Rotoworld: Oregon RB LaMichael James and Oklahoma State WR Justin Blackmon among top 10 players who are being overhyped for the 2012 draft.
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
The Detroit Red Wings equaled an NHL record with their 20th straight win at home, beating the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 Sunday night on the strength of Johan Franzen's tiebreaking goal early in the third period.
PBT: Boston's Rajon Rondo continues to be named in trade talks, which is madness. The Celtics guard creates offense and makes everyone around him better, which was evident in Sunday's win over the Bulls.
Arc: Syracuse is among a solid group of No. 1 seeds in our latest tournament projections, but the middle of the pack is much more murky.
Miami coach Al Golden says the worst is behind him, but his headaches figure to continue now that former booster Nevin Shapiro, now in jail, says his involvement with the Hurricanes program will result in stiff penalties.
Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods greeted their Sunday pairing at Pebble Beach with optimism. But the day would end happily only for one.
The United States completed a 5-0 rout of Switzerland in the Davis Cup on Sunday, with 19-year-old Ryan Harrison and John Isner winning closing singles matches.
Zambia has won the African Cup of Nations, beating pre-tournament favorite Ivory Coast 8-7 on penalties in a dramatic final at Stade de l'Amitie.
Tessa Worley of France fought off gusting winds to win a second consecutive World Cup giant slalom Sunday in the Andorran Pyrenees. Overall leader Lindsey Vonn was more than a second behind and finished eighth.
Robins: It’s the Year of the Dragon on the Lunar calendar, and this Chinese influence could extend to it also being the year of the Pekingese on the green carpet at the 136th Westminster Dog Show on Tuesday.
Getty Images
UNIONDALE, N.Y. - In the opening seconds of a historic victory, Buffalo Sabres goalie Ryan Miller had a serious “uh-oh” moment.
A quirky bounce off the glass gave New York Islanders forward Shawn Bates a chance in front. Miller turned aside the slap shot — and the other 28 pucks that later sailed his way — in backstopping Buffalo’s 10th straight victory Thursday night, tying the Sabres for an NHL record to open the season.
“That’s a little, ’Hello, how ya doing?,”’ Miller said. “That was a bit of a wake-up call.”
Well, if the rest of the NHL hasn’t taken notice of the surging Sabres, they’d better do so quickly.
Maxim Afinogenov set up Ales Kotalik’s first-period goal and scored one in the second for Buffalo. Miller did the rest for the Sabres, who tied the 1993-94 Toronto Maple Leafs — the only other NHL team to jump out 10-0.
“We don’t want to put too much emphasis on it,” Miller said. “No one is getting too ahead of themselves and too cocky.”
The Sabres weathered a rough start that featured turnovers and sloppy play on both sides — mostly because of Miller, who was sharp when the rest of his teammates weren’t. He stopped nine shots in both the first and third periods and 11 more in the second.
Now Buffalo goes for the best start in NHL history when it hosts Atlanta on Saturday.
“We all know it’s there,” co-captain Chris Drury said. “It’s not something we’re talking about much as a group or at all. It would be nice. It’s not going to be easy. Atlanta is a great team.”
The longest winning streak in a single season is 17, set by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 1992-93 season. The Sabres, who fell one win shy of the Stanley Cup finals last season, have a team-record 15 consecutive regular-season victories.
By the time Jason Pominville stretched the lead to 3-0 early in the third period, the sparse crowd of 8,861 at Nassau Coliseum had already grown frustrated with the home team. Boos and groans were heard, as were the many saves that thumped off Miller’s pads and blocker.
The Sabres have quickly become the flashiest offensive team in the NHL, posting 49 goals in their first 10 games. But they used a methodical attack against the Islanders, scoring once in each period to back Miller’s strong goaltending. The 26-year-old American improved to 8-0 and posted his third career shutout.
“We gave them some good opportunities early on turnovers, and Ryan Miller made some big saves that really got our game in gear,” Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said. “We could’ve been down early.”
Ted Nolan, the man Ruff replaced as coach of Buffalo in 1997, was impressed with his former team in his first matchup against the Sabres. Nolan had to wait until this summer to get another NHL job after he and the Sabres parted ways nearly a decade ago.
The Detroit Red Wings equaled an NHL record with their 20th straight win at home, beating the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 Sunday night on the strength of Johan Franzen's tiebreaking goal early in the third period.
ProHockeyTalk headlines |
 | Video: NHL from NBC Sports |
 |
 | Slideshow |
 | NHL All-Stars Take a look at the players who competed in Team Chara's 12-9 victory over Team Alfredsson. more photos |
| Slideshow |
 | more photos |
| Slideshow |
 | more photos |
| Slideshow |
 |
| Slideshow |
 | more photos |
Zambia has won the African Cup of Nations, beating pre-tournament favorite Ivory Coast 8-7 on penalties in a dramatic final at Stade de l'Amitie.
Wesseling: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for AFC teams.
The Red Wings have finally started to embrace a record they've been chasing.