The Tampa Bay Lightning will be without stars Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos and second-line center Anthony Cirelli for Thursday's game against the Edmonton Oilers.

Kucherov, the NHL's seventh-leading scorer with 70 points, has a lower-body injury. Stamkos will miss his third straight game with a lower-body injury.

Kucherov suffered his injury in the second period of Tuesday's 2-1 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins when he got tangled with teammate Tyler Johnson.

Cirelli also is dealing with a lower-body injury. Lightning coach Jon Cooper told reporters Thursday morning that Kucherov and Cirelli are considered day-to-day and likely will avoid injured reserve.

The Lightning enter Thursday's game as the hottest team in the NHL, winning eight straight games. Kucherov, last season's Hart Trophy winner as the league's regular-season MVP, has been outstanding of late, scoring 10 goals with 21 points over his last 12 games.

Maple Leafs goaltender Frederik Andersen will return Thursday against the Dallas Stars after missing Toronto's past four games with a neck injury.

Andersen has not played since suffering the injury on Feb. 3 against the Florida Panthers. He initially was checked for a concussion before ultimately being diagnosed with the neck injury.

Andersen, 30, is 24-9-6 with a 2.87 goals-against average and a .910 save percentage in 42 games this season.

The Maple Leafs also waived reserve goaltender Michael Hutchinson on Thursday.

The Dallas Stars placed right wing Alexander Radulov on injured reserve Thursday with an upper-body injury.

The roster move is retroactive to Tuesday, meaning Radulov will not be eligible to return until Feb. 18 and will miss Dallas' next three games.

Radulov appeared to suffer the injury when he collided with a teammate last Friday against Minnesota. He did not play Saturday against St. Louis but returned and logged 14:32 of playing time in Tuesday's victory over Carolina.

Radulov, 33, has 15 goals and 16 assists in 52 games this season. He is tied with Jamie Benn for second on the team in points, trailing only Tyler Seguin (41).

It's getting very, very hard to sympathize with the National Hockey League when it comes to Olympic participation.

For a while, it was easy. The International Olympic Committee was on the other side of the table, an organization that makes FIFA look like Amnesty International by comparison. Pick your toxicity: The bottomless corruption? The embarrassing attempts to remain apolitical while operating a wholly political event? The bidding process that rewards the municipality that diverts the most essential public funds to build a velodrome?

How about this one: Believing that a professional sport league -- one that shuts down its regular season and loans its assets to the Winter Games -- should choke on the Olympic spirit rather than ask for any tangible benefits from the relationship.

Which is absurd.

Hence, the NHL was on the side of good and light in its tussle with the IOC. Since 1998, the league's players had made the Olympic men's hockey tournament every four years the greatest series of best-on-best events we've ever seen, but the league never gained anything substantial from it. It didn't share in the profits. It didn't have its branding on site for the Games. Moments like Sidney Crosby's golden goal in 2010 might as well have happened on a different plane of existence; the NHL still can't use video of it for any purpose.

The NHL drew more sympathy when the IOC inexplicably decided to pull back its fundamental funding for NHL players -- things like charter flights, accommodations and insurance -- ahead of the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea. (The International Ice Hockey Federation's attempt to scare up money to bridge that gap was too little, too late in 2017.)

Given all of this, the NHL's decision not to participate in the Pyeongchang Games seemed reasonable. The owners had complained for years that there was nothing in it for them. Now, there really wasn't, especially when you factor in the league's apathy toward South Korea as a potential new market.

So the 2018 men's hockey tournament was held with non-NHL talent, which is like dining at a three-Michelin star restaurant one night, and then pretending your frozen dinner will be just as tasty the next. Ratings tanked. No one cared. Well, the Germans cared. But that was about it.

If commissioner Gary Bettman's master plan was to scare the IOC into submission after seeing a woeful non-NHL tournament, it sounds like it has been accomplished. Last week, there was a meeting between the NHL, NHLPA and Olympic organizers where the IOC came crawling back to the league ahead of the 2022 Beijing Games. It proposed restoring previous funding levels and exploring partnerships on everything from media rights to promotional opportunities. The IOC appeared, in a word, humbled.

"I was surprised. Pleasantly surprised. We had an inkling coming in that they wanted to do something big. [IIHF president] Rene Fasel has been working behind the scenes for a long time, trying to put something together," NHLPA executive Mathieu Schneider told ESPN this week.

"There's no question that last Olympic tournament has to play into it. When you see the excitement around our guys being there, what it creates. Having gone through years of having the best players in the world playing on that stage, and you take a step back, it's just not the same."

News of these concessions stoked fervent optimism from hockey media and fans. Last month, Bettman said that shutting down the season was "extraordinarily disruptive" -- even though the NHL will probably do it for the next World Cup of Hockey -- and that "we're very comfortable with not going" to the 2022 Olympics. What about if the owners gobbled a bit more of the Olympic pie?

"The meeting that we had with the IOC and the IIHF was very positive. It was a big step. A big gesture. Goes a long way to addressing the concerns. To have the ability to promote the best 200 players in the world going to Beijing, and capitalizing on that, would be good for everyone going around," said Schneider. "Look, we scratched the surface. It wasn't diving into the minutia, into the details. But they talked about creating a partnership with the league and the players."

What else could the owners ask for?

"I'm not really sure there's any value -- at least for the League -- in getting into a 'what would it take' hypothetical discussion," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said in an email to ESPN this week. "Suffice it to say, if given the option in a vacuum, Olympic participation is not something that our Board currently supports. There isn't really anything the IOC, the IIHF, or the two together could offer to do to change that view."

In other words, the negotiations took a step forward ... right into a brick wall called "the NHL's true intentions."

And this is where my sympathy grows thin for the league.

It's become abundantly clear that Olympic participation is nothing more than a collective bargaining chip for the NHL. We started to see the cracks in the façade back in 2016, when the NHL offered its players the chance to compete in the Pyeongchang Games in exchange for an extension of the current CBA, which expires on Sept. 15, 2022. The players laughed that off. "All of a sudden they don't mind having a two-week break in the NHL for a three-year collective bargaining agreement," Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic viciously said at the time.

Now, we see the endgame even more clearly. The NHL believes that Olympic participation in February 2022 is inexorably tied to a CBA that expires in September 2022.

The NHLPA, meanwhile, can read a calendar.

"We're of the mindset that this falls under this CBA and should be left out of [the new one]," said Schneider. "It would be extremely unfortunate if we end up coming to an agreement on a CBA some time in 2021 and we said no to the Olympics. I think that would be very sad for all of us."

It makes sense that the NHL would want to lock in a new CBA (instead of what it usually does, which is to lock out). There's a new TV rights deal on the horizon. A new franchise in Seattle is on the launchpad. And, frankly, the league is very healthy under the parameters of the current agreement, to the point where there might not be an all-out labor war.

I asked Daly about the NHLPA's contention that the league is using Olympic participation as a carrot for a CBA extension.

"If that's how that is how the PA wants to frame the issue, they are entitled to do that. We have been consistent in our position from the start. We need a reason to recommend to our Board that there will be value in us shutting down our business for two-plus weeks to allow our best players to participate in a non-NHL tournament halfway around the world," said Daly. "That likely would involve a broader discussion on multiple issues related to international competition, and a longer-term international calendar of events, that might include agreements -- among all parties -- to participate in multiple Olympic Games. And that may well involve an agreement on a CBA extension."

Ugh.

On this issue, I side with the NHLPA. Using the next CBA to settle an issue that falls under the current agreement defies logic. But then there's a lot that defies logic here: For example, the NHL has been laying the groundwork in the Chinese market for a few years, having played preseason games in Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen. Putting a spotlight on the players in the nation's most important moment for winter sports -- and China has made a commitment to get 300 million people playing winter sports -- would seem like an obvious move to bust open that market.

"We made a commitment with the league to grow the game in China. We've had a presence there," said Schneider. "They've talked about hockey being the most important sport for them in the Olympics."

When it comes to the CBA, there is some common ground. Both the league and the players want to establish a calendar for international play that could include the Olympics, World Cups and regular-season games played overseas. "We're talking about 2026 in Italy. We're talking about future World Cups. Future regular and preseason games in Europe and China. There's a much larger conversation going on here," said Schneider.

In the smaller conversation about the 2022 Games, there's finally some good news. The IOC seems poised not only to restore previous funding levels, but open up previously untappable marketing opportunities for the NHL. Back in 2017, Daly talked about needing a "game-changer" in this negotiation to get the players back in the Olympics. There's at least a chance that we're nearing one.

If the IOC follows through on its vows, the owners start losing their excuses. The façade crumbles. Everyone will see this battle wasn't about insurance costs or video rights or the ability to sell an Ovechkin Team Russia jersey -- or is it still Olympic Athletes From Russia? -- at the NHL store in Manhattan. It's about squeezing a pressure point on the NHLPA. And it's hard to sympathize with that.

Jersey Fouls

From the very confusing Central Division:

Folks we have another jersey foul pic.twitter.com/WZbweMG3tU

— Hawkey Brah (@hawkeybrah) February 12, 2020

There's really only one reasonable explanation for a Minnesota fan getting Patrick Kane's name and number on his Wild jersey, so we'll just go ahead and ponder what silly thing he and his buddy from Chicago wagered on, and how badly he lost the bet.

Three Things About The Sedins

1. There's a constant harangue from hockey fans that our sport doesn't get its due, and that's never more evident than with the legacy of Henrik Sedin and Daniel Sedin. Imagine, if you will, identical twins who set records playing quarterback and wide receiver in the NFL. Or an identical twin pitcher and catcher battery that could signal pitches without even using a sign. Or Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, except identical twins.

In other words, the Sedins were one of the most unique acts in the history of professional sports. No one was ever like them before, and likely no one will ever be like them again. (The odds of being drafted to the same team would make it a near impossibility.) We wish they were the household names for casual sports fans that they ought to have been.

2. The Sedins had their numbers retired on Wednesday night in an absolutely outstanding pregame ceremony before the Vancouver Canucks shut out the Chicago Blackhawks. The highlight of highlights: Former Canucks defenseman Kevin Bieksa's roast of the twins, which spanned from their candy addictions to his claim that their "sonar" on the ice was actually due to the Sedins wearing illegal earpieces. Classic stuff.

Need a host for your next event? @kbieksa3 is the man for the job!! ?? pic.twitter.com/qPb0xHJqe5

— Vancouver #Canucks (@Canucks) February 13, 2020

3. I've seen some polls and analysis this week on whether the Sedins are Hall of Famers. Frank Seravalli wrote that the Sedins "are Hall of Fame people. They might not be Hall of Fame players." Pass It To Bulis probably had the right take two years ago in saying that "individually, they're on the bubble of the Hockey Hall of Fame" but that "as an utterly unique pair of careers in NHL history, they're going into the Hall of Fame."

The real question is that if the Sedins get in as a package deal, would the Hall of Fame put them on the same plaque, as it should be? (For the record, Henrik Sedin told me a few years that the twins don't want that to happen if they get in.)

Of course, the most chaotic scenario would be for Henrik to get in while Daniel doesn't, leading to an annual mystery about whether this will be the year the twins are reunited. Which honestly sounds like something the Hall of Fame, in their clandestine little Stonecutters voting caucuses, might actually do.

Listen To ESPN On Ice

This week's episode was one of our most popular of the year, and for good reason: Hall of Famer Willie O'Ree joined us to talk about his remarkable life, new documentary and issues with race in today's NHL. Plus, Olympics and trade deadline talk. Listen to it here, and make sure to rate and review.

Also, for next week: Emily Kaplan and I are doing a special "call-in show" ahead of the NHL trade deadline. Leave us your deadline questions at 860-516-1029 and we'll answer them on next week's episode!

Winners and Losers of the Week

Winner: Everyone who helped save Jay Bouwmeester's life

The hockey world is still reeling from watching the St. Louis Blues defenseman collapse on their bench after a cardiac emergency on Tuesday night. So here's to the teammates who recognized the emergency. Here's to the Honda Center medical staff that used a defibrillator to revive him. Here's to the doctors at UC Irvine Medical Center who treated him. Here's to the NHL, which had the good sense to postpone the Blues' game against the Ducks. Here's to the Vegas Golden Knights, who had counselors on hand for the Blues after they traveled there on Wednesday. And here's to Jay Bouwmeester, who hopefully recovers from this frightening incident.

Loser: Those bitten by the injury bug

In the last week, injuries have claimed Connor McDavid, Seth Jones, Cam Atkinson, Shea Weber and Nazem Kadri. That's one goalie short of a heck of a starting lineup, all of whom are out of commission for a considerable amount of time.

Winner: Darren Pang

Darren Pang: "I haven't heard an official word. ... The coaching staff, they've all walked by saying 'We're not going back on the ice to play this game.'" #stlblues pic.twitter.com/ZbY01YZUPW

— FOX Sports Midwest (@FSMidwest) February 12, 2020

The longtime hockey commentator, working for Fox Sports Midwest, did an admirable job in the moments after Bouwmeester collapsed, conveying important information and capturing the emotion of the moment.

Loser: Jeremy Roenick

The former NBC analyst handled his dismissal for inappropriate comments about a co-worker about as well as you'd expect from Jeremy Roenick.

Winner: Tampa Bay Lightning

We featured them here last week, and will continue to do so until they're not the caliber of team that is on an eight-game winning streak and has two regulation losses since Dec. 21. Welcome back, juggernaut. We missed you.

Loser: Washington Capitals

What's going on here? The Caps are 3-4-0 since the All-Star break, and lost two straight games at home to the Flyers and Islanders by a combined score of 12-5. It's enough to have some Washington fans openly wondering what Gerard Gallant's up to these days. (For the record, that's a wacky level of overreaction.)

Winner: Paul Maurice

The Jets coach signed a multiyear contract extension after Winnipeg somehow managed to stay in the playoff hunt after losing four of six defensemen in the offseason. And by "somehow" we mean "were propped up by Connor Hellebuyck." And that's how coaches get new contracts.

Loser: The Seattle Kraken or Whatever

Paul Maurice would have been an interesting choice as Seattle's first head coach, given his history with GM Ron Francis. Of course, Peter Laviolette also has some history with Francis as well ...

Winner: Bad Ducks

The plot of the new Disney+ "The Mighty Ducks" reboot starring Lauren Graham was revealed this week. "The new 'Mighty Ducks' is set in present day Minnesota, where the Mighty Ducks have evolved from scrappy underdogs to an ultra-competitive, powerhouse youth hockey team. After 12-year-old Evan is unceremoniously cut from the Ducks, he and his mom Alex (Graham) set out to build their own ragtag team of misfits to challenge the cutthroat, win-at-all-costs culture of competitive youth sports."

Some people noted this sounds a bit like the "Cobra Kai" series that followed up on "The Karate Kid." Others declared they loathed the idea of the Ducks coming back at all. But it sounds pretty awesome, to be honest: The Mighty Ducks becoming what they hated the most. Now, are we getting a Josh Jackson cameo or what?

Loser: Originality

Major League Baseball caused a stir this week by proposing a new playoff format that included higher-seeded teams picking their first-round opponents in a televised event. If that sounds familiar, it's because hockey did it first. The Southern Professional Hockey League used this format in 2017.

Alas, the SPHL no longer uses the "Challenge Round" format. After two seasons, they found that the travel logistics were too difficult for a league that mostly moves around by bus. "I thought it was quite interesting to hear that MLB was considering a playoff format similar to our Challenge Round. I know our fans had a great time with it, and the uniqueness of picking your opponent was something that brought a new excitement to our playoffs," SPHL commissioner Doug Price told ESPN this week.

For the record, I love the concept, but the execution isn't always there for it. Teams by and large are just going to pick the teams they're seeded to face, lest they give extra motivation to a lower seed they select as "more beatable." (The SPHL had one such upset in this format.) Where things could get interesting is if one lower seed has recently suffered a major injury that leaves them vulnerable. Then there's a tactical advantage to the format.

Puck Headlines

New Ottawa Senators CEO Jim Little discussed the team's horrible attendance. "The one big fix we have to make, is our season ticket base is very low. We're amongst the lowest in the league. Number one, over time, we have to get the fan base back. And that's not a quick fix."

Taking a look at the Air Force Academy outdoor game branding, which has not been without controversy.

Scorching take: "Column: Avalanche hockey at the Air Force Academy? No thanks"

Behold, Bender the Hockey Pup.

Interesting look at how coronavirus is affecting hockey stick production.

Ken Campbell likes the Stanley Cup Playoff format just the way it is, thank you very much.

Fun piece by Thomas Drance in which the Sedins break down some of their best shifts. ($)

Hockey tl;dr

The Washington Post does a deep dive on Mark Pavelich of the "Miracle on Ice," violent crime and brain trauma.

In case you missed this from your friends at ESPN

Ladies and gents, the 2020 NHL trade deadline tiers (and some wild cards).

Tiger Woods is in pursuit of his first win at Riviera Country Club and his record-breaking 83rd PGA Tour victory at the Genesis Invitational this week, and he got off to a start that proved he means business in Round 1. 

Woods eagled the very first hole. Yeah, seriously. After his approach shot settled on the back of the green on the par 5, Woods left himself just under 25 feet to begin the round with a 3. He buried it. 

A couple ho-hum pars led him to the par-4 fifth, where he stuffed his approach to inside 3 feet. That easy tap in would take him to 3 under on the day.

Then came another dart, this time on No. 8. With 103 yards to the hole, Woods left himself just over 2 feet for a tap-in birdie to vault him up the leaderboard into a tie for second with a lot of golf left.

Woods dropped his first shot of the day at the par-4 12th after he missed a short tester for par. But you have to see this impressive cut around the trees on No. 15 — Don't ask why he was over there. 

And in case you wanted to see it in slow motion...

LOS ANGELES – From headcovers to shoes to jerseys, PGA Tour players have found unique ways to honor the memory of Kobe Bryant in his old hometown.

Tiger Woods did, too. 

On his opening hole Thursday at Riviera, Woods hit an 8-iron into the par-5 green that left him 24 feet, 8 inches away for eagle.

Yes, 24 feet, 8 inches – Bryant’s old jersey numbers – and Woods buried the eagle putt.

“It’s ironic, isn’t it?” said Woods, after a 2-under 69 put him five shots off the lead. “I didn’t know about the putt being that long.”

The eighth hole at Riviera is also a memorial to Bryant, with a yellow-and-purple flag and “Mamba”-adorned sign. How did Woods play the hole? By stuffing it to 3 feet, for a birdie.

“No matter what we do, I think for a while we’re going to always remember Kobe and what he meant, especially here in SoCal and the entire sports world,” Woods said. “Very ironic that it happened to have those numbers on those holes and those exact measurements.”

LOS ANGELES – It was all going so well for Tiger Woods Thursday at the Genesis Invitational. And then he hit the back nine. Here are some thoughts and observations after walking a full loop at Riviera and watching Woods set the place ablaze early only to falter down the stretch en route to a 2-under 69:

• You can’t ask for a better start to a tournament than the one Tiger drew up in the opening round. An eagle on the par-5 first hole gave him an immediate boost – and amid a flurry of tributes to Kobe Bryant, it was fitting that his first putt of the day was a make from exactly 24 feet, 8 inches. “It’s ironic, isn’t it?” Woods said.

• Woods was firing on all cylinders across the front nine, striping drives and stuffing wedges. He made it look easy on a course that has often had his number, turning in 4-under 31 to briefly move into second place.
• But a pulled drive off the 10^th tee was emblematic of the struggles that lay ahead. For as dialed in as he was in the early stages, Woods seemingly had no idea where the ball was going on the back nine – especially off the tee. He found just one fairway and was scrambling most of the way, shooting a back-nine 38 that easily could have gotten into the 40s. “Didn’t hit many good shots on the back nine and made a couple loose swings,” he said. “Made a couple good saves on the back for par, but just wasn’t able to get any birdies on the back nine.”

• Still, it wasn’t all sour given Woods’ traditional struggles at Riv. Thursday marked just his second round in the 60s here since returning to the event in 2018, and it still left him inside the top 20, five shots behind early leader Matt Kuchar.
• The final stats on a wildly inconsistent day: 7 of 14 fairways, 11 of 18 greens in regulation and 28 putts.
• Woods was downright wild off the tee coming down the stretch, missing with the driver in both directions and twice left with no play but a pitch back toward the fairway from behind a tree. All told, he lost more than three strokes to the field just off the tee in the nine-hole stretch.

• Woods was understandably a little salty in his post-round interview, having let a potentially great day turn into a merely good one. But it would’ve been far worse were it not for some impressive, scrambling par saves on the back: up-and-downs on Nos. 13 and 15, not to mention a 6-foot save on No. 17 after running his birdie putt well past.
• Woods won’t have much time to dwell on his uneven scorecard, with an early second-round tee time at 10:16 a.m. ET alongside Justin Thomas and Steve Stricker. “It’ll be a quick turnaround to get back at it,” he said. “Hopefully I can hit it as good as I did on that front nine and give myself a number of looks for the entire 18 holes, not just nine holes.”

LOS ANGELES – Tiger Woods began with an unknowing tribute to Kobe Bryant by making an eagle putt that optical cameras measured at 24 feet, 8 inches. He ended his opening round with a reminder that getting around Riviera unscathed is no small task.

That's what made Matt Kuchar's day all the more remarkable.

Kuchar drove to the edge of the 10th green and two-putted for birdie and kept right on rolling until he had a 7-under 64 on Thursday, matching his best score at Riviera and giving him a three-shot lead in the Genesis Invitational.

So clean was Kuchar's round that he only once had to stress over a par putt, and he made the 10-footer at the par-3 fourth.

"I think it's one of the few courses that has truly stood the test of time," Kuchar said. "It was a great test of golf 50 years ago when Ben Hogan was playing, it's a great test today with Tiger Woods and all the young boys playing."

The conditions were ideal once the morning chill gave way to mild sunshine, and Kuchar took advantage in the morning. As much as Kuchar loves the course, he has only one top 10 in his 13 previous appearances.

Woods was 4 under through eight holes and had to settle for a 69.

His record at Riviera is under far greater scrutiny, especially this week as he tries for his 83rd PGA Tour victory to set the career mark he now shares with Sam Snead. Woods has not won in 10 appearances as a pro, two others as a teenage amateur.

This one held promise, especially after he drilled an 8-iron into the par-5 opening hole and made the eagle putt. The death of Bryant on Jan. 26 is still raw in Los Angeles, and the tour dedicated No. 8 - Bryant wore Nos. 8 and 24 during his 20 years with the Lakers - with a purple-and-gold tee sign. Woods made birdie there, his last one of the round.

"Ironic having those two numbers," Woods said of the length of his eagle putt. "And then No. 8, happened to hit one in there close and had a nice little kick-in there for birdie."

Brooks Koepka had Nike design some purple-and-gold Mamba golf shoes last October because Bryant inspired him during his return from injury. Koepka called the shoe company after hearing of Bryant's death in a helicopter crash and suggested something be done, oblivious that he had requested the shoes months earlier. He opened with a 69.

Justin Thomas, who auctioned off Kobe-themed sand wedges he used in the Phoenix Open, had FootJoys of purple-and-gold. They didn't help him much on this day. He opened with a 74 and was in danger of missing the cut for the second time this year.

Woods seemed bent on having his say at Riviera with the eagle and two more birdies through eight holes, leaving him three off the lead and the back nine to play. But he couldn't keep his swing together, and it eventually caught up with him.

A drive to the right on No. 11 hit a eucalyptus tree and ricocheted to the left side of the fairway. He missed the green to the left on No. 12 for bogey. He hit a drive into the left trees on No. 13 and got up-and-down from 165 yards for par. He dropped another shot on the 18th when after hitting so many drives to the left, he leaked one badly to the right and had to pitch out to the fairway, slamming his iron into the cart path in disgust as he walked through the crowd.

"Just didn't hit many good shots on the back nine," Woods said. "Made a couple loose swings and made a couple good saves on the back nine for par, but just wasn't able to get any birdies on the back nine."

He said his duties as tournament host kept him away from the practice range except for a short time before the pro-am Wednesday, and he was trying to piece something together for the first round. It only lasted so long.

Kuchar made birdie on two of the par 5s, made two birdie putts of 30 feet or longer and rarely was in trouble.

"To shoot a number like this, you kind of do most things well," Kuchar said. "I didn't find myself in much trouble today. ... I felt like it was just steady golf, a lot of opportunities and I was able to convert on a good number of opportunities today"

K.H. Lee and Russell Henley also played bogey-free and were at 67, along with Wyndham Clark from the morning wave. Adam Schenk and Harold Varner III each had 67 in the afternoon under a little more breeze and greens that were bumpier from so much foot traffic during the day.

Rory McIlroy opened with a 68 in his return to No. 1 in the world, and it took him time to get going.

McIlroy's opening tee shot was pure enough, but it bounced over the 10th green and rolled up near the lip of a back bunker. He left his first shot in the sand and did well to escape with par, only to miss 3-foot putts on the next two holes - one for birdie, one for par.

He had to scramble his way along the back until blasting a 3-wood to about 30 feet on the par-5 17th and making eagle, and then adding an eagle on par-5 opening hole.

The biggest challenge was the cold air in the morning.

McIlroy ripped a drive - he did that a lot in the opening round - into the par-5 11th and then came up 30 yards short with a flush 3-wood. About two hours later, he had 289 yards for his second into the par-5 17th and hit 3-wood to pin-high.

"It just shows you what temperature does," McIlroy said.

Patrick Cantlay and Patrick Reed were among those at 68.

Even in mint conditions, only about one-third of the field broke par.

LOS ANGELES – Between his World Challenge and now the Genesis Invitational, Tiger Woods has had plenty of practice as a tournament host/competitor. But that doesn’t make the dual role any easier. 

To kick off tournament week – and an event featuring nine of the top 10 players in the world – Woods faced off against Bubba Watson in the second annual Celebrity Cup. Captaining A-listers like Alex Rodriguez, Chris Pratt and Larry Fitzgerald proved to be good fun, especially in victory, but it also set the tone for a week that’s been busier than most.

On Tuesday, Woods met with the media and attended other functions, eschewing practice time on the course for a day of rest and recovery. And besides, he’d get in 18 holes Wednesday during the pro-am – but only after a 10-minute warmup in chilly conditions before his 6:40 a.m. start time.

So, needless to say: “I haven’t had a whole lot of time to practice this week,” he said. “I’ve been a little bit busy.”

Though he striped it in the pro-am, Woods said that he was trying to “piece it together” on the range Thursday and only started shaping shots again toward the end of his session.

“I was just trying to get a nice movement pattern,” he said, “and I was able to start feeling that. I said, ‘Hey, just keep this thing going on the front nine.’” 

And starting out, Woods looked as good as ever. He eagled the first hole, from 25 feet, and then stuffed short irons to 3 feet on Nos. 5 and 8, turning in 31 and sitting just three shots off the lead.

Only on the back nine did his swing start to unravel. He sprayed his tee shot into the trees on 11, leading to a layup and a par. He missed the green on 12 and couldn’t convert the 6-footer for par. A hole later, he hit a quick hook off the tee and scrambled for par. Same on 15, after another wild miss left.

The par-5 17^th was hard work, too, after he drove into the right fairway bunker, had 192 yards for his third shot and dripped in a 5-footer for par. On 18, he hit a wicked slice into the eucalyptus trees. Forced to punch out, Woods smashed his club onto the cart path in frustration, knowing that he was likely headed for a bogey and a 2-under 69 that could have been so much better.

“Hopefully I can hit it as good (Friday) as I did on that front nine to give myself a number of looks for the entire 18 holes, not just nine holes,” he said.

Woods answered only seven questions from the press before heading toward the clubhouse. His second round begins early, at 7:16 a.m., and it was time, once again, to turn into the tournament host.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored a late penalty Thursday to help Juventus salvage a 1-1 draw at 10-man AC Milan in the first leg of their Italian Cup semifinal.

Ronaldo's stoppage-time penalty canceled out Ante Rebic's 62nd-minute opener for Milan, which will be without Zlatan Ibrahimovic for the return fixture because of a suspension.

- Stream Coppa Italia matches on ESPN+

Milan defender Theo Hernandez was sent off in the 71st following a second yellow card.

Milan coach Stefano Pioli said the late penalty shouldn't have been given.

''Just before the penalty incident there was a foul on Ibra that wasn't given,'' Pioli said. ''The play wouldn't have continued if the referee had intervened then. ... I am happy with the performance but disappointed with the result.''

There was heightened excitement at San Siro as it was the first time Ibrahimovic and Ronaldo had faced off against each other since 2015, when Paris Saint-Germain played Real Madrid.

Nearly 73,000 spectators were present -- a record for an Italian Cup semifinal.

Ronaldo had barely a sight of goal at San Siro before his penalty. Ibrahimovic went close on several occasions but was booked in the first half and will now miss the return match on March 4 as he had already received a yellow card in the competition - in the quarterfinal against Torino last month.

Milan midfielder Samuel Castillejo is also suspended for that match as is Hernandez.

''We will be missing many players in the return leg, we will need a huge performance,'' Pioli said.

Both teams came into the match after disappointing results in Serie A. Juventus lost to Hellas Verona, allowing it to be caught at the top of the table by Inter Milan, which fought back from 2-0 down to beat Milan in the derby.

Milan was lively from the start and had two chances in the opening two minutes, with Franck Kessie firing narrowly wide moments after Ibrahimovic had headed over the bar.

Juventus appeared sluggish and had to wait until the 36th minute for its first shot on target. Milan goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma couldn't keep hold of Juan Cuadrado's shot but Kessie cleared the danger.

Ibrahimovic again went close on the hour but Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon tipped the Swede's effort round the post.