Anze Kopitar scored twice, including the go-ahead goal in the third period, and the Los Angeles Kings rallied for a 5-3 victory over the Arizona Coyotes. Trevor Moore, Carl Grundstrom and Kevin Fiala also tallied goals for the Kings, who had dropped five of six coming into the game, including a crazy 9-8 overtime defeat against Seattle on Tuesday. Jonathan Quick stopped 18 shots. Matias Maccelli had a goal and an assist for Arizona while Christian Fischer and Nick Bjugstad also scored. Patrik Nemeth had a pair of assists. Vejmelka made 27 saves.

Sam Bennett scored twice and the Florida Panthers ended a three-game skid with a 5-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night. Matthew Tkachuk added a goal and two assists, Gustav Forsling, Ryan Lomberg and Sam Bennett also scored and Spencer Knight made 31 saves. Dakota Joshua scored for Vancouver. Vancouver also lost starting goalie Thatcher Demko to a lower-body injury. The 26-year-old American stopped 15 of 18 shots in the first period before leaving. Spencer Martin made 13 saves in relief.

Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored 27 points to help No. 21 UCLA open up Pac-12 play with an 80-66 win over Stanford on Thursday night. The Bruins (6-2, 1-0 Pac-12) have now won three straight after dropping back-to-back games to No. 6 Baylor and No. 16 Illinois in Las Vegas. Tyger Campbell had 17 points and was two assists shy of a double-double, while Amari Bailey scored a season-high-tying 19 points. Jaylen Clark added four points in his return to the court after missing the Bruins’ last game with a non-COVID-19 illness. The Cardinal (3-5, 0-1) outscored the Bruins 37-30 in the second half, starting with three straight baskets within 90 seconds from Spencer Jones, who set a season high and led the team with 18 points.

Dzmitry Ryuny had 14 points, Dexter Akanno scored the last three points and Oregon State held off Washington for a 66-65 win in a Pac-12 Conference opener. Akanno converted a three-point play with eight seconds remaining. Keion Brooks missed a 3 for Washington to end it. Oregon State (4-4, 1-0) snapped a four-game skid while Washington (6-2, 0-1) ended a three-game win streak. Brooks scored 21 points to lead Washington.

The throwback Pat Patriots uniforms weren't the only thing reminding New England fans of a bygone era. On the field, the team was playing like it did in the era before Tom Brady arrived and led it to six Super Bowls. Josh Allen threw for 223 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Bills to a 24-10 victory over the Patriots. It was Buffalo's third straight victory over New England. It’s the first time the Bills have beaten the Patriots three times in a row since 2000. That was before Brady took his first NFL snap.

Matty Beniers scored seven seconds into overtime and the Seattle Kraken rallied to beat the Washington Capitals 3-2 for their seventh straight victory Thursday night.  Beniers won a faceoff scrum to begin the overtime, got a tip from Andre Burakovsky and beat Darcy Kuemper for his 10th goal of the season to extend Seattle’s franchise-record winning streak. Coming off a 10-1-1 November, the Kraken overcame a 2-0 deficit to keep their streak rolling. Yanni Gourde scored with 2:27 left in regulation, jamming a rebound past Kuemper. Jaden Schwartz added a power-play goal for Seattle in the second period. Philipp Grubauer made 21 saves and was solid all night facing his former team. Martin Fehervary and Conor Sheary scored first period goals for Washington.

N’Faly Dante scored 16 of his 22 points in the second half when Oregon used a 13-2 run to jump start a 74-60 win over Washington State in the Pac-12 Conference opener. The game was played within four points through the first 26 minutes. TJ Bamba had a dunk and a three-point play to put the Cougars on top 44-40. Will Richardson got those points back in similar fashion, and after one last Washington State lead, the Ducks scored eight straight points.  A Dante layup gave the Ducks a 53-46 lead with 11:08 to play. Starting near the five-minute mark, Dante scored three quick baskets, the last two dunks, and the score was 68-54. The Cougars went six minutes without a basket, missing five shots with four turnovers. Mouhamed Gueye scored 19 points for Washington State,

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Marcus Carr scored 19 points and made two free throws with 10 seconds left as No. 2 Texas held off No. 7 Creighton’s furious late-game rally and beat the Bluejays 72-67 on Thursday night.

Jason Robertson had his third career hat trick, scoring in all three periods to extend his points streak to 17 games in the Dallas Stars’ 5-0 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday night. Robertson became the NHL’s first 20-goal scorer this season with a deflected puck in the first period, then added his 21st and 22nd on long power-play goals in each of the next two periods. His other hat tricks came in back-to-back games last March, when he was the first Stars player to ever do that. Joel Kiviranta and Wyatt Johnston also had goals for the Central Division-leading Stars. Jake Oettinger stopped 31 shots for his fourth career shutout.

Branden Carlson scored 22 points and Utah handed No. 4 Arizona its first loss of the season, 81-66 in the Pac-12 opener for both teams. Carlson went 5 of 9 from 3-point range. Rollie Worster had 12 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists for the Utes, and Gabe Madsen and Ben Carlson scored 11 points apiece. Oumar Ballo led Arizona with 22 points and seven rebounds. Azuolas Tubelis added 20 points for the Wildcats, who trailed wire to wire. Arizona struggled to generate a consistent offensive rhythm before halftime against Utah’s stifling defense.

Cole Caufield broke a third-period tie on a power play, Sean Monahan had two assists against his old team and the Montreal Canadiens beat the Calgary Flames 2-1 on Thursday night. Rookie Juraj Slafkovsky, also scored for Montreal and Jake Allen made 45 saves. The Canadiens have won seven of 11. Elias Lindholm scored for Calgary and Jacob Markstrom stopped 19 shots. The Flames are 1-3-1 in their last five.

Kevin McCullar Jr. returned from an injury to score 17 points and grab 10 rebounds, Jalen Wilson added 15 points and 13 boards, and ninth-ranked Kansas rolled to a 91-65 victory over Seton Hall in the Big East-Big 12 Battle. KJ Adams had 11 points, DaJuan Harris Jr. had 10 with seven assists and Ernest Udeh Jr. scored 10 for the Jayhawks, who now have more than a week off before visiting bitter rival Missouri for the first time in a decade next Saturday. Kadary Richmond had 17 points, but also turned the ball over seven times for the Pirates, who were just 4 of 19 from the 3-point arc in losing their third straight game. Tyrese Samuel added with 16 points for Seton Hall.

Jordan Martinook had a hat trick to help the Carolina Hurricanes beat the St. Louis Blues 6-4 on Thursday night. After a turnover, Martinook scored the winning goal with 4:35 left, beating goalie Jordan Binnington on a wrist shot. Martinook also scored in the second period and completed the hat trick with nine seconds left. Brent Burns, Seth Jarvis and Jordan Staal also scored. Antti Raanta made 12 saves and Pyotr Kochetkov stopped 10 shots in relief. Pavel Buchnevich, Noel Acciari, Torey Krug and Ryan O’Reilly scored for St. Louis. Binnington made 30 saves, missing a chance for his 100th victory.

Diamond Johnson and Saniya Rivers each scored 22 points to help No. 12 North Carolina State overcome a 45-point effort from Caitlin Clark and beat No. 10 Iowa 94-81 in an ACC/Big Ten Challenge game on Thursday night. Clark, who came into the game tied for second in the nation in scoring at 26.7 points per game, scored the Hawkeyes’ first nine points of the game, and had the first 11 points of the fourth quarter as Iowa tried to rally from a 13-point deficit. The preseason All-American was 16 of 28 from the field, 5 of 13 in 3-pointers. She finished one point off her career high.

Desmond Cambridge Jr. hit a 3-pointer with 2.6 seconds left and Arizona State rallied from a 15-point, second-half deficit to beat Colorado 60-59 in a Pac-12 Conference opener. Alonzo Gaffney, Desmond Cambridge Jr. and Devan Cambridge each made a 3-pointer during a 13-0 run as Arizona State took its first lead since early in the first half, 57-56, with 2:34 to play. Jalen Gabbidon answered for Colorado with a three-point play for a 59-57 lead with 2:03 remaining. KJ Simpson missed a 3 for Colorado to end it. Simpson scored 13 points and Tristan da Silva had 10 for Colorado (4-4, 0-1).

Kirill Kaprizov had a goal and two assists to extend his career-best point streak to 10 games, and Joel Eriksson Ek added a goal and assist, leading the Minnesota Wild to a 5-3 win against the Edmonton Oilers. Frederick Gaudreau, Sam Steel and Mats Zuccarello also scored for Minnesota, which has won four of five. Marc-Andre Fleury made 18 saves. Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl extended goal streaks for Edmonton, which had won three in a row. Jack Campbell stopped 25 shots for the Oilers.

The Los Angeles Chargers visit the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday with only one team appearing to be playoff contention. Los Angeles and the New England Patriots are just outside the postseason picture. The Cincinnati Bengals and New York Jets are just inside. Las Vegas is trying to work its way to .500 after consecutive overtime road victories. Los Angeles has dealt with several key injuries this season including to linebacker Joey Bosa and wide receiver Mike Williams.

Nathan MacKinnon and J.T. Compher scored two goals apiece to lead the Colorado Avalanche to a 6-4 win over the Buffalo Sabres. MacKinnon added three assists and Compher had two helpers for the Avalanche, who won for the fifth time in seven games. Artturi Lehkonen and Mikko Rantanen also scored for Colorado, and Alexandar Georgiev made 24 saves. Tage Thompson scored his 15th goal of the season and Alex Tuch, JJ Peterka and Dylan Cozens also scored for the Sabres, who have lost three of four. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 28 shots.

Killian Hayes scored eight of 22 points in overtime as the Detroit Pistons recovered from blowing a late lead to beat the Dallas Mavericks 131-125 on Thursday night. Christian Wood’s dunk tied the game at 125 with 1:35 left in overtime, but Hayes answered with back-to-back 3-pointers to put the Pistons ahead by six with 41.6 left and seal the win. Bojan Bogdanovic led the Pistons with 30 points while Marvin Bagley III added 19 points and 13 rebounds. Luka Doncic had 35 points and 10 assists for Dallas. Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 26 points.

The NFC East-leading Philadelphia Eagles will look to improve their NFL-best 10-1 record when they host the AFC South-leading Tennessee Titans on Sunday. The 7-4 Titans will be looking to rebound from a home loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. They also will try to solve the puzzle presented by Eagles QB Jalen Hurts, a leading NFL MVP candidate who has confounded defenses all season with his running and passing ability.

Ryan Johansen scored his second goal of the game 33 seconds into overtime and Juuse Saros made 25 saves in the Nashville Predators’ 4-3 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Thursday night. Johansen took a pass from Matt Duchene and beat goalie Vitek Vanecek from in front. Mikael Granlund tied it for Nashville with nine seconds left in regulation. The Devils had a power-play chance in the closing minutes when Nashville was called for too many men, but Granlund scored 37 second after the penalty expired. Colton Sissons also scored for the Predators. Defenseman Kevin Bahl and forwards Jesper Bratt and Alexander Holtz scored for New Jersey in a 2:38 span early in the second period to make it 3-2.

Jake Guentzel and Kasperi Kapanen scored less than 2 minutes apart in the third period to rally the Pittsburgh Penguins past the Vegas Golden Knights 4-3. Guentzel’s power-play goal 7:33 into the third tied the game at 3 and Kapanen’s first goal in nearly two months 112 seconds later put the Penguins in front for the first time. Tristan Jarry made 34 saves for Pittsburgh, which won its first game since star defenseman Kris Letang suffered a stroke.

Marcus Carr scored 19 points and No. 2 Texas held off No. 7 Creighton's furious late-game rally to win 72-67. Texas led by 11 points in the second half but Creighton closed within three points a few times in the final minutes. That forced Texas to finish it at the free-throw line and Carr made two free throws with 10 seconds left to help the Longhorns stay unbeaten. Ryan Kalkbrenner had 20 points and 13 rebounds for Creighton, and Ryan Nembhard scored 17 points. The Bluejays were 4 of 27 on 3-pointers.

Jordan Hawkins scored a career-high 26 points to lead unbeaten No. 8 UConn past Oklahoma State 74-64 in the Big East-Big 12 Battle. Adama Sanogo added 20 points and Andre Jackson scored 11 for the Huskies. It was the smallest margin of victory for UConn so far this season. The Huskies’ next closest was an 82-67 win over then-No. 18 Alabama last Friday at the Phil Knight Invitational in Portland, Oregon. Kalib Boone scored 15 points to lead the Cowboys and Avery Anderson III added 14. UConn is off to its best start since 2013-14.

Steven Stamkos had an assist for his 1,000th career point, Nick Paul scored twice and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Philadelphia Flyers 4-1 on Thursday night. Ian Cole had a goal and an assist, Ross Colton also scored, Corey Perry added two assists and Andrei Valilevsky made 21 saves. The Lightning have won seven of nine. Travis Konecny scored for Philadelphia. The Flyers snapped a 10-game losing streak on Tuesday night against the New York Islanders. Stamkos, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2008 draft, assisted on Paul’s second goal 7:55 into the second period that made it 2-0. Stamkos started the play with a pass behind the net to Cole, who sent the puck in front to Paul.

Milwaukee Bucks forward Khris Middleton appears on the verge of making his 2022-23 debut as he returns from offseason wrist surgery. The NBA released an injury report Thursday night that listed the three-time All-Star as probable for the Bucks’ Friday night game with the Los Angeles Lakers. Middleton hasn’t played since spraining the medial collateral ligament in his left knee in Game 2 of the Bucks’ first-round playoff series with the Chicago Bulls. He underwent surgery on his left wrist last summer and has been recovering ever since.

British Open champion Cameron Smith is in danger of missing a chance to add the Australian Open title to his tournament victory total this year. Smith was sitting at 2-over par, one shot outside the projected halfway cut line when the afternoon groups teed off in the second round of the combined men’s and women’s championships at Victoria and Kingston Heath golf clubs. Smith was frustrated with his second-round 1-over 73 at Victoria after failing to take his chances on the fast greens in the calm morning conditions. Women’s British Open champion Ashleigh Buhai made a significant move up the field with an impressive 69 at Victoria to head into the weekend at 7-under.

World record holder and two-time Olympic gold medalist Eliud Kipchoge will make his Boston Marathon debut in 2023, competing 10 years after two bombs exploded at the finish line. Two-time winner Lelisa Desisa will return in the men’s division, 10 years after he won the 2013 race that was interrupted by the attacks that came about two hours after the winners crossed. He also won in 2015.  Reigning women’s world champion Gotytom Gebreslase and six former Boston winners are also in the field. Among them is defending Boston champion Evans Chebet of Kenya. 2018 winner Des Linden is also in the event for the 117th edition of the race on April 17.

No. 2 Michigan hopes its second straight December trip to Indianapolis ends just as well as the first — with another Big Ten championship trophy and another playoff trip. Michigan again won the East Division by beating Ohio State and will face West Division champ Purdue on Saturday. The Boilermakers are trying to earn their first league title since 2000 in their first championship game appearance. It has been an emotional time for Purdue quarterback Aidan O'Connell who missed part of this week following the death of his oldest brother.

The San Francisco 49ers lost one of their key running backs to a knee injury, but got much better news about their other one. Christian McCaffrey returned to practice after dealing with some “knee irritation” during last week’s win over New Orleans. Having McCaffrey in the lineup is crucial after Elijah Mitchell went down with a knee injury last week that is expected to sideline him for the rest of the regular season.

No. 2 Michigan is coming back to Indianapolis for the second straight year. Yes, the Wolverines are here to win a second straight Big Ten title. And yes, they're ready for a second straight playoff bid. But these undefeated Wolverines have even bigger aspirations — presuming they can get past Purdue in Saturday's conference championship game. Michigan is in position to earn a top-two seed in the playoffs, potentially setting it up to pursue its first national championship since 1997.

Cade McNamara says he’s transferring to Iowa after serving as Michigan's backup quarterback this season. McNamara announced his decision on Twitter. He presumably will go into next season as the front-runner for the starting job and have two seasons of eligibility. McNamara started every game for the Wolverines in 2021 but lost the job to J.J. McCarthy after the opener. McNamara appeared in the second and third games and didn’t play again. Spencer Petras has struggled as Iowa’s starter and has a year of eligibility with the COVID-19 waiver. Alex Padilla backed up Petras and is in the transfer portal.

Mackenzie Holmes scored 25 points, Sydney Parrish added 24 and No. 5 Indiana hit 12 3-pointers to defeat No. 6 North Carolina 87-63 on Thursday night in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. The battle of unbeatens had drastically different shooting nights. The Hoosiers got hot to improve to 8-0 and the Tar Heels did not to drop to 6-1. The Hoosiers hit eight 3s to build a 16-point lead by halftime. Parrish, a junior transfer starting for injured senior guard Grace Berger, hit four 3s as did senior guard Sara Scalia. Tar Heels junior guard Kennedy Todd Williams had 20 points. Junior guard Deja Kelly added 11.

Olympic ice dancers Maia and Alex Shibutani along with Paul E. George, who served as the director of the U.S. Olympic Committee, were elected to the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame on Thursday. The trio will be inducted Jan. 28 during the U.S. figure skating championships in San Jose, California. The Shibutani siblings were two-time Olympians who won a pair of bronze medals at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games before stepping away from the sport in their prime. They also were three-time world medalists, earned medals at each of their 14 national championships and were two-time senior U.S. champions.

Chase Elliott simply can’t be beat when it comes to his grip on NASCAR’s title as fans most popular driver. Elliott added another victory Thursday night after winning five races and finishing fourth overall. The National Press Association declared Elliott winner of the fan-decided most popular award for a fifth consecutive year at the season-ending awards ceremony at the Music City Center. Elliott’s run as NASCAR’s most popular driver started in 2018. That's the first year of Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s retirement. Earnhardt had won the most popular award every year since 2003. That's when Bill Elliott asked for his name to be removed from the ballot after 16 wins.

The Atlanta Hawks will be without both of their starting forwards for at least the next three games. John Collins will miss at least the next two weeks with a sprained left ankle and De’Andre Hunter will be sidelined for at least one week with a right hip flexor strain. Both departed with the injuries during Wednesday night’s win over Orlando. Hunter played only seven minutes and Collins was hurt after a dunk that didn’t count at the halftime buzzer. Hunter is third on the Hawks in scoring at 14.9 points per game and Collins is fourth at 12.3 points.

Arizona has agreed to a contract extension with football coach Jedd Fisch through the 2027 season. The deal announced Thursday is pending approval from the Arizona Board of Regents. The Wildcats went 5-7 in Fisch’s second season, the third-largest win increase in program history. A longtime NFL and college coach, the 46-year-old Fisch generated a buzz in the desert his first season, even as the Wildcats finished 1-11. Fisch pulled in the program’s highest-rated recruiting class in 2022 and the Wildcats were far more competitive on the field.

Kirk Cousins and the Minnesota Vikings keep sending the ball Justin Jefferson's way with favorable results. Jefferson has more receiving yards than any third-year player in NFL history with six games left to pad his total. The trust Cousins has in Jefferson to make contested catches has never been more apparent. The Vikings are 9-2. They can clinch their first NFC North title in five seasons by beating the Jets and having Detroit lose. The Jets are 7-4. They're in a foreign spot with meaningful December games. Their last appearance in the playoffs was 2010.

Mike White was greeted by his twin toddlers when he finally got home last Sunday. It was a few hours after a dazzling performance during which Jets fans chanted his name while he led New York to a victory. Mallory White looked at her husband after the game and jokingly asked who he was. The former backup quarterback-turned-talk of the town is back in the headlines after stepping in for a benched Zach Wilson and helping the Jets beat the Chicago Bears 31-10. He’ll be under center again Sunday in Minnesota leading a Jets team in the middle of the playoff hunt.

Brazilian soccer great Pelé thanked fans worldwide for the well-wishes he’s received since being admitted to a Sao Paulo hospital amid his fight against cancer. The 82-year-old Pelé who had a colon tumor removed in September 2021 was hospitalized Tuesday to regulate his medication. Messages of support have poured in from around the world including from Brazil coach Tite at the World Cup in Qatar. Pelé in an Instagram post says “It’s always nice to receive positive messages like this." Pelé's daughter Kely Nascimento has said there is “no emergency” concerning her father’s health.

This was supposed to be the season that the Green Bay Packers showed they could win by leaning on their defense rather than relying on their offense to carry them. It hasn't happened. Green Bay is limping into the final third of the regular season at least in part because its defense hasn’t come close to delivering on preseason expectations. The Packers rank 16th in yards allowed per game and 19th in yards allowed per play. Their performance against the run is particularly troubling.

Former soccer power Germany is facing another round of soul-searching after going out of the World Cup at the first stage for the second time in a row. Germany’s players spoke afterward of good performances and missed chances. But none had any real answers to the team’s problems. Germany was knocked out despite a 4-2 win over Costa Rica. Germany also crashed out during the group phase at the 2018 tournament in Russia as defending champions. Germany captain Manuel Neuer says he doesn't know where the four-time champions stand in world soccer.