HOCKEY

Zachary Bouthillier made 37 saves – 19 in the third period – as the Maine Mariners won their third straight, 2-1 over the Iceman at Jacksonville, Florida, on Wednesday night.

Maine was outshot 19-1 in the third period, 38-20 for the game.

Jacksonville took the lead on a first-period goal by Jeff Taylor, but Maine tied it on Justin Brazeau’s power-play goal later in the period.

Cameron Agnew broke the tie with a goal in the second period for the Mariners, who play Jacksonville a third straight time on Friday night. Maine beat the Icemen 3-1 on Tuesday.

NHL: Aleksander Barkov is hurt, and the Florida Panthers are relieved it’s not as bad as initially feared.

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Barkov will be week-to-week with a knee injury but will not need surgery, Panthers interim coach Andrew Brunette revealed.

Barkov was injured in a knee-to-knee collision with Scott Mayfield of the New York Islanders in the second period of their game Tuesday night, won 6-1 by Florida. Mayfield was called for a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct.

• The Chicago Blackhawks hired Rob Cookson as an assistant coach and promoted Marc Crawford to associate coach.

Cookson, 60, also has worked on NHL staffs with Ottawa, Calgary and Philadelphia.

The Blackhawks had been working with a smaller staff since Coach Jeremy Colliton and assistants Tomas Mitell and Sheldon Brookbank were fired on Nov. 6. Derek King was promoted from the minors, replacing Colliton on an interim basis.

TENNIS

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The 2022 Australian Open is out of the question for Roger Federer as he continues to work to come back from his latest knee surgery, and the 20-time Grand Slam singles champion now says he “would be extremely surprised if I could play Wimbledon.”

Still, the 40-year-old Swiss great said he believes he is capable of the “ultimate dream” of playing in another Slam final. Presently tied with Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal for the most Grand Slam singles titles in men’s tennis, Federer seemed realistic yet determined to chart the closing arc of a remarkable career.

“My ambition is to see what I’m capable of one last time,” he said in an interview with Le Matin, a Swiss newspaper. “I also wish I could say goodbye in my own way and on a tennis court. That’s why I give my all in my rehabilitation. Then, let’s be clear, my life is not going to collapse if I don’t play a Grand Slam final again. But it would be the ultimate dream to go back. And, in fact, I still believe in it. I believe in these kinds of miracles.”

Federer was last seen playing in Wimbledon – which he has won eight times – losing a quarterfinal to Hubert Hurkacz on July 7. After withdrawing from the U.S. Open in mid-August, Federer said knee surgery was the “only glimmer of hope” he had of being able to compete at the level he wants. Federer has had four procedures on his knees over the past few years and said in August that he had hurt himself at Wimbledon.

Having to miss January’s Australian Open is “no surprise,” Federer told the Tribune de Genève. It also seems to rule out the French Open, which is scheduled to begin in late May, about a month before Wimbledon. He didn’t specifically address it, but he didn’t write off the U.S. Open, which he has won five times and which is scheduled to begin in late August. He made it clear, though, that he is playing a long game as he recovers.

NAOMI OSAKA says she’s been shocked to hear about a fellow player who has gone quiet since making a sexual assault allegation against a former top government official in China. The Japanese former No. 1-ranked Osaka, a four-time major winner, posted on social media on Wednesday to join those asking: where is Peng Shuai?

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In a Twitter post – under the hashtag WhereIsPengShuai – Osaka wrote: “Not sure if you’ve been following the news but I was recently informed of a fellow tennis player that has gone missing shortly after revealing that she has been sexually abused. Censorship is never ok at any cost.”

The 24-year-old Osaka, who hasn’t played at tour-level since her U.S. Open title defense ended in a third-round loss in September, said she hoped Peng and her family “are safe and ok.”

Peng wrote in a lengthy social media post earlier this month that a former vice premier had forced her to have sex despite repeated refusals. The post was removed from her verified account on Weibo, a leading Chinese social media platform, and China’s entirely state-controlled media has suppressed all reporting on the case.

PREP SCHOOLS

BOYS’ HOCKEY: Daxton St. Hilaire had two goals and Aidan Farion made 23 saves as North Yarmouth Academy defeated Bridgton Academy 5-2 in a season opener in Bridgton.

Cooper St. Hilaire, James Papavasliou and Nolan Pecora also scored for the Panthers.

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ATP FINALS: Novak Djokovic advanced to the semifinals of the ATP Finals by beating Andrey Rublev 6-3, 6-2 on Wednesday in Turin, Italy. The top-ranked Djokovic is attempting to match Roger Federer’s record of six titles at the season-ending event for the top eight players in the world.

Djokovic was again almost perfect on his serve, although Rublev managed to break him in the opening game. Djokovic broke twice in each set and won the match with his 12th ace.

TRACK AND FIELD

RUSSIA DOPING: Russia’s doping suspension from track and field was extended into a seventh year on Wednesday, with cautious praise for reformers and a warning that not everyone supports their changes.

World Athletics voted to maintain the suspension, which was first imposed in November 2015, at its congress. The sport’s governing body said 126 national federations voted for the extension, with 18 against and 34 not voting. The vote followed a presentation from the head of World Athletics’ task force supervising Russia’s reforms, Rune Andersen. He wrote in a report that there is a “new culture” at the troubled Russian track and field federation, known as RusAF.

The federation is under new management after former president Dmitry Shlyakhtin and four other officials were banned for obstructing an anti-doping investigation into a top athlete by presenting fake medical documents. Russia was hoping to have the ban lifted in 2019 before that case pushed the country back to the brink of being expelled from World Athletics altogether.

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SOCCER

WORLD CUP: Uruguayan referee Andres Cunha and video assistant Esteban Ostojich were suspended after failing to give a red card to Argentina defender Nicolas Otamendi during a World Cup qualifying match against Brazil.

Otamendi hit Brazil forward Raphinha with his elbow in the 35th minute of Tuesday’s match in San Juan. The Brazilian needed five stitches at halftime and still continued to bleed in the second half.

“It looks like a foul for a yellow card. I don’t see a red,” Ostojich told Cunha, according to a video released by South American soccer body CONMEBOL.

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