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Ryan Callahan scored for the fifth time in four days and defenseman Ryan McDonagh snapped a second-period tie to lift the New York Rangers to a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Sunday.
Kobe Bryant hit a baseline jump shot with 4.2 seconds left and the Los Angeles Lakers wrapped up a six-game road trip by holding on to beat the Raptors 94-92 on Sunday, their eighth victory in nine meetings with Toronto
Arc's five up, five down: After No. 11 Michigan State's 58-48 upset of No. 3 Ohio State, you'd be a fool to discount the Spartans' national title chances now.
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.
Eleven shots separated Phil and Tiger Sunday at Pebble Beach as Lefty secured his 40th Tour win. Jason Sobel had hole-by-hole reports.
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.
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Getty ImagesKeith Tkachuk usually has an answer for everything. Sure, many of the times it's a smart-aleck answer, but it's not often he's stumped. But this has him stumped.
The St. Louis Blues have won three consecutive road games, against good competition, too. They shut out the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday. They handed the Western Conference-leading Sharks a rare home loss. In between, they beat the Kings in Los Angeles.
Yet, despite the road success, where the Blues are an impressive 8-2-3, it's been a disappointing start for St. Louis for one reason: It can't consistently win at home.
Entering Friday's game, they were 5-9-2 at home and Tkachuk is baffled.
"I don't know what it is," Tkachuk told Sporting News. "Honestly, I don't. Your guess is as good as mine."
Blues defenseman Erik Johnson thinks the team might be more focused on the road.
"When you go on the road, you just go out and play," Johnson said. "You don't have to worry about anything else."
He also thinks that he and his teammates try to do a too much at home to impress the Scottrade Center crowd. They play a simpler, more effective game on the road.
It's not that he doesn't agree with Johnson, but Blues coach Andy Murray shared a little insight on the topic.
Andy Murray: "We haven't been able to open up the book on winning at home.""When you're in the hockey business, there's a book of things that are quotable when you win and there's a book when you lose. When you lose at home, it's 'Guys are playing too complicated, they're playing for the fans, they're playing too much one-on-one,' " Murray told SN. "You can go to the book. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to open up the book on winning at home enough."
Despite his team's struggles at home, Murray said he was looking forward to a return to St. Louis. There are a lot of games remaining to be played at home, he said. He still thinks his team will turn it around.
Plus, the Blues owe as much to those paying for tickets.
"We disappointed them too much this year," Murray said. "We have to give them one to feel good about."
Three others enjoying more success on the road than at home:
Calgary Flames
The Flames haven't been bad at home, but they've been simply remarkable on the road, going 11-3-3 in their first 17 road games. Credit new coach Brent Sutter for implementing a defensive system that is especially effective on the road.
"If you want to have success as a team, and you want to play the way you need to play to have success whether you're at home or on the road, you have to have an identity on the team," Sutter said.
That identity is a tight, defensively sound game. It also helps to have a goaltender playing lights-out hockey. Goalie Miikka Kiprusoff is 9-3-3 with a 1.77 goals-against average and .942 save percentage on the road.
Atlanta Thrashers
Their recent three-game losing streak away from home doesn't strengthen the case that the Thrashers are strong on the road, but until then they were one of the league's best road teams. Even with the losses in Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto, the Thrashers have a 9-5-1 record on the road.
Meanwhile, at home, the Thrashers have six wins, which is more than just four other NHL teams. Maybe starting goalie Ondrej Pavelec has a hard time getting up for the spotty Philips Arena crowds. He's 2-4-2 with a 3.10 goals-against average at home.
John Anderson might want to turn to veteran backup Johan Hedberg a little more at home -- he's 4-2 with a 2.35 goals-against average in Atlanta.
Detroit Red Wings
The Red Wings started off just fine at home, winning seven of their first eight games at Joe Louis Arena. But after a win over the Ducks on Nov. 14, the Red Wings lost six of their next seven home games. During that span, they've picked up quality road wins, including wins in St. Louis, Montreal and New York. Their most impressive win of the season, a 9-1 blowout of the Blue Jackets, also happened on the road.
"Me personally, I've always liked playing on the road," Wings forward Todd Bertuzzi told SN. "When things aren't going well, you get the wrath of (home fans). There are different circumstances that come into it. But at the same time, you have to be able to play at home to win and climb the standings. Right now, we have to do a better job of that."
Ryan Callahan scored for the fifth time in four days and defenseman Ryan McDonagh snapped a second-period tie to lift the New York Rangers to a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Sunday.
Check out highlights from the Rangers 3-2 win over the Capitals.
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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.
After leading by 18 points in the first half, the Los Angeles Lakers were staring at a four-point deficit with less than two minutes to play.
Ryan Callahan scored for the fifth time in four days and defenseman Ryan McDonagh snapped a second-period tie to lift the New York Rangers to a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Sunday.
