The Minnesota men’s hockey team concluded a seven-week stretch away from home Saturday night with a 5-2 loss at Penn State.

It was a loss that gave the Nittany Lions a two-game sweep of the second and final regular-season series to be played between the teams. Minnesota returns home to 3M Arena at Mariucci next weekend to take on Michigan. The last time the Gophers competed on their home ice was a 2-1 loss to Penn State back on Nov. 22.

Since then, Minnesota has played six straight road games that were scattered out over the holiday period. The road trip started well with wins at Denver and Ohio State, but the Gophers limp home with an 0-3-1 record since those back-to-back victories.

Minnesota opened Saturday’s game in fine form, taking a 1-0 lead at 3:27 of the opening period on an unassisted goal by Brodie Ziemer. However, the hosts replied with three consecutive scores to seize the lead for good by the end of the first frame.

Javon Moore opened the second period with a goal assisted by Teddy Townsend and Mason Roe, but Penn State recorded two more scores (including an empty netter) to win by three at the final horn. Goaltenders Nathan Airey and Luca Di Pasquo split time in net, making 11 and 27 saves, respectively.

With the loss, Minnesota fell to 8-12-1 overall and 4-6-0 in Big Ten play. Penn State improved to 14-6-0 overall and 6-4 in the Big Ten with the pair of weekend wins.

The Gophers host Michigan next weekend, with a 7 p.m. puck drop on Friday and 6 p.m. on Saturday. Both games will be televised on KMSP Ch. 9 and BTN+, with the radio call on 103.5 FM and 1130 AM.

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Matthew Stafford threw a 19-yard go-ahead touchdown pass to Colby Parkinson with 38 seconds to lift the Los Angeles Rams to a dramatic 34-31 wild-card round win over the Carolina Panthers in the opening game of the NFL playoffs on Saturday.

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA – JANUARY 10: Colby Parkinson #84 of the Los Angeles Rams catches a 19 yard touchdown pass against Tre’von Moehrig #7 of the Carolina Panthers during the fourth quarter in the NFC Wild Card Playoff game at Bank of America Stadium on January 10, 2026 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

Stafford finished 24 of 42 for 304 yards with three touchdown passes, while Puka Nacua had 10 receptions for 111 yards and two total touchdowns as the Rams (13-5), who were 10 1/2-point favorites, advanced to the divisional playoffs.

Bryce Young threw for 264 yards and a touchdown and ran for another score for Carolina (8-10), which finished the season losing four of its final five games. Jalen Coker had career highs with nine receptions for 134 yards with a touchdown and Chuba Hubbard ran for 46 yards and two touchdowns.

The Panthers fell behind 14-0 early, but stormed back to take a 24-20 lead on Hubbard’s second touchdown of the run game early in the fourth quarter.

Stafford, who was selected as an All-Pro earlier in the day, led the Rams back down on the field and found Kyren Williams for a 13-yard touchdown strike over the middle for a 27-24 lead.

Los Angeles appeared to be in charge after getting a stop on defense giving Stafford the ball back.

But a holding penalty put the Rams behind the sticks and forced a punt, which Isaiah Simmons blocked to set the Panthers up the Rams 30.

Four plays later, Young found Coker in the left corner of the end zone for a 7-yard scoring strike to give Carolina a 31-27 lead 2:39 left, sending the home crowd into a frenzy.

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA – JANUARY 10: Jalen Coker #18 of the Carolina Panthers catches a 7 yard touchdown pass against Kam Curl #3 of the Los Angeles Rams during the fourth quarter in the NFC Wild Card Playoff game at Bank of America Stadium on January 10, 2026 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

But Stafford quickly moved the Rams 71 yards in seven plays with Panthers two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Jaycee Horn on the sideline with a concussion, finishing it off with a perfectly placed pass to Parkinson near the right side of the goal line. Parkinson, who had two TDs last week, forced his way into the end zone for the score.

It was nearly the second time this season the Rams lost to the Panthers as a 10 1/2-point underdog. Carolina won 31-28 on Nov. 30.

Carolina’s last attempt to move into field-goal range ended when Jimmy Horn dropped a fourth down pass from Young.

Carolina was hoping the return of former quarterback Cam Newton to Bank of America Stadium to hit the “Keep Pounding” drum before the game would give the Panthers a little extra mojo early, but things didn’t start well.

After the Rams defense came up with a stop on fourth down at midfield on Carolina’s opening drive, Stafford quickly moved the offense downfield and found Nacua for a 14-yard touchdown pass over the middle for a 7-0 lead.

Nacua made it 14-0 on a 5-yard run following Young’s interception.

Carolina cut the lead 17-14 at halftime after a 1-yard touchdown run by Hubbard and a 16-yard scramble by Young, the second-longest TD run of his career.

The Rams had a chance to build on the lead, but Nacau dropped a potential third TD on a pass down the right sideline from Stafford just before halftime.

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With U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations increasing in Minnesota, and following the killing of Minneapolis resident Renee Good, child care providers say learning and nurturing are being interrupted.

“We are all used to in Minnesota snow days, but we are now having ICE days, meaning that our kids are not able to learn, they are having their education cut because of ICE actions in our community,” said state Rep. Samantha Sencer-Mura, DFL-63A and a member of the House Children and Families Committee.

Sencer-Mura was part of a group sharing concerns Saturday at a press conference hosted by multifaith nonprofit ISAIAH at Christ Church Lutheran in Minneapolis, a couple of miles from where Good was shot by an ICE agent.

Speakers criticized the Trump Administration for attempting to freeze state child care funding and local Republicans for inviting YouTuber Nick Shirley to make a video portraying what he described as child care fraud in the state. They said Shirley’s video has inspired some to harass schools and immigrant communities.

The also said active ICE operations are making their child care facilities less safe for kids, educators and parents.

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“Whether or not we agree on policy is one thing, but the president ran a campaign on America First and said this was about getting criminals off the streets,” said Rep. Carlie Kotyza-Witthuhn, DFL-49B and chair of the Children and Families Committee. “Now American citizens are being killed in broad daylight and students are being tackled after school. None of this is about public safety anymore. In fact, ICE is destabilizing our communities and making us all less safe.”

A series of child care providers stepped up to describe experiences such as workers being detained on their way to work or leadership writing new protocols for what to do if ICE agents arrive at their buildings.

“Just hours after (Good) was killed on Wednesday, and just a few miles away, we saw ICE not take a beat, not rest, and instead go to our local high school (Roosevelt) and terrorize students, parents and community members at dismissal,” Sencer-Mura said. “We saw teachers being taken away. We saw our already traumatized community struggling to continue to keep each other safe. … They are traumatizing our kids.”

President Trump has deployed federal law enforcement in what the administration says is a necessary crackdown on crime and illegal immigration. On Thursday, the day after Good’s killing, Trump officials rejected claims by Minnesota officials that the deployment of immigration officers had been inflammatory and needed to end.

“The Trump administration will redouble our efforts to get the worst of the worst criminal, illegal alien killers, rapists and pedophiles off of American streets,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.

By ANDREW DALTON

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Bob Weir, guitarist, singer and founding member of the Grateful Dead, has died at age 78.

Weir’s death was announced Saturday in a statement on his Instagram page.

“It is with profound sadness that we share the passing of Bobby Weir,” the statement said. “He transitioned peacefully, surrounded by loved ones, after courageously beating cancer as only Bobby could. Unfortunately, he succumbed to underlying lung issues.”

Weir joined the Grateful Dead — originally the Warlocks — in 1965 in San Francisco at just 17 years old. He’d spend the next 30 years playing on endless tours with the Grateful Dead alongside fellow singer and guitarist Jerry Garcia, who died in 1995.

Weir wrote or co-wrote and sang lead vocals on Dead classics including “Sugar Magnolia,” “One More Saturday Night” and “Mexicali Blues.”

In the decades since he kept playing with other projects including Dead and Company.

“For over sixty years, Bobby took to the road,” the Instagram statement said. A guitarist, vocalist, storyteller, and founding member of the Grateful Dead. Bobby will forever be a guiding force whose unique artistry reshaped American music.”

Weir’s death leaves drummer Bill Kreutzmann as the only surviving original member. Founding bassist Phil Lesh died in 2024.

Dead and Company played a series of concert’s for the Grateful Dead’s 60th anniversary in July at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.

Born in San Francisco and raised in nearby Atherton, Weir was the Dead’s youngest member and looked like a fresh-faced high-schooler in its early years. He was generally less shaggy than the rest of the band, but had a long beard like Garcia’s in later years.

The band would survive long past the hippie moment of its birth, with its fans known as Deadheads often following them on the road in a virtually non-stop tour.

“Longevity was never a major concern of ours,” Weir said when the Dead got the Grammys’ Musicares Person of the Year honor last year. “Spreading joy through the music was all we ever really had in mind and we got plenty of that done.”