Brazeau’s hat trick keys Penguins’ rout

CHICAGO (AP) — Justin Brazeau recorded first NHL hat trick, Bryan Rust scored twice and the Pittsburgh Penguins rolled past the sliding Chicago Blackhawks 7-3 on Sunday night.

Anthony Mantha had a goal and assist and Noel Acciari scored as the Penguins won their second game in three, but just their second in the last 11 (2-5-4). Ryan Shea had three assists, and Arturs Silovs made 21 saves.

Blackhawks captain Nick Foligno scored in his return after missing 19 games with a hand injury, and Wyatt Kaiser and Tyler Bertuzzi each had a goal. Last-place Chicago came out flat a night after snapping a six-game losing streak in Dallas with a shootout win and lost for the ninth time in its last 11 (2-9-0).

Blackhawks goalie Spencer Knight stopped only three of the first seven shots he faced before being relieved by Arvid Soderblom 12:03 into the game. Knight returned for the third period and stopped both shots he faced in the frame.

Soderblom stopped 12 of 15 shots, including Sidney Crosby’s breakaway in the second period.

The Penguins led 4-0 midway through the first period.

Mantha opened the scoring 1:38 in, swatting in a loose rebound. Rust made it 2-0 at 7:19, beating Knight on the glove side from the left circle. Brazeau upped it to 3-0 just 61 seconds later, knocking in Mantha’s feed from behind the net and prompting Chicago coach Jeff Blashill to take a timeout.

Rust fired in a screened shot from the right circle at 12:03 for his 15th goal to chase Knight.

Patriots give championship effort

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Drake Maye and the New England Patriots took care of things on their end to become AFC East champions.

And they didn’t even need four quarters.

Maye threw a career-high five touchdown passes before getting the rest of the game off in the third quarter, New England scored a TD on its first six drives and the Patriots finished the regular season undefeated on the road by dominating the New York Jets 42-10 on Sunday.

“It comes down to unfinished business,” Maye said. “You want to go 8-0 on the road. That would be something we thought would be pretty cool. In this league, it’s hard to win on the road and we accomplished that today.”

A few hours later, the Patriots (13-3) won the AFC East title for the first time since 2019 when Buffalo, which took the last five division crowns, lost 13-12 to Philadelphia.

Shortly after that game went final, the Patriots posted a photo on their social media pages of the players and coaches wearing AFC East champions hats and blue T-shirts that said: “2025 AFC East Champions. Been There, Won That.”