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NEW ORLEANS — Bryce Young passed for 321 yards and five touchdowns in a game that other top NFL prospects might have skipped, and No. 5 Alabama responded to an early two-score deficit with 35 straight points to defeat 11th-ranked Kansas State 45-20 in the Sugar Bowl on Saturday.

While a number of pro-bound college stars sat out bowl games that were not part of the College Football Playoff, the Crimson Tide and Wildcats had their best prospects on the field and making a number of memorable plays — from Young’s pivotal passes, to Kansas State running back Deuce Vaughn‘s 88-yard touchdown run, to interceptions by Alabama’s Jordan Battle and Brian Branch.

Young was substituted out during a series in the fourth quarter, raising his right hand to Alabama fans who loudly rose to their feet as the 2021 Heisman Trophy winner trotted to the sideline.

“It started way back when we started practice. There’s a lot of guys on this team that have given a lot to this program, and I think the way the team performed out there together as a group, was with something to prove,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said. “We had a little bit of taste in our mouth that if we had a dominant performance that we could show people that we deserved to do a little better than what we did in terms of the playoff picture.”

Jermaine Burton caught three passes for 87 yards and a touchdown for Alabama (11-2). Tide running back Jahmyr Gibbs had 142 yards from scrimmage — 76 rushing and 66 receiving. Young’s other touchdowns went to Isaiah Bond (6 yards), Cameron Latu (1 yard), Ja’Corey Brooks (32 yards) and Kobe Prentice (47 yards). Jase McClelland added a 17-yard scoring run.

Kansas State (10-4) entered its first Sugar Bowl on a four-game winning streak and was riding high after knocking off No. 3 TCU — a CFP team — in the Big 12 title game.

While Battle’s leaping interception of Will Howard ended K-State’s opening drive on the Alabama 21, the Wildcats scored the Sugar Bowl’s first 10 points, surging in front on Ty Zentner‘s 41-yard field goal and Vaughn’s long run.

Alabama was on the brink of punting a third time when Young, on third-and-10, stepped up in a collapsing pocket and flicked a short pass to Gibbs, who was cutting across the middle and turned up field for a 60-yard gain. Young stepped up similarly to avoid pressure on his touchdown pass to Bond shortly after.

“For us, the standard, that is something that we live by,” Young said. “It’s not just something that we can do just one time. It continues for the future of the program.”

Young threw over the top to Burton for 47 yards to set up his 1-yard scoring pass Latu that put Alabama in front for good.

“He won the Heisman for a reason, for starters,” Kansas State coach Chris Klieman said.

Late in the first half, Kansas State drove to the Alabama 2 — converting two fourth downs along the way — only to fail on fourth-and-goal when Howard threw out of the reach of tight end Ben Sinnott, who was breaking open after Will Anderson fell while trying to cover him.

That missed chance proved costly.

Young needed just 51 seconds to produce another touchdown, completing passes of 12, 28 and 22 yards before hitting Burton from 12 yards out to make it 21-10 at halftime.

“I’m proud that we came to the Sugar Bowl, I’m proud that we won the Sugar Bowl, but I’m most proud that there was a team out there that cared,” Saban said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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‘We’re back in it’: Pickard wins, Oilers tie series 2-2

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'We're back in it': Pickard wins, Oilers tie series 2-2

EDMONTON, Alberta — Evan Bouchard scored the game-deciding goal with 38.1 seconds in regulation, making a winner of goaltender Calvin Pickard in his playoff starting debut, and the Edmonton Oilers edged the Vancouver Canucks 3-2 in Game 4 of their second-round playoff series on Tuesday.

The victory leveled the best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series at 2-2, with Game 5 set for Thursday night in Vancouver.

Leon Draisaitl opened the scoring for the Oilers on a first-period power play and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins added a tally late in the second period.

After replacing Stuart Skinner during Game 3, Pickard made 19 saves in his first postseason start, while Arturs Silovs stopped 27 of 30 shots for Vancouver.

“It was a tough bounce for sure. I guess both goals were tough bounces,” Pickard told SportsNet after the win, regarding the two tallies he allowed, both in the third period. “But it didn’t deflate us. … We weren’t playing for overtime (after the second goal). We were going right after it after that goal. So (Bouchard’s was) a great goal. And we’re back in it.”

The 32-year-old Pickard received plenty of standing ovations after saves Tuesday, adding to a dramatic week that began with him replacing Skinner, who allowed four goals on 15 shots in Edmonton’s Game 3 loss on Sunday.

“The guys made it easy on me,” Pickard said. “We had three big penalty kills in the first period, which was huge. I got some touches early, and I felt comfortable. So, it’s just one game, and we’re moving on to Vancouver.”

Conor Garland and Dakota Joshua had third-period goals for the Canucks, who lost their first road game of the postseason after no being able to solve Pickard after Bouchard’s tally.

“Unbelievable,” Draisaitl said of Pickard’s performance. “What an awesome guy, what an awesome story. All year, he’s given us a chance to win. And every time he goes in there, it seems like he’s standing on his head.”

Connor McDavid sliced a blistering pass to Draisaitl and the German forward ripped a one-timer past Silovs from the bottom of the right faceoff circle. The goalie got his glove on the shot but the puck bobbled and popped into the net to put the Oilers up 1-0 at the 11:10 mark.

The tally extended Draisaitl’s point streak to all nine of Edmonton’s post-season games, with eight goals and 12 assists across the stretch. He leads the league in playoff points.

The Oilers continued to push in the second but once again found themselves stymied by Silovs.

A missed hit created a two-on-one opportunity for the Oilers with less than a minute left in the second period.

Mattias Ekholm picked up a loose puck in the neutral zone and when Juulsen went to bump him off, the veteran defenseman dished off to Nugent-Hopkins. The centerman streaked up the ice and blasted a shot over Silovs’ stick to give Edmonton a 2-0 lead with 39.8 seconds left in the period.

“We played too good of a game to not win this one,” Ekholm said. “It was something that, at least I was feeling out there, that we were going to get them. … It was really nice to see (Bouchard’s goal) go in.”

Garland finally got a puck past Pickard 6:54 into the third when he unleashed a blast from the top of the slot, cutting Vancouver’s deficit to 2-1 with his second postseason goal.

The Canucks pulled Silovs with 2:38 to go in favor of an extra attacker and the Canucks took advantage.

Brock Boeser collected a pass from Quinn Hughes, waited a moment for his opportunity, then threw a shot toward the Edmonton net and the puck bounced in off Joshua’s skate with 1:41 left in the third.

The Oilers refused to relent and Bouchard snapped a shot in with 38.1 seconds left on the clock, pinging the puck in off Silovs’ stick for his fourth of the playoffs.

Canucks defenseman Carson Soucy sat out for a one-game suspension for cross-checking Connor McDavid after the final buzzer in Game 3. Noah Juulsen took his spot in the lineup.

“The mantra the entire year is not getting too high or low,” Hughes said. “We’ll be ready to go Game 5.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Rangers’ Trouba earns Messier Leadership Award

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Rangers' Trouba earns Messier Leadership Award

NEW YORK — From one former New York Rangers to a current one, Jacob Trouba was selected as the winner of the Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award, the league announced Tuesday.

The award winner is selected personally by Messier and presented since 2007 to a player who “exemplifies great leadership qualities to his team, on and off the ice, during the regular season and who plays a leading role in his community growing the game of hockey.”

Trouba is the first Rangers player to earn the honor after helping lead his team to a franchise-best 55 wins and a Presidents’ Trophy for leading the NHL with 114 points. The Rangers hold a 3-2 lead in their best-of-seven second-round playoff series against Carolina, with Game 6 at the Hurricanes on Thursday.

On the ice, the second-year captain ranked fourth on the team with a little more than 21 minutes of ice time per game in a two-way role in which Trouba had three goals and 22 points in 69 games, while also playing a key role on the penalty-killing unit. He finished 12th in the league and second on the team in being credited with 183 blocked shots.

Off the ice, the 30-year-old from Michigan has been a staple in promoting the sport by taking part in the Rangers annual weeklong hockey camp for boys and girls. As a budding artist, Trouba also sold prints of his original work to help raise money for the Garden of Dreams Foundation and the city’s Epilepsy Foundation.

He and his wife Kelly, who has epilepsy, founded the Trouba Creative Expressions Art Program to help connect adults with epilepsy and seizures with art therapist. The couple also took part in promoting the NHL and NHL Players’ Association’s Hockey Fights Cancer initiative to encourage people to get regular screenings.

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Tavares rescues Canada in OT victory over Austria

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Tavares rescues Canada in OT victory over Austria

PRAGUE — Canada squandered a five-goal lead in the third period before Toronto Maple Leafs star John Tavares scored 15 seconds into overtime to give the defending champions a 7-6 win over Austria at the ice hockey world championship on Tuesday.

The Canadians led 6-1, but Austria produced an unprecedented five-goal final period to force overtime in a Group A game in Prague. Peter Schneider led Austria’s surge in the third with two goals and an assist.

Benjamin Baumgartner completed a two-on-one rush before Schneider scored from a tight angle to make it 6-3. Dominic Zwerger’s slap shot made it a two-goal game.

Schneider added his second with 4:04 remaining, and Marco Rossi‘s backhander tied it at 6-6 with 49 seconds left.

In overtime, Tavares, whose Maple Leafs lost in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs to the Boston Bruins, carried the puck into the zone and snapped a wrist shot past goaltender David Madlener to clinch Canada’s third straight victory.

“It’s a good lesson,” said Tavares, Canada’s captain who also is Toronto’s captain. “This definitely grabs our attention, just how we have to stay with our game, continue to build our identity and how you have to manage the swings of emotion.”

Earlier, Chicago Blackhawks rookie Connor Bedard scored for the third straight game, Kaiden Guhle had a goal and an assist, and Dylan Cozens, Bowen Byram, Jared McCann and Pierre-Luc Dubois all scored a goal each for Canada.

Canada scored three in the span of 6:55 in the first period to build a 3-1 lead. Cozens opened the scoring from the slot before Tavares fed Guhle to double the advantage from the left circle. Benjamin Nissner pulled one back for Austria before Byram wristed in the third.

McCann skated around Madlener to make it 4-1 in the middle period. Bedard added the fifth, shooting from the goal line with Madlener deflecting the puck into his own net. Dubois added a sixth.

Madlener made 42 saves for Austria, which earned its first point in the tournament. Canada’s Jordan Binnington stopped 15 shots.

After two overtime wins, Latvia beat Kazakhstan 2-0 for its third straight victory.

Roberts Bukarts and Haralds Egle scored for last year’s bronze medalist, and Kristers Gudlevskis made 22 saves to ensure three points in the Group B game in Ostrava.

Latvia had needed overtime to get past Poland and France.

In Group A in Prague, Norway got its first win at the tournament by beating Denmark 2-0.

Michael Brandsegg-Nygard scored, Eirik Salsten added the second into an empty net and goalie Henrik Haukeland stopped 24 shots.

In Group B, Justin Addamo’s two goals helped France top Poland 4-2 for its first victory.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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