Alex Ovechkin scored 22 seconds into overtime and the Washington Capitals rallied to beat the Maple Leafs 6-5 on Tuesday night and end Toronto’s winning streak at five.
Ovechkin’s 18th goal of the season came after the Capitals erased multiple deficits to win their third in a row. The Russian superstar moved to within five points of 1,000 for his career.
Justin Williams had a goal and two assists, and T. J. Oshie, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Dmitry Orlov and John Carlson also scored for Washington. Philipp Grubauer made 15 saves in relief of Braden Holtby, who was pulled after allowing three goals on eight shots.
Nazem Kadri, Connor Brown, Frederik Gauthier, Leo Komarov and Mitch Marner scored for the Maple Leafs. Frederik Andersen made 23 saves.
Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock expected the Capitals‘ best jab after a punchless effort the last time the teams met in Toronto in November. Williams struck first with his 10th goal of the season just 1:14 in, and Washington had the game’s first five shots.
There was no shortage of back-and-forth action or scoring the rest of the first period with Maple Leafs goals from Kadri, Brown and Gauthier sandwiched around Oshie’s 12th of the season. The start of the second period brought a goaltending switch as Capitals coach Barry Trotz pulled Holtby for Grubauer.
That didn’t slow Toronto, which broke through twice against Washington’s penalty kill — the Caps hadn’t allowed a goal in seven games dating to Dec. 16. But as is common with young teams, the Leafs suffered a third-period letdown as goals by Kuznetsov and Orlov tied the score at 4. Marner gave them back the lead on a nifty breakaway, but then Carlson scored with 6:05 left in regulation.
NOTES: It was the start of the Maple Leafs‘ two-game fathers trip. … Capitals defenseman Nate Schmidt was a healthy scratch for the second consecutive game. … The Capitals won for the seventh time in eight games against the Maple Leafs. … Washington’s streak of 29 consecutive penalties killed ended with Kadri’s goal in the first period. … Toronto was coming off a victory over Detroit in the outdoor Centennial Classic on Sunday.
UP NEXT
Maple Leafs: Play at New Jersey on Friday night.
Capitals: Try to stop Columbus‘ 16-game winning streak on Thursday night. The Blue Jackets are one win shy of tying the 1992-93 Penguins for the longest streak ever in the NHL.

Similarity rank: 0

Sentiment rank: 3.5

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No. 13 Wisconsin started fast and finished strong Tuesday night.
In between, the Badgers made Indiana pay a heavy price for its mistakes.
Ethan Happ scored 19 points, Bronson Koenig had 17 and Wisconsin used a 14-point scoring advantage off turnovers to hold on for a 75-68 victory at Assembly Hall.
„We try to put a maximum value on every possession and not just turn it up in the last 4 or 5 minutes,“ Badgers coach Greg Gard said. „They understand the value of every possession and they are used to playing in that situation, where we expect them to do good things on every possession — not just the last 5 minutes. “
That’s one reason the Badgers (13-2, 2-0 Big Ten) extended their winning streak to nine by snapping a two-game losing streak in Bloomington.
And they made it look easy in the game’s three most crucial sequences — a 13-0 run at the start, a 10-2 spurt late in the second half to retake control and four straight free throws made in the final minute.
For Indiana, it’s been a mind-boggling week.
The defending Big Ten champs entered conference play with seven wins in eight games and a 26-game home-court winning streak.
Now they have lost three straight, two in a row on their home court and 16 of 18 in the Wisconsin series.
Indiana shot 53.1 percent from the field, made 5 of 15 from 3-point range and outrebounded the Badgers 32-25 — numbers that are normally solid enough to produce a win.
But because Wisconsin converted 13 turnovers into 23 points and only gave up nine points on its seven, the Hoosiers (10-5, 0-2) came up short.
„The problem with tonight is we had six turnovers in the first half and they scored two points on every one of them,“ coach Tom Crean said. „Against the best teams, you can’t have bad segments. “
De’Ron Davis, Juwan Morgan and Robert Johnson each finished with 12 points to lead the Hoosiers, who took their last lead at 57-56 with 7:06 to play.
Wisconsin responded with a 10-2 spurt, taking a 66-59 lead with 4:30 to play, and Indiana couldn’t get closer than three the rest of the game.
„Every team wants to get up and down the court, get a lot of good shots in transition. They got a couple too many tonight,“ Wisconsin’s Zak Showalter said after scoring 14 points. „But I think we were really able to take them out of what they wanted to do tonight. “
BIG PICTURE
Wisconsin: The Badgers are still the Big Ten’s king of the road. By picking up their 50th win outside the Kohl Center over the past four seasons, Wisconsin is on pace to extend its league record by finishing in the Big Ten’s top four for a 17th consecutive season.
Indiana: An old nemesis made life tough on the Hoosiers. The Hoosiers have lost six of the last eight to the Badgers at Assembly Hall and their chances of repeating have taken a big hit after losing both conference games at home.
NIGEL IN CHECK
Nigel Hayes always seems to be a thorn in the side of the Hoosiers defense. This time, Crean went big and slowed him down.
Hayes finished 10 points and had two rebounds but was just 2 of 3 from the free throw line. In the previous three games against the Hoosiers, Hayes was 30 of 39 on free throws. Afterward, Crean acknowledged he brought Johnson off the bench because he didn’t want a three-guard lineup against Wisconsin.
POOR START
Crean was as confounded as Indiana fans by the inexplicable opening minutes. Morgan had an explanation.
„We just didn’t come out with the right mindset,“ he said. „I don’t think everybody was ready to fight. It was just a mental lapse in the coverages and it was just small mistakes that could have been prevented. “
UP NEXT
Wisconsin: Completes the second part of its Hoosier State doubleheader with a visit to No. 20 Purdue on Sunday.
Indiana: After consecutive games against top 15 foes , the schedule might get a bit easier when Illinois visits Saturday.

Similarity rank: 0

Sentiment rank: 6.5

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Ryan Shawcross and Peter Crouch scored either side of the interval to earn Stoke a first win in six and pile more misery on Walter Mazzarri’s Watford.
Potters skipper Shawcross, whose last goal came exactly two years and two days earlier, fired past an unconvincing Heurelho Gomes in first-half stoppage time before Crouch benefited from some abject defending from Sebastian Prodl for his 98th Premier League shortly after the resumption.
The 2-0 success lifted Mark Hughes‘ men up to 11th in the table, above the injury-ravaged Hornets, whose head coach Mazzarri looks under increasing pressure amid fears they could be in the midst of a similar collapse to the one they suffered in the second half of last season.
TWEET OF THE MATCH
„Two goals away from a Peter Crouch episode of „PL 100 Club“ on Sky Sports 3 every Tuesday lunchtime. “ – Freelance football writer Adam Hurrey (@FootballCliches)
STAR MAN
Ryan Shawcross. Hasn’t always looked comfortable in the three-man defence his manager has persisted with but he led a solid showing here and ended his long wait for a goal to put Stoke ahead at a key time.
DATA POINT
Having gone 19 months without scoring in the Premier League, Crouch netted for the second time in four days. It was the first time he had scored in back-to-back top flight games since February 2015.
MOAN OF THE MATCH
That Hughes felt he had to sacrifice Giannelli Imbula, Xherdan Shaqiri and Bojan Krkic to restore some stability. Stoke have been a joy to watch when their flair players have found form and they need to rediscover the balance between pragmatic and pretty.
RATINGS
Stoke
Lee Grant 7
Glen Johnson 7
Ryan Shawcross 8
Bruno Martins Indi 7
Mame Diouf 6
Joe Allen 7
Charlie Adam 7
Erik Pieters 6
Marko Arnautovic 6
Peter Crouch 7
Jonathan Walters 6
Substitutes
Ibrahim Afellay (on for Diouf) 6
Glenn Whelan (on for Adam) 6
Watford
Heurelho Gomes 6
Younes Kaboul 6
Sebastian Prodl 5
Christian Kabasele 6
Miguel Britos 6
Abdoulaye Doucoure 7
Adlene Guedioura 5
Valon Behrami 6
Etienne Capoue 6
Jose Holebas 6
Troy Deeney 6
Substitutes
Odion Ighalo (on for Behrami) 6
Jerome Sinclair (on for Guedioura) 6
Michael Folivi (on for Prodl) 6
WHO’S UP NEXT?
Stoke v Wolves (FA Cup, January 7)
Watford v Burton (FA Cup, January 7)

Similarity rank: 0.1

Sentiment rank: 4.5

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By Chris Emma–
(CBS) The Bears will get an important scouting opportunity at the end of the month, with John Fox and his staff offered the chance to coach the Senior Bowl.
In a right awarded to teams at the top of the draft, the Bears will get the opportunity to look at some of the top prospects in this class up close.
“We’re excited for this opportunity to get a hands-on look at some of the top draft-eligible players in the nation,” Fox said in a statement. “The Senior Bowl experience will provide our coaches and personnel staff an extended chance to evaluate these players in a one-on-one setting, which could prove to be very valuable as we approach the NFL Draft. It’s a great opportunity to spend some extra time with these guys and see how they respond to our staff.”
The Bears have coached the Senior Bowl on three different occasions, with Dave Wannstedt’s staff last doing so in 1996. Mike Ditka’s staff coached the game in 1992, and Jack Pardee’s staff coached in 1979.
Hue Jackson’s staff from the Browns will coach the South team, while Fox and the Bears will lead the North.
Coaching this game has provided teams the opportunity to evaluate some of the game’s top prospects with their own personnel, offering a rare chance to look at the players before the NFL Combine.
Last year, the Cowboys coaching staff used its opportunity to evaluate Dak Prescott in the Senior Bowl. They selected him in the fourth round, with the quarterback becoming a Rookie of the Year candidate and leading Dallas to the top seed in the NFC for this postseason, one year removed from going 4-12.
Fox has never coached in the Senior Bowl before. His Bears finished the season 3-13, and he now holds a record of 9-23 after two seasons in Chicago.
On Wednesday, Fox and general manager Ryan Pace will meet with the media at Halas Hall for the first time since the end of the season.
Chris Emma covers the Bears, Chicago’s sports scene and more for CBSChicago.com. Follow him on Twitter @CEmma670 and like his Facebook page.

Similarity rank: 1.1

Sentiment rank: 5.6

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