NHL
David Pastrnak had a goal and two assists to lead the Boston Bruins to a 5-2 victory against the Buffalo Sabres. Danton Heinen, Brandon Carlo, Oskar Steen, and Hampus Lindholm all scored their first goals of the season and Linus Ullmark made 31 saves for the Bruins, who are 3-0-1 in their last four games. Pastrnak’s 11th goal of the season was the second of five straight goals scored by Boston. Victor Olofsson scored two goals for Buffalo. Sabres center Tage Thompson sustained an upper-body injury after he blocked a shot by McAvoy in the second period. He did not return.
Kyle Connor scored twice and added an assist to propel the Winnipeg Jets to a 6-3 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night. Connor’s goals gave him 13 on the season, tying him for most goals this season with Toronto’s Auston Matthews. Nikolaj Ehlers had a pair of goals and Cole Perfetti and Morgan Barron scored for Winnipeg. Josh Morrissey contributed four assists, tying a franchise record for assists in a game. Connor Hellebuyck made 31 saves for Winnipeg. Timo Meier, John Marino and Dawson Mercer scored for the Devils. Akira Schmid stopped 25 of 30 shots for New Jersey.
Sidney Crosby recorded his 16th career hat trick, scoring twice in the third period, rallying the Pittsburgh Penguins over the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-3 for their league-leading fifth straight win. Crosby extended his point streak to nine games with the 558th, 559th and 560th goals of his career, also adding an assist. Jake Guentzel and Erik Karlsson each contributed a goal and an assist, and Tristan Jarry stopped 28 shots in his fourth consecutive win. Kirill Marchenko, Yegor Chinakhov and Alexandre Texier scored, and Elvis Merzlikins stopped 38 for Columbus, which has lost six straight and two in a row at home.
The Ottawa Senators snapped a five-game home ice losing streak with a 4-1 win over the Calgary Flames. It was a team effort with Mathieu Joseph, Drake Batherson, Rourke Chartier and Travis Hamonic all scoring. Joonas Korpisalo was solid in goal stopping 24 shots. Dustin Wolf made his season debut for the Flames making 34 saves, but didn’t get much offensive support as Blake Coleman scored the lone goal for Calgary.
Charlie Lindgren made 35 saves to help the Washington Capitals shut out the defending Stanley Cup champion and NHL-best Vegas Golden Knights 3-0. Dylan Strome scored his team-leading seventh goal of the season. The Capitals have won three in a row and seven of their past nine games. Vegas goaltender Logan Thompson allowed two goals on 30 shots. The Golden Knights have lost three of their past four.
Jordan Kyrou scored a pair of goals, and Jordan Binnington made 30 saves to help the St. Louis Blues beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-0 on Tuesday night. Colton Parayko, Jakub Vrana and Kasperi Kapanen also scored for the Blues, who have won three straight. Binnington earned his first shutout of the season and the 13th of his career. Jonas Johansson stopped 24 shots for Tampa Bay, which dropped its third straight and was shutout for the second game in a row.
Frank Vatrano scored twice in the first period and the Anaheim Ducks beat the San Jose Sharks 4-1. Mason McTavish and Radko Gudas also scored, John Gibson made 25 saves and the Ducks ended a two-game losing streak and won for the seventh time in nine games. Vatrano’s goals increased his team lead to 11 and gave him three multi-goal games to go along with hat tricks Oct. 15 at home against Carolina and Oct. 28 at Pittsburgh. Luke Kunin scored for the Sharks, while Mackenzie Blackwood made 40 saves. San Jose has lost two straight after getting its first two wins of the season following an 0-10-1 start. San Jose dropped to 0-7 on the road and has totaled four goals away from home.
Matt Duchene scored 42 seconds into overtime as the Dallas Stars beat the Arizona Coyotes 4-3 for their fourth consecutive win. Duchene and Tyler Seguin each had a goal and an assist and Esa Lindell and Roope Hintz also scored for the Stars, who ran their home points streak against Arizona to 17-0-1, one game short of the franchise record against any opponent. Jake Oettinger made 22 saves for Dallas, which increased its lead in the Central Division to five points over Colorado. Clayton Keller, Jason Zucker and Lawson Crouse scored for the Coyotes.
Sam Reinhart had two goals and two assists, Carter Verhaeghe got the go-ahead goal early in the third period and the Florida Panthers withstood two highlight-reel scores from rookie Connor Bedard to beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-3. Oliver Ekman-Larsson had a goal and an assist for Florida. Matthew Tkachuk and Evan Rodrigues each had a pair of assists for Florida. The Panthers have won a season-high four straight and are 9-2-1 in their last 12 games.
Police in England have arrested a man on suspicion of manslaughter in the death of American ice hockey player Adam Johnson whose neck was cut by a skate during a game. Johnson, 29, was playing for the Nottingham Panthers against the Sheffield Steelers in an Oct. 28 game when he was struck by an opponent’s skate blade. South Yorkshire Police did not name the suspect or provide his age. He was in police custody. The player whose skate cut Johnson’s neck was Matt Petgrave, 31, who plays for Sheffield. Johnson was a Minnesota native who had a brief NHL career with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Spencer Dinwiddie had 29 points, eight assists and five rebounds, leading the Brooklyn Nets to a 124-104 victory over the Orlando Magic in Group C of the NBA In-Season Tournament. Mikal Bridges chipped in 21 points, five rebounds and four assists, while Cam Johnson scored 20 points as Brooklyn put six players in double figures. Day’Ron Sharpe finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out as the Nets won their second straight overall and improved to 2-1 in the tournament. Franz Wagner had 21 points, eight rebounds and five assists for their Magic in their tournament opener.
Tyrese Haliburton had 33 points and 15 assists and Obi Toppin chipped in 27 points as the Indiana Pacers beat the 76ers 132-126 in an NBA In-Season Tournament game and snapped Philadelphia’s eight-game winning streak. The Pacers took the upper hand in the tourney’s East Group A standings, improving to 2-0 in pool play. The Sixers slipped to 1-1. Myles Turner added 17 points for the Pacers, whose bench outscored Philadelphia’s 33-6. Joel Embiid scored 39 points and De’Anthony Melton added 30 points. Tyrese Maxey was held to 27 points on 9-of-23 shooting after scoring a career-high 50 points against the Pacers on Sunday.
Dejounte Murray had 32 points and nine assists as the Atlanta Hawks extended Detroit's losing streak to nine games with a 126-120 win over the Pistons in an In-Season Tournament game. The Hawks won their Eastern Conference Group A tourney opener, while the Pistons fell to 0-2. Saddiq Bey had 18 points against his former team and Bogdan Bogdanovic added 17 points. Trae Young missed the game after his wife gave birth to their second child on Monday. Marvin Bagley III led the Pistons with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Rookie Ausar Thompson added 21.
Jimmy Butler scored a season-high 32 points, Bam Adebayo had 21 points and 11 rebounds and the Miami Heat and remained unbeaten in NBA In-Season Tournament play with a 111-105 win over the shorthanded Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday night. Duncan Robinson added 18 points for the Heat, who’ve won six straight games. Miami is 2-0 in group play; the Hornets are 1-1. P.J. Washington had 32 points and six of Charlotte’s season-high 15 3-pointers. LaMelo Ball added 28 points, 11 assists and six rebounds. The Heat finished off a 4-0 road trip that included wins against San Antonio, Atlanta and Memphis.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 28 points and seven steals and the Oklahoma City Thunder rolled past the San Antonio Spurs 123-87. Josh Giddey added 18 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for the Thunder. Oklahoma City set a Thunder record with 19 steals. Zach Collins and Julian Champagnie led San Antonio with 13 points each. The Spurs lost their sixth straight. The game featured two of the league’s top rookies — San Antonio’s 7-foot-3 Victor Wembanyama and Oklahoma City’s 7-1 Chet Holmgren. Wembanyama finished with eight points and 14 rebounds and blocked two shots. Holmgren had nine points and seven rebounds and three assists.
Brandon Ingram and rookie Jordan Hawkins each scored 25 points, and the New Orleans Pelicans snapped a five-game skid with a 131-110 victory over the Dallas Mavericks in an NBA In-Season Tournament game. Zion Williamson highlighted his 19-point performance with two alley-oop dunks and double-clutch, reverse, two-hand dunk on a breakaway that he initiated with a steal from Luka Doncic. Herb Jones also had 19 points with five steals and two blocks as New Orleans improved to 1-1 in the West Conference Group B pool play. The oft-prolific Doncic was not in his usual form. He scored 16 points, but missed 11 of 16 shots, turned the ball over eight times and was a minus-26 in 26 minutes.
Jordan Clarkson scored 30 points and Lauri Markkanen added 21 points and nine rebounds, leading the Utah Jazz to a 115-99 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers in an NBA In-Season Tournament game. John Collins had 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Jazz, who won their second straight tournament game, while Portland slipped to 1-1 in West Group A play. Jermani Grant led Portland with 26 points. Deandre Ayton added 22 points and 10 rebounds and Shaedon Sharpe finished with 17 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Skylar Mays had a game-high 10 assists.
Anthony Edwards scored 33 points and the Minnesota Timberwolves overpowered the Golden State Warriors 116-110 for their sixth straight victory. Karl-Anthony Towns added 21 points and a season-best 14 rebounds for Minnesota in the first of two straight games between the teams in San Francisco. Stephen Curry scored 38 points but the cold-shooting Warriors didn’t get enough other contributions to keep up with Minnesota’s fast-paced attack. Golden State shot 12 for 43 from 3-point range.
Nikola Jokic had 32 points, 16 rebounds and nine assists, and the Denver Nuggets beat Los Angeles 111-108 in an NBA In-Season Tournament game as the Clippers remained winless since acquiring James Harden last month. Jokic was perfect on 14 free throw attempts, including two with 13 seconds left that helped the Nuggets hold off the Clippers’ comeback try. Los Angeles has lost five straight with Harden, who was acquired on Oct. 30, and six in a row overall. Harden scored 21 points and Paul George tied a season high with 35 points as Los Angeles fell to 0-2 in West Group B play. Aaron Gordon scored 20 points and Reggie Jackson 18 for Denver, which has won both of its games in the West B bracket.
The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Memphis Grizzlies 134-107 in the NBA In-Season Tournament. D’Angelo Russell scored 24 points, and Anthony Davis had 19 points, 11 rebounds and six blocked shots. LeBron James had 16 points and nine rebounds while playing only 23 minutes for the Lakers, who improved to 5-0 at home and 2-0 in tournament play with their first comfortable victory of the season. Santi Aldama scored a career-high 24 points for the Grizzlies, who lost two more players to injury while failing to follow up their surprise win over the Clippers with their third victory.
Draymond Green was ejected after putting Rudy Gobert in a headlock and two other players were thrown out after an altercation early in the Golden State Warriors’ game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. The game was still scoreless and not even two minutes had elapsed Tuesday night when Golden State’s Klay Thompson and Minnesota’s Jaden McDaniels got in a shoving match near midcourt following a Timberwolves possession. Green rushed in and pulled Gobert away from behind with his arm around the center’s neck. Thompson’s jersey was ripped during the scuffle, which led to Green’s second ejection of the season and two free throw attempts for Gobert.
The Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts, is establishing a new award honoring those who have made an impact on the community through basketball. The Ice Cube Impact Award is named after the Southern California rapper and actor, who will also be the inaugural recipient. Ice Cube spoke on a virtual press conference Tuesday:
“Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would even get a chance to visit the Hall of Fame, let alone have an award and an a display inside the great Naismith Hall of Fame. And so, it's still something that I'm wrapping my head around, and I'm very touched in my hear that I would even be considered.”
Ice Cube founded the BIG3 professional league and will be honored in Springfield on January 15th.
NFL
The Buffalo Bills have fired offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey with the Josh Allen-led attack stagnating over a six-week stretch and the three-time defending AFC East champions falling further out of the playoff picture. The move came a day after a 24-22 loss to the Denver Broncos in an outing where Allen committed three of Buffalo’s four turnovers and the offense was held under 26 points for a sixth straight game to match the longest stretch since the quarterback’s rookie season in 2018. Second-year quarterbacks coach Joe Brady takes over as interim coordinator.
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones still loves the spotlight in his 80s. There have been plenty of reasons for him to shrink from it in the past two years. The lawsuits and questions about his commitment to race and diversity haven't stopped Jones from being among the most accessible owners in sports. Jones is also the general manager. He gets criticized for being the reason the club hasn't even reached an NFC championship game in 28 years. Dallas won three Super Bowls in his first seven seasons. Critics like to give former coach Jimmy Johnson credit for those titles. Jones says he isn't worried about running out of time to win another championship.
TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Final (1)Kansas 89 (17)Kentucky 84
Final (4)Marquette 71 (23)Illinois 64
Final (5)UConn 87 MVSU 53
Final (7)Tennessee 82 Wofford 61
Final (8)Creighton 92 Iowa 84
Final (9)Duke 74 (18)Michigan St. 65
Final (10)FAU 100 E. Michigan 57
Final (11)Gonzaga 123 E. Oregon 57
Final (13)Texas A&M 79 SMU 66
Final (15)Baylor 99 UMKC 61
Final UC Irvine 70 (16)Southern Cal 60
Final (22)Alabama 102 South Alabama 46
Final (25)Colorado 106 Milwaukee 79
Hunter Dickinson had 27 points and 21 rebounds, and No. 1 Kansas outlasted No. 17 Kentucky for an 89-84 victory in the Champions Classic. Dajuan Harris Jr. added 23 points for the Jayhawks, who trailed by as many as 14 in the second half. KJ Adams Jr. scored 16 points, and Kevin McCullar Jr. finished with 12 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Kansas closed the game with an 11-1 run. Harris opened the decisive stretch with a 3-pointer and two foul shots. Dickinson then put the Jayhawks in front for good with two foul shots that made it 85-83 with 2:04 to go.
MLB
Brandon Hyde was voted American League Manager of the Year after guiding the Baltimore Orioles to an AL-best 101 victories just two years after a 110-loss season. Miami’s Skip Schumaker won the National League award in voting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Hyde led Baltimore out of a difficult rebuild in which the Orioles improved to 83-79 in 2022 and he finished second in voting to Cleveland’s Terry Francona. Hyde earned 27 of 30 first-place votes this year. Schumaker received eight first-place votes, three more than runner-up Craig Counsell, who left Milwaukee last week to manage the Chicago Cubs.
Shohei Ohtani was among seven players who turned down $20,325,000 qualifying offers from their former teams and remained on the free agent market to pursue more lucrative contracts. In addition to Ohtani saying no to the Los Angeles Angels, others who declined to accept included Cubs outfielder Cody Bellinger, Blue Jays third baseman Matt Chapman, and pitchers Josh Hader and Blake Snell of the Padres, the Phillies' Aaron Nola and the Twins' Sonny Gray. By making a qualifying offer, a team would receive an additional selection in next July’s amateur draft if a player signs elsewhere before then.
PGA TOUR
Rory McIlroy has abruptly resigned from the PGA Tour board. His decision comes as the tour is trying to finalize an agreement to create a new commercial enterprise involving Saudi Arabia’s national wealth fund. McIlroy has been the biggest voice opposing Saudi-funded LIV Golf. He has spent the last five years involved in tour business during some turbulent times. That includes dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and most recently the threat and then partnership with Saudi's national wealth fund. McIlroy was the first international player to serve on the policy board. He ends his season in Dubai this week on the European tour.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Georgia has moved up to No. 1 in the College Football Playoff rankings, nudging past Ohio State, with third-place Michigan and fourth-place Florida State holding their spots in the top four. Georgia had maybe its most impressive performance of the season Saturday, beating Mississippi 52-17. It was the second straight week the Bulldogs defeated a ranked opponent, after downing Missouri the game before. Washington was fifth again, followed by Oregon, Texas and Alabama. Missouri at nine and Louisville were new to the top 10 this week.
U.S. WOMEN’S TEAM
Chelsea’s Emma Hayes was formally named the new head coach of the U.S. women’s team. But she won’t take over the four-time Women’s World Cup winners until May, leaving her a short time with the team before it begins play in the Paris Olympics in late July. Financial terms of her contract were not made public, but U.S. Soccer says Hayes is set to become the highest-paid women’s soccer coach in the world. Interim coach Twila Kilgore will continue to lead the team until Hayes’ arrival after the Women’s Super League season ends, and then she will become one of Hayes' assistants.
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