Latest News

Kucherov scores in OT to give Lightning 4-3 win over Blackhawks

Kucherov scores in OT to give Lightning 4-3 win over Blackhawks

25/01/2025, USA, Multi Sports, USA Publications, Article # 32164831

By TIM CRONIN

Associated Press

CHICAGO — Nikita Kucherov scored 58 seconds into overtime and had two assists as the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-3 on Friday night.

Jake Guentzel had a goal and an assist, Nick Paul and Mitchell Chaffee also scored and Victor Hedman had two assists to help the Lightning end a two-game skid. Jonas Johansson had 11 saves.

Louis Crevier and Frank Nazar each had a goal and an assist, and Colton Dach also scored for Chicago, which has a season-high four-game point streak (1-0-3). Arvid Soderblom finished with 36 saves.

In the extra period, Kucherov beat Soderblom cleanly with a hard wrist shot from the right circle.

Crevier’s goal 4:59 into the second period gave Chicago a 3-1 lead.

Paul pulled the Lightning within one with 8 seconds left in the middle period, and Guentzel deflected Kucherov’s pass from the right corner to tie the score with 3.3 seconds left in regulation.

During the game, the Blackhawks sent forward Taylor Hall to Carolina in a three-way deal.

Takeaways

Lightning: Paul’s goal in the closing seconds of the second period swung the momentum to Tampa Bay.

Blackhawks: Hall’s departure accelerates Chicago’s youth movement. Nazar, Dach — who got his first career goal — and Crevier all have no more than a half-season of NHL experience.

Key moment

Guentzel’s tying goal from the doorstep took the wind out of the Blackhawks, who had been keeping the Lighting away from the crease for most of the third period.

Key stat

 

Up Next

Lightning visit Detroit on Saturday, and Blackhawks host Minnesota on Sunday.

 



https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/01/24/kucherov-scores-in-ot-to-give-lightning-4-3-win-over-blackhawks/
Hagerty scores 1st state duals wrestling victory; Osceola falls

Hagerty scores 1st state duals wrestling victory; Osceola falls

25/01/2025, USA, Multi Sports, USA Publications, Article # 32164832

One thing Class 3A FHSAA wrestling duals state tournament qualifiers Kissimmee Osceola and Hagerty had in common this season is the injurious path it took to get here.

Both teams missed multiple players due to injuries or illness.

The ailments carried over to Friday’s regional final for the Kowboys, who lost their match against Wellington.

Hagerty’s sick and injured wrestlers improved physically in the last week, and the Huskies were able to make program history with a 43-25 win over Flagler Palm Coast on Friday night in Kissimmee. That marked Hagerty’s first state meet victory in their fifth duals appearance and allows the Huskies to add a region title to the banner in their gymnasium.

“Last week in a meet at Poinciana (War Eagle Classic), we only wrestled eight with guys sick and banged up,” Hagerty coach Scotty Diaz said. “We needed to get healthy for this week, and we get to say we’re regional champs.”

The missing wrestlers from last weekend included Aiden Wood, Ben Wolgamuth and Nikolas Blake, who is ranked No. 1 on Kabrawrestling.com at 157 pounds. All three won their matches on Friday.

Osceola had no one to wrestle at five weight classes against Wellington, and lost 55-21.

“We had to forfeit five matches, and you’re not going to make that up against a quality team like Wellington,” Osceola coach Rick Tribit said. “We wrestled well in the other matches. We’ll see (Wellington) again at regionals in the IBT (individual bracket state tournament).”

At one point, the Kowboys were up 18-17 before forfeiting weight classes.

In the other 3A regional finals, four-time defending dual state champ South Dade rolled to a 66-3 win over Douglas, while George Jenkins edged Palmetto 37-36 in a thriller.

South Dade and George Jenkins face off in one semifinal at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, while Hagerty meets Wellington. The winners of those matches advance to the championship match at around 2 p.m.

Friday region final results:

Class 1A 

Merritt Island 51, Hernando 15

Suwannee 40, Yulee 29

St. John Neumann 67, Anclote 11

Mater Lakes 61, Key West 6

Class 2A 

Clay 48, Middleburg 30

Charlotte 48, Braden River 26

Tampa Jesuit 40, Lake Gibson 21

Somerset Academy 58, Jensen Beach 16

Class 3A 

Hagerty 43, Flagler Palm Coast 25

Wellington 55, Osceola 21

South Dade 66, Douglas 3

George Jenkins 37, Palmetto 36

Saturday matches

1A state semifinals, 10 a.m.

Suwannee vs. St. John Neumann

Merritt Island vs. Mater Lakes Academy

2A state semifinals, 10 a.m.

Clay vs. Charlotte

Tampa Jesuit vs. Somerset

3A state semifinals, 11:30 a.m. (or when mats are open)

South Dade vs. George Jenkins

Hagerty vs. Wellington

Championships

Finals for all 3 classes, 2 p.m.

Kissimmee Osceola senior is Orlando Sentinel boys wrestler of year

Varsity content editor Buddy Collings can be reached by email at bcollings@orlandosentinel.com. 



https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/01/24/fhsaa-duals-state-wrestling-hagerty-huskies-osceola-kowboys-wellington-kissimmee/
Dolphins bringing in experienced assistant as new wide receivers coach

Dolphins bringing in experienced assistant as new wide receivers coach

25/01/2025, USA, Multi Sports, USA Publications, Article # 32164462

The Miami Dolphins have their next position coach who will be tasked with getting Tyreek Hill’s unit in order.

Experienced NFL assistant coach Robert Prince is being hired by the Dolphins as wide receivers coach, according to a league source, confirming the initial NFL Network report.

Prince, who comes over after spending the last three seasons in the same role with the Dallas Cowboys, was first reported by ESPN on Thursday as interviewing for the job during the week.

Miami had a vacancy for the position after firing former wide receiver Wes Welker following his third season controlling the unit under coach Mike McDaniel.

It was an underwhelming 2024 season for Dolphins wide receivers, with Hill falling short of 1,000 receiving yards for the first time since 2019 and Jaylen Waddle missing the mark for the first time in his four-year professional career in Miami.

To add to that, Hill had a falling out with the organization following the team’s loss to the New York Jets in its season finale and elimination that same night. He indicated he wanted out from the team, but his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, has since said Hill is committed to the Dolphins. General manager Chris Grier said at his season wrap-up press conference that he had a productive conversation with Hill in the days that followed the post-game outburst, and that the troubled wideout never requested a trade with him.

Prince, 59, has coached college and professional football since 1989. In the last three seasons with the Cowboys, he has had star wide receiver CeeDee Lamb under his tutelage.

He was with the Houston Texans in the same role in 2021 and led Detroit Lions wide receivers from 2014 to 2020, even acting as head coach for a game during the COVID-19 pandemic, when interim Lions head coach Darrell Bevell, who is now Miami’s quarterbacks coach, was out for a game due to COVID.

Prince has had various other assistant coaching roles on the offensive side of the ball with the Seattle Seahawks, Jacksonville Jaguars and Atlanta Falcons, along with a number of college coaching stints.

The Dolphins also have an opening at special teams coordinator, after parting ways with Danny Crossman, who previously held that title.

Miami defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver completed an interview with the New Orleans Saints for their head coaching vacancy on Friday. If Weaver lands that job, the Dolphins could have a complete makeover on the defensive side of their coaching staff, as Weaver would likely take several assistants with him. If Weaver returns, continuity could be expected on the Dolphins defensive staff.



https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/01/24/dolphins-bringing-in-experienced-assistant-as-new-wide-receivers-coach/
Magic stray away from defensive identity as losses pile up

Magic stray away from defensive identity as losses pile up

25/01/2025, USA, Multi Sports, USA Publications, Article # 32164463

The celebration of Franz Wagner‘s highly anticipated return to the court after a 20-game absence didn’t last long inside Kia Center on Thursday night.

Although Wagner — who played in his first game since Dec. 6 after recovering from a torn right abdominal muscle injury — showed flashes of his former self when he racked up 20 points in a limited 24 minutes, the Magic totaled their fewest points of the season (79), lost by 22 to a then-15-win Trail Blazers squad and dropped their fifth straight contest.

It was Orlando‘s 9th loss in the last 12 games.

“Yeah, we’re struggling right now,” Wagner said. “We’ve got to understand, we’ve got to stick together. It’s part of a long season;  we go through ups and downs. It’s going to take everyone and us staying together to get out of it.

“[As] I said, we have a bunch of games left,” he added. “So it’s no reason to hang our heads, but we’ve got to get better.”

To be sure, the Magic have just 36 contests remaining in the regular season.

At 23-23, they entered Friday’s slate at No. 7 in the East, two games behind the No. 5 Pacers (24-20) but only a half-game in front of the No. 9 Heat (21-22), who host Orlando on Monday.

Before the Magic head to South Florida, though, they battle the No. 6 Pistons (23-21) at home Saturday.

“We know we’re in a little rut right now but we’ve got to go back to the basics and pull each other out of it,” veteran guard Cory Joseph told reporters in the locker room Thursday night.

While the group had been transparent about the fact they’d need time to figure out its flow again on both ends as key players such as Paolo Banchero (who played in his seventh game Thursday after a two-plus-month absence due to injury) and Wagner made their way back to the court, time isn’t on their side.

As Jonathan Isaac said in the locker room at Milwaukee last Wednesday, “It’s not as simple as, ‘Oh, we’ve got somebody back; everything is running perfectly smooth.'”

And Orlando will still need to re-integrate key players such as Jalen Suggs (low back strain), Goga Bitadze (concussion protocol), Cole Anthony (illness) and Gary Harris (left hamstring strain), who all weren’t available against Portland.

Suggs was upgraded to questionable Friday for Saturday’s game. As was Bitadze. Those two and Anthony are listed as questionable while Harris will miss his 12th consecutive contest.

Beede’s Breakdown: How Magic failed to take care of ball in loss to Portland

It’s Suggs, who’s often been described as the team’s “heart and soul,” that Orlando might miss the most. There’s also Bitadze, whom Wendell Carter Jr. last Sunday called “one of a kind” thanks to his intensity and attention to detail on the court.

The Magic are 2-8 in their last 10 games without Suggs, but 0-5 in their last five without him and Bitadze available.

In that 10-game stretch, Orlando owns the worst offensive rating (100.3) and the Magic have averaged a league-low 95.3 points while shooting 27.5% from beyond the arc. The Magic were the only team that shot under-30% from distance in that span.

“We’re not playing our best basketball; we’re not shooting our best basketball. But we haven’t really been shooting as well as we wanted to for the whole year,” Joseph said. “We’ve got to find other ways.”

And Joseph is right.

Even when the group went 13-2 in 15 games from Nov. 8 to Dec. 4, the Magic still shot 31.7% from 3-point range, which was third-worst in the NBA. During that span their offensive rating (113.9) was 10th-best, but their 109.1 points on average were still in the bottom third of the league.

So what’s changed?

In the past 10 games, Orlando has strayed from its defensive identity.

During that successful stretch in November to early December, the Magic’s defensive rating (103.1) led the league, as did their plus-10.8 net rating. Orlando held teams to 44.9% shooting from the field (6th lowest opposing field goal percentage) and limited opponents to 99.1 points, which also topped the league.

The Magic were the lone team in that span to hold opponents to under 100 points on a nightly basis.

The last 10 games — without Suggs, an All-Defensive selection a year ago, and Bitadze (who’s 59 total blocks are tied for seventh in the NBA) — tell a different story.

Orlando’s defensive rating (113.4) has dropped to 17th in the NBA.

Although that defensive mark is still around the middle of the pack, the Magic need it to be in the upper echelon of the league in order to find success and overcome their below-average offensive numbers.

When adding their recent defensive woes (opponents have shot 49.7% against the Magic in the past 10 games, which was the second-best opposing FG percentage) to their offensive struggles (Orlando shot a league-low 40.2% from the field in that same stretch), it all leads to a minus-13.1 net rating, which was 28th behind only 6-win Washington and 14-win Brooklyn the last 10 contests.

It’s what happens when a team is missing multiple starters and key rotational pieces over a stretch of time and fatigue begins to catch up while others returning to the court are still finding their footing.

“The problem is even if we lose a certain way, we’ve got to play within the full 48 minutes,” Joseph said. “For whatever reason, right now, there’s moments, but then there’s bigger moments where we’re not doing what we need to do in order to come out with the win.”

A veteran who understands what it takes to win an NBA championship, Joseph (a 2014 champ with San Antonio) is making sure to talk with his teammates often to tell them to keep their heads high amid the 5-game skid.

“We’re not playing our best basketball right now but that’s when you focus on the fine details within the details to pull each other out and be there for your brother,” he said. “If we focus more on that, which we will, we’ll see it start to turn.

“We’re at a point of the season now that it’s time to kind of step it up and do that. We can’t always keep saying it’s a long season.”

Jason Beede can be reached at jbeede@orlandosentinel.com

Up next …

Magic vs. Pistons

When: 7, Saturday, Kia Center

TV: FanDuel Sports Network Florida



https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/01/24/orlando-magic-portland-trail-blazers-detroit-pistons-jalen-suggs-paolo-banchero-goga-bitadze-franz-wagner-nba-kia-center-jamahl-mosley/
loading