Sports
Hurricanes never trail in marquee showdown with Lightning
Mar 14, 2026; Tampa, Florida, USA; Carolina Hurricanes forward Jordan Staal (11) defends Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Darren Raddysh (43) in the first period at Benchmark International Arena. Mandatory Credit: Morgan Tencza-Imagn Images Jordan Martinook scored the tiebreaking goal in the third period, and the Eastern Conference-leading Carolina Hurricanes won 4-2 over the host Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night.
A minute after Carolina defenseman Sean Walker made an amazing kick save on Brandon Hagel’s shot headed for an open net with goaltender Frederik Andersen (17 saves) angled away from the cage, Martinook whipped in a sharp-angled shot at 9:18 for a 3-2 lead.
With Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy finally pulled for an extra skater inside of two minutes after a dominant offensive-zone shift by the Hurricanes, Andersen stuffed Nikita Kucherov’s game-tying attempt while charging through the low slot.
Logan Stankoven’s empty-net goal with 91 seconds remaining gave Carolina a 9-3-0 record in the past 12 games.
Andrei Svechnikov and Sebastian Aho had a goal and an assist apiece. Rod Brind’Amour coached his 600th NHL game behind the Carolina bench and won for the 367th time.
Tampa Bay’s Yanni Gourde and Charle-Edouard D’Astous tallied, while Vasilevskiy made 31 saves as the Lightning fell to 2-7-0 over nine games.
After Svechnikov was fouled by Victor Hedman driving across the goal in the first minute, he looped around on the delayed penalty, took a feed from Aho and broke a tie in goals with the Finnish center with his 24th.
The top-line duo was at it again on the match’s second tally after K’Andre Miller sprung Aho on a breakaway, which Vasilevskiy turned away. Trailing the play, Svechnikov found the rebound and fed Aho at the far post for an easy marker at 17:28 to create another tie in goals with his linemate.
In the second period, Vasilevskiy’s stop on Svechnikov’s shot from the slot was swept out by Hedman to Gourde. The gritty forward then beat Andersen from the right circle at 14:10 to halve the lead.
Just 81 seconds later, Brayden Point led a rush and saucered a pass over to D’Astous, who won a race with Miller and chipped in the tying tally.
In the first two minutes of the third, defense excelled as Vasilevskiy made a sprawling save on Taylor Hall’s shot from point-blank range.
Then Carolina defenseman Jaccob Slavin foiled Jake Guentzel’s pass that would have been an easy tap-in for Point at the post and put the home side up by a goal.
Carolina outshot Tampa Bay, 11-2, over the final 20 minutes.
–Field Level Media
Sports
No. 17 Arkansas needs OT to end Ole Miss' SEC tournament run
Mar 14, 2026; Nashville, TN, USA; Arkansas Razorbacks forward Malique Ewin (12) blocks the shot of Mississippi Rebels forward Corey Chest (1) during the first half at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images NASHVILLE — Third-seeded Arkansas got 29 points from Meleek Thomas, 24 from Darius Acuff Jr. and double-doubles from Trevon Brazile and Malique Ewen to escape with a 93-90 overtime victory over 15th-seeded Ole Miss on Saturday in the Southeastern Conference tournament semifinals.
Ewen scored 14 and pulled down a game-high 13 boards while Brazile scored 16 with 10 rebounds as No. 17 Arkansas (25-8) advanced to face No. 22 Vanderbilt (26-7) in Sunday’s final. The fourth-seeded Commodores bounced top-seeded Florida 91-74 in the day’s first semifinal.
AJ Storr scored a team-high 24 points for Ole Miss (15-20), which included a basket with one second left to send the game into overtime. Malik Dia chipped in 16 points for the Rebels, who nearly pulled off their fourth upset in as many days. They also got 15 from Patton Pinkins and 13 from Ilias Kamardine.
Arkansas outrebounded the Rebels 44-31 and shot 74.2% from the line, though its 4-of-8 shooting in overtime left the door open for the upset.
With five seconds left in regulation and Ole Miss trailing 79-77, Storr took the ball the length of the floor and banked in a left-handed layup with one second left.
Arkansas never trailed in overtime, but Storr’s drive and dunk with nine seconds left kept Ole Miss in position to win by cutting the lead to 91-90.
Acuff hit the second of two free throws and then Storr missed a 3-point attempt from the right side. Brazile got the rebound and hit the second of two foul shots, which gave Arkansas a chance to set its defense.
Travis Perry’s mid-court heave crashed off the backboard as time expired.
Arkansas built an 11-point lead midway through the first half, but couldn’t put away Ole Miss. The Rebels trailed 37-36 at half after shooting 11 of 15 on layups.
Arkansas held a 70-60 lead with 5:43 to play in regulation after Thomas hit two foul shots.
Kamardine hit two free throws with seven seconds left to get Ole Miss within one.
Two seconds later, after a timeout, Kamardine fouled out, sending Thomas to the line where he hit one of two for Arkansas’s last points of regulation.
– Chris Lee, Field Level Media
Sports
Connor Hellebuyck, Jets get crucial win vs. NHL-best Avs
Mar 14, 2026; Winnipeg, Manitoba, CAN; Winnipeg Jets center Adam Lowry (17) checks Colorado Avalanche center Nazem Kadri (91) in front of Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck (37) in the first period at Canada Life Centre. Mandatory Credit: James Carey Lauder-Imagn Images Connor Hellebuyck made 28 saves as the Winnipeg Jets defeated the visiting Colorado Avalanche 3-1 on Saturday afternoon.
Kyle Connor picked up a goal and an assist, while Alex Iafallo and Cole Perfetti also scored for Winnipeg. Mark Scheifele added two assists as the Jets moved within five points of the second and final wild card in the Western Conference.
Martin Necas got Colorado’s lone goal. Mackenzie Blackwood made 15 stops for Colorado, which holds the best record in the NHL.
In the first period, neither team was able to find the back of the net, but the Avalanche held an 8-5 edge on shots.
The Jets opened the scoring 2:05 into the middle frame when, on the rush, Scheifele found a streaking Connor in the slot, who drove a wrist shot into the net to give Winnipeg a 1-0 lead. The goal marked Connor’s 30th of the season and Scheifele’s 50th assist.
Winnipeg extended its lead to 2-0 with 8:08 remaining in the second when Iafallo took a one-timer off the chest from Scheifele, who fired the puck on net from high in the zone, and was able to spin around and tuck the puck home past Blackwood.
Colorado’s best chance to get on the board up that point came from Brock Nelson, who missed a wide-open net when he slid the puck across the crease and wide with 10 seconds left in the second period.
That miss allowed Winnipeg to maintain its 2-0 advantage after 40 minutes. Colorado held a 16-12 edge in shots heading into the third period.
Hellebuyck’s bid for his first shutout of the season ended with 1:16 left in regulation when Necas pulled in a long pass from Nathan MacKinnon across the zone and wired it past the Jets netminder to cut the deficit to 2-1.
The hope for a comeback didn’t last long, however, as MacKinnon lost the puck near the blue line. Cole Perfetti corralled it and fired a long shot into the empty net 34 seconds later, with 42 seconds remaining, to seal the 3-1 final.
Sports
Report: Three asylum seekers choose to leave Australia, return to Iran
A small crowd of people gathered in front of the Florida House of Representatives hold signs and flags as they advocate to free Iran, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. Three of the five players from the Iran women’s soccer team, who had attempted to seek asylum earlier this week while the team was in Australia, have elected to return home, The Australian newspaper reported Saturday.
The Iranian team was in Australia for the Women’s Asian Cup when the war between Iran, Israel and the Unites States began. Five players left the team and were given humanitarian visas in Australia.
Australia’s Home Affairs department gave the three players requesting a return home multiple chances to reconsider before their request was honored.
“While the Australian government can ensure that opportunities are provided and communicated, we cannot remove the context in which the players are making these incredibly difficult decisions,” Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said, according to the Australian. “The Australian government has done everything we could to make sure these women were provided with the chance for a safe future in Australia.”
Iran’s women’s team started play in the Women’s Asian Cup just after the war in their home country started. The team lost all three games it played and were eliminated from the event.
–Field Level Media
No. 17 Arkansas needs OT to end Ole Miss' SEC tournament run
NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for March 15, 2026
