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LOS ANGELES — Alabama defensive coordinator Kevin Steele knew the question was coming, and he was ready.

So were the Crimson Tide’s defensive players at Friday’s media availability for the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Rose Bowl Game presented by Prudential.

Steele, in his third stint working for Nick Saban, was asked whether his 72-year-old boss might be inclined to walk it off into retirement if he wins his next two games, beginning with Michigan on Monday, and captures his seventh national championship at Alabama.

“Wow,” a grinning Steele said with emphasis.

Steele, with 39 years of coaching experience, wasn’t about to wade blindly into that one, but he was quickly reminded by a reporter that that narrative was out there.

“I’ve heard it. So, yeah, it’s always going to be out there, and I will tell you this: Nobody knows that answer except for him,” Steele said.

The answer Steele does know is that Saban, in his 17th season at Alabama, never deviated from his renowned “process” earlier this season — after the home loss to Texas in Week 2 and the ugly road win over South Florida a week later — when media, fans and even some former players were suggesting that Alabama’s season was all but over and that perhaps Saban’s best days were behind him.

“I think people forget, and I’ve seen it, that he has an uncanny ability to know what each team needs, what each group of guys need and what each side of the ball needs,” Steele said. “And now, it’s expected that you’re going to win every game at Alabama, and when you have a game where you don’t win, then all the focus … well, it must be gone. The mystique must be gone [Steele said, pointing to a reporter]. That’s your word, and he has an uncanny ability to manage that.”

Alabama’s players said any talk of Saban retiring was probably rooted in other schools and fans hoping that might happen.

“He always says, ‘Why would I walk away, and do what?’ ” said senior defensive lineman Justin Eboigbe, who arrived on Alabama’s campus in 2019. “It’s like the first day I came in. He’s still got the same fire and passion, and I truly believe him. I remember when I was getting recruited, people were saying that he was going to walk away, and he still hasn’t.”

Any time a coach reaches his 70s, the retirement discussion is going to invariably surface, but Saban has always been one to live in the moment. That’s certainly not going to change now with the stage as big as ever.

“I’ve always said that if you’re thinking about retirement, you’re probably already retired, and I’m not there yet,” Saban told ESPN last month.

Saban’s remarkable consistency can be defined in many ways, but right up there at the top is that Alabama has never gone more than two years without winning a national championship since he was hired in 2007. The Tide have a chance to continue that streak this season.

Junior outside linebacker Dallas Turner, the SEC Defensive Player of the Year, said Saban’s steadiness and belief in the team after the shaky play early in the season set the tone for Alabama’s 11-game streak.

“It always hurts losing, especially at home, but honestly there was never really any panic,” Turner said. “It was just like a moment where we just had to tighten up as a defense, had to get things right, and it was a reevaluating moment for us as a team.”

Turner said anyone suggesting at that point that Saban had lost his edge as a coach was woefully out of touch.

“A lot of those people saying that never played football before, but it is what it is. People talk,” Turner said.

Steele, who has known Saban since 1985, said Saban probably did his best work in keeping everybody in the program grounded and focused after the Crimson Tide started to have some success following their slow start.

“People don’t understand the process. It’s the same every Sunday [after games] whether we win by 40 or if we had a hiccup,” Steele said. “It’s all about the technical improvement of the players, and so it really wasn’t any different. I mean, we’re not a staff that comes in and wins by 40 and everybody’s sitting around eating doughnuts and drinking coffee and laughing and we start the meeting 40 minutes late just because we had a big win.

“I mean, Sundays at the University of Alabama, that’s gone. The 24-hour rule … that’s over.”

So no ranting from Saban after that Texas loss?

“I wouldn’t say ranting. That’s not correct, but stern instruction,” Steele said, smiling.

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Oilers’ 5th comeback win in row sets NHL record

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Oilers' 5th comeback win in row sets NHL record

LAS VEGAS — Zach Hyman scored from just above the right circle with 3:02 left to put his team ahead for good, and the Edmonton Oilers rallied yet again this postseason to defeat the Vegas Golden Knights 4-2 on Tuesday night in Game 1 of the second-round series.

The Oilers, the defending Western Conference champions who came back from 2-0 down, set an NHL record with their fifth consecutive playoff comeback victory.

“We’re a patient group, we’re a veteran team. The guys here have been playing a lot of playoffs throughout the years,” Edmonton defenseman John Klingberg said. “They know what it takes. Just stick to our game, and take it game by game.”

Vegas, which had just seven shots on goal over the final two periods, lost a playoff game in regulation after leading by at least two goals for the first time. The Golden Knights are 47-4 overall in the postseason with that kind of lead.

Leon Draisaitl had a goal and an assist for the Oilers, and Corey Perry and Connor Brown scored the other goals. Evan Bouchard and Connor McDavid each had two assists. McDavid now has four consecutive postseasons with at least 10 assists for fourth best in league history. Calvin Pickard was barely tested after the first period and finished with 15 shots.

“It gives you a great opportunity,” Hyman said of winning the opener on the road. “You steal one in their rink, and now, you have a chance to take both. We haven’t been in that spot a lot. It’s nice to get the first one out of the way early.”

Mark Stone scored both goals for the Golden Knights to tie Jonathan Marchessault‘s franchise record with 36 for his Vegas career. It also extended his goal-scoring streak to three games. Adin Hill made 24 saves.

Both star-studded top lines delivered in the first period, with Stone scoring twice, the first on a double-minor power play. Edmonton’s top unit cut the deficit in half with 3:34 left when Perry deked Hill for an open net with McDavid and Draisaitl getting assists on the play.

Neither team scored in the second period even though the Oilers outshot Vegas 12-1. The Golden Knights had never been held to fewer than two shots on goal in a regulation playoff period.

Edmonton didn’t waste a chance early in the third, tying the score 57 seconds in when Draisaitl backhanded a shot off the boards and off Hill.

Hyman, who earlier in the shift took a stick to the face from Kaedan Korczak, broke the tie in the closing minutes, and Brown sealed the win 1:16 later.

“We were kind of all over the place in the first 10 minutes,” Perry said in speaking with Sportsnet after the win. “But we found our footing, found our game. We started moving the puck, and making plays. And then, we played well defensively, and kept the puck out of our net.”

Golden Knights defenseman Alex Pietrangelo did not play because of an illness, allowing Korczak to make his first career postseason start. Vegas also was without Pavel Dorofeyev, who led the team with 35 goals this season, for the second game in a row because of an undisclosed injury. Coach Bruce Cassidy has described him as day to day.

Game 2 is Thursday night in Las Vegas.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Canes’ dominant 33-shot effort ‘paid off’ in OT

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Canes' dominant 33-shot effort 'paid off' in OT

WASHINGTON — Jaccob Slavin scored in overtime, Frederik Andersen made 13 saves in his return from injury and the Carolina Hurricanes outlasted the Washington Capitals 2-1 in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series on Tuesday night.

Logan Stankoven started the comeback with his goal midway through the third period off a turnover, beating Logan Thompson after Aliaksei Protas‘ errant pass off Washington teammate Alex Alexeyev‘s right skate put the puck on Jesperi Kotkaniemi‘s stick. After failing to score on a power play late in regulation, Slavin scored 3:06 into OT from just inside the blue line to give Carolina the series lead.

The result capped a dominant effort by the road team, despite the fact that it trailed for most of the game. Carolina finished with 33 shots on net, compared with just 14 for Washington. All told, six Hurricanes had at least three shots on net, including Slavin, who finished with five.

“We were all over it, and we knew we had to just throw everything at the net,” Slavin said. “That mentality paid off there at the end.”

Andersen, who wasn’t tested much, allowed only an early second-period goal to Protas in improving to 4-1 this postseason. Andersen was back after getting knocked out of Game 4 and missing Game 5 of the first round against the New Jersey Devils with an apparent head injury.

“Just trying to take what comes my way and be in that moment all the time and just stay with it,” Andersen said. “You don’t know when that next big save’s going to happen.”

Just a week ago, Andersen had to sit and watch as his teammates defeated the Devils in double overtime of Game 5 to secure the series. A week later, he was back, delivering the kind of quality goaltending Carolina has gotten from him whenever he has been healthy.

“Just really been looking forward to this for a while,” Andersen said. “Happy we could start off on the right foot.”

Carolina remained the only team perfect on the penalty kill this postseason, keeping Washington’s power play off the board twice to improve to 17-of-17. That, along with Kotkaniemi and Stankoven taking advantage of Protas’ mistake and Slavin scoring with Seth Jarvis screening Thompson, was the difference.

“I thought our guys played hard every shift. Right from the start of the game, I liked how we were playing,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “Obviously, we were down, but yeah, there’s a certain game plan. And I thought we were on it tonight.”

Game 2 is Thursday night in Washington.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Giants’ 9-run 11th sets Wrigley record, KO’s Cubs

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Giants' 9-run 11th sets Wrigley record, KO's Cubs

CHICAGO — Patrick Bailey hit a tiebreaking single in San Francisco‘s nine-run 11th inning, and the Giants beat the Chicago Cubs 14-5 on Tuesday night.

Bailey drove in Christian Koss with a liner to center against Ryan Pressly (2-2). Jung Hoo Lee had a run-scoring single, and Matt Chapman singled home two more runs in San Francisco’s highest-scoring inning of the season.

The nine runs are the most in an extra inning since the Angels scored nine in the 13th inning on Aug. 16, 2009. It is also the highest-scoring extra inning at Wrigley Field, surpassing the seven-run 10th by the New York Giants on June 18, 1921.

Lee also hit a two-run homer as San Francisco bounced back from an ugly 9-2 loss to Chicago on Monday night. Chapman, who committed two of the Giants’ four errors in the series opener, had three hits and scored twice.

The Cubs trailed 5-3 before rallying in the ninth, handing Justin Verlander another no-decision after he was in position for his first win with the Giants.

Justin Turner bounced a pinch-hit RBI single into right field against Ryan Walker. After Ian Happ struck out swinging for the second out, Kyle Tucker greeted Erik Miller (2-0) with a hard grounder back up the middle, bringing home the tying run.

Verlander pitched five innings of three-run ball. The three-time AL Cy Young Award winner signed a $15 million, one-year contract with the Giants in January.

Verlander, 42, is winless in eight consecutive starts for the first time in his 20 major league seasons.

Miguel Amaya hit a two-run homer for NL Central-leading Chicago, which had won four of five. Dansby Swanson had two hits and scored twice while extending his hitting streak to eight games.

Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong robbed Mike Yastrzemski of extra bases with a leaping grab at the wall in the third. Crow-Armstrong also took a hit away from Lee with a sliding catch in the fifth.

ESPN Research and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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