D6 THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 2020 LATIMES.COM/SPORTS
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Pacific W LOLPtsGFGA
Vegas 37 23 8 82 219 202
Edmonton 36 23 8 80 214 205
Calgary 35 26 7 77 204 208
Arizona 33 27 8 74 191 180
Vancouver 34 26 6 74 216 208
DUCKS 27 32 8 62 174 214
San Jose 29 33 4 62 174 211
KINGS 25 35 6 56 164 206
Central W LOLPtsGFGA
St. Louis 40 17 10 90 216 185
Colorado 40 18 8 88 226 177
Dallas 37 21 8 82 178 170
Winnipeg 34 28 6 74 204 199
Minnesota 33 26 7 73 209 207
Nashville 32 26 8 72 208 215
Chicago 30 28 8 68 201 209
Note: Overtime or shootout lossesworth one point.EASTERN CONFERENCE
Metropolitan W LOLPtsGFGA
Washington 40 20 6 86 228 204
Philadelphia 39 20 7 85 225 192
Pittsburgh 38 21 6 82 211 181
Columbus 32 21 15 79 177 182
N.Y. Islanders 35 22 8 78 183 181
Carolina 35 24 5 75 207 183
N.Y. Rangers 35 27 4 74 218 206
New Jersey 26 28 12 64 177 219
Atlantic W LOLPtsGFGA
Boston 42 13 12 96 220 168
Tampa Bay 41 20 5 87 231 185
Toronto 35 24 8 78 235 223
Florida 33 26 7 73 224 224
Montreal 31 28 9 71 209 209
Buffalo 29 29 8 66 189 208
Ottawa 23 32 12 58 181 231
Detroit 15 48 5 35 136 257NHL STANDINGS
RESULTS
DUCKS 4
AT COLORADO 3 (OT)
Rickard Rakell scored with 1.2 seconds remaining in
overtime to lift the Ducks.PHILADELPHIA 5
AT WASHINGTON 2
The Flyers scored three times in 10 minutes to extend
their winning streak to seven games.AT CALGARY 3
COLUMBUS 2 (OT)
T.J. Brodie scored with 11 seconds remaining in overtime
as the Flames rallied from a two-goal deficit.ARIZONA 4
AT VANCOUVER 2
Down 2-1, the Coyotes scored three goals in the final 10
minutes to beat the Canucks.For complete NHL summaries, go to latimes.com/sports/scores
TODAY’S GAMES
Toronto at KINGS, 7:30 p.m. Boston at Florida, 4 p.m.
Carolina at Philadelphia, 4 p.m. Montreal at Tampa Bay, 4 p.m.
Pittsburgh at Buffalo, 4 p.m. Washington at N.Y. Rangers, 4 p.m.
N.Y. Islanders at Ottawa, 4:30 p.m. Dallas at Nashville, 5 p.m.
Edmonton at Chicago, 5:30 p.m. Minnesota at San Jose, 7:30 p.m.DUCKS 4, AVALANCHE 3, OT
DUCKS .............................2101—4
Colorado..........................2010—3
FIRST PERIOD: 1. Col., Namestnikov 15 (MacKinnon,
Landeskog), 3:51. 2. DUCKS, Agozzino 1 (Rowney, Irwin),
5:34. 3. DUCKS, Guhle 4 (Silfverberg, Rakell), 13:40. 4.
Col., Landeskog 19 (Girard, Jost), 14:29 (pp).
Penalties—Deslauriers, DUCKS (fighting), 10:40. Belle-
mare, Col. (fighting), 10:40. Sherwood, DUCKS (delay of
game), 14:02. Sherwood, DUCKS (slashing), 19:02.
SECOND PERIOD: 5. DUCKS, Steel 6 (Getzlaf), 12:48.
Penalty—Landeskog, Col. (hooking), 10:48.
THIRD PERIOD: 6. Col., MacKinnon 34 (Landeskog,
Jost), 7:19 (pp). Penalties—Donskoi, Col. (holding),
4:13. Milano, DUCKS (high-sticking), 6:41. Namestnikov,
Col. (roughing), 9:38. Getzlaf, DUCKS (roughing), 9:38.
Barberio, Col. (roughing), 11:40. Jones, DUCKS (rough-
ing), 11:40.
OVERTIME: 7. DUCKS, Rakell 14, 4:58.
Penalties—None.
SHOTS ON GOAL: DUCKS 10-5-10-5—30. Col. 13-7-8-
7—35. Power-play conversions—DUCKS 0 of 2. Col. 2 of 3.
GOALIES: DUCKS, Miller 8-6-3 (35 shots-32 saves).
Col., Francouz 19-5-4 (30-26). Att—18,033 (18,007).
T—2:35.DENVER — Rickard
Rakell didn’t need a clock to
tell him how much time re-
mained as he skated up the
ice.
He had his Ducks team-
mates on the bench count-
ing down the seconds.
Rakell scored with 1.2 sec-
onds remaining in overtime,
Ryan Miller stopped 32
shots and the Ducks
snapped the Colorado Ava-
lanche’s seven-game win-
ning streak with a 4-3 victory
Wednesday night.
“The whole bench was lit-
erally an orchestra of ‘6, 5 ...’
they were counting it down
for him,” Ducks coach Dallas
Eakins said. “The communi-
cation there obviously
helped. But with Raks, he’s a
smart shooter. He’s going toget that D-man close to
him.”
Rakell’s shot appeared to
deflect off the stick of Ava-
lanche defenseman Samuel
Girard and past goaltender
Pavel Francouz. It was
Rakell’s first goal since Jan.
31.
“I just tried to do some-
thing quick there and get a
shot off,” Rakell explained.
“It was nice to see it go in.”Sam Steel, Andrew
Agozzino and Brendan
Guhle also added goals to
accomplish a rare feat these
days — finding space be-
tween the pads of Francouz,
who’s been one of the top
goaltenders in the league.
Despite losing 6-2 in Chi-
cago the night before, the
Ducks kept up with the
speedy Avalanche. The 39-
year-old Miller earned ca-reer NHL win No. 386 to
move by Mike Vernon and
into sole possession of 15th
place. Miller also matched
Tom Barrasso (777) for sec-
ond place on the NHL’s all-
time games played list
among U.S.-born goaltend-
ers, the team said.
In addition, Miller eclips-
ed Barrasso (755) for second
on the league’s all-time
games started list for U.S.-
born goalies.
“A great night for him, for
our team,” Eakins said.
“He’s just been a wonder to
have with our group.”Rakell’s late goal lifts Ducks
He scores with 1.2
seconds left in
overtime as Anaheim
ends Avalanche’s run.
DUCKS 4
COLORADO 3 (OT)associated pressRICKARD RAKELL, left, and Christian Djoos enjoy
Rakell’s winning goal in overtime for the Ducks.Michael MartinNHLI via Getty Imageswherever my husband is
happy playing.” The situa-
tion is complex and nu-
anced, with rumors swirling
that Mr. Six Rings could be
heading west on Route 66 to
finish his career in Las
Vegas or even Los Angeles,
where glistening new stadi-
ums are opening next sea-
son.
The Raiders have al-
ready made a splash in Las
Vegas, and there aren’t
enough spotlights on the
Strip to outshine a billion-
watt pairing of Brady and
coach Jon Gruden.
Meanwhile, in L.A., the
Chargers have yet to create
a buzz since relocating from
San Diego in 2017, even when
they advanced to the divi-
sional round of the playoffs
two years ago, losing at New
England to the Brady-led
Patriots.
Would signing Brady
supercharge ticket sales for
the Chargers, or would it
simply be a fleeting high?
There are other potential
landing spots, even with a
cadre of experienced
quarterbacks available —
Philip Rivers, Andy Dalton,
Teddy Bridgewater, Marcus
Mariota among them — and
several highly touted pro-
spects in the draft.
NFL teams can’t discuss
interest in Brady now. That
would be tampering. But
any quarterback-needy
team that hasn’t weighed
the merits of signing him is
guilty of malpractice. It’s a
safe bet that he has been a
centerpiece of countless
closed-door conversations.
Which brings us to the first,
most important, scenario.
Why might he leave New
England? His legacy is a big
factor. The doors of Canton
will swing wide for both
Brady and coach Bill Beli-
chick, but it’s logical to
think each would like to
prove he can win without
the other. Neither has ex-
plicitly stated that, yet it has
been a topic for debate the
last 15 years: Who is most
responsible for the team’s
phenomenal success, coach
or quarterback?
Belichick has answered
that to a degree: The Patri-
ots went 11-5 in 2008 with
unheralded Matt Cassel in
place of the injured Brady,
and went 3-1 in 2016 with
Jimmy Garoppolo and
Jacoby Brissett during
Brady’s four-game suspen-
sion.
Even though the Patriots
won their division, Brady is
coming off a forgettable
season. His stats were down
across the board, though
the dip can be attributed to
a variety of factors. He lost
his center at the end of
training camp, and his left
tackle in Week 2. There was
a reason the Patriots signed
mercurial receiver Antonio
Brown; besides Edelman,
the playmaker cupboard
was bare.
Still, Brady wants a
long-term commitment
from a team, and the Patri-
ots haven’t given him one.
Other than a couple of gray-
ing kickers who may or may
not resurface, he’s the old-
est active player in the
league, and any team would
be cautious about tying its
future to him. If they let
Brady walk, the Patriots
wouldn’t have to worry
about losing their fan base.
They will still sell jerseys
and sell out games. Not
many teams can say that,
but that’s the respect af-
forded Belichick. People
trust he knows what he’s
doing, even if he turns to
Jarrett Stidham, who threw
four passes last season as a
rookie — one of them a
pick-six.The Left Coast
scenario
The notion of Brady
returning to California
makes some sense. He was
born and raised in San
Mateo, and he and his wife
built a 14,000-square-foot,
eco-conscious home in
Brentwood they referred to
as their “sanctuary.” The
place was encircled by a
koi-filled, man-made river —
the “GOAT” had a moat —
and featured five bedrooms,
nine bathrooms, seven
fireplaces and a lagoon-
shaped swimming pool with
a spa. They sold the place in
2017 for $40 million to Dr.
Dre.
Brady’s L.A. ties run
especially deep. When he
suffered a devastating knee
injury in 2008, he left Boston
and had his knee repaired
here by Dr. Neal ElAttrache,
now regarded as the preem-
inent orthopedic surgeon in
sports. And Brady did his
early rehab, his first throw-
ing and running, in secret
workouts at Will Rogers
State Park in Pacific Pali-
sades.
So the idea of Brady
playing for the Chargers
isn’t far-fetched, although
his old Patriots teammate
Willie McGinest offered this
nugget in December when
he was a guest on Dave
Dameshek’s podcast: “
Somebody really important
to Tom Brady ... who he
spends every day with ... his
other half ... doesn’t like it
out here in California. So
that may factor into the
decision, too.”
The Chargers do not
have a history of taking big
risks or backing up the
Brink’s truck for free agents.
They announced last month
that they won’t be re-sign-ing Rivers and are, for now,
going with fleet-footed
veteran Tyrod Taylor, who is
elusive, protects the football
and throws one of the
prettiest deep balls in the
league but has struggled
with accuracy on passes
over the middle. After a 5-1 1
season in which they were
winless in the AFC West,
they have the sixth pick in
the draft, and are posi-
tioned to take a top-rated
quarterback.
For business, Brady
makes sense. He would
certainly attract attention.
For football, he’s similar to
Rivers, an immobile drop-back passer in the sunset of
his career. If coach Anthony
Lynn is trying to head in a
different direction and
catch the current wave of
dual-threat quarterbacks,
signing Brady would only
delay the inevitable. No one
believes the Chargers are a
quarterback away from the
Super Bowl.
Whether Brady were to
go to the Chargers or
Raiders, he would also be
facing Kansas City and
Patrick Mahomes twice a
season in an AFC West
that’s far stronger than the
AFC East.“Tom Brady’s not going
to be afraid of playing Pat-
rick Mahomes,” Hall of
Fame quarterback Kurt
Warner said. “He’s not going
to be like, ‘Oh gosh, I’ve got
to try to avoid him at all
costs because he’s great.’
No, he’s going to compete.
But when you have a chance
to pick your path...
“You tell me, what
quarterback in the AFC is
ready to compete against
Patrick Mahomes year in
and year out? I don’t think
there’s a single one. De-
shaun Watson and Lamar
Jackson are a long ways
away. Now, can their teams
come together and do it? Of
course. But I’m talking
about a quarterback that
you know when they step on
the field is ready to go swing
for swing with Patrick Ma-
homes. There’s not one.”The going South
scenario
Should he weigh offers
from new teams, Brady will
consider multiple factors,
and the competitiveness of
the division is a big one. In
that regard, Indianapolis
and Tennessee of the AFC
South are potential suitors.
The Colts have Brissett,
a former backup to Brady in
New England, who got off to
a good start last season in
the wake of Andrew Luck’s
surprise retirement but
faded as the Colts lost seven
of their last nine games.
Colts coach Frank Reich
does a good job of designing
quick throws, of which
Brady is a master. The Colts
offensive line was intact for
all 16 games last season, and
the five starters are back.
T.Y. Hilton would be Brady’s
best receiver since Randy
Moss.
It would be bizarre,
however, to see Brady
playing for Indianapolis,
and not only because he was
on the other side of those
legendary duels with Peyton
Manning. It was the Colts
who blew the whistle on the
Patriots allegedly deflating
footballs on behalf of their
quarterback.The Titans make more
sense. They have an out-
standing running game,
dynamic young receivers, a
stout offensive line and a
respectable defense. They
also play in a winnable
division. Ryan Tannehill
had a terrific season for
them at quarterback, but
that cuts both ways. Look-
ing at what Tannehill did,
imagine what Brady could
do.
There’s also a long-
standing relationship with
Vrabel, the coach. “When I
was there, practices were
always competitive and the
two most vocal people were
Brady and Mike,” former
Patriots tight end Christian
Fauria said. “Any competi-
tive period that we had,
there was always a lot of
yapping back and forth.
They just grew to really
respect each other, not only
with the way they carried
themselves, but their phi-
losophy towards life.”The wild, and
wildest, scenarios
One scenario making the
rounds has Brady going to
San Francisco, his favorite
team as a kid, and the 49ers
parting ways with Garop-
polo — perhaps trading him
back to New England. While
that might sound prepos-
terous, it isn’t often that a
player of Brady’s caliber is
on the open market.
San Francisco coach
Kyle Shanahan and general
manager John Lynch have
been effusive in their praise
of Garoppolo, both before
and after the Super Bowl
loss to Kansas City. Lynch
often extols the “culture” of
the 49ers’ organization, and
abruptly changing quarter-
backs could jeopardize that
delicate chemistry.
“We’re extremely proud
of Jimmy and committed to
Jimmy going forward,”
Lynch said last week. “He’s
our guy.”
However, the Peyton
Manning experiment was so
successful in Denver, with
the former Indianapolis
icon leading the Broncos totwo Super Bowl appear-
ances late in his career, that
unquestionably piques the
interest of teams that come
oh-so-close to the ultimate
prize.
And there’s another
potential suitor, an out-of-
the-blue franchise that
checks a lot of boxes for
Brady and should be taken
seriously: the Dallas Cow-
boys. They have yet to make
a long-term commitment to
Dak Prescott, who turned
down a take-it-or-leave-it
offer at the beginning of the
season. Owner Jerry Jones
has never been risk-averse,
and has a team that has
gone 4-10 in the playoffs
since last winning a Super
Bowl 24 years ago. It’s well
known in league circles that
everything is on the table for
Jones at all times, and that
he’s particularly infatuated
with quarterbacks. By way
of example, in the 2014 draft,
Jones had to be talked out of
taking quarterback Johnny
Manziel instead of a far safer
pick, tackle Zack Martin
from Notre Dame. Manziel
has long since flamed out;
Martin has made six Pro
Bowls.
In a Sports Illustrated
story, Cowboys GM Stephen
Jones recounted a conversa-
tion with his father about
that choice.
“Son, I hope you’re
happy,” Jerry said, accord-
ing to the story’s author,
Austin Murphy. “But let me
tell you something: You
don’t get to own the Cow-
boys, you don’t get to do
special things in life, by
making major decisions
going right down the mid-
dle. And that” — taking an
offensive lineman over
Manziel — “was right down
the middle.”
The Cowboys have an
elite running back, an offen-
sive line that can be domi-
nating, receivers who can
get open and, best of all,
play in a middling division
that Philadelphia won last
season at 9-7.
As decision time nears,
maybe all this talk and
conjecture is just pre-snap
motion and deception.
Brady has had unprece-
dented success with the
Patriots. He has total con-
trol and command of the
offense. He’s synonymous
with the market. Would he
really choose to leave?
Warner doesn’t think so.
“I’ll be surprised if he’s
not in New England,” Warn-
er said. “... The Chargers
and the Raiders, I say no. It
doesn’t make sense to me to
be in that division. And to
me, it doesn’t make sense to
be in the NFC because there
are more elite quarterbacks
there. So to me, it really
comes down to New Eng-
land or Tennessee.
“Last year, as bad as it
was for the Patriots offen-
sively, they were one game
away from being the No. 2
seed. ... Best opportunity to
win your division? The AFC
East. Best opportunity to
win 12 games? AFC East.
Best opportunity for Brady
is to have a top-10 defense,
which he has every year, and
they’re going to be more
advanced offensively than
they were last year because
guys are a year older.”
In this instance, Patriots
fans are praying that Brady
is who they always have
known him to be: Gloriously
immobile.As free agency looms, Brady’s next move is hot topic
[Farmer, from D1]
TOM BRADY’Snext employer could be the Titans, Chargers, 49ers or Cowboys ... or he might just stay put.Maddie MeyerGetty Images‘I’ll be
surprised if he’s
not in New
England. The
Chargers and
the Raiders, I
say no. It
doesn’t make
sense to me to
be in that
division.’
— Kurt Warner,
Hall of Fame quarterback