KENNEBUNK, Maine  — As long as they still have each other, they’re still going to go to every Super Bowl.

That’s the sentiment shared by three friends who say they are the final fans who can claim membership in the exclusive “never missed a Super Bowl” club. And they’re back again for number 58 — Super Bowl 58 — this year.

The three fans, all in their 80s, are Don Crisman of Maine, Gregory Eaton of Michigan and Tom Henschel, who splits time between Florida and Pennsylvania. The three are gathering this weekend in Las Vegas for the big game, and they’re hoping they can all make it to the sixtieth edition of the game two years from now.

The fans have sat together at the Super Bowl before, and they were still trying to make last-minute arrangements to do that for this year’s game this week. At the very least, they planned to get together for brunch on Friday, as always.

Eaton, 84, who runs a ground transportation company in Detroit, has been especially invested in this year’s football playoffs, as his beloved Detroit Lions won playoff games for the first time in more than three decades. The Lions fell just short of qualifying for their first Super Bowl, but Eaton said getting together with retirees Crisman, 87, and Henschel, 82, is the real draw of going to the big game year after year.

“Yeah, I’m a Lions fan,” Eaton said. “But in two years, I just hope I’ll be in good shape to be there again.”

The men have attended every game since the first AFL-NFL World Championship Game, the forerunner to the modern Super Bowl, took place in Los Angeles in 1967. This year’s game is at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Sunday.

Crisman and Henschel first met at the 1983 Super Bowl, but they didn’t meet Eaton until the mid-2010s. The fans have said in the past that they might be getting ready to let the tradition go, but every year they make the decision to do it again.

They’re part of an ever-dwindling group of people who have attended every Super Bowl that has also included media members, football executives, groundskeepers and others. Norma Hunt, wife of late football pioneer Lamar Hunt, was the sole woman to attend every Super Bowl until she died in June.

The fans all said the one thing that could keep them from attending is if they or one of the other two was not healthy enough or mobile enough to do it. Health concerns have cropped up for all of them in recent years, but they all said they’re feeling well enough to go this year and planning on the next two.

“I think that might be the factor that would definitely tip it,” Crisman said. “I’m not looking to be the survivor. I just go for the fun, and the guys. We’ll see what this year brings and address it in December ’24.”

The three men have witnessed all of the most iconic moments in Super Bowl history, but some of their most cherished memories of the game are a little more personal than David Tyree’s “helmet catch” in Super Bowl 42 or Scott Norwood’s missed field goal in Super Bowl 25. Crisman’s home is adorned with Super Bowl ephemera, right down to a collectible hat commemorating the first Bud Bowl, a promotion about beer that ran during Super Bowl 23 in 1989.

Eaton fondly remembers he got his tickets to the first Super Bowl from a friend from Michigan State University, Herb Adderley, who played for the Green Bay Packers. Henschel recalls being especially excited for Super Bowl 3 because New York Jets quarterback Joe Namath, like himself, was from the Pittsburgh area.

Crisman hadn’t yet acquired tickets for this year’s game as of mid-January, when telecommunications giant Verizon surprised him with complementary passes for himself and his daughter, Susan Metevier. Getting to Las Vegas will be much easier than his trip to Super Bowl 2 in 1968, which involved a 24-hour train ride to Miami.

The three men reminisce fondly about the era when it was possible to get a ticket to the big game for $8. Henschel recalls getting a face value ticket to Super Bowl 3 for $12 on the day of the game. This year, the cheapest tickets available are more than $7,000.

Henschel, a Pittsburgh Steelers fan, has a friendly rivalry with Crisman, a New England Patriots fan, as the two teams have met frequently in the playoffs over the years.

This year, the Patriots failed to contend, and the Steelers made an early playoff exit. But old traditions die hard, Henschel said.

“It’s funny because Don and I, he hates the Steelers and I hate the Patriots,” Henschel said. “Every time we see each other for the first time, we give each other the finger.”

It’ll happen again this year. And they hope at least a couple more times after that.

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are hanging near record heights Friday, on track to close another winning week in their stunning rally since Halloween.

The S&P 500 was 0.2% higher in early trading and could finish a day above the 5,000 level for the first time after briefly breaching it on Thursday. It’s heading for its 14th winning week in the last 15.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 33 points, or 0.1%, a day after setting its latest all-time high. The Nasdaq composite was 0.4% higher to pull within 1.3% of its record set in 2021, as of 9:45 a.m. Eastern time.

Wall Street’s rally got going with hopes that cooling inflation would get the Federal Reserve to dial down the pressure by cutting interest rates. Lately, such cuts look to be coming later than hoped because reports keep showing a remarkably solid economy. But that strength has in turn raised expectations for profits from companies, supporting stocks.

Cloudflare was the latest company to soar after reporting stronger profit than analysts expected for its latest quarter. The cloud-services company jumped 21.7% after it said it signed both its largest new customer and its largest renewal ever, despite an overall economic environment that “remains challenging to predict.”

FirstEnergy rose 4.8% for the largest gain in the S&P 500 after its profit and revenue for the latest quarter likewise topped Wall Street’s forecasts.

Big Tech stocks were doing most of the market’s heavy lifting, as they’ve been for more than a year. Nvidia, Microsoft and Amazon were the three strongest forces lifting the S&P 500 after each rose at least 0.6%.

They helped offset a 3.7% drop for PepsiCo, which reported weaker revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It said growth is slowing because customers are getting back to their snacking and other behaviors from before the pandemic.

Expedia tumbled 18.8% despite also reporting stronger profit than expected. Analysts pointed to some forecasts by the company for measures for the first three months of 2024 that point to slower bookings growth. The company also announced a new CEO, Ariane Gorin, will take over in May.

Take-Two Interactive, the publisher of “Grand Theft Auto” and other video games, sank 9.1% after it reported weaker profit than expected. It also cut its forecast for results for its fiscal year, which ends at the close of March.

Profits have largely been coming in better than expected for big companies in the S&P 500 this reporting season, which passed its halfway point this week.

That has helped optimism rise on Wall Street, but contrarians say it might have gone too far and carried stocks to too expensive heights.

Traders are flowing into some riskier investments at a quick enough pace that a contrarian measure kept by Bank of America is leaning more toward “sell” now than “buy,” though it’s not at convincing levels. The measure tracks how much fear and greed are in the market, and it suggested buying in October when fear was at a convincing high.

In the bond market, Treasury yields were inching higher, but movements were calmer than earlier in the month when they were jumping as traders forcefully pushed out their forecasts for rate cuts.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.17% from 4.15% late Thursday.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were moving modestly and mixed in Europe. In Asia, several markets were shut for the Lunar New Year holiday.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 edged up by 0.1% after touching a 34-year high earlier in the day.

___

AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Yuri Kageyama contributed.

Mathew Barzal and Bo Horvat each had a goal and an assist and the New York Islanders surged past the Tampa Bay Lightning 6-2 on Thursday night.

Noah Dobson, Kyle Palmieri, Ryan Pulock and Casey Cizikas also scored for the Islanders, who won their second in a row since coming out of the All-Star break. Ilya Sorokin finished with 16 saves and recorded his 16th win of the season.

Nikita Kucherov and Brandon Hagel scored for Tampa Bay, but the Lightning lost their second consecutive game. Jonas Johansson made 18 saves.

The Islanders scored three times in each of the first two periods and limited the Lightning to only 10 shots on net through the first 40 minutes.

Barzal gave New York a 2-1 lead when he skillfully controlled a loose puck off an offensive zone faceoff, then roofed a backhander past Johansson at 14:07 of the first period.

The Islanders extended their lead to two goals after Palmieri buried a pretty pass from Mike Reilly at 18:34.

Hagel deposited a rebound and pulled the Lightning to within one goal early in the second period.

But the Islanders responded with force, scoring three more times in the middle frame to take a commanding 6-2 lead.

Pulock blasted a slap shot and collected his third of the season at 7:10.

Horvat connected on a slap shot of his own at 8:18 that Johannson could have saved if not for a screen from Islanders captain Anders Lee.

Cizikas, in his first game back since being activated from injured reserve, capped the second-period scoring. The gritty forward slid a puck between the legs of Johansson at 15:22.

Dobson registered his seventh goal to open the scoring at 4:07 of the first period. The defenseman was looking for Oliver Wahlstrom on the back post, but the puck deflected off Lightning defenseman Eric Cernak’s skate and into Tampa Bay’s net.

Kucherov tied it at 1 with his team-leading 33rd goal at 6:42 of the first period.

SIDELINED SERGACHEV

Lightning coach Jon Cooper said before the game that D Mikhail Sergachev had surgery in New York on Thursday to stabilize fractures to both the tibia and fibula in his left leg. He will miss “significant time,” Cooper said, after his leg bent at an awkward angle after an exchange of hits with Rangers forward Alexis Lafreniere on Wednesday.

UP NEXT:

Lightning: Visit the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday.

Islanders: Host the Calgary Flames on Saturday.

Jacob Markstrom made 37 saves, Connor Zary and Andrew Mangiapane each had a goal and an assist and the Calgary Flames defeated the New Jersey Devils 5-3 on Thursday night for their third straight win.

Mikael Backlund, Kevin Rooney and Andrei Kuzmenko also scored for Calgary, which was coming off a 4-1 win at Boston on Tuesday to start a four-game trip that includes facing the three New York/New Jersey-area teams.

Defenseman Noah Hanifan had two assists for the Flames, whose winning streak comes after a four-game skid.

Ondrej Palat scored twice, Nico Hischier also had a goal and Jesper Bratt had three assists for New Jersey, which was coming off a 5-3 win at home over Colorado on Tuesday.

Palat opened the scoring at 15:39 of the first, completing a 2-on-1 break with Bratt. Hischier also assisted.

Backlund, the Flames’ captain, then tied it with his 11th goal at 18:10 of the first.

Zary put Calgary ahead at 3:53 of the second, nudging a loose puck in the crease past Vitek Vanecek.

Rooney made it 3-1 at 2:55 of the third with his first of the season.

Hischier narrowed the deficit to one goal with a short-handed breakaway score at 4:02 of the third, his 14th goal of the season.

Kuzmenko restored the Flames’ two-goal lead at 9:56 of the third with his 10th goal, and second in two games since joining Calgary in a trade from Vancouver.

Palat scored his second of the game and eighth of the season at 13:48 of the third, and Mangiapane added an empty-net goal to cap the scoring at 18:26.

JACK IS BACK

Devils center Jack Hughes returned to the lineup after missing 11 games with an upper-body injury sustained Jan. 5 in a home win over Chicago. He had four shots on goal.

UP NEXT

Devils: Visit the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday night.

Flames: At the New York Islanders on Saturday.

Christian McCaffrey ran away with the AP Offensive Player of the Year award announced at NFL Honors on Thursday night.

San Francisco’s All-Pro running back received 39 of 50 first-place votes and earned 222 points, outpacing Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill in voting from a nationwide panel of 50 voters that includes media members who regularly cover the NFL, former players and coaches.

Myles Garrett beat out T.J. Watt for AP Defensive Player of the Year.

Cleveland’s All-Pro edge rusher received 23 first-place votes and 165 points to Watt’s 19 first-place votes and 140 points from a nationwide panel of voters that includes media members who regularly cover the NFL, former players and coaches.

First-place votes are worth five points, second-place votes are three and third-place votes are one.

C.J. Stroud won the AP Offensive Rookie of the Year award in a landslide. The Houston Texans’ quarterback received 48 of 50 first-place votes with Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua getting the other two.

Texans defensive end Will Anderson Jr. won the AP Defensive Rookie of the Year award, outgaining both Jalen Carter and Kobie Turner by two first-place votes. Anderson and Stroud are the fourth teammates to win the offensive and defensive rookie awards in the same season. Garrett Wilson and Sauce Gardner swept the awards last year for the New York Jets.

Cleveland Browns coach Kevin Stefanski edged Houston coach DeMeco Ryans for AP Coach of the Year honors by one first-place vote. Stefanski led the Browns to their third playoff appearance since 1999 despite losing quarterback Deshaun Watson, star running back Nick Chubb and right tackle Jack Conklin to season-ending injuries and starting five QBs.

Browns defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz won the AP Assistant Coach of the Year award after guiding the league’s No. 1 ranked unit. Schwartz received 25 first-place votes and finished with 160 points, easily outpacing Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald.

Hill received seven first-place votes and finished with 139 points. Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb came in third with 45 points, including one first-place vote. Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson got three first-place votes, finishing fourth.

McCaffrey, a unanimous choice for All-Pro, led the NFL with 1,459 yards rushing and had 14 rushing TDs for the NFC champion 49ers. He also had 564 yards receiving for seven scores.

Dallas Cowboys edge rusher Micah Parsons finished third for Defensive Player of the Year with 89 points, including seven first-place votes. Cornerback DaRon Bland, Parson’s teammate, got the other first-place vote and came in fifth behind Raiders edge Maxx Crosby.

Watt, who won the award in 2021, led the NFL with 19 sacks. But Garrett had the better all-around season for the NFL’s top-ranked defense.

Despite constant double-teams, Garrett had 14 sacks, 30 quarterback hits, 17 tackles for loss, four forced fumbles and forced offensive coordinators to avoid his side of the field.

Bland set an NFL record with five interception returns for a touchdown but was named on only six ballots. He got two second-place votes and three for third to go with the one first.

Stroud, the No. 2 overall pick, threw for 4,108 yards, 23 touchdowns, five interceptions and had a passer rating of 100.8, third-best by a rookie. He helped the Texans go from worst to first place in the AFC South and led them to a playoff win in the wild-card round.

Stroud led the league in passing yards per game (273.9) and had the best touchdown-interception ratio at 4.6, becoming just the third player in NFL history to finish first in both categories, joining Joe Montana (1989) and Tom Brady (2007).

Nacua set a rookie record with 105 receptions and 1,486 yards receiving yards. Lions tight end Sam LaPorta finished third.

The Los Angeles Lakers unveiled a statue of Kobe Bryant on Thursday, honoring their late superstar with a 19-foot bronze likeness outside their downtown arena.

The 4,000-pound statue depicts Bryant in his white No. 8 jersey with his right index finger raised as he walked off the court following his 81-point performance against the Toronto Raptors in January 2006.

Bryant’s widow, Vanessa, said during the dedication ceremony that the statue is the first of three that will be created to honor the five-time NBA champion and top scorer in Lakers history. Another statue will feature Bryant in his No. 24 jersey, which he wore for the second half of his career, while a third will depict Bryant and his daughter, Gianna, who died with him and seven others in a helicopter crash in January 2020.

“This statue may look like Kobe, but really it’s what excellence looks like,” Kareem Abdul-Jabbar said. “What discipline looks like. What commitment looks like. … It captures a person frozen in time, while at the same time acknowledges that the reason there is a statue in the first place is because that person is timeless. We’re all here today to honor a man who represents not just extraordinary sports achievement, but also timeless values that inspire us all to try harder to be not just better, but our best.”

The first statue was unveiled at a ceremony attended by dozens of Lakers greats and hundreds of season ticket holders. Vanessa Bryant spoke at the ceremony after remarks from team owner Jeanie Buss, former teammate Derek Fisher, Abdul-Jabbar and longtime Lakers coach Phil Jackson.

“I think of Kobe constantly, and I miss him and Gigi more than words can say,” Buss said. “But today, I’m filled with joy because in the future, I know fans will gather here in the shade of this statue beside this building where Kobe gave us so many memories, and we will share what he meant to us. As we do so, we will motivate a new generation to emulate the Mamba Mentality.”

Bryant retired in 2016 after a 20-year career spent entirely with the Lakers. He is the fourth-leading scorer in NBA history with 33,643 points, and his accolades included 18 NBA All-Star selections and two NBA Finals MVP awards.

His death has scarcely dimmed the shine of his presence in Los Angeles, where he remains a beloved icon of his adopted city. Bryant and his daughter are featured in hundreds of vibrant public murals across the Southland.

Even before Bryant’s death, Lakers fans speculated about the pose or image that would be immortalized in his statue. While the announcement of three statues changes the argument, Vanessa Bryant said there shouldn’t be a debate at all: Kobe himself chose the pose for the first statue before his death.

“Kobe has so many people that have supported him all over the world from the very beginning, and this moment isn’t just for Kobe, but it’s for all of you that have been rooting for him all of these years,” she said. “To the fans here in LA, this is a special city Kobe was so proud to represent. You welcomed him with open arms and have been so important to him, our family, and his legacy.

“It brings me joy to see how much love you have for all of us. We love you back.”

The statue’s base reads: “Kobe Bean Bryant,” with his nickname, “Black Mamba,” carved below. The triangular platform — a nod to Jackson assistant Tex Winter’s famed triangle offense, the bedrock of the Lakers’ success in the 2000s — is surrounded by five replicas of the Larry O’Brien Trophy.

The base includes the box score from his 81-point game and a QR code for fans to watch highlights of the performance. A Bryant quote is also featured: “Leave the game better than you found it. And when it comes time for you to leave, leave a legend.”

Bryant is the sixth Lakers player and seventh team employee to be honored with a statue in Star Plaza outside of the arena known as Staples Center throughout Bryant’s career. He joins Shaquille O’Neal, Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Jerry West, Elgin Baylor and Lakers announcer Chick Hearn.

“He wasn’t just a champion,” Fisher said. “He was unmatched. A rare specimen that left opposing players in awe, teammates inspired. He didn’t just play the game. He defined it. That’s really what it was like to be around him on a daily basis. He set the standard. He broke records. The legacy he leaves behind are foundations upon which current players and future players build their dreams.”

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Thursday the administration would be talking with Israeli authorities about the reported detentions of the brothers, as well as the Israeli military’s arrest of an American woman in the occupied West Bank earlier in the week.

Borak Alagha, 18, and Hashem Alagha, 20, two brothers born in the Chicago area, are among fewer than 50 U.S. citizens known to still be trying to leave sealed-off Gaza, nearly four months into the Israeli-Hamas war.

Other U.S. green-card holders and close relatives of the citizens and permanent residents also are still struggling and unable to leave, despite U.S. requests they be allowed to exit, according to their American families and advocates.

Cousin Yasmeen Elagha, a law student at Northwestern University, said Israeli forces entered the family home in the town of al-Masawi, near Khan Younis, around 5 a.m. Gaza time Thursday.

The soldiers tied up and blindfolded the women and children in the family, and placed them outside the home, the cousin said.

The two American brothers, their Canadian citizen father, a mentally disabled uncle and two other adult male relatives were taken away by the Israelis, and have not returned, Elagha said.

Men of a neighboring household were also taken away. So were other adult male relatives of another Alagha family household, for a total of about 20 family members detained, the U.S. cousin said.

An advocate for American families who are still trying to get loved ones out of Gaza faulted U.S. officials Thursday for not having moved more urgently to help get the Alagha brothers and other Palestinian-Americans, U.S. residents and close relatives out of harm’s way in Gaza.

Detention or death under an Israeli airstrike “were two of the biggest fears this family has had all along. And now the worst has happened,” said Maria Kari, an immigration attorney who has been advocating for the family.

The State Department said Thursday it was seeking more information on the reported detentions. It cited privacy concerns for the brothers in not commenting further.

The brothers would be among three American citizens taken into custody by Israeli forces this week, during the same time Secretary of State Antony Blinken was visiting the region to try to mediate with ally Israel and regional Arab leaders.

Earlier this week, a 46-year-old Palestinian-American woman, Samaher Esmail, was taken from her home in the occupied West Bank on Monday and detained. The Israeli military said she had been arrested for “incitement on social media” and held for questioning.

The U.S. Embassy in Israel said Thursday it had no updates on her case.

Esmail’s family said the U.S. Embassy asked them on Thursday for a list of medications she needs for uterine cancer, but said it would not be able to have contact with her before Monday. Relatives said they still do not know where she is being held.

Israel and Egypt control the official exit lists that are the only authorized way out of Gaza for foreigners and Palestinians. U.S. authorities say they are working with the two U.S. allies to get more of the names of Americans, U.S. residents and their close kin placed on the exit lists. The Alagha brothers’ family says they are among those who have been unable to get their names on the lists.

Israeli security forces in the course of the war have rounded up large numbers of Palestinian military-age men in Gaza, later releasing some. Israel says the mass detentions are a necessary part of fighting Hamas. Palestinians say Israel is unjustly including large numbers of civilian adult males in the sweeps.

Jimmy Vesey scored twice and Jonathan Quick made 18 saves as the New York Rangers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-1 on Wednesday night for their third straight win.

Jonny Brodzinski also scored for the Rangers, who won for the second time in three days after the All-Star break. Quick has started both games. The Rangers are 4-1-1 in their last six games.

“You take what comes and you try to make one save after another,” Quick said ”When we play like we did, it gives us a good chance to win every night.”

At 38, Quick became the oldest goaltender in Rangers history to win three straight games. He also defeated Ottawa 7-2 in New York’s last game before the All-Star break on Jan. 27.

“He’s a legend, one of the best American goalies of all time,” Vesey said of Quick, who got his 387th career win, two behind Dominik Hasek for 15th on the all-time wins list. “He’s been a rock for us all season. He just battles and competes and has some swagger in net.”

Brandon Hagel scored for Tampa Bay, and Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 21 saves. The Lightning had won three straight and eight of their previous nine.

Vesey gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead as he roofed a backhand past Vasilevskiy at 1:15 of the middle period.

Brodzinski increased the lead with this third goal with 2:14 remaining in the second.

Hagel got Tampa Bay on the scoreboard at 5:29 of the third to make it one-goal game.

Vesey then sealed the win with a empty-net goal with 1:01 remaining for his 11th of the season. The Rangers were coming off a 2-1 overtime win over Colorado at home on Monday.

“We were fortunate to get two goals in the second,” Vesey said. ”We’ve gone over a lot of things on the defensive side. We’ve done a good job with two games we can build on.”

Tampa Bay had its first power-play chance of the night with 4:38 left in the third when Mika Zibanejad was sent off for holding. However, the Lightning were held at bay by Quick, who was making his third straight start and improved to 12-4-2 in his first season with the Rangers.

The Rangers beat the Lightning for the fifth straight time at home and New York is 15-0-0 at home this season when allowing the opposition three or fewer goals .

“That game was there for the taking,” Lightning captain Steven Stamkos said. ”It’s frustrating.”

The game was delayed at the seven-minute mark of the second when Lightning defenseman Mikhail Sergachev had to leave the ice on a stretcher after his left leg bent at an awkward angle in a play along the boards in the Tampa Bay end. Sergachev became tangled with Rangers forward Alexis Lafreniere and his left skate seemed to stick in the ice as his knee twisted unnaturally.

He was declared out for the rest of the game before the end of the second period.

“You pray for the best but obviously it’s not looking great,” Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman said.

Sergachev had returned Wednesday after missing 17 games with a leg injury suffered in December.

“He’s a really tough kid. It goes beyond hockey,” said Lightning coach Jon Cooper, who left his bench to speak with Sergachev as he was taken from the ice. Cooper wouldn’t speculate if Sergachev’s injury could be season-ending.

“Let’s not think that way,” Cooper said.

UP NEXT

Lightning: At the New York Islanders on Thursday night.

Rangers: At Chicago on Friday night.

We will start by acknowledging that deep-fried chicken wings are very, very good. And when I am out and about in a bar-ish setting, it’s difficult to pass them up.

But deep frying chicken wings – or really anything – at home? Very rare in my kitchen. It’s messy, it calls for lots of oil, and then you have to make a whole lot to justify the amount of oil you use.

For this year’s Super Bowl festivities, consider a simpler way.

I am among the many who have had their lives enriched by the air fryer. In a short amount of time, you can make a variety of crispy and crunchy foods without a bottle of oil, excessive splattering or quite so much guilt. And hooray, fried chicken wings are one of the foods the air fryer is made for.

All you have to do is toss the wings in a small bit of oil and place them in the air fryer. Toss them around again at least once during frying so they brown evenly. Then toss the now-crispy wings with a simple butter-hot sauce mixture, serve up a ridiculously easy homemade blue-cheese dip, and you’re ready for game day. Or just a fabulous snack.

What turns ordinary chicken wings into Buffalo wings is that hot sauce with melted butter. And while there are folks who prefer one hot sauce or another, many of us feel it’s not a classic buffalo wing without Frank’s Red Hot Sauce. This just-the-right-amount-of-spicy sauce has the perfect balance of vinegar and heat, so you can glug that red love onto the wings and not worry about blowing your taste buds out.

Want it spicier? Add more Frank’s, and maybe a bit of cayenne pepper.

Don’t want to make your own blue cheese dip? That’s cool. Buy some. But buy a good one. You made your own wings; give them a sauce they deserve. I’m a fan of Marie’s blue cheese dressing, which can be found in the produce section in the refrigerator case.

Including carrots and celery makes us all feel better about the wings. One wing, one carrot, one wing, one piece of celery. And don’t forget to dip the vegetables in that blue cheese dip too. Tomorrow you can have a salad.

If you want to make the wings ahead of time, just reheat them in a 300-degree oven for about 15 minutes.

Serves 6

Wings:

2 pounds chicken wings, flat part and “drummies” separated, tips saved for stock

2 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Buffalo Sauce:

2/3 cup Frank’s Red Hot Sauce

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Blue Cheese Dip:

1/2 cup sour cream

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese

1 to 2 tablespoons whole milk, half and half, or heavy cream

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

2 finely chopped scallions, white and green parts

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Carrots and celery sticks for serving

Cook the wings: In a large bowl, toss the chicken wings with the oil, salt and pepper. Place them into the basket of the air fryer; they can overlap a bit, but they shouldn’t be stacked. Cook for 25 to 30 minutes at 400°F if your air fryer has temperature settings, or the dual cook setting if it doesn’t. Turn the wings halfway through the cooking, redistributing them so they cook more evenly. Remove them when they are browned and crisp.

Make the Buffalo sauce: While the wings are cooking, combine the Frank’s Red Hot Sauce and the melted butter in a large bowl.

Make the blue cheese dip: In a small bowl, mix together the sour cream, mayonnaise, blue cheese, 1 tablespoon milk, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, scallions, and salt and pepper. If the dip is thicker than you’d like, add the extra tablespoon of milk (or other dairy product).

Transfer the hot cooked wings to the large bowl and toss with the buffalo sauce. Transfer to a serving platter and serve with the Blue Cheese Dip and carrot and celery sticks.

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Katie Workman writes regularly about food for The Associated Press. She has written two cookbooks focused on family-friendly cooking, “Dinner Solved!” and “The Mom 100 Cookbook.” She blogs at https://themom100.com/. She can be reached at Katie@themom100.com.

After the Avalanche tied the contest with two quick goals earlier in the third, Marino put New Jersey ahead at 17:43 with his fourth goal of the season.

Jesper Bratt, Dawson Mercer, Chris Tierney and Erik Haula also scored for New Jersey, which had lost two in a row. Nico Hischier had two assists.

Trailing 3-1 just over eight minutes into the third, Colorado defensemen Cale Makar and Samuel Girard scored 29 seconds apart to tie the game. The Avalanche have 42 goals and 158 points from defensemen to lead the league.

Makar’s goal came at 8:29, followed by Girard’s at 8:58. Makar has 306 points in 284 career games, one point shy of tying Tyson Barrie as the highest scoring defenseman in franchise history.

Mikko Rantanen also scored and Jonathan Drouin had two assists for the Avalanche.

Bratt’s 20th goal of the season came against Avalanche rookie netminder Justus Annunen at 3:49 of the middle period to put New Jersey ahead after the teams traded goals in the first.

Bratt, who leads New Jersey with 52 points, reached the 20-goal mark for the third-straight season. He had a career-high 32 goals last year.

Mercer made it 3-1 with his 14th goal at 6:47 of the second.

The Devils were playing for the first time since Jan. 27, when they lost 6-3 at Tampa Bay.

Vanecek, who won 33 games last season in his first campaign with the Devils, improved to 17-8-2.

Rantanen opened the scoring 1:23 into the contest with his 28th of the season, intercepting a Devils clearing attempt and rifling the puck past Vanecek.

Tierney tied it 42 seconds later with his first goal of the season and first with the Devils.

Annunen played for Colorado after starter Alexandar Georgiev played in Monday’s 2-1 loss to the Rangers. He had 26 saves.

Devils forward Tyler Toffoli, who leads the team with 21 goals, was scratched because of illness.

New Jersey’s Jack Hughes missed his 11th straight game with an upper-body injury. Hughes, who has 15 goals and 45 points in 32 games, hasn’t played since Jan. 5 when he was hurt late in a home win over Chicago. Hughes has been skating with the team in practice in recent days.

New Jersey also continued to be without injured defensemen Dougie Hamilton, Jonas Siegenthaler and Brendan Smith.

Colorado’s leading scorer Nathan MacKinnon had his 14-game points streak snapped. He had extended the streak by scoring Colorado’s only goal in Monday’s loss to the Rangers.

Up Next

Devils: Hosting Calgary Flames on Thursday night.

Avalanche: Visiting Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night to continue six-game road trip.