Monday Sports in Brief

HOCKEY

LAS VEGAS (AP) - Alex Tuch scored the winner in a shootout and the streaking Vegas Golden Knights beat San Jose 3-2 on Monday night as Sharks forward Patrick Marleau passed Gordie Howe for the most games played in NHL history.

Robin Lehner stopped 29 shots and the Golden Knights won their seventh in a row, overcoming a two-goal deficit behind a pair of power-play goals from captain Mark Stone.

The 41-year-old Marleau played in his 1,768th career game to break Howe’s record in front of a sold-out crowd of 3,950 that included his wife, Christina, and four sons. That wouldn’t have been possible in San Jose, where fans still aren’t allowed in the arena during the pandemic.

After the game, a choked-up Marleau was asked what keeps him coming to the rink all these years.

Howe played in 1,767 regular-season games and 419 more in the World Hockey Association, the latter of which are not recognized by the NHL.

NFL

Alex Smith retired Monday after making an improbable comeback from a gruesome broken leg, saying he’s ready to leave the NFL but believing he’s still able to play quarterback.

Smith made the announcement on Instagram a few weeks shy of his 37th birthday, hoping to enjoy more time with with family.

Smith earned AP Comeback Player of the Year honors for getting back on the field last season, two years removed from an injury that required 17 operations. After breaking his right tibia and fibula in a game Nov. 18, 2018, against Houston, he said he wondered if he’d be able to take walks with his wife or play with his kids in the yard - let alone play in the NFL again.

He was hospitalized for almost a month and survived a life-threatening infection in addition to the operations. Smith spent the next year and a half rehabbing and was back at practice when Washington assembled for training camp last summer.

MLB

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - The Minnesota Twins have been cleared to travel and are moving forward with plans for a doubleheader in Oakland on Tuesday after having their season interrupted by coronavirus concerns.

The Twins haven’t played since Friday to allow for virus testing and contact tracing as the club has had at least four positive coronavirus tests in the past week.

Kyle Garlick, another unnamed Twins player and a team staff member tested positive in the two days before the postponements against the Angels, manager Rocco Baldelli said this weekend. Shortstop Andrelton Simmons already hadn’t made the trip to Anaheim after testing positive early in the week.

Games between the Twins and the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim were postponed Saturday and Sunday, and Monday’s series opener in Oakland was also postponed. That game will be made up as part of Tuesday’s doubleheader.

Minnesota will start Matt Shoemaker in Game 1 and Jose Berrios in Game 2 of the straight doubleheader, then pitch Kenta Maeda on Wednesday. The A’s haven’t announced probable starters yet.

SOCCER

LONDON (AP) - Tottenham fired Jose Mourinho on Monday after only 17 months in charge, and just as he was preparing to coach the club in the League Cup final.

Mourinho was hired in November 2019 to replace Mauricio Pochettino, who unexpectedly led the London club to the Champions League final before the team collapsed the following season.

Mourinho failed to get Tottenham back into the Champions League and has overseen another collapse this season. The team was in first place in December but a run of poor results has seen it fall to seventh place.

Mourinho’s exits comes two days before a Premier League game against Southampton and with the League Cup final on Sunday against Manchester City. Tottenham, which hasn’t won a trophy since the 2008 League Cup, said youth coach Ryan Mason had been put in charge of training.

It is Mourinho’s shortest spell at a club since breaking into the big time with Porto in 2004.

FOOTBALL

An attorney for Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson on Monday accused the 22 women who have filed lawsuits alleging they were sexually assaulted or harassed by the NFL player during massages of lying, claiming their assertions are based on “an avalanche of false accusations.”

The statement by Watson’s attorney, Rusty Hardin, comes after the NFL player’s legal team filed in court its initial response to the lawsuits, alleging that eight of the women bragged about giving him massages and five “wanted to get money out of Mr. Watson.”

Tony Buzbee, the attorney for the 22 women, called the claims in the initial response by Watson’s legal team “weak and vague allegations” that are “demonstrably false.”

The 22 women accuse Watson of exposing himself, touching them with his penis or kissing them against their will while he got a massage. At least one woman has alleged Watson forced her to perform oral sex. All of the women are either licensed massage therapists or worked in a spa or similar business. The first alleged assault took place in March 2020, with the most recent one alleged to have taken place last month.

OBITUARY

Antron Pippen, the son of Basketball Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen and once a top college prospect, has died. He was 33.

Scottie Pippen announced the death on his social media platforms, saying his oldest child died Sunday. He did not give a cause.

Antron Pippen was an accomplished high school player in Georgia, then played college basketball at South Georgia Tech and Texas A&M International.

Antron Pippen’s high school career was well-chronicled and he at one time was listed among the top 100 prospects at his age level. He acknowledged that sharing the last name of a six-time NBA champion generated extra attention.

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