PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Penguins keep finding ways to make it hard on themselves. More importantly, they keep finding ways to navigate their way out of trouble, too.
Having a goalie regaining his All-Star form helps.
Tristan Jarry made 33 saves — including a couple of sprawling stops in the final minutes — and the surging Penguins held off the New York Rangers 4-2 on Tuesday night. Jarry improved to 8-3 in his last 11 starts by stoning the Rangers repeatedly in the third period after New York drew within a goal.
Only captain Sidney Crosby’s empty-net goal with 32 seconds left allowed Pittsburgh the chance to exhale at the end of a 4-1 homestand.
“We’ve won a bunch of different ways this year,” said forward Teddy Blueger, whose short-handed goal early in the second gave Pittsburgh the lead for good. “It’s going to be like that when a team comes at us hard and things get scrambly. Jars came up huge for us. … We’ll take it and kind of learn from it and move forward.”
Kasperi Kapanen got his fourth goal in his last five games with 19 seconds to go in the second period at the end of what Penguins coach Mike Sullivan called perhaps his team’s best shift of the season. Jake Guentzel also scored for Pittsburgh as the Penguins improved to 5-1 against the Rangers.
Pittsburgh began the homestand reeling a bit following a dismal loss to the New York Islanders. The Penguins responded by winning four of five — the only loss coming in a game in which they blew a three-goal lead — to leapfrog Philadelphia and move into fourth place in the East Division as the midpoint of the truncated 56-game season nears.
“I like the resilience the group has shown,” Sullivan said. “I think our guys have shown an ability to just stay in the moment and continue to compete and I think that’s an important aspect of becoming a good team.”
New York defenceman Jack Johnson — making his first appearance in Pittsburgh since the Penguins released him during the off-season — scored his first goal in more than a year. Ryan Strome picked up his ninth with a power-play score early in the third period. Keith Kinkaid made 23 stops while withstanding an early barrage but couldn’t prevent the Rangers from dropping their second straight.
“I thought a much better effort than (a 5-1 loss in Pittsburgh on Sunday night) but unfortunately, when you’re chasing this team and you lose both, it’s frustrating,” Strome said. “There’s not much we can take away from this one in terms of feeling good.”
JOHNSON RETURNS
Johnson spent two turbulent years in Pittsburgh before the Penguins bought out the final three years of his contract in October. He landed in New York, where’s been in and out of the lineup. The 34-year-old gave the Rangers the lead 9:16 into the first when his innocent flip from the point found its way through traffic — perhaps helped by a deflection off the skate of Pittsburgh defenceman John Marino — and by Jarry.
The goal was Johnson’s first since Jan. 19, 2020, when he was in the middle of his second season with Pittsburgh.
The Penguins parted ways with Johnson to get younger and faster on the blue line. Guentzel’s goal provided a snapshot of why Pittsburgh wanted to move on.
Crosby created a turnover in the New York zone and fed a cross-ice pass to a streaking Guentzel. Johnson was the closest Rangers player but rather than charge Guentzel or attempt a poke check, he hesitated and Guentzel ripped a shot over Kinkaid’s glove to tie it with 1:06 remaining in the first.
“I just saw him out of the corner of my eye,” Crosby said. “He did all the work there.”
KAPANEN CRESTING
Kapanen began the season on the top line with Crosby, dropped all the way to the fourth line at one point and has been a bit of a nomad at times. He seems to be meshing with Evgeni Malkin. Kapanen has four goals and three assists in his last five games. Malkin’s assist on Kapanen’s wrist shot from the slot at the end of extended pressure gave him points in seven straight home games for the first time since the 2017-18 season.
“That was a great shift, they were moving the puck around real well,” Blueger said. “They’re a pretty high-skilled line. … The second period wasn’t great, so to get that momentum going into the third was huge.”
UP NEXT
Rangers: Continue their six-game road trip Thursday in Boston.
Penguins: Face the Sabres for the first time this season when they visit Buffalo for a two-game set starting Thursday.
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The past weekend of football was all about the favourites.
The favoured teams went 13-1 straight up and 10-4 against the spread in the NFL. In college football, the three most teams bet at the BetMGM Sportsbook in terms of number of bets and money all won and covered. All three were favourites.
Trends of the Week
The three most bet college teams that won and covered on Saturday were Ohio State (-3.5) vs. Penn State, Indiana (-7.5) at Michigan State and Oregon (-14.5) at Michigan. Penn State has now lost seven straight home games as underdogs. The Nittany Lions were up 10-0 in the first quarter and were 3.5-point favourites at the time. The Buckeyes won 17-10.
In the NFL, the three most bet teams in terms of number of bets and money were the Washington Commanders (-4) at the New York Giants, the Detroit Lions (-2.5) at the Green Bay Packers and the Buffalo Bills (-6) vs. the Miami Dolphins. All three teams won, but only two of the three covered the spread as Buffalo beat Miami 30-27.
When it came to the players with the most bets to score a touchdown on Sunday, only two of the five reached the end zone — Chase Brown (-125) and Taysom Hill (+185). David Montgomery (-140), Brian Robinson Jr. (+110) and AJ Barner (+500) did not score.
Upsets of the Week
The biggest upset in the NFL was the Carolina Panthers coming from behind to beat the New Orleans Saints 23-22. New Orleans closed as a 7-point favourite and took in 76% of the bets and 79% of the money in against-the-spread betting. The Saints fired head coach Dennis Allen following the loss. They have now lost seven straight games after starting the year 2-0.
Arguably the biggest upset in college football was South Carolina beating No. 10 Texas A&M 44-20 at home. Texas A&M closed as a 2.5-point favourite and took in 59% of the bets and 58% of the money.
NEW YORK – Washington Capitals left-wing Alex Ovechkin, Carolina Hurricanes centre Martin Necas and Pittsburgh Penguins centre Sidney Crosby have been named the NHL’s three stars of the week.
Ovechkin had a league-leading five goals and nine points in four games.
The 39-year-old Capitals captain has 14 points in 11 games this season, and his 860 career goals are just 34 shy of Wayne Gretzky’s record.
Necas shared the league lead with nine points (three goals, six assists) in three games.
Crosby factored on seven of the Penguins’ eight total goals scoring four goals and adding three assists in three appearances. The 37-year-old Penguins captain leads his team with 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in 13 games this season.
Crosby and Ovechkin, longtime rivals since entering the league together in 2005-06, will meet for the 70th time in the regular season and 95th time overall when Pittsburgh visits Washington on Friday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.
TORONTO – Running back Brady Oliveira of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Hamilton Tiger-Cats quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell are the finalists for the CFL’s outstanding player award.
Oliveira led the CFL in rushing this season with 1,353 yards while Mitchell was the league leader in passing yards (5,451) and touchdowns (32).
Oliveira is also the West Division finalist for the CFL’s top Canadian award, the second straight year he’s been nominated for both.
Oliveira was the CFL’s outstanding Canadian in 2023 and the runner-up to Toronto Argonauts quarterback Chad Kelly for outstanding player.
Defensive lineman Isaac Adeyemi-Berglund of the Montreal Alouettes is the East Division’s top Canadian nominee.
Voting for the awards is conducted by the Football Reporters of Canada and the nine CFL head coaches.
The other award finalists include: defensive back Rolan Milligan Jr. of the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Montreal linebacker Tyrice Beverette (outstanding defensive player); Saskatchewan’s Logan Ferland and Toronto’s Ryan Hunter (outstanding lineman); B.C. Lions kicker Sean Whyte and Toronto returner Janarion Grant (special teams); and Edmonton Elks linebacker Nick Anderson and Hamilton receiver Shemar Bridges (outstanding rookie).
The coach of the year finalists are Saskatchewan’s Corey Mace and Montreal’s Jason Maas.
The CFL will honour its top individual performers Nov. 14 in Vancouver.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 31.
