NHL
Joonas Korpisalo stopped 21 shots, Elias Lindholm scored the game’s only goal, and the Boston Bruins beat the Utah Hockey Club 1-0 in their first game since the team fired coach Jim Montgomery and named Joe Sacco as interim coach. The win snapped Boston’s three-game losing streak. Karel Vejmelka made 30 saves for Utah, which has lost three straight. After coming up empty on their first four power-play opportunities, the Bruins struck on their fifth chance when Lindholm chipped in a rebound for his third goal of the season with 7:19 left in the second period.
Lucas Raymond scored with 51 seconds remaining and the Detroit Red Wings beat the New York Islanders 2-1. Jonatan Berggren also scored to help Detroit snap a three-game losing streak. Alex Lyon finished with 22 saves. Simon Holmstrom scored for the Islanders, who have lost five of their last six games. Ilya Sorokin stopped 29 shots.
Connor Zary scored midway through the third period to give the Calgary Flames a 3-2 win over the New York Rangers. Matt Coronato and Yegor Sharangovich each had a goal and an assist and MacKenzie Weegar had three assists for the Flames. Calgary’s Jonathan Huberdeau collected his 500th career assist. Dustin Wolf made 27 saves for his third straight win. Alexis Lafreniere and Will Cuylle scored 16 seconds apart in the second period for the Rangers, who lost just their second road game this season. Igor Shesterkin stopped 46 shots.
Jesper Bratt scored twice, Jack Hughes had three assists and the New Jersey Devils downed the Carolina Hurricanes 4-2. New Jersey defenseman Dougie Hamilton gave the Devils a 3-2 lead with 9:25 remaining after Carolina’s Andrei Svechnikov tied the game 12 seconds into the third. Bratt scored his 10th of the season and second of the game on a power play with 5:55 remaining for the Devils’ fourth goal. Jacob Markstrom had 20 saves for the Devils, and Spencer Martin made 17 saves for the Hurricanes.
Ilya Samsonov made 38 saves, and the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Ottawa Senators 3-2. Samsonov had given up 10 goals in his previous two outings but made key saves on Josh Norris, David Perron, Tim Stutzle and Brady Tkachuk to keep the Senators at bay. Vegas (12-6-2) took the lead early in the first period when Linus Ullmark made a diving save but was unable to get back into position, giving Jack Eichel an open net for his sixth goal of the season. Brett Howden made it 2-0 midway through the second.
Zach Werenski’s goal at 1:25 of overtime punctuated a five-point game as the Columbus Blue Jackets rallied from an early three-goal deficit and beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 7-6. Werenski had tied the game at 4 in the second period and added three assists. Sean Monahan had a goal and three assists and Dmitri Voronkov added a goal and an assist. Kent Johnson scored twice, Yegor Chinakhov added a goal and Elvis Merzlikins stopped 24 shots. Anthony Cirelli, Mitchell Chaffee, Brandon Hagel and Connor Geekie each had a goal and an assist for Tampa Bay. Brayden Point and Cam Atkinson also scored, and Nikita Kucherov finished with three assists. Jonas Johansson made 36 saves.
Miles Wood scored the tiebreaking goal early in the third period and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Washington Capitals 2-1. Mikko Rantanen also scored for the Avalanche, who have won five of their last six games. Alexandar Georgiev stopped 29 shots to get his fourth straight win in his return after missing the last two games due to an upper-body injury. Pierre-Luc Dubois scored for the Capitals, who snapped a three-game win streak. Logan Thompson had 25 saves while taking his first regulation loss of the season. Earlier in the day, the Capitals learned they will be without superstar Alex Ovechkin for the next four to six weeks due to a broken left fibula, an injury he suffered on Monday against Utah.
Alex Ovechkin has a broken left fibula and is expected to be out four to six weeks. The Washington Capitals confirmed Ovechkin’s injury and prognosis Thursday after he was evaluated by doctors upon the teams’ return from a three-game road trip. This prolonged absence puts a pause on Ovechkin’s pursuit of Wayne Gretzky’s NHL career goals record. He scored 15 goals in his first 18 games this season to move just 27 away of passing Gretzky. Ovechkin was on pace to break the record in February before his shin-on-shin collision with Utah’s Jack McBain on Monday night.
Jake Neighbours scored the lone shootout goal, Jordan Binnington denied all three San Jose Sharks and the St. Louis Blues snapped a four-game home losing streak with a 3-2 victory. Binnington bounced back after allowing Alexander Wennberg’s tying goal with 8.8 seconds left to notch his 151st career victory and tie Mike Liut’s franchise record. Wennberg had both goals for the Sharks. Mikael Granlund and Macklin Celebrini, the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NHL draft, assisted both goals. Jordan Kyrou and Nathan Walker scored in regulation for the Blues.
Petr Mrazek made 32 saves and Teuvo Teravainen scored, helping the Chicago Blackhawks top the Florida Panthers 3-1. Craig Smith and Nick Foligno also scored as Chicago stopped a three-game slide. The Blackhawks also improved to 3-5-0 at home this season. Mrazek returned to Chicago’s lineup after he missed Tuesday’s 3-2 loss to Florida because of a personal matter. Sam Reinhart scored his 15th goal for Florida, which lost for the fourth time in five games.
Connor Zary scored midway through the third period to give the Calgary Flames a 3-2 win over the New York Rangers. Matt Coronato and Yegor Sharangovich each had a goal and an assist and MacKenzie Weegar had three assists for the Flames. Calgary’s Jonathan Huberdeau collected his 500th career assist. Dustin Wolf made 27 saves for his third straight win. Alexis Lafreniere and Will Cuylle scored 16 seconds apart in the second period for the Rangers, who lost just their second road game this season. Igor Shesterkin stopped 46 shots.
NBA
President Joe Biden welcomed “Coach Joe” Mazzulla and the Boston Celtics to the White House to celebrate the franchise’s unprecedented 18th NBA championship. The tradition is believed to have begun when Bill Russell’s 1963 Celtics met with President John F. Kennedy. Biden welcomed the NBA’s 2024 champions and gave them a tour of the Oval Office. In all, the league’s most-decorated franchise has won at least one title in eight of the last 13 presidential administrations. Biden noted that his Secret Service code name is Celtic as a nod to his Irish heritage.
Brandon Miller scored eight of his career-high 38 points in overtime, and the Charlotte Hornets hung on to beat the Detroit Pistons 123-121. Miller was 8 for 12 from 3-point range — two of those coming in overtime — and LaMelo Ball had 35 points and nine assists before fouling out one second into OT as Charlotte prevailed after squandering a 20-point lead in the third quarter. Detroit’s Cade Cunningham had 27 points and 10 assists before leaving the game with a hip injury with 48 seconds remaining in regulation.
RJ Barrett scored 31 points, Scottie Barnes added 17 points in his return from injury, and the Toronto Raptors won back-to-back games for the first time this season by beating the Minnesota Timberwolves 110-105. Chris Boucher scored 22 points and Jakob Poeltl had 15 points and 12 rebounds for his fourth straight double-double as the Raptors beat Minnesota in Toronto for the 20th straight time. Anthony Edwards scored 21 of his 26 points in the second half and Julius Randle added 23 for the Timberwolves. Edwards shot 2 for 5 in the first half but made 7 of 15 attempts in the second half.
Harrison Barnes had 25 points and 10 rebounds, rookie Stephon Castle scored 18 points and the San Antonio Spurs rallied to defeat the Utah Jazz 126-118 for their second straight win without Victor Wembanyama. Zach Collins added 18 points and Chris Paul had 13 points and 10 assists for San Antonio. Lauri Markkanen scored 27 points and Keyonte George added 19 for Utah, which lost its fourth straight.
Franz Wagner hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 2.5 seconds to play, and the Orlando Magic roared back to snap the Los Angeles Lakers’ six-game winning streak with a 119-118 victory. Anthony Davis missed two free throws with 19 seconds left and then missed an 18-foot jumper at the buzzer for the Lakers, who lost to a Magic team playing without three starters in its third game in four nights. Wagner scored 15 of his 37 points in the fourth quarter. Davis had 39 points and nine rebounds, while LeBron James scored 14 of his 31 points in the fourth quarter.
MLB
Shohei Ohtani is in the early stages of rehabilitation from left shoulder surgery after the World Series. The Los Angeles Dodgers superstar says the goal is for him to be ready to pitch and hit by opening day next March, but he's going to be conservative in his approach and make sure he's totally healthy first. Ohtani won his third MVP award Thursday, and first in the National League. He was in Los Angeles with his wife and beloved dog, Decoy, although because of his surgery four days after the Dodgers' World Series victory over the New York Yankees, the family hasn't been able to celebrate.
Shohei Ohtani won his third Most Valuable Player Award and first in the National League, and Aaron Judge earned his second American League honor on Thursday. Ohtani was a unanimous MVP for the third time, receiving all 30 first-place votes and 420 points in voting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor was second with 263 points and Arizona second baseman Ketel Marte third with 229. Judge was a unanimous pick for the first time. Kansas City shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. got all 30 second-place votes for 270 points, and Yankees outfielder Juan Soto was third with 21 third-place votes and 229 points.
NFL
Nick Chubb ran for a 2-yard touchdown in heavy snow with 57 seconds left, and the Cleveland Browns stunned division rival Pittsburgh 24-19, ending the Steelers’ five-game winning streak. The Browns had blown a 12-point lead in the fourth quarter and were down 19-18 before getting the ball back with 3:22 remaining after Pittsburgh punter Corliss Waitman shanked a 16-yarder. With snow piling up and covering the yard lines on the field, Cleveland’s Jameis Winston completed a third-down pass to Jerry Jeudy to the Pittsburgh 9. Two plays later, Chubb barreled into the end zone. The AFC North-leading Steelers fell to 8-3 while the Browns are 3-8.
With tears occasionally welling in his eyes, Daniel Jones disagreed on Thursday with the New York Giants' decision to bench him earlier this week and perhaps end his five-plus tenure as the team’s quarterback. The 27-year-old Jones said he gave the team everything he had after being taken sixth overall in the 2019 draft and he believes he still has a future in the NFL. He held himself accountable for the Giants making the playoffs once in his tenure as the starter.
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy has been limited in practice this week because of a sore throwing shoulder and will likely be a game-time decision for Sunday’s game at Green Bay. Purdy only threw a few passes Wednesday and Thursday during the portion of practice open to the media after hurting his right shoulder in last week’s loss to the Seattle Seahawks. The 49ers postponed Purdy’s usual news conference from until Friday as the team is still determining whether he will be able to play against the Packers.
CLIMATE CHANGE
Pragnya Mohan has been a professional triathlete for nearly a decade, but summers in her native India are now so hot that she can’t train there anymore. And she worries about a day when heat around the world kills her sport entirely. She was among athletes who spoke at the United Nations climate summit in Azerbaijan about the threat global warming poses to them, to fans and to sport itself. They described how extreme weather is making training and competing difficult or impossible. With billions of fans worldwide, some athletes and leagues are trying to get more people to care, and act, on climate change.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Top football recruit Bryce Underwood has flipped to Michigan after pledging to play at LSU. That's according to a person familiar with the situation who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to share the recruit’s plans to join the Wolverines. Underwood pinned a post on his Instagram account, showing a post in which On3.com reported that he has committed to Michigan. The 6-foot-3 quarterback played at Belleville High School about 15 miles east of Michigan's campus, and told LSU nearly a year ago he intended to enroll there.
MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Texas 70 Syracuse 66
Jeremy Roach reached a Final Four and won Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season and tournament titles during four productive years at Duke. It didn’t take him long to create a memorable moment with his new team. Roach made a 3-pointer at the buzzer of the second overtime on Thursday night, completing No. 13 Baylor’s rally for an improbable 99-98 victory over No. 22 St. John’s at the Baha Mar Championship. St. John’s coach Rick Pitino fumed about what he called “unethical” behavior by game officials and Baylor coach Scott Drew, arguing that Drew baited the referees into an unnecessary replay review that disrupted the Red Storm's Zuby Ejiofor. He missed two free throws to set up Roach's buzzer-beater.
WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
St. John’s 69 Marist 49
FORMULA ONE
With a restructuring at Andretti Global that pushed Michael Andretti into a smaller role, the chances of his organization landing a Formula 1 team have substantially increased. F1 and Formula One Management could have a decision to grant the General Motors-backed entry a spot as the 11th team on the grid in the coming weeks. Dan Towriss is now the majority owner of the Andretti organization and was at the Las Vegas Grand Prix on Thursday scoping his chances of entering the top motorsports series in the world. So was the FBI, allegedly, as part of a Department of Justice investigation into why F1 denied the Andretti organization expansion into the series.
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