In UConn's victory over Kansas, Mullins led Dan Hurley's group with 17 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the field with a trio of made 3-pointers.
Canadiens Easy Prey For Struggling Lightning
December is a hectic month for everyone with the Holidays coming up, but it’s going to be one crazy month for the Montreal Canadiens players as well, since their schedule is jam-packed. Last night, they played their third game in four nights when they hosted the Tampa Bay Lightning, and they did it with Jakub Dobes in net once again.
The visitors were winless in their last four games and had been shut out in their previous two tilts, on top of being without all-star goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy. Furthermore, Jon Cooper’s men were playing the second game of a back-to-back after taking on the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday night.
Interestingly, four teams had two scouts at the Bell Centre for this game, and three of them had a goalie scout present, as Dobes was playing his third game in four nights. If they were there to have a closer look at him, he wouldn’t have made a particularly good impression.
An Awful First Frame
The Bolts wasted no time in showing they meant business. Twenty-nine seconds in, Charles-Edouard D’Astous levelled Brendan Gallagher, and it turned out to be a perfect metaphor for the first frame.
The visitors dominated play in the first frame, outshouting the Canadiens 15-6. Tampa scored its first goal on its second shot on net as Brayden Point easily got past Jayden Struble to get in all alone on the Canadiens’ netminder.
Their second goal came on a Pontus Holmberg breakaway as Ivan Demidov made an errant pass on the power play, right on cue for Holmberg to collect it. Dobes gave up a third goal on a Nikita Kucherov one-timer after losing his stick in a desperate attempt to freeze the puck.
It’s not that the Canadiens didn’t try to shoot, but most of their shots ended up in the netting behind the goal rather than on the net they actually needed to score on. Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki really struggled to hit the net, which is never good news for the Habs.
Martin St-Louis allowed Dobes to finish the period, but elected to start the second frame with Samuel Montembeault in the net. The change made little difference: Dobes finished the game with a .786 save percentage, allowing three goals on 14 shots, while Montembeault gave up three goals on 13 shots, for a .769 SV%.
Power Play Changes
In the first frame, Zachary Bolduc was back on the first power, even though he remains on the fourth line. Meanwhile, both Caufield and Suzuki were double-shifted on the second unit, meaning that Demidov still had the benefit of playing with them.
It was the second unit that produced the Canadiens' first and only goal as Demidov entered the zone crossing with Oliver Kapanen before making a cross-zone pass to Suzuki, who rang his shot off the post. Still, Kapanen showed excellent hand-eye coordination to bat it in mid-air. It was his ninth goal, which allowed him to tie Beckett Senecky for the lead in rookie goal scoring. The Finn now has the same number of goals as Juraj Slafkovsky, meaning they share second place on the team behind Cole Caufield, who has 16.
C'est avec un but qu'on fait quatre buts
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) December 10, 2025
Can't score 4 if you don't start with 1, right?#GoHabsGopic.twitter.com/DAIi7Rc11b
The goal must have come as a relief for Kapanen, who had missed a couple of chances off Demidov's setups in the first frame. The late-period goal should have been a boost to start the third frame, but it wasn’t. On the contrary, Tampa scored 1:22 into the final frame, and that was one goal too many. For the rest of the game, the Canadiens lacked jump, confidence and even the will to compete; they actually looked like they were “sleepskating” out there. Tampa earned the two points with a decisive 6-1 win.
Home Sweet Home?
After 29 games, the Canadiens have an 8-3-2 record on the road but a 7-8-1 record at home. To have a chance of making the playoffs, they need to improve their home performance. You cannot be outplayed and manhandled when you control the matchups. On that topic, the bench boss explained:
We’ve got to be better at home. My press conferences at home are starting to be boring. […] I think we give up too many early goals. At the start of periods, I don’t know if it’s a coincidence, but it’s becoming a trend. I’ve got to correct that trend.-
Asked if it was due to the Habs struggling to shake off the disappointment of giving up a goal, St-Louis said:
There’s a mental element to it, you’ve mental strength has got to be stronger than your emotions. We’re being testing mentally right now.-
In the dressing room, Alexandre Carrier discussed stopping the hemorrhage, which brought me back to last season, when the team kept getting blown out and couldn’t stop the bleeding after giving up a couple of goals at home. The start of the season might have made us think that was now a thing of the past, but the last month says otherwise.
Calling In Some Reinforcements
After the game, the Canadiens announced that they had called up goaltender Jacob Fowler, defenseman Adam Engstrom, and forward Owen Beck from the Laval Rocket. Regardless of how you look at it, this should send a message to the players. Of course, they always call up players to go on the road, but they never call up a goaltender to go on the road. They only called up Kaapo Kahkonen because of Montembeault’s illness last weekend.
The Canadiens will practice at 11:00 in Brossard this morning before taking off for Pittsburgh in the afternoon. It will be interesting to see how St-Louis addresses the trend he has finally acknowledged is his biggest concern.
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Prep talk: New UCLA football coach brings out welcome mat for high school coaches
Will Celtics' early-season surge alter Brad Stevens' trade objectives?
Will Celtics' early-season surge alter Brad Stevens' trade objectives? originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Even after Brad Stevens completed a summer roster overhaul designed to get the Boston Celtics off the NBA’s prohibitive second apron, it was fair to wonder if the team might prioritize other cost-cutting measures over the course of the 2025-26 season with hopes of maximizing long-term financial flexibility.
But as we near December 15 and the unofficial start of NBA trade season — most players who signed this past summer become trade eligible on that date — we can’t help but wonder if the expectation-exceeding Celtics might be classified as buyers rather than sellers before the February deadline.
When the Celtics made the swallow-hard decision to part ways with members of their championship core in Kristaps Porzingis, Jrue Holiday, Al Horford, and Luke Kornet, it not only dropped the team south of the second apron, it created a pathway to getting out of the luxury tax entirely. And from the moment that Boston acquired Anfernee Simons from the Blazers, some have pondered where he might eventually be redirected.
Moving Simons’ money could get the Celtics below the tax. Alas, to eliminate pesky repeater penalties, the team would need to stay out of the tax for multiple seasons. That has always felt unlikely if the Celtics yearn to truly maximize the primes of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Preserving the option was at least worth consideration.
But with the Celtics — winners of five straight and 10 of their last 12 overall while shuffling up to third in the Eastern Conference — surging into December, the question becomes whether it would be more prudent to address depth concerns now, even if it means lingering in the tax and essentially eliminating any near-term pathway to avoiding repeater penalties.
Tatum’s potential return in the calendar year 2026 and what feels like a very wide open Eastern Conference might only fuel the team’s desire to stay all-in.
The Celtics, despite their recent success, remain undersized. While Neemias Queta has been a revelation — Boston is 15.8 points per 100 possessions better with him on the court than off — the team has elected to play small rather than utilize some of its other available bigs (such as Luka Garza, Chris Boucher and Xavier Tillman) as part of its recent climb.
If Tatum were to return after the February trade deadline, no team in the league would add a talent as impactful — and certainly not at Boston’s cost, which is only patience. The question is whether Boston would be willing to part with available assets to add another center and further inject the team into the conversation among the East contenders.
There is a world in which Stevens could straddle two tracks. Simons is making $26.7 million in the final year of his contract. The Celtics are roughly $12.1 million above the luxury tax. There is a series of moves that could swap Simons for a rotation big while still shedding money.
It’s also possible the team sees Simons’ offense as vital to staying competitive this season. Even if the Celtics carried Simons for the remainder of the season, his money comes off the books after the season (and there would be potential pathways to using him as an asset this summer).
Boston is on pace to pay just south of $40 million in its tax bill this season given its current spend. The Celtics are nearly $8 million below the second apron, and about $4 million above the first apron.
In a league where many of their chief rivals are handcuffed by apron restrictions in their own quests to compete, the Celtics have positioned themselves to be advantageous. They can always wait until the summer to splurge, and with a healthy Tatum and the development of this year’s roster, the team would be positioned to return to true title contention during the 2026-27 season.
But Boston’s recent success makes it tempting to get even more greedy.
In the two weeks before this NBA Cup schedule downshift, the Celtics posted wins over chief East rivals including Orlando, Detroit, Cleveland, New York, and Toronto. The Celtics have a league-best nine wins against teams .500 or better. They are putting up video game numbers on the offensive end while muscling up to second in the NBA in offensive rating (trailing only Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets).
Jordan Walsh, Josh Minott, and Hugo Gonzalez have emerged as versatile wings who have only scratched the surface on what they might eventually become.
If the Celtics remain 1) healthy and 2) competitive through the early portion of January, it sure gives Stevens a bit more to think about. As the buyers and sellers become more apparent, there could be opportunity to shore up the center depth, even if Tatum’s eventual return could go a long way toward alleviating Boston’s defensive rebounding woes.
It’s hard not to look at some teams steamrolling towards the lottery and ponder their desire to move big men. Would the Clippers deal Ivica Zubac if the wheels come off completely this season? Would the Nets entertain offers for Nic Claxton while plotting their future? Is there an even bigger swing to make at the big man spot if a team like, say, Memphis hits the reboot button?
The Celtics, both by making tough choices this summer and watching their replacements soar in the aftermath, have positioned themselves to ponder all possibilities. It might come to pass that staying idle and simply leaning into patience is the best path.
But the last two weeks have made it OK to dream a little bigger. The Celtics have added a bit of intrigue to trade season when it opens on December 15.
Red Sox offseason tracker: Rumors, signings, trades, and more
Red Sox offseason tracker: Rumors, signings, trades, and more originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The Boston Red Sox showed a lot of improvement in 2025. They made the playoffs for the first time since 2021 but lost to the rival New York Yankees in the American League Wild Card round.
This offseason is an important one for the Red Sox if they’re going to keep pace with the Yankees, the American League champion Toronto Blue Jays and the other top contenders in the sport.
The Red Sox have already made a few additions to their roster in recent weeks, including starting pitchers Sonny Gray and Johan Oviedo.
Boston still needs to add another bat, especially one with power. One storyline to follow is whether the Red Sox bring back third baseman Aleg Bregman.
And with a strong farm system, will the Red Sox use any of their top prospects to make a major splash in the trade market?
Make sure you don’t miss any Red Sox rumors, signings, or trades throughout the offseason by following our tracker below for instant updates:
Dec. 10, 2025: Pete Alonso is spurning the Red Sox for another AL East club. The free-agent first baseman is finalizing a five-year, $155 million contract with the Baltimore Orioles, per ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
Dec. 9, 2025: The Red Sox announced Tuesday that Vaughn Grissom was traded to the Los Angeles Angels in exchange for outfield prospect Isaiah Jackson. Jackson was the No. 25 ranked prospect in the Angels’ system, per MLB Pipeline.
Dec. 9, 2025: Right-hander Steven Matz has signed a two-year deal with the Tampa Bay Rays worth $7.5 million per season, per The Athletic’s Britt Ghiroli and Ken Rosenthal.
Dec. 4, 2025: The Red Sox acquired right-hander Johan Oviedo, plus minor league catcher Adonys Guzman and left-hander Tyler Samaniego, from the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for outfield prospect Jhostynxon Garcia and minor-league righty Jesus Travieso. Right-hander Cooper Criswell was designated for assignment to make room for Oviedo on Boston’s 40-man roster.
Nov. 25, 2025: The Red Sox acquired right-hander Sonny Gray and cash from the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for right-hander Richard Fitts and left-hander Brandon Clarke.
Nov. 18, 2025: The Red Sox acquired infielder Tristan Gray from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for minor-league pitcher Luis Guerrero.
Nov. 18, 2025: The Red Sox dealt reliever Brennan Bernardino to the Colorado Rockies in exchange for minor-league outfielder Braiden Ward.
Why Iowa State star Audi Crooks is seemingly impossible to stop
Aryna Sabalenka says ‘not fair on women to face basically biological men’ in tennis
World No 1 says ‘biological men’ have a ‘huge advantage’
‘She hit the nail on the head,’ says battle of sexes rival Kyrgios
Aryna Sabalenka has weighed into the participation of transgender athletes in women’s sport, the world No 1 saying it would be unfair for women to face “biological men” in professional tennis.
The Women’s Tennis Association’s (WTA) gender participation policy of its tour permits transgender women to participate if they have declared their gender as female for a minimum of four years, have lowered testosterone levels and agree to testing procedures. These conditions may be further varied by the WTA medical manager on a case-by-case basis.
Continue reading...All-Star slugger Pete Alonso leaving Mets for Orioles in free agency: Report
All-Star slugger Pete Alonso leaving Mets for Orioles in free agency: Report originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
The Polar Bear is ditching Queens for Charm City.
All-Star first baseman Pete Alonso reportedly agreed to a five-year, $155 million deal with the Baltimore Orioles pending a physical, The Athletic’s Tim Britton and Ken Rosenthal reported on Wednesday.
Alonso spent the first seven years of his big league career with the New York Mets, racking up five All-Star selections, two Home Run Derby titles, a Silver Slugger Award and 2019 NL Rookie of the Year honors.
Alonso, who turned 31 years old on Sunday, was unable to reach a long-term deal with the Mets heading into 2025 and played on a $30 million deal. He finished the season with 38 home runs and 126 RBIs while slashing .272/.347/.524, earned his fourth consecutive All-Star bid and surpassed Darryl Strawberry as the Mets’ all-time leader in homers.
The Mets endured a monthslong collapse to close out the 2025 campaign, missing the postseason entirely after sitting atop the MLB standings in mid-June.
Alonso is the second All-Star to leave the Mets in as many days. Shutdown closer Edwin Diaz joined the two-time defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers on a reported three-year, $69 million deal on Tuesday.
As for the Orioles, the team is adding one of MLB’s premier power bats after finishing last in the AL East with a 75-87 record in 2025.
Michigan basketball formula for dominance: defense and depth
Takeaways: Nashville Predators edge past league leading Coloardo Avalanche in shootout victory
It was a battle between David and Goliath at Bridgestone Arena on Tuesday.
The last-place Nashville Predators hosted the top-ranked Colorado Avalanche. Nashville was coming off a blowout loss to Carolina, while Colorado had won 14 of its last 16.
In a back-and-forth battle that saw the Avalanche force overtime in the final minute, it was a lone shootout goal by Ryan O'Reilly that gave the Predators the 4-3 upset victory.
Jonathan Marchessault had the game-tying goal on the power play, which was quickly followed by Reid Schaefer's second career goal for a 2-1 Predators lead. In the third, Brady Skjei scored his first goal of the season to give Nashville a late 3-2 lead.
Here are three takeaways from the Predators win over the Avalanche.
Keeping pace early
Similar to the first meeting, the Predators went down in the first two minutes of the game. In the Nov. 22 game, Nashville gave up a goal 15 seconds into the game. Tuesday, it was 72 seconds into the game, off a goal from Brock Nelson.
However, unlike the previous meeting, the Predators' offense got going. Less than two minutes late, Jonathan Marchessault scored on the power play to tie the game up. It didn't stop there, as 1:25 later, Reid Schaefer scored his second goal of the season to give the Predators the lead.
Nashville kept the pressure on in the first period and kept pace with the best team in the league. Colorado tied the game to end the period, but Nashville looked like the better team throughout.
The Predators managed to stay out of the penalty box in the first period and even had two power plays. It's a significant change from Nashville's past two games, where it has had 12 penalties over that stretch.
Saros stands on his head
The Predators had a significant fall off in the second period, getting outshot 13-5, but it was Juuse Saros who kept the game deadlocked at two. After a slow start to the game, Saros locked down and had one of his best performances of the season.
He made 39 saves on 42 shots and stonewalled the Avalanche in the shootout. Saros faced Martin Necas, Valeri Nichushkin and Gabriel Landeskog, and kept all three from finding the back of the net.
Saros also made four saves in the overtime period, extending the Predators' game into the shootout.
Nashville also had a hairy stretch in the second period where it struggled to stay out of the box. The Predators committed three penalties in the final five minutes of the second, but were able to kill off all three.
Tuesday's victory was the most saves Saros has made in a game this season and the most he's swatted away since April 10, when he made the same amount of saves and faced the same amount of shots in a 4-3 shootout win over the Utah Mammoth.
Penalties still in issue
8 WITH 8 SECONDS TO GO🥬 pic.twitter.com/iiKIgWeFQ2
— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) December 10, 2025
The Predators had a chance to close the game out in regulation, which would've been just Colorado's third regulation loss of the season. However, they were stung by penalties yet again.
With Colorado pulling goalie Scott Wedgewood for an extra attacker and Nashville holding a one-goal lead in the final two minutes of the game, Erik Haula was called for tripping.
That put Colorado on a 6-on-4 power play for the rest of regulation. With eight seconds left, Cale Makar got Michael McCarron to bite on a backhand to forehand move, giving him an open lane. Makar fired it through traffic and it went in to tie things up.
The Predators' penalty killers have been elite, but have been worked to the bone over the last three games. Nashville has committed 16 penalties in three games, but has only given up two power-play goals.
It's a positive that Nashville's penalty kill has been so good, but the unit's goal is not to be on the ice as much. Tuesday's late call on Haula was the difference in ending a game that started at 8:50 p.m. CST early.
Up next: St. Louis Blues (11-13-7) at Nashville Predators (11-14-4) on Thursday at Bridgestone Arena at 7 p.m. CST
Observations From Blues' 5-2 Loss Vs. Bruins
ST. LOUIS – A three-game winning streak on the line, a chance to gain a measure of revenge against the Boston Bruins. It was all on the line for the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday.
But an all-too-familiar script played itself out despite an early lead and a fight back, but in the end, it was the Bruins who scored three unanswered goals in the third period of a 5-2 win at Enterprise Center.
Robert Thomas scored twice, Pavel Buchnevich had two assists to extend his point streak to four games, and Joel Hofer made 26 saves but it wasn’t enough to prevent the Blues (11-13-7) from gaining that elusive three-game winning streak.
“I thought we were a little too loose after the first 10 minutes,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. “I liked our first 10 minutes of the game, and I didn’t mind our first whatever it was when we tied it up (in the third period). I don’t know if it was eight minutes into the third. That wasn’t too bad, but besides that, we were very loose not stopping in the house. Defensively, not sprinting to loose pucks enough.”
Let’s take a look at the game observations:
* Blues had a chance to grab game after tying it in third and failed – The Blues were down a goal heading into the third period against a team that had been spotless in that situation (13-0-0) heading into this game.
But when Thomas tied the game at 4:51, it leveled the score at 2-2, and on home ice, one would think the home side would step up the intensity and take control of the momentum.
That was hardly the case because the Bruins, now 14-0-0 when leading after two, found another gear and scored the next three.
The third goal, and ultimately the game-winner scored by Mark Kastelic, his second of the night, was a perfect example of the struggles the Blues have faced far too often.
First off, the Bruins chip a puck into the Blues’ zone, and Tyler Tucker gets beat to the goal line by Sean Kuraly. Now the scramble is on, even as Dalibor Dvorsky gets to the puck, having to make a quick decision, he softly banks it off the boards where Nikita Zadorov is waiting to pick it off. Off the wall, the Bruins defenseman throws it towards the goal, and the puck hits Kuraly, falls into the crease where Kastelic beats Justin Faulk to the loose puck and swat it in at 8:01:
KASTY AND KURLS DOIN' WORK 💪 pic.twitter.com/nLcDDfJWlv
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) December 10, 2025
One, you’d like to see Tucker win that race to the puck, and two, you want Dvorsky to protect it a little better or make a better decision instead of just loosely throwing a puck away knowing the point man is there waiting to intercept it, and then you need to see bodies in and around the net for better protection. All failed attempts.
“We've got to win the goal line race,” Montgomery said of Tucker. “Puck's dumped in, they've got one forechecker, our second-quick should have been there to be able to get that puck and get out of our zone. They were changing, and they got out there and they got five guys established and we never got possession again. They out-muscled us at the net.”
Defenseman Justin Faulk said, “the third goal changed momentum quite a bit. Felt like a little bit of a drop after that and then they were able to kind of take the momentum a little bit and add another one with the fourth.”
* Another struggling second period – The Blues had a lead by doing a lot of decent things.
But the second period for the most part outside of a good one Sunday against the Montreal Canadiens, the Blues are a minus-14 in the middle frame.
Make it minus-16 after getting outscored 2-0 and a 1-0 lead turned into a 2-1 deficit thanks to the Bruins (18-13-0) maintaining possession in the O-zone, the Blues scrambling and chasing for much of the period and generating little to nothing in the offensive zone. They were outshot 13-3.
“We just couldn't get it by their trap in the neutral zone, couldn't set up our forecheck and kind of get in with possession, chip it to a guy with speed to kind of set it up,” Thomas said.
“We turned the puck over too much in the last 10 minutes of the first and we talked about putting it to the goal line, needing to play a little more in their end,” Montgomery said. “I think we were loose with the puck and our angling of the puck was not where it needed to be, so it gave them a lot of momentum going towards their net.”
* Losing too many loose pucks, wall battles – It was one of those games where if a puck was along the wall, the Bruins were coming away with it. If there was a loose puck, the Bruins were coming away with it. If there was a battle for it in the open ice, the Bruins were coming away with it.
That comes with working harder to get it and maintain possession, and in a lot of cases, sustaining offensive zone time, and Boston was scoring not the pretty goals but the greasy ones with traffic at the net and even getting bounces to go their way.
It happened on Fraser Minten's first of two goals that tied the game 1-1 at 12:48 of the second:
9️⃣3️⃣ KNOTS IT UP! pic.twitter.com/2Fpq6nr45o
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) December 10, 2025
It happened on Monten's second of the game at 11:33 of the third that made it 4-2 and for all intents and purposes, put the game away:
DOUBLE MINT GOAL ‼️ pic.twitter.com/SMCuMCcIwm
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) December 10, 2025
“In both zones, to be honest, right,” Montgomery said. “Their second-quick, which is the term we use, was quicker than ours.”
Why is that the case in the 31st game of the season? Yes, off nights do happen, but this team has little margin for error, and needing to put a winning streak together. That’s not a way to get it done, because a lot of the little things, including these, are what wins and loses hockey games.
* Bottom forwards struggled mightily – It’s tough to blame and point fingers at some of the guys in the lineup, but let’s face it, the Blues are a battered and bruised group right now, and when guys like Fraser Minten and Kastelic are each scoring two goals as some of the Bruins’ bottom six forwards who are also used in their top six when needed, it left some of the bottom-tiered guys open and vulnerable.
Aleksanteri Kaskimaki, playing in just his fourth NHL game, played 10:35 and was a minus-2; Dvorsky was a minus-1 in 12:13; Matt Luff, playing in just his second NHL game in two years, was a minus-1 in just 7:44 of ice time and he had a great chance to score early on an errant play that could have gone well for St. Louis; Logan Mailloux was a minus-2 in 9:49; even veterans like Oskar Sundqvist was a minus-3, so was Dylan Holloway; Brayden Schenn and Pius Suter each was a minus-2. But the guys playing fewer minutes and lesser roles were taken advantage of on this night and they had to be counted on even more when Nick Bjugstad went down with an upper-body injury early in the second period becoming the fifth forward in the last week-plus to be sidelined:
Bjugstad takes this arm/elbow to the head and gets ridden into the boards by Zadorov at 5:24 of the second and didn't play another shift. #stlbluespic.twitter.com/JJrloY9HrY
— Lou Korac (@lkorac10) December 10, 2025
“Obviously it’s a team game as a whole,” Faulk said. “It’s not easy to take guys in and out of the lineup that are kind of every day guys, impact guys when we’re still trying to find our game a lot more consistently. It’s tough, but for sure the guys that are coming in, we’ve had to call up in our lineup are hungry and they’re going to give their best effort and try and help the team as much as they can. There’s definitely no lack of energy from the new guys, which is always a good thing. We just have to find a way to keep it going and find some continuity.”
* Undermanned organizational depth showing – The Blues are really being tested right now, both at the NHL level and even at Springfield of the American Hockey League. Maybe some of these call-ups aren’t ready for this kind of competition yet outside of Luff, who’s been here often before, but now it looks like Hugh McGing will be the latest to get into the lineup pending Bjugstad’s status, and it didn’t look like his equipment was going out to Centene Community Ice Center for Wednesday practice ahead of a road game Thursday against the Nashville Predators.
* Thomas, Buchnevich heating up, finding chemistry – The bear in the room for a lot of the Blues’ struggles has been the inability of the top-end guys to produce offensively.
Tuesday was another example of if the Blues are to get out of the doldrums, guys like Thomas and Buchnevich being on the same page and the consistency of playing together produces the benefits will go a long way.
Buchnevich not has five points (two goals, three assists) in a four-game point streak and Thomas has seven points (three goals, four assists) the past eight games, including three points the past two games all playing with Buchnevich.
The two combined for the opening goal at 5:27 on the power play when Thomas whipped a one-timer from the high slot past Jeremy Swayman on a high-low play to make it 1-0:
If you picked Robert Thomas in your First Goal Vote, you're a winner! pic.twitter.com/S6zSfpeHjF
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) December 10, 2025
And Buchnevich made a heads-up play by intercepting Andrew Peeke behind the net and feeding Thomas in the slot for the 2-2 goal at 4:51 of the third:
What has two thumbs and two goals in this game?
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) December 10, 2025
THIS GUY 👇 pic.twitter.com/oQYGhXHSO7
“He’s been playing great lately making everyone around him better,” Thomas said of Buchnevich. “It’s not just one or two games. It’s been five or 10 games he’s been playing real well. He’s picked a lot of us up lately. He made two great plays and I was just able to bury it, but he’s playing real well.”
* Blues can’t string together three straight wins – Three tries, three failed attempts for the Blues to win another game beyond two.
It was Feb. 23-March 1 when the Blues won four in a row last year, their first three-game winning streak that fueled their second-half run. But that’s not something they can try and bank on all the time.
“It’s a hard league and that’s what we strive for is that consistency so you put yourself in that situation where the opportunity is there,” Faulk said. “It didn’t go our way tonight and we’ve got to come back and bounce back and try to put ourselves in that position again. It starts with one and just keep it rolling. Obviously consistency’s been a real big issue for us this year. I think overall our game’s been getting better. We just got to keep pushing and keep grinding and hope for the next one.”
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Avalanche Shootout Woes Continue as They Lose 4-3 Against the Nashville Predators
The first time the Colorado Avalanche are facing off against the Nashville Predators, this time on the road. Outside of a hectic first period the Avalanche weren't able to get anything past Juuse Saros until just eight seconds left in the third to send it to extra time, though loosing in the shoot-outs 4-3.
Period 1:
Just over one minute into the period, Brock Nelson dekes around Roman Josi and beats Juuse Saros five-hole with a nifty backhand shot, making it 1-0 early. Joel Kiviranta is called for tripping, giving the Predators their first power play of the game. It's Jonathan Marchessault driving to the net, and his shot is denied, but he quickly recovers his own rebound and buries it to tie the game 1-1 on the power play. Just one minute later, Reid Schaefer scoops up the loose puck coming out of a puck battle in the corner and powers his way, stretching around Wedgewood and burying the shot to make it 2-1.
2 goals in 6 games for Schaef 🤯 pic.twitter.com/g3vuGin69A
— Nashville Predators (@PredsNHL) December 10, 2025
Nathan MacKinnon powers through the offensive zones and rifles a shot that forces Saros to kick out, and Artturi Lehkonen is waiting in front of the net and can bury the loose puck rebound to tie it 2-2. MacKinnon earns an assist on that play, and it's his 50th point of the season, and is the first skater in the NHL to reach the 50-point milestone, and is back-to-back, reaching it first last season as well. Cale Makar is called for tripping, but the Avalanche kills it off, ending the first period.
Period 2:
The Predators did a great job really limiting the chances the Avalanche created, deflecting or blocking multiple shot attempts within the period. A stretch of penalties comes the Predators' way as the period ends. Spencer Stastney is called for tripping 10 minutes into the period, the Avalanche's first power play, but they can’t convert.
Nicolas Hague is called for cross-checking, and the Avalanche can’t convert on the opportunity. However, Fedor Svechkov is called for delay of game right before the power play ends, giving the Avalanche a little time on the 5-on-3 before the period ends and the third starts on the power play.
Period 3:
The Avalanche started the period unable to convert on the power play with the remaining time. Almost six straight minutes on the power play without capitalizing is a bit concerning, even against an elite goaltender like Saros. Toews has a great opportunity created by MacKinnon, but Saros gets the right pad to stop his shot. Brady Skjeis shot on the blue line just beats everyone and through traffic to make it 3-2 with just under 6 minutes left in the period.
Wedgewood is pulled with under three minutes left in the period. Eric Haula is called for tripping, so the Avalanche gets the remaining game on the power play. Cale Makar sends a wrister through traffic to beat Saros with eight seconds left to tie the game 3-3 and force overtime. That is Makar’s fourth game-tying goal with 15 seconds or fewer left on the clock.
8 WITH 8 SECONDS TO GO🥬 pic.twitter.com/iiKIgWeFQ2
— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) December 10, 2025
Overtime/Shootout.
The overtime heads to the shootout as both teams get some opportunities but can’t convert. Ryan O’Rielly on the first shot just top shelf roofs it past Wedgewood, which would be the game winner as the rest of both teams' shooters would miss and the Avalanche lose 4-3.
Though one thing to note is that Filip Forsberg's shot is denied, but he hits an edge and crashes hard into Wedgewood. He also slams into the post, and the trainers check on him. The refs and concussion spotter signal to remove Wedgewood for Blackwood despite not seeing a shot, as the Avalanche couldn't go further into the shootouts.
The Avalanche are back in action against the defending Stanley Cup Champions, the Florida Panthers, on Thursday, December 11, at home.
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"When This Team Wants To Turn It On…": Says Knoblauch Of Oilers Losing Effort vs. Sabres
As a tired Buffalo Sabres came into Edmonton off a back-to-back, the red-hot Oilers understood they needed to strike early. "It's very important we do come out like we did the other night against Winnipeg," said head coach Kris Knoblauch ahead of the optional morning skate. He noted,"... we pounced on that opportunity the other night. We're in that same situation, and we want to make it easier for us. "
While clawing out a single point in an overtime loss, the Oilers did anything but.
Waiting until the third period to bring out their A-game, the Oilers took away their own momentum with untimely penalties and some questionable decision-making. Edmonton didn't play a terrible first 40 minutes, but it wasn't the same kind of 40 minutes that allowed them to walk through Winnipeg. Disjointed and lacking a shoot-first mentality, Edmonton changed its game in the final frame, falling just short and losing coverage in extra time to gift the Sabres the win.
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"When this team wants to turn it on and play well, most times they can play amongst the best. To be one of the best, you've got to be able to consistently to do that," said Knoblauch following the 4-3 loss. "I can think of probably, up to ten times we had the puck in the slot, and we didn't take a shot.... anytime you get in the dangerous ice, you should be looking to shoot." He added, "Very rarely should you be passing it up if you get the puck in the middle of the ice. We did that way too many times, at least half a dozen times."
Evan Bouchard had a rough game, too. A costly turnover in front of his goalie and losing his positioning in overtime, this was one of those games that frustrate fans, as it would a coach. Knoblauch said he would talk to Bouchard about it the next day, but didn't believe it would be productive to tear a strip off him during the action.
As annoyed as Knoblauch seemed to be with the lost coverage and the questionable decision-making, he didn't think the game was a total disaster.
"Overall, I thought we did a pretty good job. I don't like the fact that we took six penalties and that took away a lot of our game."
------
This was the same Sabres team that embarrassed the Oilers a few weeks ago. One of Edmonton's most disheartening performances, this game was supposed to be a chance to earn a bit more respect against a Buffalo team that had been leaking goals in the past three games. Before the game, Knoblauch noted, "They're a very dangerous team. They've got a lot of speed, whether that's their forwards or their defensemen. If you're caught sleeping or out of position, they're going to take advantage of that." After the game, both Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Zach Hyman shot down the notion that this was a team the Oilers were supposed to cake walk through.
"That's just not the case in this league anymore," said Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. "Especially, they lost three in a row. They were in a back-to-back and gave up seven to Calgary. You know they're going to want to defend hard and play hard in front of their goalie." Zach Hyman didn't like the idea this was meant to be an easy win either. "You'd like to play a full 60, especially with the way we've been trending." He said the Oilers didn't fold when down 3-0, and they clawed a point out of a game they put themselve in a hole in. "Every team in the league now is a good team, you look at the standings and they're probably closer than they've ever been, maybe ever. No team is really out of it... There are no bad teams anymore, that's jus the way it is."
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Game Results
The first did not start the way the previous game did. Edmonton created only one shot in the first six minutes. The team started to find their rhythm as the halfway mark of the first approached. Mattias Ekholm got a good look with a slap shot, and Mattias Janmark broke in with Adam Henrique on a two-on-one.
The Sabres struck first with just under a minute remaining in the first period. David Tomasek took a goaltender interference penalty. Rasmus Dhalin took the shot, and Josh Doan tipped it for a goal. Colten Ellis was pulled for concussion protocol after the Tomasek incident. The head-to-head contact on the play meant Ellis needed to come out.
The Oilers got their first power play at 5:27 of the second period. The Oilers failed to capitalize. The Sabres scored again at 9:47. The Oilers challenged for a missed stoppage in play, meaning the official missed a play that was to be blown down. It appears Tuch punched the puck forward, and Thompson touched it first, which would have been a hand pass. The goal didn't count.
Evan Bouchard coughed up the puck when he tried to walk it out from behind the net. Thompson took advantage and put it past Skinner. Zach Hyman then took an interference penalty, and it seemed clear the game was slipping away from Edmonton. Josh Doan scored his second of the game on the power play. Went between the legs on a beauty. 3-0 for the Sabres.
McDavid scored in the first 10 seconds, on a play that Sabres coach Lindy Ruff was furious wasn't called for icing. At the 1:56 mark, Vasily Podkolzin potted a rebound and found the puck in a net-front traffic jam.
With seven minutes left, Zach Hyman took a hooking penalty, which was certainly untimely considering the Oilers had all the momentum. Adam Henrique took another penalty for tripping, putting the Oilers down two men. The Oilers killed one, and the Sabres took one. 4-on-4 for 48 seconds.
With one second on the clock, McDavid scored to tie the game at 3-3. Alex Tuch scored in overtime to give the Sabres the win.
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No. 2 Michigan routs Villanova 89-61, remaining unbeaten with 6th straight win by 25-plus points
No. 2 Michigan remains unbeaten in 89-61 rout of Villanova
Elliot Cadeau scored 15 of his 18 points in the first half to help Michigan build a 30-point lead, and the second-ranked Wolverines coasted to an 89-61 win over Villanova on Tuesday night. The unbeaten Wolverines (9-0) are the only team since at least the 1995-96 season to win six straight games by at least 25 points with at least two of those victories against ranked opponents, according to Sportradar. Michigan entered the game as the first team since Duke in 2009-10 to have a victory margin of 35-plus points in five straight wins, including two against ranked teams, according to Sportradar.