Sabres pick off Leafs in overtime to snap skid

Buffalo ended its five-game losing streak at home at a First Niagara Center filled with plenty of vocal Toronto fans.

And that made it all the sweeter for the Sabres.

Christian Ehrhoff scored 38 seconds into overtime and the Buffalo Sabres picked up a 3-2 win on Friday.

"It is always really fun to play," Ehrhoff said. "The fans that come down sometimes outnumber the Sabres fans and it brings out the best in our fans, too. They are up for the challenge and they were really loud again tonight."

Ehrhoff carried the puck from the right point to the centre of the ice before sending a soft wrist shot on goal that went through James Reimer's legs. 

'We can see the guys getting a little fired up and it's about time...This kind of rivalry helps. It's always nice to beat them here because you feel like there's so many Leafs fans here, it's fun to send them home.'- Sabres goalie Ryan Miller

"I didn't have the time to do a big wind-up there or get it hard," Ehrhoff said. "I saw the opening between the legs and just put one through there."

Matt Moulson and Luke Adam also scored for the Sabres, who got 22 saves from Ryan Miller and came from behind twice to force overtime.

Nikolai Kulemin and Phil Kessel scored for Toronto, which has lost six straight road games.

Buffalo's second home win over the Leafs was just its third win at home in 15 attempts and its sixth win overall.

The long-standing rivalry between the two teams helped drive a Sabres team that's struggled to find goals.

"We can see the guys getting a little fired up and it's about time," Miller said. "It's good. This kind of rivalry helps. It's always nice to beat them here because you feel like there's so many Leafs fans here, it's fun to send them home."

Toronto opened the scoring 2:12 into the first period when Kessel came down the left wing and put a snap shot over Miller's left pad.

Buffalo tied the score on the power play at 7:57 of the second period. With Reimer out of position, a falling Ville Leino used his backhand to find Moulson, who scored his 10th goal of the season and his second in as many games.

The Leafs took the lead back 2 ½ minutes later after Brian Flynn gave the puck away behind the Sabres net. A pass from Trevor Smith deflected in front of the goal, where Kulemin shot it out of the air and past Miller.

Adam shot a Reimer rebound under the goalie's glove at 18:50 of the second and the teams finished the second period tied at 2.

"Ever since Ted [Nolan] got here, the guys are just building on each and every game," Adam said. "We feel a lot more confident as a team, as players, when we come to the rink every morning for practice. That's carrying over and we're playing a lot better."

The score was Adam's first NHL goal since April 5.

The third period was light on scoring chances until the 12:42 mark, when Reimer made consecutive left pad saves on Adam.

James van Riemsdyk then had a chance to end the game in regulation on a last-minute breakaway, but Matt D'Agostini caught the Leafs forward from behind and swiped the puck into the corner.

Van Riemsdyk was surprised there was no penalty on the play.

"Unless we're playing football, I don't know," he said, later adding, "Usually when you're in all alone and you get your legs taken out from under you, you expect something, especially when the calls were like they were, five or six to one."

The Leafs came into the game as the second-least penalized team in the league but picked up 10 penalty minutes on the night, while the Sabres only gave Toronto's efficient power play one opportunity.

"The breaks aren't going our way and that's when you've got to find ways to create more," Toronto coach Randy Carlyle said. "We had a power play where we didn't get much going in the third period and we gave up a power-play goal earlier in the game."

Leino and Tyler Myers each had two assists.

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Heat continue mastery over Raptors

Poor defence early and bad free-throw shooting late cost the Toronto Raptors dearly Friday night.

Still they made a game of it against the surging Miami Heat, cutting a 20-point deficit to two before falling 90-83 to the NBA champions. It was the Heat's ninth straight win.

"Missed opportunities," lamented Toronto coach Dwane Casey whose team trailed 57-43 at the half.

Toronto went 2 for 10 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter. And there were other stumbles as the clock wound down.

"It was a lot of opportunities that we didn't cash in on," said Casey.

LeBron James scored 27 points and Dwyane Wade added 22 as Miami hung on for the win.

DeMar DeRozan had 25 and Rudy Gay 21 for Toronto (6-9), which has lost two in a row and four of its last six. The Raptors led once — 8-7 in the first quarter.

Miami led 57-43 after a half that saw Toronto shoot 37.5 per compared to the Heat's 57.1 — thanks to 30 points in the paint from the visitors. It also helped that the Heat made 6-of-12 three-pointers in the first half while Toronto was good on only 4 of 17.

Toronto, down by 20 in the third and trailing 78-70 going into the final quarter, made it close with its late rally but Miami survived a frenetic fourth that saw desperate defence from both sides.

Wade saw the win as a confidence- and character-builder, a game "where everything is going great for you and then it doesn't."

"How can you hold on, how can you figure out a way through all the adversity to continue to believe in the game plan and find a way to win?"

The Heat (13-3) has lost just once in 13 outings since opening the season at 1-2.

Miami's mastery over the Raptors now stands at 13 straight games. Toronto's last win against the Heat was a 111-103 decision on Jan. 27, 2010, at the Air Canada Centre.

The Raptors' current all-time losing streaks against an opponent are the Bulls (15), Suns (14) and Heat and Pacers (13).

Wade and James combined to score the first 13 points— and 15 of the first 17 — for Miami in the second half as the Heat stretched its lead. But Toronto's DeRozan and Gay gradually chipped away at the lead, cutting it to eight as the third quarter ended.

Toronto outscored Miami 27-21 in the third and 13-12 in the fourth.

Heat finish up

James' synopsis of the game was simple.

"We made our run and then they made their's. At that point, it's how you counter that. For us as a veteran ball club, it's going to happen. We would have loved to push that huge lead up in the third, just keep it going. But they've got some good players. They got stops, we turned the ball over, we didn't execute and they got back into the game. But we finished it up."

And Toronto failed to take advantage at the free-throw line.

James was nursing a sore finger, back and leg by the end of the night.

"I got pretty banged up today. I'm glad we got a day off (Saturday), I can try to get back in order."

Baskets were hard to come by as the fourth quarter began with Chris (Birdman) Andersen flying though the air to block a DeRozan shot. A Kyle Lowry three-pointer made it 80-75 as Miami went cold. James returned to the fray but Toronto kept coming with a DeRozan jump shot cutting the lead to 83-79.

A Gay layup reduced the deficit to two, at 83-81 with 4:22 remaining.

Former Raptor Chris Bosh fouled out with 1:37 remaining with four points, five rebounds and one assist.

Wade and James combined to score the first 13 points— and 15 of the first 17 — for Miami in the second half before Toronto launched its run.

Casey saw positives in the loss

"The way we played the second half, and I told the team in there, shows we can play with anybody. That's the best team in the league and they were throwing their best haymakers down the stretch.

"But there's two halves. We can't play one half and expect to beat anybody."

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra hinted his team was frustrated at the officiating in the second half. "But we gathered ourselves the last two and a half minutes and played through it and were able to execute and come away with the win."

"Clearly we were a different team once we were up 20 from where we were going down the stretch the last 10-12 minutes," Spoelstra added. "That's something we constantly have to work at. Stay on edge. Most of it is mental, most of it with us and that's the challenge."

Unlikely matchup

Friday's game featured an unlikely matchup of division winners, with two-time defending champion Miami leading the Southeast and Toronto topping the less-competitive Atlantic.

Miami led by as much as nine in the first quarter but Toronto, showing some muscle under the basket, closed the gap to two before Miami responded. The Heat led 27-22 after a quarter that saw the two teams combine for 12 turnovers.

Bosh was booed during introductions but quieted the crowd with an early dunk. Wade dipped into his bag of tricks several times early on.

DeRozan had Toronto's first six points.

James didn't try a shot until almost six minutes into the game but it was worth the wait — a reverse slam dunk from a long pass from Wade that had the crowd gurgling while giving Miami a 16-8 lead.

Even when the Heat failed, as during a 24-second violation in the first quarter, they entertained with their ball movement.

A 7-0 run early in the second quarter and some flashy baskets from Wade padded the Miami lead to 13 with James on the bench. James returned in style midway through the quarter, with an ally-oop from Bosh for his second bucket. He then made a three-pointer and came up limping after being fouled by Tyler Hansbrough, making one of two subsequent free throws.

James celebrated another ally-oop, this time from a Ray Allen feed, after a dazzling DeRozan run at the basket just kissed. The highlight-reel play put James into double figures for the 511th straight game.

The Raptors conclude their four-game homestand Sunday against Denver, Toronto GM Masai Ujiri's former team.

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RBC Sports Day in Canada

Live Blog

Celebrate with CBC's Scott Russell

CBC Sports Posted: Nov 25, 2013 2:32 PM ET Last Updated: Nov 29, 2013 4:54 PM ET

RBC Sports Day in Canada is on Saturday, and CBC's Scott Russell has been visiting communities across the country to see how they're celebrating ahead of the big day.

After making stops in Hamilton, Ont., Moncton, N.B., Winnipeg and Vancouver this week, Scott has arrived in Calgary for the main festivities, which you can watch live on CBC Television and CBCSports.ca on Saturday starting at 1 p.m. ET.

You can follow Scott's journey in the live blog below, where he and his crew will be tweeting pics and video.

Have your say and tell us how you're celebrating by adding your comments or tweeting with the hashtag #sportsday.

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Capitals rally to take down Canadiens in SO

Braden Holtby did not expect to play Friday against the streaking Montreal Canadiens. But when scheduled starter Michal Neuvirth was injured in warmups, Holtby was not only the next man up, he was the only man up.

With video coach Brett Leonhardt hastily signed to back him up, Holtby made 35 saves plus two more in a shootout to carry the Washington Capitals to a 3-2 victory.

Washington snapped a four-game skid and ended Montreal's four-game winning streak. It was a big victory for Holtby, scrutinized after a 6-4 loss Wednesday to Ottawa. 

'Anytime you're on a losing streak, you want to get back in there and be a part of the guys that make the difference in ending the streak.'- Capitals goalie Braden Holtby

"Anytime you're on a losing streak, you want to get back in there and be a part of the guys that make the difference in ending the streak," Holtby said. "As far as the Ottawa game goes, there's that one goal that I want back. I've learned in my short pro career that you can't let those eat you up or you won't be having a pro career for long."

Mikhail Grabovski tied the score with 5:32 left in the third period and had the go-ahead goal in the shootout for the Capitals.

Holtby kicked away Montreal's final two attempts, by Alex Galchenyuk and Tomas Plekanec, with his right pad to give Washington a 3-2 edge in the shootout. Eric Fehr, who had a goal and an assist in regulation, also scored in the tiebreaker for the Capitals along with Alex Ovechkin.

Plekanec had a goal and an assist for Montreal. Daniel Briere added a goal and Brian Gionta assisted on both regulation scores for the Canadiens.

Lars Eller and David Desharnais connected in the shootout for Montreal.

The evening began in bizarre fashion for Washington. After a lower-body injury to Neuvirth before the game, the Capitals hastily signed Leonhardt to back up Holtby.

In a similar situation in December 2008, Washington suited up Leonhardt — a former college goalie — for a game.

Montreal outshot Washington 13-4 in the first period and broke on top at the 15:20 mark. Capitals defenceman Alexander Urbom failed to clear a puck from behind the net and Briere scored on a wraparound between the legs of Holtby.

Urbom was benched the rest of the game by Washington coach Adam Oates.

"We weren't happy with his game last game, and he basically made the same mistake and it cost us a goal," Oates said. "We feel like he's struggling to make those reads and it's too early in the game to allow another."

Washington tied it 5:17 into the second on a similar failure to clear by Montreal. Grabovski took the puck off the stick of Canadiens goalie Peter Budaj behind the net and directed it toward Fehr, who scored into an open goal.

The Canadiens answered 67 seconds later in transition when Gionta centred to Plekanec, whose glancing shot bounced past Holtby.

Budaj finished with 24 saves. He was trying to win at Washington for the second time in eight days. A week earlier, he withstood a barrage of shots in the third period of Montreal's 3-2 victory.

"I don't want to take anything away from Washington, (but) we had 37 shots and we took it to them," Budaj said. "[Washington] stuck with it, got a couple lucky goals. The first was a miscommunication. I made a bad play and it ended up in the net. The other was just a quick shot and it trickled through me, so it's a disappointing result."

Washington failed to put a shot on goal in the final 15:40 of the first period, but rebounded with inspired play the rest of the game. The goals may have lacked esthetic value, but that was fine with Oates, who wants to see more grit from the Capitals.

"You've got to grind it out. You've got to be willing to grind it out," Oates said. "We have some guys that are regarded as flashy players. It's hard to play that way every night. It's nice when you can score two early and it opens a team up because that's human nature and all of a sudden your skills will show. But for me, no matter who it is, you've got to be willing to play a certain style and over the course of a game your skill set will show itself."

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Did You See That? Stephane Robidas leaves on stretcher

Video

Stars veteran blue-liner suffers broken leg

By Rod Perry, CBC Sports Posted: Nov 29, 2013 11:22 PM ET Last Updated: Nov 29, 2013 11:22 PM ET

Stephane Robidas lay on the ice, clutching his right leg in obvious agony. 

The Dallas Stars defenceman was writhing in pain after a fluke accident sent him crashing into the boards against the Chicago Blackhawks during the second period on Friday night. 

The team later announced the veteran blue-liner suffered a broken leg on the play and was carried off on a stretcher. 

Robidas was trying to defend against Chicago's Jonathan Toews, who attempted a centring pass that got caught up in the 36-year-old's skate, causing his leg to bend awkwardly. 

Watch the video above to see the play in its entirety.

Comments on this story are pre-moderated. Before they appear, comments are reviewed by moderators to ensure they meet our submission guidelines. Comments are open and welcome for three days after the story is published. We reserve the right to close comments before then.

Submission Policy

Note: The CBC does not necessarily endorse any of the views posted. By submitting your comments, you acknowledge that CBC has the right to reproduce, broadcast and publicize those comments or any part thereof in any manner whatsoever. Please note that comments are moderated and published according to our submission guidelines.

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Ravens hold off Steelers in bizarre finish

A game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens usually features hard hits, flying helmets and a pivotal play in the final minutes.

The clash between these AFC North rivals on Thursday night had all that — and so much more.

A coach on the field during a kick return, two touchdowns erased by replay and an inexplicable botched field goal were among the highlights and lowlights in Baltimore's 22-20 Thanksgiving victory.

Justin Tucker kicked five field goals, and Baltimore snuffed a conversion pass with 1:03 left to avenge last month's loss to their division rivals.

After Pittsburgh scored on a 1-yard touchdown pass from Ben Roethlisberger to Jerricho Cotchery to make it 22-20, Roethlisberger's 2-point conversion pass slipped through the hands of Emmanuel Sanders, who was screened by Chykie Brown.

"Ben gave me a good ball," Sanders said. "It hit my hands, and I've got to make the play. It's not on him. It's on me."

The ensuing onside kick didn't travel the required 10 yards, and that left Baltimore to merely run out the clock to end Pittsburgh's three-game winning streak.

"It's never over when you play the Steelers, it's never over when you play the Ravens. That's why these games are so great," Baltimore coach John Harbaugh said.

The victory provided the Ravens (6-6) with their first winning streak since September and pushed the defending Super Bowl champions ahead of the Steelers (5-7) and four other teams in the race for the final wild-card slot in the AFC.

"We're in control of our destiny," Harbaugh said. "I feel like we're a really good football team; we need to go out and prove it."

It was the fifth straight game between the teams decided by three points or fewer.

Pittsburgh appeared to score twice in the closing minutes, but on each occasion the touchdown was overturned by a replay. On the first one, tight end Heath Miller was ruled down inside the 1. On the second, running back Le'Veon Bell lost his helmet on a crushing tackle by Jimmy Smith and the ball was ruled dead just short of the goal line.

The game was delayed while Bell and Smith lay on the ground. Two plays later, Roethlisberger hit a wide-open Cotchery on fourth down.

Tucker connected on kicks of 43, 34, 38, 45 and 48 yards after Joe Flacco threw a first-quarter touchdown pass to Torrey Smith.

Flacco went 24 for 35 for 251 yards.

"There were so many opportunities for us to go out there and get points and win, just big, and put the game away and we didn't do it," Flacco said. "In the back of your mind you're thinking, 'Man, this is going to catch up to us."'

Roethlisberger was 28 for 44 for 257 yards and two TDs.

Baltimore didn't get a sack and didn't force a turnover, but played well enough to bottle up Roethlisberger and the Steelers for the majority of the game.

Down 19-7, the Steelers mounted a 60-yard drive aided by two penalties and got a 1-yard touchdown run by Bell to close to 19-14 with 9:32 to go. It was only the second rushing TD allowed by the Ravens this season.

Tucker answered with a field goal, but Roethlisberger mounted a 79-yard drive to set the stage for the hectic finish.

The Ravens opened the second half with a 52-yard drive that ended in a field goal for a 13-0 lead. Smith caught two passes on third down to keep the drive alive.

Pittsburgh answered with an 80-yard march that began with a 21-yard completion from Roethlisberger to Miller, and included a 43-yard run by Bell to the Baltimore 8. On third down, Sanders got free in the end zone for an 8-yard score — only the fourth touchdown allowed by the Ravens in six home games.

Jacoby Jones took the ensuing kickoff 73 yards to the Pittsburgh 27, setting up a 38-yard field goal that made it 16-7. Jones sprinted down the left side and nearly ran into Steelers coach Mike Tomlin, who stepped out of the way at the last second.

"I always watch the returns on the Jumbotron. It provides a better perspective for me," Tomlin said. "I lost my placement as he broke free and saw at the last second how close I was to the field of play."

Jones said: "I don't blame other people's actions. I still should have scored."

After a Pittsburgh punt, Flacco escaped pressure to complete a 34-yard pass to Jones, and Tucker put the Ravens up by 12 with 13:59 remaining.

That would be Baltimore's final score, and it proved to be just enough for a much-needed victory.

Baltimore limited the Steelers to 98 yards in taking a 10-0 halftime lead.

Baltimore moved 71 yards on its first drive to take a 7-0 lead on a 7-yard touchdown pass to Smith. The play came after Smith hauled in a 54-yard pass from Flacco to the Pittsburgh 1.

There were three scuffles after the whistle in the first quarter, but peace was restored before things got out of hand.

Pittsburgh's third drive ended with a curious, aborted field-goal try. Shaun Suisham was poised to kick a 50-yarder, but his approach began well before the snap and he didn't follow through. Holder Mat McBriar flipped an impromptu lateral to Suisham, who was tackled for a 12-yard loss.

"Our timing was really off," Suisham said.

The Ravens then took advantage of a 26-yard pass interference call against Ike Taylor to go up 10-0.

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Rick Vaive wants name removed from NHL concussion lawsuit

Former Toronto Maple Leafs captain Rick Vaive has asked that his name be removed from the concussion lawsuit against the NHL.

Vaive's lawyer Trevor Whiffen claims the former 50-goal man wasn't provided with a copy of the claim beforehand and that he would not have agreed to the allegations made against the NHL had he been asked to review its contents.

"Mr. Vaive misunderstood the nature of the proceeding being brought, and believed this claim was similar to the worker's compensation claim being advanced in California on behalf of several former NHL players," Whiffen said in a statement Thursday.

"Rick has no interest in suing the National Hockey League and has advised that he will not be pursuing the claim in Washington. He has therefore instructed me to take the necessary steps required in order to remove his name from the lawsuit."

Vaive was one of the original 10 players named in the original concussion lawsuit, a list that has grown to more than 200, according to lawyers Steve Silverman and Mel Owens, who are at the forefront of the suit.

The other nine original players were Gary Leeman, Bradley Aitken, Darren Banks, Curt Bennett, Richard Dunn, Warren Holmes, Robert Manno, Blair James Stewart, and Morris Titanic. Former New York Islanders centre Bob Bourne announced he joined the suit shortly after it was filed.

More than 4,500 former NFL players sued that league in a similar case that resulted in a settlement worth US$765 million.

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Daniel Sedin hits milestone, Canucks dump Sens

Milestones don't mean much for Daniel Sedin in November.

Sedin scored his 300th career goal and added an assist as the Vancouver Canucks defeated the Ottawa Senators 5-2 Thursday night.

Vancouver (13-9-5) came in having lost seven of its past eight games, but a solid effort finally put an end to their recent struggles. That was of more interest to Sedin than his own stats.

"When you're in the middle of the season you don't think too much about it, but I'm sure after the season or looking back it will be different," said Sedin. "It was nice to help the team [win], that's for sure."

With the Canucks playing the first of a four-game road trip, Sedin said picking up the win was instrumental in setting the tone for the next three. 

"This is a big road trip for us and to start with a win is going to give us a lot of confidence moving forward," said Sedin. "As a team we played pretty good. The (penalty kill) did a good job and the power play got one, too, so overall it was a good game." 

'When you're in the middle of the season you don't think too much about it, but I'm sure after the season or looking back it will be different. It was nice to help the team [win], that's for sure.'- Canucks forward Daniel Sedin

David Booth, Jason Garrison, Dale Weise and Mike Santorelli also scored for the Canucks. Roberto Luongo finished with 37 saves.

Clarke MacArthur and Mika Zibanejad scored for the Senators (10-12-4). Craig Anderson allowed four goals on 15 shots before being replaced by Robin Lehner, who allowed one goal on 13 shots.

With the loss the Senators, who beat the Washington Capitals 6-4 on Wednesday, are now 0-4-1 when playing back-to-back nights.

Senators coach Paul MacLean said his team deserved the loss.

"We got what we earned," said MacLean. "(Wednesday) night we got what we earned and 26 times a year so far we've gotten what we've earned whether that was wins or losses. Every night we've earned it and (Thursday) we earned it again."

MacLean added the Sens continue to make too many mistakes.

"We don't play hard enough on the forecheck. We don't play hard enough coming back. We don't play hard enough defensively. Our goaltenders aren't playing hard enough. We're just not playing hard enough for long enough to have an opportunity to win."

The difference in this one was the second period when the Canucks scored four goals as 17,931 at the Canadian Tire Centre looked on.

"Quite honestly I thought we've played better games than (Thursday's) game," said Vancouver coach John Tortorella. "It's good to get a win for us. No complaints here. We've lost some games we should have won and I thought we played well enough to win, but we still have a lot of things to work on."

Daniel Sedin tied the game 1-1 just 31 seconds into the second period as he beat Anderson far side.

Just 45 seconds later the Canucks took the lead on Booth's second goal of the season as he beat Anderson cleanly.

Booth has had his share of struggles and admitted it's nice to contribute offensively.

"I felt good on my skates so that's the biggest thing," said Booth. "But it's over now and you've got to start gearing up for Saturday in New York."

The Canucks then went on to make it 3-1 with a power-play goal as Garrison was left all alone in front.

Ottawa has allowed at least one power-play goal in each of the last seven games.

Midway through the period Weise picked up a Garrison rebound and beat a sprawled Anderson.

Weise was one of the Canucks' better players and if the team hopes to have any long-term success they are going to need secondary scoring.

"This is what you need for good teams to win," said Weise. "We can't rely on the (Sedin) twins every night. Our secondary scoring has to pitch in and it has to be consistent."

Less than 20 seconds after Weise's goal Anderson's night came to an end.

The Senators managed to cut the lead in half as Zibanejad made it 4-2 with just over one minute remaining in the period.

The Canucks made it 5-2 early in the third as Santorelli took advantage of a Jason Spezza giveaway behind the Ottawa net. Santorelli grabbed the puck, shot and then picked up his own rebound to beat Lehner between the legs.

Strangely enough Ottawa got off to the start it wanted as MacArthur picked up his 100th career goal midway through the first to give the home team a 1-0 lead, but it was never able to capitalize on the momentum.

"It's frustrating," said Ottawa's Kyle Turris. "That lapse we had in the start of the second and then we played pretty well the last half of the second and the third. We've got to execute coming out of our zone and we've got to be more crisp with the puck."

With the win Vancouver continues to dominate the Senators. Vancouver has won six straight and 10 of the past 11 meetings between the clubs. Ottawa has lost three in a row and six of its last seven home meetings against the Canucks.

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Ilya Bryzgalov blanks Preds in 1st start for Oilers

Ilya Bryzgalov is feeling comfortable and very welcome in the Edmonton Oilers' locker room, and the 33-year-old goaltender just proved he still knows how to shut opponents down.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Taylor Hall scored 51 seconds apart in the second period, and Bryzgalov got a shutout in his first start for Edmonton as the Oilers beat the Nashville Predators 3-0 Thursday night.

"Always like it when they don't score," Oilers coach Dallas Eakins said. "And he picked up right where he left off last game. I thought he was solid. He looked big in the net, everything. Check marks right across the page for him."

Bryzgalov, signed by the Oilers on Nov. 8, made 33 saves in his first NHL start since April 25 when he was in net for Philadelphia. Jordan Eberle added an empty-netter in the final minute off an assist from Hall, and the Oilers have won four of five.

"So far so good," Bryzgalov said.

Predators captain Shea Weber was hit by a puck near his right eye at 15:24 of the second, dropped to the ice and immediately skated to the locker room. He did not return with what team officials called an upper-body injury and is day-to-day.

Nashville, which had won two straight, lost for the second time in seven games.

Predators coach Barry Trotz noted they have used four goaltenders themselves this season.

"The guys are going to bear down and play hard for the new guy that's in net," Trotz said. "The new guy for them is Bryzgalov, and we talked before the game that we needed to get in the hard areas and throw some pucks. He hasn't played for a while. He may be a little rusty. The game might not be tight. .. But obviously we didn't play hard enough in those hard areas."

The Predators hosted one of the NHL's two games and were the only American team in action Thursday, wanting to start a holiday tradition in Nashville pairing hockey with turkey. It was just their 11th home game this season, fewer than all but Dallas and the Rangers.

Nashville outshot Edmonton 13-9 in a sluggish first period with the Predators playing the second game of a back-to-back after winning 4-0 in Columbus on Wednesday night. This is the Oilers' only visit to Nashville this season and the start of a three-game road trip.

Eakins said he thought both teams were checking hard, which can lead to a dull or sluggish game.

"But when you're coaching and you need your team to get better defensively, that's a ray of bright light coming in when the game looks sluggish but your team's checking very well," Eakins said.

The Oilers opened the second by taking the first five shots, and Predators forward Paul Gaustad and Oilers left wing David Perron each went to the penalty box for unsportsmanlike conduct at 5:07. Nugent-Hopkins tipped in a shot by Jeff Petry 25 seconds later during the 4-on-4, and Hall scored on a backhander from Sam Gagner at 6:23 for a 2-0 lead.

"We're a fast, skilled team," Nugent-Hopkins said. "We have to take opportunities when we get them. Four-on-four is a situation that when we play our game, we can get a couple goals."

Bryzgalov, who signed a one-year deal with the Oilers for $1.7 million, debuted Monday in Edmonton, replacing Devan Dubnyk in a 5-1 loss to Chicago. Bryzgalov stopped four shots from Weber in the first period, but Weber had only one shot in the second before the puck hit him in the face.

"Obviously if we lose our captain, it's always hard and we hope he's OK and hopefully he gets back soon," Predators defenceman Roman Josi said.

Bryzgalov had a nice pad save on Predators forward Mike Fisher in the final minutes to finish off his 31st career shutout and second against the Predators.

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Did You See That? Daniel Sedin scores 300th goal

Video

Vancouver forward helps Canucks cruise past Senators

By Rod Perry, CBC Sports Posted: Nov 28, 2013 10:56 PM ET Last Updated: Nov 28, 2013 11:12 PM ET

When Daniel Sedin found the back of the net Thursday, it looked like he had done it hundreds of times before. 

That's because he has. 

The veteran​ Canucks sniper hit a milestone in Vancouver's 5-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators, scoring his 300th goal — all with the same club. 

This one wasn't his most flashy effort, but it was fitting it came on a behind-the-net feed from twin brother Henrik. 

Check out the goal above.

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Jets use big 2nd period to sink Islanders

The Winnipeg Jets are off to a good start on a six-game road trip after trouble winning at home.

The Islanders are struggling no matter where they are playing.

Mark Stuart, Andrew Ladd and Devin Setoguchi scored second-period goals and Al Montoya made 28 saves and the Jets defeated the Islanders 3-2 on Wednesday.

It was a second straight victory to start a six-game road trip for Winnipeg following a win at New Jersey on Monday.

The Jets continue their trip at Philadelphia on Friday before playing the Rangers, Florida and Tampa Bay next week. They had lost three straight at home — two in shootouts — before starting the trip.

"We gave them some life late, but we managed the game well when it counted most," Jets coach Claude Noel said. "Al made some big stops for us and we found a way to hold on."

Stuart's first goal of the season on a blast from the left point right off a faceoff eluded Kevin Poulin to the glove side at 11:27.

Ladd, the Jets captain, made it 2-0 off a scramble in front at 14:39 with his seventh of the season. Setoguchi made it 3-0 with his sixth goal at 16:42.

Defenceman Andrew MacDonald scored for the Islanders at 17:49 of the second on the power play when he took a cross-ice pass from Thomas Vanek at the left point and fired the puck past Montoya.

John Tavares made it a one-goal game at 14:01 of the third when he poked a rebound past Montoya for his team-leading 11th goal of the season. Tavares, who assisted on MacDonald's goal, leads the Islanders with 29 points.

"We need everyone to have the same mindset, play hard every shift and do all the little extra things on the ice," Tavares said. "When we don't do that as a team, we are pretty easy to play against. No question this is frustrating and we need to address it."

Winnipeg's Jacob Trouba went off for hooking at 14:54 of the third, but the Islanders put minimal pressure on Montoya.

The Islanders were coming off a poor road trip, losing at Toronto, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. They were hoping the start of a four-game homestand would be a turnaround.

But the Jets handed the Islanders their ninth loss in 11 games. New York is 8-14-3 overall, last in the Metropolitan Division.

And since acquiring the high-scoring Vanek in a trade with Buffalo for popular left wing Matt Moulson on Oct. 27, the Islanders are 4-10.

"We have character guys in our room and I know if they keep working, we will turn this around," Islanders coach Jack Capuano said. "When you don't get results, it's tough mentally. You just have to find a way out of it."

The teams played a spirited scoreless first period, featuring end-to-end action at both ends of the rink. The Islanders outshot the Jets 13-11, but failed to capitalize on two power plays.

Both goaltenders played well early. Poulin stopped Matt Halischuk with a flailing stop midway through the second to keep the game scoreless, but the Jets solved the Islanders goaltender shortly thereafter.

The 23-year-old Poulin has struggled since becoming the team's No. 1 goaltender after starter Evgeni Nabokov sustained a groin injury against Detroit on Nov. 16. Poulin has lost four straight starts and has allowed 21 goals in his past six appearances.

"We gave them too many opportunities," Poulin said.

Montoya, the sixth overall pick by the Rangers in the 2004 draft, improved to 3-2-1 as he gave starter Ondrej Pavelec a rest. Montoya never played for the Rangers but did play for the Islanders for two years before joining the Jets last season.

"It felt really good," Montoya said. "It was especially great to win here against the organization that gave me a chance in the NHL."

The Jets are playing their first season in the Western Conference after the past two seasons in the east. They moved to Winnipeg from Atlanta after 2010-11, but the league didn't move them until realignment was implemented before this season.

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Senators rally to take down Capitals

The Washington Capitals found a way to tie a back-and-forth game with 3:27 left against Ottawa on Wednesday night.

It lasted just 64 seconds before Zack Smith and the Senators retook the lead.

Bobby Ryan scored two goals and the Senators topped the Capitals 6-4.

"The big test for us was when they tied the game. We didn't handle momentum swings very well in the first period or in some previous games," said Ottawa coach Paul MacLean, whose team has dropped four of five coming in.

Smith scored the go-ahead goal with 2:23 remaining when he took a pass from Chris Neil at centre ice, skated in against defenceman Nate Schmidt and beat goaltender Braden Holtby from the left circle.

Smith's goal came after Washington's John Carlson tied the game with Smith in the penalty box.

Chris Phillips had a goal and an assist, and Mika Zibanejad and Colin Greening added goals for Ottawa. Erik Karlsson had two assists for the Senators, who trailed 3-1 after one period.

"Obviously a huge two points for us tonight," Phillips said. "We need to build off this momentum and keep it going. We look at the standings and we're not in a great spot right now. We need to get on a bit of a roll." 

'Obviously a huge two points for us tonight. We need to build off this momentum and keep it going. We look at the standings and we're not in a great spot right now. We need to get on a bit of a roll.'- Senators' Chris Phillips

It was Ottawa's first win in regulation at the Verizon Center since March 12, 2006.

Eric Fehr, Marcus Johansson and Brooks Laich also scored for Washington, which led 3-1 before dropping its fourth straight.

"We played a solid game (losing Saturday) in Toronto; we played lousy tonight," Capitals coach Adam Oates said. "Not good decisions. We get a lead and we still don't do the right things."

Zibanejad had given Ottawa a 4-3 lead at 6:05 of the third when he deflected a Jason Spezza shot past Holtby for Ottawa's third power-play goal of the game.

Craig Anderson stopped 29 shots for Ottawa. Holtby made 35 saves for Washington.

Trailing 3-1 after one period, Ottawa tied it in the second as it outshot the Capitals 19-3.

"A lot of angry guys in here," Anderson said of the Ottawa locker room after the first 20 minutes.

"We weren't happy with our effort that first period. Obviously not happy with being down by two goals. But we held ourselves accountable. Each and every guy knew it wasn't good enough."

With a man advantage, Phillips skated down the left side and blasted a shot from the circle over Holtby's glove to make it 3-2 at 6:36 of the second period.

Exactly four minutes later, Greening tied it when he beat Holtby with a shot through traffic from the right circle.

"We had them," Carlson said. "We were close to putting our stamp on it. But we let them back."

After totalling three goals in its three previous games, Washington scored three in less than three minutes during the first period.

They broke a 1-1 tie with two goals 47 seconds apart.

During a power play, Alex Ovechkin's shot was deflected in front and Johansson banged the puck home at the 14:06 mark.

Washington made it 3-1 when Jason Chimera's pass deflected off Joel Ward's skate behind the end line out in front to Laich, who beat Anderson with a backhand for his fourth goal.

"We saw a very good hockey team in the first period with 18 shots and three goals and did a lot of things right," Laich said, "and for the rest of the game we saw a very bad hockey team. Bad decisions, bad penalties, getting outworked."

The Capitals took a 1-0 lead at 12:10 on a delayed penalty call when Fehr wristed a shot home from the slot.

Ottawa tied it on a power play just over a minute later as Ryan deflected Patrick Wiercioch's shot from the point for his 12th goal.

It was the first time this season the Capitals have allowed three power-play goals in a game, and the Washington penalty kill unit has given up at least one goal in the past six games.

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NHL concussion lawsuit grows to over 200 players: lawyers

The original concussion lawsuit against the NHL included 10 former players, and that number has already grown.

More than 200 players have joined, according to lawyers Steve Silverman and Mel Owens, who are at the forefront of the suit.

Owens, an NFL linebacker-turned-disability lawyer said in a phone interview Wednesday that "hundreds" of ex-NHL players are going to become part of the suit, which was filed in U.S. federal court in Washington on Monday.

"These are 10 players, but there's hundreds of guys that, they're in the lawsuit," said Owens, who works for NBO Law in Beverly Hills, Calif. "They just haven't been named yet. They're going to be there."

A list of the 200-plus players was not made available when requested.

Sportsnet.ca was the first to report that more than 200 players joined the effort, which began with 10 players: Gary Leeman, Bradley Aitken, Darren Banks, Curt Bennett, Richard Dunn, Warren Holmes, Robert Manno, Blair James Stewart, Morris Titanic and Rick Vaive. Former New York Islanders centre Bob Bourne announced he joined the suit shortly after it was filed.

Leeman and Vaive in recent days have politely declined comment about their involvement, deferring to Silverman and Owens, who said he did not know how many players would wind up being a part of it.

"I don't know how many living alumni there are in the NHL that have these significant problems," Owens said. "I don't know that. But like in the NFL, it just matured over time. Once the players find out that, 'Oh, there may be hope for me. I might be able to get some help and some treatment to address my quality of life issues,' I'm sure they'll be in contact."

More than 4,500 former NFL players sued that league in a case that Owens said has "parallels" to this one. That settlement was worth $765 million US.

Owens said there wasn't any recruiting being done to get more players to join the cause. He sent tweets to several former players informing them of the case beginning Monday.

"All of our business that we've ever done has all been by word of mouth. The players are the ones that talk amongst themselves," he said. "Once I have knowledge as a player, like you have knowledge and like everybody else has knowledge, the word spreads. Back in the '60s and the '70s and the '80s the person with all the knowledge and the power were the owners. They controlled the message."

In a statement released Monday evening, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly called the subject matter "very serious" and said the league intended to defend the case "vigorously."

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Canadiens top Sabres, stretch win streak to 4

Canadiens goaltender Carey Price made the big save when needed to extend Montreal's winning streak.

Price made 24 saves, including a key stop against Marcus Foligno, in Montreal's 3-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday night.

"He gives us a chance to win every night," said Canadiens coach Michel Therrien, whose team has won four straight. "He's been phenomenal this year and he deserves a lot of credit."

Montreal lead 2-1 when Foligno pounced on a turnover and found himself alone with Price, but the Canadiens goaltender stuck out his left pad to deny the winger and preserve Montreal's lead.

"We had a trailer on him, pulling him tight and he just tried to outreach me and I got a toe on it," Price said.

Alex Galchenyuk, David Desharnais and Brendan Gallagher scored for the Canadiens, who were paced by their NHL-best road power play.

Matt Moulson scored for Buffalo and Ryan Miller made 28 saves as the Sabres lost their fifth consecutive game in regulation.

The Montreal power play continues to thrive under defenceman Andrei Markov. He had two of his three assists with the man advantage as the Canadiens converted on 2 of 4 opportunities.

"He's such a smart player," Therrien said. "He sees the ice well. He's got experience and his conditioning is great because he's put a lot of effort at it."

The defenceman said the power play's success is coming from good team movement.

"The power play's about a unit of five," Markov said. "Your five guys on the ice have to work together and we try to move the puck and put the puck in the net."

Montreal scored first at 17:21 of the first when Lars Eller slid a drop pass to Markov, who caught Miller out of the net. Markov's shot deflected off Galchenyuk and into the goal.

It marked Markov's fourth straight game with a point.

The Sabres briefly lost Moulson when the left wing was hit into the boards by P.K. Subban midway through the second period. Subban was not penalized, and the Canadiens earned a power play when Foligno was unsuccessful in an attempt to fight Subban.

On the ensuing power play, Subban fired a slap shot from the left point that Desharnais deflected past Miller to put the Canadiens up 2-0 at 13:44 of the second.

The goal was Desharnais' second in three games after failing to score in his first 20 games of the season. He became the 12th Canadiens player to score a power-play goal this season.

"In the last two weeks he's played well," Therrien said. He's competing well. He's working hard at both sides of the ice."

Buffalo got even with Subban late in the second period when Drew Stafford put the defenceman on the ice before finding Moulson, who beat Price to make it 2-1 at 17:30 of the second.

Brendan Gallagher restored the Canadiens' two-goal lead at 18:16 of the third, when his one-time shot beat Miller for a power-play goal.

The Sabres are 1-5 under interim head coach Ted Nolan, who says he's seeing signs from a struggling team that's won just twice in 14 home games.

"The one thing we asked our team to do is compete, and we competed," Nolan said. "When things are difficult, it's easy to point fingers, but this group is really starting to pay attention. We're making strides in the right direction."

The Canadiens' third-best road penalty killing unit did the job, holding off the Sabres on a four-minute power play in the first period.

The game was Buffalo's fifth straight allowing at least one power-play goal.

Douglas Murray left the ice for stitches after a lengthy third-period fight with Sabres enforcer John Scott opened a large cut above his left eye.

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Patrick Kane, Blackhawks stun Flames

When you're on a roll, sometimes good things happen. Patrick Kane and the Chicago Blackhawks were proof of that Wednesday night. 

Kane scored twice, including the tiebreaking goal with 18 seconds left, and the Blackhawks rallied for three straight goals in the third period -- aided by a few lucky bounces -- to beat the Calgary Flames 3-2. 

Kane's team-leading 14th and 15th goals gave him a career-high 12-game points streak. 

"It's nice to be on a streak like that, try to produce consistently. I think the biggest thing is just to try and go into every game with a clean slate and take it for what it is," Kane said. "You have the chance to play with good players, playing on a pretty hot power play right now, you're going to get some points." 

Patrick Sharp also scored for Chicago (18-4-4), the top team in the NHL. The defending Stanley Cup champions improved to 4-1-0 on their seven-game road trip. 

"I think it's a group that's familiar with the situation of being down going into the third period and we've been good at coming back and winning games or getting a point out of those games," Kane said. 

Matt Stajan and Sean Monahan scored for the Flames, who are 1-5-2 in their last eight home games. 

The game-winner came after Sven Baertschi lost the puck at the Calgary blue line. A shot from Niklas Hjalmarsson caromed sharply off the skate of Flames defenceman Chris Butler. The puck went straight to Kane at the bottom of the circle, where he spun and lifted a backhand over goalie Reto Berra. 

"It just came right to me. I tried to spin around and my first reaction was to try and pass but I ended up flipping it on net and lucky enough, it went in," Kane said. 

Similar good fortune was on his side when Kane started the comeback at 9:42 of the third. 

Dashing down the left wing, he attempted to send a centring pass to Andrew Shaw in front. The puck deflected off the stick of Flames defenceman Kris Russell instead and beat a surprised Berra inside the post. 

"Maybe you think he's charmed because he makes a play like that and it goes in for him," Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said. "He does have the puck a lot and eventually he'll get his turn and he'll get his A-plus chance. Might not have the A-plus-plus chances tonight, but he scored a couple." 

Only 56 seconds later, Marian Hossa sent a pass into the slot that deflected off Sharp's stick and bounced into the net to tie the game. 

"Sharp's goes off his stick. I don't think he was even ready for it. It just bounces off his stick and rolls in. The last one, not a hard shot either," Baertschi said. "It's just one of those games." 

The wild finish erased what had been 2 1/2 solid periods for Berra and the Flames. 

"Reto kept us in the game and he did everything he could, then stuff like that happens?" Baertschi said. "There are nights like that where you work really hard for it and you think you deserve it but in the end you walk out with a kick in the butt." 

Flames head coach Bob Hartley said his team was aware all night of Chicago's quick-strike ability. 

"That was something we were trying to guard against because number one, we know the firepower of that team. They basically did the same trick to the Vancouver Canucks a few night ago," Hartley said. "You make a few mistakes and they are so skilled they will make you pay for it, and it's too bad because I thought we played very well and we showed up to play." 

Antti Raanta finished with 20 saves for Chicago in his first NHL start. Recalled from the minors Nov. 17 when Nikolai Khabibulin went on injured reserve, Raanta stopped 14 of 16 shots in his only previous appearance a week ago in Colorado in relief of Corey Crawford. 

"It was a pretty nice feeling. Didn't have to go to overtime or a shootout, so that's the main thing," said the 24-year-old Raanta. "I felt pretty good all game long. Had a couple good saves in the first period and I got that feeling of confidence. Of course, a couple goals just over the pad to the glove side. With those types of goals, you want to catch them for a highlight save, but we got three goals and we take two points and that's the main thing." 

Berra made his 10th start in the last 11 games for the Flames. He finished with 27 saves and fell to 3-5-2. 

It was Berra's second start against Chicago. In his memorable NHL debut on Nov. 3, he made 42 saves in a 3-2 overtime victory at the United Center. 

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Raptors' late push not enough to beat Nets

DeMar DeRozan poured in 27 points while Kyle Lowry had 24, but the two had little help from their Toronto Raptors teammates in a 102-100 loss to the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday.

Andray Blatche had 24 to top the injury-depleted Nets (4-10), who came into the game on a five-game losing streak and with the third worst record in the NBA. Joe Johnson had 21, while Paul Pierce had 16 points and Kevin Garnett.

The Nets were missing Deron Williams (sprained ankle) Andrei Kirilenko (back spasms) and leading scorer Brook Lopez (sprained left ankle).

But it was the Raptors (6-8) who could have used some more help. Steve Novak was the only other player to score in double figures with 12 for the Atlantic Division leaders, who lost for the first time in three games. Rudy Gay had nine points, while Tyler Hansbrough and Jonas Valanciunas had seven rebounds apiece.

The Raptors trailed 81-76 heading into the fourth quarter of a game that saw neither team — save for a handful of individual performances — play particularly well.

Andray Blatche of the Brooklyn Nets shoots against the Toronto Raptors on November 26, 2013 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. (Ron Turenne/NBAE via Getty Images)

The Nets had assembled a 15-point lead with a little more than five minutes to go and the game seemed out of reach, but the Raptors came to life in the final two minutes. Gay drained a three with 24 seconds to pull the Raptors to 101-100.

Shaun Livingston missed one of two free throws with 11 seconds left, but Amir Johnson's three-point attempt on the Raptors' last shot clanged off the rim.

A basket by Lowry with 7:23 left in the game pulled Toronto within seven points, but the game got away from the Raptors from that point on, a three-pointer by Joe Johnson followed by a basket by Blatche put the Nets up by 15 and the game seemingly out of reach.

The Raptors showed some life in the final two minutes, baskets by Lowry and Amir Johnson cutting the Nets' lead to 101-95.

The Raptors had one of its worst defensive efforts of the season, allowing the Nets to shoot 51 per cent from the field. The Raptors shot 44. Brooklyn outrebounded Toronto 39-34.

Nets coach Jason Kidd played for the same 2011 NBA champion Dallas Mavericks team that Dwane Casey was a member of the coaching staff. Casey had kind words for Kidd, saying "Jason Kidd is a reason why a lot of us are around, his play as a player, we owe him a lot, just for what he did for us in Dallas as a player." But Casey said he wouldn't spend any time Tuesday catching up with Kidd, saying "Friendship is for the summertime."

DeRozan got off to a strong start, making all five of his shots — including three three-pointers — in the opening 10 minutes, to put Toronto on top 28-26 heading into the second quarter.

The Nets shot 55 per cent against Toronto's lackadaisical defence in the second quarter, and seven straight points by Joe Johnson put the Nets up by four and the visitors took a 55-51 lead into the locker-room at halftime.

DeRozan carried Toronto with 11 points in the third, but the Raptors couldn't make up any ground on the Nets, and a driving jumper with three seconds left in the quarter put Brooklyn up 81-76 with a quarter left.

The game was the second of a four-game homestand for the Raptors, that has Toronto hosting the Miami Heat on Friday and Denver on Sunday.

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CBC partners with Rogers in landmark NHL rights deal

Saturday night will remain Hockey Night in Canada on CBC, at least for the next four years.

The National Hockey League confirmed Tuesday that CBC has secured English-language rights to games in a sub-licensing agreement with Rogers Communications. Rogers has signed a 12-year deal with the NHL.

Rogers retains three exclusive windows to broadcast any game involving a Canadian team on Wednesdays, Saturdays, including CBC, and Sundays.

"Hockey Night in Canada is an iconic brand," said Keith Pelley, president of Rogers Media, at Tuesday's news conference. "It is important to us that it will continue."

Pelley said the branding of Hockey Night was involved in all of Rogers' conversations with the CBC.

'We will continue to build the partnership [with the CBC] beyond hockey.'- Keith Pelley, president, Rogers Media

"It's such a strong and iconic brand. As Canadians we should all be proud of that," he said. "When you look at two conventionals [networks] now carrying Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday, it bodes really well for the consumers. It's very exciting.

"We will continue to build the partnership [with the CBC] beyond hockey," Pelley added, "and we hope that CBC is our partner for Hockey Night in Canada for many years to come."

The 12-year, $5.2-billion deal, which begins next season through 2025-26 between the NHL and Rogers, is the largest media rights agreement in league history and subject to approval by its board of governors at a meeting in Pebble Beach, Calif., on Dec. 9-10.

Hubert Lacroix, CBC president and CEO, said the broadcaster "was not in a position to spend taxpayers dollars in this game of high-stakes."

"The CBC was prepared to do a fiscally responsible deal to preserve hockey on Saturday nights and to help the NHL to build the hockey brand through a variety of significant events and outreach activities," he said in a statement.

"The ability to still have Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday is something important to us. This is what we get out of this: the ability to continue to promote some of our programs."

Future

Lacroix said the CBC likes being strategic with other partners, stating this is how the public broadcaster sees itself in the future, whether it's with Rogers or another broadcaster.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said the deal with Rogers came together very quickly, telling the CBC's Peter Armstrong that "it's never just about price. It's about brand of rights, it's about how the games are going to be distributed, scheduled and produced. It was an overall comfort level based on the circumstances as we found them."

Lacroix added the CBC's deal with Rogers "provides us with a high-traffic place to promote all of our other fantastic Canadian content during a broadcast that brings the nation together week after week."

Rogers president and CEO Nadir Mohamed said, "We've reached out and worked with the CBC to ensure that Canadians will get access to Hockey Night In Canada the way they have before. I think that's great. It's great for CBC … for all of us as Canadians. We're looking forward to working with CBC … to take the fan experience to the next level."

The CBC will not pay any rights costs for the broadcasting of hockey games on the main network, CBC said in a note to staff. Rogers will bear the monetary risk and reward of the broadcasts, too — they sell the ads, but keep the revenue derived from them.

CBC has been the home of Hockey Night since 1952. It is committed to 320 hours of prime-time hockey, including games in the choice Saturday night time slot and the Stanley Cup final for the next four years.

"Our goal is to get maximum reach to Canadians … for us to drive revenue," Pelley said.

Mohamed said the ability to partner with the CBC was a key part of the deal.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said the length of the deal speaks to the vibrancy of the game and the business of the game.

Cherry 'an iconic Canadian'

The pact also means that Rogers' broadcast rival TSN appears to be shut out of NHL broadcasting for the next decade.

'The CBC personalities, from Jim Hughson to Bob Cole, are all legends.'- Keith Pelley

When asked of the future of Hockey Night personality Don Cherry and his Coach's Corner segment, Pelley said programming and production will be evaluated over the next few months and years in consultation with the CBC regarding Hockey Night in Canada. "We're just celebrating today." Later he added that Cherry is "an iconic Canadian.

"We all have a common goal here to build the game. Stars, like Don Cherry, could appear on seven different networks. … The CBC personalities, from Jim Hughson to Bob Cole, are all legends. We haven't even started the discussion regarding editorial with CBC, but the idea is that the content and all of the profiles of the athletes and all the stories will go across all the networks."

Bettman added Cherry is "a good friend. Obviously, it's somebody we take seriously as part of the game and ultimately something we'll discuss. … We all love and respect Don. [Rogers] will have to discuss what is best going forward.

"I think it's helpful that everybody tries to stop viewing this through traditional glasses where the CBC, for example on Saturday night, would regionalize games. Think more about the evolution of the Olympics, that if curling's going on at the same time as ski jumping at the same time as cross-country skiing, they would be on different networks and you as a fan could watch what you want. … We're going to give the fans more options than they've ever had."

Pelley said the goal is to take all the games involving teams in Canada and the United States nationally on Saturdays on Hockey Night and televise them on, say, Sportsnet, Sportsnet One, Sportsnet 360 and City TV. "You can see the plethora of outlets we have to give consumers an unbelievable offering on Saturday, so Hockey Night in Canada will go through all our platforms in what is a real, true partnership for both networks and the fans."

The NHL was seeking to capitalize on a surge in popularity following a lengthy lockout that resulted in a 48-game season in 2013.

It signed a 10-year rights deal with NBC for U.S. broadcasts in 2011.

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Baseball Hall of Fame ballot adds Maddux, Glavine, Thomas

Four-time Cy Young Award winner Greg Maddux, two-time winner Tom Glavine and two-time AL MVP Frank Thomas are among 19 newcomers on this year's Hall of Fame ballot, joining steroid-tainted holdovers Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa.

Mike Mussina, Hideo Nomo, Kenny Rogers, Jeff Kent, Moises Alou and Luis Gonzalez also are among the players eligible to be voted on for the first time by the Baseball Writers' Association of America.

The 36-player ballot will include Armando Benitez, Sean Casey, Ray Durham, Eric Gagne, Jacque Jones, Todd Jones, Paul Lo Duca, Richie Sexson, J.T. Snow and Mike Timlin, the Hall said Tuesday.

Voters are the approximately 600 writers who have been members of the BBWAA for 10 consecutive years at any point. Ballots are due by Dec. 31, and results will be announced Jan. 8.

Players elected along with choices announced Dec. 9 by the expansion era committee (1973 and later) will be inducted July 27 at Cooperstown. Among those on the committee ballot are retired managers Bobby Cox, Tony La Russa and Joe Torre; late Yankees owner George Steinbrenner; and late players' union head Marvin Miller.

Last year, the BBWAA failed for the first time since 1996 to produce any inductees. Craig Biggio came closest to receiving the necessary 75 per cent, falling 39 shy with 388 (68.2 per cent).

Jack Morris, who will be on the ballot for the final time this year, was second with 67.7 per cent, followed by Jeff Bagwell (59.6), Mike Piazza (57.8), Tim Raines (52.2), Lee Smith (47.8) and Curt Schilling (38.8).

Making their first appearances on the ballot, Clemens was at 37.6 per cent, Bonds at 36.2 and Sosa at 12.5. McGwire received 16.9 per cent on his seventh try.

Players remain on the ballot if they receive at least 5 per cent support and can stay in the voting for up to 15 years.

Other returnees include Don Mattingly, Edgar Martinez, Fred McGriff, Rafael Palmeiro, Alan Trammell and Larry Walker.

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Stars score 3 quick goals, hammer Ducks

Talk about a quick 1-2-3 for the Dallas Stars.

Cody Eakin, Stephane Robidas and Ryan Garbutt produced a three-goal flurry in a 53-second span of the third period, and the Stars beat the Pacific Division-leading Anaheim Ducks 6-3 on Tuesday night for their first home win in more than month.

"We were just still talking on the bench about, 'OK, it's a tie game. Let's get this thing (under control), stay the course, do that,' and next it's 3-2," Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau said. "It just went boom, boom. They got the goal, and the crowd got into it, and then the rest is history."

After giving up a goal to Nick Bonino in the final seconds of the second period that put the Ducks ahead 2-1, Dallas wiped out that deficit with the fastest three-goal stretch in the NHL since January 2012.

"You're thinking that we fought hard to tie it up and want to go into the third period and try to play a 20-minute period of the win, and now we're going to chase the game again as soon as we come out," Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. "But we were able to turn it, I can tell you a nice story now. Otherwise, we might have blamed the game on that late goal."

Eakin's sixth goal of the season tied it 2-2 with 14:35 left. Only 25 seconds later, Robidas was between the circles when he scored his fourth of the season.

Garbutt then gathered a loose puck and scored with a backhanded swipe with 13:42 left to make it 4-2. He didn't realize how quickly the trio of goals had come.

"But it was pretty cool," said Garbutt, who also had two assists.

Fans in the building were suddenly in a frenzy as Boudreau finally called timeout.

"We might have had to have a little bottle of NoDoz after the first period, but we woke them up in the third," Ruff said.

Roussel was in the crease when he netted his second goal with just under 8 minutes left. Hiller quickly argued with the referee to no avail, trying to get an interference call.

Dan Ellis stopped 28 shots, winning for only the second time in seven games. Dallas had been 0-2-2 at home since a 5-1 victory over Calgary on Oct. 24.

Emerson Etem, Nick Bonino and Dustin Penner scored for the Ducks, who are 10-4-3 in their last 17 games. Penner's tally was a power-play goal with 6 1/2 minutes left.

"It does happen quickly," Ducks centre Andrew Cogliano said. "When momentum turns and it starts going the other way, it's really hard to stop it."

The Stars played the first of three straight home games. Next is Friday night against the Central Division-leading Chicago Blackhawks, who have an NHL-best 38 points — one more than Anaheim and St. Louis.

This was the second of three meetings this season for the former Pacific Division rivals who used to play six times a season. It was the only trip to Dallas for the Ducks, who won 6-3 at home on Oct. 20 and will host the Stars again on Feb. 1.

Hiller, who faced 32 shots, gave up three goals on 12 shots against the Stars in the previous matchup before he was pulled from the game.

Bonino's seventh of the season came with 36 seconds left in the second period. He took a pass from Cogliano, and the puck went off his skate before he used his stick to score from the right side of the net for a 2-1 lead.

Etem scored from in front 6:06 into the game to give the Ducks a 1-0 lead.

Roussel tied it when the puck caromed in off his skate with 6:47 left in the second period. Officials reviewed the goal before ruling that it wasn't kicked into the net to the left of Hiller after a pass from Vernon Fiddler.

"That was a team win," Roussel said. "We're very excited about that win because everybody was involved."

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Veronika Velez-Zuzulova, Olympic ski contender, to miss season

Veronika Velez-Zuzolova of Slovakia is planning on returning to the World Cup circuit next season. ((Marco Tacca/Associated Press))

Slovakian skier Veronika Velez Zuzulova will miss the season because of a knee injury.  

Zuzulova was third in the World Cup slalom standings last season and was an expected medal favourite at the Sochi Olympics. She has finished in the top 5 in the season slalom standings in five of the last seven years, including a third place showing in 2012-13.

On her website, the 29-year-old Zuzulova says "I am sad to announce that the Olympic season is over for me."  

Zuzulova says she sustained "a fully torn ACL" in training in October and "my knee did not co-operate on my first day back on skis."  

Zuzulova will have surgery on Jan. 2 in Lyon, France, and targets a return to World Cup racing next season.  

The Slovak got her first World Cup victory last December in Semmering, Austria, and also won the parallel racing event in Munich. 

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Canucks fall to Kings in overtime

Anze Kopitar scored the winner 48 seconds into overtime Monday as the Los Angeles Kings defeated the Vancouver Canucks 3-2.

Kopitar took a feed from Slava Voynov and beat Roberto Luongo into the top corner to send the Canucks to their seventh loss in eight games.

Mike Richards and Kyle Clifford also scored for Los Angeles (16-6-3).

Ben Scrivens made 37 saves as the Kings picked up at least a point for the 10th straight game (7-0-3).

Henrik Sedin and Chris Tanev scored for Vancouver (12-9-5), which finished a season-long six-game homestand with a record of 1-2-3.

Luongo made 19 stops for the Canucks, who fell to 1-4-3 versus Pacific Division rivals this season.

Vancouver's 28th-ranked power play was a miserable 0 for 7 on the night before Sedin beat Scrivens with a quick shot on the Canucks' eighth man advantage of the night to snap a 1-1 tie at 6:59.

After Scrivens made a number of big stops to keep the Kings alive, Richards took a feed from Jeff Carter and snapped a shot past Luongo with 2:56 left in regulation.

Vancouver had dropped six of seven games before Monday, with the lone victory coming in a 6-2 triumph over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday. In those six defeats, the Canucks had scored just seven times.

Down 1-0 after the first period, Vancouver found some life after Henrik Sedin took a big hit from Jordan Nolan midway through the second. Sedin stayed down for a moment but didn't miss a shift.

The play woke the Canucks up and they started to take the body more, with Ryan Stanton eventually dropping the gloves with Nolan.

After Vancouver killed off a penalty from the scrum that accompanied that fight, Tanev fired a harmless looking shot from the point that Scrivens could only get a piece of to tie the score with his first of the season at 17:04.

The Canucks had plenty of opportunities with the man advantage earlier in the period — including a 5-on-3 and two short 4-on-3s — but the disjointed unit continued to struggle.

Another Kings penalty late in the period gave the Canucks another chance. But Scrivens, who has been stellar in place of injured Kings starter Jonathan Quick, was there to shut the door when called upon as Vancouver outshot L.A. 13-2.

After the Canucks gave up a number of odd-man rushes in Saturday's 2-1 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks, including Marcus Kruger's winner in the third period, the Kings opened the scoring Monday on their third 2-on-1 of the night at 13:50 of the first period.

With both fourth lines on the ice, Canucks defenceman Ryan Stanton got caught after some Vancouver pressure, with Clifford and Linden Vey breaking the other way. Vey feathered a pass to Clifford, who made a nice backhand move to beat a sprawling Luongo for his second goal of the season.

Vancouver's anaemic power play went to work later in the period, but didn't even register a shot on Scrivens.

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Pavelec, Jets beat Devils to snap 4-game skid

Having Ondrej Pavelec earn his 100th NHL win and seeing Mark Scheifele and Evander Kane break goal droughts were nice highlights for the Winnipeg Jets.

Ending a four-game losing streak was much more important.

Scheifele and Kane gave the Jets the lead, and Pavelec turned aside 25 shots in a 3-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Monday night.

"This was huge," said forward Olli Jokinen, who set up Kane's goal with a faceoff win. "Any win is good, but getting one to start a six-game road trip, we needed this one. It was like a must-win for us to get back to .500 and feel good about ourselves moving forward."

Winnipeg (11-11-4), which moved to the Western Conference this season, was tied for last place in the Central Division starting the night. The Jets were 0-2-2 in their previous four games.

Devin Setoguchi added an empty-net goal in the final minute, sending the Devils to their second straight loss.

"We had chances to score two or three and we just didn't put them in the back of the net," said Devils coach Pete DeBoer, whose team returned from a 2-1 California trip.

Pavelec was less than 10 minutes from his second shutout of the season when Patrik Elias deflected a shot from the point by Andy Greene past him.

Elias scored his fifth goal of the season after earlier firing a shot off the crossbar in the second period during a short-handed, 2-on-1 break.

The Devils spent most of the third period in the Jets' zone, but Pavelec came up big. He made his best stop against Adam Henrique, who shot from low in the left circle with just over four minutes to play.

Pavelec laughed when reminded that the win was his 100th.

"We lost four games in a row and I totally forgot," he said. "It's nice, but the number means nothing. A win for tonight was what I was worried about."

Scheifele, who scored the Jets' first goal of the season, ended a 24-game goal drought with 3:59 left in the first period on a wide-open shot from the right circle that found the top corner of the net. The goal came on a quick counterattack.

Michael Frolik took a cross-ice pass in the defensive zone, skated into the left side of the Devils' end, and sent a cross-ice pass to Scheifele, who came late down the right side.

Former Devils forward Matt Halischuk helped set up the shot by allowing Frolik's pass to go through to Scheifele.

"It felt pretty good to score there," Scheifele said. "I feel pretty happy, but I'm a little more happy about the win."

Kane ended an 11-game goal drought at 7:16 of the second period, just seconds after Devils goalie Martin Brodeur stopped a point blank shot that Jokinen set up with a pass from behind the net. The shot hit Brodeur and dropped on the goal line. The play was reviewed, and the no-goal call was upheld.

Jokinen won the ensuing faceoff from Travis Zajac and sent the puck to Kane on the outside edge of the circle. He fired the puck at the net, and it beat Brodeur after possibly hitting off the stick of defenceman Marek Zidlicky. It was his seventh goal of the season and third against New Jersey.

"It was a big goal for our team and gave us a two-goal lead," Jokinen said. "It's good for him. He has been working hard and playing hard. He just hasn't been able to score lately, so it was good to see him score."

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Blue Jackets destroy Maple Leafs

Maple Leafs head coach Randy Carlyle wasn't just disappointed that Toronto lost on Monday, he was disappointed in the way his team lost.

The Maple Leafs were shelled 6-0 by the Columbus Blue Jackets, 24 hours after they were given the day off as a reward for their 2-1 shootout victory over the Washington Capitals on Saturday.

"We didn't have energy off a day off yesterday," said Carlyle. "It just seemed like we lacked the necessary pace that was required to compete in the game. 

'We didn't have energy off a day off yesterday. It just seemed like we lacked the necessary pace that was required to compete in the game.'- Maple Leafs coach Randy Carlyle

"That's mind-boggling."

Goaltender James Reimer allowed six goals on 21 shots as the Blue Jackets (9-12-3) concluded a five-game road trip with their third win (3-2-0).

Reimer's loss for Toronto (14-9-1) comes two nights after he had a career-high 49-save performance against Washington.

Cam Atkinson and R.J. Umberger scored for Columbus in a 20 second span in the first period. Then Jack Skille and Ryan Murray added goals 3:15 apart in the second period. Ryan Johansen scored twice in the third as the Blue Jackets picked up their second win over the Leafs in a month.

Sergei Bobrovsky made 18 saves for his fifth career shutout.

"We limited their opportunities. I thought our forwards did a good job of getting in the shooting lanes and forcing their shots wide," said Columbus head coach Todd Richards. "Our defence really competed in front of our net, boxing out, where Bob could see the puck and we were opportunistic in the offensive zone."

Atkinson opened the scoring at 10:18 of the first period, knocking a Matt Calvert pass out of mid-air and putting it past Reimer for his sixth of the season.

Twenty seconds later, Umberger picked up his sixth of the season putting home the rebound after Reimer made the initial save off Ryan Murray's wrap around attempt.

James van Riemsdyk had Toronto's best chance of the first period, one-timing a Phil Kessel feed through Bobrovsky's pads, but the puck trickled just wide of the Columbus net.

The Leafs troubles continued in the second as Mark Letestu capitalized on a Mark Fraser turnover at the Columbus blue-line. Letestu fed Skille on a 2-on-1 break for his first of the season and first as a member of the Jackets at 3:07 of the period.

Skille drew a hooking penalty 2:13 later.

On the ensuing Columbus power play, Murray put a Johansen feed past Reimer. Monday was Murray's first career multi-point game.

"We made sure we all worked together as a five-man unit every shift and stuck to a system," said Skille. "We made sure we played simple road hockey. That was the key tonight."

The Blue Jackets scored twice on their first four shots of the second period prompting the ACC crowd to jeer Reimer following a routine save.

Johansen finished a 2-on-1 feed from Nick Foligno at 9:05 of the third making it 5-0. Johansen then added his team-leading eighth of the season at 11:25 of the third ending Reimer's night early. Jonathan Bernier made one save in relief.

"The first two were kind of bad bounces or weird plays and then the rest were good plays, good shots," said Reimer. "I don't really have much to say. Don't really have much to offer. It just wasn't my night tonight.

"It's obviously disappointing what happened and frustrating."

Reimer entered Monday with a 6-2-0 record and a league-best .947 save percentage and a 2.10 goals-against average.

Since allowing four goals to Ottawa and getting pulled in his second game of the season Oct. 5, Reimer had stopped 156 of 161 shots at home for a .969 save percentage. Reimer was 4-0-0 in five starts during that span.

Monday was Reimer's first career start and loss against Columbus.

"I think that was par with the rest of our group," said Carlyle of Reimer's play. "With the hockey club the way we played tonight, if our performance was to be labelled tonight, it was a team effort. It was nowhere near what it needed to be."

At 10:50 of the third Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf was assessed a minor penalty for illegal contact to the head as he caught Columbus forward Artem Anisimov with an open-ice hit. Anisimov left the game immediately and did not return.

"The refs have a tough job to do, the game's moving very quickly and I hit him shoulder-to-shoulder," said Phaneuf of the play. "(The ref) just said from his angle that he saw contact, but that's all I'm going to say on that. I felt that it was a clean hit. Shoulder to shoulder."

Added Carlyle "From where I was standing, it looked like he went chest to chest. Now did he make contact with his head? You tell me. I better not say what I want to say."

Adding to the Leafs poor showing, forward Joffrey Lupul left the game at the end of the second period with what Carlyle called a sore groin and did not return for the third.

Tyler Bozak made his return to the Leafs line-up Monday after missing 12 games with a hamstring injury. Bozak finished with a minus-2 rating.

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CBC partners with Rogers in landmark NHL rights deal

Saturday night will remain Hockey Night in Canada on CBC.

The NHL confirmed Tuesday that CBC has secured English-language rights to games in a sub-licensing agreement with Rogers Communications. 

The 12-year, $5.2-billion deal through 2025-26 between the NHL and Rogers is the largest media rights agreement in league history and subject to approval by its board of governors at a meeting in Pebble Beach, Calif., on Dec. 9-10.

"The NHL is extremely excited about the power and potential of this groundbreaking partnership," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement. 

CBC has been the home of Hockey Night since 1952. It is committed to 320 hours of prime-time hockey, including games in the choice Saturday night time slot and the Stanley Cup final for the next four years. 

"The CBC was prepared to do a fiscally responsible deal to preserve hockey on Saturday nights and to help the NHL to build the hockey brand through a variety of significant events and outreach activities," CBC president and CEO Hubert Lacroix said.

Rogers retains three exclusive windows to broadcast any game involving a Canadian team on Wednesdays, Saturdays, including CBC, and Sundays.

"Canadians are passionate about hockey and, through this landmark partnership with the NHL, we'll be able to bring hockey fans more games and more content on their platform of choice," Rogers Communications president and CEO Nadir Mohamed said.  

The NHL was seeking to capitalize on a surge in popularity following a lengthy lockout that resulted in a 48-game season in 2013.

It signed a 10-year rights deal with NBC for U.S. broadcasts in 2011.

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NHL to announce Canadian media rights deal

Live

League, telecom giant strike 12-year, $5.2-billion pact

CBC Sports Posted: Nov 26, 2013 9:09 AM ET Last Updated: Nov 26, 2013 9:13 AM ET

The NHL and Rogers Communications have reached a landmark 12-year, $5.2-billion deal for the league's Canadian broadcast and multimedia rights.

Hockey Night in Canada will remain on CBC for at least the next four years under a sub-licensing agreement with Rogers.

Watch the NHL's announcement live at 11 a.m. ET.

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Sebastian Vettel earns historic win at Brazilian Grand Prix

Sebastian Vettel won Formula One's season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday, matching Michael Schumacher's record of 13 victories in a year and equalling the nine consecutive wins of Alberto Ascari.

Vettel's Red Bull teammate Mark Webber was second in his final F1 race. Fernando Alonso of Ferrari was third.

Vettel, who had already wrapped up a fourth straight F1 title, was overtaken by Nico Rosberg of Mercedes at the start but regained the lead on the second lap and cruised to his second victory in Brazil, and 39th of his career. He crossed the line 10.4 seconds in front of Webber.

"I think it is very difficult for me to realize, probably now and in the next couple of weeks, what we have achieved again, and in particular this year at the end of the season," Vettel said. "At the end of the day, as I see it now, it's just a number. But hopefully one day, when I've got less hair and [I'm] chubby, then it's probably something nice to look back."

Jenson Button was fourth for McLaren's best finish of the season. Rosberg was fifth and Mexico's Sergio Perez finished sixth after starting 19th in his final race with McLaren.

Formula One driver Sebastian Vettel, centre, celebrates his win on the podium next to teammate Mark Webber, left, and Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso after the Brazilian F1 Grand Prix at the Interlagos circuit in Sao Paulo on Sunday. (Nacho Doce/Reuters)

"Yes, we did it," Vettel said on his radio before his now-traditional donut celebration.

The win capped an impressive season by Vettel, who had already broken Schumacher's 2004 mark of seven straight wins in the same season last week at the United States GP. Vettel matched the 13 wins by Schumacher that same year, and equaled Ascari's record of straight victories from 1952-53. The 26-year-old Vettel clinched the title at the Indian GP, becoming the youngest driver to win four world championships.

Webber, who had won two of the last four races in Brazil, took his helmet off as he returned to the pits and waved to the crowd. The team wrote "Awesome. Thank you Mark," on the pit sign as the Australian crossed the line.

"It was a good finish to my career," he said. "It was a great journey. I'll enjoy watching F1 next year."

Webber will be joining Porsche in a sports car series in 2014. The 37-year-old Australian spent 12 seasons in F1, winning nine times and reaching the podium 42 times in 215 starts. His second place on Sunday allowed him to finish third in the drivers' standings, repeating his feat in 2010 and '11.

Vettel had a poor start and was overtaken by Rosberg at the first turn but was back in front with a move to the inside of his fellow German driver on Turn 1 on the following lap. Vettel had a slow pit stop near the end but remained in front thanks to a big lead over Webber before coming in.

It was the first time this weekend that drivers raced on a dry track at Interlagos after the three practice sessions and qualifying were run in wet conditions. Light rain fell near the end of the race but it wasn't enough to significantly affect the track conditions.

Lewis Hamilton, who had a flat right rear tire on his Mercedes after contact with Valtteri Bottas of Williams, finished ninth. Hamilton received a drive through penalty for causing the collision.

Mercedes held on to second place in the constructors' championship, finishing ahead of Ferrari and Lotus. Red Bull was the champion.

It was the last race before significant engine changes debut in F1 next year. Teams will have to switch from 2.4-litre V8 engines to a 1.6-litre V6 turbocharged unit, a move that will demand significant alterations in the design of cars and make predictions nearly impossible.

Home-crowd favourite Felipe Massa, in his final race with Ferrari before joining Williams, finished a disappointing seventh after a drive-through penalty halfway through the race for crossing a pit line. Massa, who was fourth when he was penalized, will be replaced by world champion Kimi Raikkonen next year.

Perez, being replaced by rookie Kevin Magnussen of Denmark next season, had a remarkable race in his farewell from McLaren. He had started 19th after a five-spot grid penalty for having to change a gear box following a crash in qualifying on Saturday.

No McLaren driver had reached the podium or finished higher than fifth coming into the season finale.

Australian Daniel Ricciardo, Webber's replacement in 2014, was 10th.

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Patriots erase 24-point deficit to beat Broncos in OT: NFL

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Stephen Gostkowski kicked a 31-yard field goal for New England after a misplayed punt return by Denver, lifting the Patriots to a 34-31 overtime victory over the Broncos on Sunday night.

Denver's Tony Carter ran into Ryan Allen's punt after it landed and Nate Ebner recovered for New England at the Broncos 13-yard line. After Tom Brady ran twice to line up the kick, Gostkowski connected for his 21st successful field goal attempt.

Brady threw for three touchdowns to lead the Patriots (8-3) back from a 24-0 halftime deficit to a 31-24 lead as New England scored on its first five possessions of the second half. Then Peyton Manning threw an 11-yard scoring pass to Demaryius Thomas for the Broncos (9-2), tying it at 31.

New England Patriots QB Tom Brady celebrates after scoring against the Denver Broncos on November 24, 2013 in Foxboro, Massachusetts. (Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Cam Newton converted a fourth-and-10 situation at his own 20 with a completion to keep alive the Carolina Panthers' final possession, and they went on to score a touchdown with 43 seconds left and beat the Miami Dolphins 20-16 Sunday.

Newton hit Greg Olsen with a 1-yard pass for the winning score to cap a 12-play drive. It was the second comeback win in a week for the Panthers, who rallied past the New England Patriots with a late drive last Monday.

The Panthers (8-3) extended their winning streak to seven games, their longest since 2003. Miami (5-6) fell to 2-2 since tackle Jonathan Martin left the team and the Dolphins' bullying scandal began to mushroom.

Miami's Ryan Tannehill nearly connected with Mike Wallace for a 60-yard score in the final seconds.

Backup quarterback Matt Flynn threw for 218 yards to help the Packers storm back from a 16-point deficit for a 26-26 tie as the Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay could only muster field goals in overtime Sunday.

Mason Crosby hit from 20 yards at 10:28 of the extra period and Blair Walsh connected from 35 with 3:54 left.

Greg Jennings, playing his first game at Lambeau Field as a member of the Vikings (3-8-1), dropped a third-down pass with 2:11 left. The Packers (5-5-1) also stumbled on their next possession.

One last chance for the Vikings went nowhere with 1 second left, and the teams walked off with the first tie in the NFL since the Rams and 49ers ended 24-24 on Nov. 11, 2012.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Philip Rivers threw for 392 yards and three touchdowns, the final one a 26-yarder to Seyi Ajirotutu with 24 seconds remaining, to give San Diego a 41-38 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday and end the Chargers' three-game losing streak.

The Chiefs had taken the lead when Alex Smith hit Dwayne Bowe in tight coverage for a go-ahead score with 1:22 left. But the Chargers (5-6) still had two timeouts, and they used both of them to quickly move downfield. Ajirotutu's TD was just his third catch of the season.

It also represented the eighth and final lead change in the game.

Smith threw for 292 yards and three touchdowns for the Chiefs, who dropped their second straight after a 9-0 start. They also lost top pass rusher Tamba Hali and Justin Houston to injuries and now have to turn their attention to the Denver Broncos next week.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Tony Romo threw two touchdowns and led a drive that set up Dan Bailey' 35-yard field goal on the final play as the Dallas Cowboys defeated the Giants 24-21 Sunday.

Dallas ended the Giants' four-game winning streak and most of their playoff hopes.

The victory moved the Cowboys (6-5) into a first-place tie with idle Philadelphia in the NFC East and left the Giants (4-7) wondering about what they gave away in two losses to Dallas.

Romo hit two crucial third-down passes on the 14-play drive that covered the final 4:45 after New York tied the game on a 4-yard touchdown pass from Eli Manning to Louis Murphy Jr. and a 2-point conversion run by Andre Brown.

Romo hit Jason Witten on TDs of 20 and 2 yards, and Dallas got a defensive touchdown on a 50-yard fumble return by Jeff Heath.

CLEVELAND — Ben Roethlisberger threw two touchdown passes and beat Cleveland again as the Pittsburgh Steelers moved back into the playoff picture with a 27-11 win over the Browns on Sunday.

Roethlisberger connected on a 41-yard TD pass to Antonio Brown in the first half, and hit Emmanuel Sanders on a 4-yarder in the third quarter for the Steelers (5-6), who have turned their season around following a 0-4 start.

Roethlisberger finished 22 of 34 for 217 yards and improved to 16-1 against the Browns (4-7), who have lost five of six and seen a promising year turn into yet another miserable one.

Browns quarterback Jason Campbell sustained a head injury in the third quarter when he was sacked by cornerback William Gay. Campbell was struck in the helmet by Gay and his head snapped back and banged the turf.

DETROIT — Matthew Stafford's fourth interception went in and out of Calvin Johnson's hands inside the Tampa Bay 5 in the final minute, allowing the Buccaneers to hold on for a 24-21 win over the Detroit Lions on Sunday.

Tampa Bay (3-8) has won three straight after losing its first eight, joining the 1978 St. Louis Cardinals as the only team to do that.

Tampa Bay rookie Mike Glennon, meanwhile, avoided mistakes. Glennon was 14 of 21 for 247 yards and threw two touchdowns to Tiquan Underwood, whose second score was an 85-yard reception early in the fourth quarter.

The Lions (6-5) have lost two straight for the first time this season. They can blame five turnovers for throwing away a chance to improve their playoff positioning. Rookie Johnthan Banks made the critical pick at the end of the game.

BALTIMORE — Joe Flacco threw a 66-yard touchdown pass to Jacoby Jones, Justin Tucker kicked four field goals and the Baltimore Ravens shut down the sputtering offence of the New York Jets in a 19-3 victory Sunday.

The defending Super Bowl champion Ravens (5-6) had lost four of five before bouncing back to beat New York (5-6) and keep their playoff hopes alive. Jones had four catches for 103 yards.

Baltimore won on the strength of its defence, however, as the Jets went 1 for 12 on third-down conversions. Rookie Geno Smith completed nine of 22 passes for 127 yards and two interceptions, both by Corey Graham.

New York had alternated wins and losses in its first 10 games, but the pattern ended here with its second straight defeat. Jets coach Rex Ryan, who helped run Baltimore's defence from 1999-2008, fell to 0-3 against his former team.

HOUSTON — Maurice Jones-Drew ran for a season-high 84 yards and a touchdown and the Jacksonville Jaguars extended the Houston Texans' losing streak to a franchise-record nine games with a 13-6 victory.

The two-time AFC South champions haven't won since Sept. 15.

Jones-Drew's touchdown on Jacksonville's first drive put the Jaguars (2-9) on top, and they never trailed against an inept and ineffective Texans offence. Josh Scobee added two field goals.

Case Keenum had the worst performance in his five starts, throwing for just 169 yards with an interception.

Houston (2-9) was driving late when rookie Ryan Davis grabbed a one-handed interception off a deflection by Keshawn Martin to seal the win.

ST. LOUIS — Tavon Austin's 65-yard touchdown run — his fourth straight this season from beyond midfield — jump-started a 21-point first quarter and the St. Louis Rams defence made some big plays, too, in a 42-21 victory over the Chicago Bears on Sunday.

The Rams (5-6) followed up a 30-point rout at Indianapolis after their bye in front of their largest crowd of the season, about half of them clad Bears orange. Late scores by rookie backup running back Benny Cunningham and defensive end Robert Quinn helped finish off the Bears (6-5), who remained tied for the NFC North lead.

Josh McCown passed for 352 yards and two touchdowns with an interception for Chicago, which had won four straight in the series. The Bears had a 62-yard punt return for touchdown by Devin Hester nullified by a holding penalty in the fourth quarter.

Ryan Fitzpatrick threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Kendall Wright with 10 seconds remaining to cap a mistake-free performance that put the Tennessee Titans back in playoff contention with a 23-19 victory over the Oakland Raiders on Sunday.

Fitzpatrick also threw a 54-yard TD pass to Justin Hunter and Rob Bironas added three field goals to give Tennessee (5-6) its second win in seven games. But despite the recent slump, the Titans find themselves in a six-way tie for the sixth and final playoff spot in the AFC with five weeks left in the regular season.

The Raiders (4-7) missed a chance to get into that group as the defence failed to hold onto a late lead and Sebastian Janikowski missed two field goals.

Carson Palmer threw two touchdown passes to Larry Fitzgerald, Karlos Dansby returned an interception 22 yards for a score and the Arizona Cardinals won their fourth in a row with a 40-11 victory over the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.

Cardinals coach Bruce Arians beat the team that propelled him to coaching prominence last season, when he took over as Colts interim coach while Chuck Pagano fought leukemia.

Fitzgerald caught five passes for 52 yards, becoming the youngest player in NFL history to reach 11,000 yards receiving.

Arizona's Michael Floyd had his second straight 100-yard receiving day with seven catches for 104 yards for the Cardinals (7-4).

Andrew Luck threw for 163 yards, but had only 84 through three quarters as the Colts (7-4) fell behind 34-3.

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