TUESDAY SPORTS: BUCS, BILLS MOVING ON
Photo: NFL
NFL
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — All Baker Mayfield and the resurgent Tampa Bay Buccaneers wanted was an opportunity to make some noise in the playoffs.
A strong finish to the regular season provided one. Their 32-9 wild-card playoff victory over Jalen Hurts and the defending NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night guaranteed they’ll have another.
Mayfield threw for 337 yards and three touchdowns, and Tampa Bay’s defense never allowed Hurts and Philadelphia’s sputtering offense to get into a rhythm before a crowd of 63,397 at Raymond James Stadium.
The Bucs (10-8) won for the sixth time in seven games to advance to a NFC divisional round matchup on the road next Sunday against the Detroit Lions (13-5), another team — like the Eagles — that stymied Mayfield during the regular season.
Mayfield, the 2018 No. 1 overall draft pick who’s playing with his fourth team in less than two years, completed 22 of 36 passes without an interception. He capped his first playoff appearance since the 2020 season with a 23-yard TD pass to Chris Godwin.
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — It made no difference to Josh Allen what day or time the Buffalo Bills faced the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The AFC wild-card playoff game could’ve been played Sunday as scheduled, in the midst of a lake-effect storm that dumped more than 2 feet of snow on the region, and the Bills were going be to ready.
They proved that on Monday, when Allen threw three touchdown passes and scored on a franchise playoff-record 52-yard touchdown run as Buffalo beat Pittsburgh 31-17 in a game that was postponed by 27 1/2 hours.
The game turned into a celebration of the elements. Snow blanketed a majority of the seats inside Highmark Stadium when the gates opened and was put to good use by fans, who tossed handfuls into the air like confetti to celebrate.
“We put on a show in the snow,” left tackle Dion Dawkins said. “We’re here. We got one more week.”
The second-seeded Bills (12-6), who closed the regular season with five straight wins, advance to host Patrick Mahomes and the No. 3 seed Kansas City Chiefs in the divisional round on Sunday night. Buffalo and its fans have longed for a home playoff game against the Chiefs after their 2020 and ’21 seasons ended with playoff losses at Kansas City.
NHL
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Marc-Andre Fleury took sole possession of second place with his 552nd win in the NHL, posting his 74th career shutout as the Minnesota Wild beat the New York Islanders 5-0 on Monday.
Elsewhere in the NHL on Monday:
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BLUE JACKETS 4 CANUCKS 3 (SO)
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Kirill Marchenko scored the only goal in a four-round shootout to lift Columbus over Vancouver 4-3, ending the Canucks’ five-game winning streak.
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BRUINS 3 DEVILS 0
BOSTON (AP) — All-Star Jeremy Swayman stopped 31 shots for his third shutout of the season, getting goals from David Pastrnak, Charlie Coyle and a diving empty-netter from Trent Frederic to give Boston a 3-0 win over New Jersey.
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CANADIENS 4 AVALANCHE 3
MONTREAL (AP) — Joel Armia scored late in the third period and Montreal edged Colorado 4-3 to snap a three-game winless streak.
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DUCKS 5 PANTHERS 4 (OT)
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Alex Killorn got his second goal of the game 48 seconds into overtime, and Anaheim fought back from a pair of two-goal deficits to beat Florida 5-4.
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KINGS 5 HURRICANES 2
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Trevor Moore scored two goals and Los Angeles snapped an eight-game winless streak by beating Carolina 5-2.
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GOLDEN KNIGHTS 4 PREDATORS 1
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Mark Stone had his first regular-season hat trick and Logan Thompson made 34 saves to lead Vegas over Nashville 4-1.
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FLYERS 4 BLUES 2
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Owen Tippett scored the tiebreaking goal with 5:33 left, and Philadelphia earned its fourth straight win, beating St. Louis 4-2.
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PENGUINS 3 KRAKEN 0
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Sidney Crosby scored twice, Tristan Jarry stopped 22 shots and Pittsburgh ended Seattle’s franchise-record nine-game winning streak, beating the Kraken 3-0.
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SABRES 3 SHARKS 0
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 28 saves and Casey Mittelstadt had three points to lead Buffalo over San Jose 3-0.
WHL
PORTLAND, Ore. – The Portland Winterhawks scored four goals on 20 shots in the first period and then coasted to a convincing 7-1 Western Hockey League victory over the visiting Kamloops Blazers on Monday at Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
The Winterhawks, who led 4-0 after the first period and 5-0 heading into the third, outshot the Blazers 51-24 in the lone game on Monday’s WHL schedule.
CFL
EDMONTON – Loucheiz Purifoy will return for a second season with the Edmonton Elks.
The veteran defensive back signed a one-year contract extension Monday with Edmonton. The five-foot-11, 190-pound Purifoy was scheduled to become a CFL free agent next month.
Purifoy, 31, had 49 tackles and three interceptions (two returned for TDs, tied for the CFL lead) last season, his first with Edmonton.
(Canadian Press)
