The Philadelphia Flyers' current surge has put them within three points of the first-place Washington Capitals in the NHL's Metropolitan Division. Derek Grant and Travis Konecny each had a goal and an assist as the Flyers picked up their sixth straight win, 5-3 over the Rangers in New York.
Konecny, Matt Niskanen and Sean Couturier scored power-play goals and Michael Raffl added a short-handed tally to help Philly sweep the home-and-home series. Carter Hart turned back 23 shots in his fifth consecutive victory and eighth in his last nine starts.
The Capitals ended a four-game road losing streak as Alex Ovechkin contributed two goals and an assist in their 4-3 triumph at Minnesota. Richard Panik and Tom Wilson also scored, Evgeny Kuznetsov had two assists, and Braden Holtby stopped 37 shots for his fourth straight victory. The Wild lost for the first time in four games and remain one point behind Nashville, Winnipeg and Arizona for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
The Golden Knights' eight-game winning streak is over after Anze Kopitar scored twice in the first eight minutes of the Kings'4-1 victory against Vegas. Alex Iafallo scored a power-play goal and had an assist to support Jonathan Quick's 42-save effort. Shea Theodore had the lone goal for the Knights, who continue to lead the Pacific Division by four points over Edmonton.
Johnny Gaudreau provided a goal and an assist to back Cam Talbot's 38-save performance in the Flames' 3-0 shutout of the Panthers. TJ Brodie and Milan Lucic also scored for the Flames, and Mark Giordano had three assists. Florida has lost a franchise record seven straight home games.
Zach Werenski and Emil Bemstrom notched power-play goals while the Blue Jackets scored four times in the third period to beat the Canucks, 5-3. Werenski, Riley Nash and Kevin Stenlund each had a goal and an assist to help Columbus move three points ahead of Carolina for the second Eastern Conference wild card. Ryan Murray had two assists in his return after missing 34 games to injury.
NBA
The Clippers ran their winning streak to four games as Kawhi Leonard scored 30 points and Paul George chipped in 24 in a 136-130 victory over the 76ers. Reserves Montrezl Harrell and Lou Williams also had 24 points for the Clippers, who took control by outscoring Philadelphia, 38-24 in the third quarter. Shake Milton led the Sixers with 39 points, including seven 3-pointers.
The Milwaukee Bucks had some trouble with the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday before the NBA's top team extended its latest winning streak to six games. Giannis Antetokounmpo had 41 points, 20 rebounds and six assists to carry the Bucks past the Hornets, 93-85. Charlotte kept it close until the final two minutes, when the Greek Freak hit a baseline jump, grabbed an offensive rebound, hit a pair of free throws and scored on a driving layup with 1:09 remaining to send fans to the exits. Brook Lopez added 16 points and seven rebounds for the Bucks, who've won 20 of their last 22 games and improved to a league-best 52-8 on the season.
LeBron James notched a triple-double of 34 points, 13 assists and 12 rebounds as the Lakers held off Zion Williamson and the Pelicans, 122-114. Kyle Kuzma helped make up for the absence of injured forward Anthony Davis by scoring 20 points, including a 3-pointer that put the Lakers up 113-109 with 3:40 to go. Williamson poured in a season-high 35 points but committed six turnovers that helped Los Angeles improve to 46-13.
Nikola Jokic recorded his 12th triple-double of the season with 23 points, 18 rebounds and 11 assists in leading the Nuggets over the short-handed Raptors, 133-118. Jeremi Grant was among eight Denver players to score in double figures, finishing with 16 points as the Nuggets stayed tied with the Los Angeles Clippers for second in the Western Conference. OG Anunoby had a team-high 32 points on 12 of 16 shooting for the Raptors, who played without Serge Ibaka and Fred VanVleet for a second straight game.
Kristaps Porzingis tied a season high with 38 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in leading the Mavericks to a 111-91 thumping of the Timberwolves. Seth Curry finished with 27 points and Tim Hardaway Jr. added 19 as Dallas won for the third time in four games. Mavs guard Luka Doncic was held out of the game with a sprained thumb that could prevent him from playing Monday at Chicago.
Bradley Beal's 34 points, eight assists and season-best five steals sent the Wizards to their first win at Golden State in six years, 123-110. Beal has scored at least 25 points in a franchise-record 18 straight games. He scored 20 in the initial 8:51 of the game and had 27 by intermission, making six of his seven 3-pointers in the first half.
De'Aaron Fox scored 11 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter of the Kings' fourth win in five games since the All-Star break, 106-100 against the Pistons. Buddy Hield furnished 19 points for Sacramento, which stormed back after falling behind, 18-1. The Kings are three games from a Western Conference playoff spot.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
In men’s college basketball, Quinnipiac drubbed Marist 71-52.
In women’s college basketball, Boston College bested Syracuse 88-81.
In men's top-25 basketball, Creighton has become the fifth top-10 team to lose since Monday. Greg Williams Jr. poured in a career-high 21 points on seven 3-pointers as St. John's stunned the 10th-ranked Bluejays, 91-71. Rasheem Dunn had 19 points, 10 assists and six rebounds for the Red Storm, who stopped a three-game skid. St. John's entered the game as one of the worst 3-point shooting teams before going a season-best 14 of 22 from long range in its biggest victory under first-year coach Mike Anderson. Damien Jefferson equaled a career best with 20 points for the Bluejays, who had won five straight and nine of 10.
Jordan Nwora had 20 points and 12 rebounds as 11th-ranked Louisville earned its eighth straight home win, 68-52 against Virginia Tech. Ryan McMahon had 10 points and the Cardinals improved to 15-4 in the ACC.
Duane Washington Jr. tied a career high with 20 points and 23rd-ranked Ohio State surged late to beat No. 19 Michigan 77-63. CJ Walker had 15 points, while brothers Andre and Kaleb Wesson each added 14 in the Buckeyes' third straight win and eighth in 10 games.
Bryce Wills scored 19 points, including a key layup in the final minute of Stanford's 72-64 victory against No. 21 Colorado. Oscar da Silva added 16 points and Deajon Davis and Tyrell Terry each had 12 in the Cardinals fourth straight win and 20th of the season.
Marcus Sasser scored 21 points and Nate Hinton had 16 in No. 25 Houston's 68-55 downing of Cincinnati. The Cougars moved back into a tie atop the American Athletic Conference with Tulsa, one game ahead of the Bearcats.
MLB
New York Yankees star Aaron Judge is scheduled to have additional tests Monday as the team tries to pinpoint the cause of right shoulder soreness. Judge underwent an MRI on Saturday, which was negative. The right fielder was shut down from hitting a week before spring training after experiencing soreness while swinging. Judge is having discomfort under the right pectoral muscle near the shoulder.
Red Sox lefty Chris Sale is back on the mound and pitching to hitters for the first time since last August. Sale faced a couple of minor leaguers in a batting practice session Sunday at spring training. The seven-time All-Star had his season cut short last year because of elbow trouble.
New York Mets ace Jacob deGrom took on two nemeses in his first outing of spring training — a bout of nerves, and the Washington Nationals — and the two-time reigning NL Cy Young winner got the best of both. DeGrom threw three scoreless innings in a 3-1 win. He cruised on just 33 pitches, striking out two and allowing one hit against the defending World Series champs. The 31-year-old showed no signs of rust against his familiar NL East foe, looking just as sharp as when he became the 11th pitcher to win consecutive Cy Young Awards — despite the Mets going 28-36 in his starts since beginning the 2018 season.
Lance McCullers pitched for the Astros for the first time since undergoing Tommy John surgery after the 2018 season. McCullers started Sunday's spring training game against St. Louis and threw 16 pitches. He finished up by striking out Cardinals star Paul Goldschmidt with a curveball.
NASCAR
Alex Bowman has raced to his second career NASCAR Cup Series victory by holding off Kyle and Kurt Busch to win at Auto Club Speedway. Bowman led 110 laps and kept his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in front after the final pit stops for a comfortable win. The 26-year-old Arizonan grew up racing almost weekly in nearby Pomona. Defending Fontana champion Kyle Busch was 8.9 seconds behind in second place in his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. His older brother Kurt was third, and Bowman teammate Chase Elliott came in fourth. Six-time Fontana champion Jimmie Johnson finished seventh after running near the front for most of his final race as a full-time driver at the NASCAR track closest to his native El Cajon, California.
PGA
Sungjae Im started fast and finished stronger in the final round of the PGA's Honda Classic, winning the event by one shot over Mackenzie Hughes and Tommy Fleetwood. Im shot a 4-under 66 on Sunday to earn his first PGA Tour victory in 50 starts. The 21-year-old South Korean finished at 6 under to match the second-highest winning score since the Honda moved to PGA National in 2007. Fleetwood started the day one shot clear of the field and started birdie-birdie to get to 7 under, matching what was the low score in relation to par of the week. Fleetwood is still seeking his first PGA win.
Bernhard Langer took another step closer to the PGA Tour Champions victory record by rallying to take the Cologuard Classic. Langer closed with an 8-under 65 to turn a four-shot deficit into a two-shot win against Woody Austin. Langer made nine birdies in the first 17 holes to seize control in his 41st victory on the 50-and-older circuit. Hale Irwin holds the PGA Tour Champions record with 45 victories, the last one coming in 2007.
WORLD CUP-WOMEN'S COMBINED
Federica Brignone won the Alpine combined World Cup title without clicking into her skis. And the Italian might end up winning the overall and giant slalom globes as well without any further racing this season. Heavy snowfall caused the cancellation of the Alpine combined race on Sunday. That handed the season title to Brignone, who won both combined races that took place this season. Brignone is 153 points ahead of three-time overall champion Mikaela Shiffrin, who remains on a break from racing following the death of her father.
HORSE RACING
A ninth horse has died at Santa Anita since late December after being injured in a turf race. Chosen Vessel broke his left front ankle in the $59,000 race on Saturday. He was pulled up by jockey Edwin Maldonado as he approached the far turn in the 1 1/8-mile race. It was the fourth fatality on the track's turf course and ninth overall since the training and racing season began on Dec. 26. There have been no deaths in races on the main dirt track since the season began. Two deaths have occurred on the dirt during training hours and another three on the training track.
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