Oilers’ Kane out 3-4 months after wrist cut by skate

EDMONTON, Alberta — Edmonton Oilers forward Evander Kane will miss three to four months after being cut on the left wrist by a skate blade, the team announced Wednesday.

The injury occurred during Edmonton’s 3-2 win at Tampa Bay on Tuesday night.

Kane got tangled with Lightning defenseman Philippe Myers just inside the Edmonton defensive zone and while on the ice was cut by Tampa Bay forward Pat Maroon’s skate blade 3:27 into the second period.

Kane was transported to a hospital and underwent a procedure Tuesday night. The team placed him on long-term injured reserve on Wednesday.

The 31-year-old Kane, who signed a four-year, $20.5 million contract with the Oilers in the offseason, has five goals and eight assists over 13 games this season.

“Thank you all for the kind wishes and prayers from over the past several hours,” Kane said Wednesday in a statement. “Obviously last night was an extremely scary moment for me and I’m still in a little bit

of shock.

“I would like to thank the entire training staff of the Edmonton Oilers and Tampa Bay Lightning, along with the all the doctors and paramedics who rushed to help treat and repair my injury. Without all of you, I know things would’ve been much worse and I’m sincerely grateful.”

The Oilers said forwards Mattias Janmark and Klim Kostin have been recalled from the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors.

NEW YORK — The Brooklyn Nets made Jacque Vaughn their head coach Wednesday, promoting Steve Nash’s replacement instead of hiring suspended Boston coach Ime Udoka.

Vaughn has gone 2-2 as acting coach since the Nets and Nash parted ways on Nov. 1. His first game as the head coach will be Wednesday night at home against the New York Knicks.

“Jacque’s basketball acumen, competitiveness and intimate knowledge of our team and organization make him the clearcut best person to lead our group moving forward,” general manager Sean Marks said in a statement. “He has a proven ability to get the best out of our players, hold them accountable and play a cohesive, team-first style of basketball.”

After moving on from Nash, the Nets had been in discussions with Udoka, who along with Vaughn had been a Nets assistant before taking the Boston job. He led the Celtics to last season’s NBA Finals but was suspended for at least this season for violating team rules by having a relationship with a female staffer within the organization.

But the Nets decided not to go that route, perhaps unwilling to take on more negative attention while dealing with the fallout from Kyrie Irving’s decision to post a link to a film with antisemitic material on his Twitter page.

AP Source: WNBA to allow coaches challenge next season

NEW YORK — The WNBA will allow coaches to challenge one play a game next season, and the league is also heightening the penalty for transition take fouls, according

to a person familiar with the decision.

The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Wednesday night because no official announcement about the rule changes has been made.

The league’s competition committee recommended the rules changes and the WNBA Board of Governors approved them.

Both rules, which will go into effect next season, are already used in the NBA.

Coaches will be able to challenge one time per game, regardless of whether the challenge is successful or not. The team can use its challenge to get an instant replay review of a foul called on its own team, an out-of-bounds violation or a goaltending call.

The new transition take foul, in which a team deliberately fouls a player to stop a fast break, will award one free throw to the team that gets fouled, which can be shot by anyone on the court, as well as give the ball to the offensive team. The player who committed the foul will also be assessed a foul.

Schlee’s 4 total TDs help Kent State beat Bowling Green 40-6

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — Collin Schlee threw three touchdown passes — two to Devontez Walker — and ran for another score to help Kent State beat Bowling Green 40-6 on Wednesday night.

Schlee completed 17 of 29 passes for 214 yards with an interception and Walker finished with five receptions for 86 yards. Marquez Cooper added 93 yards rushing on 19 carries for Kent State (4-6, 3-3 Mid-American Conference).

Schlee connected with Bryan Bradford for a 14-yard touchdown on the first play of the second quarter. Schlee pulled the handoff on a zone-read and ran for a 4-yard TD that capped a 12-play, 76-yard drive with 4:43 left in the first half. And — after a 7-yard punt by Bowling Green — Schlee threw a 21-yard TD pass to Walker that made it 20-0 less than three minutes later.

Walker added a 26-yard touchdown receptions early in the fourth quarter that gave Kent State a 30-6 lead and Marvin Pierre returned an interception 33 yards for a score.

Matt McDonald was 29-of-38 passing for 234 yards and a touchdown and interception for Bowling Green (5-5, 4-2).

The Falcons had their three-game win streak snapped.

Ferrari’s Leclerc looks to 2023 in last races of F1 season

SAO PAULO — Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc said on Wednesday he will be competing with 2023 in mind during the final two races of the Formula One season.

The next race will be this weekend at Interlagos in Brazil and the final one at Abu Dhabi on Nov. 20.

The 25-year-old Leclerc has three wins and 10 podiums this season. He’s third in the championship after the Red Bulls of defending champion Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez, respectively.

Asked at a media event in Sao Paulo whether he is looking forward to challenging Perez for second place in the drivers’ championship, Leclerc replied: “My mind is mostly focused on next year.”

“It is hard to predict exactly what will happen next year, and we will not keep focusing on others. I think it is clear for us as a team which areas we need to improve,” Leclerc said. “We will focus on that and on being a better team. And then I hope we beat anyone next year, no matter if it is Mercedes or Red Bull.”

Leclerc, who is five points behind Perez, added he and Ferrari will do “everything to try and get the best results possible for the last two races.”

“But the most important is to try to build on these last two races in order to be a better team next year,” he added.

Ferrari is second in the constructors’ championship, 209 points behind champions Red Bull and 40 ahead of Mercedes.

Braves trade Odorizzi to Rangers for Allard in pitcher swap

ATLANTA — The Atlanta Braves re-acquired left-hander Kolby Allard, their former first-round draft pick, from the Texas Rangers on Wednesday for right-hander Jake Odorizzi and cash.

Allard, 25, was Atlanta’s top choice, No. 14 overall, in the 2015 draft. He was 1-2 with a 7.29 ERA in 10 relief appearances last season while also spending time at Triple-A Round Rock.

Odorizzi, 32, was an All-Star with Minnesota in 2019, when he had a career-best 15 wins.

Allard, drafted from San Clemente (California) High School, made his major league debut with Atlanta in 2018 but appeared in only three games with the Braves before he was traded to Texas in 2019 for righty Chris Martin.