NHL
Artemi Panarin scored twice, Chris Kreider got the go-ahead goal with 9:38 left and the New York Rangers rallied for a 5-3 victory over the Utah Hockey Club. Reilly Smith tied it 3-all with a short-handed goal 28 seconds into the third period for the Rangers, who had been 0-17-1 this season when trailing after two. Arthur Kaliyev also scored as New York improved to 4-0-2 in its past six games. Igor Shesterkin made 28 saves, and Sam Carrick had two assists in the third. Matias Maccelli scored twice to lead Utah, and Barrett Hayton assisted on both goals. Karel Vejmelka stopped 20 shots but Utah dropped its third straight at home and was handed its 10th loss in 12 games.
Sean Couturier had a goal and an assist, Travis Konecny added three assists and the Philadelphia Flyers defeated the New York Islanders 5-3. Morgan Frost, Garnet Hathaway, Cam York and Noah Cates also scored for Philadelphia. Samuel Ersson made 26 saves as the Flyers won for the third time in four games. Joel Farabee had two assists following three consecutive games as a healthy scratch. Bo Horvat, Mathew Barzal and Anders Lee scored for New York. Ilya Sorokin stopped 19 shots after a two-game absence due to illness, but the Islanders lost their second straight.
William Nylander scored his second goal of the game at 1:10 of overtime to give the Toronto Maple Leafs a 4-3 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Thursday night. Devils coach Sheldon Keefe was back at Scotiabank Arena as a visitor for the first time since being fired by the Maple Leafs in the spring. Nylander added an assist, Auston Matthews also had two goals and Joseph Woll stopped 21 shots. Mitch Marner and Jake McCabe had two assists each. Nico Hischier had two power-play goals for New Jersey. Jack Hughes had a goal and two assists and Jacob Markstrom made 37 saves.
James van Riemsdyk scored twice and the Columbus Blue Jackets beat the San Jose Sharks 4-1 to extend their win streak to six games — their longest since January 2020. Kent Johnson had a goal and an assist and Adam Fantilli scored a goal to stretch his point streak to eight games. Van Riemsdyk’s second was an empty-netter with 2:01 remaining. Elvis Merzlikins made 18 saves. Tyler Toffoli scored for San Jose, while Alexandar Georgiev stopped 30 shots. The Sharks have now lost four of their last five games and remain at the bottom of the Pacific Division.
Alex Ovechkin scored with 1:53 left in overtime to give the Washington Capitals a 1-0 victory over the Ottawa Senators. Ovechkin’s goal was the 874th of his career, moving him within 20 of Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record, and he broke a league record by scoring against his 179th goaltender. Jaromir Jagr scored against 178 goalies. The 39-year-old winger took a pass from Rasmus Sandin on a 2-on-1 breakaway and fired it past rookie Leevi Merilainen, who made 26 saves. Logan Thompson made 24 saves for Washington, his second consecutive shutout.
Dylan Larkin scored two goals and the surging Detroit Red Wings beat the Florida Panthers 5-2. Larkin, Jonatan Berggren and Patrick Kane had power-play goals for Detroit, which also got a goal from Marco Kasper. Cam Talbot stopped 40 shots for the Red Wings, who have won eight of their last nine games. Anton Lundell and Evan Rodrigues scored for Florida, which is 4-6-1 in its last 11
Jake Guentzel scored the only goal in the shootout and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Anaheim Ducks 4-3. Brayden Point, Anthony Cirelli and Guentzel scored for Tampa Bay during regulation while Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 34 saves and stopped all three shots he faced in the shootout. Robby Fabbri, Troy Terry and Leo Carlsson scored for the Ducks, who fell to 1-3-1 on a six-game road trip. Lukas Dostal stopped 32 shots for Anaheim. The Ducks went to overtime for the 12th time this season.
Dylan DeMelo scored with 27 seconds left to play to give the Winnipeg Jets a 2-1 victory over the Seattle Kraken. Matty Beniers scored in the first period for Seattle and Mark Scheifele scored a power-play goal for Winnipeg in the second period. Winnipeg goalie Connor Hellebuyck made 18 saves and Seattle’s Joey Daccord stopped 34 shots. The Jets stretched their point streak to five games (4-0-1) and improved to 8-2-2 in their last 12. The Kraken capped a 2-3 road trip.
Alex Newhook’s deflection broke a tie midway through the third period and unbeaten rookie Jakub Dobes made 32 saves as the Montreal Canadiens defeated the Dallas Stars 3-1. Newhook’s goal stood up following a replay review to check the height of his stick while he was tied up with Dallas’ Wyatt Johnston just outside the crease. Dobes improved to 4-0-0, with all four victories coming on the road against teams with winning records: Florida, Colorado, Washington and Dallas. The 23-year-old goalie was brought up from Laval of the AHL following the NHL’s Christmas break to back up Sam Montembeault. Juraj Slafkovsky and Joel Armia also scored for the Canadiens, who are 11-2-1 in their last 14 games. Armia’s goal was a last-minute empty-netter. Jason Robertson scored for the Stars.
Brayden Schenn scored twice, Jordan Kyrou had his 20th goal and the St. Louis Blues beat the Calgary Flames 4-1 on Thursday night to sweep a two-game set in St. Louis. On Tuesday night, the Blues beat the Flames 2-1. Colton Parayko also scored for St. Louis and Joel Hofer stopped 28 shots. Dylan Holloway added two assists. Yegor Sharangovich scored for the Flames. Dustin Wolf had 25 saves. St. Louis scored three goals in the first period on 13 shots. Schenn opened the scoring at 4:55. Parayko blasted a slap shot from the top of the right faceoff circle with 6:07 to go, and Kyrou scored with 4:20 remaining.
Steven Stamkos scored in regulation and had Nashville’s third straight shootout goal in the Predators’ 3-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday night. Filip Forsberg tied it with 3:03 left with his 300th NHL goal, and Juuse Saros made 24 saves in regulation and overtime. Gustav Nyquist and Ryan O’Reilly scored on Nashville’s first two attempts in the tiebreaker and Stamkos put it away on the third. Connor Bedard and Alec Martinez scored for Chicago, and Arvid Soderblom made 39 saves. The Blackhawks have lost four in a row.
Evan Bouchard scored with 6:55 left and the surging Edmonton Oilers overcame a three-goal deficit to beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-3 on Thursday night. Edmonton, playing on the second night of a back-to-back, has won four in a row and eight of nine. Connor McDavid had a goal and an assist, Viktor Arvidsson and Brett Kulak also scored and Stuart Skinner recovered from a shaky start to make 22 saves. Logan O’Connor opened the scoring 5:17 into the game and Nathan MacKinnon scored twice as Colorado scored three times on its first five shots.
Alex Turcotte scored twice and added an assist — all in the first 10 minutes — as the Los Angeles Kings thumped the struggling Vancouver Canucks 5-1. Adrian Kempe and Kevin Fiala each had a goal and an assist. Warren Foegele also scored for the Kings. Turcotte’s first goal came 51 seconds into the game. And before the midpoint of the first period, the 23-year-old winger had helped Los Angeles to a 3-0 lead. Quinn Hughes scored for Vancouver with a long drive during 4-on-4 play 14:52 into the second. Kings goalie Darcy Kuemper stopped 20 shots. Thatcher Demko made 16 saves for the Canucks. Vancouver has lost six of seven and fallen out of the Western Conference’s second wild-card spot.
NBA
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 40 points and eight assists in three quarters, and the Oklahoma City Thunder rolled past the Cleveland Cavaliers 134-114 in a matchup of teams with the best records in the NBA. The Western Conference-leading Thunder and the Eastern Conference-leading Cavaliers now have matching 34-6 records. Lu Dort scored a season-high 22 points and Jalen Williams added 19 for Oklahoma City, which won its fourth straight. Darius Garland led Cleveland with 20 points and Jarrett Allen added 13 points and seven rebounds. Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland’s top scorer for the season, was held to eight points.
Myles Turner scored 28 points, Pascal Siakam added 26 and the Indiana Pacers beat the Detroit Pistons 111-100 on Thursday night. Turner was 8 of 11 from 3-point range while his teammates went 5 for 19. Tyrese Haliburton had 17 points and eight assists as the Pacers won for the seventh time in eight games. Tim Hardaway Jr. finished with 25 points while Cade Cunningham had 20 points and nine assists despite shooting 7 for 21 (1 for 7 on 3-pointers). Detroit had won 10 of 12.
Devin Booker scored 37 points, Kevin Durant added 23 and the Phoenix Suns weathered a late rally in a 130-123 victory over the Washington Wizards on Thursday night. Booker had his third-consecutive 30-plus game to help Phoenix survive after Washington cut a 24-point deficit to three late in the fourth quarter. Rookie Ryan Dunn added 18 points and 11 rebounds, and Grayson Allen had 21 points for the Suns. They improved to 1-1 on their five-game trip. Rookie Keyshawn George scored a career-high 24 points for the Wizards. They lost their eighth straight but snapped a stretch of double-digit defeats at three.
Norman Powell scored 23 points, James Harden had 19 points and the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Portland Trail Blazers 118-89 on Thursday night. The Clippers routed Portland a night after beating Brooklyn at home by a franchise-record 59 points. Dalano Banton led the Trail Blazers with 23 points. Scoot Henderson had 16 points. Kobe Brown’s dunk in the fourth pushed the Clippers to their biggest lead at 34.
DeMar DeRozan had 33 points, Malik Monk added 26 points and nine assists and the Sacramento Kings beat the Houston Rockets 132-127 on Thursday night. Monk made the last four free throws for Kings. They improved to 21-20 with their eighth victory in nine games. Domantas Sabonis had 20 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists for the Kings, and DeAaron Fox added 19 points. Jaden Green led Houston with 28 points, and Alperen Şengun had 21 points and 10 rebounds. The Rockets had won seven straight on the road.
MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Siena 93 Sacred Heart 75
Bryant 89 UAlbany 79
Iona 82 Canisius 61
Marist 56 St. Peter’s 51
Vermont 72 Binghamton 64
WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Siena 79 Sacred Heart 59
UAlbany 55 Bryant 40
Louisville 72 Syracuse 62
Canisius 66 Iona 63
Marist 50 St. Peter’s 30
Vermont 55 Binghamton 46
NFL
The only thing Ravens coach John Harbaugh figures is missing in preparation for Baltimore's divisional round playoff showdown in Buffalo is having the deep and resonant voice of late NFL Films broadcaster John Facenda serve as narrator. The matchup has the potential of being a classic pitting the NFL's leading MVP candidates in quarterbacks Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen. And both teams have scores to settle. The Ravens trampled the Bills in a 35-10 win in Week 4. Meantime, Buffalo won the only playoff meeting with a 17-3 decision over Baltimore in the 2020 divisional round.
A person familiar with the team's plans says the Dallas Cowboys have requested permission to interview Philadelphia offensive coordinator Kellen Moore in their search to replace Mike McCarthy. The Cowboys also are planning to interview two former NFL head coaches in Robert Saleh and Leslie Frazier. Moore has a long history with the Cowboys, including four seasons as Dak Prescott’s play-caller. Three of those were after McCarthy was hired in 2020. The Cowboys and McCarthy parted ways this week after five seasons.
NCAA
The U.S. Department of Education says plans for colleges to pay athletes directly for their name, image and likeness deals would run afoul of Title IX. The guidance issued Thursday adds more confusion to the shifting landscape of college sports. The nine-page memo from the DOJ’s Office for Civil Rights says NIL money that goes to athletes should be treated the same as athletic financial aid — in other words, scholarships. If that position remains in place after President-elect Donald Trump takes office next week, it could upend plans that many schools are making for next school year.
TENNIS
Two-time Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka has stopped playing because of an injury after dropping the opening set of her third-round match against Belinda Bencic. This was Osaka’s first run to the third round at a major tournament since 2022. She missed time in recent seasons because of mental-health breaks, then was off the tour while pregnant. Her daughter, Shai, was born in July 2023. Osaka began this season by making it to the final of a tournament at Auckland, New Zealand, on Jan. 5, but she stopped playing in the title match there because of an abdominal injury. On Friday, Osaka was visited by a trainer during a changeover late in the first set.
It wasn’t often pretty, but two-time defending Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka has extended a few impressive streaks while becoming one of the first players to advance to the fourth round of the year’s opening Grand Slam tournament. In a tougher-than-expected match, Sabalenka beat Clara Tauson 7-6 (5), 6-4 in a poor early serving display by both players to open the sixth day of play on Rod Laver Arena. Later Friday, an abdominal injury that caused Naomi Osaka to retire with a one-set lead over Clara Tauson less than two weeks ago struck again Friday, forcing the four-time major champion to cut a promising Australian Open short.
SKI
Mikaela Shiffrin is back on snow and skiing regularly again at home in Colorado. When she’ll return to racing after an unusual puncture wound to her side remains “a moving target” that probably won’t be figured out for another week to 10 days according to U.S. Ski Team head coach Paul Kristofic. Shiffrin crashed on Nov. 30 as she was chasing her record-extending 100th World Cup win in a giant slalom in Killington, Vermont. She then had abdominal surgery to clean out her puncture wound. But she indicated on social media that she returned to skiing about a week ago. Kristofic says “things are moving along” but that “it’s been complicated."
GOLF
The PGA Tour is moving the Genesis Invitational out of Riviera Country Club next month because of the deadly wildfires that have decimated part of Los Angeles. Riviera is in part of the evacuation zone although the 99-year-old course was not damaged. The tour expects to announce a new location in the coming days. It is relocating after consulting with the title sponsor, the club and the Tiger Woods foundation that hosts the tournament. It will be the first time since 1998 that the PGA Tour's tournament in Los Angeles is not played at Riviera.
J.T. Poston shot a 10-under 62 to take a one-stroke lead over Justin Lower in the opening round of The American Express. Poston carded nine birdies and an eagle in the Palm Springs-area desert on the Nicklaus Tournament Course. Lower was one stroke ahead of an 8-under pack that included Jason Day, Joel Dahmen, Chris Kirk, J.J. Spahn and Matti Schmid. Blades Brown shot 72 in the 17-year-old's first round as a professional. Defending champion Nick Dunlap shot 67.
MLB
Bob Uecker, the voice of his hometown Milwaukee Brewers who after a short playing career earned the moniker “Mr. Baseball” and honors from the Hall of Fame, has died. He was 90. In a statement released Thursday by the Brewers, Uecker’s family said he had battled small cell lung cancer since early 2023. Uecker, who was born and raised in Milwaukee, signed his first pro contract with the Milwaukee Braves in 1956 and reached the majors in 1962. He lasted six seasons in the big leagues. He then spent over 50 years broadcasting the Brewers, becoming synonymous with baseball in Wisconsin and beyond.
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