A Canadian team coached by NHL great Mark Messier lost to SKA St. Petersburg 4-3 Friday in the final of the Spengler Cup. Maxim Sushinsky scored twice for the Russians, who escaped after a finish featuring three goals in the last 90 seconds. Messier, in his first major coaching stint, had a team mainly of Canadian players based in Europe.

Saturday's Winter Classic has been pushed back to 8 p.m. EST because of a rainy forecast in Pittsburgh. The game was originally scheduled to be played at 1 p.m. ET. The Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals will hold morning practices at Consol Energy Center.

U.S. goalie Jack Campbell made 14 saves before being replaced by Andy Iles with nine minutes left in a 4-0 victory over Germany in preliminary-round play Thursday night in the World Junior Hockey Championships. "Everything's all right," Campbell said. "It was to give Andy a chance. He's been working hard and he deserves to play. To share [the shutout] with such a great teammate, I couldn't ask for anything more." The U.S. (3-0) remained undefeated with one game remaining in the preliminary round. The Americans will face Switzerland (2-1) on Friday night in a game that could decide the winner of Group A and an automatic bid in the semifinals.

The Winter Classic will be played on Saturday as scheduled. "We're going to play," NHL chief operating officer John Collins said Thursday at a news conference. Weather forecasts for Saturday's Winter Classic at Heinz Field continue to be gloomy, calling for rain showers. Collins, the brains behind the Winter Classic, shrugged off the scary forecasts. "Weather is part of the game's DNA," Collins said. "I mean, it's an outdoor game. Like the World Series, weather gets involved in it. We're going to play. We're planning to play at 1 o'clock. We've got maximum flexibility to do what needs [to be done] to get that game in on Saturday."

Sidney Crosby had four points in Pittsburgh's 6-3 win over Atlanta on Tuesday night, running his point streak to 25 games. The streak is tied for the third-longest point streak since the 1989-90 season.

Darryl Sutter stepped down Tuesday as general manager of the Flames, who are next to last in the Western Conference with a 16-18-3 record. Jay Feaster was named acting general manager by the team. "Darryl has performed valuable service to the Calgary Flames organization for 8 years," team president Ken King said in a statement. "We thank Darryl for his leadership and his important contributions to re-establishing the Calgary Flames as a model franchise."

Chris Osgood earned his 400th victory on Monday night when the Red Wings topped the Avalanche in overtime. Niklas Kronwall scored the game-winner, allowing Osgood to reach the mark in his third attempt. He is just the 10th goalie to reach the plateau. "Just the way it's been my entire career. Nothing ever comes easy," Osgood said.

The NFL has a backup plan for the Winter Classic if weather interferes with the annual event. Rain showers and temperatures in the low 50s are being forecast for the Capitals-Penguins outdoor game Saturday at Heinz Field. While the game is set to start at 1 p.m. ET, it could be pushed back to later in the day if improved conditions are expected. The NHL has also reserved Heinz Field for Sunday, when the forecast is more favorable.

Alex Ovechkin scored his first goal in nearly three weeks on Sunday in Washington's 3-2 win over Carolina. Ovechkin ended the eight-game drought and also added an assist. "He finally got a bounce that went in his direction," coach Bruce Boudreau said.

The Islanders defeated the Canadiens 4-1 in front of a tiny crowd in snowy Long Island on Sunday. New York tied their longest winning streak of the season and extended their point streak to five games (4-0-1). The announced attendance was only 3,136. Newsday reported that the NHL turned down the requests of the Islanders and Nassau County to postpone the game.