PITTSBURGH (AP) -Jared McCann scored a pair of power-play goals, Casey DeSmith made 36 saves and the Pittsburgh Penguins extended Buffalo’s winless streak to 16 straight with a 4-0 victory. Radim Zohorna picked up a goal on his first shot in the NHL for the Penguins. Jake Guentzel added an empty-netter and Sidney Crosby had three assists to raise his career point total to 1,300. Buffalo general manager Kevyn Adams served as head coach after interim Don Granato and assistant Matt Ellis were placed in the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol a few hours before the opening faceoff.
Get out your brackets and your highlighters! March Madness is underway.
WJPA-AM (1450) will bring you live broadcasts of the listed “feature games” as well as look-ins from across the tournament. Our coverage runs through the Women’s & Men’s National Championships April 4-5.
From each day’s first tip to the night’s final whistle, you can listen on-air and online Listen Here! Scores of each days games will be listed in the Scoreboard Section while our “Feature Games” will be listed below.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – Make it eight in a row for Kevin Kisner. The defending champion in the Dell Technologies Match Play built a big lead over Justin Thomas and then hung on to beat the No. 2 seed in 17 holes. Kisner’s streak is the fifth-longest streak since this tournament began in 1999. Tiger Woods holds the record at 13 in a row from 2003 to 2005. Bob MacIntyre of Scotland gave the world’s No. 1 player all he could handle before Dustin Johnson rallied just to escape with a tie. MacIntyre build a 2-up lead with three holes to play when Johnson birdied the 16th, and then tied the match with a tough 18-footer. That sent the match down the 18th, and both players had birdie chances that missed. U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau won his second match as a pro with a 2-and-1 victory over Si Woo Kim. DeChambeau was trailing with five holes to play when he rallied to win.
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Sidney Crosby picked up his 13th goal of the season and the Pittsburgh Penguins extended Buffalo’s winless streak to 15 games a with a 5-2 victory. Evan Rodrigues, Kris Letang, John Marino and Zach-Aston Reese also scored for the Penguins. Pittsburgh recovered from a sluggish three-game set against New Jersey by pouncing on the undermanned and overmatched Sabres. Buffalo’s 15-game winless stretch (0-13-2) is a record for futility since the shootout was introduced during the 2005-06 season.
BRADENTON, Fla. (AP) – The Pittsburgh Pirates are shutting down starting pitcher Steven Brault for at least a month to address discomfort in his throwing shoulder. Pirates director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk said it’s likely Brault will be out for a minimum of 10 weeks. The team had expected the left-hander to be a part of a totally revamped starting rotation in 2021.
PITTSBURGH (AP) – The Steelers have released veteran cornerback Steven Nelson. The team gave Nelson permission to seek a trade partner last week but opted to release him outright after Nelson claimed on Twitter the team was holding him “hostage.” The 28-year-old Nelson was about to enter the final season of a three-year, $25.5 million deal he signed in 2019. Nelson and veteran Joe Haden have teamed up to become one of the better cornerback tandems in the NFL over the last two years. Nelson, however, became expendable when the team re-signed Cam Sutton to a two-year contract last week.
UNDATED (AP) – Elgin Baylor was among the very best NBA players of his era, averaging 27.4 points and 13.5 rebounds during a 14-year career spent entirely with the Lakers. The Lakers have announced that Baylor died Monday of natural causes at age 86. Baylor’s greatness occurred before the league gained a hold on television exposure. With a silky-smooth jumper and fluid athleticism, He played a major role in revolutionizing basketball from a ground-bound sport into an aerial show. Baylor was outstanding in the Lakers’ first three seasons after leaving Minneapolis, averaging 35.3 points, 17.3 rebounds and 4.9 assists from 1960-63. However, the 11-time All-Star never won a scoring title and went 0-7 in NBA Finals series, eclipsed in points by Wilt Chamberlain and beaten six times by the Boston Celtics. Injuries limited him to 11 games over his final two seasons and caused him to retire during the 1971-72 campaign, the season the Lakers finally won a championship in Los Angeles.
PITTSBURGH (AP) – The Pittsburgh Steelers are bringing back defensive lineman Chris Wormley on a two-year deal. Pittsburgh is in need of help along the line after veteran Tyson Alualu left in free agency for Jacksonville. Wormley had eight tackles in 13 games for the Steelers last season after Pittsburgh acquired him from AFC North rival Baltimore. The Steelers also signed wide receiver Tyler Simmons to a one-year contract.
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Jesper Bratt scored on a wraparound at 2:50 of overtime and the New Jersey Devils beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 2-1. The Devils won for the third time in four games. They won for the second time in three games against Pittsburgh. The Devils had three wins in their previous 13 games before Sunday. Bratt scored his second of the season and continued a four-game point streak, while Sami Vatanen also scored his second of the season for New Jersey. Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 35 shots for the Devils. Sidney Crosby scored his 12th of the season for Pittsburgh, which lost for the third time in four games.
Due to COVID-19, only district champions were invited to the PIAA Basketball playoffs. Bishop Canevin had to withdrawal from the 1A boys bracket moments before its scheduled tip-off against Berlin Friday night due to a positive test by one of the Crusaders’ players. Upper St. Clair (6A boys) had quarantined since winning the WPIAL title a week ago and had only six players cleared but that was enough against District 10 champion Erie. The Chartiers Valley girls easily pulled away from Warren in the second half. Winners advance to the semifinals Monday and Tuesday with the PIAA Finals set for Hershey’s Giant Center next weekend. The semifinal schedule for the remaining WPIAL champions (boys 3-3, girls 5-1) is listed below.
Monday, March 22
6A Girls North Allegheny vs. D3 Cumberland Valley, 5 pm at Altoona
4A Boys Lincoln Park vs. D10 Hickory, 6:30 pm at Lincoln Park
3A Girls Mohawk vs. D6 Forest Hills, 6:30 pm at Mohawk
2A Girls Neshannock vs. D6 Penns Manor, 6:30 pm at Neshannock
Tuesday, March 23
5A Girls Chartiers Valley vs. D3 Spring Grove, 5:45 pm at Bald Eagle Area WJPA-FM (95.3) or Listen Here or Listen Here
6A Boys Upper St. Clair vs. D3 Reading, 5:45 pm at Altoona WJPA-AM (1450) or Listen Here or Listen Here
2A Boys OLSH vs. D6 Portage, 6:30 pm at OLSH
1A Girls Rochester vs. D6 Bishop Guilfoyle, 6:30 pm at Rochester
