THURSDAY SPORTS: MCCARTHY STAYS

NFL

Mike McCarthy will get another chance to end a nearly three-decade stretch without a deep playoff run for the Dallas Cowboys, a decision that ends three days of intense speculation over the coach’s future.

Owner and general manager Jerry Jones said Wednesday night that McCarthy will be back for a fifth season after a stunning 48-32 wild-card loss to Green Bay.

The Cowboys were the first No. 2 seed to lose to the last team to get in since the 14-team format was adopted in 2020. Dallas surged to the NFC East title in the final two weeks and had a chance to host at least two playoff games.

“There is great benefit to continuing the team’s progress under Mike’s leadership as our head coach,” Jones said in a statement with several references to the disappointment of the playoff loss. “Mike has the highest regular-season winning percentage of any head coach in Cowboys history, and we will dedicate ourselves, in partnership with him, to translating that into reaching our postseason goals.”

McCarthy was hired to get Dallas past the divisional round for the first time since the 1995 season, the last of the storied franchise’s five Super Bowl titles.

The 60-year-old coach won a Super Bowl with Green Bay 13 years ago and reached the NFC championship game three other times in 12-plus seasons leading the Packers.

(Associated Press)

NHL

RED WINGS 3 PANTHERS 2 OT

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Dylan Larkin scored a power-play goal 1:09 into overtime and the Detroit Red Wings beat the Florida Panthers 3-2 on Wednesday night, snapping a 10-game losing streak in the head-to-head series.

Sam Reinhart and Gustav Forsling scored for the Panthers, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 27 saves. Florida has lost a season-high three straight (0-1-2).

It was Detroit’s first game without forward Patrick Kane due to a lower-body injury.

Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov also missed the game with a minor lower-body issue due to “precautionary reasons.”

CANADIENS 3, DEVILS 2

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Cole Caufield put in a rebound with 4:31 to play and Montreal beat New Jersey after squandering a two-goal lead early in the third period.

Juraj Slafkovsky and Joshua Roy also scored as the Canadiens won their second straight and improved to 4-2-2 in their last eight games. Sam Montembeault made 28 saves.

WHL

WARRIORS 6 HURRICANES 3

MOOSE JAW, Sask. – Brayden Schuurman scored a goal and 2 assists as Moose Jaw Warriors topped the Lethbridge Hurricanes 6-3.

Kalem Parker, Matthew Savoie, Brayden Yager, Atley Calvert and Denton Mateychuk all scored once for Moose Jaw.

Warriors netminder Evan May stopped 22 of 25 shots.

Miguel Marques, Dylan Sydor and Sean Tschigerl all scored once for Lethbridge.

Hurricanes goaltender Brady Smith stopped 37 of 43 shots.

REBELS 5 BLADES 4

RED DEER – Hunter Mayo knocked in the game-winning goal at 15:49 in the second period as the Rebels edged the Blades.

Hunter Mayo scored three goals while Talon Brigley and Frantisek Formanek scored once for Red Deer.

Rebels goaltender Chase Wutzke saved 31 of 35 shots.

Rowan Calvert scored twice while Fraser Minten and Brandon Lisowsky scored once for Saskatoon.

Blades netminder Austin Elliott stopped 8 of 11 shots and Blades netminder Evan Gardner stopped 14 of 16 shots.

WINTERHAWKS 5 ROCKETS 4

KELOWNA – Luca Cagnoni knocked in the game-winning goal at 19:19 in the second period as the Winterhawks edged the Rockets.

James Stefan, Luca Cagnoni, Kyle Chyzowski, Nate Danielson and Diego Buttazzoni all scored once for Portland.

Winterhawks netminder Nick Avakyan saved 13 of 17 shots.

Andrew Cristall, Trae Johnson, Max Graham and Tij Iginla all scored once for Kelowna.

Rockets netminder Jake Pilon kicked out 32 of 37 shots.

NBA

TORONTO – Gary Trent Jr. wasn’t going to miss his opportunity — or many baskets — as emotions ran high in the Toronto Raptors locker room.

Trent had a season-high 28 points, combined with a season-best eight three-pointers, as Toronto stunned the Miami Heat 121-97 on Wednesday, hours after the Raptors traded all-star forward Pascal Siakam. Trent has spent most of the season coming off Toronto’s bench but was put into the starting lineup with Siakam gone.

“At the end of the day, we are professionals and we understand the league we are playing in and what comes with it and how it goes,” said Trent, who helped the Raptors shoot a season-high 20 three-pointers. “Obviously, a change like that is big.”

(Canadian Press)