HOCKEY
The Maine Mariners scored twice in the first four minutes of the game but couldn’t hold on in a 6-3 ECHL loss to the Worcester Railers on Saturday in Worcester, Massachusetts.
The Railers scored five straight goals after falling behind 3-1 in the second period.
Brooklyn Kalmikov scored twice and Alex Kile once for the Mariners.
Worcester’s Daylan Kuefler scored twice, while Anthony Repaci, Keeghan Howdeshell, Trevor Cosgrove and Jake Pivonka added one each.
Henrik Tikkanen stopped 23 shots for Worcester. Shane Starrett had 34 saves for Maine.
NHL: Craig Smith and Jani Hakanpaa scored in the final 13 seconds, rallying the Dallas Stars to a 3-2 victory over the Predators in Nashville, Tennessee.
• Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Reinhart scored power-play goals 1:59 apart in the third period, and the Florida Panthers went into their Christmas break by topping the Vegas Golden Knights 4-2 in Sunrise, Florida, in a rematch of last season’s Stanley Cup Final.
BASEBALL
MLB: The New York Mets must pay a record luxury tax of nearly $101 million after a fourth-place finish in their division, among an unprecedented eight teams that owe the penalty for the 2023 season.
Owner Steve Cohen’s Mets finished with a tax payroll of $374.7 million, according to figures finalized by Major League Baseball on Thursday and obtained by The Associated Press. That topped the previous high of $291.1 million by the 2015 Los Angeles Dodgers.
BASKETBALL
NBA: Giannis Antetokounmpo had 28 points, seven assists and seven rebounds, Bobby Portis added 23 points and 11 boards, and the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Knicks 130-111 in New York, opening a two-game series with their seventh straight victory.
Khris Middleton scored 20 points for the Bucks, who beat the Knicks for the ninth straight time and will try to do it again Monday in front of a national TV audience as the leadoff game to the NBA’s Christmas schedule.
SOCCER
ENGLAND: Manchester United’s scoring woes continued in a 2-0 loss at West Ham in the Premier League, with Jarrod Bowen and Mohammed Kudus netting second-half goals.
• Tottenham ended Everton’s four-match winning run with a 2-1 victory, thanks to goals in the first 18 minutes by Richarlison and Son Heung-min.
• Burnley scored long-range goals through Wilson Odobert and Sander Berge to beat Fulham 2-0 in the first English Premier League game to be handled by a female referee.
Rebecca Welch was the match official for the game at Craven Cottage in a landmark moment for the competition, and she made her first big intervention when brandishing a yellow card to Calvin Bassey late in the first half after the defender struck Josh Brownhill with his hand.
• Liverpool was held by first-place Arsenal to 1-1 draw in Liverpool.
Arsenal, which is one point ahead of Liverpool and Aston Villa, led through Gabriel’s fourth-minute header, but Mohamed Salah evened the score in the 29th. Salah’s 151st Premier League goal moved him to 10th on the all-time list. Liverpool pressed hardest in the second half and hit the woodwork twice.
COLLEGES
FOOTBALL: Emmanuel Michel rushed for a career-best 203 yards and two 1-yard touchdowns, and Zac Larrier passed for one TD and ran for another score, leading Air Force (9-4) to a 31-21 win over No. 24 James Madison (11-2) in the Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth, Texas.
• Freshman quarterback Grayson Loftis threw for 183 yards and Duke’s defense came up with a final stop as the Blue Devils (8-5) beat Troy (11-3) in the Birmingham Bowl, 17-10.
• Rocky Lombardi passed and ran for a touchdown and Northern Illinois (7-6) held on for a 21-19 victory over Arkansas State (6-7) in the Camellia Bowl in Montgomery, Alabama, when the Red Wolves couldn’t convert a late 2-point pass.
MEN’S BASKETBALL: Johnell Davis scored 35 points, just one short of his career high, and had nine rebounds to lead No. 14 Florida Atlantic to a 96-95 double-overtime victory over No. 4 Arizona in the Desert Classic in Las Vegas.
Giancarlo Rosado made the back end of two free throws with just under a minute remaining for what turned out to be the winning point for the Owls (10-2), who beat their second ranked opponent of the season. FAU defeated then-No. 12 Texas A&M 96-89 on Nov. 24.
• A Michigan State point guard is recovering after he was shot while on holiday break near his hometown.
Freshman Jeremy Fears was shot in the leg sometime late Friday or early Saturday morning in the Joilet, Illinois, area, according to a statement from the university. Michigan State Coach Tom Izzo said in the statement that Fears underwent surgery Saturday morning and was resting comfortably.
• No 5. UConn will be without star center Donovan Clingan for about a month because of a right foot injury, the school said.
The 7-foot-2 sophomore was hurt coming down under the basket during the second half of the Huskies’ 15-point loss at Seton Hall on Wednesday.
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