NHL
Adam Fox scored 36 seconds into overtime and the New York Rangers became the first NHL team to clinch a playoff spot this season, beating the Philadelphia Flyers 6-5 following a wild third period. Alexis Lafreniere had two goals and Igor Shesterkin made 36 saves for the Rangers, who lead the league with 100 points after giving coach Peter Laviolette his 800th career win. New York technically secured its third consecutive playoff berth just by getting to overtime and earning one point after Detroit lost to Washington in OT. But after the teams traded seven goals in a frenetic third period, it didn’t take long for Fox to finish the night in style with a pinpoint wrist shot from the high slot for his career-best 15th goal.
Pavel Zacha scored the winning goal with 2:21 to play and the Boston Bruins defeated the Florida Panthers 4-3. The Bruins also broke a tie with Florida atop the Atlantic Division and now hold a two-point lead although the Panthers have played one less game. Charlie McAvoy, David Pastrnak and Trent Frederic scored for the Bruins and Jeremy Swayman made 18 saves. Evan Rodrigues, Sam Reinhart and Carter Verhaeghe scored for the Panthers while Sergei Bobrovsky made 17 saves. Florida lost for the fifth time in its last six games.
Nico Hischier had a goal and two assists, Jake Allen made 42 saves and the New Jersey Devils beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-3. Jack Hughes scored twice, including into the empty net, and Timo Meier added a goal and an assist for the Devils, who have won four of their last five games. Luke Hughes and Max Willman also scored for New Jersey. Jesper Bratt added three assists and Curtis Lazar had two. Auston Matthews scored his NHL-leading 59th goal. William Nylander and Tyler Bertuzzi also scored and Joseph Woll had 19 saves for Toronto. T.J. Brodie had two assists.
Sidney Crosby had a goal and two assists and the Penguins scored two goals on five shots in the second period, spoiling Jake Guentzel’s return to Pittsburgh with a 4-1 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes. Bryan Rust scored his 23rd of the season and his seventh goal in 10 games. Jesse Puljujarvi added his third of the season — and second in as many games for the Penguins. Drew O’Connor added an empty-net goal at 18:04 of the third. Alex Nedeljkovic, Carolina’s second-round draft pick in 2014, stopped 38 shots for Pittsburgh. Dmitry Orlov scored his sixth for Carolina, which lost for the second time in three games.
Dylan Strome scored his second goal of the game in overtime to give the Washington Capitals a 4-3 victory over the Detroit Red Wings. Getting past regulation got each team a valuable point in the Eastern Conference playoff race. But the Capitals winning a third in a row and for the fifth time in six games strengthened their postseason position to the best point of the season. Patrick Kane scored with 5:20 left in the third period to force OT. Detroit has lost two in a row and 10 of 13.
Roman Josi scored 40 seconds into overtime to lead the Nashville Predators to a 5-4 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights, and extend the team’s stretch of consecutive games unbeaten in regulation to a franchise-record 18. Filip Forsberg had a goal and two assists, Ryan O’Reilly and Gustav Nyquist each had a goal and an assist and Mark Jankowski also scored for Nashville, which last lost a game in regulation on Feb. 15 and is 16-0-2 since. Juuse Saros made 31 saves. William Karlsson scored a goal and assisted on another, Ivan Barbashev, Brett Howden and Shea Theodore also scored and Jiri Patera made 30 saves for Vegas.
Zach Hyman scored his 51st goal of the season 1:22 into overtime, giving the Edmonton Oilers a 4-3 victory over the Winnipeg and sending the Jets to their fourth straight loss. Leon Draisaitl, Connor Brown and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins also scored for the Oilers. Stuart Skinner stopped 22 shots for Edmonton, which went 1-2 on a three-game trip. Trailing 3-1 six minutes into the third period, Winnipeg rallied behind goals Brenden Dillon and Sean Monahan in a one-minute span and tied it at 10:39. Mason Appleton also scored and Neal Pionk had a pair of assists for the Jets, who are 0-3-1 in their last four games. Connor Hellebuyck made 38 saves for Winnipeg.
Jason Dickinson scored twice, Petr Mrazek made 40 saves and the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Calgary Flames 3-1. Seth Jones also scored for Chicago, and Joey Anderson had two assists. Connor Bedard, who wrapped the blade of his stick in rainbow-colored Pride tape for warmups on Pride Night, picked up his team-best 35th assist. Blackhawks rookie Landon Slaggert had two assists for his first points in his sixth NHL game. Calgary dropped its fourth consecutive game. MacKenzie Weegar scored his 17th goal with 7:35 left, and Jacob Markstrom made 24 stops.
Sam Montembeault made 27 saves and the Montreal Canadiens beat the Colorado Avalanche 2-1 in coach Martin St. Louis’ return to the team. Nick Suzuki and Joel Armia scored for the Canadiens, who snapped Colorado’s nine-game win streak. They won consecutive games for the first time since Jan. 15-17 and swept the two-game season series from Colorado. St. Louis was behind the Montreal bench after missing four games to be with his family. His 16-year-old son, Mason, got hurt during a youth hockey game and then suffered complications from the injury and was hospitalized.
Eeli Tolvanan and Matty Beniers each had a goal and an assist, and the Seattle Kraken halted an eight-game losing streak by beating the Anaheim Ducks 4-0. Jordan Eberle and Oliver Bjorkstrand also scored for Seattle. Eberle’s goal was the 299th of his career and 17th this season. Joey Daccord made 12 saves in his third shutout for the Kraken, who went 0-6-2 in the previous eight games — seriously dimming their playoff hopes. Seattle also went 0-6-2 from Nov. 24 to Dec. 10 this season. The Ducks, already eliminated from playoff contention, lost for the ninth time in 10 games. Anaheim goalie John Gibson stopped 32 shots.
Josh Doan had two goals in his first NHL game including the go-ahead score with 8:29 left in the third period and the Arizona Coyotes beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 6-2. Nick Bjugstad, Nick Schmaltz, Dylan Guenther and Matias Maccelli also scored as Arizona pulled away with four goals in the third period. Doan, the first Arizona native to play for the franchise, deflected a shot by Maccelli past Columbus goalie Elvis Merzlikins for the go-ahead score. Karel Vejmelka stopped 24 shots for the Coyotes. Boone Jenner and Zach Werenski scored for Columbus, which has lost five straight.
Wyatt Johnston and Jason Robertson each scored twice, Jamie Benn added a goal and two assists, and the Dallas Stars beat the San Jose Sharks 6-3 for their fifth straight win. Dallas took over sole possession of first place in the Central Division by two points over the Colorado Avalanche, who lost at home to Montreal. San Jose has dropped eight straight games and 17 of 18.
NBA
Klay Thompson scored 28 points, Jonathan Kuminga added 18 and the Golden State Warriors pulled away in the second half to beat the still-shorthanded Miami Heat 113-92. Stephen Curry and Andrew Wiggins each scored 17 for Golden State, which led by two at the half and then led by as many as 22 points in the fourth. Bam Adebayo scored 24 points for Miami, which played without leading scorer Jimmy Butler, who was sidelined by an illness. The Heat also were without Tyler Herro for a 16th consecutive game, Kevin Love for a 14th consecutive game and Duncan Robinson for a fourth game in a row.
Jalen Williams scored 26 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder rallied with a 12-0 run during the final 2:31 to escape with a 119-112 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans after losing a 20-point lead in the third quarter. Josh Giddey scored 25 points and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 24, including a tying 3 with 1:29 left. Zion Williamson had 29 points and 10 assists, and CJ McCollum scored 23 points for New Orleans, which trailed 88-68 before using a 20-2 run to get back into the game. New Orleans briefly took a 112-107 lead with 3:11 left. But the Pelicans did not score again, missing their final five shots.
Austin Reaves had a triple-double and made a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 38.6 seconds left in the second overtime as the Los Angeles Lakers overcame the absence of LeBron James and rallied to beat the Milwaukee Bucks 128-124. Reaves had 29 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists in 47 minutes as the Lakers opened a six-game trip by winning their fourth straight despite trailing by 19 points in the fourth quarter and never leading in regulation time. Anthony Davis provided 34 points and 23 rebounds while playing 52 minutes. James didn't play due to an issue with his left ankle.
Luka Doncic scored 26 of his 28 points in the first half and the Dallas Mavericks beat the Sacramento Kings 132-96 for their fifth straight win. Doncic added 11 rebounds, six assists and three steals as the Mavericks moved into sixth place in the Western Conference, a game ahead of the Kings. Both teams are trying to avoid the play-in tournament. Kyrie Irving had 24 points and eight assists, and Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 22 off the bench. De’Aaron Fox led the Kings with 18 points but was held to 6-of-18 shooting.
NFL
Kickoff returns are returning to the NFL. Team owners have approved a new rule that will take what essentially had become “a dead play” and make it an integral part of the game again. The major overhaul to special teams has been in the works for years. It takes elements of the kickoff rules used in the XFL and tweaks them for use in the NFL beginning in 2024. There were 1,970 touchbacks on kickoffs last season that now could be returns. There were 92 fair catches last season that are no longer allowed. Any ball caught in the field of play must be returned.
NFL owners were busy this week, approving a series of rule changes that address player safety, overhaul the kickoff and expanding the use of instant replay. The changes were all overwhelmingly approved but they don’t come without some level of controversy, with many players opposing the ban on the use of the “swivel hip-drop” tackle and many questions about how the rules will be enforced and the impact they will have on games.
MLB
The Arizona Diamondbacks and pitcher Jordan Montgomery have agreed on a $25 million, one-year contract with a vesting option for 2025, according to a person familiar with the deal. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Tuesday night because the agreement was subject to a successful physical. If Montgomery makes at least 10 starts this season, the option would become guaranteed at $20 million and the left-hander also would gain the right to opt out. The option price would escalate to $22.5 million if he makes 18 starts and to $25 million if he makes 23 starts — a figure he has reached in three straight seasons. The addition bulks up the defending National League champions’ rotation just days before the regular season begins.
Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts is optimistic Shohei Ohtani will become closer with his teammates in the absence of former interpreter and constant companion Ippei Mizuhara. Ohtani and Mizuhara were practically inseparable at Angel Stadium during his six years with the Angels, and they spent ample time together away from the ballpark. The changes caused by Mizuhara’s firing amid allegations of gambling and theft could be jarring to a baseball star who thrives on routine. But Roberts says he has already seen Ohtani engaging more openly with his teammates in the past few days without Mizuhara around to help.
NCAA
Utah coach Lynne Roberts says her team experienced a series of “racial hate crimes” after arriving at its first women's NCAA Tournament hotel in Idaho last week. Roberts says there were concerns about safety among the traveling party. Utah was staying about 30 miles away in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and was relocated to a different hotel on Friday. Authorities say they are looking into what happened.
Caitlin Clark has reshaped women's college basketball and the perception of it. The Iowa star has made a name for herself by breaking records and stretching the range of shooting possibilities to the midcourt logo. Up-and-coming players have taken notice, working to extend their range to be like Caitlin. Clark also has a superb all-around game and deep work ethic, something coaches can harp on with young players. Clark also has opened the door to what's possible financially through NIL deals through hard work and projecting the right image.
Women's college athletes across the United States no longer have to count on a professional contract to earn real money. Basketball players like Caitlin Clark of Iowa and Angel Reese of LSU having some of the top endorsement valuations in college. Both expect their sponsors to stay with them when they turn pro. The perennially popular U.S. women’s soccer team, the growth of women’s professional soccer and hockey, the wild popularity of volleyball and college softball — and simply more exposure on TV — have all laid a foundation for fans to find what they want to see.
ROLLER DERBY
A women’s roller derby league in suburban New York City has thrust itself into the national discussion over the rights of transgender athletes. The Long Island Roller Rebels are suing Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman over an order meant to prevent women’s and girl’s leagues and teams with transgender athletes from using county-run parks and fields. The league is gearing up for its season opener next month but faces uncertainty about where some of its upcoming games will be played. The league’s vice president says there was never any question the group would take a stand against the ban.
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