DALLAS (AP) — Defenseman Thomas Harley scored 2:05 into overtime to give the streaking Dallas Stars a 3-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday night.
Wyatt Johnston had a goal and an assist, and Michael Bunting also scored for the Stars. Jake Oettinger stopped 22 of 24 shots. Harley scored his seventh OT goal in regular-season games.
The Stars are 14-0-1 in their last 15 games, matching the longest point streak in club history. Their 1998-99 Stanley Cup team had a streak of 12 wins and three ties.
Simon Edvinsson and Lucas Raymond scored for the Red Wings, who rallied from a 2-0 deficit in the third period but dropped their third straight (0-2-1). John Gibson made 21 saves.
Bunting’s goal, on a power play for a 2-0 lead in the second period, was his first since being acquired from Nashville on March 5.
Dallas has won four straight and owns the second-most points in the league, three behind Central-leading Colorado.
Oettinger is 11-0-1 in his last 12 games, his longest career point streak. His 28 wins rank third in the league.
The 15-game run ties for the second-longest point streak in the NHL this season with Tampa Bay, behind a 17-game effort by Colorado.
Johnston has career highs with 36 goals and 73 points. He has seven goals and 14 points in Dallas’ nine games following the Olympic break.
The Stars, with the best home power play in the league, have scored with the man advantage in 12 consecutive games.
The Red Wings played their fourth consecutive game without captain Dylan Larkin and second straight without fellow forward Andrew Copp, sidelined with leg injuries that will keep them out for weeks. To have enough skaters on Saturday, Detroit called up John Leonard from Grand Rapids of the AHL and activated David Perron off injured reserves.
Up next
Red Wings: Open a four-game homestand on Monday against Calgary.
Stars: Host Utah on Monday, completing a six-game homestand that is their longest of the season.
The Los Angeles Kings (27-24-15) put together a valiant effort in the second period, scoring three goals after trailing 0-2, but came up just short against the New Jersey Devils (33-31-2), falling 6-4 on Saturday.
Anze Kopitar once again made history today, officially surpassing Marcel Dionne for the most points scored in the Kings' franchise history with 1,308, but still couldn't win the game.
After trailing in the first period 0-2, the Kings came back in the second period and took a 3-2 lead, looking to be in control heading into the final period. Despite improved defensive and offensive efforts the rest of the way, LA ran out of steam down the stretch.
LA lost key face-off moments in the clutch and gave up two power-play goals in the closing minutes of the final frame, a recurring problem for them all season.
Devils Strike Early
It was a hot offensive start for the Devils early on. Devils forward Cody Glass finished a play from the slot after receiving a backhand pass from Arseny Gritsyuk at 12:02, beating Kings goaltender Anton Forsberg for the one-timer shot to give New Jersey a 1-0 lead.
Just over three minutes later, New Jersey extended their lead 2-0, after Nico Hischier finished the rebound, cleaning off the Kings' attempt to get on the boards. The Devils outshot the Kings 14-11 in the opening frame. Despite trailing, Los Angeles was still in it, but was making costly errors.
Although the Kings were competitive in the period, unforced turnovers and failed clears allowed the Devils to capitalize early. New Jersey to hold their commanding 2-0 lead.
King's Storm Back
The Kings immediately looked much better on offense and defense to start the second period.
Five minutes into the period, Anze Kopitar scored for LA on the power play, tying Marcel Dionne's record for most points in Kings history, immediately shifting the momentum to Los Angeles' favor.
Less than two minutes later, the Kings continued to build on their momentum, this time Artemi Panarin taking it himself, skating around the back of the net and creating open space on the slot to tie the game 2-2.
LAK Goal - Tie game!
Panarin with a terrific effort, great patience in the offensive zone, buries his shot through traffic. 2-2,.
Los Angeles continued to play excellent defense in the period, holding the Devils to just four shots. Brandt Clarke provided energy by doing the dirty work, with three assists and three points, including one to Taylor Ward, who scored on a one-timer to give the Kings their first lead.
The Kings flipped the switch in this period, dominating the second and looking like the much better team after that slow start.
Los Angeles had a chance to extend its lead to 4-2 after a 2-on-1 led by Panarin and Kopitar, but Kopi's shot just rang off the crossbar, and the lead would remain 3-2, ending the second.
Devils Clutch It Out
The Devils responded very quickly in the final frame, just 25 seconds in after the puck dropped in the third period. Arseni Gritsyuk tied the game 3-3 after a great pass by Lenni Hämeenah, bringing the Devils back into it.
Hischier would get it going again, scoring his second goal of the day as the Devils converted on the power play, regaining the lead for New Jersey. The Kings were having trouble again winning faceoffs and stopping the power play.
NJD Goal - Power-play goal for the Devils puts the hosts ahead with 7:18 on the clock. 4-3.
But the Kings had one more push, and Kopitar delivered once more, finishing off the assist from Panarin and Clarke to pass the franchise record for most points in Kings history.
The play was immediately stopped, as the entire Kings bench swarmed the ice for Kopitar, hugging him and congratulating him for making history.
1,308.
Anze Kopitar is officially the @LAKings all-time leading scorer.
But all of that didn't mean a thing to the Devils, who weren’t concerned at anything but winning the game.
After a penalty was called against the Kings, the Devils capitalized on another power play, this time from Jack Hughes, who scored at 2:29, restoring New Jersey’s lead at 5-4.
All the great energy and effort the Kings had built was an afterthought as they looked drained in the final minutes of the final frame.
Los Angeles tried to get another run, but an empty-net goal scored by the Devils capped off the 6-4 victory for New Jersey, holding off late.
Key Stats
Kopitar finished with two goals and set the record for the most points scored in the Kings' history.
Panarin recorded a goal, three points, and two assists, while Clarke contributed three assists in one of his most productive playmaking games of the season.
Not a good loss for the Kings because the San Jose Sharks won today and are now one point ahead of Los Angeles. The Kings had an opportunity to move closer to the Edmonton Oilers and the Vegas Golden Knights, but failed to capitalize late.
The Kings will end their five game road trip on Monday at 4:00 PM PT against the New York Rangers.
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CLEVELAND (AP) — Reserve Shammah Scott scored 12 points and his 25-foot, 3-point basket with six seconds left helped Akron to a 79-76 win over Toledo in the Mid-American Conference title game on Saturday.
Austin Parks' desperation 3-point attempt for Toledo bounced off the back of the rim and fell to the floor as time expired.
Amani Lyles scored 15 points and grabbed 16 rebounds, Tavari Johnson scored 15 and Bowen Hardman 12 for Akron (29-5).
Leroy Blyden Jr. scored 21 points, Parks and reserve Kyle Vanderjagt scored 13 apiece and Sean Craig 10.
Toledo appeared poised to knock off the conference's second-best regular season team — after Miami, Ohio — by building a 42-30 halftime lead.
The Rockets built their lead on the strength of 53% (17 of 32) shooting including 53% (8 of 15) from 3-point range.
But Akron regrouped early in the second half and outscored Toledo 21-6 in a 7-minute span — which also included a 15-0 run — and turned a 48-36 deficit into a 57-54 lead with 10:17 remaining.
In earning the conference's automatic NCAA Tournament berth, the No. 2-seed Zips earned their third-straight tournament championship and fourth in its last five years.
It's the first time a MAC program has earned three-straight conference championships.
Toledo made its eighth MAC championship game with its lone win in 1980.
It’s been a tough spring thus far for Mark Vientos.
Competing for his share of playing time in camp, the right-handed hitting infielder got off to about as rough a start you could see before leaving the Mets for the World Baseball Classic.
Vientos went hitless over his first 12 Grapefruit League at-bats before lining an opposite-field double off the fence in his final game with the club.
He recorded a knock in an exhibition against the Mets, but wasn’t able to carry the success over to pool play, going just 2-for-15 with six strikeouts in Nicaragua’s four games.
And after another hitless showing on Saturday night against the Astros, the slugger is now a combined 0-for-8 with two strikeouts since rejoining the team.
Put together both stat lines, and Vientos is just 3-for-36 on the spring.
While the results haven’t been there, Carlos Mendoza actually likes he’s seen, as he feels Vientos has been hitting the ball hard just into some tough luck.
“Yesterday he had an 0-for with two balls hit at 100 mph, the first at-bat today it was 105 off the bat -- I think he’s in a good place, he’s just not getting the results,” the skipper said postgame Saturday.
While he has been mashing the ball, this is getting to be an familiar picture for Vientos and the Mets.
The former first-round pick homered 27 times and shined during the playoffs in his first full year with the club, but he ultimately saw his numbers drop off last season.
Vientos hit just .233 with 17 homers, a .289 OBP, and a .702 OPS.
With much more competition for at-bats this time around, he’ll have to start finding grass over the next few weeks to carveout a regular role.
The 26-year-old is aware, and he isn't too concerned.
"This isn't anything new," Vientos recently told Max Goodman of NJ.com. "Coming into the league, it was an earn your stripes type of situation -- I earned them, I was playing every day. I feel like this year might be the same thing -- it’s just earn at-bats and that’s fine, I’ll earn them, I’m ready."
TEMPE, ARIZONA - MARCH 10: Walker Buehler #10 of the San Diego Padres throws against the Los Angeles Angels during the second inning of a spring training game at Tempe Diablo Stadium on March 10, 2026 in Tempe, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Padres fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.
German Marquez did not look good his last time on the mound and Marco Gonzales followed today with a tough showing when the San Diego Padres took on the Texas Rangers at Surprise Stadium in Surprise, Ariz. Both pitchers are vying for the fifth and final rotation spot, which could be two spots with the latest news about Joe Musgrove, who is having difficulties recovering from throwing with the intensity that comes from competing on an MLB field – even in Spring Training.
The remaining potential starters after Marquez and Gonzales are Walker Buehler, JP Sears, Matt Waldron and Triston McKenzie. Buehler appears to be the most consistent of the group, while Sears continues to struggle allowing home runs, Waldron just resumed throwing after hemorrhoid surgery and McKenzie, despite his most recent outing, has had trouble locating his pitches.
The Padres Reacts Survey on Gaslamp Ball this week asked respondents to select who they thought would win the final spot in the rotation and the overwhelming majority said Buehler. He has been the most consistent of the group competing for the job and his track record, despite multiple arm surgeries, says he knows how to pitch in the big leagues and can be successful.
When Buehler came into MLB he was known as a fastball pitcher, who could reach the mid- to high-90s. Since the surgeries, his velocity has dropped to the low- to mid-90s as we have seen him touch 94 mph in his spring outings to this point. Buehler is having to learn how to use his pitch-mix to keep hitters off balance and get outs. With Padres pitching coach Ruben Niebla as a resource, there is no reason to think Buehler cannot have success. He seems to be the front runner for the job, and the Friar Faithful expect him to be in the rotation on Opening Day.
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FAYATTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Tyrice Taylor and Rivaldo Marshall finished 1-2 in the 800 meters to help Arkansas run away with the men's team title, while Georgia freshman Adaejah Hodge won the 200 meters in a facility-record 22.22 seconds as the Bulldogs won the women's team crown Saturday at the NCAA Indoor Track Championships.
Arkansas clinched the men's team crown — it's first since 2013 — with two events (the 3,000 meters and 400-meter relay) remaining and finished with 73.5 points, 7.5 more than Oregon (40 points) — which also finished second on the women's side — and third-place Florida (26) combined.
Georgia, last year's women's runner-up, finished with 53 points to win its first indoor championship since 2018. The Ducks had 44 points and Illinois was third with 42 points. Georgia coach Caryl Smith Gilbert also led Bulldogs women to 2025 outdoor title.
Dejanea Oakley ran a personal-best 50.47 to win to 400 meters for the Bulldogs. Alabama's Samuel Ogazi ran a 44.57 — the fourth-fastest time in the world — to claim the men's title.
Taylor finished the 800 meters in 1:46.00, 0.12 seconds faster than Marshall. Clemson's Gladys Chepngetich ran a 2:00.01 to beat the Arkansas duo of Sanu Jallow-Lockhart (2:00.54) and Analisse Batista (personal-best 2:00.57).
Auburn’s Ja’Kobe Tharp defended his title in the 60-meter hurdles, finishing in 7.32 seconds to break Grant Holloway’s NCAA record of 7.35 set in 2019. Aaliyah McCormick of Oregon, who also won the 100-meter hurdles at the 2025 outdoor championships, ran a personal-best 7.86 to win the women's title.
BYU’s Jane Hedengren, who won the women’s 5,000 meters Friday, ran a meet-record 8:36.61 to win the 3000 meters. Colin Sahlman of Northern Arizona won a wild men's race in 7:41 after New Mexico's Habtom Samuel — who it appeared had edged Sahlman by 0.005 seconds — was disqualified for contact on the final curve. Oregon’s Simeon Birnbaum finished a fraction of a second behind Sahlman.
Tarik Robinson-O’Hagan of Mississippi became the fourth thrower in Division I history to win three consecutive indoor shot put titles with a throw of 65 feet, 9 inches. The senior joins Karl Salb (Kansas, 1969-71), Hans Hoglund (UTEP, 1973-75) and Ryan Whiting (Arizona State, 2008-10). Nebraska's Axelina Johansson broke the NCAA indoor shot put record and the Swedish national record with a throw of 64-8 1/2 to win on the women's side.
USC’s Garrett Kaalund ran a collegiate-record 19.95 to win the men’s 200 meters. Kaalund has two of the three fastest times in NCAA history.
Temitope Adeshina of Texas Tech won her second consecutive high jump title, clearing 6-feet, 5 1/2 inches to tie her own Nigerian record. Tito Alofe of Harvard won the men's high jump, clearing a personal-best 7-4 1/4.
Auburn’s Kanyinsola Ajayi won the men's 60 meters in 6.45 seconds, which tied the collegiate record he set at the SEC Championships at the end of February. Shenese Walker of Florida State ran a 7.08 to beat Hodge (7.15) for the women's crown.
Kansas State's Daniela Wamokpego claimed the triple-jump crown with a personal best of 45-4 3/4. Texas Tech's Jonathan Seremes — a Missouri transfer — won his second consecutive men's title with a personal best of 56-7.
BYU's Carter Cutting won the mile in 3:58.94 to secure his first national championship. Oregon's Wilma Nielsen timed her kick perfectly and finished in 4:40.06 to beat Rosemary Longisa of Washington State and North Carolina State's Sadie Engelhardt (4:40.21 each) for her second consecutive title.
MONTREAL (AP) — Macklin Celebrini had two goals and an assist to lead the San Jose Sharks to a 4-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night.
Collin Graf had a goal and two assists and Mario Ferraro also scored for San Jose, which ended Montreal’s three-game winning streak. John Klingberg finished with two assists, and Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 25 shots.
Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki scored for Montreal, and Noah Dobson had two assists. Jakub Dobes made 17 saves.
The Canadiens held third place in the Atlantic Division, four points behind the division-leading Buffalo Sabres with two games in hand, heading into Saturday’s games.
The Sharks were one point shy of the Los Angeles Kings for the Western Conference’s second wild-card spot, with two fewer games played.
Caufield opened the scoring at 7:21 in the first period, beating Nedeljkovic with a wrist shot for his career-best 38th goal of the season.
Celebrini tied the game with his 34th at 13:12. Ferraro later floated a wrist shot from the point and fooled Dobes before Celebrini’s attempt deflected off Graf’s leg, giving San Jose a 3-1 lead at 16:20 in the second.
Suzuki beat Nedeljkovic on the glove side with 2:22 remaining in the second to cut the lead.
Celebrini sealed the win, scoring his second of the game into an empty net at 17:56 in the third.
San Jose rookie forward Igor Chernyshov left early in the first period after a scary fall. Chernyshov collided with Canadiens defenseman Mike Matheson in the neutral zone before losing his balance twice when he attempted to stand up. San Jose coach Ryan Warsofsky said Chernyshov was released from the hospital and will travel with the team to Ottawa.
The 33rd overall draft pick in 2024, Chernyshov was playing in his 16th NHL game and his first since being recalled from the San Jose Barracuda of the AHL. He has three goals and 11 points this season.
The Canadiens released a statement on social media, saying their thoughts were with Chernyshov.
The Calgary Flames mounted a late push but couldn’t overcome a rough opening period, falling 3–2 to the New York Islanders on Saturday night in Long Island.
The opening frame belonged almost entirely to the Islanders, who jumped out to a quick lead and never looked back. At 10:36 of the first period, Casey Cizikas opened the scoring after battling for the puck along the boards. The veteran forward pulled it free from the corner, circled out from beside the net, and jammed the puck past Flames starter Devin Cooley for his eighth goal of the season to make it 1–0.
New York doubled its lead later in the period. At 16:35, Simon Holmstrom joined the rush and took a feed from newly acquired Brayden Schenn before snapping a shot past Cooley. The goal, Holmstrom’s 15th of the season, gave the Islanders a 2–0 advantage.
The Islanders weren’t done there. Late in the period, while shorthanded, Jean‑Gabriel Pageau moved the puck ahead to Holmstrom, who was driving up the ice. Holmstrom slipped the puck through Cooley’s five-hole at 19:35, giving New York a commanding 3–0 lead heading into the intermission.
The Flames made a change to start the second period, bringing in Dustin Wolf in relief of Cooley. The move helped stabilize Calgary defensively as the Flames tightened things up and prevented further damage.
Despite generating a few chances, neither team found the back of the net in the middle frame, leaving the Flames with a three-goal deficit heading into the third period.
Calgary kept pushing, and midway through the period they pulled even closer. Yan Kuznetsov sent a pass ahead to Blake Coleman, who streaked in from the blue line. Coleman protected the puck beautifully, moving from backhand to forehand before sliding it past Rittich to make it 3–2.
The Flames pressed for the equalizer late, but the Islanders held on to secure the win.
The first period proved decisive. Calgary was outplayed early and forced to chase the game after surrendering three goals, including one shorthanded.
3. Veteran Leadership Sparked the Comeback
Backlund and Coleman led the Flames’ third-period push, providing both goals and driving the offensive pressure as Calgary attempted to erase the deficit.
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Jack Hughes scored the go-ahead goal with 2:29 to play and Jake Allen made 27 saves as the New Jersey Devils edged the Los Angeles Kings 6-4 on Saturday night.
Hughes put the Devils ahead 5-4 in the seesaw game with a power-play goal. Nico Hischier scored twice and Cody Glass, Arseny Gritsyuk and Timo Meier — with a last minute empty-netter — also scored.
Anze Kopitar scored twice for Los Angeles — to establish a Kings franchise points record — and Artemi Panarin and Taylor Ward also scored.
Ward had put the Kings ahead 3-2 at 11:43 of the middle period after Kopitar and Panarin scored in less than two minutes as Los Angeles battled back from an early 2-0 deficit.
But Gritsyuk tied the contest just 25 seconds into the third.
Hischier’s second goal put New Jersey ahead at 12:42 of the third before Kopitar scored to tie it again.
Glass scored his career-best 15th goal at 7:56 of the first, beating Anton Forsberg with a fluttering shot. Hischier made it 2-0 at 11:04. Forsberg had 22 saves.
Kopitar scored at 4:15 of the second to narrow the deficit to 2-1.
With his second of the game, the 38-year-old Slovenian forward has 450 career goals and 858 career assists for 1,308 points, moving him ahead of Marcel Dionne. Dionne scored 550 goals with Los Angeles. Luc Robitaille leads with 557.
The Kings captain and a two-time Stanley Cup winner said he will retire after this season.
Panarin tied the contest at 2-2 at 6:03 with his third goal since he was acquired from the New York Rangers on Feb. 4.
Los Angeles is battling San Jose, Seattle and Nashville for the last Western Conference playoff berth.
Up Next
Devils: Host the Boston Bruins on Monday night.
Kings: Visit the New York Rangers on Monday night to conclude five-game road trip.
Mark Vientos is pictured during the Mets' Feb. 28 spring training game.
Observations from Mets spring training on Saturday:
Pache of cake
Cristian Pache, known for his glove in center, made a fine running catch in left-center to rob Jake Meyers of a hit.
Marked man
Mark Vientos went hitless and is 1-for-21 in Grapefruit League games.
Mark Vientos is pictured during the Mets’ Feb. 28 spring training game. Corey Sipkin for the NY Post
He also struggled in the WBC, but manager Carlos Mendoza cited hard-hit balls as a reason for encouragement.
Caught my eye
Last year’s first-round pick, Mitch Voit, got his first Grapefruit League hit.
Filling in for the injured Jackson Cluff, the 38th overall selection started at second and singled.
The Naples, Fla., native made a name for himself at the University of Michigan last season when he imitated snorting a line of cocaine along the third base line after a triple.
“He looks like a hitter,” Mendoza said.
Sunday’s schedule
Zach Thornton will start for the Mets against Toronto at Clover Park at 1:10 p.m.
There will be no Karl-Anthony Towns-Draymond Green rematch.
The Knicks, after their five-game road trip, host the Warriors at Madison Square Garden on Sunday night, the second of their two regular-season matchups this year.
Towns, after missing the win over the Pacers on Friday night with knee soreness, is not listed on the injury report, meaning he should be good to go.
Karl-Anthony Towns has his shot blocked by Draymond Green on Jan. 15, 2025 in San Francisco. Getty Images
But Green (lower back injury management) is out for the Warriors.
Green has long had it out for Towns in particular. After that January matchup, Green on his podcast made fun of Towns, including his voice.
And it wasn’t the first time. Green has on multiple occasions lashed out at Towns on his podcast and in the media.
Last year, Green accused Towns of skipping a game against the Warriors, claiming it was because Towns did not want to play against his longtime nemesis — and his former Timberwolves teammate — Jimmy Butler III.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - MARCH 15: Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors plays defense during the game against the New York Knicks on March 15, 2025 at Chase Center in San Francisco, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2025 NBAE (Photo by Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
Greetings from the greater Boston area. Your intrepid blogger is deep behind enemy lines because young Rowan competed in a karate tournament here (and took gold for his form demonstration, woot!). I’m wearing my Knicks gear proudly to the dismay of these green-gilled goons. As for the Knicks this week, they should run the table. Favored in all three matchups, they’ll face one fading dynasty and two bottom feeders. As an added bonus, they get to ride the subway for one of the contests. Is that enough of a clue for you, smarty pants? Read on, Donkey Kong.
Sunday, March 15 — Knicks vs. Golden State Warriors (8:00 p.m. ET, NBC / Peacock)
Sunday night, the Knicks return from their five-game road trip to host the Golden State Warriors at Madison Square Garden.
Golden State still carries some cachet, but this game matters more for New York’s place in the Eastern Conference standings than for the Warriors’ dimming playoff hopes. The Knicks should be favored, as the home team and playing better basketball, while the Warriors have struggled to string wins together.
The last meeting came January 15 in San Francisco, when Golden State beat New York 126-113. Jimmy Butler scored 32, Stephen Curry added 27, while Miles McBride and OG Anunoby each had 25 for the Knicks. Perhaps you recall Draymond Green trash-talking Karl-Anthony Towns throughout the game and afterward receiving a warm hug from former coach Mike Brown? Yeah, let’s not see that again, ever. (And we probably won’t on Sunday, with Green marked OUT on the injury report.)
Tune in to NBC and Peacock.
Tuesday, March 17 — Knicks vs. Indiana Pacers (7:30 p.m. ET, MSG)
Finally, we’ll be done with the Pacers when New York hosts them for the last contest of the four-game regular season series. Even with their terrible record, the Pacers always get up for games against the Knicks. Case in point: the teams just met March 13 in Indianapolis, and it took a career-high of 22 rebounds from Mitchell Robinson, plus 29 points from Jalen Brunson and 25 from OG Anunoby to hang those Hoosiers. For once, it would be so nice if our heroes would throw them on the floor to start the game and kick them for 48 straight minutes.
Watch it on MSG.
Friday, March 20 — Knicks at Brooklyn Nets (7:30 p.m. ET, MSG / YES)
I attended the last game of last season, when the Knicks visited Barclays. The only starter was Mikal Bridges, who subbed out after tip-off to preserve his ironman streak. An ugly affair unfolded from there—a glorified G League game, if you will. I can’t imagine Friday will be much prettier. Brooklyn has struggled all season and ranks near the bottom of the league on both ends. New York should smash them and rest their starters in the second half.
Their last meeting was January 21 at MSG, when the Knicks routed the Nets 120–66. Jalen Brunson scored 20, Landry Shamet added 18, and Michael Porter Jr. led Brooklyn with 12. That 54-point win was the largest margin of victory in Knicks franchise history.
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Jack Quinn scored the tying goal and also connected in a shootout, Alex Tuch ended the tiebreaker and the Buffalo Sabres beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 on Saturday night to rebound from their first loss since the Olympic break.
Buffalo was coming off a 2-1 home loss to Washington on Thursday night that ended an eight-game winning streak. The Atlantic Division-leading Sabres stretched their advantage over second-place Tampa Bay to four points and remained two points behind Carolina in the Eastern Conference.
Toronto played its first game since captain Auston Matthews’ season-ending knee injury. Matthews tore the medial collateral ligament in his left knee Thursday night at home in a 6-4 victory over Anaheim on a knee-on-knee hit from Radko Gudas. Gudas was given a major penalty and ejected, then suspended five games for kneeing.
Defenseman Owen Power also scored for Buffalo, and Alex Lyon stopped 16 shots.
Max Domi scored for Toronto in his 800th NHL game. Dakota Joshua also scored, and Joseph Woll made 30 saves.
The Maple Leafs lost their first eight after the Olympic break before beating the Ducks.
Quinn tied it at 2 on a power play with 8:39 left in the second. He beat Woll with a wrist shot from the left side off a nifty pass from Noah Ostlund.
Power opened the scoring at 2:01 of the first with a wrist shot from the high slot off Zach Benson's feed from behind the goal. Joshua tied it at 7:09 of the period with a snap shot from the middle, and Domi put Toronto ahead at 53 seconds of second on a break with William Nylander.
NEW YORK (AP) — Simon Holmstrom scored twice and the New York Islanders raced to an early lead and held on to beat the Calgary Flames 3-2 on Saturday.
Casey Cizikas also scored for New York and David Rittich made 30 saves as the Islanders won for the third time in four games.
Mikael Backund and Blake Coleman scored for Calgary, which slipped to 2-5-1 in its last eight games. Devin Cooley started in the net for the Flames and allowed three goals on 10 shots in the first period. Dustin Wolf replaced Cooley to start the second period and finished with 17 saves.
Holmstrom gave the Islanders a 2-0 lead with his first goal of the game when he collected a pass from Luke Schenn and scored on a shot over Cooley’s blocker at 16:35 of the first. It was Schenn’s first assist at UBS Arena since being acquired by the Islanders from St. Louis at the trade deadline.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau set up Holmstrom for a short-handed goal in the final minute of the first period, extending the Islanders’ lead to 3-0.
Backlund and Coleman scored during a 6:11 stretch of the third period to pull Calgary within a goal.
Up next
Flames: At Detroit on Monday in the finale of a five-game trip.
Islanders: Open a three-game trip at Toronto on Tuesday.
The Carolina Hurricanes are back in the win column thanks to a 4-2 Saturday night win over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
It was as good of a road game as you can hope for against one of the league's best, as the Hurricanes did a really strong job of locking things down defensively and pushing play the other way.
The Canes outshot the Bolts 35-19 overall, while also outchancing them 54-30 at 5v5.
The victory was also special as it came on Rod Brind'Amour's 600th career game behind the bench. He's coached all them with the Carolina Hurricanes and he also holds the record for the most wins by a head coach in their first 600 games (367).
Carolina struck first in rapid fashion as Andrei Svechnikov was sprung on a breakaway. While the Russian winger didn't convert on that chance, he drew a call and on the delayed penalty sequence, Sebastian Aho found Svechnikov in the slot for the go-ahead goal.
"That goal to start the game, it just set the tone," said Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour. "That was a tough game out there and I thought everyone really contributed. That's how we win. It was special plays here and there from every line and that's how we got to get it done."
That first period was also probably one of the more chaotic we've seen too as after that Svechnikov goal, we had three separate penalty kills, a few big hits, Seth Jarvis fought Zemgus Girgensons (his first NHL tilt), and then to cap it all off, the Canes scored again in the final minutes of the period.
It was almost a carbon copy of the first goal, but just reversed, as Aho was stopped on a breakaway by Andrei Vasilevskiy, but then Svechnikov found the loose puck off the rebound and fed Aho at the backdoor for the immediate response.
Things looked pretty good for Carolina heading into the second period, but as has been the case over the last few games, the second frame was not very kind to them.
It's not like the Hurricanes were bad by any means in the second though. Sure, the Lightning were certainly generating a bit more zone time in the middle period, but their best chances came off of two broken plays caused by an overaggressive move by the Hurricanes' defense.
The first goal against came at the hands of a Yanni Gourde partial breakaway after the Canes got caught a little too high in the offensive zone and then less than two minutes later, the Lightning struck twice to tie the game after they sprung themselves on a 3-on-1.
Yes, Carolina has certainly had problems in second periods as of late, but this was more so a couple of bad breaks rather than the team not playing well.
And the Hurricanes got right back to it in the third period as they put their foot down on the gas. Carolina kept coming in waves, but it was a Jordan Martinook sling from the half-wall that wound up catching Vasilevskiy, who played a tremendous game for Tampa Bay, a bit unaware.
The Canes kept up the pressure from there, and although the Lightning didn't get too many chances, there were still a few close calls, with Sean Walker having to make a tremendous kick save with Brandon Hagel having basically an empty net and Frederik Andersen also shutting the door a few times on Nikita Kucherov.
"That was the one shift in the third where we were in one,' Brind'Amour said. "Freddie made a big save and then it was a tap-in, empty netter and Walks... You're never out of a play. That's what we always say and it's the old kick save and a beauty. We'll take it."
"A couple of huge blocks by the guys in front," Andersen said. "Chatty had a good one in the first and then obviously Walks on that late on right before we scored."
But eventually, Logan Stankoven would hit the empty netter to carry the team through that final Lightning push.
"I thought we were really good," Brind'Amour said. "Had a couple mistakes that they ended up capitalizing on, but really, I felt that throughout the game we were solid. A couple of big saves, a couple of special plays from guys. Overall, a great effort."
The win also gives the Hurricanes a tie-breaker advantage over Tampa Bay, as they now hold the head-to-head matchup edge (2 wins: 1 loss).
The NHL tiebreaker format goes points, regulation wins, total wins and then head-to-head, so it would take some things breaking a certain way, but nonetheless, it's a good card to hold.
Carolina will continue to road trip with a stop in Columbus on Tuesday.
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