Senators hold on to beat Red Wings

DETROIT (AP) — Thomas Chabot and Tim Stutzle scored in the first period for Ottawa and the Senators held off the Detroit Red Wings in a 4-3 victory Thursday night.

Linus Ullmark made 31 saves and David Perron and Michael Amadio also had goals for the Senators, who have won eight of their last 11 while holding the first wild-card playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Lucas Raymond had a goal and an assist for the Red Wings, who scored three times in the third period but lost for the fourth time in five games. Patrick Kane and Vladimir Tarasenko also scored for Detroit.

Alex Lyon allowed three goals on 10 shots and was replaced by Cam Talbot, who made 21 saves.

SABRES 7, PENGUINS 3

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Jiri Kulich scored twice as part of a five-goal second period, and Buffalo routed Pittsburgh in an outing where Penguins captain Sidney Crosby broke an NHL record for point-per-game consistency he shared with Wayne Gretzky.

Buffalo won its fourth-straight home game with Tage Thompson, Alex Tuch, Peyton Krebs, Tyson Kozak each securing a goal and assist. Mattias Samuelsson also scored, and backup James Reimer made 22 saves in winning his third consecutive start.

Crosby’s goal 8:49 in to cut Buffalo’s lead to 2-1 was his 80th point, to assure he’ll finish his 20th NHL season averaging at least a point per outing. The 37-year-old surpassed Gretzky, who finished all but his 20th and final NHL season in 1998-99 averaging a point a game.

Kevin Hayes and Blake Lizotte also scored for Pittsburgh, which dropped to 1-3-1 in its past five.

LIGHTNING 8, UTAH 0

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Jake Guentzel and Oliver Bjorkstrand scored two goals each, Andrei Vasilevskiy made 25 saves for his sixth shutout of the season, and Tampa Bay routed Utah.

Brayden Point, Nikita Kucherov, Gage Goncalves and Victor Hedman also scored for Tampa Bay, which won its second in a row and has won five of its last seven games. Kucherov also had three assists.

It was the fourth time this year Tampa Bay has scored eight goals in a game.

Utah starting goalie Karel Vejmelka — who had started 15 straight games — had a rough night, giving up four goals on 11 shots before being lifted after Kucherov made it 4-0 midway through the second period. He was replaced by Jaxson Stauber, who gave up four goals on 10 shots.

FLYERS 6, CANADIENS 4

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Matvei Michkov had two goals and an assist and Philadelphia got off to fast start in their first game after coach John Tortorella’s morning firing, beating Montreal.

With Brad Shaw serving as interim coach, Philadelphia ended a six-game losing streak and handed Montreal its fourth straight loss.

Michkov opened the scoring at 1:55 of the first period, assisted on the first of Sean Couturier’s two goals and added his 22nd goal in the third. Tortorella came under scrutiny when he scratched Michkov or benched him for long periods, explaining it was part of a tough-love approach toward with the Russian rookie.

Nicolas Deslauriers and Tyson Foerster also scored, and Samuel Ersson made 26 saves.

Alex Newhook, Cole Caufield, Patrik Laine and Christian Dvorak scored for Montreal. Jakub Dobes stopped 24 shots.

WILD 4, CAPITALS 2

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Matt Boldy had the go-ahead goal and an assist in the second period for Minnesota n a victory over Washington.

Frederick Gaudreau had two goals, Jon Merrill scored and Filip Gustavsson made 28 saves for the Wild, the only NHL team this season that hasn’t lost (28-0) when leading after two periods.

Matt Roy and Brandon Duhaime scored for the league-leading Capitals, who lost their second straight after a 9-1 stretch.

Alex Ovechkin had a third-period breakaway thwarted by Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin and stayed at 889 career goals. He needs six to pass Wayne Gretzky on the NHL’s career list with 10 regular-season games remaining.

Minnesota got a big boost for its playoff push, having entered the game with a five-point cushion above the cut for the last West wild-card spot.

BLUES 3, PREDATORS 2

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Dylan Holloway scored two goals to lead St. Louis to a comeback victory over Nashville for their season-best eighth straight win.

Cam Fowler also scored and Joel Hofer made 16 saves for the Blues. Robert Thomas had two assists.

Fedor Svechkov and Brady Skjei scored and Juuse Saros made 18 saves for Nashville, which has dropped two of three.

Nashville’s Jonathan Marchessault appeared to tie it late in the third, but a video review determined that time had expired before the puck entered the net.

STARS 5, FLAMES 2

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Casey DeSmith made 46 saves, Roope Hintz and Mikko Rantanen each had a goal and an assist and Dallas beat Calgary.

Wyatt Johnston and Mikael Granlund also scored and Matt Duchene added an empty-net goal for the Stars, winners of four games in a row.

DeSmith got the start for Dallas after Jake Oettinger made 42 saves in the previous night’s 4-3 win over the Edmonton Oilers.

Nazem Kadri scored twice for the Flames.

Flames starter Dustin Wolf stopped 14 of 18 shots in the loss. Calgary captain Mikael Backlund returned to the lineup after six games out with an upper-body injury.

AVALANCHE 4, KINGS 0

DENVER (AP) — Martin Necas had two goals and an assist, Jonathan Drouin and Logan O’Connor also sored, and streaking Colorado beat Los Angeles for their fourth straight win.

Mackenzie Blackwood made 23 saves for his third shutout with Colorado and fourth overall this season. Cale Makar had two assists.

O’Connor and Necas scored goals 1:32 apart early in the second, Necas added a power-play goal later in the period, and Drouin had another on a man-advantage in the third.

Nathan MacKinnon had the primary assist on Drouin’s goal to extend his home point streak to 23 games.

David Rittich had 20 saves for Los Angeles, which had its four-game winning streak stopped.

KRAKEN 6, OILERS 1

SEATTLE (AP) — Jaden Schwartz scored twice, linemates Jani Nyman and Matty Beniers scored 16 seconds apart and Joey Daccord made 36 saves to help Seattle beat Edmonton and snap a three-game skid.

Andre Burakovsky and Jared McCann also had goals for the Kraken, who scored five times in the second period.

Zach Hyman had Edmonton’s only goal. Calvin Pickard, who played 11:07 the previous night in relief of Stuart Skinner, made 24 saves. Olivier Rodrigue took over in the third period and stopped seven shots.

Edmonton stars Connor McDavid (lower-body injury) and Leon Draisaitl (undisclosed) sat out for the third straight game.

MAPLE LEAFS 6, SHARKS 5, OT

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Tyler Toffoli scored two goals and had an assist and San Jose defeated Toronto in a shootout after blowing a late lead.

Collin Graf, Alexander Wennberg and William Eklund also scored for the Sharks, who led 5-3 with less than a minute left.

John Tavares cut Toronto’s deficit to one with 59 seconds remaining and William Nylander tied it 45 seconds later with his second goal of the game.

Will Smith and Macklin Celebrini scored in the shootout and Alexandar Georgiev stopped Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner to seal the win after allowing Nylander to score on Toronto’s first shootout shot. Georgiev made 30 saves in regulation.

Matthews and Scott Laughton had second-period goals for Toronto. Joseph Woll made 30 saves.

Detroit Red Wings center Dylan Larkin (71) loses the puck while trying to take a shot on Ottawa Senators goaltender Linus Ullmark (35) during the first period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, March 27, 2025, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)

LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) — Though Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears fell out of the running for the No. 1 seed in the NFC last week, they still have plenty on the line before the playoffs begin.

A milestone for the quarterback and a stronger postseason position for the team are at stake.

Williams has a chance to become the first 4,000-yard passer in the founding NFL franchise's history, and the NFC North champion Bears can lock up the No. 2 seed in the NFC when they close the regular season against the Detroit Lions at Soldier Field on Sunday.

“What's been stressed is going out to win,” linebacker Tremaine Edmunds said. “If that results in us getting the 2 seed, that's what it is. But the message is going out there to win. Obviously, we understand what comes behind that as far as playing in front of our fans. That's a huge momentum change in the playoffs.”

The Bears (11-5) went from finishing last in the division a year ago to winning the NFC North for the first time since 2018 in their first season under coach Ben Johnson. They're set to make their first postseason appearance in five years.

As impressive as that sounds, they still have a few things to accomplish before the playoffs begin.

They fell out of contention for the top seed last week with a narrow loss at San Francisco, but can lock in the second spot. A win over the Lions or a loss by Philadelphia against Washington would do just that. Chicago would host Green Bay in a wild-card game and have home-field advantage in the divisional round if it beats the Packers.

The Bears would get the third seed with a loss to the Lions and a win by Philadelphia. In that scenario, they would host the sixth seed next week and would potentially have to travel for the divisional round if they advance.

Williams will almost certainly set Chicago's single-season passing record. With 3,730 yards, he needs 109 to surpass Erik Kramer’s 3,838 in 1995. The bigger question is whether he can also get to 4,000. The Bears are the only team in the NFL not to have a 4,000-yard passer.

The Bears have dropped three straight and six of seven against Detroit, including a 52-21 embarrassment at Ford Field in Week 2 that put them at 0-2. But they're now in a far better spot.

Detroit (8-8) comes in with three straight losses and no shot at the playoffs after falling 23-10 at Minnesota last week.

It's a big letdown for a team that set a franchise record for wins last year while claiming the No. 1 seed in the NFC with a 15-2 record. The Lions lost two coordinators in the offseason, with Johnson taking the Bears job and Aaron Glenn becoming the New York Jets' head coach.

They've struggled on offense and defense lately and are in danger of finishing last in the NFC North. They're tied with Minnesota, with the Vikings winning both meetings.

“We would’ve liked to get on a little bit of a stretch there at some point in the last eight games and be able to string a few together and get out of that adversity,” quarterback Jared Goff said. “But we weren’t able to and it sucks and I wish there was a magic potion that would have fixed everything, but there isn’t."

The Lions will need Goff to shake off his worst performance of the year and play more like he did against Chicago in Week 2 if they're going to end the season on a winning note.

The four-time Pro Bowler set season highs with two interceptions and three fumbles and matched one by getting sacked five times last week. But in the first meeting with the Bears, he dominated. Goff threw for 334 yards and matched a career best with five touchdown passes, including three scores to Amon-Ra St. Brown. It's the only division win for the Lions, who are 1-4 against the NFC North.

Detroit has been hit by its share of injuries, particularly on an offensive line that came in with two new guards after moving Graham Glasgow to center.

Rookie Tate Ratledge took over at right guard, while injuries have forced a rotation at left guard. Glasgow, meanwhile, has been dealing with a knee injury. He missed the game against Pittsburgh two weeks ago and was relegated to two special teams snaps last week, with rookie Kingsley Eguakun making his second straight start at center. Left tackle Taylor Decker, who will mull retirement in the offseason, is expected to start after missing last week’s game due to illness.

Coach Dan Campbell wants the line to finish the season with a strong showing.

“See if we can polish some things up, work together, work our combinations — just a little bit,’’ he said.

The Bears have been the best in the NFL at taking the ball away — and hanging onto it.

Chicago leads the NFL in interceptions (22), takeaways (32) and turnover differential (plus-22). The Bears have also committed a league-low 10 turnovers. Williams has 23 games without an interception, something no other starting NFL quarterback has done in their first two seasons.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell wipes his face during a news conference after an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson walks on the field during the second half of an NFL football game against the San Francisco 49ers in Santa Clara, Calif., Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)

Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff walks off the field after the team's loss to the Minnesota Vikings in an NFL football game, Thursday, Dec. 25, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams passes against the San Francisco 49ers during the second half of an NFL football game in Santa Clara, Calif., Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Eakin Howard)