In brief: Maple Leafs earn 3-2 win after both Panthers goalies injured
NHL: Peter Holland and the Toronto Maple Leafs took advantage after both Florida goalies were injured Tuesday night and beat the Panthers 3-2 to snap a franchise-worst 16-game, road losing streak at Sunrise, Florida.
Holland netted the winning goal 5:28 into the third period against Al Montoya, who had replaced injured starter Roberto Luongo after the first period. It was the Maple Leafs’ first road win in 17 games (0-14-2) since they beat Boston on Dec. 31
The Panthers changed goalies twice, and even had goalie coach Robb Tallas get dressed on an emergency basis, but the 41-year-old Tallas never entered the game. He hasn’t played in an NHL game since 2001.
Montoya was injured early in the third period, but managed to stay in the game despite being hobbled. He eventually was replaced by Luongo, who got back into uniform after changing into street clothes.
Panthers general manager Dale Tallon said that the team was in contact with the NHL and trying to get Tallas cleared to play. While that process was ongoing, the Panthers decided to have Montoya return to the game.
Tallas was ultimately cleared, but Luongo wound up being the one who replaced Montoya. Luongo had a CT scan performed during the game.
“It’s rare. Doesn’t happen very often,” Tallon said. “You’re in constant communication with the league to do the right thing and you have to have him be legal and it has to be cleared by central registry.
“It’s hard to do that at 11 o’clock or 10:30 at night. … If we couldn’t get him cleared, it would have had to be a player.”
• Lightning rookie posts first shutout: Tampa Bay rookie Andrei Vasilevskiy made 28 saves in his first NHL shutout, and the Lightning beat visiting Buffalo Sabres 3-0.
• Ovechkin scores twice: Alex Ovechkin added to his NHL-leading total with two goals, leading the charge in a Washington’s 5-3 victory over Columbus, the Blue Jackets’ seventh loss in a row.
Ovechkin, who has won the Richard Trophy as the league’s goal-scoring leader the last two years and four times overall, now has 43.
• Devils whip slumping Predators: Cory Schneider made 33 saves, and playoff-hopeful New Jersey beat NHL-leading Nashville 3-1 at Newark, New Jersey, sending the Predators to their season-worst fourth straight loss.
• Wild snaps Senators’ win streak: Charlie Coyle scored the winner in a shootout, Matt Dumba had two goals in regulation and the Wild stopped visiting Ottawa’s five-game winning streak with a 3-2 victory.
Hawks down Houston for fifth straight win
NBA: Jeff Teague scored 25 points, Al Horford added 18 and NBA-leading Atlanta rallied from an 18-point deficit to win their fifth straight game, 104-96 over visiting Houston.
James Harden, the league’s leading scorer, was serving a one-game suspension and did not play for Houston, but the Rockets led for the most of the game until Teague’s 3-pointer with 4:24 remaining put Atlanta up 91-90.
Houston forced a couple of ties in the closing minutes, but never regained the lead.
Jason Terry finished with 21 points in a reserve role and starting forward Terrence Jones had 18 points for Houston.
• Cleveland crushes Boston: LeBron James scored 27 points to move into 21st place on the NBA’s career list, and host Cleveland cruised to a 110-79 victory over Boston.
James, who has 24,508 career points, moved past Ray Allen with a layup in the third quarter. He was pulled with 4:41 remaining in the period and didn’t return, playing 26 minutes.
• Depleted Bulls beat Wizards: Nikola Mirotic scored 23 points to lead short-handed Chicago past visiting Washington 97-92.
The Bulls were without former MVP Derrick Rose (right knee), All-Star Jimmy Butler (left elbow), and trusted reserve Taj Gibson (left ankle), but still managed to improve to 4-2 on their season-high seven-game homestand.
• Jazz knock off Grizzlies: Gordon Hayward and Derrick Favors scored 21 points each, Rudy Gobert added 15 points and a career-best 24 rebounds to lead visiting Utah to a 93-82 victory over Memphis.
The Grizzlies have lost three of four.
• Collison has surgery: Sacramento Kings guard Darren Collison has undergone surgery to repair a core muscle injury. He is expected to be out for approximately six weeks.
Collison is averaging 16.1 points, 3.2 rebounds and a team-high 5.6 assists per game.
No. 1 Kentucky rallies to defeat Georgia
College men: No. 1 Kentucky overcame a nine-point deficit in the second half to keep its perfect season intact, beating Georgia 72-64 at Athens, Georgia.
The Wildcats (30-0, 17-0 Southeastern Conference) had won their previous five games by an average of 24 points.
They were really challenged in this one by Georgia (19-10, 10-7), which had the sellout crowd roaring when Yante Maten tipped in a miss of his own shot to put the Bulldogs up 56-47 with 9 minutes remaining.
But Kentucky showed it knows how to win the close games, too. The Wildcats began pounding the ball inside to 6-foot-11 freshman Karl-Anthony Towns, who managed to stay in the game until the closing seconds after picking up his fourth foul.
Kentucky seized the game with a 14-0 run, and Georgia hurt its chances by missing three straight 1-and-1s.
• Kansas claims 11th straight title in OT: Frank Mason III capped one of the biggest comebacks in Allen Fieldhouse history by scoring the last eight points in overtime to lead No. 9 Kansas (24-6, 13-4 Big 12) past No. 20 West Virginia 76-69 for the Jayhawks’ 11th consecutive Big 12 title at Lawrence, Kansas.
Daxter Miles had 23 points for West Virginia (22-8, 10-7), which was without star guard Juwan Staten, who had scored at least 20 points in each of the last three games against Kansas. The Jayhawks trailed by as many as 18 points in the first half.
• Hoyas win at No. 21 Butler: D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera scored 16 points, helping Georgetown (19-9, 11-6 Big East) hold on for a 60-54 victory over No. 21 Butler (21-9, 11-6) at Indianapolis.
The Hoyas have won four of their last five and still have a chance at the No. 2 seed in next week’s Big East tournament.
• Maryland streak reaches six: Dez Wells scored six straight points after Rutgers tied the game late in the second half and No. 10 Maryland (25-5, 13-4 Big Ten) won its sixth straight game, a much-harder than expected 60-50 victory over the Scarlet Knights (10-20, 21-15) at Piscataway, New Jersey.
• No. 4 Villanova holds off Creighton: Ryan Arcidiacono converted a three-point play to give No. 4 Villanova (28-2, 15-2 Big East) the lead in the last minute and came up with the game’s final rebound, allowing the Wildcats to turn back Creighton’s upset bid and win its 11th straight game, 76-72 at Omaha, Nebraska.
Chatman scored 21 points to lead Creighton (13-17, 4-13), which lost for the seventh time when leading in the final minute.