Yeah, Jarrett Stidham has been here before.

A year ago, he stepped in for Derek Carr as the Las Vegas Raiders concluded their season. This season, he's doing it in place of Russell Wilson at the tail end of the Denver Broncos' season.

Now past meets present Sunday as Stidham returns to Las Vegas and the Broncos (8-8) to play the Raiders (7-9) in the season finale for both teams.

“I spent a year there and made a lot of relationships with a lot people,” Stidham said. “But I'm here now, so I'm looking forward to playing against those guys. I did it in practice, obviously, all last year.”

Stidham went 0-2 in both his Las Vegas starts, but gave the San Francisco 49ers fits with 365 yards and three touchdown passes in a 37-34 loss.

“I think for him that first start against a really good defense opened a lot of people’s eyes,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said. "I don’t know that anyone saw that coming.”

Stidham's other start last season was a 31-13 loss to the eventual Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs.

Stidham finally broke through Sunday with his first career victory, 16-9 over the Los Angeles Chargers.

“I went against Stid all year last year on the scout (team), so I know a couple of his tricks,” Raiders cornerback Nate Hobbs said. “I think he's a really good player. What he did last year against the 49ers and what he showed this year when he got his chance, he takes full advantage of every chance he gets to step on the field.”

SLUMP BUSTERS

The Broncos may have extended their playoff drought to eight years, but they ended some embarrassing skids within the AFC West.

Denver vanquished its 16-game losing skid to the Chiefs with a resounding Week 8 win over the Chiefs in Denver and beat the Chargers on the road for the first time since 2019. Now, they’re out to halt their seven-game losing streak to the Raiders with their first win in Las Vegas in four tries.

“I don’t even know that I was aware that we had lost that many games to Las Vegas/Oakland,” Payton said. “I think what would be important for us is to get to our ninth win.”

That would snap another ignominious streak for the Broncos, who haven’t posted a winning season since 2016.

ANOTHER GRAND FOR ADAMS

Raiders wide receiver Davante Adams has reached 1,000 yards receiving each of the past four seasons. But with Las Vegas out of the running for the playoffs, Adams didn't want to make too big a deal about it.

“If we were in a better position as a team, it’d be more enjoyable, but obviously it’s a good notch to be able to hit,” he said. "But 1,000 yards is not really my mark for what I consider necessarily a good season. Obviously, it’s good because in everybody else’s mind it means so much, but I also had two seasons of 997 and they acted like I didn’t have 1,000 yards that year.”

Adams came three yards about from 1,000 in 2016 and 2019. If he had reached it in 2019, his streak would be at six seasons.

CROSBY HONORED BY TEAMMATES

Defensive end Maxx Crosby won the Commitment to Excellence Award for the third year in a row, a Raiders team honor voted on by teammates.

Crosby has 13 1/2 sacks, 21 tackles for loss and 88 tackles, but perhaps more impressively, he seldom comes off the field even while playing with a lingering knee injury. He has played 95% of defensive snaps and in nine games didn't leave field while on defense.

“I can't speak highly enough of this guy,” Stidham said. “Being with him every day for a year, seeing how he works, I don't know if I've ever seen a player play that hard for that long every single time he's out on the field. So he's going to bring it. We have to be ready. He's one of the best in the league for a reason.”

Broncos cornerback Pat Surtain II received the Demaryius Thomas Team MVP Award, which was voted on by the Denver chapter of the Pro Football Writers of America.

MUSICAL CHAIRS AT QB

Left tackle Garett Bolles is the longest-tenured offensive player in Denver and he came close this week but couldn’t quite name all 13 quarterbacks for whom he has blocked for during his seven seasons.

He slipped on the very last one, saying Case Keenum again instead of Stidham.

“You know, it’s a tough situation, that things happen around here. I think it was my 13th quarterback that I blocked for,” Bolles said. “So, it’s frustrating for me, especially. But at the same time, that’s who Coach wanted, and I’ve gotta do my job.”

AP Pro Football Writer Arnie Stapleton in Denver contributed.

The Panthers won for the sixth straight time, while goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky made 26 saves to win his fifth consecutive start.

Matthew Tkachuk and Carter Verhaeghe also registered a goal and an assist, while Sam Bennett added a goal.

The Golden Knights' lone All-Star, Jack Eichel, was held off the score sheet despite a better start in the first 10 minutes of the game..

The Panthers completed a season sweep of the defending champs, not only exacting revenge for last season’s five-game loss in the Stanley Cup Final, but also winning in Vegas for the first time since the Knights joined the NHL.

“I think maybe we needed a little adversity to really dig down and find a way," Tkachuk said. "We had 20-plus guys that were just completely dialed in from the start of the day today and wanted to get that job done. There’s no secret we don’t like these guys for what happened last year. That’s human nature. Especially coming into this building where a team has not had success as of late and just really wanting to beat a team that kind of ruined our summer last year. I thought in the two games that we played them have been two of our best of the season.”

Which is saying something considering the Panthers lost a pair of key forwards — Evan Rodrigues to a lower-body injury and captain Aleksander Barkov to an upper-body injury — after one period.

Florida’s special teams proved to be the difference, finishing 3 of 6 with a man advantage and going in a perfect 6 for 6 on the penalty kill.

“It’s just the mindset of our team, just playing as hard as you can for the guy next to you, especially down two forwards, it was a big performance from all 10 of us that were able to pull through,” Tkachuk added.

Pavel Dorofeyev scored for Vegas, which has lost six of its last seven.

Knights goaltender Logan Thompson made 32 saves but continues to struggle for wins, as he’s lost three of his last four starts and 11 of 17 after opening the season 5-0. Thompson has now allowed three or more goals in six of his last eight starts.

“Tonight we weren’t a great team defensively, some net-front goals against, we got to take care of those,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “The lack of winning affects everybody, goaltender more so than most, because he’s the last line of defense. But I think everyone could start to lose some confidence or question things when you don’t win.”

Thompson’s confidence might have been boosted early after captain Mark Stone’s initial shot was blocked but Dorofeyev was there to slam the rebound into an open net. It was the start Vegas needed to shake off Monday’s shutout loss at Seattle in the Winter Classic, as it dominated the action over the first eight minutes of the game.

But a penalty on William Carrier shifted momentum to Florida when Bennett one-timed a rebound off the end boards for the Panthers’ first power-play goal of the night.

They’d get another midway through the second when Tkachuk’s redirect off Brandon Montour’s shot from the point slipped past Thompson.

Verhaeghe silenced the crowd with a little more than a minute left in the period when he pounced on a loose rebound to the left of Thompson and notched his 20th of the season.

Reinhart scored his 25th goal of the season on a power play in the third when he one-timed a pass from Tkachuk from the slot to provide the final margin.

UP NEXT

Panthers: Visit Colorado on Saturday

Golden Knights: Host the Islanders on Saturday

Eichel is currently leading the Golden Knights in scoring with 40 points and has expanded his role on the team, playing more minutes as one of the team's penalty killers. He has scored 16 goals, one behind team leader Jonathan Marchessault, and he has 24 assists, one behind team captain Mark Stone.

Eichel leads the NHL with 46 takeaways, one short of tying the career-high he set last season. His time on ice of 76:04 this season is the highest total in his nine-year NHL career at this point in the season.

Eichel, a native of North Chelmsford, Massachusetts, helped lead the Knights to their first Stanley Cup, finishing the 2023 postseason as the NHL’s scoring leader with 26 points (6 goals, 20 assists) in 22 games. Eichel was acquired by the Golden Knights from the Buffalo Sabres on Nov. 4, 2021, and his 131 points (57 goals, 74 assists) since making his debut with Vegas are the most on the club.

NHL All-Star Weekend will be Feb. 1-3 in Toronto this year. The Western Conference All-Stars are:

• F Frank Vatrano, ANA (1st)
• F Clayton Keller, ARI (4th)
• F Elias Lindholm, CGY (1st)
• F Sebastian Aho, CAR (3rd)
• F Connor Bedard, CHI (1st)
• F Nathan MacKinnon, COL (5th)
• G Jake Oettinger, DAL (1st)
• F Connor McDavid, EDM (7th)
• G Cam Talbot, LAK (2nd)
• F Kirill Kaprizov, MIN (3rd)
• F Filip Forsberg, NSH (2nd)
• F Tomas Hertl, SJS (2nd)
• F Robert Thomas, STL (1st)
• D Quinn Hughes, VAN (2nd)
• F Jack Eichel, VGK (4th)
• G Connor Hellebuyck, WPG (4th)

Representing the Eastern Conference:

• F David Pastrnak, BOS (4th)
• D Rasmus Dahlin, BUF (3rd)
• F Sebastian Aho, CAR (3rd)
• F Boone Jenner, CBJ (1st)
• F Alex DeBrincat, DET (2nd)
• F Sam Reinhart, FLA (1st)
• F Nick Suzuki, MTL (3rd)
• F Jack Hughes, NJD (3rd)
• F Mathew Barzal, NYI (3rd)
• G Igor Shesterkin, NYR (2nd)
• F Brady Tkachuk, OTT (4th)
• F Travis Konecny, PHI (2nd)
• F Sidney Crosby, PIT (6th)
• F Nikita Kucherov, TBL (5th)
• F Auston Matthews, TOR (5th)
• F Tom Wilson, WSH (2nd)

Months ago, before the newly created Oakland Ballers were official and for the most part still just a big dream, co-founder Paul Freedman went back and forth by email some 70 times in an effort to secure one special game at one special venue where he and so many others hold treasured memories dating to their youths.

Freedman said he and co-founder Bryan Carmel had a signed contract in place and deposit paid through communication with ASM Global, which operates the building for the Coliseum Authority — an agency leasing the ballpark to the Athletics. The lease expires after the 2024 season.

Major League Baseball owners unanimously approved the A's relocation to Las Vegas in November, and the team plans to move into a new stadium on the Las Vegas Strip in 2028. It's not clear where Oakland will play in 2025 and in subsequent years until the new ballpark opens.

For now, the A's have exclusive rights to play professional baseball at the Coliseum and declined to grant consent for the Ballers based on their license agreement with the Coliseum Authority. It is a joint powers agency established by the City of Oakland and the County of Alameda.

“We are happy to work with the JPA on other ways to celebrate and promote professional baseball in Oakland,” David Rinetti, A's longtime Vice President of Stadium Operations, wrote in an email to ASM Global shared with The Associated Press on Wednesday by the team.

The B’s, an expansion club in the independent Pioneer League, were set to begin ticket sales Thursday for a game June 29 — while the A's are out of town — against the Northern Colorado Owlz in what they hoped would be “a celebration of Oakland’s baseball legacy and the Coliseum” and “a joyful farewell and celebration.”

"We began negotiations to play at the Coliseum in July, and by December we had signed our lease and paid our deposit," Freedman said Wednesday. "A few days after Christmas, we were informed that the A’s would be enforcing a clause in their contract with the stadium that prevents other professional baseball teams from playing at the Coliseum.

"We are disappointed in this development as we believe this would have been a great event for Oakland. Regardless of this setback, nothing will stop us from turning the page on a new chapter for baseball in the Town.”

By Thursday afternoon, the Ballers turned to social media to search for a new site option: “If anyone has a 25k+ seat venue in Oakland they want to rent us for June 29… reach out!”

Oakland Vice Mayor Rebecca Kaplan expressed disdain with a decision to cancel something that would generate revenue and help “to serve and protect the public.”

“When new bookings are impeded, this reduces jobs for local residents, and reduces revenue for needed public services,” Kaplan wrote on social media. “All of Oakland and Alameda County are harmed by cutting events and revenue at the Coliseum.”

The B's had already reached out to the Oakland Girls Softball League offering free tickets, and local Babe Ruth players and other youth teams were going to receive the same gift. OGSL President Amanda Wentworth, encouraged by the Ballers' generosity and “new vision for baseball in Oakland,” called the news “a real bummer.”

There was plenty of outrage in the East Bay, too.

“My reaction was not surprised and actually a little bit pissed off. But not surprised,” said Jorge Leon, President of the Oakland 68s non-profit organization of fans committed to supporting baseball and the East Bay communities. “I think the A’s are in a position of embarrassment and again I’m not surprised because I think we would have outdrawn them, we would have filled that place up and I think they’re worried and that’s why they had to cancel. They had to force their hand.”

Organizers aren't ready to give up the idea of one day playing at the Coliseum, not yet anyway — and Oakland fans have demonstrated their passion this past year for sure.

For now, A’s fans are planning their own “Fans Fest” scheduled for Feb. 24, lining up former slugger Khris Davis and pitcher Mike Norris to attend, and also an actual boycott of the March 28 season opener in which supporters plan to tailgate, gather and celebrate in the Coliseum parking lot but not actually enter the ballpark.

Freedman and Carmel were touched by last summer’s reverse boycott by fed up A’s fans, left heartbroken in mid-November when MLB owners voted unanimously to approve the club’s relocation. Carmel and Freedman felt called to do something.

“We were inspired by the energy of the reverse boycott night. That game was a protest against the concept that baseball might be leaving Oakland," Freedman said. "It was an important and emotionally healing event for the Oakland community. Our goal with this game is to celebrate that baseball will stay in Oakland for as long as the community wants it to be here.”

Bryan Johansen, a fan and co-founder of the charity-focused Last Dive Bar that has raised tens of thousands for community programs in the East Bay, couldn't wait to see everybody back together for a common cause.

“If the A’s want nothing to do with the people of Oakland then at least let someone else do so,” he said.

Johansen and others know the Ballers will keep fighting.

“I think our opening day boycott will show our power that continues to be unionizing the fans," Leon said. "I think that’s going to be our show of not quitting and also in the long run if there is somehow a possibility that we can get the Coliseum again, we have no doubt that we can fill up the Coliseum for our baseball team that kind of likes us. We can’t wait for the Ballers' season.”

Freedman formed some of his fondest memories at the Coliseum, long before the third deck deemed “Mount Davis” was constructed and named for late Raiders owner Al Davis — and planning this game was about paying tribute to that history, too.

“It’s also important for us to specifically celebrate and honor the Coliseum. I love the Coliseum, some of my best memories happened there, and it’s hard not to take some of the negative things said about it personally. I think it’s one of the best places to play baseball ever constructed," Freedman said. "We’d love for this game to remind people what the Coliseum is all about."

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

A few minutes later, a gaggle of Elvises – or would it be Elvi? – strode their way into the stadium in white jumpsuits, sunglasses and mostly fake hair.

“Believe it or not, Paul Cotter didn’t even wear a wig. That’s just naturally his hair,” Vegas’ Keegan Kolesar said. “So he was pretty spot on.”

The 15th version of the NHL Winter Classic had a decidedly local flair as both the Seattle Kraken and Vegas Golden Knights tapped into two of the most well-known aspects of their communities.

Eventually, the theatrics were replaced by actual hockey. Playing in front of a sellout crowd of 47,313, the Kraken posted a 3-0 victory, with Joey Daccord posting the first shutout in a Winter Classic.

“Just to walk out to the ice like that and hear the roar of the crowd was insane and I’ll never forget it,” Daccord said.

The victory capped a nearly perfect day for the home team. It started with Kraken minority owner Marshawn Lynch leading the team off the bus in outfits that paid tribute to the fishing industry and the workers at the nearby market who fling fish around every day.

Seattle's Jordan Eberle said there was talk of ditching the T-shirts under the overalls, but, “I thought we’d look like firemen strippers.”

For the reigning Stanley Cup champion Golden Knights, well, was there any other choice than Elvis? It was the brainchild of veteran defenseman Alec Martinez.

“I mean, it’s literally Vegas,” defenseman Zach Whitecloud said.

T-Mobile Park was transformed into a nautical landscape tapping into the region’s maritime influence for the meeting of the NHL's two most recent expansion franchises. There were lakes created in the outfield, docks leading from the baseball clubhouses to the ice and a shipwreck in center field with the tentacles of a Kraken pulling the ship underwater.

The back of the shipwreck had a stage where Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Heart performed after the first intermission. The pregame featured Seattle native Sir Mix-a-Lot performing as the Kraken walked to the ice while stuffed fish were being thrown around them.

The NHL placed the game at the home of baseball's Seattle Mariners in part because of the retractable roof in case protection from the Pacific Northwest’s notoriously wet weather was needed. But the league got its wish for an open-air game as fog burned off by late morning and a day of sun and clouds covered the ballpark.

“I think we’d be silly to try to normalize it. It’s not. It’s a different environment. It’s an awesome environment,” Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said. “I think everybody should acknowledge that. But at the same time, you have to dial in and acknowledge that the two points are equally as important as any other two points throughout the year.”

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

The reaction from the crowd was deserved after the young Seattle Kraken goaltender shut out the defending Stanley Cup champions on one of the NHL's biggest stages.

“It's truly the coolest thing in the world to have that support from them,” Daccord said.

Daccord made 35 saves in his second career shutout, Eeli Tolvanen had a goal and an assist, and the Kraken beat the Vegas Golden Knights 3-0 on Monday in the Winter Classic.

A crowd of 47,313 at T-Mobile Park watched the Kraken dominate the reigning Stanley Cup champions in a matchup of the league’s last two expansion franchises. Seattle improved to 7-0-2 in its past nine games and continued its climb into playoff contention after a disappointing start to the season.

“To have the opportunity to do this in this ballpark, in front of our home fans, get the result that everybody wanted makes it pretty special and that's the best way to remember this event,” Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said.

Tolvanen scored his 10th of the season, redirecting Vince Dunn’s shot from the blue line early in the first period. Tolvanen picked up the assist on Will Borgen’s slap shot that beat Vegas goalie Logan Thompson early in the second.

Yanni Gourde gave Seattle a 3-0 lead 2:10 into the third on an effort play, stealing the puck from Paul Cotter at the blue line and poking it into the net after Thompson whiffed trying to sweep the puck aside.

But the biggest development for Seattle in this game and for the past few weeks has been Daccord, who seems to be establishing himself as Seattle’s No. 1 option in net.

“You always talk about goalies and what a really good goalie is and the best way to describe it is he saves the ones he needs to and then he saves one or two more that he shouldn't save. And that's what he's done for us basically every game,” Seattle center Matty Beniers said.

Daccord posted the first shutout in a Winter Classic and fifth shutout overall in the NHL’s 39 outdoor games since 2003. The Kraken are 6-0-2 in Daccord’s past eight starts, and he posted his second shutout in the last three weeks after blanking Florida on Dec. 12.

Daccord made the easy saves look easy and stood strong when the Golden Knights threatened. Jack Eichel had a great opportunity late in the first period off a turnover by Brian Dumoulin, but Daccord made a solid save with his left pad.

Mark Stone hit the post with a redirected shot late in the second. Eichel hit the crossbar with seven minutes left and a few minutes later was robbed on a glove save by Daccord.

Since he didn't get a chance at shooting toward the empty Vegas net in the closing seconds, the glove save was the moment that stood out the most for Daccord.

Played in almost perfect condition with party cloudy skies, temperatures in the 40s and most importantly the retractable roof of T-Mobile Park wide open, the Kraken rewarded a sellout crowd with one of their more complete performances of the season.

After Tolvanen put Seattle in front, Borgen made it 2-0 with his first goal since Game 4 of last season’s first-round playoff series against Colorado.

Seattle’s nine-game point streak is the longest in franchise history, topping an eight-game win streak last season.

Vegas lost for the fifth time in six games and struggled to generate many good scoring chances against Seattle.

“I thought we’d be better, to be honest with you," Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. "It got to be 2-0 and we didn’t have the urgency required early on. By the time we got it, we’re chasing the game, which has happened to us lately. I’m a little disappointed in that we weren’t better out of the gate.”

The Golden Knights arrived for the game in Elvis costumes but their performance lacked the showmanship of “The King.”

The flash on this afternoon belonged to Seattle’s young goalie.

“It was something that I’ll never forget and probably one of the coolest days my whole life,” Daccord said.

UP NEXT

Golden Knights: Host Florida on Thursday in a rematch of last year’s Stanley Cup final.

Kraken: Host Ottawa on Thursday.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Jacobs has missed the past two games with a quadriceps injury.

“Today? I don’t know," interim coach Antonio Pierce said Friday. "That’s going to be a game-time decision. I mean, no need to rush it. If he can go at one o’clock on Sunday, I’m happy with that.”

Jacobs has rushed for 805 yards, with 3.5 yards per carry, and six touchdowns this season. Zamir White started in his place the past two games and rushed for 214 yards with a 5.5-yard average.

“I think he’s taking advantage of the opportunity and that’s the National Football League,” Pierce said. “I think he’s earned the trust, the belief with our offensive staff and our o-line.”

Pierce said he didn't expect tight end Michael Mayer, who didn't play Sunday at Kansas City because of a toe injury, to be available. The Raiders this week placed tight end Jesper Horsted (hamstring) on injured reserve and signed TE Zach Gentry to the active roster off Cincinnati’s practice squad.

And it’s at the crux of why the NHL felt comfortable bringing its marquee event to start the new year in a place known to be rather damp in wintertime.

When the Vegas Golden Knights and Seattle Kraken meet on Monday in the Winter Classic, the NHL hopes the story is centered on the clash between the league’s two newest franchises, one of which happens to be the reigning Stanley Cup champions.

But bringing the game to the Pacific Northwest meant relying on a mechanical structure the league hopes won’t be needed on the day of the game but has proven invaluable in protecting the rink in the leadup to the event — the retractable roof of T-Mobile Park.

That’s part of the story, too.

“I think it’s a good story and it’s part of the story of Seattle,” NHL chief content officer Steve Mayer said. “This is a place that has a little rain.”

The game Monday will be the 39th outdoor game the NHL has conducted. And they have every intent of it being a truly outdoor game, even with the possible protection provided by playing in the retractable roof stadium.

For now, the forecast seems to be in the NHL’s favor. After a stretch of wet days, the weather on game-day looks to be a mix of sun and clouds with temperatures in the mid-40s.

But it’s the leadup to the game where the roof that allows the Seattle Mariners to play baseball games protected from the region’s notorious rain and drizzle has proven invaluable in the process of building a hockey rink.

For previous outdoor games, the league has built contingencies into the construction schedule in case weather became an issue. In Seattle, those contingencies remained, but were mostly not needed. The roof remained closed for the process of building the rink and all the associated elements that come with putting on a hockey game in a baseball stadium.

“We always leave some room in there if we get a really bad rain day or something like that, especially when we start building the ice,” said Dean Matsuzaki, the NHL’s executive vice president of events who has been involved with every outdoor NHL game since the first Winter Classic in 2008. “But this we were able to really schedule with a lot of confidence kind of right down to the hour everything that we’ll be able to get done.”

The NHL wanted to reward Seattle for how the city and region instantly latched onto the Kraken by bringing the Winter Classic to the area. From the start, playing the game at T-Mobile Park was the preferred option because the roof existed, even though Lumen Field has a larger capacity and better sightlines, and Husky Stadium provided a more picturesque setting on the shore of Lake Washington.

While the goal for Monday is to retract the roof, it’s a multiprong process in making the final call. The league consults with a local meteorologist in the days leading up to the game and the morning of. There will be regular communication with executives from the league and the NHLPA as the game draws closer, including about two hours before puck drop when final decisions are made.

In a worst-case scenario should the forecast change and rain become an issue, the NHL could opt to have a panel of the retractable roof cover the ice while leaving the rest of the stadium exposed for a modified open-air experience. The T-Mobile Park roof was constructed in sections, meaning only part of the stadium can be covered. It’s not an all-or-nothing proposition.

The only other time the league played one of its stadium events in a building with a retractable roof came in 2014 up the road in Vancouver, British Columbia, for a Heritage Classic game between the Canucks and Ottawa Senators. But a mix of rain and snow led to the roof of BC Place never being opened.

It was a stadium game, but not an outdoor game and it lacked the feel the league wanted. That’s why while the roof has been crucial in the build-up, the NHL wants Monday’s event to be played without the umbrella over the top.

“The NHL does an amazing job and each year it gets better and better,” Kraken forward Jared McCann said Thursday after getting his first look at the setup. “And obviously, we have the facility here with T-Mobile and the roof and everything to host something much more special and we’re going to try and make the most of it.”

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Jack Eichel, Michael Amadio and William Karlsson scored for Vegas — all in the first two periods. The Golden Knights had dropped five of six overall.

“It's our culture to be winning in this building,” Knights forward Paul Cotter said. “I think this is the start, hopefully, of a nice little streak going here.”

Los Angeles had won four of five. Anze Kopitar had a goal and an assist for the Kings, and Trevor Moore also scored. Cam Talbot made 29 saves.

Thompson surrendered four goals on Anaheim's first nine shots during a 5-2 loss at the Ducks on Wednesday night, but then stopped 14 of the next 15. He carried that play into the matchup with the Kings.

Coach Bruce Cassidy was critical of his goalies after the loss to Anaheim. That position has been hit hard by injuries for the second season in a row. Adin Hill, who is 10-2-2 with a 1.93 goals-against average, hasn't played since Nov. 30 because of a lower-body injury. Thompson, an All-Star as a rookie last season, has been in and out of the lineup with injuries.

“I think mentally this was the toughest month of my career,” Thompson said. “Just taking a step back and being grateful I'm in the NHL. I don't know how long I'm going to be in the NHL and how long I'll be a Vegas Golden Knight, but I come to the rink every day with a smile on my face.”

Thompson said he wanted to return to the crease right after the loss to the Ducks.

“I need to be better," he said. "I expect a lot more out of me.”

He got help from his teammates, who blocked a season-high 34 shots.

“Our guys will play hard for whoever's in there,” Cassidy said. “We're going to do our part there. We just want the goaltender, not to win us games, we just don't want them to lose games.”

It was just the second regulation road loss for the Kings, who are 13-2-1 away from home.

Knights defenseman Ben Hutton didn't play the final two periods because of an upper-body injury.

With chances at a premium during a defensive first period, Eichel took advantage of a small opening. Ivan Barbashev delivered a cross-ice pass to Eichel, who beat Talbot high from the left circle. Eichel has 40 points in 37 games.

Vegas twice extended that lead to two goals in the second period. Amadio scored off a rush after receiving a pass from Pavel Dorofeyev, and Karlsson scored his 15th goal from the slot on a pass from Cotter from behind the goal line.

Cotter has four points in his past four games and eight for December. He had seven in the first two months.

“I think the disappointing part for me is the type of goals we gave up,” Kings coach Todd McLellan said. “A couple of them were gifts. I really thought the second goal killed us.”

Kopitar got his 14th goal at 13:07, with Adrian Kempe recording his 20th assist on the play. Kopitar has 32 points in 32 games, and Kempe has 31.

LA's Kevin Fiala scored midway through the third period on a blast from the left point, but the goal was wiped out because of goaltender interference by Moore.

Moore made up for it by scoring on a 6-on-5 with 1:59 remaining. It was his 17th of the season.

“I thought as the game wore on, we got more connected,” McLellan said. “When they have the lead, they're going to defend a little bit more. We spent more time in their zone. They did an outstanding job of blocking shots and clearing the net, which they're very good at."

UP NEXT

Kings: Host Edmonton on Saturday.

Golden Knights: At Seattle on Monday in the NHL Winter Classic at T-Mobile Park.

He played well in that Week 17 contest, rushing for 108 yards and a touchdown, but the Colts failed to clinch a playoff spot on their home field and a week later they were homeward bound for the offseason. The Raiders used that surprise last-second victory to steal a playoff spot.

So this week, facing an eerily similar situation, the 2021 NFL rushing champion finds himself giving teammates a short, simple reminder: Take care of business Sunday.

“It does (help) because you failed in a sense, so you had the opportunity to learn and especially, with the younger guys, you're able to teach them or give them a little bit of knowledge that you have from your experience,” Taylor said. "Hopefully, they can take that into consideration, thought, and really put forth the effort, knowing we need to be all gas on the pedal this week.”

Indy (8-7) again enters the game against the Raiders largely in control of its destiny.

Win these last two home games, the Colts will likely clinch their first playoff berth since 2020 and, with a little more help, could leapfrog defending AFC South champ Jacksonville to capture their first division crown since 2014.

While another late-season loss on their home turf may not eliminate Indy, it would throw a major wrench into the Colts' postseason hopes. But the bigger concern is rebounding from a second underwhelming performance in three weeks.

“When you go through adversity, when you kind of hit a wall, you feel like you’re a little stuck — that’s the time to get back to the basics, get back to what you believe in, get back to what makes you, you,” Colts linebacker Zaire Franklin said.

The Raiders (7-8) sit one game behind the AFC's five-team pack bunched at 8-7 and must win to keep their slim playoff hopes alive. They'll arrive with an interim coach in Antonio Pierce, a rookie quarterback in Aidan O'Connell and a two-game winning streak.

Yes, the critics wrote off Las Vegas following the midseason coaching change and again after a 3-0 loss to Minnesota just three weeks ago.

But, like that 2021 Raiders squad, this team has been resilient, giving them hope they'll pull off another surprise.

“Nope, Colts,” Pierce said when asked if he's using the playoffs to motivate his team. “That’s how we’ve been focusing, what’s in front of us. I can’t control 2024, and that’s in 2024. I’m in 2023 right now.”

Even if this weekend's matchup rekindles some nightmarish moments for the Colts and their fans.

“Thankfully, we earned the right to be in the position to earn a place in the postseason,” Taylor said. "But we’ve got to make the most of that opportunity. We’ve got to take care of business this Sunday.”

STATING HIS CASE

Pierce won his first two games as coach, his last two and still has two more to show owner Mark Davis he should keep the job next season.

“My resume is on the grass,” Pierce said.

Pierce replaced Josh McDaniels on Halloween when Las Vegas was 3-5. This marks the second straight year this series has featured an interim coach. Jeff Saturday won his only game with Indy last season in Las Vegas, and Pierce hopes to return the favor.

“Hopefully, Mark Davis sees improvement and growth within our team,” Pierce said. “He sees the style and play that he wants from the Raiders. He sees a fan base that’s behind us. He sees a building that loves coming to work and loves being here. At the end of the day, we’ve got to win.”

HOME SWEET HOME

Indy has won its last two home games, improving to 3-4 at Lucas Oil Stadium this season. Closing with two more wins wouldn't just extend their streak to four in a row, it would give Indy a winning record on its home turf.

That would be impressive after the Colts went nearly a full year between home wins — a streak that began after a victory on Oct. 16, 2022, over Jacksonville and ended with a win over Tennessee on Oct. 8.

But this series, between franchises now relocated from their original hometowns, has not followed the traditional NFL script. The road team has won five straight since the Raiders won in Oakland in 2016.

SOMETHING TO PROVE

Last week, the Raiders won 20-14 in Kansas City while becoming the first team since 2000 to win without a completion after the first quarter. O’Connell finished 9 of 21 with 62 yards.

“Obviously, I didn’t have my best game,” O'Connell said. “We didn’t do much offensively in the pass game, and like I said after the game, I missed some opportunities that were there."

O'Connell's last start at Lucas Oil Stadium didn't go well, either. Michigan beat O'Connell's Purdue Boilermakers in the 2022 Big Ten championship game.

Pierce said O’Connell doesn’t get easily rattled by negative performances.

White received, uh, the honor after rushing for 145 yards against the Chiefs, signifying him as the player of the game according to the children's network, which had an alternate telecast of the game.

This kind of impact didn't seem possible as recently as two weeks ago when White mostly watched from the sideline as Josh Jacobs carried the load. But Jacobs suffered a quadriceps injury on Dec. 10 against Minnesota, and White went from a seldom-used running back whose future in Las Vegas was questionable to someone the Raiders might want to keep in the lineup if and when Jacobs returns.

“If you’re a good player and you’re producing and helping us win, you win,” interim coach Antonio Pierce said. “But don’t get it fooled, Josh Jacobs is one of the best running backs in the National Football League. If we have somebody who can help us out and contribute, it’s going to be right in that room, and Zeus (White) knows that.”

Pierce expressed optimism Jacobs wasn't far from returning, but the back didn't participate in Wednesday's walkthrough in preparation for Sunday's game at Indianapolis. Before two weeks ago, the absence of last season's NFL rushing champion would have been cause for major concern.

Part of that is because the Raiders' coaches, be it Josh McDaniels before he was fired on Oct. 31 or Pierce, were reluctant to play White as long as Jacobs was available.

That was the case even though Jacobs hadn't been playing up to his prior level. He has 805 yards and a 3.5-per-carry average this year; Jacobs rushed for 1,653 yards with a 4.9 average last season.

White had only 17 carries last season and had just 20 this year before Jacobs' injury. Given Jacobs' cloudy future with the Raiders — he sat out training camp over a contract dispute — and White's lack of touches, it seemed like the Raiders would need to find a new back in the draft or free agency next year.

But after White rushed for 214 yards on a 5.5 average the past two games, he made a compelling argument with his performance that maybe he is Las Vegas' back of the future. That's a decision that will come in the offseason.

For now, White gives the Raiders a back they can rely on similar to Jacobs.

“He’s a great running back,” Buffalo Bills running back James Cook said. “Obviously, (we) played together at Georgia. Once he got to get his opportunity, you could see him do it, making explosive plays and good things out of the backfield. It’s how he was at Georgia.”

White's most impressive work came on the final drive at Kansas City.

The Chiefs had just scored a touchdown to pull within six points with 2:42 left, setting up the familiar scene of another Patrick Mahomes comeback victory. If, that is, the Chiefs could get the ball back.

Kansas City had two timeouts and the two-minute warning, and Raiders quarterback Aidan O'Connell hadn't completed a pass after the first quarter. Not exactly a mystery what Las Vegas would try to do.

White, behind strong blocking from the offensive line and fullback Jakob Johnson, rushed for 6, 43 and 15 yards.

Game over.

“When I know that you know that they know and everybody knows what we’re about to do and we still do it, that’s our football,” Pierce said.

White knows his opportunities will come if he keeps performing the way he has the past two weeks, but the NFL also is a fickle league.

That isn't news to him, so just as White didn't make too much of being a backup, he is keeping his present circumstances in perspective as well.

“Every day, I go my hardest,” White said. “I practice like I'm part of every game.”

ROSTER MOVES

Injuries have hit the Raiders hard at tight end, so they signed Zach Gentry to the active roster off Cincinnati's practice squad. Michael Mayer (toe) didn't play at Kansas City and didn't participate in Wednesday's walkthrough. Las Vegas also placed Jesper Horsted (hamstring) on injured reserve.

“I thought we started strong. As a line and individual we were playing fast, shooting pucks and getting lots of chances,” said Leason, who has six goals and 11 points this season.

Frank Vatrano and Troy Terry also had goals for Anaheim, which found the back of the net four times in the opening 12 minutes. It was the 16th time in franchise history they have scored at least four times in the first period and the first since March 16, 2021, against Colorado.

Mason McTavish had three assists, Cam Fowler had two and John Gibson stopped 30 shots.

Alec Martinez and Mark Stone scored for the Golden Knights, who have dropped four straight. Logan Thompson made 21 saves.

“I just don’t think we were ready to play, myself included. Too many breakdowns, not good enough gaps,” Martinez said. “They’re a real offensive team, good on the rush, we gave them too many opportunities, but also credit to them, they buried on it."

Leason opened the scoring at 3:23 of the first period with a redirect of Cam Fowler's shot from the blue line. Leason then put in a rebound at 17:45 of the second to put the Ducks up by three goals.

Drysdale, the sixth overall pick in the 2020 NHL draft, got the puck just inside the right faceoff circle and ripped a snap shot past Thompson 8:23 into the first period to give the Ducks a 2-0 advantage.

The 21-year old defenseman missed most of last season due to a torn labrum in his left shoulder and was out for the first 29 games this season due to an upper-body injury.

“It’s obviously nice to get on the board, but it’s also nice to get a win here against a team like that, especially at home, where we've been struggling a little bit,” Drysdale said.

The Ducks had 11 players with a point in the opening 20 minutes.

The four-goal onslaught included a pair within 40 seconds. Vatrano had a one-timer at 11:38 for his team-leading 16th goal of the season and Terry followed with a wrist shot that went between Thompson's legs at 12:18 for his ninth.

“It’s tough for them. The fly in this morning and have to play a game and guys were probably spread all over the place for the holiday. I’ve always said that the home team has an advantage on these games after a break. We had energy and we were buzzing,” Ducks coach Greg Cronin said.

After Martinez's fourth goal of the season at 7:23 of the second period, Stone extended his point streak to five games with a power-play goal at 12:34. Stone has two goals and seven points during that span.

“We didn’t start on time today as well as we could have, yet we generated five or six chances as well. It wasn’t a one-sided first period by any means, theirs went in, ours didn’t,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said.

UP NEXT

Golden Knights: Host the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday.

Ducks: Host the Arizona Coyotes on Friday.

For one, the scent of success. For the other, the stench of a sloppy mess.

Taking advantage of two defensive touchdowns for the second straight week, and riding an aggressive mindset that shut down Patrick Mahomes and the rest of the Kansas City offense, the Raiders held off the Chiefs 20-14 on Monday to not only deny their longtime AFC West rival another division crown but keep their postseason hopes alive.

“That was one of our mantras," Raiders interim coach Antonio Pierce said afterward, “by any means necessary."

That meant big defensive tackle Bilal Nichols returning a fumble 8 yards for a touchdown, and Jack Jones taking an interception 33 yards for another score 7 seconds later. It meant Aidan O'Connell never completing a pass after the first quarter, yet also never making the same mistakes that Mahomes made for Kansas City on a soggy Christmas Day.

The Raiders (7-8) became the first NFL team since 2000 to win without completing a pass after the first quarter, and only the fifth team to beat the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium without scoring an offensive touchdown.

“Obviously this was a huge game. It's a rivalry game,” O'Connell said. “We play them twice a year, every year, so to come into Arrowhead Stadium and win a game like this, it's pretty awesome. It's pretty special for our guys.”

Kansas City (9-6) hardly helped its cause: Along with allowing the two defensive TDs, Harrison Butker missed a chip-shot field goal, penalties and dropped passes were again a problem, and twice they failed to convert on fourth down in the second half.

“They played a better game than we did today,” said Chiefs coach Andy Reid, whose team has lost three of four. “On offense we struggled. That’s my responsibility to make sure we put the guys in the right position to make plays, and that didn’t happen the way we wanted it to. I take full responsibility for the way we played offensively there."

The Chiefs still had a chance in the closing minutes Monday to clinch their eighth straight AFC West title and keep their hopes alive for the No. 1 seed.

But after Mahomes hit Justin Watson for a touchdown with 2:42 to go, the Raiders' Zamir White broke loose for a 43-yard gain, picking up a first down that allowed them to run out the clock.

Mahomes finished 27 of 44 for 235 yards and the interception; he nearly threw a second but it was overturned upon review.

The Raiders, playing without injured running back Josh Jacobs, won despite a dismal day from their offense. White ran for 145 yards, but much of that came on the final possession. O'Connell was just 9 of 21 for 62 yards, the Raiders were 0 for 3 in the red zone and 3 for 12 on third down, and they had seven fewer first downs than Kansas City.

All that mattered was the score, though.

“That's why it's a team sport,” O'Connell said. “It was a team win.”

Reid had spent the past few weeks lamenting the mental mistakes that kept costing the defending Super Bowl champs, and they made more of them Monday than they had in any game this season.

They went three-and-out on consecutive series to start a game for only the second time with Mahomes at quarterback. They were held to minus-18 yards in the first quarter, the second-worst total for the club since at least 1991. And the reigning league MVP was sacked twice in those two series, while more offensive penalties only made matters worse.

The Chiefs took the lead early when Isiah Pacheco took a direct snap 12 yards for a touchdown, and Las Vegas gave the ball right back after a punt. But when Pacheco again took a direct snap and tried to hand to Mahomes, they bobbled the exchange and the 315-pound Nichols was there to scoop it up and run for the touchdown.

On the next offensive play for Kansas City, Mahomes was picked off by Jones, whose 33-yard return gave Las Vegas its fourth defensive TD in the past two weeks, along with a 17-7 lead over its longtime divisional nemesis.

Then, Jones appeared to play the Grinch when he faked giving the ball to a kid wearing Chiefs clothes in the crowd.

The defensive scores made it 17-7, and it was still that way when Butker missed his field goal before halftime. The Raiders added one in the third quarter, and that was all the scoring they needed to end a six-game skid against Kansas City.

STATS AND STREAKS

The Raiders have five defensive TDs this season, their most since 2005. ... The first quarter was the best by the Raiders defense since holding the Chargers to minus-21 yards on Dec. 1, 1991. ... Rashee Rice had six catches to reach 74 for the season, breaking the Chiefs rookie record of 70 set by Dwayne Bowe in 2007. ... Malcolm Koonce had three sacks for the Raiders.

INJURIES

Chiefs: Pacheco went into the concussion protocol in the third quarter when his helmet popped off and he was kicked in the head. ... RG Trey Smith hurt his leg in the fourth quarter.

UP NEXT

The Raiders visit Indianapolis on Sunday.

The Chiefs play Cincinnati on Sunday.

___

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

Sam Bennett and Gustav Forsling also scored for Florida, and Matthew Tkachuk, Aleksander Barkov and Brandon Montour each finished with two assists. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 23 shots.

Mark Stone and Pavel Dorofeyev scored for Vegas, which topped Florida in five games last spring for the title. The Golden Knights matched a season-worst by losing their third straight and are just 10-9-4 following an 11-0-1 start to their title defense.

Jiri Patera stopped 38 shots for Vegas. Florida had lost four of five before Saturday.

“They got our best tonight,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “We were pretty good. ... We couldn't win the Cup or lose the Cup tonight, but we did as well as we could have.”

The Panthers came out flying, taking 15 of the game's first 16 shots. Add in those shot attempts that missed the net or were blocked in the first 15 minutes of play, and Florida had 29 of the game's first 30 tries to get a puck on goal.

“We're grinding and trying to get pucks to the net,” Verhaeghe said. “We're getting really good chances. Some of them aren't going in but it was nice to see a couple go in finally and hopefully we can continue that.”

And there were clearly memories of what happened last June, including the hit from Vegas' Keegan Kolesar that left Tkachuk with a fractured sternum and out of the series. Kolesar fought Florida's Ryan Lomberg midway through the first period Saturday; the fight lasted exactly one punch, with Lomberg landing the first and only blow before Kolesar wound up on the ice.

Kolesar seemed shaky at the time, but eventually had an assist on the second Vegas goal Saturday.

“He gave me the chance to kind of even the score. Obviously, he's a pretty tough customer,” Lomberg said.

But Patera stoned Florida time and again despite the early flurry of pucks headed his way, and then Stone opened the scoring early in the second.

Bennett tied it for Florida and Forsling scored to put the Panthers on top, before Dorofeyev seemed to give Vegas a big shot of momentum by tying the game with 22.3 seconds left in the second period. He stayed locked in on a pass into the slot by Ben Hutton that hit the stick of Panthers defenseman Dmitry Kulikov, and then slid the deflected puck into the open side of the net.

Verhaeghe's goal from the high slot just 17 seconds into a power play put Florida on top for good, and Reinhart provided the insurance tally about 2 minutes later — with Tkachuk helping by perfectly screening Patera on the play.

Vegas went 0-3-0 on its trip east to Carolina, Tampa Bay and Florida.

“It’s probably a good time for the break,” Stone said. “This wasn’t our best road trip by any means. We didn’t play enough 60-minute hockey in those three games, but we’ve been through adversity before and we've got to come out of the other side of the break rested and recovered.”

UP NEXT

Golden Knights: Visit Anaheim on Wednesday.

Panthers: Visit Tampa Bay on Wednesday.

Paul put home a rebound for his second straight three-point game.

“It was big game,” Paul said. “I think it was just a lot of resilience from us.”

Tampa Bay right wing and NHL points leader Nikita Kucherov had a goal and two assists. Brayden Point had two goals and an assist, and Alex Barré-Boulet also scored for the Lightning. Andrei Vasilevskiy turned aside 30 shots.

Jiri Patera, playing in his third game this season and fifth overall, made 31 saves filling in for the injured Adin Hill (lower body) and Logan Thompson (upper body).

The defending Stanley Cup champions, coming off a 6-3 loss at Carolina on Tuesday, got two goals from Jonathan Marchessault. Ivan Barbashev and Paul Cotter had the other goals, while Jack Eichel extended his franchise-record point streak to 12 games with two assists.

“It's tough to swallow knowing that you did a lot of good things in the third to give yourself a chance to win," Eichel said. “It's tough to find positives when you don't get any points here.”

Eichel had a great scoring chance stopped by Vasilevskiy with three seconds left. The puck got behind the goalie, who dove on it to keep out of the net.

Marchessault got Vegas within 4-3 with an early third-period power-play goal after Kucherov received an unsportsmanlike penalty. Kucherov thought a penalty should have been called on his breakaway and was sent off after yelling at a referee.

“I was standing right besides him when the ref called the penalty,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “It was an uncharacteristic call for a referee. It struck a chord for some reason. I wasn't putting anything on Kuch at all.”

Kucherov said “like four words,” Cooper added. “None of them was profanity. It was something that probably gets said a thousand times in game.”

Cotter tied it four minutes later.

The Lightning went up 4-2 after scoring three times in a 2:55 stretch late in the second. Kucherov had a 5-on-3 goal and assisted on Point's power-play goal 33 seconds later. Kucherov set up another Point goal to end the surge.

Kucherov now has 57 points.

Marchessault and Barbashev had first-period goals.

Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman had three assists.

Tampa Bay defenseman Mikhail Sergachev, who took a shot off the back of his left foot Tuesday, didn’t play. Cooper is hopeful that Sergachev will only miss a game or two.

UP NEXT

Golden Knights: Continue a road trip Saturday night at Florida.

Lightning: Play at Washington on Saturday night.

Thompson (10-5-3, 2.71 goals-against average) left Tuesday night’s 6-3 loss at Carolina early in the third period with an upper-body injury.

Hill (10-2-2, 1.93 GAA) missed the first seven games in December with a lower-body injury and lasted just 6:25 in his return against Ottawa on Dec. 17.

Jiri Patera made his second appearance this season in relief of Thompson on Tuesday. Isaiah Saville was recalled from Henderson of the AHL.

“We’ve got some untested goaltenders going in there, we’ve got play well in front of them,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “For us, every team goes through different parts of the year where you get tested. That’s what we’re doing right now.”

Patera has a 3-0-0 record and a 2.70 goals-against average in four career NHL games. Saville has not appeared in an NHL game.

“I will say this, actually, we’re probably the only team that’s dressing a tandem in the NHL with undefeated goaltenders.” Cassidy said. “That’s the positive, right?"

Andrei Svechnikov, Jordan Staal, Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Seth Jarvis also scored, and Sebastian Aho had three assists as the Hurricanes extended their point streak to five games (3-0-2). Pyotr Kochetkov made 30 saves to earn his third victory in eight nights.

“It’s an easier sell when you get rewarded,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “I think we’ve been playing well here lately.”

The Hurricanes were 3 for 3 on power plays and killed all four of the Golden Knights’ power plays.

“You build momentum off the power play,” Bunting said. “You can’t ask for anything more from special teams on our end.”

William Carrier had two goals and Nicolas Hague also scored for Vegas, which lost for the second time in three games following a seven-game points streak. Brett Howden had two assists. Logan Thompson gave up six goals on 28 shots before he was pulled with more than 15 minutes remaining, and Jiri Patera stopped all 10 shots he faced.

“In their power play, they just executed through and got shots from the elbows,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “We didn’t do a good enough job getting in shooting lanes, pushing it farther away from our net.”

Svechnikov, back in the lineup after missing six games with an injury, took his time after receiving a pass from defenseman Skjei before floating a shot past Thompson to complete Carolina’s first power play of the game with 9 1/2 minutes left in the first period. It was Svechnikov’s second goal of the season in his 17th game.

“I wasn’t sure how he would look,” Brind’Amour said. “He was impactful. That’s what we were missing.”

It’s like a restart to the season that already was delayed for Svechnikov, who was coming off last season’s knee surgery before his latest ailment.

“I had some juice,” Svechnikov said. “Trying to make the plays and make it easier on the boys.”

Carrier snapped a 20-game goal drought by pushing in a rebound after Brayden McNabb’s shot was blocked by Kochetkov, tying the score 1-1. It was his fourth.

The Hurricanes were in control after that.

Kotkaniemi had gone 10 games without a goal until converting at 10:11 of the second period. Bunting’s power-play goal came 1:28 later. Jarvis and Skjei scored in the opening 4:44 of the third.

Vegas center Jack Eichel’s franchise-record points streak reached 11 games as he assisted on Hague’s goal with 1:24 remaining.

Carrier finished the scoring with 32 seconds left for his fifth.

UP NEXT

Golden Knights: At Tampa Bay on Thursday night.

Hurricanes: At Pittsburgh on Thursday night.

According to the report from MaxPreps, a website dedicated to coverage of high school sports in the US, Bishop Gorman High School took the number one spot as the highest-ranked football team in the country.

The Gaels went 12-0 in the 2023 season, taking the Class 5A division championship in a 56-11 rout of Liberty at Allegiant Stadium on Nov. 22. It is Bishop Gorman's second national championship in the last eight seasons.

The other teams that round out the MaxPreps top 25 are;

2. Chaminade-Madonna (Hollywood, Fla.)
3. Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.)
4. IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.)
5. DeSoto (Texas)
6. St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.)
7. St. Joseph's Prep (Philadelphia)
8. Duncanville (Texas)
9. St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)
10. Washington (Massillon, Ohio)
11. Milton (Ga.)
12. North Shore (Houston)
13. Corner Canyon (Draper, Utah)
14. Centennial (Corona, Calif.)
15. Liberty (Peoria, Ariz.)
16. St. Edward (Lakewood, Ohio)
17. Cocoa (Fla.)
18. Walton (Marietta, Ga.)
19. Ben Davis (Indianapolis)
20. Good Counsel (Olney, Md.)
21. Bergen Catholic (Oradell, N.J.)
22. Clay-Chalkville (Pinson, Ala.)
23. Berkeley Prep (Tampa, Fla.)
24. Westlake (Austin, Texas)
25. Central (Phenix City, Ala.)

Bishop Gorman becomes only the fourth program to win multiple MaxPreps national championships.

Jack Eichel and Ivan Barbashev each had a goal and an assist, while Jonathan Marchessault, Nicolas Roy, Chandler Stephenson and William Karlsson also scored for the Golden Knights.

Adin Hill, who allowed one goal, made just two saves in his return to the net for the first time since Nov. 30. He left 6:25 into the game.

Thompson showed signs of a lower-body injury suffered in the third period, as he hunched over between shots, and was slow to get up each time he went down to block a shot.

Vegas captain Mark Stone said he was disappointed for Hill.

“I’m sure he’ll be okay,” said Stone, who finished with three assists. “He’ll get right back to work tomorrow to try and get back in the lineup. Definitely not worried about him. LT came in and played really well for us and got us the win.”

Vegas, which improved to 10-1-0 all-time against the Senators, extended its win streak against Ottawa to nine games. The Golden Knights have outscored the Senators 47-29 and have scored three or more goals in 10 of the 11 meetings.

Both teams finished 2 for 5 on the power play, as Vegas improved to 6 for 17 with an extra attacker over its last four games. Since a four-game drought without a power-play goal in mid-November, the Golden Knights are 17 for 68 (25%), tied for eighth-best in the NHL in that span.

“I think that’s something that we’ve really been good at this year,” Stephenson said. “It’s helped us win games, create momentum, kind of all the above, so it’s something that we’re confident in right now.”

Josh Norris, Ridly Greig and Brady Tkachuk scored for the Senators and Joonas Korpisalo made 25 saves.

After Friday’s disappointing collapse against Buffalo, the defending champion Knights wasted no time getting on the board, as Barbashev skated in on a 2-on-1 with Eichel, who kept the puck for himself and beat Korpisalo with a snapper 1:37 into the game.

Eichel extended his point streak to a franchise-record 10 games.

Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said Hill would be evaluated before the team leaves for a four-game trip that begins Tuesday in Carolina.

Ottawa has lost four straight and eight of its last 11.

“Everybody wants to win so badly, and, of course, it’s not as easy to do in this league,” Tkachuk said. “We’re seeing that right now that it’s hard to win. We have to find a way to find a way to just give our absolute best on Tuesday.”

UP NEXT

Senators: Visit Arizona on Tuesday.

Golden Knights: Visit Carolina on Tuesday.

Zach Benson and former Golden Knight Alex Tuch also scored for Buffalo in the third and Dylan Cozens had a first-period goal and added two assists.

Mittelstadt tied it at 2 at 5:01 of the third. Benson gave Buffalo the lead at 9:29, then set up Tuch’s goal with 8:48 left. Mittelstadt capped the scoring with an empty-net goal for his eighth of the season.

“I think they scored with 14 minutes left, so we had 14 minutes to come back and we got a lot of skill in this room,” Benson said. “So, you’re down by one, we’re not too scared, we got a lot of weapons in this room and we saw that tonight.”

For Levi, it was a celebration of sorts, during his first trip to Las Vegas.

“I think we were all excited for this game,” Levi said. “Personally, being able to go against the Cup champs from last year, it’s pretty special. I think everyone wants to beat them, it’s a great team on the other side of the ice.

“It’s really cool being in Vegas, my first time here, so I just enjoyed myself. I just felt like a little kid in Disneyland the last few days. Just a great trip overall.”

Buffalo has won three of its last four meetings with the Golden Knights, including two straight in Las Vegas.

“It was a big challenge tonight going against the defending Cup champs,” Cozens said. “We talked about it before that it was going to be a man’s game. And I think we did a lot of things good tonight, we played kind of a full 60, we didn’t make too many mistakes and we capitalized on our chances.”

Ivan Barbashev and Jack Eichel scored for defending champion Vegas, and Logan Thompson made 22 saves. Former Sabres star Eichel has a nine-game points streak.

Buffalo, 10-1-1 when scoring first, got on the board immediately after coming off a power play. Cozens skated into the slot and sniped a shot past Thompson to give the Sabres the lead at 7:42 of the first.

The lead didn’t last, though, as Barbashev skated in and cleaned things up with a flood of traffic in front of Levi. Eichel gave the Knights a 2-1 lead early in the third period when he snared a rebound from Paul Cotter’s miss and ripped it past Levi.

This time it was Buffalo with an immediate response, with Mittelstadt beating Thompson with a shot from the right circle.

“We had a ton of great looks early,” Vegas captain Mark Stone said. “It would have been nice to get out the first period with a lead. We put ourselves in the right position up 2-1 with 12 minutes left in the game. We got to close those out.”

UP NEXT

Sabres: At Arizona on Saturday night.

Golden Knights: Host Ottawa on Sunday night.

The Raiders set a franchise scoring record, topping the team's 59-14 victory at Denver on Oct. 24, 2010. It was the most points allowed by the Chargers, who previously gave up 57 to the St. Louis Rams on Oct. 1, 2000.

The Raiders led 42-0 at halftime, just three points shy of the NFL record for halftime margin that was set in 2009 when New England led Tennessee 45-0. The 42-point margin has been matched two other times — by Green Bay over Chicago in 2014 and the Packers over Tampa Bay in 1983. Las Vegas also tied the franchise record for points in a half, set in 1969 against Buffalo.

The halftime deficit was the biggest in Chargers history. They trailed the Patriots 31-0 in 1997.

It was a stunning turnaround for the Raiders (6-8), who gave up only a field goal Sunday against Minnesota but still lost, amassing 202 yards. Las Vegas had 283 yards by halftime against the Chargers (5-9). The Raiders led 63-7 before two late touchdowns for LA.

Aidan O'Connell threw all four of his touchdown passes in the first half, and he finished with 248 yards passing. Davante Adams caught eight passes for 101 yards a TD, his first 100-yard game since Week 3 against Pittsburgh.

Las Vegas' defense scored second-half touchdowns on a fumble recovery and interception, the first time the Raiders scored two defensive TDs since 2006 against the Steelers.

Los Angeles quarterback Easton Stick, making his first start in place of the injured Justin Herbert, completed 23 of 32 passes for 257 yards, with three touchdowns and an interception.

The heat figures to be turned up on Chargers coach Brandon Staley after his team got blown out by a team that was on a three-game losing streak. Los Angeles has lost five of six games.

The Chargers were sloppy, turning the ball over three times in the first half. Each led to a Raiders touchdown.

"Just wasn't good enough," Staley said in a televised halftime interview. "That wasn't us out there."

Las Vegas comfortable enough to run three successive gadget plays at one point in the second quarter. Wide receiver Jakobi Meyers completed a pass to Davante Adams, receiver Tre Tucker was given the ball on a running play and then Brandon Bolden scored on a 26-yard run out of the wildcat formation. It was his first touchdown since late in the 2021 season.

To open the second half, Meyers hooked up with Adams again, this time on a 3-yard touchdown pass for a 49-0 lead.

Los Angeles finally broke through on its next possession when Stick found Joshua Palmer for a 79-yard touchdown. That was the first time the Chargers made it past the 50.

INJURIES

Chargers: WR Keenan Allen (heel) did not play. LB Kenneth Murray Jr. (shoulder) went out in the second quarter, but returned. CB Essang Bassey left with a concussion and C/G Will Clapp with a knee injury.

Raiders: RB Josh Jacobs (quadriceps), LT Kolton Miller (shoulder) and C Andre James (ankle) did not play. LB Divine Deablo suffered an ankle injury.

UP NEXT

Chargers: Host Buffalo on Dec. 23.

Raiders: At AFC West rival Kansas City on Christmas Day.

Those actions made the Raiders the first NFL team in which Black people occupied the three key leadership positions below owner — coach, GM and president. Team president Sandra Douglass Morgan is one of the few women in authority in the league.

“I don’t take it lightly,” Pierce said. “There are not many people from my background, grew up from where I grew up (Compton, California), to be in front of this stage, to have this kind of responsibility.”

Pierce said he grew up a Raiders fan and pointed out the organization — whether it was based in Las Vegas, Oakland or Los Angeles — has a history of being a trailblazer. Kelly and Douglass Morgan noted that Hall of Fame owner Al Davis — Mark Davis' father — set the standard going back to 1989 when Art Shell became the NFL's first Black head coach in the Super Bowl era.

Tom Flores, who is Mexican American, became the first minority head coach to win a Super Bowl when he guided the Raiders to the championship in the 1980 season and then won a second one three years later. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame two years ago.

As far as the ultimate on-field leadership position, Kelly noted the Raiders became the first to draft a Black quarterback in the first round when they selected Eldridge Dickey in 1968.

“The Raiders have long been a leader in diversity in professional sports, and the NFL would not be what it is today without Al Davis," Kelly said in a statement to The Associated Press. “Therefore, it is no surprise that the Raiders under Mark Davis are the first franchise with a Black head coach, president and general manager. Personally, I couldn’t be prouder to be a part of this leadership group.”

The Raiders also were the first team to appoint a woman as president when Amy Trask was hired in 1997. Douglass Morgan was hired in July 2022, making her the first Black woman to hold that position in the NFL.

“I think there's additional responsibility (as a woman) any time you are not what the common person looks like who fills that role,” Douglass Morgan told The AP in an interview. “So I think there's definitely a responsibility making sure you're not the last. That's the goal, to not be the last whether it's being a woman of color or a woman itself. It's a challenge, but I have to focus on what the job is, and that's to be the best president of the Raiders.”

Pierce and Kelly have similar mandates.

Pierce has to figure out a way to get the Raiders (5-8) out of a three-game losing streak, beginning with Thursday night's home game against the Los Angeles Chargers. Even if he gets the team moving in the right direction, he is far from guaranteed of getting the job on a full-time basis once Davis opens up the coaching search.

Kelly is in a similar spot, trying to show now he is the one who should be fully in charge of making the roster playoff worthy.

Those decisions will come soon enough.

As for now, Las Vegas star wide receiver Davante Adams said the current makeup of those leadership positions should be noted, but the fact it is a story also is something that needs to be rectified.

“Hopefully, we get to a point where we don’t even need to acknowledge it — not here but just in the world,” Adams said. “It’d be cool to just have a Black president and it just be the president, it’s just a normal thing, that’s the ultimate goal.”

In the meantime, Adams said, the Raiders' leadership should serve as an inspiration to young people who otherwise wouldn't have such role models to try to emulate.

Pierce made a similar point.

“I do look at myself as somebody who can be a leader and an example for the other children wherever they may be in the world that, listen, you could do it,” Pierce said. "If I did it, I know you could do it. Guarantee that. So, hopefully, they believe in a dream like I did and work their (butts) off to get there.”

Chandler Stephenson, Ivan Barbashev and William Karlsson also scored for the Golden Knights while Logan Thompson made 27 saves. Stone also had two assists for a four-point game.

After Calgary's Yegor Sharangovich scored his second goal of the game to tie it with one minute remaining, sending the Golden Knights to their seventh extra period in 13 games, Stone streaked in alone and beat Flames netminder Dustin Wolf and to give Vegas its fourth straight win.

"I got a step so all I got to do is really make a good shot," Stone said.

The Golden Knights, who lead the NHL with 45 points, improved to 9-1 all-time when hosting Calgary. Vegas extended its point streak to nine games, now 6-0-3 since Nov. 27.

“We know we have a good team and we know that we can come back any night,” Karlsson said. “I think we believe in ourselves that much and we battled back today. Unfortunately, they tied it up again, but we showed some resilience and got the dub.”

Mackenzie Weegar and Nazem Kadri also scored goals, while Wolf stopped 34 shots for the Flames, who have now lost five of six after a promising 8-3-2 run.

Calgary was playing the second leg of a back-to-back after blowing a 5-3 third-period lead in Denver on Monday.

“We were competitive all night tonight,” Calgary coach Ryan Huska said. "For me, the difference of course when you look at it is special teams — they score two on their opportunities. We weren’t able to generate anything but I’m not faulting or not unhappy with the way we competed or worked tonight.”

It was a game of back and forth, the teams exchanging goals every step of the way until Vegas took a 4-3 lead in the third period when Karlsson’s shot from his knees with a little less than four minutes remaining in the game gave the Golden Knights their first lead.

Weegar ignited things for the Flames when he one-timed a long rebound from Thompson’s pad save from the top of the right circle. Stephenson put Vegas on the board later in the first when he was positioned perfectly in the middle of a goal-mouth scramble during a power play and he was able to punch home a rebound.

The Flames got the lead back in the second period when Connor Zary’s shot from the slot caromed off Kadri’s back and into the net. Three minutes later Barbashev snared a loose puck from the slot to tie it once again. Sharangovich put the Flames ahead late in the period when his shot from the top of the right circle trickled through Thompson’s pads.

Stone tied the game early in the third period when he skated down the slot, took a pass from Karlsson and went forehand-backhand to beat Wolf.

UP NEXT

Flames: Conclude a three-game road trip in Minnesota on Thursday.

Golden Knights: Host Buffalo on Friday.

Chandler Stephenson and Brayden McNabb also scored for the Golden Knights, who have won three straight and five of their last six to lead the league with 43 points. Jiri Patera stopped 35 shots in his season debut.

Mike Hoffman had two goals, and Mario Ferraro and Calen Addison also scored for San Jose, which had won five of its previous seven games. Kaapo Kahkonen finished with 23 saves.

The teams put on a much better show for local fans than the Raiders did in a 3-0 loss to the Vikings hours earlier in the NFL’s lowest-scoring game in 16 years less than two miles away at Allegiant Stadium.

After blowing leads of 3-1 and 4-2 in the third period, the Golden Knights survived overtime and got goals from Marchessault and Jack Eichel in the shootout for the win.

Already having scored twice in regulation, Marchessault said he studied Kahkonen’s first two save attempts during the shootout and was confident when he came out to attempt the game-winner.

“He played pretty deep there, so that kind of works into my strength to be able to just shoot the puck and, you know, just looking for a hole and shot it,” said Marchessault, who leads Vegas with 14 goals.

The Golden Knights were playing the second of a back-to-back after a Saturday win at Dallas, where they finished a quick two-game trip. The defending champs opened a four-game homestand after playing 10 of their previous 13 on the road.

“It’s great,” Eichel said. “Feels like we’ve been on the road for quite a while. We’ve had a few games here, but not too many. So take advantage of a little home cooking sleeping in your own bed and spending time with your family. Obviously, it’s the holidays. But we got a couple of games this week we got to take care of, so it’s nice to be home.”

McNabb extended Vegas’ lead to 3-1 at 1:43 of the third with a wicked snipe from the left circle, beating Kahkonen far side with his second goal of the season.

Hoffman answered a little more than two minutes later on the power play when he bounced the puck off Vegas defenseman Kaedan Korczak’s skate to cut the Knights’ lead to one.

Marchessault’s second of the night and 14th of the season pushed the Golden Knights’ lead back to two at 9:23, but Addison brought the Sharks within striking distance with 3:45 left.

Hoffman scored his second of the night with 39 seconds left, tying the game.

After opening the season 3-15-2, the Sharks head home with a 5-2-1 mark in their last eight games.

“We’ve created a blueprint of how we’re gonna have success here over the last month,” Sharks coach David Quinn. “We’ve been doing it, but not as consistently as we have over the last two games, and our guys pretty much understand how we’re going to have success. I thought we defended pretty well. Not a lot of big-time chances. I thought they had a five-minute stretch in the third where they kind of hemmed us in a little bit, but a month ago that’s 25 minutes of hemmed-in hockey that we were trying to fight through.”

UP NEXT

Sharks: Host Winnipeg on Tuesday night.

Golden Knights: Host Calgary on Tuesday night.

Only Greg Joseph's 36-yard field goal with 1:57 left that gave the Vikings a 3-0 victory over the Raiders prevented the teams from setting the league back 80 years.

It was the first 3-0 game since Pittsburgh beat Miami on Nov. 26, 2007, the third in the past 40 years and the seventh in the Super Bowl era. The last game that ended regulation scoreless was a 0-0 tie between the New York Giants and Detroit Lions on Nov. 7, 1943.

The Vikings (7-6) had just 230 total yards, and the Raiders (5-8) — losers of three in a row — were limited to 201 yards and nine first downs. Minnesota beat an AFC West opponent for the first time this season after going 0-3.

It was Minnesota's first shutout since defeating Green Bay 16-0 on Dec. 23, 2017 and the first blanking of Las Vegas since its 24-0 loss to New Orleans on Oct. 30, 2022.

Nick Mullens relieved an ineffective Joshua Dobbs at quarterback in the fourth quarter and led the Vikings on their lone scoring drive. His 22-yard completion to Jordan Addison to the Raiders 20 set up Joseph's kick.

“You never know when your name is going to be called, but you prepare and work as hard as you can and trust that there's a plan out there for you,” Mullens said. “I did that, stepped in. The guys did an incredible job. ... It doesn't matter what it looks like, a win is a win.”

Dobbs was 10 of 23 for 63 yards; Mullens completed 9 of 13 passes for 83 yards.

“I felt like my trust in Nick with his preparation he could be called upon,” Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said. “We made sure he got some reps last week so he was ready to go, and he did exactly that. Went out and made some critical, critical plays to move the chains and ultimately get us in range for the very limited amount of points we got today.”

O'Connell said he didn't know who would start going forward.

Raiders interim coach Antonio Pierce could face a similar situation after Aidan O'Connell completed 21 of 32 passes for 171 yards with an interception, but the quarterback wasn't the only one at fault.

“No excuse there,” Pierce said. “It is shocking. Plenty of time to prepare for an opponent. They did nothing new. Poor coaching. Poor performance by the players.”

The Vikings lost wide receiver Justin Jefferson, the 2022 AP Offensive Player of the Year, in the second quarter to a chest injury. He was taken to a hospital, but O'Connell said the early prognosis was promising. This was Jefferson’s first game back after missing the previous seven because of a hamstring injury.

Las Vegas lost running back Josh Jacobs to a knee injury in the fourth quarter. Jacobs led the NFL in rushing last season with 1,653 yards. He had rushed for more than 100 yards in two of the prior three games.

Neither team scored in the first half, the second time that happened Sunday. The Houston Texans-New York Jets game also was 0-0 at intermission. According to the Fox Sports broadcast, it was the first time since October of 1988 that two games were scoreless at halftime on the same day.

The game remained scoreless entering the fourth quarter, the first time that has happened since Week 17 of the 2017 season when the Cowboys and Eagles faced each other. It's the first time the Raiders have ever been involved in such a game and the second for the Vikings — Nov. 14, 1971 against the Packers was the other. That game also ended in a 3-0 win for Minnesota.

Both teams didn't capitalize on scoring chances. Joseph missed a 49-yard field goal in the second quarter and Raiders wide receiver Hunter Renfrow lost a fumble at Minnesota's 20.

VIKINGS OC MAKES TRIP AFTER ARREST

Minnesota offensive coordinator Wes Phillips traveled with the team and worked the game after his Friday night arrest on suspicion of drunken driving in Minneapolis.

“I was incredibly disappointed, there's no question,” O'Connell said. “But we want to allow the facts and do our due diligence from that standpoint. The league is clearly involved as well. It's very important that we as coaches understand we're setting the bar for our organization and for our players. Wes knows he fell short of that.”

MILESTONE SACK

Maxx Crosby became the fifth Raider to record 50 career sacks when he got to Dobbs in the second quarter. He is the first player in franchise history to get there in his first five seasons. Crosby later added a second sack.

TRIBUTE TO VICTIMS

Crosby led the team onto the field carrying flags representing UNLV and law enforcement. The team had a moment of silence before kickoff to honors the three UNLV professors who were fatally shot Wednesday and two Nevada Highway Patrol officers who died after being struck by a car on Nov. 30.

INJURIES

Vikings: RB Alexander Mattison (ankle) was injured in the third quarter. ... RT Brian O’Neill (ankle) was hurt in the second quarter. ... WR Jalen Nailor is in concussion protocol.

Raiders: DT Adam Butler (foot) and LB Kana’i Mauga (knee) were injured in the second quarter. Mauga had just been activated off injured reserve on Saturday. He was on IR because of a knee injury. ... C Andre James (ankle) was injured in the third quarter.

UP NEXT

Vikings: At Cincinnati on Saturday.

Raiders: Host the Los Angeles Chargers on Thursday night.

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