The Rams advanced to the NFC championship game with a 20-17 overtime victory against the Chicago Bears on Sunday.
The win sets up a rematch between the Rams and Seattle Seahawks, a team they beat — and lost to — during the regular season. If the Rams defeat the Seahawks, they will advance to Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara on Feb. 8.
Mikael Granlund scored at 4:02 of overtime, and the Ducks beat the Kings 2-1 on Saturday night at Honda Center to sweep a two-game weekend set in the rivalry.
Rookie Beckett Sennecke created the winning score by swooping in on a backcheck to take the puck away from the Kings’ Kevin Fiala on a breakaway. Sennecke knocked the puck straight to Granlund, who beat Anton Forsberg for his ninth goal of the season.
Mason McTavish scored the first goal and Ville Husso made 17 saves for the Ducks. They have won three straight after a nine-game skid.
Adrian Kempe scored a power-play goal and Forsberg stopped 30 shots in the backup’s strong performance for the Kings, who have lost six of seven.
Sennecke played a major role for the second straight night when the Southern California clubs completed their back-to-back set by going to overtime for the third time in their four meetings this season. Sennecke had two assists and scored in the shootout as the Ducks rallied from a two-goal deficit for a 3-2 victory over the Kings in downtown Los Angeles on Friday night.
McTavish ended the Ducks’ victory in L.A. with his fourth shootout goal of the season, and he opened the scoring in the rematch with a wrist shot for his 12th goal early in the first period.
Kempe tied it in the second period, scoring his 16th goal on a hard one-timer off a pass from Fiala. Kempe then put a gloved finger to his lips, shushing the sixth consecutive sellout crowd in Anaheim.
The Kings had six power plays before the Ducks got their first man-advantage late in the second period, yet Anaheim had a significant edge in shots after carrying play for long stretches at even strength.
After a scoreless third, the Kings played into extra time for a league-high 20th time this season.
Jeffrey Viel made his debut for the Ducks, who traded a fourth-round pick to Boston on Friday to get the veteran forward who hasn’t scored in the NHL since March 18, 2022. The 6-foot-1 Viel fought 6-foot-6 Kings forward Samuel Helenius in the first period.
Up next for the Kings: vs. the New York Rangers at Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday night.
Up next for the Ducks: vs. the Rangers at Honda Center on Monday night.
Quarterback Josh Allen endured more play-off heartache as the Denver Broncos beat the Buffalo Bills in overtime to move within one win of the Super Bowl.
Having secured the AFC’s top seed, Denver had home advantage and led 23-10 during the third quarter, before the Bills twice came from behind to make the final score 30-30.
Allen had a chance to clinch victory in overtime, but the Broncos claimed an interception before kicking a field goal to win 33-30.
That means that despite reaching the play-offs in seven straight seasons, racking up eight play-off wins, the NFL’s reigning Most Valuable Player is still to reach the sport’s biggest game.
The Broncos, however, have claimed their first play-off success since winning the Super Bowl for the third time in February 2016.
That game took place at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, which will also stage this year’s edition, Super Bowl 60, on Sunday, 8 February.
Now, Denver can look forward to the AFC Conference Championship game next weekend at home to the winners of the Houston Texans at the New England Patriots on Sunday (20:00 GMT).
More to follow.
Mark Stone scored 25 seconds into overtime, Jack Eichel had three assists and the Vegas Golden Knights beat the Kings 3-2 on Wednesday night.
Eichel found Stone in front for a shot into an open goal.
The Golden Knights recovered to win their season-best fifth straight after Brandt Clarke tied it at 2 for the Kings with 1:27 remaining in regulation.
Braeden Bowman and Mitch Marner also scored for Vegas, and Akira Schmid made 22 saves. The Golden Knights have picked up a point in six straight games.
Kevin Fiala had a goal and an assist, and Darcy Kuemper made 24 saves for the Kings, who have lost four of five.
Clarke jammed in Adrian Kempe’s centering pass at the left post with Kuemper off for an extra attacker.
Schmid got his third straight win, and his 14-4-5 record has helped the Golden Knights navigate the absence of top goaltender Adin Hill because of a lower-body injury.
Hill hasn’t played since Oct. 20 but could be available when the Golden Knights return home Thursday for the second game of a back-to-back.
Darren Raddysh scored midway through overtime, and the Tampa Bay Lightning blew three one-goal leads before beating the Ducks 4-3 on Wednesday for their fifth consecutive victory.
Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper celebrated his 1,000th regular-season game in charge with his 595th victory as the longest-tenured bench boss in the NHL. The Lightning’s coach since March 2013 has also led them in 155 playoff games, won two championships and reached four Stanley Cup Finals.
Nikita Kucherov had a goal and an assist as the Lightning skated off with a win in the opener of their three-game California trip when Raddysh converted a pass from Brandon Hagel, who had three assists.
J.J. Moser and Brayden Point also scored for Tampa Bay, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 24 saves.
Mason McTavish tied it on a power play with 6:58 left in regulation for the Ducks, who have lost four straight and eight of 10. Jansen Harkins and Beckett Sennecke also scored, and Lukas Dostal stopped 24 shots as the Ducks earned a point for only the second time in six games.
Moser opened the scoring in the first period with his first goal since agreeing to an eight-year, $54-million contract extension last weekend.
The Ducks scored their first two goals off turnovers, with the 19-year-old Sennecke getting the 12th of his rookie season early in the third period.
Kucherov scored his 18th goal on a cross-ice pass from Hagel during a power play four minutes later, but the Ducks evened it again when Pavel Mintyukov made an exceptional play at the blue line to set up McTavish for his 10th goal.
The Ducks announced during the game that forward Frank Vatrano will be out for about six weeks with a broken shoulder incurred in a loss to the Kings last Saturday.
Up next for the Ducks: vs. Minnesota at Honda Center on Friday.