Category: Sports News

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Kings lose late lead and are defeated by Sharks

San Jose Sharks left wing William Eklund, left, scores on Los Angeles Kings goaltender Darcy Kuemper during overtime of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Sharks left wing William Eklund scores on Darcy Kuemper in overtime Wednesday. (Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)

William Eklund scored 3:08 into overtime, Macklin Celebrini had the tying goal and two assists to extend his point streak to 12 games, and the San Jose Sharks defeated the Kings 4-3 on Wednesday night.

Celebrini evened the score at 3 with 1:07 remaining in regulation. He deked his way past Warren Foegele and sent a wrist shot through traffic that beat goalie Darcy Kuemper through the legs for his 24th goal this season. The 19-year-old center has nine goals and 15 assists during his point streak.

Celebrini is tied for the third-longest point streak by a teenager in NHL history — joining Joe Sakic in 1988-89, Jimmy Carson in 1987-88 and Wayne Gretzky in 1979-80 — and the third-longest point streak in Sharks history.

Tyler Toffoli and Adam Gaudette each had a goal, Yaroslav Askarov made 23 saves and the Sharks won for the fifth time in six games.

Alex Turcotte and Kevin Fiala each had a goal and an assist for the Kings, who still haven’t won three straight games since winning four in a row in mid-November. Alex Laferriere also scored and Kuemper made 24 saves.

Laferriere put the Kings ahead with 2:10 left in the third period, but they couldn't prevent another sensational play by the electric Celebrini.

The Kings were without four forwards, including stalwart center and team captain Anze Kopitar, who is day-to-day after sustaining a lower-body injury in a win over Minnesota on Monday. Those absences led the Kings to play with 11 forwards and seven defensemen.

Sharks center Ty Dellandrea is week-to-week after sustaining a lower-body injury against Columbus on Tuesday.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

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Ames native Tamin Lipsey a big part of first 15-0 start for No. 3 Iowa State

Iowa State point guard Tamin Lipsey, the senior who grew up near campus in Ames, is now part of something that had never been done by the Cyclones. “Watching all those teams growing up and just realizing that I have a chance right now to make a footprint for Iowa State, and just the community of Ames and all of that, I never take for granted.” Lipsey scored 24 points, overcoming some early foul trouble that kept him on the bench for nearly eight minutes in the first half.

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Blackhawks Win 4th Straight Game, Defeat Blues 7-3

CHICAGO - The Chicago Blackhawks came into Wednesday night's matchup winners of three straight games. They were looking to make it four with the St. Louis Blues in town. 

With Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar out of the lineup, the Hawks needed the rest of their forwards to continue stepping up in their place. They have been doing just that since the holiday break ended, which has gotten them right back in the Western Conference race. 

Things started poorly for Chicago, as they allowed a goal to Tyler Tucker of the Blues less than one minute into the game. It's not easy to play well from behind that early, but they found a way. 

While on the man-advantage with the second unit out there, Nick Lardis blasted a beautiful pass from Oliver Moore past Jordan Binnington to tie the game at 1. That would be the end of the scoring for either team in the first period. 

In the second, things took a dramatic turn in favor of Chicago. Oliver Moore and Otto Stenberg exchanged goals less than one minute apart for the 2-2 tie, but the Blackhawks took over from there. 

Before the middle frame was over, the Blackhawks were winning 5-2 thanks to three consecutive goals by Connor Murphy, Landon Slaggert, and Jason Dickinson. 

The Blackhawks kept their momentum going in the third period. Andre Burakovsky made it 6-2 with a snipe while the Blackhawks were working with a 5-on-3 advantage. That made them 3 for 3 on the power play for the evening. 

The Blackhawks were not done there. Louis Crevier scored by cleaning up a rebound to make it 7-2. Less than one minute later, however, the Blues got one back in the form of Nathan Walker. 

That 7-3 score stood as the final. It was once again a strange game between these two franchises. Every game this year has been so far, one way or another. 

Spencer Knight played extremely well for the Blackhawks in goal. He allowed three goals by the end of the game, but he made some point-blank saves on high-danger Blues chances while the game was still up for grabs.  

Watch Every Chicago Goal

What’s Next For The Blackhawks?

The Blackhawks are back in action on Friday night at the United Center. Alex Ovechkin comes to the United Center for the first time as the NHL's all-time leading goal scorer, as the Washington Capitals will face the Blackhawks. This is the next opportunity for folks to check out the return of Chicago's black alternate sweater as the team is on a quest for a five-game winning streak. 

Visit The Hockey News Chicago Blackhawks team site to stay updated on the latest news, game-day coverage, player features, and more.

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No. 1 Arizona remains unbeaten with 101-76 win over Kansas State

Arizona (15-0, 2-0 Big 12) is off to its best start since winning the first 21 games of the 2013-14 season. Arizona won by at least 18 points for the 10th consecutive game, matching a mark Michigan had earlier this season that tied for the longest such run since 2003-04. Burries had his fifth 20-point game and matched his career high by going 12 for 16 from the field while adding nine rebounds.

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Glenn Hall, whose NHL goalie starts streak may never be broken, dies at age 94

Glenn Hall, a Hockey Hall of Famer whose ironman streak of 502 starts as a goaltender remains an NHL record, has died. He was 94.

Nicknamed “Mr. Goalie,” Hall worked to stop pucks at a time when players at his position were bare-faced, before masks of any kind became commonplace. He did it as well as just about anyone of his generation, which stretched from the days of the Original Six into the expansion era.

A spokesperson for the Chicago Blackhawks confirmed the team received word of Hall’s death from his family. A league historian in touch with Hall’s son, Pat, said Hall died at a hospital in Stony Plain, Alberta, on Wednesday.

Hall backstopped Chicago to the Stanley Cup in 1961 and won the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player of the playoffs in 1968 with St. Louis when the Blues reached the final before losing to Montreal. He was the second of just six Conn Smythe winners from a team that did not hoist the Cup.

His run of more than 500 games in net is one of the most untouchable records in sports, given how the position has changed in the decades since. Second in history is Alec Connell with 257 from 1924-30.

“Glenn was sturdy, dependable and a spectacular talent in net,” Commissioner Gary Bettman said. “That record, set from 1955-56 to 1962-63, still stands, probably always will, and is almost unfathomable — especially when you consider he did it all without a mask.”

Counting the postseason, Hall started 552 games in a row.

Hall won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year in 1956 when playing for the Detroit Red Wings. After two seasons, he was sent to the Black Hawks along with legendary forward Ted Lindsay.

Hall earned two of his three Vezina Trophy honors as the league’s top goalie with Chicago, in 1963 and ’67. The Blues took him in the expansion draft when the NHL doubled from six teams to 12, and he helped them reach the final in each of their first three years of existence, while winning the Vezina again at age 37.

Hall was in net when Boston’s Bobby Orr scored in overtime to win the Cup for the Bruins in 1970, a goal that’s among the most famous in hockey history because of the flying through the air celebration that followed. He played one more season with St. Louis before retiring in 1971.

“His influence extended far beyond the crease,” Blues chairman Tom Stillman said. “From the very beginning, he brought credibility, excellence, and heart to a new team and a new NHL market.”

A native of Humboldt, Saskatchewan, Hall was a seven-time first-team NHL All-Star who had 407 wins and 84 shutouts in 906 regular-season games. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1975, and his No. 1 was retired by Chicago in 1988.

Hall was chosen as one of the top 100 players in the league’s first 100 years.

Blackhawks chairman and CEO Danny Wirtz called Hall an innovator and “one of the greatest and most influential goaltenders in the history of our sport and a cornerstone of our franchise.”

“We are grateful for his extraordinary contributions to hockey and to our club, and we will honor his memory today and always,” Wirtz said.

The Blackhawks paid tribute to Hall and former coach and general manager Bob Pulford with a moment of silence before Wednesday night’s game against St. Louis. Pulford died Monday.

A Hall highlight video was shown on the center-ice videoboard. The lights were turned off for the moment of silence, except for a spotlight on the No. 1 banner for Hall that hangs in the rafters at the United Center.

Fellow Hall of Famer Martin Brodeur, the league’s all-time leader in wins with 691 and games played with 1,266, posted a photo of the last time he saw Hall along with a remembrance of him.

“Glenn Hall was a legend, and I was a big fan of his,” Brodeur said on social media. “He set the standard for every goaltender who followed. His toughness and consistency defined what it meant to play.”

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No. 11 Vanderbilt remains undefeated with 96-90 win over No. 13 Alabama

Tyler Tanner scored 23 of his career-high 29 points in the second half and No. 11 Vanderbilt remained undefeated by beating 13th-ranked Alabama 96-90 on Wednesday night. The Commodores (15-0, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) extended their best start since winning 16 straight games to open the 2007-08 season. This is only the second time in the program's 124-year history that Vanderbilt has won its first 15.

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Karl-Anthony Towns' big fourth quarter keys Knicks' win over Clippers: 'The way he played tonight, it’s what we needed'

Just 48 hours ago, the Knicks were demolished by the Eastern Conference-leading Pistons, extending their season-long losing streak to four games.

While most of the Knicks players simply didn't show up to play in Detroit, a spotlight was focused on Karl-Anthony Towns.

The Knicks' big man scored just six points on 1 of 4 shooting with one rebound and one assist. He turned the ball over six times and was a minus-27 on the floor in Monday's loss. It was a dreadful showing and he looked lost. So much so that he told the NY Post afterward that the reason for his poor performance was adjusting to head coach Mike Brown's new system.

Well, what a difference two days make.

The Knicks snapped their losing streak with an impressive 123-111 win over the red-hot Clippers on Wednesday night, and Towns was a huge part of the victory.

With the game still close in the fourth quarter, Towns took over offensively, scoring 10 of his 20 points in the final frame. He also came down with four rebounds to help the Knicks separate themselves from Los Angeles. 

"We needed it," Jalen Brunson said of Towns' performance after the game. "Helped us increase our lead and it was big-time play from him. We all have to have each other’s backs. The way he played tonight, it’s what we needed."

Towns' comments after Detroit about his performance garnered questions about what was different for him and why he found success against the Clippers.

The big man said that he's just trying to impact the game in a winning way, and that's what his goal is.

"I said it last year, I say it this year, any time I touch the ball, I’m trying to be aggressive, whether that’s making a play for myself or my teammates," Towns said. "I want to impact winning every single day."

For Towns in the fourth quarter, he pointed to his increased aggressiveness as the catalyst for his performance.

"I made some shots, didn’t make a lot of them, but I think tonight shows aggression wins," Towns explained. "Not letting go because some shots aren’t going in, stay very aggressive in any opportunity that I got. At the end of the day, it worked out for our team. Those plays, miss or make, I'm glad they impacted winning and put us in a better spot."

"He’s an explosive scorer. Starting with me, I got to continue to find ways to help him, like I have to help the rest of the team," Brown said of Towns. "What I like about tonight is, he’s an All-Star, great level player and those types of players impact the game. 

"He can score with the best, so we know eventually he’s going to get going in that area, but what I like about it, he was impactful defensively -- 11 rebounds, seven assists, the nine points definitely helped and he helped us create that separation by doing that. But I don’t want to belittle the fact that he did what All-Stars do, what great players do. He found other ways throughout the course of the ballgame to continue to help our team win. That’s fantastic to see because he’s more than capable with as good as he is."

Entering Wednesday, Towns is averaging 21.5 points, on 47 percent shooting and 11.5 rebounds. All three categories are down from last season when he was voted All-NBA Third Team and to his fifth All-Star Game. However, the second-year Knick is more worried about winning and getting New York to the NBA Finals for the first time in almost three decades. 

And while there's still a lot of season left, Towns and the Knicks hope Wednesday's win leads to more as they head West for a four-game road trip.

"We weren’t at our best today, but we did enough to win," he said. "At points in the game, we did a good job of getting a run and we didn’t let them stop the bleeding. We got to better than we were tonight. I have to be better. This is a good start before heading on the road trip to stop the bleeding of four losses in a row...now we have to build off of it. 

"Teams understand now that we are coming in with a little momentum, and they are going to try and stop that. We have to do a better job of out-executing them and out-hustling them. It's up to us."

The Knicks head to Phoenix to start their West Coast trip against the Suns on Friday.

 

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Malik Thomas scores 20 and No. 23 Virginia moves to 9-0 at home with 84-60 win over Cal

Malik Thomas scored 20 points and No. 23 Virginia beat California 84-60 in its Atlantic Coast Conference home opener Wednesday night, scoring at least 80 points for the 14th time in 15 games this season. Johann Grunloh, Thijs De Ridder, Sam Lewis and Ugonna Onyenso each added 12 for the Cavaliers (13-2, 2-1), who assisted on 23 of 30 baskets and dominated the glass with 45-26 edge in rebounding. Virginia has won two straight since a triple-overtime loss at rival Virginia Tech on New Year's Eve.

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Braden Smith overcomes foul trouble by scoring 23 and leading No. 5 Purdue past Washington 81-73

Braden Smith finished with 23 points and seven assists and made two late free throws to help No. 5 Purdue fend off Washington's late rally for an 81-73 victory Wednesday night. Trey Kaufman-Renn added 14 points and 14 rebounds as the Boilermakers won their fifth in a row and matched a school-best start at 14-1 (4-0 Big Ten) for the ninth time in program history. It came on a night Purdue honored Smith, an Associated Press preseason All-American guard, before the national anthem by presenting the Big Ten's new career assists leader with a framed poster.

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Flames Open Road Trip With 4–1 Loss to Canadiens

The Calgary Flames opened their road trip on the wrong foot, falling 4–1 to the Montreal Canadiens and extending their losing skid to three games.

Looking to spark the lineup, head coach Ryan Huska shuffled his lines ahead of puck drop. Adam Klapka was rewarded with a promotion to the top line alongside Jonathan Huberdeau and Nazem Kadri, while rookie William Stromgren made his NHL debut, taking his rookie lap before slotting in on the fourth line. Hunter Brzustewicz also drew back into the lineup after being a healthy scratch the previous game.

Montreal set the tone early. The opening period was played at a frantic pace, with the Canadiens controlling possession and outshooting Calgary 14–7 through the first 20 minutes. The Flames struggled to establish sustained pressure and spent much of the period defending.

© Eric Bolte-Imagn Images

The breakthrough came early in the second. At 3:10, Alexandre Texier snapped a quick shot short side for his fourth goal of the season and the 100th point of his NHL career, giving Montreal a 1–0 lead. Just under four minutes later, Lane Hutson doubled the advantage on a delayed penalty, stepping into a one-timer that beat Dustin Wolf cleanly.

The Canadiens weren’t done. A turnover in front of the Flames’ net led to a rebound chance that Oliver Kapanen converted, sliding the puck past a sprawling Wolf for his 14th of the season to make it 3–0.

Calgary showed some pushback late in the period. Joel Farabee wired a shot through traffic that fooled Jacob Fowler, cutting the deficit to 3–1 and snapping a six-game goal drought. Brzustewicz earned the lone assist, marking the first NHL point of his career.

© Eric Bolte-Imagn Images

Any momentum the Flames hoped to carry into the third was quickly shut down. Cole Caufield restored Montreal’s three-goal cushion, lifting a rolling puck over Wolf from the top of the circle. Calgary thought they had a response when Kadri wired a wrist shot past Fowler, but a video review determined the play was offside, wiping the goal off the board.

Montreal closed things out from there, finishing with a 35–29 edge in shots and a convincing home win.

Three Takeaways

1. Power play woes continue

Calgary’s power play went 0-for-4 on the night and failed to generate much momentum. Entering the game ranked last in the NHL at 14.5 percent, the Flames once again missed opportunities to climb back into the contest with the man advantage.

2. Brzustewicz makes his presence felt

After being scratched the previous game, Hunter Brzustewicz responded with a steady performance and was rewarded with his first career NHL point. He logged reliable minutes and showed poise, making a strong case to remain in the lineup.

3. Canadiens found space up high on Wolf

Dustin Wolf has earned praise this season for his positioning and competitiveness, but Montreal found success attacking the upper portion of the net. Several goals came as Wolf dropped early, allowing shooters to beat him up high — an area opponents will likely continue to test moving forward.