SUNDAY SPORTS: CHIEFS, TEXANS MOVING ON

NFL

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes threw for 262 yards and a touchdown, had his helmet shattered when he took a hit in the second half, and proceeded to lead the Kansas City Chiefs to a 26-7 rout of the Miami Dolphins in the fourth-coldest game in NFL history Saturday night.

The reigning league MVP found Rashee Rice eight times for 130 yards and a touchdown in the wild-card playoff game, and Isiah Pacheco added 89 yards rushing and another score, sending the Chiefs (12-6) past the Dolphins for the first time in four post-season meetings.

The injury-depleted Dolphins (11-7) looked nothing like the dynamic offence that led the league in yards during the regular season. Tua Tagovailoa was pressured relentlessly by the NFL’s second-ranked defence, wide receiver Tyreek Hill had a 53-yard TD catch but was otherwise shut down in his return to Kansas City, and the Dolphins finished with just 264 yards in all.

The Chiefs won their 15th consecutive home playoff game. But they will head to Buffalo next week if the Bills beat the Steelers on Monday in a game pushed back a day by a blizzard. Otherwise, the Chiefs will host Houston.

Elsewhere in the NFL on Saturday:

TEXANS 45 BROWNS 14

HOUSTON (AP) — Rookie C.J. Stroud became the youngest quarterback to win a playoff game, throwing for 274 yards and three touchdowns as Houston routed Cleveland.

Stroud, the second overall pick in the draft last April, picked apart Cleveland’s vaunted defence, throwing touchdown passes of 15 yards to Nico Collins, 76 to Brevin Jordan and 37 to Dalton Schultz before halftime as the Texans (11-7) built a 24-14 lead.

Houston’s defence took over after that, with Steven Nelson and Christian Harris returning interceptions for touchdowns on consecutive drives in the third quarter to extend the lead to 38-14.

The picks by 38-year-old Joe Flacco were too much for the Browns (11-7) to overcome. Flacco finished with 307 yards passing and had a touchdown pass in the first half.

WHL

MOOSE JAW, Sask. – Matthew Savoie scored twice and added three assists as the Moose Jaw Warriors whipped the visiting Vancouver Giants 7-2 in Western Hockey League action on Saturday.

Jagger Firkus scored twice for the Warriors (24-15-0-2), while Connor Schmidt, Brayden Yager and Denton Mateychuk netted singles.

Elsewhere in the WHL on Saturday:

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PATS 4 RAIDERS 3

REGINA, Sask. — Anthony Wilson scored the game-winning goal at 18:17 of the third period as the Regina Pats edged the visiting Prince Albert Raiders 4-3.

Jaxsin Vaughan, Sam Oremba and Tye Spencer also scored for the Pats (15-20-4-2).

Krzysztof Macias, Brayden Dube and Sloan Stanick scored for the Raiders (19-19-0-3).

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BLADES 5 ROYALS 4 (OT)

SASKATOON, Sask. — Brandon Lisowsky scored 20 seconds into overtime period as the Saskatoon Blades edged the visiting Victoria Royals.

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SILVERTIPS 4 BLAZERS 1

EVERETT, Wash. — Austin Roest scored a goal and an assist as the Everett Silvertips defeated the visiting Kamloops Blazers 4-1.

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TIGERS 3 HURRICANES 2

MEDICINE HAT, Alta. — Shane Smith scored the game-winning goal at 2:53 of the third period as the Medicine Hat Tigers edged the visiting Lethbridge Hurricanes 3-2.

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REBELS 4 OIL KINGS 1

RED DEER, Alta. — Kai Uchacz scored three goals as the Red Deer Rebels beat the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings 4-1.

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ROCKETS 3 COUGARS 2 (SO)

PRINCE GEORGE, B.C. — The visiting Kelowna Rockets outlasted the Prince George Cougars in a shootout to record a 3-2 victory.

NHL

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Brett Pesce scored his second goal of the game at 1:41 of overtime to give the Carolina Hurricanes a 3-2 National Hockey League victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night.

Elsewhere in the NHL on Saturday:

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BRUINS 4 BLUES 3 (OT)

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Charlie McAvoy scored his second goal in overtime and Brad Marchand added two goals, leading Boston to the victory over St. Louis.

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OILERS 2 CANADIENS 1 (OT)

MONTREAL (AP) — Evan Bouchard scored a power-play goal 2:01 into overtime, and Edmonton beat Montreal for a franchise-record 10th consecutive victory. Leon Draisaitl also scored for Edmonton, and Stuart Skinner made 23 saves.

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COYOTES 6 WILD 0

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Nick Bjugstad had his second career hat trick, Connor Ingram made 38 saves for his fifth shutout of the season and Arizona routed Minnesota.

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FLAMES 3 GOLDEN KNIGHTS 1

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Mikael Backlund had a goal and an assist, Jacob Markstrom made 32 saves and Calgary beat Vegas for its ninth victory in 13 games. Chandler Stephenson scored for Vegas, and Logan Thompson made 23 saves. The defending Stanley Cup champion Golden Knights have lost eight of 11.

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AVALANCHE 5 MAPLE LEAFS 3

TORONTO (AP) — Nathan MacKinnon broke a tie off a rush with 3:25 left and Colorado overcame an early three-goal deficit to beat Toronto. Max Domi, Morgan Rielly and Timothy Liljegren scored in the first period for Toronto. The Maple Leafs have lost two in a row. Martin Jones made 28 saves.

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SENATORS 5 SHARKS 4

OTTAWA, Ont. (AP) — Vladimir Tarasenko scored with 3.3 seconds remaining in the third period as Ottawa snapped a five-game losing streak with a victory over San Jose.

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RED WINGS 5 KINGS 3

DETROIT (AP) — Dylan Larkin had two goals and Detroit handed Los Angeles its eighth consecutive loss.

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KRAKEN 7 BLUE JACKETS 4

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Jared McCann had two goals and an assist, Joey Daccord made 32 saves and Seattle extended its win streak to nine games, rallying to beat Columbus.

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STARS 3 BLACKHAWKS 1

CHICAGO (AP) — Mason Marchment scored with 5:06 left in regulation to snap a tie, and Dallas came back with three goals in the third period to top Chicago.

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PREDATORS 3 ISLANDERS 1

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Alexandre Carrier scored with 7.9 seconds remaining in the third period to lead Nashville over New York.

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LIGHTNING 5 DUCKS 1

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Steven Stamkos scored a pair of power-play goals during a 3:51 span in the second period and had an assist, NHL points leader Nikita Kucherov had three assists, and Tampa Bay beat Anaheim.

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DEVILS 4 PANTHERS 1

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Nico Daws stopped 36 shots, Jesper Bratt scored for the second straight game and New Jersey snapped Florida’s nine-game winning streak.

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CANUCKS 1 SABRES 0

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Thatcher Demko made 26 saves, Sam Lafferty scored the only goal of the game and Vancouver beat Buffalo for its fifth win in a row.

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CAPITALS 3 RANGERS 2

WASHINGTON (AP) — Nic Dowd tied the game in the third period by batting the puck in out of the air, T.J. Oshie scored the go-ahead goal 1:53 later and Washington rallied to beat New York.

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FLYERS 2 JETS 0

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Samuel Ersson made 35 saves, Cam Atkinson scored twice to snap a 26-game goal drought and Philadelphia beat NHL-leading Winnipeg to end the Jets’ franchise-record winning and points streaks. Winnipeg had won eight straight and taken at least a point in 14 in a row. Winnipeg has still only allowed two or less goals in a franchise-record 12 straight games and three or less goals in a franchise-best 32 consecutive games.

ALL STAR GAME

TORONTO – The Toronto Maple Leafs and Vancouver Canucks will be well represented at the 2024 NHL All-Star Weekend thanks to voting fans.

Maple Leafs forwards William Nylander, Mitchell Marner and defenceman Morgan Rielly were added to the All-Star Game rosters via the 2024 NHL All-Star Fan Vote announced by the NHL on Saturday. Those Leafs will join forward Auston Matthews when they host the event at Scotiabank Arena on Feb. 1-3.

It will be the third All-Star Game appearance for Marner, and the first for Nylander and Rielly.

Canucks forwards J.T. Miller (first appearance), Brock Boeser (second), Elias Pettersson (fourth), and goalie Thatcher Demko (second) were also voted in and will join defenceman Quinn Hughes in Toronto.

More than 36 million votes were cast over eight days in the fan vote. Demko led all players with 1,398,699 while Nylander was second in the vote and led all skaters with 1,393,578. Colorado Avalanche defenceman Cale Makar also topped one million votes with 1,065,367.

Earlier Saturday, goalie Alexandar Georgiev of the Avalanche, Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl, and goalies Sergei Bobrovsky of the Florida Panthers and Jeremy Swayman of the Boston Bruins were named the first five winners of the fan vote.

Those 12 (eight skaters, four goalies) will join the 32 players selected by the NHL, including Matthews and Hughes, who were announced Jan. 4

All-Star Weekend will have a completely new look this year. The player draft will return as part of a new event: NHL All-Star Thursday.

Celebrities will be paired with captains for the Tim Hortons NHL All-Star Player Draft. They will pick the four teams of 11 players (nine skaters, two goalies) for the NHL All-Star Game.

The skills competition, which will be held Feb. 2, with 12 NHL All-Stars competing for points in eight events, with the NHL All-Star who accumulates the most points taking home a prize of $1 million.

Each player will compete in four of the first six events listed below, earning points for their respective finish in each event.

(Canadian Press)