Mavericks vs Jazz Recap: 3 things from the Mavericks 138-120 win against the Jazz

The Dallas Mavericks defeated the Utah Jazz yet again, this time 138-120Saturday afternoon in Dallas. It’s the Mavericks second-straight game, and second straight offensive explosion against a Jazz team that has mostly shown little interest in winning across the two games.

This was almost a carbon copy of the Mavericks win on Thursday night, except for the Jazz showing some semblance of shame in the third quarter. Outside of that third quarter, the Mavericks have absolutely embarrassed this Jazz team across the two games, despite the Mavericks missing numerous starters and key players.

Cooper Flagg and Daniel Gafford once again did not suit up due to ankle injuries suffered against Denver last week. PJ Washington is battling injuries as well, but was probable for this game before being a late scratch due to personal reasons. Dallas once again relied on lots of minutes from two-way players and even a 10-day contract player signed on Thursday. It didn’t matter — Dallas led from wire-to-wire once again.

Klay Thompson was the key igniter once again, scoring 23 points in the first half and torching the Jazz in a variety of ways. That instant offense off the bench basically carried the Mavericks to a double-digit lead and the team never looked back. Jazz guard Keyonte George finally decided to be the first Jazz player to realize that trying hard is important in basketball and scored 21 points in the third to prevent this from being a complete joke of a game. Utah cut the lead to nine early in the fourth, but the Mavericks stomped out that rally pretty quickly after that and the Jazz meekly conceded the game.

Here’s what we noticed from this one.

The Mavericks are professionals, and that should matter

Dallas’ season is effectively over. The team is 12th in the West, and two losses behind Memphis at 11. The teams in seventh, eighth, and ninth are all surging too and want to win — the Warriors and Trail Blazers are 7-3 in their last 10 and the Clippers are 8-2. Those teams aren’t slowing down anytime soon, so combine that with all the Mavericks injuries and Dallas doesn’t really have a postseason to look forward to in April.

Despite that, the team continues to play hard. I worried after Davis got hurt again and the Mavericks were blown out by Chicago that perhaps the team had finally reached a breaking point and would naturally let go of the rope after fighting so hard despite being so short-handed for the last three months. Instead the Mavericks have won three of their last four since that Bulls blowout loss, and even the loss was a mostly competitive game against the Denver Nuggets.

I’m not sure what all this means. Dallas, on paper, needs to lose as often as possible to secure the best draft pick they can later this June, the last first rounder Dallas has direct control over until 2031. But the Mavericks still have lots of pieces from the 2024 Finals team, they still have Klay Thompson and Naji Marshall, who were brought in to bring that 2024 roster over the hump and win that elusive title. Even with all the injuries the Mavericks just have too many good players to be totally hopeless, even with some brutal losses this season to bad teams like the Wizards and the Pelicans.

So say what you will about coach Jason Kidd, but he has instilled a culture of accountability and competitiveness within this organization. These guys play fucking hard. They don’t quit, even in the games they eventually lose. The Mavericks have played a zillion clutch games regardless of the quality of the opponent. They’ve beaten the Nuggets twice, the Rockets twice, and the Pistons once. They’ve lost 26 games but less than a handful of those were uncompetitive blowouts. They have more wins against teams at .500 or better than you’d expect for a team in 12th place.

Call me old fashioned but that means something. Losing is an awfully hard stench to clean off, and the Mavericks coaching staff has instilled a sense of purpose with this organization, even despite all the buffoonery happening off the court around this team in the last 18 months. The players didn’t trade Luka Doncic, they didn’t try to make Anthony Davis the centerpiece of the team. They didn’t alienate the fans, and they played hard through injuries even when the organization should have known better to keep them healthy. All they’ve done is play hard as hell, and win a few more games than anyone should reasonably expect from them considering the circumstances.

Whenever the Mavericks are good again, or at least playoff-bound, these moments will resonate. Dallas is laying the foundation of the next great Mavericks team. That matters.

The Jazz are an embarrassment and should be kicked out of the league

I’ve never seen a more embarrassing effort across two games like the Jazz just did on Thursday and Saturday, and this is coming from the same team that lost by 55 points to the Hornets a week ago.

Dallas should not have won these games. Ryan Nembhard, Moussa Cisse, and Miles Kelly are all two-way contract rookies and all three played heavy minutes due to the Mavericks injuries. Dallas signed Jeremiah Robinsin-Earl to a 10-day contract on Thursday before the game, and he played over 20 minutes in each one. Even with the Jazz shameless resting healthy players like Jusuf Nurkic, there’s still enough talent on this roster to not only stay competitive, but quite frankly defeat this limited Mavericks team.

Instead the Mavericks almost set their franchise record for points scored in regulation on Thursday, and followed that up with 138 points on Saturday. This is a Dallas team that even at full-health is one of the worst offensive teams in the league and the Jazz made them look like the Showtime Lakers.

This is a disgrace. The NBA can never really rid the league of tanking, but there’s tanking and then there’s whatever the hell this Jazz team did in the last eight quarters of basketball. They didn’t try, they were disinterested and they wasted everyone’s time. They wasted the 15 Jazz fans still watching these games, they wasted the time of the travel party and trainers and anyone else that had to work these games. They honestly wasted my time as well, since while it’s fun to see the Mavericks blow the doors off a team, these games were so shamelessly uncompetitive that it’s hard to really take anything real away from this game. It felt like a scrimmage or open practice.

The Jazz shouldn’t be allowed on television for the rest of the season. They’re on their fourth straight season of the organization not caring about winning and shockingly it appears the players don’t give a shit about winning either. They are developing losing habits and those habits will be extremely hard to break whenever the team feels like trying again. Honestly at this rate though we’ll probably experience the heat death of the universe before the Jazz feel like trying again.

Professional basketball is an entertainment product. It’s an entertainment product in an age where entertainment has never been so numerous and accessible. Go back 10 or 15 years, and watching your local basketball team on TV was one of the few things you could do. When I was in high school in the mid-2000s, I could watch the Mavericks, watch whatever was on cable, watch whatever movies or TV shows I had on DVD or play whatever video games I owned. Now I have access to virtually every movie and TV show ever made at instant speed, and I don’t even need to buy video games anymore — the most popular games in the world are persistent, free-to-play experiences. Good lord I haven’t even talked about all the shit you can do outside now. Have you been out there lately? There’s so much stuff.

So why the hell would anyone watch what we just watched today? The NBA has structured itself to basically ignore 75 percent or more of the product because you’re not missing much. The incentives to watch suck, the players regularly don’t care, and the orgs don’t care either. So many games have missing stars, injured regulars, or at least one team that could care less about the outcome. It’s horrible. And I don’t care about the NBA’s TV ratings or revenue numbers, I just care as someone that likes the NBA and wants to continue engaging with it. If these games don’t matter and the players don’t care, why should I? I can just quit doing this stupid second job and go spend my time outside or something.

The Jazz can go to hell. Eat my shorts.

It’s time for Basketball: San Antonio Spurs vs Minnesota Timberwolves

Welcome to the Game Thread. Veterans of the Game Thread know how we do things around here, but for all you newbies we have a few rules. Our community guidelines apply and basically say be cool, no personal attacks, don’t troll and don’t swear too much.

The Spurs finished up the first half of the season at 28-13 with an easy 119-101 win over the Bucks on Thursday night. Last season, the Spurs were at 19-22 at the halfway point of the season, so that’s a huge improvement so far. The Spurs played well for most of the game against the Bucks, but the Timberwolves will provide a tougher test for the Silver and Black, having won their two previous games against the Spurs, the latest being a comeback 104-103 win last week in Minneapolis, where the home team overcame a 19 point deficit by shutting down the Spurs offense in the fourth quarter with physical play, most notably by Julius Randle using his strength to push around Victor Wembanyama and keep him off balance.

The Spurs will have to come up with a strategy to handle that scheme, because you can’t count on fouls being called. That could involve moving the ball more on offense and some hard screens on Randle, matching physicality with physicality. Wemby played Gobert off the court in the last game, and the Spurs need to make them put him back into the game so he can miss some free throws. This is the third and final meeting of these two teams in the regular season, so the Spurs will want to get a home win to avoid being 0-3, and more importantly, a lead would help to keep ahead of them in the Western Conference standings.

The injury report has Stephon Castle listed as questionable with an undisclosed illness, hopefully he will be able to play to slow down Anthony Edwards, who is available tonight after missing a few games with a foot problem. Devin Vassell is still out, and he has been missed, but hopefully he will be able to return to the lineup sometime soon. The Spurs will play the Jazz on Monday at 4:00 PM in a MLK Day game, but that’s probably too soon.

Let’s all watch the Spurs start off the second half of the season on a positive note, and GO SPURS GO!!

Game Prediction:

Jeremy Sochan takes Julius Randle’s lunch money, and Randle gets a tech from the ref for complaining about it.

San Antonio Spurs vs Minnesota Timberwolves
January 17, 2026 | 7:00 PM CT
Streaming: NBA League Pass
TV: FanDuel Sports Southwest
Reminder: It is against site policy to post links to illegal streams in the comments.

Celtics guard gets surprise start as Payton Pritchard sidelined

ATLANTA — Payton Pritchard, who is dealing with ankle soreness, won’t lace up for the first time this season when the Celtics face the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday. So, in his place, Baylor Scheierman will start for the third time this year, alongside Derrick White in the backcourt.

Scheierman is averaging 2.7 points and 1.7 rebounds in 11.7 minutes this season. He’s appeared in 35 of the Celtics’ 40 games, and started two so far. He also started in Monday’s game against the Indiana Pacers, when Sam Hauser was sidelined with hamstring tightness.

Joe Mazzulla has praised Scheierman for always being ready to impact winning when his (sometimes sporadic) opportunities come.

“He works really hard, so he’s always prepared,” Mazzulla said. “His confidence never wavers — whether he plays well or whether he makes a mistake, his confidence in his ability to impact winning is always there, and that helps a lot. And he can make an impact regardless of how many minutes he plays.”

Fellow backcourt mate Derrick White has echoed that sentiment.

“He’s been amazing,” White said. “He’s always ready. It’s tough; you never know how many minutes or if he’s gonna play, but he’s always ready. And when he comes in, he just does a lot of things for us, and I feel like it’s always a positive segment when he’s out there with us. 

The full list of starters when the Celtics face the Hawks

  1. Derrick White
  2. Baylor Scheierman
  3. Sam Hauser
  4. Jaylen Brown
  5. Neemias Queta

Mazzulla opted to keep Anfernee Simons on the bench despite his recent hot play; Simons is coming off a 39-point game against the Miami Heat on Friday night. Over his last 8 games, Simons is averaging 18.3 points and 3.6 assists, while shooting 49.1% from the field and 51.6% from three.

It’s not unsurprising that Mazzulla has kept Simons on the bench; it seems he’s in a similar role to what Pritchard was in last year, when he was a perennial bench player even when the team was short-handed.

For the Celtics, Chris Boucher (lower back spasms) and Josh Minott (ankle sprain) are both out as well.

For the Hawks, CJ McCollum, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Vit Krejci, Jalen Johnson, and Onyeka Okongwu will start. Meanwhile, Dyson Daniels, Kristaps Porziņģis, and Zaccharie Risacher are all out.

The Celtics (25-15) face the Hawks (20-23) at 7:30pm.

Jesper Bratt Set for 600th NHL Game as Devils Face Hurricanes

New Jersey Devils forward Jesper Bratt is set to play his 600th NHL game tonight as the Devils take on the Hurricanes.

Bratt made his NHL debut against the Hurricanes in October 2017. Ahead of his milestone game, Bratt shared his thoughts with NJD.tv.

“It’s really special. Time goes fast,” Bratt said. “Super honored and happy to be doing it here in the same place and in front of the same fans I did my first game. It’s going to be a special time.”

In 599 NHL games, Bratt has scored 161 goals and 322 assists. Over his nine seasons with the Devils, Bratt has become a key contributor.

Reflecting on Bratt’s journey since being drafted in the sixth round (162nd pick), head coach Sheldon Keefe offered his perspective on the forward’s career.

"When I've been asked about him and reflect on him and what I observe is a guy that works extremely hard, is extremely focused and disciplined," Keefe said. "How he prepares, how he seeks to improve, how he accepts coaching and information. In that sense, he's an easy guy to coach because he's all about getting better and all about helping the team."

This season, Bratt has appeared in 47 games, earning 36 points (11 G, 25 A). Keefe continued to highlight the left winger’s accomplishments.

“From where he was drafted to how quickly he got into the league to how he found ways to be successful despite being an undersized guy to being a premier player in the league," Keefe said. "Quite a story, great accomplishment for him. I feel like he's just getting started."

The puck will drop at 7 PM tonight. 

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Yankees’ margin for error with Cody Bellinger in free agency is growing slimmer

An image collage containing 1 images, Image 1 shows Cody Bellinger #35 of the New York Yankees reacts after hitting a single during the first inning

The music has not yet stopped, but it is certainly getting close to the final chorus in the game of musical chairs that is MLB free agency.

And while the Yankees and Cody Bellinger continue their dance around the length of a contract, what would have been their two best free agent pivots if they weren’t able to find common ground with Bellinger are no longer on the board.

With Kyle Tucker landing a four-year, $240 million contract with the Dodgers and Bo Bichette heading to Queens on a three-year, $126 million deal, the Yankees options for an impact bat beyond Bellinger are dwindling — and they are not overflowing on the trade market, either — turning up the pressure to finally secure a reunion with their top priority all offseason.

The Yankees are believed to have an offer out to Bellinger for five years and $155 million, though the 30-year-old’s camp is still seeking seven years. Now that Tucker and Bichette have agreed to deals elsewhere, the market for Bellinger should become more defined, with the lefty-hitting outfielder becoming the clear-cut top hitter available in free agency — and by a decent margin, with third baseman Eugenio Suárez the next best hitter remaining.

There had been a sense that Bellinger may wait for Tucker to sign so that the teams that missed out on the former Astro and Cub could boost the market for the former Yankee, Cub and Dodger. Besides the Dodgers, the Mets and Blue Jays were the teams going hardest for Tucker, and while the Mets rebounded by signing Bichette — who the Phillies had been trying to reel in — to another short-term deal, they still have a need in the outfield.

Cody Bellinger #35 of the New York Yankees reacts after hitting a single during the first inning. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post

So the Yankees’ competition for Bellinger now figures to include the Mets, Blue Jays and Giants, perhaps with the Phillies also in play, though they responded to losing out on Bichette by re-signing catcher J.T. Realmuto to a three-year, $45 million deal.

The Blue Jays had offered Tucker a 10-year, $350 million deal, The Post’s Jon Heyman reported. Tucker is a year and a half younger and a more consistent hitter, but might they be willing to offer some of that money and years for Bellinger? Besides, it would be two for the price of one by keeping him away from their AL East rivals, who have said all along how much they want to bring him back.

The Mets had offered Tucker four years and $220 million, per Heyman. They have been loathe to offer long-term deals with older players, but would a short-term deal with a higher average annual value than the Yankees are offering be something Bellinger would consider? The Mets could certainly use him, with their current projected outfield made up of Juan Soto in right, Tyrone Taylor in center, and rookie Carson Benge in left. And Scott Boras, Bellinger’s agent, is only just over a year removed from his client (then Soto) being in a bidding war between the two New York teams.

For now, the Yankees have been holding fast to their five-year offer for Bellinger, wary all winter of not bidding against themselves. But their margin for error is slim.

Brian Cashman has said all along that they could head into spring with a left field competition between Jasson Domínguez and Spencer Jones. And if they do end up missing on Bellinger, it would not be surprising to see them add a right-handed hitting outfielder — someone like Austin Hays — to form a potential platoon with Domínguez, a switch-hitter who is much better from the left side.

But such a scenario would still leave them with a big hole in their lineup, given the threat that Bellinger was hitting behind Aaron Judge for most of the season last year, and remove a valuable, versatile and trustworthy defender from their roster. All of which, of course, is why he has been the Yankees’ top target from the start, as long as it comes at a price and term with which they are comfortable.

Flames 4, Islanders 2: The yin and the yang in Alberta

Some nights your goalie stands on his head and stuns an offense led by the most dangerous forward in the world, some afternoons you’re down 4-0 before the other team has gotten its 12th shot.

The Islanders lost 4-2 in Calgary despite outshooting and outchancing the Flames, though still making enough mistakes to do themselves in. They outshot the Flames in the first period 10-4, then gave up a second goal early in the second right after Jonathan Drouin missed a golden chance to tie it. The Flames added two more by the midway point to basically put the game out of reach.

[NHL Gamecenter | Game Summary | Event Summary | Natural Stat Trick]

After Yan Kuznetsov made it 4-0, J-G Pageau did answer with a sizzler just 32 seconds later to open a little daylight. The building was still announcing Kuznetsov’s goal, and few seemed to realize Pageau’s shot scored.

But overall, the Isles’ chances were rarely dangerous enough, even after pulling David Rittich (15 saves on 19 shots) for a sixth attacker with eight minutes left to go, a stretch that included a power play to skate 6-on-4.

Anders Lee added one consolation goal to reach the 300-goal milestone with three minutes left, while Dustin Wolf narrowly missed getting a goalie goal despite all that time and the fat lead to chase one.

Overall, it just wasn’t the Islanders’ day, and it felt like a bit of Albertan karmic payback after they stole the two points in Edmonton a day and a half prior (not that aggrieved Oilers nor pleased Flames fans would see it that way).

On this trip, the Islanders are stealing some games against better teams (Minnesota, Edmonton) and finding things difficult against weaker teams (Nashville, Winnipeg, Calgary), and that’s probably just and fitting for a team whose higher-risk approach often turns on whether they’re getting a great 60 minutes from their goalie.

Up Next

And the next weak team on the docket is Vancouver, where they’ll meet the Canucks late Monday night.

The Canucks are at the bottom of the league with just 37 points. Hell, they’re even worse than the Rangers…someone in British Columbia should write a strongly worded, poorly proofed letter.

Hot Rumor: Astros and Red Sox Talking Trade, Paredes, Duran

There are rumors that are growing strong regarding trade talks between the Houston Astros and the Boston Red Sox.

Many of the rumors involve Astros 3B Isaac Paredes and Red Sox LF Jarren Duran.

There have been several iterations of this rumor, as far as packages going back and forth, and other players that have been mentioned in these rumors include Red Sox SP Brayan Bello as well as Astros CF Jake Meyers and SP Spencer Arrighetti.

Both the Red Sox and the Astros line up well as trade partners, and these rumors have indicated a deal could be coming in the next week.

Keep in mind, it’s the offseason and rumors fly. Rumors can also be very true until the last second when one team pivots out. However, the Red Sox and Astros have been linked as trade partners that make sense all offseason, and they are able to meet each other’s needs through their own surpluses.

The Red Sox are clearly looking for a 3B, and the Astros for a left-handed hitting outfielder.

A trade of Jake Meyers would make Zach Cole the favorite to be the everyday starting centerfielder for the Astros, with Jarren Duran in left field, and Cam Smith/Jesus Sanchez in right field. Trading Paredes would solidify Christian Walker as the Astros starting 1B and Jose Altuve as the starting 2B, clearing the infield log jam.

If acquired, Bello would slot in as the Astros fourth starter behind Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier and Tatsuya Imai. Mike Burrows is likely the fifth starter, and a competition for the sixth starter would emerge between Jason Alexander, A.J. Blubaugh, Nate Pearson, Lance McCullers Jr. and Ryan Weiss. Others could emerge in that competition as well.

Astros Fans, Don’t Hate the Player, Hate the Game.

Astros Fans, It’s Time to Be Realistic About Kyle Tucker

Astros fans, it’s time to step back, relax and stop all the hate for Kyle Tucker because he decided to sign with the Dodgers. You need to be realistic and get past your hurt feelings surrounding Kyle Tucker’s decision to sign with a team you despise. Appreciating Tucker as one of the standout players from Houston’s Golden Era of baseball without holding a grudge over a business decision that was driven by money and financial security, not loyalty to a team he no longer played for, is where your focus should be. If you were in his shoes, you’d do the exact same thing.

Let’s not forget how quickly circumstances changed. Tucker was traded away from a franchise he loved just one year before he reached free agency. Once that happened, all bets were off. Where he would land, how much money he would make, and how long his next contract would be were no longer Houston’s concerns. The Astros’ front office, led by Dana Brown, did what they believed was best for the organization, fully aware that Tucker was likely headed elsewhere when free agency arrived.

The Astros have long operated within specific financial parameters when it comes to long-term, big-money contracts. Fans should have come to terms with Tucker’s eventual departure the moment he was traded. It wasn’t personal. It was business, and that’s okay.

If fans are looking for a place to direct their frustration, Major League Baseball and its Commissioner, Rob Manfred, would be a more appropriate target. After the Dodgers signed Shohei Ohtani to a massive, heavily deferred contract, MLB had an opportunity to step in and tighten the rules surrounding such deals. Instead, the league allowed the structure to stand, opening the door for similar arrangements in the future.

That decision signaled a growing divide between the “haves” and the “have-nots” in baseball. Big-market teams like the Dodgers, Yankees, Mets, and Red Sox can leverage financial advantages that small-market clubs simply can’t match. The result is a league increasingly tilted toward the richest franchises.

The harsh reality is that Major League Baseball is heading toward a potentially contentious labor negotiation and inevitably a work stoppage. Smaller-market teams and the lower half of the league are not in a position to compete financially, and that imbalance is only getting worse. Manfred must step in and do what’s right for the sport as a whole, rather than continuing to protect and promote big-market interests.

There has never been a stronger case for both a salary cap and a salary floor. These measures could help prevent financial disparities from dominating roster construction and protect competitive balance across the league. Owners must recognize that another work stoppage could seriously damage the momentum and popularity baseball has built in recent years.

As for the Dodgers, if you don’t like them, that’s fine. Rivalries are part of sports. Their fan base, their World Series history, and their swagger make them easy targets. But don’t be angry simply because their front office outmaneuvered the rest of the league. If the Astros had pulled off the same kind of deal, Houston fans would be celebrating.

The Dodgers are only doing what Major League Baseball allows them to do. It’s up to the rest of the owners and the league office to prevent these financial loopholes from creating long-term competitive advantages. Deals like this require a perfect storm: a superstar player with massive endorsement income who doesn’t need his money up front, and a franchise willing to push the boundaries of contract structure.

That responsibility doesn’t fall on the players or the teams taking advantage of the system. It falls on the league to make sure the system is fair for everyone.

So appreciate what Kyle Tucker gave Houston, accept the reality of modern baseball business, and aim your frustration where it truly belongs, at MLB and the rules that allow the rich to keep getting richer.

Booker returns from injury for the Suns but the Knicks are without Brunson and Hart

NEW YORK (AP) — Devin Booker is back for the Phoenix Suns after missing a game with a sprained left ankle, while the New York Knicks will be without Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart for their game Saturday night.

Booker sat out the Suns' loss in Detroit on Thursday, but coach Jordan Ott said the star guard seemed to be in a good place at shootaround earlier in the day and was eager to play at Madison Square Garden.

But Brunson wasn't ready to return for the Knicks after spraining his right ankle in the first quarter of their loss in Sacramento on Wednesday. He then sat out a loss to Golden State the next night and coach Mike Brown said Saturday that the All-Star point guard is day to day.

Hart returned to play in the final three games of the road trip after missing eight games following a sprained ankle sustained on Christmas. Brown said the swingman was feeling sore and the Knicks wanted to be cautious.

___

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

Flyers Announce Roster Moves After Ugly Rangers Loss

The Philadelphia Flyers are continuing to struggle, as they lost to the New York Rangers by a 6-2 final score on Jan. 17. With this, the Flyers have now lost in each of their last six games.

Now, following their loss to the Rangers, the Flyers have announced some roster moves.

The Flyers have shared that they have placed defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen on injured reserve retroactive to Jan. 14. In addition, the Flyers have called up blueliner Hunter McDonald from their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. 

Ristolainen has not played for the Flyers since their Jan. 12 matchup against the Tampa Bay Lightning. In 13 games so far this season, the right-shot defenseman has recorded zero goals, three assists, 16 hits, 24 blocks, and a minus-3 rating. 

McDonald, on the other hand, has spent all of this season down in the AHL with the Phantoms. In 33 games so far this season with the AHL club, the 6-foot-4 blueliner has posted five assists, 61 penalty minutes, and a plus-5 rating.

McDonald has yet to make his NHL debut, but he is now one step closer to doing so after landing this call-up from the Flyers. 

Islanders allow four unanswered goals in 4-2 loss to Flames

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Adam Klapka had a goal and an assist for his first multi-point game of the season as the Calgary Flames beat the New York Islanders 4-2 on Saturday.

Yegor Sharangovich, Justin Kirkland and Yan Kuznetsov also scored for Calgary, which has won three of its last four. Kevin Bahl had his first multi-point game since Dec. 5, 2023, finishing with two assists. Dustin Wolf had 28 stops and snapped his five-game losing streak.

Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Anders Lee scored for New York, which is 2-2-1 with two games left in its seven-game trip, it’s longest of the season. David Rittich made 15 saves in the loss and slipped to 11-6-3.

Up 2-0 midway through the second period, the Flames doubled their lead when Kirkland and Kuznetsov scored two minutes apart.

In four games since sliding into Blake Coleman’s spot on a line with Mikael Backlund and Matt Coronato, Sharangovich has five points (two goals, three assists) for the Flames. Coleman (upper body) remains on injured reserve. While Backlund had his three-game point streak (2-3-5) snapped, Connor Zary extended his to a career-high five games.

Calgary’s Rasmus Andersson had an assist and became the seventh defenseman in Flames history to record five straight 20-assist seasons. He joins Al MacInnis, Gary Suter, Mark Giordano, TJ Brodie, Derek Morris, and Randy Manery.

Rittich, who broke into the NHL and played four seasons in Calgary, has yet to defeat his former team. In six games, he fell to 0-4-2. The 33-year-old Czech was playing his 250th NHL game and came in on a roll, going 8-3-3 with a .920 save percentage over his last 14 starts.

Up next

Islanders: At Vancouver on Monday in the sixth game of a seven-game trip.

Flames: Host the New Jersey Devils on Monday.

Klapka's goal and assist help power the Flames to a 4-2 win over the Islanders

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Adam Klapka had a goal and an assist for his first multi-point game of the season as the Calgary Flames beat the New York Islanders 4-2 on Saturday.

Yegor Sharangovich, Justin Kirkland and Yan Kuznetsov also scored for Calgary, which has won three of its last four. Kevin Bahl had his first multi-point game since Dec. 5, 2023, finishing with two assists. Dustin Wolf had 28 stops and snapped his five-game losing streak.

Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Anders Lee scored for New York, which is 2-2-1 with two games left in its seven-game trip, it's longest of the season. David Rittich made 15 saves in the loss and slipped to 11-6-3.

Up 2-0 midway through the second period, the Flames doubled their lead when Kirkland and Kuznetsov scored two minutes apart.

In four games since sliding into Blake Coleman’s spot on a line with Mikael Backlund and Matt Coronato, Sharangovich has five points (two goals, three assists) for the Flames. Coleman (upper body) remains on injured reserve. While Backlund had his three-game point streak (2-3-5) snapped, Connor Zary extended his to a career-high five games.

Calgary's Rasmus Andersson had an assist and became the seventh defenseman in Flames history to record five straight 20-assist seasons. He joins Al MacInnis, Gary Suter, Mark Giordano, TJ Brodie, Derek Morris, and Randy Manery.

Rittich, who broke into the NHL and played four seasons in Calgary, has yet to defeat his former team. In six games, he fell to 0-4-2. The 33-year-old Czech was playing his 250th NHL game and came in on a roll, going 8-3-3 with a .920 save percentage over his last 14 starts.

Up next

Islanders: At Vancouver on Monday in the sixth game of a seven-game trip.

Flames: Host the New Jersey Devils on Monday.

___

AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/NHL

Penguins' Injured Forward Cleared For Contact

After losing top defenseman Erik Karlsson to injury earlier in the week, the Pittsburgh Penguins have at least a little bit of good news coming on the injury front. 

Injured young forward Rutger McGroarty - out since Jan. 7 with a concussion - was a full participant at the team's morning skate on Saturday. The 21-year-old winger was injured while colliding with a teammate at practice on Jan. 6, and his timetable to return was designated at "indefinite."

But, obviously, it's a good sign that McGroarty - one of the team's top forward prospects - was cleared for contact and is taking the next steps in his recovery a little more than a week after the incident. 

"It's another step," head coach Dan Muse said. "His status hasn't changed, but that is another good step in the right direction."

McGroarty, 21, would be returning to an NHL roster that is performing pretty well. The Penguins are 7-2-1 in the 10 games since the holiday break, and pretty much everyone in their lineup has been contributing to their success.

The Penguins do, however, have an open roster spot, as they are only carrying 22 players. Defenseman Caleb Jones is also currently on an AHL conditioning stint with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (WBS) Penguins. 

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Sabres Young Star Just Keeps Getting Better

During the 2025 NHL off-season, the Buffalo Sabres acquired Josh Doan as part of the deal that sent winger JJ Peterka to the Utah Mammoth. The Sabres also brought in defenseman Michael Kesselring in the trade. 

When the Sabres acquired Doan, they were hoping that the change of scenery would help the 23-year-old forward tap into his potential more. So far, it is certainly fair to say that he is thriving in Buffalo.

In 47 games with the Sabres so far this season, Doan has recorded new career highs with 15 goals, 19 assists, and 34 points. This was after he had seven goals and 19 points in 51 games for Utah during this past season. 

Yet, what's more encouraging about Doan is that he is only getting better as the season rolls on. The young forward is continuing to show the Sabres that they made the right call bringing him, as he has five goals and 10 points over his last nine games alone. This included him putting together back-to-back two-point games on Jan. 14 against the Philadelphia Flyers and Jan. 15 against the Montreal Canadiens. 

Doan is continuing to impress in a big way with the Sabres, and it will be intriguing to see how he builds on his breakout year from here. 

Iconic Moments and Buried Treasures: Senators Celebrate Their Arena's 30th Anniversary

On January 17, 1996, the Ottawa Senators played their first game at their newly constructed arena. It was a long-awaited moment of celebration for both the team and the city, because getting the building completed in the early 1990s proved to be nearly as difficult as winning hockey games.

In both cases, it felt like one battle after another.

With the Montreal Canadiens in town for a mid-week game to help christen the new building, Sens fans hoped for a repeat of the magic they’d experienced three seasons earlier, when the Senators somehow stunned the Habs 5–3 in the very first game in franchise history.

THN site editor Steve Warne recalls his days as sports director of CKBY and Oldies 1310 radio 30 years ago when the Senators guided the Ottawa media on a tour of their new building.

There was no such magic this time. Canadiens goaltender Jocelyn Thibault made 26 saves in a 3–0 shutout victory, outduelling Ottawa's Don Beaupre.

It was loss number eight in the Sens' 11-game losing slide and the second-to-last game of Dave Allison’s NHL coaching career. The Senators fired him a week later after a 2-22-1 record that season, and that closed out his NHL career with a 2-22-1 record. 

Hockey-wise, those were dark days.

But in the years since, the building has hosted countless unforgettable moments: Steve Duchesne’s goal just one year later that sent the Senators to the playoffs; the runs to the 2003 and 2007 Conference Finals; the 2007 Stanley Cup Final; the World Cup of Hockey; World Juniors and Women’s Worlds; burglar masks and post-game hamburgers; Daniel Alfredsson returning home to retire as a Senator; Wayne Gretzky’s final game in Canada; Jean-Gabriel Pageau’s four-goal night; and the infamous playoff line brawl with the Canadiens, just to name a few.

Now, the Senators host the Canadiens once again at Canadian Tire Centre on Saturday night, exactly 30 years after they first met to open the Arena Formerly Known As The Palladium... and the Corel Centre. And, to borrow a line from 30 Rock, we’ll never forget making “a hockey-loving face at Scotiabank Place.

With discussions underway about a potential new arena closer to downtown Ottawa, this feels like the perfect moment to celebrate the memories of the old one. Because the next time the building is honoured, it may be in the shadow of a wrecking ball; but only time will tell.

The Senators will mark the anniversary on Saturday with memorabilia displays and a ceremonial puck drop featuring Sens alumni. Earlier this week, the team even broke out a concrete saw, cutting a three-by-three-foot square out of the lobby floor to retrieve the time capsule buried beneath the building 30 years ago.

Sens founder Bruce Firestone joined team CEO Cyril Leeder for a sneak peek this week at what’s inside the time capsule, and the first item he saw must have been a video cassette.

“Anyone got a VHS?” Firestone joked in a team social media post.

Well, at least it wasn't Beta.

The Senators promise to unveil the contents soon, because just like all the old NHL barns of yesteryear, it’s what’s inside that counts.

Steve Warne
The Hockey News - Ottawa

This story is from The Hockey News Ottawa. You can visit the site here or click on one of their latest articles below:

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