Evgeni Malkin produced two goals and an assist in his season debut and Jeff Carter added two scores as the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins earned a 4-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday.
Kasperi Kapanen had two assists and Tristan Jarry made 25 saves for the Penguins, who earned the victory one game after their 10-game winning streak ended with a 3-2 road defeat to the Dallas Stars on Saturday.
Malkin, who has been out since surgery in June to repair the ACL and MCL in his right knee, found the net twice in the second period, scoring in a regular-season game for the first time since March 15 against the Boston Bruins.
Jakob Silfverberg had a goal for the Ducks to end a 30-game scoring drought. Goalie Anthony Stolarz stopped 30 shots in place of John Gibson, who is in COVID-19 protocol.
Predators 5, Avalanche 4 (OT)
Matt Duchene scored a power-play goal 3:01 into overtime as host Nashville beat Colorado.
Duchene and Luke Kunin finished with two goals each, Tanner Jeannot also scored and Roman Josi had three assists for Nashville. Juuse Saros stopped 40 shots to help the Predators win their fifth straight.
Cale Makar tallied a goal and two assists, Nicolas Aube-Kubel added a goal and an assist and Andre Burakovsky and Nathan MacKinnon also scored for the Avalanche. Nazem Kadri and Samuel Girard had two assists each and Darcy Kuemper made 27 saves for Colorado, which had its five-game winning streak snapped.
Maple Leafs 4, Golden Knights 3 (SO)
William Nylander scored in the third round of a shootout to give Toronto a victory over Vegas in Las Vegas.
Nylander, who also scored the first goal of the game, fired a forehand shot over the glove of Vegas goaltender Robin Lehner to win it. Auston Matthews and Ilya Mikheyev also scored goals for Toronto while Campbell finished with 31 saves to improve to 18-5-3 on the season. Toronto improved to 5-0-1 in its past six games.
Alex Pietrangelo, William Karlsson and Keegan Kolesar scored for Vegas, which lost for the fourth time in its last five games (0-2-2). Lehner, who stopped shootout tries by Jason Spezza and Matthews before yielding Nylander’s game-winner, finished with 15 saves.
Lightning 6, Sabres 1
Nikita Kucherov recorded his fourth career hat trick — his first goals since October — as Tampa Bay pounded host Buffalo.
Following a 32-game absence due to an upper-body injury, Kucherov tallied twice in the second period — his second and third goals overall and first since netting against Detroit in the season’s second game on Oct. 14. The right wing added another tally 10 minutes later and finished his three-goal night at 13:57 of the third.
Steven Stamkos notched a goal and two assists for the Lightning, who are 7-3-1 in their past 11 games and have won eight of their past nine against Buffalo.
Sharks 3, Red Wings 2 (OT)
Logan Couture scored one minute into overtime and San Jose topped visiting Detroit for its third win in a row.
Timo Meier and Jeffrey Viel scored for the Sharks, who have won three straight at home and are 7-1 in games decided beyond regulation. Brent Burns had three assists, Jonathan Dahlen added two helpers and Adin Hill made 17 saves.
Tyler Bertuzzi and Nick Leddy were the goal-scorers for the Red Wings, who dropped their third consecutive contest while slipping to 0-4-2 in their past six on the road. Filip Hronek assisted on both tallies, and Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 37 shots.
Panthers 5, Canucks 2
Florida, which has the best home record in the NHL, successfully defended its ice once again, using two goals and an assist from Sam Reinhart to defeat Vancouver in Sunrise, Fla.
Florida improved to 19-3-0 at home, also getting one goal each from Aaron Ekblad, Maxim Mamin and Aleksander Barkov. Ekblad, Frank Vatrano and Anton Lundell added two assists each.
Jason Dickinson and Juho Lammikko scored for the Canucks, who were playing their first game since Jan. 1 due to a pair of COVID-related postponements. Vancouver goaltender Thatcher Demko had a rough game, allowing five goals on 26 shots.
Alex DeBrincat scored two goals and Marc-Andre Fleury made 24 saves as visiting Chicago defeated Columbus.
Defensemen Calvin de Haan and Connor Murphy also tallied to send the Blackhawks to their second straight win following a six-game skid (0-3-3).
Columbus captain Boone Jenner scored his team-leading 14th goal and second in as many games. Gustav Nyquist collected a goal and an assist and Joonas Korpisalo made 16 saves for the Blue Jackets, who have lost four of their last five games.
NEW YORK – Toronto Blue Jays reliever Chad Green and Canadian slugger Tyler O’Neill of the Boston Red Sox were named finalists for the Major League Baseball Players’ Association’s American League comeback player award on Monday.
Chicago White Sox left-hander Garrett Crochet was the other nominee.
New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge, Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani and Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. were named player of the year finalists.
The award winners, selected via player voting, will be named Saturday before Game 2 of the World Series.
Green, who missed most of the 2022 and ’23 seasons after undergoing Tommy John surgery, was a high-leverage option for the Blue Jays this past season and filled in at closer over the second half of the campaign.
The right-hander converted his first 16 save opportunities and finished the year with a 4-6 record, 17 saves and a 3.21 earned-run average over 53 appearances.
O’Neill, a native of Burnaby, B.C., also endured back-to-back injury-plagued seasons in ’22 and ’23.
After being traded to the Red Sox in the off-season, O’Neill set an MLB record by hitting a homer in his fifth straight Opening Day. He finished with 31 homers on the year and had an OPS of .847.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
Alabama’s Mark Sears and North Carolina‘s RJ Davis looked into the possibility of leaving for the NBA before deciding to return for another college season.
Their decisions helped their teams earn top-10 rankings in the AP Top 25 and earned both players some preseason honors, too.
Sears was a near-unanimous selection for The Associated Press preseason All-America men’s basketball team released Monday, earning all but one vote from a 55-person national media panel. Davis was right behind him, nabbing 51 votes.
They were joined by Kansas big man Hunter Dickinson, Auburn forward Johni Broome, Arizona guard Caleb Love and Duke freshman Cooper Flagg. Love and Flagg tied for the final spot, creating a six-man team that includes only the ACC, Big 12 and SEC.
Alabama twin bill
Sears was a key cog in the Crimson Tide’s first trip to the Final Four a year ago, orchestrating one of college basketball’s highest-scoring teams.
The 6-foot-1 guard was named a second-team AP All-America after averaging 21.5 points, 4.2 rebounds and 4.0 assists. He was the first Division I player in 31 years to have 795 points, 150 rebounds, 145 assists and 95 three-pointers in a single season while breaking the Alabama single-season record with 26 games with at least 20 points.
Sears worked out for NBA scouts during the offseason before deciding to return to Alabama, earning the Crimson Tide a No. 2 ranking in the preseason AP Top 25.
“I saw the team that we had and I wanted to be a part of it, and bring home Alabama’s first national championship in basketball,” Sears said.
Across the state at rival Auburn, Broome made a quick decision about his future, announcing in April that he would be back for a fifth season.
The 6-10 forward was a third-team AP All-American last season after averaging 16.5 points and 8.5 rebounds while shooting nearly 55% from the floor. With an eye on an NBA future, Broome worked hard on his perimeter shooting during the offseason and his return earned Auburn a No. 11 preseason ranking.
“My main goal is a team goal, which is to win the national championship, to make it as far as I can in March Madness,” Broome said. “When a team shines, everyone shines individually.”
Along Tobacco Road
Like Sears, Davis has similar aspirations after opting to return for his fifth season at North Carolina.
The 6-foot guard was an AP All-American last season and the ACC player of the year after averaging 21.1 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.5 assists on a team that reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. Davis enters this year within reach of former North Carolina big man Tyler Hansbrough’s all-time ACC scoring record.
“I know there’s more work to be done,” Davis said. “I know my jersey’s not going up until I leave. So there’s some more records to break and some more work to be done. I’m satisfied but I’m not satisfied, if that makes sense.”
Up the road at Duke, Flagg was the only underclassman on the preseason All-America team after arriving with tons of hype. The 6-9 swingman was the No. 1-rated high school recruit out of Newport, Maine and has been projected as the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA draft.
Flagg has the skills of a guard, but can also play inside and has worked hard on his perimeter shooting, giving him the potential to be one of college basketball’s most versatile players. He’s part of a stellar recruiting class that has No. 7 Duke eyeing a deep March run.
Big 12 duo
Dickinson was the biggest move in the transfer portal last spring after leaving Michigan for Kansas. The 7-2 center lived up to the billing, averaging 17.9 points and 10.9 rebounds while leading the Jayhawks back to the NCAA Tournament.
Love’s decision to return for a second season at No. 10 Arizona has ratcheted up expectations in the desert for the Big 12 rival of Kansas.
The athletic 6-4 guard had a high-scoring career at North Carolina and continued it after transferring to Arizona last season. He was the Pac-12 player of the year and a third-team All-American after averaging 18 points per game and making 92 3-pointers.
Love tested the NBA waters this summer before deciding to return.
“He’s had a very successful college career thus far,” Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said. “He’s kind of this last generation of player that’s going to get better with this extra year, and so I just encourage him to take advantage of it.”
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CLEVELAND (AP) — Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson will miss the rest of Cleveland‘s season after rupturing his right Achilles tendon on Sunday against Cincinnati, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press on Monday.
Watson will soon undergo surgery, said the person who spoke on condition of anonymity because the team has not announced the results of imaging tests taken on his leg.
It’s the second significant injury in two seasons for Watson, who broke the glenoid (socket) bone in his throwing shoulder last year.
The 29-year-old Watson went down without being touched on a draw play late in the first half. His right leg buckled and Watson collapsed to the turf. TV replays showed his calf rippling, consistent with an Achilles injury.
As he laid on the ground, there was cheering by some Cleveland fans, leading to some of Watson’s teammates criticizing that behavior during the team’s fifth straight loss.
The injury is yet another twist in Watson’s divisive stay with the Browns.
Cleveland traded three first-round draft picks to Houston and signed him to a fully guaranteed $230 million in 2022. The deal came amid Watson being accused by more than two dozen women of sexual assault and harassment during massage therapy sessions. He settled civil lawsuits in all but one of those cases.
Watson was suspended by the NFL for his first 11 games with the Browns and then made just six starts last season before hurting his shoulder.
