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Lightning try to take down Hurricanes in latest clash

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NHL: Tampa Bay Lightning at Buffalo SabresMar 8, 2026; Buffalo, New York, USA; Tampa Bay Lightning right wing Nikita Kucherov (86) looks to control the puck during the third period against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images

Tampa Bay put it together in 60 minutes of winning hockey during its last outing, but the Lightning may have to be even better when the Eastern Conference-leading Carolina Hurricanes visit on Saturday night.

The East’s heavy hitters will meet for the final time this regular season after facing each other shortly after the Olympic break on Feb. 26.

On home ice in Raleigh, Carolina won that matchup 5-4 in regulation, avenging Tampa Bay’s 6-4 home win on Dec. 20 – two high-scoring affairs by skilled clubs who excel at putting the puck in the net.

Sitting in second place in the Atlantic Division, coach Jon Cooper’s Lightning score 3.52 goals per game (fourth-most in NHL) and won 4-1 Thursday night over the Detroit Red Wings.

It was just the home team’s second win in eight contests (2-6-0).

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Gage Goncalves and Jake Guentzel netted two goals apiece, and playmaking right wing Nikita Kucherov, who dealt one assist each to the wingers, achieved 1,100 career points in the win.

He became the second Lightning member with 1,100, joining Steven Stamkos, who notched 1,137 points in 16 seasons playing bayside.

Goncalves reached 10 goals to set a new career high for a season, just as he has in assists (13) and points (23).

“He’s always had (a high hockey IQ),” Cooper said of Goncalves. “It was just about how he was going to develop … what he can and can’t do. Pretty turnover-prone when he first came into the league, so he had to learn kind of the hard way.

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“Great example of a kid that’s fought through everything to get here and is doing a heck of a job.”

Since Feb. 1, Carolina is 8-3-0 but went 1-1-0 on its two-game homestand, beating the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-4 before falling 3-1 to the St. Louis Blues on Thursday night.

The Hurricanes rank sixth in scoring by averaging 3.46 goals.

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They lost for the first time in regulation at home since Jan. 3 and had a 12-game home point streak come to an end last time out.

Mark Jankowski scored the lone goal for the losing side on Team Canada silver medal-winning goaltender Jordan Binnington – his second straight game with a tally – and said he and his teammates have to be better in the middle period.

“We had a good start, but our last few games, our second period, we kind of had a lull,” Jankowski said. “We can’t have that. We’ve got to play a full 60 minutes. Every game in the NHL is a battle. Every night we’ve got to bring it for 60 minutes or else that’s going to happen.”

Coach Rod Brind’Amour said the Jankowski-centered fourth line, featuring left wing William Carrier and right wing Eric Robinson, was rather unfortunately the team’s best grouping.

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“They were our best line,” said Brind’Amour. “That’s generally not a good thing because they don’t play that much. We’ve got to get more out of our top guys.”

Seth Jarvis has tallied a team-high 28 goals, while Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov have 23 apiece.

Goaltender Brandon Bussi (25-5-1, 2.37 goals-against average, .899 save percentage) made 14 saves vs. St. Louis but lost his second straight start for the first time in his career.

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–Field Level Media

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Sharks, Canadiens battle to shore up postseason hopes

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NHL: San Jose Sharks at Boston BruinsMar 12, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; San Jose Sharks left wing William Eklund (72) bats the puck out of the air for a goal past Boston Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman (1) during the third period at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-Imagn Images

The San Jose Sharks aim to stay in the win column and strengthen their position in the Western Conference playoff race when they visit the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night.

The Sharks moved into the West’s second wild-card spot on Thursday with a 4-2 road win against the Boston Bruins, who had previously won 13 straight on home ice.

San Jose forward William Eklund had the highlight-reel goal of the evening in the third period. His initial shot was stopped by Jeremy Swayman, but Eklund batted in his own rebound while he was falling to the ice for his first goal since Jan. 7.

“It’s going to be like that during the season, and you’ve got to play through stuff,” Eklund said. “You’re not going to feel 100% every night. You’ve just got to push through it.”

Macklin Celebrini tallied the primary helper on Tyler Toffoli’s second-period goal to bring himself to 91 points (33 goals, 58 assists) in his second NHL season. Celebrini is on pace to join Pittsburgh Penguins legend Sidney Crosby as the only active NHL players to hit 100 points in a season before the age of 20.

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Backup goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic made 39 saves.

“I felt like I was seeing the puck good,” Nedeljkovic said. “Things were pretty clear out there. We were doing a good job of keeping guys out of the way early on, and if there was a rebound, we did a good job of tying up sticks or just clearing pucks right away. We were pretty solid in our own end for most of the night.”

Meanwhile, the Canadiens are pushing to stay in good standing in the Eastern Conference. They have won three straight games and got an extra day of rest after beating the Ottawa Senators 3-2 on Wednesday night.

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Ivan Demidov scored the go-ahead goal at 12:40 of the third period to secure the road victory. Drake Batherson scored twice to give the Senators a 2-1 advantage in the first frame, but Jacob Fowler’s 32 saves put the Habs in position to win.

“It was pretty hectic,” said Fowler, a rookie who was making his 11th start (5-4-2). “A couple plays there that our guys on the ice were pretty gassed, and a lot of huge blocks there down the stretch, the last few minutes there. A lot of guys doing a lot of hard things there to get a win, and that’s what it takes this time of year.”

Captain Nick Suzuki has recorded a team-high 75 points (21 goals, 54 assists) for the Canadiens, who are third in the Atlantic Division. Sniper Cole Caufield (37 goals) missed the Ottawa game due to illness.

This is the teams’ second and final meeting of the season. Defense fell by the wayside on March 3 when Celebrini racked up a goal and three assists in San Jose’s 7-5 home victory.

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Montreal is 18-11-2 at home this season, and San Jose is 14-16-1 on the road.

–Field Level Media

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Bracketology winners and losers: Ole Miss is conference tournament week’s Cinderella

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A season to forget for Ole Miss will have an ending to remember, regardless of what happens from here. The Rebels stunned Alabama in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament on Friday, outlasting the Crimson Tide 80-79 for their third win in three days.

Ole Miss needs two more victories to reach the NCAA Tournament. But after knocking off three projected at-large teams in three days, the Rebels shouldn’t be counted out. After all, they haven’t trailed at any point so far during what’s becoming the top Cinderella story of conference tournament week.

One season after reaching the Sweet 16, Ole Miss cratered by losing 12 of its last 13 regular-season games. The precipitous slide left coach Chris Beard’s club as the No. 15 seed for the SEC Tournament. They are still just 15-19 after Friday’s win, but after beginning the week with 300-to-1 odds of winning the SEC Tournament, hope is alive.

Can the Rebels keep their run going on Saturday? They will have no choice if they want to reach the Big Dance. Either way, it’s been a fun ride in Nashville for a team that most had left for dead entering the week.

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Here is the rundown of other Bracketology-oriented winners and losers from Friday’s action.

Get up-to-date results, plus what they mean for the NCAA Tournament bubble and seeding with our CBS Sports Bracketology LIVE BLOG.

Winner: Atlantic 10 stalwarts advance

The Atlantic 10’s top two seeds were each tested in quarterfinal action, but Saint Louis and VCU both found ways to survive and advance. The top-seeded Billikens rallied from a 21-point deficit to edge George Washington 88-81 behind 22 points from Robbie Avila, who scored 15 in a big second half for a Saint Louis team that struggled through a 3-3 finish to the regular season.

VCU trailed Duquesne by seven in the first half before stabilizing for a 71-66 victory. The win kept the Rams’ at-large hopes ablaze for another day as they will remain among the “Last Four In” within CBS Sports Bracketology. The A10’s hopes of being a two-bid league are alive and well.

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Loser: Auburn’s hopes get slimmer

VCU hanging around on the right side of the bubble was bad news for Auburn, which will likely need the Atlantic 10 and Mountain West to be one-bid leagues. The Tigers (17-16) can do nothing but sit, hope and pray after losing to Tennessee on Thursday in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals. But they are firmly on the wrong side of the bubble in CBS Sports Bracketology, and they didn’t get the help they needed from VCU.

Loser: Illinois drops from No. 2 seed

Illinois dropped from the No. 2 seed line in CBS Sports Bracketology with its 91-88 overtime loss against Wisconsin in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament. The Illini are now 0-4 in overtime games since the start of February. If the inverse were true, this team would be in the mix for the final No. 1 seed. But great predictive metrics can only get you so far, and the Illini (24-8) won’t have a case for a No. 2 seed on Selection Sunday. In fact, with selection metrics in the mid-teens, Illinois should now be pleased if it gets a No. 3 seed.

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Winner: Purdue is back in the No. 2 seed mix

Purdue is now the final No. 2 seed in CBS Sports Bracketology — for the time being — after thrashing Nebraska 74-58 in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals. The Boilermakers desperately needed the authoritative victory after dropping four of six games to close the regular season. To actually end up as a No. 2 seed, the Boilermakers may still need another victory. Iowa State is lurking in the mix for a No. 2 seed and owns a head-to-head win over Purdue, which could be an influential factor if they are scrubbed side by side.

Loser: Seton Hall bows out

Seton Hall’s at-large aspirations were bleak entering the day. But they were officially extinguished in a 78-68 loss to St. John’s in the Big East Tournament semifinals. Though the Pirates have 21 wins, they have just one victory over a projected at-large team (NC State), and they will arrive at Selection Sunday well outside the top 50 in the all-important Wins Above Bubble metric. This was a great defensive team that merely lacked the offensive firepower to break through for needle-moving wins.

Winner: Arizona pulls off the comeback

Arizona fell behind 14-2 out of the gate and trailed by eight in the second half. But the Wildcats rallied for a thrilling 82-80 win over Iowa State in the Big 12 Tournament semifinals. The victory keeps Arizona alive in the race for the No. 1 overall seed in the Big Dance, as they will play for a “double title” on Saturday after winning the Big 12’s regular-season title by two games. Anthony Dell’Orso played the role of hero with four 3-pointers in the second half as he finished with a game-high 26 points on 10 of 14 shooting.

Loser: Tennessee fades against Vanderbilt

One day after using a 20-0 run in the second half to roar back and beat Auburn, Tennessee ended up on the wrong side of a similar equation in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals. Vanderbilt used a 10-0 run to flip the script on the Volunteers and earn a 75-68 win over its in-state rival. Vandy remains firmly on the No. 4 seed line in CBS Sports Bracketology, and the Commodores aren’t done yet, as losses from Alabama and Nebraska may have opened a narrow path to the No. 3 seed line.

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Winner: Florida looks inevitable

Florida endured its worst 3-point shooting performance of the season and still kept Kentucky at arm’s length in a 71-63 SEC Tournament quarterfinal victory. The Gators needed the win to keep their grasp on the final No. 1 seed in CBS Sports Bracketology, and the outcome was scarcely in doubt. The reigning national champions own the nation’s second-longest winning streak at 12 games — trailing only High Point at 14 — and are two wins away from repeating as SEC Tournament champions. A national title repeat appears to be squarely within the realm of possibility, too.

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Jade Cargill gets instantly exposed by Rhea Ripley on SmackDown despite her strong words

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Jade Cargill had a lot of words to say about her WrestleMania 42 opponent, Rhea Ripley. However, when Ripley came to confront her, Cargill seemingly got exposed in an instant.

This week on SmackDown, Jade Cargill finally went to war with Michin, who tried to exact revenge on her for that attack a few months ago. The two women have been going back and forth for a while now, but things were finally put to rest on SmackDown, with the WWE Women’s Champion picking up a decisive victory over the veteran Michin. In the post-match promo, Cargill simply claimed that she wasn’t scared of Rhea Ripley, as she has never been scared of a single thing her entire life. She vowed that come WrestleMania, she will beat Ripley and prove why she is always on top.

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Rhea Ripley would then finally make her way out, and just as she entered the ring, Jade Cargill would exit, seemingly exposing her prior words as being false. For if she wasn’t scared, why would she run away in an instant? Cargill simply refused to engage while Ripley vowed to her that she would make Cargill her “b***h” at WrestleMania 42.

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It’s going to be interesting to see how things play out as they still have a little over a month to build up to their dream match at WrestleMania 42. Ripley is the overwhelming sentimental favorite, but whether you love her or hate her, Jade Cargill is undeniably the real deal in the ring, and there’s a reason why she is the reigning WWE Women’s Champion.

A lot will happen at WrestleMania, and their feud got off to a heated start as they seemingly broke the fourth wall, or atleast Cargill did. They had one face-to-face segment, and it looks like they are on a collision course to do that again before WrestleMania 42.