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Bruins fastest ever to 50 wins, clinch playoff berth

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 04:01:03 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — The Boston Bruins’ T-shirt factory is struggling to keep up with all the milestones the team is cruising past on its way to the Presidents’ Trophy.“Fifty wins, it’s amazing,” said forward A.J. Greer, who was wearing a shirt commemorating Patrice Bergeron’s 1,000th NHL point while discussing Boston’s 50th win of the season, a 3-2 victory over Detroit on Saturday.The Bruins became the first team to clinch a playoff berth this season, earning their spot when the Capitals beat the Islanders 5-1 on Saturday night. Boston’s win also made it the fastest team to 50 wins in NHL history. “I love playing for this team,” Greer said after assisting on Garnet Hathaway’s game-winner with six minutes left. “I love wearing the Bruins logo and especially with the results, it’s been an amazing journey so far. But we’re not really focused on anything right now besides playing the right way for 60 minutes every night.”Hathaway gathered in a rebound...

Mark Scheifele scores in OT, Jets beat Panthers 5-4

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 04:01:03 GMT

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Mark Scheifele scored his second goal of the game at 4:31 overtime to give the Winnipeg Jets a 5-4 victory over Florida on Saturday night, ending the Panthers’ winning streak at three games.Vladislav Namestnikov also scored twice, Nikolaj Ehlers had a goal and Connor Hellebuyck made 44 saves. Winnipeg had lost seven of eight.Matthew Tkachuk scored twice for Florida. Sam Reinhart and Marc Staal also connected and Sergei Bobrovsky made 23 saves.The Panthers rallied in the third to force overtime, with Staal driving in and firing one off Hellebuyck’s glove 33 seconds in to make it 4-3.On another power play chance, Tkachuk tied it with his second of the game at 6:24 when he scored on a backhander from the slot.NOTES: The Panthers had F Anthony Duclair back in the lineup after he missed their game Friday night against Chicago with an illness. With Duclair playing, Florida scratched D Casey Fitzgerald. … Tkachuk snapped a seven-game goals drought in the first period. ...

Maple Leafs score 4 in 2nd period, down McDavid’s Oilers 7-4

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 04:01:03 GMT

TORONTO (AP) — John Tavares scored two of the four goals in the second period as the Toronto Maple Leafs roared back to down the Edmonton Oilers 7-4 on Saturday night.Mitchell Marner had a goal and three assists for Toronto, while William Nylander and Auston Matthews each scored and had an assist. Tavares added an assist for a three-point night and Noel Acciari had the other two goals, including into the empty net, for the Leafs.Matt Murray made 22 savesConnor McDavid replied with his NHL-best 55th goal of the season and added two assists for Edmonton. Leon Draisaitl, Evander Kane and Mattias Ekholm also scored for the Oilers. Stuart Skinner stopped 31 shots. Evan Bouchard and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins chipped in with two assists each.Down 3-1 in the second, the Leafs kick-started their comeback when Marner intercepted a Ryan McLeod pass in front of Edmonton’s net before beating Skinner with his 24th goal of the campaign.Marner then stole another puck — this time off Nick Bjugstad — to fe...

Iona secures 2nd straight NCAA Tourney bid beating Marist

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 04:01:03 GMT

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — Daniss Jenkins scored 22 of his 27 points in the second half and Walter Clayton Jr. scored 17 points and Iona beat Marist 76-55 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament championship game on Saturday night and clinched an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.Patrick Gardner scored 23 points and reserve Kam Farris scored 12 for Marist.The Gaels never trailed.“Man, I wanna cry right now, you know,” Jenkins said after the game. “We put in a lot of hard of hard work; a lot of dedication, baby, and a lot of determination, you know. I told my guys tonight, let’s just go out and play with a lot of passion, a lot of confidence, baby. This is what we worked for; we earned it… so let’s go out and take what’s ours.”Iona led 35-26 at halftime before Marist outscored the Gaels 20-9 in the first nine-and-a-half minutes of the second half with half Marist’s points coming from the foul line.Farris made a 3 to tie it a...

Magic beat Heat in overtime despite 38 points by Butler

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 04:01:03 GMT

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Wendell Carter had 27 points and 11 rebounds and the Orlando Magic bounced back from a fourth-quarter collapse to beat the Miami Heat 126-114 in overtime Saturday night.Jimmy Butler scored 38 points for the Heat, including 15 in the final six minutes of the fourth quarter when Miami overcame a 15-point deficit. Butler’s 3-pointer at the buzzer sent the game to overtime. The finish of the fourth quarter included a wild sequence during which Paolo Banchero’s foul on a 3-point attempt by Butler with 14.5 seconds left was overturned by a replay.Banchero had 17 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists for the Magic. Franz Wagner had 17 points and eight rebounds before leaving with an ankle injury early in the fourth quarter.Wagner’s 3-pointer late in the first quarter gave Orlando a 12-point lead, but Butler scored twice during a 12-0 run that got the Heat quickly back into the game.Heat guard Kyle Lowry played 36 minutes in his first game in more than a mont...

Kyrou scores hat trick as Blues beat Blue Jackets 5-2

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 04:01:03 GMT

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Jordan Kyrou scored three goals, seldom-used goaltender Thomas Greiss stopped 38 shots and the St. Louis Blues cruised to a 5-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday night.Sammy Blais had a goal and two assists, Brandon Saad had a goal and an assist, and Brayden Schenn and Robert Thomas each had two assists for the Blues, who won their second straight after losing eight of nine.Greiss, a 37-year-old journeyman, played in just his fourth game since Jan. 26 as starter Jordan Binnington got a rest on the front end of a back-to-back.Patrik Laine scored his team-high 21st goal, Boone Jenner also scored and Michael Hutchinson, in his first start with the Blue Jackets, had 19 saves for the NHL’s worst team. Columbus has lost four straight.Saad poked the puck past Hutchinson’s right leg in traffic to get the Blues on the board at 7:19 of the first period. Laine answered less than two minutes later with a one-timer off a perfect cross-ice pass from ...

Smith leads Pacers to 121-115 win over short-handed Pistons

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 04:01:03 GMT

DETROIT (AP) — Jalen Smith scored 11 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter and the Indiana Pacers beat Detroit 121-115 Saturday night, extending the Pistons’ losing streak to 11 games.Isaiah Jackson added 19 points and 11 rebounds for Indiana (31-37), which improved to 5-2 in its last seven games.“I thought our young guys placed exceptionally well,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “Jalen was great, Isaiah did a great job, especially playing without fouling, and I loved the way (Andrew) Nembhard ran the team.” Isaiah Livers had a career-high 18 points for Detroit (15-53), and Killian Hayes had 17 points and 13 assists.“Killian has to play at that level and with that force for every minute he can,” Pistons coach Dwane Casey said. “That’s a hard thing for young players to understand, whether it is on the offensive or defensive end.”The Pistons were missing five of their top six scorers; Hayes was the only one in the lineup. The Pacers played without Tyrese Haliburton, Bennedict...

D-backs, OF Corbin Carroll agree to $111 million, 8-yr deal

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 04:01:03 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — Outfielder Corbin Carroll and the Arizona Diamondbacks agreed on Saturday to an $111 million, eight-year contract that also has a club option for the 2031 season.The D-backs announced the length of the deal. A person with direct knowledge of the contract confirmed the financial terms. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the team did not disclose those details.The 22-year-old Carroll is one of baseball’s top prospects and among the betting favorites — according to FanDuel Sportsbook — to win NL Rookie of the Year this season. Carroll was very good in a late-season cameo last season, batting .260 with four homers and 14 RBIs in 32 games.The Diamondbacks aren’t historically a big-spending team but were willing to pay to make Carroll a franchise cornerstone. The soft-spoken speedster is a Seattle native.He’s part of a young core of D-backs players, including outfielders Alek Thomas, Jake McCarthy, catcher Gabriel Mo...

Queen’s engineering announces bridge program with colleges

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 04:01:03 GMT

Queen’s is launching a pathway that will make it easier for college engineering technology students to integrate into the university’s engineering program. The university announced that pathway agreements were being finalized with Algonquin, Cambrian, Mohawk, Seneca and St. Lawrence College on Thursday.Students in engineering technology programs at these schools will be able to begin additional studies in their final year and the summer following, allowing them to bridge into full-time upper year studies at Queen’s in either civil engineering or mining. Someone thinking about a career in engineering can now start that journey at SLC and finish at Queen’s over a five year period. Brian Frank, the Dupont Chair in Engineering Education Research and Development at Queen’s, says college students normally leave their program with enough applicable credits to knock off about a year’s worth of courses. The problem is, however, those courses can be from ye...

West Virginia GOP Legislature passes transgender care ban

Published Sat, 28 Dec 2024 04:01:03 GMT

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A bill that would ban evidence-based health care for transgender minors in West Virginia, the state estimated to have more transgender youth per capita than any other in the nation, is headed to the desk of Gov. Jim Justice.The Republican governor has not taken a public stance on the measure and it’s unclear whether he will sign it into law. A spokesperson said he was unavailable for comment Saturday.A 2017 study by UCLA Law’s The Williams Institute estimated West Virginia had the highest per capita rate of transgender youth in the country.Every major medical organization, including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychiatric Association, supports gender-affirming care for youths.But lawmakers in West Virginia and other states advancing bans on transgender health care for youth and young adults often characterize gender-affirming treatments as medically unproven, potentially dangerous in the long te...