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Monday’s hockey: Capitals pass Wings in standings, Ovechkin joins Howe in elite class

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Monday’s hockey: Capitals pass Wings in standings, Ovechkin joins Howe in elite class


Calgary, Alberta — Alex Ovechkin scored twice and became the third player in NHL history to have at least 20 goals in 19 consecutive seasons as the Washington Capitals beat the Calgary Flames 5-2 on Monday night.

The 38-year-old Ovechkin had two power-play goals in the second period as Washington won its third straight game. He joined former Detroit Red Wings Gordie Howe (22) and Brendan Shanahan (19) as the only players to achieve the goal-scoring feat.

Dylan Strome, Hendrix Lapierre and Tom Wilson also scored for Washington (33-25-9), which moved into the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, one point ahead of idle Detroit. It’s the first time the Capitals have occupied a playoff spot since Jan. 2.

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In fact, since Washington lost in Detroit, 8-3, on Feb. 27, the Capitals have gone 6-3, including consecutive road wins in Seattle, Vancouver and Calgary. They’ll begin a four-game homestand against Toronto on Wednesday, Carolina on Saturday, Winnipeg on Sunday and then the Wings on Tuesday, March 26.

Kevin Rooney and MacKenzie Weegar scored for Calgary (33-30-5). The Flames finished 2-2-0 in a four-game homestand.

Washington goalie Charlie Lindgren had 34 saves and improved to 18-11-5. He has won five of his last six games with a .956 save percentage.

Calgary rookie Dustin Wolf allowed four goals on 32 shots in his third straight start and saw his record dip to 3-4-1. Wolf had allowed three goals on 67 shots in winning his last two games.

Ovechkin’s 20th goal of the season made it 2-0 at 5:58 of the second period. Ovechkin went to the net where he neatly deflected a hard centring pass from Max Pacioretty (Michigan) into the top corner. After pumping his arms in celebration, Ovechkin immediately looked over at Pacioretty and pointed, acknowledging the terrific pass.

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Just over three minutes later, Washington’s power play struck again. Ovechkin set up at the top of the faceoff circle, stick cocked. When John Carlson slid a pass across, Ovechkin leaned into a slap shot that beat Wolf inside the near post.

Ovechkin has 12 goals in 20 games since the All-Star break after scoring just nine times in 44 games before that. He raised his career goal total to 843, second to – and 51 behind – Wayne Gretzky.

The Capitals have been helped in their playoff chase by a rejuvenated power play. On Jan. 18, Washington had the league’s third-worst power play at 13.3%. Over the last two months, including going 2-for-3 against Calgary, the Capitals have the league’s third-best power play at 29.1%.

Buffalo 6, (at) Seattle 2: Jeff Skinner had a hat trick, with his first goal coming during a three-goal outburst in the first six minutes to chase goaltender Joey Daccord, and the Buffalo cruised to a 6-2 victory.

Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch also scored in the first period for the Sabres, who earned their first win in six tries against the third-year Kraken. Buffalo is now three points behind Detroit and four points behind the Capitals for the second wild-card spot.

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Owen Power (Michigan) had Buffalo’s other goal. Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 32 saves.

The three-goal barrage came after Jordan Eberle gave the Kraken a 1-0 lead just 24 seconds into the game. Matty Beniers (Michigan) scored on a power play late in the first but the Kraken lost their fifth straight game – all at home.

Playoff tracker

Atlantic

▶ Bruins (95)

▶ Panthers (94)

▶ Maple Leafs (85)

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Metropolitan

▶ Rangers (94)

▶ Hurricanes (90)

▶ Flyers (76)

Wild card

▶ Lightning (78)

▶ Capitals (75)

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(Top two wild-card teams make the playoffs)

▶ Red Wings (74)

▶ Islanders (73)

▶ Sabres (71)

▶ Pittsburgh (69)

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▶ Devils (68)

Two Broncos earn awards

Western Michigan’s Logan Pietila was named forward of the week and teammate Max Koskipirtti rookie of the week in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) on Monday.

Pietila (Howell) led the Huskies to a 4-3 victory over Minnesota State in the Mason Cup semifinals on Saturday, scoring two goals, including the game-winner with 9.1 seconds left in regulation. Koskipirtti (Espoo, Finland) picked up a league-best two assists in Saturday’s victory.

N. Michigan’s Van Unen off to ECHL

Northern Michigan defenseman Mike Van Unen signed with the Adirondack Thunder, the ECHL affiliate of the New Jersey Devils and Utica Comets.

Van Unen, 25, finished his fifth season at Northern Michigan University and recorded four points in 17 games. In 150 games with Northern Michigan, he recorded nine goals and 28 assists for 37 points and 181 minutes in penalties.

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Michigan-area hockey this week

Tuesday

▶ Columbus at Red Wings, 7 (BSD/97.1)

▶ Grand Rapids at Manitoba, 11:30 a.m. (AHL/96.1)

Wednesday

▶ Grand Rapids at Manitoba, 8 (AHL/106.9/1300)

Thursday

▶ N.Y. Islanders at Red Wings, 7 (BSD/97.1)

Friday

▶ Michigan Tech at Bermidji State, 8

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▶ NTDP U17’s at Green Bay, 8

Saturday

▶ Red Wings at Nashville, 5 (BSD/97.1)

▶ Grand Rapids at Rockford, 8 (AHL/106.9/1300)

▶ Michigan at Michigan State, 8 (Big Ten)

▶ NTDP U17’s at Madison, 8

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Detroit, MI

Vigil, protest held for Renee Nicole Good at Detroit’s Clark park

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Vigil, protest held for Renee Nicole Good at Detroit’s Clark park


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The name Renee Nicole Good bounced off the buildings of southwest Detroit as hundreds marched on the evening of Friday, Jan. 9, following Good’s fatal shooting by an immigration agent in Minneapolis earlier in the week. 

A candlelight vigil was held at 6 p.m. at the city’s Clark Park in memory of Good, before attendees took off marching down Vernor Highway. 

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As of 7:30 p.m., the mass crowd had reached Cavalry Street, about half a mile away from the park, and turned, yelling “What do we want? Justice ” and calling for ICE’s ousting from communities.

Good, 37, was in her car when she was shot in the head on Wednesday, Jan.7, by a federal immigration officer in south Minneapolis. She leaves behind three children, ages 6, 12 and 15.

The shooting was recorded by witnesses and heightened political and community tensions over federal immigration enforcement as part of President Donald Trump’s nationwide immigration operations. The Trump administration has since said the shooting was done in self-defense, USA TODAY reports.

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Protests have occurred in cities across the U.S. since Good’s death, including gatherings in Michigan, and additional demonstrations are scheduled throughout the weekend.

This is a developing story.



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Detroit, MI

Debating Mike McDaniel’s fit for Detroit Lions OC job

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Debating Mike McDaniel’s fit for Detroit Lions OC job


But we also can’t ignore the drastic fall-off from the Dolphins’ offense. Partially because of injuries to Tua Tagovailoa and Tyreek Hill over the past two seasons, the Dolphins have finished 22nd and 25th in scoring offense in 2024 and 2025, respectively. Injuries can be used as an excuse, but the greatest coordinators find a way through the adversity.

Beyond that, there are questions about his philosophical and schematic fit. While the Lions have built their offenses on grit and physicality, McDaniel seems to favor speed and finesse. But maybe that’s exactly what the Lions need. Detroit has two speedy players in Jameson Williams and Jahmyr Gibbs, who could probably be utilized more creatively, and it’s hard to imagine anyone better than McDaniel to do so.

McDaniel also has a very long coaching history with a lot of different coaching influences and schemes—including his closest coaching guru: Kyle Shanahan. The 49ers head coach has a scheme that is both more congruent with what the Lions do and much more adaptable.

On this EMERGENCY PODCAST, our crew debates the fit of McDaniel in Detroit, along with our thoughts on the Lions’ other known candidate: Commanders quarterbacks coach David Blough.

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Before that, Erik Schlitt, Ryan Mathews, and I discuss our biggest takeaways from Lions general manager Brad Holmes’ end-of-season press conference, including the future of David Montgomery, whether Holmes really took accountability for his mistakes, and our confidence in him moving forward.

You can catch our discussion in the embedded podcast below or on any podcasting platform you’d prefer. Just search “Pride of Detroit.”

You can also catch video of the show over on our YouTube pages. Here are the links:



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Detroit, MI

Tarik Skubal, Tigers can’t agree on 2026 salary. Here’s what happens

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Tarik Skubal, Tigers can’t agree on 2026 salary. Here’s what happens


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The Detroit Tigers and left-hander Tarik Skubal did not agree to terms on a one-year contract for the 2026 season before the 8 p.m. deadline Thursday, Jan. 8, to exchange salary figures in the arbitration process.

Skubal filed at $32 million; the Tigers filed at $19 million.

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It’s a difference of $13 million.

An arbitration panel will review the case during a hearing scheduled for late January or early to mid-February. The arbitrators must determine whether Skubal is worth more or less than the $25.5 million midpoint. If he’s worth more, they will select his $32 million proposal; if less, they will select the Tigers’ $19 million proposal. The panel isn’t allowed to choose a salary in between $19 million and $32 million.

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The Tigers operate as a file-and-trial club in salary arbitration under president of baseball operations Scott Harris, meaning there won’t be further negotiations with Skubal regarding a one-year contract. A multi-year contract could still be negotiated, but it’s highly unlikely.

Skubal – represented by agent Scott Boras – reaches free agency after the 2026 season. The 29-year-old is positioned to become the first pitcher in MLB history to receive a $400 million contract.

If the two sides were to reach an agreement before a hearing, it would likely be a one-year contract with a player option, thus maintaining Skubal’s path to free agency in the 2026-27 offseason.

The reigning back-to-back American League Cy Young winner was projected by MLB Trade Rumors to receive $17.8 million in his third and final year of salary arbitration. He previously earned $2.65 million in 2024, then $10.15 million in 2025.

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Why couldn’t the Tigers and Skubal agree on a salary for 2026?

The arbitration case for Skubal is unusually complex, thanks to a rarely used provision highlighted by ESPN’s Jeff Passan. Because Skubal has more than five years of MLB service time, he isn’t limited to comparing himself only to past arbitration-eligible players. Instead, he can compare himself to any player in baseball.

Those unique rights allow Skubal – who has five years, 114 days of service time – to point to MLB’s highest-paid pitchers (such as Max Scherzer’s $43.3 million per year from 2022-24 or Zack Wheeler’s $42 million per year from 2025-27), arguing that his elite performance warrants a salary in that range – not in the $17.8 million range, as projected by MLB Trade Rumors.

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That’s what pushed the Tigers and Skubal to an arbitration hearing.

[ MUST LISTEN: Make “Days of Roar” your go-to Tigers podcast, available anywhere you listen to podcasts (Apple, Spotify) ]

The current record for the largest one-year arbitration contract belongs to outfielder Juan Soto, who agreed to $31 million with the New York Yankees for the 2024 season.

If Skubal wins the arbitration hearing, he will surpass Soto and claim the new record with his proposed $32 million salary. If Skubal loses, then he will earn the $19 million salary proposed by the Tigers.

There are two other arbitration records on the line.

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The highest-paid arbitration-eligible pitcher belongs to right-hander David Price, who earned $19.75 million with the Tigers in 2015 – his fourth year in the arbitration process as a Super Two qualifier. The largest raise for an arbitration-eligible pitcher belongs to right-hander Jacob deGrom, who surged from $7.4 million to $17 million – an increase of $9.6 million – with the New York Mets in 2019.

Those records for pitchers will belong to Skubal – but only if his proposed $32 million salary is selected by the arbitration panel. He will fall just short of the records if the panel selects the Tigers’ proposed $19 million.

Skubal is the best pitcher in baseball.

More notably, he is on a Hall of Fame trajectory.

In 2025, Skubal registered a 2.21 ERA with 33 walks (4.4% walk rate) and 241 strikeouts (32.2% strikeout rate) across 195⅓ innings in 31 starts. He made the All-Star Game for the second time in his six-year MLB career.

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Skubal became the first back-to-back AL Cy Young winner since right-hander Pedro Martínez in 1999-2000, leading the AL with a 2.39 ERA in 2024 and a 2.21 ERA in 2025.

The Tigers haven’t been to an arbitration hearing since right-hander Michael Fulmer in 2019.

Fulmer lost the case, receiving the Tigers’ proposed $2.8 million salary rather than his requested $3.4 million. Before that hearing, the Tigers hadn’t participated in an arbitration hearing since 2001 – and the Tigers haven’t lost a case since 2000.

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.

Listen to our weekly Tigers show “Days of Roar” every Monday afternoon during the season and Tuesday afternoon during the offseason on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

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