SUNDAY SPORTS

Semyon Varlamov made 39 saves, Jarome Iginla scored his 598th career goal and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Edmonton Oilers 5-1 for their fifth consecutive win. Varlamov tied his career high with his sixth victory in a row and improved to 7-and-1 in December.

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Jonathan Bernier finally has the monkey off his back. He picked up his first win of the season as the Toronto Maple Leafs routed the Los Angeles Kings 5-0. Bernier stopped all 26 shots he faced for the shut out. He was 0-8-3 in his first 11 appearances prior to facing the Kings. Michael Grabner and Leo Komarov each scored twice for Toronto.

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Jamie Benn continued his torrent scoring pace tonight against Montreal. The Stars forward had two goals and an assist as Dallas downed the Canadiens 6-2. Benn now has 22 goals on the season to lead the NHL. Jason Spezza had a goal and two assists for the Stars.

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It won’t be a perfect December after all for the Calgary Flames. Vladimir Tarasenko extended his goal-scoring streak with a goal and two assists as the St. Louis Blues edged the Flames 3-2. Calgary had started the month with a seven-game winning streak.

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Randy Bullock kicked a 40-yard field goal with 36 seconds left and the New York Jets beat the Dallas Cowboys 19-16. The win keeps the pressure on Pittsburgh and Kansas City in the AFC wild-card race. The Jets are now a half-game ahead of the Steelers and Chiefs in the race for two playoff spots. The loss eliminated the Cowboys with two games remaining.

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Marc Gasol had 19 points and 12 rebounds as the Memphis Grizzlies defeated the Indiana Pacers 96-84 Saturday in NBA action. Matt Barnes finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds as the Grizzlies snapped a two-game skid. Paul George led the Pacers with 29 points, despite going 8 of 22 from the field. The loss snapped Indiana’s three-game winning streak.

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Rafael dos Anjos stopped Donald Cerrone at 1:06 of the first round Saturday night to retain the UFC lightweight title at UFC Fight Night in Orlando, FL.

Dos Anjos hurt Cerrone with a left kick to the midsection, moved in and unleashed a flurry of shots against the fence. Cerrone managed to escape and get back to the centre of the octagon, but the fight went to the ground and dos Anjos finished it there.

Dos Anjos improved to 35-7 in his first title defence and second victory of Cerrone.  Cerrone dropped to 28-7 after winning eight straight fights.

After the fight, dos Anjos delivered a message to featherweight champion Conor McGregor, who has said he plans to also fight in the lightweight division.

Earlier, Alistair Overeem (40-14) scored a technical knockout win over former UFC champion Junior Dos Santos (17-4) in a heavyweight fight.

In a lightweight fight, Nate Diaz (18-10) picked up a unanimous decision over Michael Johnson (16-10) in a standup battle.

(Canadian Press)