Hockey East stars shine for US men

Isaac Howard scored the opening goal of the game and added the clincher in a shootout as the United States outlasted Czechia, 4-3, on Friday at the World Junior Hockey Championship in Gothenburg, Sweden. It was 1-1 after the first period and Adam Bares’s goal 6:23 into the second gave the the Czechs a 2-1 lead. Will Smith of Lexington tied the score at 2-2 at 8:04, with his Boston College linemates (Gabe Perrault and Ryan Leonard) providing assists. Robin Sapousek answered at 11:47 to give Czechia another lead. Ryan Chesley, set up by Boston University sophomore Lane Hutson, scored less than 3 minutes later to knot things up again. The teams were scoreless in the third and OT, which was the first of this tournament. Both goalies are Hockey East freshmen: BC’s Jacob Fowler (20 saves) for the US and UMass’s Michael Hrabal (30 saves) for Czechia. Perrault scored on Hrabal to keep the shootout going, setting the stage for Howard. Next up for the US is a Sunday showdown for first place in Group B against unbeaten Slovakia, which routed Norway, 8-4, earlier Friday. Also, Finland shut out Latvia, 4-0, and Sweden shut out Canada, 2-0, to stay unbeaten.

PWHL Boston on NESN

The PWHL’s Boston team has a home on NESN. The network will carry all 24 games of the pro women’s hockey team’s inaugural season, and also Monday’s league opener between Toronto and New York at noon. The Boston team, led by American star Hilary Knight, first hits the ice at 7 p.m. Wednesday against Kendall Coyne Schofield and Minnesota at the Tsongas Center in Lowell.

NHL Panthers edge Rangers

Sam Reinhart scored twice, Aleksander Barkov added three assists, and the Florida Panthers beat the NHL-leading New York Rangers, 4-3, in Sunrise, Fla. The Panthers pulled within two points of Atlantic Division leader Boston, but the Bruins own two games in hand... Auston Matthews scored his NHL-leading 29th goal and had an assist, but the Maple Leafs lost in overtime to the Blue Jackets, 6-5, in Columbus, Ohio, on Johnny Gaudreau’s tally 2:56 into OT . . . In Detroit, Lucas Raymond scored with 2:47 left in OT to give the Red Wings a 5-4 win over the Predators.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL Missouri wins Cotton

All-America running back Cody Schrader ran for 128 yards with a 7-yard touchdown to open the fourth quarter, and ninth-ranked Missouri (11-2) took a 14-3 win over No. 7 Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl in Arlington, Texas. The Buckeyes (11-2) only gained 203 total yards, mainly due to All-America junior wideout Marvin Harrison Jr. choosing not to play, and losing quarterback Devin Brown to an ankle injury in the middle of the second quarter . . . Phil Mafah ran for four TDs, including a 3yarder with 17 seconds to play, and Clemson beat Kentucky, 38-35, in a wild Gator Bowl to finish the year on a fivegame winning streak . . . Sophomore quarterback Steve Angeli passed for 232 yards and three TDs, guiding No. 15 Notre Dame to a 40-8 victory over No. 21 Oregon State in the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas... Seth Henigan threw for 364 yards and four scores and the Memphis defense shut down Iowa State’s rushing game in a 36-26 victory in the Liberty Bowl in Memphis.

NBA Maxey powers 76ers

Tyrese Maxey had 42 points and short-handed Philadelphia, playing again without Joel Embiid, outlasted the Rockets, 131-127, in Houston . . . Giannis Antetokounmpo had 34 points and 16 rebounds, Damian Lillard scored 24 of his 31 points in the second half and Milwaukee won in Cleveland, 119-111.

MISCELLANY 2003 Indy winner dies

Brazilian Gil de Ferran, the 2003 Indianapolis 500 winner and holder of the closed-course land speed record, died of an apparent heart attack while racing with his son at The Concourse Club in Florida. He was 56 . . . Joey Meyer, the son of legendary coach Ray Meyer who played at DePaul and coached the Blue Demons to seven NCAA tourney appearances in 13 seasons, has died. He was 74.