Sports: Wings lose 6-4; Ericsson Out 12 Weeks

The Red Wings lost to the Capitals in Washington 6-4 on Thursday night.  Andreas Athanasiou had two goals in the first period for the Red Wings.  Detroit's Henrik Zetterberg made it 3-all less than 1 1/2 minutes into the final period.  T.J. Oshie scored twice and set up John Carlson's go-ahead goal in the third period.  It was the 11th consecutive home victory for the Caps.  The Capitals have at least five goals in each of their past 10 home games, only the second NHL team to do that. Defenseman Jonathan Ericsson broke a wrist after being slammed into the boards and is out for at least twelve weeks.  Coach Jeff Blashell says it’ll be tough to replace a 6’5” defenseman who skates well, and is a big loss for the Red Wings.  The Red Wings play at Columbus on Saturday afternoon.

Pistons

The Pistons are three games under .500 but are in eighth place in the Eastern Conference.  The Pistons host the Spurs tonight.

Men’s College Basketball

The MSU Spartans head home on Saturday to play the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Broadcast time 5pm on 95.3 WBCK.

Top-ranked Gonzaga is 25-0 a 90-60 pounding of Loyola Marymount.

Duke won a turf war in North Carolina, while Purdue took the battle of Indiana. The 18th-ranked Blue Devils had an 86-78 decision over No. 8 North Carolina. The 16th-ranked Boilermakers are 20-5 after a 69-64 triumph over Indiana.

In the MAC…

Tonight, Akron is at EMU.

Northern Illinois is at Western Michigan on Saturday night.

In Women’s basketball on Saturday,

WMU is at CMU.

Miami of Ohio at EMU.

Wrestling

Pennfield beat Leslie 39-30 and head to Regionals next Wednesday at Dundee High School against Michigan Center.

Girls Basketball

Jonesville 40, Athens 32.

Camden-Frontier 65, Tekonsha 24.

High School Boys Basketball

Tekonsha 57, Colon 40.  Anthony Layne had 19 and 15 rebounds.

Boys BasketballTonight….

Pennfield will be at Harper Creek. ...on 95.3 WBCK

Battle Creek Central at Gull Lake

Kalamazoo Central at Lakeview

Marshall at Jackson Lumen Christi

Jonesville at Athens

Waldron at Bellevue

Mendon at Bronson

Delton at Galesburg-Augusta

Concord at Union City

Homer at Reading

Maple Valley at Lake Odessa

Stockbridge at Olivet

Quincy at Springport

Camden-Frontier at Tekonsha

MSU Football Players Suspended

Three Michigan State University football players are suspended from team activities and removed from on-campus housing as part of a sexual assault investigation. The school says in a release Thursday that a staff member associated with the football program also has been suspended. Police are expected to forward reports in the case to prosecutors for possible criminal charges.

Fleck Contract

Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck's five-year, $18 million contract comes with a hefty buyout if he is fired and substantial bonuses if the Gophers win big. The university has released details of the deal agreed to last month and set to be finalized this week. Fleck will make $3.5 million in his first season, with $50,000 annual raises over the remainder of the contract, which is valued slightly above the average for Big Ten football coaches.

Costas Replaced for 2018 Winter Games

NBC is replacing Bob Costas as its prime-time host of the network's Olympics telecast with Mike Tirico.  The change will take place starting with next year's winter games in South Korea.  The 64-year-old Costas has been the prime-time host for 11 Olympics televised by NBC since 1992.

Tigers/MLB

Only 3 days until pitchers and catchers report to Lakeland, Florida.