213 yards and 12 first downs. The Panthers went 3 for 15 on third down and failed to score an offensive touchdown for the second time in the first nine games this season.
D’Onta Foreman ran for a touchdown and the Chicago Bears boosted their shot at the top pick in the draft, beating the Carolina Panthers 16-13 on Thursday night. The Bears (3-7) also boosted their chances at the No. 1 pick because they have Carolina’s first-rounder in 2024. They acquired the pick along with Moore last March for the top selection this year. The Panthers (1-8) are tied with Arizona — which plays Atlanta on Sunday — for the worst record in the NFL. Foreman gave the Bears a 16-10 lead in the third quarter with a 4-yard run. Chicago was clinging to a three-point lead with 1:40 remaining when Carolina’s Eddy Pineiro attempted a 59-yard field goal. The ball landed well short.
NBA
Aaron Nesmith scored 24 points and Bennedict Mathurin and Myles Turner each added 22 to lead the Indiana Pacers past the Utah Jazz 134-118. Tyrese Haliburton scored all 16 of his points in the second half and finished with 13 assists. Indiana won for the third time in four games and topped the 120-point mark for the fourth straight game. Utah was led by Jordan Clarkson, who had a season-high 33 points. Lauri Markkanen added 24 points and nine rebounds for the Jazz, who lost their fourth in a row and fell to 0-5 on the road this season.
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored an NBA season-high 54 points, but committed two turnovers after Tyrese Haliburton’s go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:29 left and the Indiana Pacers beat the Milwaukee Bucks 126-124. Haliburton had 29 points and 10 assists and Bennedict Mathurin added 26 points and 11 rebounds for the Pacers, who blew an 18-point lead and then had to rally from 10 down in the fourth quarter. Antetokounmpo finished one point shy of his career high, but threw away a pass with 1:03 left, then was stripped by Mathurin with 30 seconds to go. He was 19 for 25 from the field, 16 of 18 on free throws and grabbed 12 rebounds, but also had eight turnovers.
Trae Young scored 41 points, then fed Dejounte Murray for a go-ahead 3-pointer with 31 seconds left to give the Atlanta Hawks a 120-119 victory over the Orlando Magic on Thursday night in a regular-season game in Mexico City. Young had 33 points in the first half for Atlanta (4-3), which played for the first time south of the border. Jalen Johnson had 19 points, Murray added 16 and Bogdan Bogdanovic finished with 15. Jalen Suggs scored 21 points and Paolo Banchero had 17, but missed a 3-pointer with 7.9 seconds remaining on Orlando’s final possession.
MLB
The universal designated hitter has been part of Major League Baseball for two full seasons and, much to the chagrin of some National League traditionalists, the sport has survived and even thrived. In a somewhat surprising development, though, many teams are struggling to get much production from that spot. The next generation of big-bopping DHs like David Ortiz, Edgar Martinez and Frank Thomas hasn’t materialized, with just three players logging at least 110 games at designated hitter during the 2023 season. That trio includes Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani, Braves slugger Marcell Ozuna and the Nationals’ Joey Meneses.
A devoted group of Bay Area baseball fans are sending “Stay In Oakland” boxes to 15 Major League Baseball team owners, imploring them to vote no on the team's planned relocation to Las Vegas. The group is targeting owners who could be swayed to vote against the proposed move during annual league meetings next week. The list includes Boston's John Henry and the New York Yankees' Hal Steinbrenner. The boxes contain green A's caps, baseball cards featuring the owners' likenesses and a note detailing why they should vote against Las Vegas.
NYSBHoF
The New York State Baseball Hall of Fame’s 2023 induction ceremony is Saturday afternoon in Troy. Eighteen members will be inducted, including Roger Maris, Darryl Strawberry, and Curtis Granderson.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Final (4)Michigan St. 74 S. Indiana 51
Final (20)Baylor 96 John Brown 70
Final (21)Southern Cal 85 CS Bakersfield 59
Final (23)Saint Mary's (Cal.) 72 New Mexico 58
Three former New Mexico State basketball players were charged with multiple sex crimes related to a series of alleged assaults of teammates that led to the disbandment of the team in the middle of last season. A New Mexico grand jury indicted former Aggies Deshawndre Washington, Kim Aiken Jr. and Doctor Bradley with multiple counts of criminal sexual penetration, criminal sexual conduct and false imprisonment. All could face 24 years or more of prison if convicted on all 37 charges filed against the three men. Earlier this week, two former players and a student manager at NMSU filed a civil lawsuit against the school and former coaches, along with Washington, Aiken and Bradley.
Siena’s Women’s Basketball team won their season opener against the Binghamton Bearcats 73-64 last night.
The UMass Minutewomen fell to 1-1 with a 78-74 loss to Northeastern.
Michael Eley's status is day-to-day, according to Siena, after he hurt his right ankle near the end of the Holy Cross game on November 6. The Saints play at Richmond on Saturday. Carmen Maciariello expressed confidence after Monday's game that Eley will be ready.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Virginia officials say running back Perris Jones has regained movement in all of his extremities after being immobilized on a flat board and carted off the field after being injured on a play late in the third quarter against No. 11 Louisville on Thursday night. Football spokesman Jim Daves said early Friday in a text that Jones will remain at UofL Hospital overnight. Jones caught a 7-yard pass from Anthony Colandrea and fumbled after being hit on his helmet by Cam’Ron Kelly with several other Cardinals nearby. Malik Washington scooped up the ball near the right sideline and dashed down the field for the go-ahead touchdown to make 21-14. Players from both teams knelt for about 15 minutes as Jones was treated and gently lifted onto the board with his head wrapped between two pads.
Caitlin Clark had 44 points, eight rebounds and six assists, and No. 3 Iowa pulled away late from eighth-ranked Virginia Tech en route to an 80-76 victory in a neutral site game. The Associated Press player of the year in 2023 showed off her full arsenal, hurting the Hokies with step-back 3-pointers, driving one-handed scoop layups, turnaround jumpers and nifty passes to escape double teams. Clark finished just shy of her career best of 46 points against Michigan in 2022. The Hawkeyes overcame a big game from Georgia Amoore, who had 31 points on seven 3-pointers for the Hokies (1-1). Two-time ACC player of the year Elizabeth Kitley had 16 points and 16 rebounds for Virginia Tech.
The football program at the University of Michigan is among the favorites to play for the national championship. It has become embroiled in an alleged sign-stealing scheme that involved impermissible, in-person scouting of opponents going back as much as three seasons. Both the NCAA and the Big Ten Conference are investigating. Coach Jim Harbaugh has denied any knowledge of any kind of improper scouting scheme in his program. The second-ranked Wolverines are preparing for their biggest game of the season so far at No. 9 Penn State on Saturday.
PGA TOUR
Alex Noren has been working hard on his wedge game and Bermuda was the ideal spot for that. Port Royal had no wind and Noren had no problem. He set the tournament record with 11 birdies. It gave him a 61 for a two-shot lead in the Butterfield Bermuda Championship. That's his best PGA Tour round by two shots. Adam Long had a 66 and earned a spot in the record book. He hit his first 11 fairways. That gave him 69 in a row dating to Las Vegas to set the PGA Tour record.
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