Caps find positives despite loss in OT

Washington gets point but still falls in Dallas

Former Cardinals coach Bruce Arians, a Virginia Tech quarterback in the 1970s, emerged as a favorite to land the Bucs' coaching job after interviewing Saturday. ... Southern California denied the Jets and the Cardinals a chance to interview new offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, according to reports. ... The Jets interviewed former Packers coach Mike McCarthy, the third candidate to meet with the team since Todd Bowles was fired. ... Saints defensive coordinator Dennis Allen became the third candidate to interview for the Dolphins' coaching job. ... Patriots linebackers coach and defensive play-caller Brian Flores met with the Broncos and the Browns about their head-coaching vacancies. ... 49ers S Antone Exum Jr., a former star for Virginia Tech and Richmond-area Deep Run High, was fined $53,482 for his hit on Rams WR Robert Woods. Also, the Bills' Jordan Mills was fined $13,369 for unsportsmanlike conduct, and the Dolphins' Kiko Alonso and Robert Quinn were fined $10,026 for unnecessary roughness.

NFL:

DALLAS — On their first three-game losing streak of the season, the Washington Capitals returned to their locker room at American Airlines Center oddly encouraged.

Though a 2-1 overtime loss to the Dallas Stars fell one point short of their desired outcome, they judged their play rather than the result.

“The message from me was that if we play a second and third period like that, then we're going to win a lot of games,” Capitals coach Todd Reirden said.

Goaltender Pheonix Copley had just made his two best Roger Federer won the Hopman Cup for a record saves of the game, under siege third time when defending champion Switzerland beat in a wide-open three-onGermany 2-1 in Perth, Australia. Federer and Belinda three overtime. Blake Bencic beat Alexander Zverev and Angelique Kerber 4-0, Comeau's shot on a break1-4, 4-3 (5-4) in the Fast4 format. The final featured a rare away found Copley's pad, and simultaneous match point, which was a breathtaking then he stopped Comeau exchange. ... Kei Nishikori defeated Jeremy Chardy 6-2, 6-2 again on a two-on-one rush. in the semifinals of the Brisbane International. He'll play But two back-door plays from Daniil Medvedev, a 7-6 (8-6), 6-2 winner over Jo-Wilfried Stars center Tyler Seguin ultiTsonga, in the final. On the women's side, Lesia Tsurenko mately sank the Capitals. beat Naomi Osaka 6-2, 6-4 and Karolina Pliskova topped Washington does not have a Donna Vekic 6-3, 6-4. ... A day after upsetting Novak regulation win in Dallas since 1995.Djokovic,RobertoBautistaAgutwontheQatarOpenin

Doha by beating Tomas Berdych 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. ... Kevin With less than two minAnderson won his sixth ATP title when he recovered from utes left in overtime, Dallas' trailing 5-2 in the decisive tiebreaker to beat Ivo Karlovic Alexander Radulov skated 7-6 (7-4), 6-7 (2-7), 7-6 (7-5) in the Maharashtra Open final in around the net and then Pune, India. ... Defending champion Julia Goerges and dished the puck to Seguin, Canadian teenager Bianca Andreescu advanced to the final alone at the side of the net for of the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand. ... Aryna the winner. That meant the Sabalenka beat Alison Riske 4-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-3 in the final of Capitals are no longer in sole the Shenzhen Open in China. possession of first place in the Metropolitan Division. They and the Pittsburgh Penguins went into Saturday's action tied with 52 points.

But the Capitals felt this game was a significant improvement over the past two after they kept the Stars to just 10 shots in the final 40 minutes of the game. One common thread in all three

Manchester United interim manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer collected a record-tying fifth straight win at the start of his tenure as his team beat second-tier Reading 2-0 in the third round of the FA Cup. The other four victories had come in the Premier League. Also in the FA Cup, West Ham and Burnley advanced with victories over lower-league opponents, while Brighton won 3-1 at Bournemouth in an all-EPL matchup.

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The Mets acquired OF Keon Broxton from the Brewers for reliever Bobby Wahl and two minor-leaguers. ... Justify, Accelerate and Monomoy Girl were announced as the three finalists for Horse of the Year. ... Mikaela Shiffrin dominated the first women's World Cup slalom of 2019, matching her personal-best winning streak in the discipline with seven straight victories with a win in Zagreb, Croatia.

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— Edited from news services losses is special teams. Washington's power play went 0 for 3 for the game, and it's now 1 for 27 over the past eight games. With the game tied in the third period, the Capitals failed to convert on two man-advantage opportunities in the final 11 minutes of regulation.

“You want to win these games in regulation, you've got to take advantage of that and capitalize on our chances,” center Nicklas Backstrom said. “It's a work in progress, and you're not going to win every game. Even if we lost today, we played better if you compare it to the last three.”

As Washington's power play struggled, Dallas was able to score the first goal of the game with its man-advantage unit. Captain Alex Ovechkin was assessed a boarding minor12:46 into the game, and just like on his overtime goal, Seguin found the back door, one-timing a rebound for a 1-0 lead, an advantage the Stars took into the first intermission.

But while the second period has been a bugaboo for the Capitals the past two games, they picked up steam after first intermission in Dallas. Center Lars Eller corralled an aerial pass from winger Andre Burakovsky, then with Burakovsky screening Stars goaltender Anton Khudobin, Eller's spinning backhand tied the game10:19 into the second.

With the game still knotted at 1 halfway through the third period, Stars forward Erik Condra went to the penalty box for hooking, giving the Capitals a chance to take the lead. Washington peppered Khudobin with three shots, but none found the net. Another opportunity with 4:25 left produced a similar result.

“We're getting power plays at that point of the game, and that's another indicator for me,” Reirden said.