NFL
Patrick Kane scored the decisive third-period goal and added an assist as the Detroit Red Wings beat the Philadelphia Flyers 6-4. J.T. Compher and Lucas Raymond also contributed a goal and an assist each. Alex DeBrincat, Michael Rasmussen, Joe Veleno had the other goals for the Red Wings. Alex Lyon, playing in his first game since Nov. 25, stopped 15 shots. He was sidelined the previous nine games due to a lower-body injury. Travis Konecny, Noah Cates, Ryan Poehling and Owen Tippett scored for the Flyers, who trailed 4-2 after two periods but tied it at 4 early in the third. Samuel Ersson made 18 saves.
Nicholas Robertson scored the go-ahead goal and assisted on another against his older brother’s team as the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Dallas Stars 5-3. Joseph Woll stopped 38 shots Wednesday night. Robertson made it 3-2 with an unassisted goal at 5:31 of the second period, only 16 seconds after the first of William Nylander’s two goals tied the game. The 23-year-old Robertson had the assist on Bobby McMann’s goal later in the second, when 25-year-old Jason Robertson was on the ice for the Stars. Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger allowed four goals on 12 shots playing on his 26th birthday.
Matthew Tkachuk scored twice, Sergei Bobrovsky made 26 saves and the Florida Panthers beat the Minnesota Wild 6-1 on Wednesday night. Aaron Ekblad added his second goal of the season to go with two assists, and Mackie Samoskevich, Niko Mikkola and Eetu Luostarinen also scored for Florida. Tkachuk has 13 goals this season and has scored eight times in his past eight games. Marco Rossi scored his 12th goal of the season for Minnesota. Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 27 shots.
Troy Terry scored the tiebreaking goal with 24 seconds left, and the Anaheim Ducks rallied late for a 3-2 victory over the NHL-leading Winnipeg Jets. Frank Vatrano scored his second goal with 4:46 left for the Ducks, who have won back-to-back games for the first time since Nov. 19. Gabriel Vilardi and Mark Scheifele scored for the Jets, who had won five of seven. Vatrano got an assist when he broke up a pass between Jets defensemen Haydn Fleury and Neil Pionk deep in Winnipeg’s end. Terry pounced on the puck and scored.
Mikhail Sergachev scored 4:48 into overtime to lift the Utah Hockey Club to a 3-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday night. Clayton Keller and Dylan Guenther scored for Utah in the third period to force overtime. Karel Vejmelka made 24 saves. Logan Cooley added two assists. Danton Heinen and Dakota Joshua scored for Vancouver, and Thatcher Demko stopped 28 shots. Quinn Hughes assisted on both goals.
MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
UAlbany 74 Sacred Heart 66
Vermont 75 Miami 67
UMass 77 Northeastern 72
OT UConn 94 Xavier 89
Siena College has signed a five-year extension to play men’s home games at the Albany County-owned MVP Arena in Albany. College vice president and director of athletics John D’Argenio celebrated the news, as heard here in a video published by the Loudonville-based private college.
“28 years ago, we brought all of our games down here, and we’ve been one of the best-drawing mid-major programs in the country over that time period,” D'Argenio said.
WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Syracuse 87 Binghamton 60
Caitlin Clark's No. 22 will be retired in a ceremony Feb. 2 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City. Clark finished her college career last season as the all-time leading scorer in NCAA Division I history and is widely regarded as a transformational figure in the women’s game. The flair of her game and long-distance 3-point shots spawned a legion of fans adorned in her No. 22 jersey at games both home and away. Clark grew up in the Des Moines area and said Iowa holds a place in her heart bigger than just basketball.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Besides first-round games at on-campus sites, the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff also serves up something now for this postseason: cold-weather northern venues as opposed to bowl games in warm, sunny climates. Whether that provides a home-field advantage for sixth-seeded Penn State, No. 7 seed Notre Dame and No. 8 Ohio State remains to be seen, but it's a factor southern schools such No. 11 SMU and No. 9 Tennessee must prepare for. Tenth-seeded Indiana only has to travel a couple hundred miles north to South Bend but December football will be new to the Hoosiers, especially at No. 7 seed Notre Dame.
Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman and Indiana coach Curt Cignetti are football junkies at heart. They enjoy studying film, game prep and Saturday afternoons. They're also deeply fond of playing underneath the Friday night lights. They'll get a chance to relive that memory this week when the 10th-seeded Hoosiers visit the seventh-seeded Fighting Irish in the first Friday night game ever played at Notre Dame Stadium. Freeman will be making his playoff debut as a head coach. Cignetti has playoff experience at different college levels but is making his first appearance in the College Football Playoff.
SMU could face the biggest adjustment playing in the cold in the College Football Playoff. A 10- to 15-mph northwest wind will make temperatures in the 20s feel like it’s in the mid teens in State College, Pennsylvania, on Saturday for SMU's game against Penn State. Cold weather also is in the forecast for Indiana at Notre Dame and Tennessee at Ohio State. Temperatures in the 60s are expected for Clemson's game at Texas. For SMU, its game could be its coldest ever. The lowest temperature at kickoff for the Mustangs was 24 degrees for games in 2013 and 1983.
Hajj-Malik Williams passed for two touchdowns, Kylin James ran for another and No. 24 UNLV pulled away in the second half for a 24-13 victory over California in the LA Bowl on Wednesday night. UNLV won a bowl game for the first time since 2000 and had its first 11-win season as an FBS program. Del Alexander, an assistant when UNLV last won a bowl game, was the interim head coach after Barry Odom departed for Purdue on Dec. 8. Cal, who hasn’t had a winning season since 2019, were missing quarterback Fernando Mendoza and leading wide receiver Nyziah Hunter, after both entered the transfer portal.
A federal judge granted Diego Pavia’s request for a preliminary injunction allowing the quarterback to play the 2025 season and told the NCAA the organization cannot take any action against Vanderbilt or any other university that Pavia plays a fifth season for next year. U.S. District Judge William L. Campbell issued the injunction Wednesday after a hearing Dec. 4. The judge noted in his order filed with the injunction Vanderbilt's historic success with Pavia reaching its first bowl game since 2018 with wins over both Alabama and Auburn. Pavia sued the NCAA on Nov. 8 contesting the organization's rules limiting players who start at junior colleges to only four seasons.
NFL
The setup for two Christmas Day games means two games on Saturday in Week 16. They’ll be potential playoff previews. Patrick Mahomes and the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs host C.J. Stroud and the AFC South champion Texans in the first game Saturday. Then, it’s Russell Wilson and the Steelers visiting Lamar Jackson and the Ravens in a battle for the AFC North. Pro Picks likes the favorites in both matchups.
After losing his job as the Atlanta Falcons' starting quarterback, Kirk Cousins is promising to support rookie Michael Penix Jr. Cousins threw nine interceptions with one touchdown in the past five games. The switch to Penix comes with the Falcons one game behind Tampa Bay in the NFC South as they prepare to play host to the New York Giants. The change wasn't a one-game decision, but Cousins insists he believes he can still start in the NFL. He said Wednesday he has not forgotten how to play the position.
In Thursday Night Football action, the Broncos are in Los Angeles to play the Chargers at 8:15 tonight.
NASCAR
The two teams suing NASCAR over an antitrust complaint have been granted a preliminary injunction that will allow them to compete as chartered teams in 2025. U.S. District Court Judge Kenneth D. Bell says NASCAR fans have an interest in watching all the teams compete with "their best drivers and most competitive teams.” 23XI Racing, owned by NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan and three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin, and Front Row Motorsports refused in September to sign take-it-or-leave it revenue sharing offers made by NASCAR just 48 hours before the start of the playoffs. NASCAR could appeal.
TRANSGENDER ATHLETES
President-elect Donald Trump's campaign promise to ‘ban’ transgender athletes struck a chord with voters. It's uncertain, however, what exactly Trump will do once his second term begins in January. The most immediate action could be to remove Title IX protections for trans-athletes that were introduced by the Biden administration. Several ongoing court battles about the participation of trans-athletes could also shape the near future of the issue.
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