NHL
Simon Holmstrom scored twice and added an assist, and Ilya Sorokin made 30 saves to lead the New York Islanders to a 5-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday night. Bo Horvat, Anders Lee and Alexander Romanov also scored for New York, which has won five-in-a-row. Mackenzie Blackwood finished with 23 saves and Artturi Lehkonen and Jack Drury scored for the Avalanche.
Andrei Svechnikov scored twice and added an assist, Frederik Andersen made 22 saves, and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the New York Rangers 4-0. Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis also scored for the Hurricanes, who won for the fifth time in their last six games. The Rangers lost their second in a row after earning points in 10 straight games. The shutout was Andersen’s first this season and the 28th of his career. He has won three straight since his return after knee surgery to improve to 6-1-0. Igor Shesterkin made 22 saves for the Rangers.
Tage Thompson and JJ Peterka each had a hat trick and an assist to lead the Buffalo Sabres to a 7-2 win against the Boston Bruins on Tuesday night. Thompson and Peterka became the first pair to score a hat trick in the same game for the Sabres since 2008. Mason Lohrei and Brad Marchand scored, and Jeremy Swayman made 26 saves for the Bruins who have won five of their past eight games following a six-game winless streak. Zach Benson also scored for the Sabres and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 26 saves. It was Peterka’s first career hat trick and Thompson’s seventh.
Kyle Connor scored twice and Connor Hellebuyck made 24 saves as the Winnipeg Jets won their fourth in a row, 4-1 over the Montreal Canadiens. Mark Scheifele also scored and Rasmus Kupari added an empty-net goal. Gabriel Vilardi provided two assists. Juraj Slafkovsky gave Montreal an early lead and Sam Montembeault stopped 20 shots, but the Canadiens lost their third consecutive game after winning 10 of their previous 13. Connor's second goal came with two seconds remaining in the middle period and he now has 29 this season.
Connor Bedard scored from a seemingly impossible angle, Arvid Soderblom stopped 34 shots and the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-1. Landon Slaggert, Ryan Donato and Teuvo Teravainen also scored for Chicago, which won for just the third time in 18 games this season when trailing after the first period. Bedard sparked the Blackhawks on a power play midway through the second. He drifted to near the bottom of the right circle before firing a shot through a tiny window that got past goaltender Jonas Johansson and hit the left post for his 14th goal of the season.
Logan Thompson made 32 saves, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Dylan Strome and Aliaksei Protas scored goals, and the Washington Capitals beat the Calgary Flames 3-1. Blake Coleman scored on the power play for Calgary and Dustin Wolf had 20 stops. Thompson was especially sharp early as the Flames outshot the visitors 13-5 in the first period. He made a pad save off Ryan Lomberg on a breakaway and a stick save off Nazem Kadri on a partial breakaway. One day after signing a six-year contract extension worth $35.1 million, Thompson made it six straight wins while improving to 11-0-1 in his last dozen starts.
Mason McTavish scored the tying goal early in the second period and assisted on Robby Fabbri’s go-ahead goal 4:35 later, sending the Anaheim Ducks to a 6-4 victory over the Seattle Kraken. Troy Terry, Cutter Gauthier, Jackson LaCombe and Frank Vatrano also scored for the Ducks, who took the lead for good with three goals in the first eight minutes of the second. Anaheim has won three straight after losing seven of eight. McTavish, Fabbri, LaCombe and Vatrano each finished with a goal and an assist. Ryan Strome had two assists, and Lukas Dostal made 26 saves. Eeli Tolvanen, Mitchell Stephens, Jaden Schwartz and Shane Wright scored for the Kraken. Philipp Grubauer turned away 17 shots.
Defenseman Miro Heiskanen was injured in the third period of the Dallas Stars’ 4-3 overtime victory over Vegas after taking a hit from Golden Knights captain Mark Stone. Stone fell toward Heiskanen’s left knee and thigh after getting tripped during Tuesday night's game. Dallas coach Pete DeBoe coached Vegas from 2019-22. He said he didn’t have an update on Heiskanen. Stone was assessed a 2-minute tripping penalty. DeBoer said Stone is not a dirty player.
NBA
Tyrese Maxey scored 43 points to lead a Philadelphia 76ers team without injured Joel Embiid and Paul George to a 118-104 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night. Maxey hit four 3s and made 15 of 26 shots overall from the floor and extended his career-best streak of 25-point games to 11 straight. LeBron James scored 31 points for the Lakers. Anthony Davis left the Lakers without a key cog when he was forced out in the first half with an abdominal muscle strain.
Anthony Davis left the Lakers’ game against Philadelphia in the first half with an abdominal muscle strain. Davis walked to the locker room with his right hand over his stomach when he left with 2:10 to go in the first quarter Tuesday. Davis had four points in 10 minutes before he was hurt. Davis averaged 26.3 points and 12.1 rebounds in 41 games this season for the Lakers. He had 42 points and 23 points on Monday in a victory at Charlotte.
Jalen Green scored 12 of his 25 points in the third quarter and the Houston Rockets avoided a late collapse to beat the Atlanta Hawks 100-96 on Tuesday night. Alperen Sengun added 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Rockets, who led 96-80 after Green’s steal and layup with 5:41 remaining before Atlanta closed within two in the final minute. Dillon Brooks and Amen Thompson each finished with 11 points for the Rockets, who followed their victory in Boston on Monday with their fourth straight win. Trae Young had 21 points and nine assists for Atlanta, which dropped its season-high sixth straight.
Dennis Schroder scored 23 points with five 3-pointers, Brandin Podziemski contributed 20 points off the bench with Stephen Curry sitting out to rest his troublesome knees, and the Golden State Warriors beat the stumbling Utah Jazz 114-103. Collin Sexton matched his season high with 30 points for Utah, which lost its seventh straight and 10th of 11 overall. Andrew Wiggins added 19 points and Golden State capitalized with 12 first-quarter points off Utah’s six turnovers and 26 in all from Jazz miscues.
Deni Avdija had a season-high 30 points and the Portland Trail Blazers bested former teammate Damian Lillard with a 125-112 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday night. Anfernee Simons added 25 points for Portland, which has won five of their last six. The Blazers led by as many as 19 points in the final quarter. Giannis Antetokounmpo had 39 points and 12 rebounds for the Bucks, who had won nine of their last 11 but were playing their third game in four nights.
WNBA
Brittney Griner plans to sign with the Atlanta Dream, marking the end of her 11-year career with the Phoenix Mercury. Griner announced the move in a video posted to Instagram last night. Her agent, Lindsay Kagawa Colas, confirmed to The Associated Press that the star center would sign a one-year deal with Atlanta. WNBA free agents can’t sign contracts until Feb. 1. Griner had spent her entire career with Phoenix since getting drafted No. 1 in 2013. The 34-year-old missed the 2022 season when she was detained for nearly 10 months in a Russian prison. She was freed in a prisoner swap.
The Phoenix Mercury are finalizing a deal to acquire Alyssa Thomas from the Connecticut Sun. That's according to a person familiar with the deal who spoke to The Associated Press Tuesday night on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss it publicly. The Sun will also send Ty Harris to Phoenix, while Connecticut will receive Natasha Cloud, Rebecca Allen and the No. 12 pick in this year’s draft. Thomas has played her entire career with Connecticut and helped the franchise reach the WNBA Finals in 2019 and 2022. Since the deal is a sign-and-trade, it can’t become official until Feb. 1.
NFL
“Fire Andy” chants echoed throughout the stands in Philadelphia during Andy Reid’s final season coaching the Eagles in 2012. Nick Sirianni heard many of those same fans yelling “Fire Nick” in Week 6. Now, the two head coaches are facing off in the Super Bowl for the second time in three years. Reid found his greatest success after Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie fired him following a 4-12 season. Win or lose, Reid’s legacy is set. He has a Hall of Fame resume. For Sirianni, a victory could silence critics once and for all.
Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson, Buffalo’s Josh Allen and Washington’s Jayden Daniels won’t be participating in the Pro Bowl Games this week. The NFL announced final rosters Tuesday that didn’t include any of those quarterbacks. New England Patriots rookie Drake Maye is replacing Jackson on the AFC roster, Pittsburgh’s Russell Wilson is filling in for Allen and Tampa Bay’s Baker Mayfield is filling Daniels’ spot. The Pro Bowl Games run Thursday through Sunday in Orlando, Florida, and include skills competitions and a flag football game.
The Detroit Lions have agreed to hire Denver Broncos assistant John Morton as offensive coordinator and promote Kelvin Sheppard to defensive coordinator. That's according to a person familiar with the situation who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Tuesday night because the agreements had not been announced. Detroit became the third team since 2010 to have both coordinators become NFL head coaches in the same offseason. Offensive coordinator Ben Johnson was hired by Chicago and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn left to lead the New York Jets.
Mike McCarthy has decided against coaching in 2025, removing himself as a candidate to fill the NFL’s last remaining head coaching vacancy with the New Orleans Saints. A person familiar with McCarthy’s decision disclosed it to The Associated Press on Tuesday night on condition of anonymity because McCarthy and the Saints have not discussed it publicly. McCarthy is the third high-profile candidate to pull out of the Saints’ search, joining Buffalo offensive coordinator Joe Brady and Washington offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury. New Orleans’ remaining candidates include Philadelphia offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, Saints interim coach Darren Rizzi, Miami defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver and New York Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka.
The Chicago Bears have hired Dennis Allen as defensive coordinator and Declan Doyle as offensive coordinator under new coach Ben Johnson. Chicago also is keeping Richard Hightower as special teams coordinator as it looks to rebound after going 5-12 this season. The addition of Allen, 52, puts a former head coach on Johnson’s first staff in his new position. While his two stints as a head coach in the NFL were unsuccessful, Allen is an experienced defensive coordinator. He had that role in New Orleans for six seasons, and his unit was ranked in the top 10 in the NFL in 2020 and 2021.
GOLF
Scottie Scheffler figures the injury to his hand that kept him out of golf for a month could have been worse. The world's No. 1 player went into detail about that fateful event making homemade ravioli on Christmas. He says he was at a rental house that didn't have the right tools so he tried to cut the ravioli with a wine glass. It broke and shards went into his palm just below the middle finger. He practiced hard in Dallas last week to make sure he was ready for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am for his 2025 debut.
MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Koby Brea scored 18 points to lead No. 12 Kentucky to a 78-73 victory over No. 8 Tennessee. Jaxson Robinson added 17 points as the Wildcats snapped a two-game skid. Otega Oweh scored 14 and Amari Williams had 10 points and 15 rebounds. Igor Milicic led the Volunteers with 19 points and nine rebounds. Chaz Lanier scored 15 and Zakai Zeigler added 13.
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