The NHL-best Avalanche have a power play problem

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🚨 Headlines

🏈 Harbaugh out in Baltimore: The Ravens fired head coach John Harbaugh on Tuesday, ending an 18-season tenure that included 12 playoff appearances and one Super Bowl win (2013). The franchise stalwart coached the Ravens for more than half of their 30-year existence.

🏀 All-Star voting update: Luka Dončić and Giannis Antetekounmpo remain their conference’s top vote-getters for next month’s NBA All-Star Game in Los Angeles. Voting ends on Jan. 14, with starters announced five days later.

⛳️ WTGL coming soon: Following the success of TGL, whose second season began last week, LPGA golfers are getting a league of their own. Women’s TGL is set to debut next winter at the same custom-built stadium in Florida where the men play.

🏁 NASCAR commish resigns: Steve Phelps, who was named NASCAR’s first commissioner less than a year ago, has resigned amid backlash over a series of inflammatory texts he sent that were revealed during a recently-settled lawsuit.

🎾 Record purse in Melbourne: The Australian Open, which begins in less than two weeks, announced a record $74.9 million prize purse for this year’s tournament, including $2.8 million each for the men’s and women’s singles champions.

🏒 The NHL’s best team has a problem

Nathan MacKinnon and the Avalanche have been dominant. Just not on the power play. (Chris Arjoon/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

The best team in the NHL has one glaring weakness — and it could end up costing them a chance at history.

Alone at the top: The Avalanche were expected to be good this season, but no team is ever expected to be this good.

Their 31-3-7 record at the halfway mark was the best since the NHL moved to an 82-game schedule in 1995-96.
They’re the fourth team in NHL history to record multiple 10-game winning streaks in a season, and they currently have six more wins (and 11 more points) than any other team.
They score the most goals (3.95 per game) and allow the fewest (2.21), and the second-best team in each category (3.45 and 2.63) isn’t even close.

Yes, but: For all their success, there’s one area where the Avs struggle mightily: the power play. They’ve scored just 23 goals in 143 man-up opportunities, good for a 16.1% success rate that ranks 26th out of 32 teams — an extreme outlier for a first-place squad with championship aspirations.

Consider this: Colorado is on pace to become just the fifth team to win 60 or more games in a season. Here’s where the other four ranked in power play percentage:

2022-23 Bruins: 22.2% (12th)
2018-19 Lightning: 28.2% (1st)
1995-96 Red Wings: 21.3% (2nd)
1976-77 Canadiens: 24.89% (2nd)

Again, the Avalanche rank 26th. It’s hard to fathom such an otherwise dominant team struggling to this degree in man-up situations, especially when that unit typically features arguably the best player (MVP favorite Nathan MacKinnon) and defenseman (Norris Trophy favorite Cale Makar) in the league.

And if they don’t find a fix, it will likely derail their shot at the regular-season wins record (65), and could hinder them in the playoffs when man-up situations often define a series.

Bottom line: The Avalanche have spent most of the season looking like one of the best teams of the century. But remove a player from the opposing team, and suddenly they look surprisingly bad.

💯 Big numbers

(Stefano Rellandini/AFP via Getty Images)

🥇 1 month

Tuesday marked exactly one month until the Opening Ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics in the northern Italian cities of Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, where roughly 3,000 athletes from over 90 countries will compete for glory.

Athletes by country: The USA leads the way with 154 athletes, followed by Italy (151), Canada (117), Germany (103), France (99), Switzerland (95), Czech Republic (91), Sweden (91), Finland (78) and Norway (51).

🏒 -7.34 GSAx

Devils goalie Jacob Markstrom was awful in Tuesday’s 9-0 loss to the Islanders, allowing nine goals on just 24 shots on net. In fact, his performance was the single worst in NHL history by goals saved above expected (-7.34 GSAx), which calculates the difference between goals allowed (9) and expected goals allowed (1.66).

GSAx, explained: Goals saved above expected measures how many more (or fewer) goals a goalie allowed compared to an average goalie facing the same quality and quantity of shots. In layman’s terms, Markstrom surrendered roughly 7 more goals than an average goalie would have.

⚾️ 21 of 50

21 of our top 50 MLB free agents remain unsigned despite spring training being just six weeks away. “The key word is methodical,” said one agent of the slow-moving market. “I just don’t see any urgency.”

Who’s still available? OF Kyle Tucker (1), 3B Alex Bregman (2), SS Bo Bichette (4), OF Cody Bellinger (7), LHP Framber Valdez (8) and LHP Ranger Suárez (9) are all in our top 10 and remain unsigned. Others include RHP Zac Gallen (12), C J.T. Realmuto (23), 3B Eugenio Suárez (24) and RHP Justin Verlander (48).

The RedHawks celebrate Tuesday’s victory over Western Michigan. (Miami-Ohio Athletics)

🏀 6 undefeated teams

Six men’s college basketball teams are still undefeated, which is almost unheard of this late in the season. In fact, that’s the same number of unbeatens through nine weeks as in the last five seasons combined.

One is not like the others: Five of those teams are ranked power conference programs (No. 1 Arizona, No. 2 Michigan, No. 3 Iowa State, No. 9 Nebraska and No. 11 Vanderbilt). The sixth is Miami (Ohio), a mid-major that hasn’t been ranked since 1999 and hasn’t been to the NCAA tournament in two decades.

🏈 25 straight losses

Colts QB Riley Leonard continued a truly astonishing streak with last week’s loss to the Texans, as former Notre Dame QBs have now lost 25 consecutive NFL starts over the past 14 seasons. The last one to get a win? Chiefs QB Brady Quinn in Week 13 of the 2012 season.

The full list: Quinn lost four straight games to end his career in 2012, Jimmy Clausen lost the final four starts of his career across the 2014 and 2015 seasons with the Bears and Panthers, DeShone Kizer went 0-15 for the Browns in 2017 and Ian Book lost his only start for the Saints in 2021.

⚽️ 4 points

A few Premier League teams at the top of the table stand out above the rest, but the middle class is as jumbled as ever with just four points separating fifth-place Chelsea from 14th-place Crystal Palace as the second half of the season gets underway.

Fun fact: It took just 20 weeks for the Premier League to complete a “circle of parity,” indicative of a league in which almost any team can beat any opponent on any given matchday.

🏈 The legend of Trinidad Chambliss

Trinidad Chambliss is interviewed after leading Ole Miss to victory in the Sugar Bowl. (David Buono/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Trinidad Chambliss has enjoyed a meteoric rise over the past year, going from a D-II backup in Michigan to a playoff hero in the Deep South. Will his legendary story continue for another season at Ole Miss?

From Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger:

A couple miles off campus, across the street from a Super Walmart and adjacent to a Chili’s, there exists a Planet Fitness that served as the primary workout space for a newly added transfer football player for the Ole Miss Rebels.

For a couple weeks in May, few if anyone recognized the former Division II quarterback from Ferris State as he swiped a fob for access to the Planet Fitness franchise’s Oxford location, where, every day, he lifted weights and performed conditioning work with the general public of this college town.

In a little-known fact, Trinidad Chambliss wasn’t ruled academically eligible at Ole Miss until well into the summer. “I couldn’t even work out with the team,” Chambliss told Yahoo Sports in an interview earlier this fall from the team’s football facility. “There was a point over the summer where they thought I had to go back to Ferris State.”

The anecdote is yet another interesting piece in one of the most fascinating stories in the recent history of the sport. It’s a made-for-TV spectacle, a story with all the hallmarks for a Netflix documentary.

But a few days before Chambliss leads his streaking Ole Miss Rebels into a College Football Playoff semifinal against the Miami Hurricanes, the quarterback’s tale is overshadowed by its latest chapter: It is not clear whether his story will continue in college beyond this month.

Chambliss celebrates after leading Ferris State to the D-II national championship last December. (C. Morgan Engel/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)

Lording over Chambliss — and perhaps the entire college football quarterback transfer market — is a decision from the NCAA to grant him a sixth season of eligibility next year. Three days into the 15-day transfer portal, the association has not ruled.

Chambliss — his legal representation, parents, agent and current school, too — is left in limbo while preparing for the biggest game of his life. “The unknown is uncomfortable,” says Trent Chambliss, the quarterback’s father.

While a half-dozen elite quarterback transfers make their future decisions and sign multi-million dollar contracts with a new school or their current program, Trinidad Chambliss is twisting in the winds of uncertainty, unable to officially strike a new deal.

That didn’t stop him overnight Sunday from agreeing to a new contract with the Rebels contingent on having the waiver granted, according to those with knowledge of the situation. The agreement sets up potential legal action if his waiver is not granted. Millions of dollars are now on the line.

Keep reading.

🏀 NBA power rankings

(Hayden Hodge/Yahoo Sports)

The NBA championship picture is increasingly becoming a landscape, rather than a portrait of the mighty Thunder.

Biggest risers: Clippers (up 5), Celtics (up 4), Warriors (up 4), Bulls (up 4), Bucks (up 4), Wizards (up 4).
Biggest fallers: Nuggets (down 6), Mavericks (down 5), Knicks (down 4), Grizzlies (down 4) Nets (down 4).

Dive in: This week’s power rankings

📺 Watchlist: Wednesday, Jan. 7

Jaylen Brown has put the Celtics on his back this season. (Juan Ocampo/NBAE via Getty Images)

🏀 NBA on ESPN

Four teams firmly in the playoff picture take the court tonight as the second-place Celtics host the fourth-place Nuggets (7pm ET) and the second-place Spurs host the third-place Lakers (9:30pm).

Red-hot C’s: Since getting off to a slow 5-7 start, Boston has gone 18-5 behind MVP candidate Jaylen Brown, who’s averaging a career-high 29.6 points.

🏒 NHL on TNT

The Capitals host the Stars (7pm) in a heavyweight matchup, then it’s Blues at Blackhawks (9:30pm) in the nightcap.

More to watch:

🏀 NCAAM: No. 3 Iowa State at Baylor (8pm, Peacock); No. 13 Alabama at No. 11 Vanderbilt (9pm, ESPN2); Kansas State at No. 1 Arizona (9pm, FS1) … Iowa State, Vanderbilt and Arizona remain undefeated.
🏀 NCAAW: St. John’s at No. 1 UConn (7:30pm, truTV) … The Huskies (15-0) have won 31 straight games dating back to last season.
⚽️ Premier League: Crystal Palace vs. Aston Villa (2:30pm, Peacock); Manchester City vs. Brighton (2:30pm, Peacock) … Villa and City are tied for second, six points behind Arsenal.

Today’s full slate.

🏈 NFL trivia

Harbaugh walks off the field after Sunday’s loss in Pittsburgh. (Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)

John Harbaugh was the NFL’s second-longest-tenured head coach (18 seasons) before he was fired Tuesday.

Question: Who is the only active NFL head coach who has been in his job longer?

Answer at the bottom.

🏀 Highlight of the night

(Giphy)

There are things Victor Wembanyama can do that no one else in the NBA can do. Or maybe no one else on Earth.

Exhibit A: See above. Did he just scissor kick basketballs stuck in a 10-foot basket? While nursing a bad knee? Yes. Yes, he did.

Consider this: The Guinness Book of World Records lists the highest unassisted martial arts kick (male) at 9 feet, 8 inches. Watch that GIF again… It certainly looks like Wemby’s foot gets within four inches of the rim, right? And he was only goofing off.

Trivia answer: Mike Tomlin (Steelers)

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The NHL-best Avalanche have a power play problem