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A terrible third period in Columbus has put the Tampa Bay Lightning in a sour mood to start their four-game road trip. After surrendering a trio of third-period goals against the Blue Jackets in Thursday’s 4-2 loss, the Lightning visit Canada’s capital to face the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night. Coach Jon Cooper and the Lightning intend to leave the baggage from Thursday’s disaster at customs. Nursing a 2-1 lead in the third period, Cooper’s

The Boston Bruins emerged victorious against the Detroit Red Wings last Saturday as part of their franchise-record, season-opening point streak. They’ll look for a repeat this Saturday when they visit the Red Wings. Boston posted a 4-1 home win over the Red Wings, then won in overtime against Florida on Monday and via a shootout versus Toronto on Thursday. The Bruins are now 9-0-1, their best start in franchise history. “It’s such a fun group

South Carolina wants to make the leap during the second season of the Lamont Paris era. The first opportunity to take a step forward comes Monday with a clash versus South Carolina Upstate in Columbia, S.C., in the opener for both teams. Paris replaced long-time coach Frank Martin and guided the Gamecocks to an 11-21 overall record (4-14 in the Southeastern Conference) last season, which served as a 12th-place finish in a 14-team league. South

Unless you have access to “one-and-done” players, you win in college basketball by getting old. Stanford coach Jerod Haase can finally make that claim about the Cardinal this season, which is why they’re optimistic heading into Monday night’s season opener against Cal State Northridge in Palo Alto, Calif. Stanford returns three starters from a 14-19 team that when it played its best last year, could beat anyone, as displayed in a late-season upset of Arizona.

Managing expectations will be at the forefront Saturday when the Houston Rockets play host to the Sacramento Kings. After finishing with the third-best record in the Western Conference last season, while snapping a playoff drought that covered 16 seasons, the Sacramento Kings have not opened this campaign like a house ablaze. The Kings led the NBA in offensive rating a year ago at 118.6 but have slipped to eighth thus far in the early stages

It won’t make up for what happened in the 2023 playoffs, but the Minnesota Timberwolves are riding high into Saturday’s game in Minneapolis against the Utah Jazz after picking up a big victory in their most recent performance. On Wednesday, the Timberwolves handed the reigning NBA champion Denver Nuggets their first loss of the 2023-24 season with a 110-89 blowout victory at home. Anthony Edwards scored 24 points for Minnesota, Karl-Anthony Towns contributed 21 points

The Atlanta Hawks have been on a roll over their last three games. After losing their first two games of the season, they have averaged 128 points in comfortable wins against Milwaukee, Minnesota and Washington. They’ll seek a fourth straight win when they visit the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday night. “The sky was not falling when we lost our first two,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said, “and we don’t need to congratulate ourselves for

Philadelphia 76ers point guard Tyrese Maxey is reaping the benefits of James Harden’s absence. Maxey has emerged as one of the league’s most promising young talents, and he will look to keep up his high level of play on Saturday afternoon when Philadelphia faces the visiting Phoenix Suns. With Harden holding out for a trade, Maxey stepped into a starting role, excelling right out of the gate. He averaged 30.3 points, 6.7 rebounds and 6.3

The Los Angeles Lakers look to put a halt to their early road woes on Saturday night when they open a four-game road swing against the Orlando Magic. The Lakers began the regular season with a 119-107 loss in Denver on Oct. 24 before dropping a 132-127 overtime decision in Sacramento five nights later. Los Angeles rebounded in short order, with D’Angelo Russell scoring 28 points in a 106-103 victory over the Magic on Monday.

Though BYU and West Virginia have the same overall records, they come into their Saturday Big 12 matchup at Morgantown, W.Va., following entirely different experiences last weekend. In their first-ever visit to the state of West Virginia, the Cougars (5-3, 2-3 Big 12) hope to bounce back after a 35-6 road loss to then-No. 7 Texas. The Mountaineers (5-3, 3-2) will look to keep momentum gained last week in a 41-28 win at UCF after