Sports don’t stop with winter break, so let’s recap the last two weeks of events and news from the biggest series.
LOCAL SPORTS:
The Las Vegas Golden Knights won six of their seven games during winter break, their only loss being against the Montreal Canadiens. The 3-2 loss painfully ended a six game winning streak. The other games played during winter break included a 6-2 victory over the Seattle Kraken, a 3-1 win against the Anaheim Ducks, and a dominant 6-3 performance against the San Jose Sharks. They also shut out the Calgary Flames 3-0, defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 5-2, and capped off the break with a 3-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres.
The Las Vegas Raiders took two miraculous wins during the break, and only one loss in their last game before the end of break. The first win was against the Jacksonville Jaguars, who were tied for wins and losses with Las Vegas going into the game. Jacksonville scored the first touchdown during the first quarter, but the Raiders quickly tied in the early second quarter. Vegas took the lead only four minutes later with a field goal in the 10th minute. The Jaguars clapped back with another touchdown in the late third quarter to bring the game to 14-13. In the final quarter, the Raiders scored a touchdown but failed their two-point attempt to end the game 14-19. Their second win came against the New Orleans Saints. The Raiders took a confident start with a field goal in the first quarter but were countered by the Saints in the early second quarter when they scored the game’s first touchdown. The Raiders took the lead of the game in the last minute of the quarter with a touchdown that brought the points tally to 13-7. Vegas made two more field goals before taking their final touchdown before the end of the game and finishing 25-10.
NFL:
The NFL regular season is now over and the first wild card round games are played this weekend. The Detroit Lions and Kansas City Chiefs both clinched their respective conferences.
The biggest upset during winter break had to be the Chiefs v. Broncos last Sunday. The game finished with the Chiefs not scoring a single point. The loss was majorly attributed to star quarterback Patrick Mahomes not playing during the game. The Chiefs only ran a total of 27 yards and threw a total of 71 yards, while the Broncos ran 158 and threw 321. The game was such a blowout that CBS Sports pulled the broadcast and played the Chargers vs. Raiders instead.
In another display of riveting NFL gameplay, the New York Jets defeated the Chicago Bears 6-3. Only three field goals were scored throughout the game, all of them in the first two quarters, and none after that.
The Detroit Lions clinched both the NFC and NFC North after their last game against the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings were the Lions’ closest contender for the division and going into last Sunday, they were tied for wins and losses. Detroit started off strong with a touchdown in the late first quarter. Without QB Jarred Goff throwing a pass, Jahmyr Gibbs was able to make a nearly 30-yard run for the TD. Minnesota did not get any points on the board until the sixth minute of the second quarter. Both teams traded field goals during the second quarter before the Lions scored their next touchdown in the late third quarter, and eventually another two in the final quarter.
MOTORSPORTS:
Red Bull F1 driver, Sergio Perez, was dropped for Kiwi driver Liam Lawson during the break. Sergio Perez finished eighth in the championship while his teammate Max Verstappen won the title. Lawson was brought on mid-season to replace the struggling Daniel Ricciardo at Red Bull’s sister team Visa Cash App Racing Bulls before being promoted to Red Bull for the 2025 season. 2024 Formula 2 runner-up Isack Hadjar was signed by VCARB for 2025 to replace Lawson and pair with Yuki Tsunoda.
Four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves announced that he will be making his NASCAR debut at the 2025 Daytona 500 with Trackhouse Racing. Castroneves has spent almost his entire racing career in IndyCar, with only a couple of trips to Daytona in the IMSA series. He has also won the Rolex 24h three times.
THIS WEEK:
Unfortunately, the Las Vegas Raiders did not make the NFL wild card and are out for the rest of the post-season.
The Golden Knights will play on an Eastern-oriented schedule this week, with the New York Islander and New York Rangers being their first games before moving onto the Minnesota Wild.
