November 28, 2019 4:03 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Kris Letang capped a wild comeback, scoring the deciding goal with 3:06 to play, and the Pittsburgh Penguins rallied with six goals in the third period to beat the Vancouver Canucks 8-6 on Wednesday night. Letang’s slap shot from the right circle beat Thatcher Demko to the glove side, completing Pittsburgh’s comeback from a 6-3 deficit. Evgeni Malkin scored twice and had three assists, and Jake Guentzel had two goals and two assists. Guentzel, on a three-game scoring streak, has 14 goals this season and six goals and 12 points on a six-game point streak. Bryan Rust had a power-play goal and three assists, while Dominik Kahun and Zach Aston-Reese also scored for Pittsburgh, which extended its point streak to seven games. The Penguins have points in 12 of their last 14 games. Tristan Jarry stopped six shots in relief of Matt Murray, who started and made 10 saves in two periods. Elias Pettersson scored his 11th of the season and his fifth goal in eight games for Vancouver. J.T Miller and Adam Gaudette each had two goals and Jake Virtanen scored his seventh for the Canucks, who have three wins in their last 12 games. Demko made 32 saves. The Canucks trailed 2-0 through the first 15 minutes but scored four goals on 14 shots to jump ahead, 4-2, after two periods. Pittsburgh trailed 6-3 in the third period but rallied with three goals in 4:14 to tie the game. Miller scored a power-play goal and Gaudette got his second of the game 35 seconds later to give Vancouver a 6-3 lead. But Kahun responded with his seventh of the season and Malkin brought Pittsburgh within one with a power-play goal. Aston-Reese tied the game at 10:30 of the third period. Pittsburgh jumped on Vancouver with an early 12-0 advantage in shots and the first two goals. The Canucks were held without a shot for the first 13:50 of the game. Guentzel opened the scoring for Pittsburgh at 2:29 of the first period. He has goals in seven of his last eight home games, which includes a career-best six-game home goal-scoring streak. Rust made it 2-0 with a power-play goal at 12:53 of the first. The Canucks scored the next four goals, including three in the second period. Pettersson tied the game for Vancouver at 7:17 of the second, and Virtanen and Gaudette scored goals 41 seconds apart in the final 2 minutes of the period.
November 26, 2019 3:45 am
FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) – Xavier Johnson made a short jumper for the lead with 10.1 seconds left and then made two free throws at 4.6 seconds to help Pittsburgh top Kansas State 63-59 in the Fort Myers Tip Off on Monday night. After seeing a 57-51 lead disappear as they couldn’t score for 3:56, the Panthers scored six points in the last 10.1. Two more free throws by Justin Champagnie after a K-State layup clinched it with 0.1 seconds left. Ryan Murphy and Eric Hamilton, who had 12 rebounds, both scored 13 points for Pitt (5-2) while Johnson and Champagnie added 12 each. The Panthers won despite making just 1 of 16 3-pointers and committing 21 turnovers. They did hit 47% of their shots and 18 of 21 free throws. Cartier Diarra scored 13 and DaJuan Gordon 12 – 10 straight in the first half – for Kansas State (4-1). The Wildcats went 10 of 20 from 3-point range but were a dismal 3 oaf 13 from the foul line. Xavier Sneed, who came in leading K-State with 16 points per game, didn’t score until 15:40 remained in the second half. He finished with eight points. For the first time this season Kansas State had a halftime lead, 30-28, after scoring the first nine points of the game.
November 26, 2019 3:44 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Jake Guentzel beat David Rittich on a rush 4:04 into overtime to lift the Pittsburgh Penguins over the Calgary Flames 3-2 on Monday night. Jared McCann scored his ninth goal and Alex Galchenyuk got his first with the Penguins. Both had a goal and an assist, helping Pittsburgh get a point for the 11th time in 13 games – eight of those 13 have gone to overtime.
Tristan Jarry stopped 32 shots and has allowed two goals or fewer in six of seven games. Dillon Dube scored his first of the season for Calgary and second NHL goal. Sean Monahan added his sixth on a power play as the Flames lost for the seventh time in eight games. Guentzel has points in 11 of Pittsburgh’s 14 home games and a goal in six of its last seven at home. He’s scored in a career-best five straight home games. Calgary snapped a six-game losing streak Saturday with a shootout win at Philadelphia but couldn’t make it two in a row. The Flames have been outscored 28-9 in their past eight games with three shutouts after winning four of their previous five. Rittich stopped 35 shots. Dube opened the scoring at 7:34 of the first period when his blocker-side wrist shot from below the left circle beat Jarry. Galchenyuk tied it at 11:49. Dominik Kahun put a shot on goal off the rush, and the rebound came to Galchenyuk in the slot. The Penguins acquired Galchenyuk – a former 30-goal scorer – from Arizona in June for productive wing Phil Kessel. McCann gave Pittsburgh a 2-1 lead at 7:14 of the second period. His wrist shot from the right circle hit Flames defenseman Rasmus Anderson and beat Rittich. Monahan tied it at 15:09 of the second. His initial one-timer missed the net, but Matthew Tkachuk collected the rebound and fed Monahan, who scored from the slot. It was Tkachuk’s first point in six games after opening the season with 20 points in 21 games.
November 24, 2019 8:40 am
Mason Rudolph has reportedly been fined by the NFL for his role in the Steelers-Browns brawl. Rudolph was not suspended for being involved in the fight in the final moments of a “Thursday Night Football” match up against divisional rival, the Cleveland Browns, in which Myles Garrett ripped off his helmet and then smashed Rudolph over the head. The NFL said all discipline doled out to Garrett will be upheld: an indefinite suspension including any remaining games of this current season and fines. Steelers’ center Maurkice Pouncey has had his suspension reduced from three games down to two. Garrett has accused Rudolph of calling him a racial slur prior to the brawl erupting during the game. While the league said there has been no evidence or corroborating information or statements to confirm that accusation, Garrett continues to stand by his allegation. Rudolph has repeatedly denied using a racial slur.
November 22, 2019 3:54 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Brock Nelson scored his second goal of the game at 4:16 of overtime, lifting the New York Islanders to a 4-3 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night to extend their point streak to a franchise-record 16 games. Nelson, who also scored the overtime winner at Pittsburgh two nights earlier, got a pass from Mathew Barzal on the left side on a rush, cut across the front of a goal to avoid a defender and draw goalie Matt Murray out of position, and then backhanded it into the right side for his eighth. Anthony Beauvillier had a goal and an assist and Barzal had two assists to help the Islanders improve to 15-0-1 during their streak while winning their fifth straight since an overtime loss to the Penguins here on Nov. 7. New York had earned points in 15 straight games three times previously, the last during a 15-game win streak in the 1981-82 season. Thomas Greiss stopped 23 shots for his eighth straight win – all coming during the Islanders’ streak – and ninth of the season. Evgeni Malkin had a goal and an assist, and Brian Rust and Patric Hornqvist also scored for the Penguins. Murray finished with 20 saves. Nelson, playing in his 500th game, gave the Islanders a 3-2 lead with 4:52 left in the third, scoring off a faceoff just 4 seconds after Pittsburgh’s Sam Lafferty was sent off for tripping Beauvillier. Nelson now has four goals and five assists during a five-game point streak. Hornqvist tied it with 30 seconds remaining in regulation.
November 22, 2019 3:41 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph is denying an anonymous report that he used a racial slur before his confrontation with suspended Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett. ESPN, using anonymous sources, reported that Garrett told the NFL that Rudolph used a slur just before a brawl between the two teams last week that included Garrett ripping off Rudolph’s helmet and then hitting the quarterback in the head with it. The NFL suspended Garrett indefinitely. Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey had a little more success in his appeal of a three-game suspension for punching and kicking Garrett in last Thursday’s game. League appeals officer and Hall of Famer Derrick Brooks reduced Pouncey’s suspension to two games but upheld the fine of more than $35,000. ESPN cited anonymous sources in reporting Garrett told the NFL during the appeal of his indefinite suspension Rudolph used a racial slur just before a confrontation between the two players. An NFL spokesman says the league found no such evidence of the slur.
November 22, 2019 2:26 am
Wash High and Peters Township will travel to Norwin Saturday for WPIAL Football Championship games. For the Little Prexies, it will be their 16th appearance in a District 7 football final. The Indians will be making their first-ever journey to the championship round. A day earlier, Thomas Jefferson will open PIAA play with a quarterfinal matchup against a very familiar opponent, three-time defending PIAA champion, Cathedral Prep (Erie). The Ramblers have ended the Jaguars’ last three trips to the state playoffs. We’ll have all three games on WJPA-FM (95.3) this weekend. Coverage also available online at wjpa.com.
Friday, Nov. 22
PIAA 4A Quarterfinals (CLICK for PIAA Football Brackets)
6:45 pm Thomas Jefferson vs. Cathedral Prep, WJPA-FM (95.3) at Martorelli Stadium, North Hills
Saturday, Nov. 23
WPIAL 2A Championship (CLICK for WPIAL Football Brackets)
11:30 am #1 Wash High vs. #2 Avonworth, WJPA-FM (95.3) at Norwin High School Stadium
WPIAL 5A Championship (CLICK for WPIAL Football Brackets)
5:30 pm #5 Peters Township vs. #2 Gateway, WJPA-FM (95.3) at Norwin High School Stadium
November 20, 2019 3:45 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin says the brawl that ended his team’s loss to Cleveland was “ugly for the game of football.” Browns defensive end Myles Garrett was suspended indefinitely after taking off Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph’s helmet and then swinging it at the quarterback’s head. Tomlin said he’s not going to use the incident as a teachable moment, adding he’s not sure the Steelers did anything to “make it happen in the first place.”
November 19, 2019 3:44 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Ben Cherington is the new general manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates. The club announced the move on Monday, three weeks after firing Neal Huntington from the same position following a last-place finish in the NL Central. Cherington won a World Series ring as general manager of the Boston Red Sox in 2013. He was fired following the 2015 season and spent the last three years as vice president of baseball operations for the Toronto Blue Jays. Cherington called joining the Pirates the “ideal opportunity.” He is the second high-profile hire by Pittsburgh during the offseason. Travis Williams was brought on as team president last month when Frank Coonelly stepped away after 12 years. One of Cherington’s first jobs will be finding a manager. The Pirates fired Clint Hurdle on the final day of the regular season and put the search of his replacement on pause until a new general manager was brought in.
November 18, 2019 3:49 am
Lamar Jackson threw four touchdown passes and ran for 86 yards as part of the Ravens’ sixth straight win, 41-7 over the Texans. Jackson threw for three touchdowns in the third quarter and followed with his most impressive play of the day: a 39-yard run in which he broke six tackles while weaving through the Houston secondary. Gus Edwards scored on a 63-yard run with 4:10 left to cap the scoring for the 8-2 Ravens. The Texans dropped to 6-4. Meanwhile, Oakland and Kansas City share the AFC West lead at 6-4 after Derek Carr passed for 292 yards and a touchdown in the Raiders’ 17-10 downing of the winless Bengals. Josh Jacobs had his fourth 100-yard game in the last six weeks, finishing with 112 on 23 carries. Maxx Crosby had a team rookie-record four sacks as the Raiders harassed Bengals rookie quarterback Ryan Finley in Oakland’s third straight win.
