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FORT WORTH, Texas — The first year of the Sonny Dykes era at TCU is off to a hot start, with Saturday’s 43-40 double-overtime win over No. 8 Oklahoma State marking the first time in school history that the Horned Frogs have beaten three consecutive ranked opponents.

After previously beating then-No. 18 Oklahoma at home and No. 19 Kansas on the road, No. 13 TCU is the last remaining undefeated team in the Big 12 at 6-0 and 3-0 in the conference. The Frogs were picked to finish seventh in the preseason Big 12 media poll.

TCU had lost 20 straight games when trailing by two touchdowns entering the fourth quarter, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. But the Horned Frogs’ defense, which had given up 30 points in the first three quarters, shut out the Cowboys in the fourth quarter, holding them to just 32 yards in that period.

After Kendre Miller scored on a two-yard touchdown run in the second overtime to seal the win, the Amon G. Carter stadium crowd spilled onto the field in celebration.

“You grow up your whole life and you see that stuff and you think maybe someday I’d like to be a part of something like that,” Dykes said. “So it’s fun. It’s a great win for our program and for our players.”

TCU was 5-7 last season with much of the team returning this year, including starting quarterback Max Duggan. Dykes was asked what this win means for his first year at the school.

“It means we have a bunch of good players,” Dykes said. “It means that guys are doing what we asked them to do and they’re talented guys. We talked about this, this way of climbing up the ladder. As you have success, then more is expected of you. And you’ve got to be able to carry that load.”

Duggan continued his career resurgence after beginning the season as a backup to Chandler Morris, completing 23 of 40 passes for 286 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions, while rushing for 57 yards on 11 carries. Wide receiver Quentin Johnston had eight catches for 180 yards and a touchdown, a week after catching 14 passes for 206 yards against Kansas.

“He makes my job easy,” Duggan said. “I’ve just got to do whatever I can to get him the ball and he does the rest. I mean, you throw him a five-yard slant route, a five-yard hitch route, he can take it 50. He makes one guy miss and he’s off. He’s a special player. He’s a special kid.”

Dykes addressed a history of his teams starting hot before losing key games late. His 2012 Louisiana Tech team was 9-1 before dropping its last two games and his 2015 Cal team got off to a 5-0 start and finished 8-5. SMU started 8-0 in 2019 but finished 10-3, started 7-1 in 2020 before losing its last two and started 7-0 again in 2021 then lost four of its last five as rumors swirled about Dykes’ job status after TCU fired Gary Patterson.

Dykes told ESPN this week he hasn’t always been at places that had a lot of depth, which was a factor late in the season, as well as maybe winning some early games they possibly shouldn’t have. But he said he’s been evaluating all the factors he can control, including if he wore the team down too much, and acknowledges it is a concerning pattern.

“Historically, our team has gotten off to good starts and not finished very well,” Dykes said after Saturday’s game. “So it’s going to be a challenge for us to finish down the stretch. We know that. This is a different team. It doesn’t matter what happened in the past here or where I’ve been. We’re going to write a different story.”

TCU faces a 5-1 Kansas State team that is also 3-0 in conference play at 8 p.m. ET next Saturday as the topsy-turvy Big 12 continues to take shape.

“Our reward for winning this game is we get to play Kansas State here coming off a bye,” Dykes joked. “So congratulations.”

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U.S. advances at hockey worlds; Canada now 6-0

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U.S. advances at hockey worlds; Canada now 6-0

PRAGUE — Dylan Cozens scored two goals and had an assist to rally Canada past Switzerland 3-2 for its sixth win in six games at the ice hockey world championship on Sunday.

Canada leads Group A with 17 points, two more than the Czech Republic in second with Switzerland another point back in third. The three teams had already clinched a spot in the playoff round.

Cozens has scored six goals at the tournament and is tied atop the scoring table with American Brady Tkachuk and Finland’s Oliver Kapanen.

Nick Paul also scored for Canada and goaltender Jordan Binnington made 20 saves including a penalty shot in the second period when the score was 2-2.

Cozens found the roof of the net on a power play 1:42 into the game to give Canada an early lead.

Switzerland answered with two goals.

Kevin Fiala wristed an equalizer past Binnington in the opening frame on a power play.

Romain Loeffel put the Swiss 2-1 up in the middle period with a slap shot from the blue line.

Cozens tied it again at 2-2 from the top of the left circle on a power play.

Paul scored the winner for Canada on a power play, completing a series of passes by scoring into an open goal midway through the second.

Canada will complete the preliminary round on Tuesday against the Czech Republic, when Switzerland will face Finland.

In Group B, Latvia prevailed over Slovakia 3-2 in a penalty shootout. The result sent the United States to the next round.

Tkachuk scored three power play goals and added an assist to help the United States rout Kazakhstan 10-1.

Its fourth victory lifted the Americans to second place in Group B with 13 points, one ahead of Germany and Slovakia with a game against Latvia, which has nine points, on Tuesday to play in the preliminary round.

Johnny Gaudreau had a goal and four assists to become the United States record scorer with 43 points, one more than Patrick Kane.

Matt Boldy scored twice and had four assists, Brock Nelson and Luke Kunin both had a goal and an assist, and Gavin Brindley and Kevin Hayes also scored.

Alex Nedeljkovic made 13 saves.

In a four-goal opening period, Tkatchuk tipped in a shot by Zach Werenski on a power play to increase the U.S. lead to 2-0, and buried a rebound to make it 4-0 on a power play.

He completed his hat trick to increase the advantage to 8-0 with a one-timed shot from the right circle on another power play in the final period.

Alikhan Omirbekov scored the consolation goal for Kazakhstan when his team was 9-0 down.

In Group A, Austria beat Norway 4-1 and is tied for fourth place with Finland.

The top four from each group advance to the playoff round.

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Source: Boeser (blood clots) not expected in G7

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Source: Boeser (blood clots) not expected in G7

Vancouver Canucks right wing Brock Boeser is not expected to play in Game 7 of their second-round series against the Edmonton Oilers on Monday because of a blood-clotting issue, a source told ESPN, confirming a report.

There’s no timeline for his return to action. The Canucks had no comment on Boeser’s status.

Boeser didn’t skate in practice Sunday. Coach Rick Tocchet would only say at a media availability that “he needed the maintenance day.”

Boeser, 27, leads the Canucks in goals (7) and is tied for the lead in points (12) during the postseason. He established career highs in goals (40), points (73) and games played (81) during the regular season.

The Canucks winger has had some MVP moments during their playoff run. His hat trick in Game 4 against the Nashville Predators led them to a comeback win. Boeser’s three points in the first period of Game 3 led Vancouver to a win over Edmonton.

It’s the second significant injury for Vancouver in the playoffs after a regular season of relatively good health for the team’s core players. Starting goaltender Thatcher Demko, a finalist for the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s best netminder, hasn’t played since Game 1 of the first round because of a knee injury. Edmonton won Game 6 at home Saturday night to force Monday’s Game 7, the only seventh game of the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The winner faces the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference finals.

The Boeser injury news was first reported by Vancouver-based hockey journalist Irfaan Gaffar.

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Canes re-sign Brind’Amour off latest playoff run

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Canes re-sign Brind'Amour off latest playoff run

RALEIGH, N.C. — The Carolina Hurricanes re-signed coach Rod Brind’Amour and his staff to multiyear contracts, keeping one of the best in the NHL behind the bench around for the long term.

The team announced the re-signings Sunday for Brind’Amour, assistants Jeff Daniels and Tim Gleason, goaltending coach Paul Schonfelder and video coach Chris Huffine.

“Rod has been instrumental to the success we’ve had over the last six seasons,” team president and general manager Don Waddell said. “Ever since he joined the organization 24 years ago, Rod has embodied what it means to be a Hurricane. We hope to keep him a Hurricane for life.”

Brind’Amour was in the final year of a deal reached in 2021, when he was the winner of the Jack Adams Award as the league’s top coach. His status had become a talking point around the NHL as jobs changed hands, though Brind’Amour — as well as Waddell — had expressed confidence that a deal would get done.

“I never had a doubt in my mind he [would] come back,” Carolina center Sebastian Aho said earlier in the day when asked about the reports of a deal. “Not surprised, I would say.”

Brind’Amour took over in 2018 to lead a franchise that had missed the playoffs for nine straight years. The Hurricanes have gone to the playoffs six times in as many seasons under the captain of Carolina’s 2006 Stanley Cup winner. Carolina has also won at least one series in each of the past six postseasons, marking the first time a team has accomplished that since the Detroit Red Wings did it from 1995 to 2000. The Canes also reached the Eastern Conference finals twice in the past six seasons.

Carolina finished three points behind the New York Rangers for the Metropolitan Division title and Presidents’ Trophy (presented to the league’s top regular-season team), another season in which it ranked among the NHL’s top teams with an aggressive forechecking style.

The Hurricanes beat the New York Islanders in five games in Round 1 then lost to the Rangers in a six-game second-round series after falling in a 3-0 hole.

Brind’Amour, 53, arrived in Raleigh in a January 2000 trade from the Philadelphia Flyers and played there until his retirement in 2010. He then spent seven seasons as an assistant coach before taking over as a first-time head coach.

Multiple players were asked earlier Sunday about Brind’Amour’s status during end-of-season interviews. None expressed concern that he wouldn’t return or that it had been any type of distraction.

“He’s one of the main pieces that turned this organization around from where it was when I first got here,” defenseman Jaccob Slavin said. “So I think anyone would want him to stay as well. I know he wants to be here. I’m confident it’ll get done.”

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