National Sports

INDIANAPOLIS — The NFL is reducing isolation time for players who test positive for COVID-19 and are asymptomatic, including unvaccinated players, to five days from 10.

TAMPA, Fla.

TORONTO — Before the undermanned Toronto Raptors took the floor against Philadelphia on Tuesday, coach Nick Nurse sat down with Chris Boucher. Nurse talked to Boucher about "giving away a couple of pounds" to Sixers big man Joel Embiid.

EDMONTON — Canada's Connor Bedard became the youngest player to score four goals in a single world junior men's hockey championship game on Tuesday. The 16-year-old from North Vancouver, B.C.

KITCHENER, Ont. — Francesco Pinelli and Matthew Sop scored two goals apiece to lead the Kitchener Rangers to a 6-3 win over the Windsor Spitfires on Tuesday night.

Kyrie Irving is out of the protocols. More than 100 other NBA players are still waiting to take that step.

John Madden, the Hall of Fame coach turned broadcaster whose exuberant calls combined with simple explanations provided a weekly soundtrack to NFL games for three decades, died Tuesday morning, the NFL said. He was 85.

The National Hockey League says it will be rescheduling nine upcoming games involving Canadian teams due to COVID-19 attendance restrictions in certain Canadian cities. The league says four home games featuring the Montreal Canadiens — Jan. 4 vs.

Sixteen months after choosing Canada as the safest place to complete its season, the NHL now faces a series of hurdles north of the border that complicate its bid to power through the pandemic all over again.

EDMONTON — Defending champion United States forfeited Tuesday's game against Switzerland at the world junior men's hockey championship because two players tested positive for the COVID-19 virus. The American team was placed in a mandated quarantine.