Sidney Crosby batted his own rebound out of the air and into the net 19 seconds into overtime and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Devils 4-3
on Thursday night
Doug Flutie Jersey , denying New Jersey a sweep of the four-game season series.
Kris Letang stole Taylor Hall’s pass in the opening seconds in the Pittsburgh zone and sent Crosby on a semi-break the other way. His initial shot hit the
goalpost, but then the star center pulled his hands in and swatted the puck out
of the air – a fitting move on the opening day of baseball season.
Crosby extended his goal-scoring streak to five games, including a similar goal against Montreal last Wednesday in which Crosby juggled the puck once on
his stick before smacking it from just below shoulder height.
Conor Sheary, Letang and Patric Hornqvist also scored for the Penguins. Matt Murray made 28 saves.
Kyle Palmieri, Hall and Blake Coleman scored for the Devils, who had a three-game winning streak snapped. Keith Kinkaid had 31 saves in losing for only
the fourth time in his past 16 decisions (12-3-1).
BRUINS 4, LIGHTNING 2
BOSTON (AP) – Patrice Bergeron had a goal and two assists and Boston took over first place in the Eastern Conference with a win over Tampa Bay.
Tim Schaller and David Pastrnak scored goals 32 seconds apart in the final minute of the first period and Brad Marchand added an empty-net goal with 56
seconds left.
Torey Krug had two assists, Pastrnak finished with a goal and an assist and Tuukka Rask stopped 26 shots for the Bruins, who have 107 points and lead Tampa
Bay by a point.
J.T. Miller scored a power-play goal for Tampa Bay in the second and Victor Hedman added a goal in the third. Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 26 saves for
the Lightning, who have lost three straight and are 0-3 against the Bruins this
season.
BLACKHAWKS 6, JETS 2
CHICAGO (AP) – Emergency goaltender Scott Foster played the final 14 minutes after Chicago lost Anton Forsberg and Collin Delia to injuries, closing out the
Blackhawks‘ victory over Winnipeg.
Forsberg was expected to start, but he was scratched after the team said he got hurt during warmups. Delia, who was just recalled from the minors Wednesday,
then stopped 25 of 27 shots in his NHL debut before he was helped off the ice in
the third period due to a lower-body injury.
Enter Foster, a 36-year-old former goaltender at Western Michigan University. After a short warmup, the game resumed and Foster got a big cheer from the crowd
of 21
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Backed by chants of ”Foster! Foster!” and more loud ovations down the stretch, he finished with seven stops. Before facing the playoff-bound Jets,
winners of six in a row, Foster’s last competitive action was 20 minutes in
relief for the Broncos during his only game in the 2005-06 season.
PREDATORS 5, SHARKS 3
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Ryan Ellis scored the go-ahead goal with 9:54 left and Nashville beat San Jose to set a franchise record with 111 points this
season.
With their 50th victory, the NHL-leading Predators padded their lead to four points over Boston in the chase for their first Presidents’ Trophy. Nashville
topped the mark of 110 points set in 2006-07 on a night where the franchise also
notched its 100th consecutive sellout, a streak that started April 7, 2016,
against the Sharks.
Craig Smith and Viktor Arvidsson each had a goal and an assist, Kyle Turris had a goal, and Filip Forsberg had three assists. Nick Bonino added an empty-net
goal with 17 seconds left for Nashville, which won the season series against San
Jose 2-1.
Juuse Saros made 39 saves for the win, including stopping Logan Couture on a penalty shot with 1:53 left. The goalie also helped the Predators kill a penalty
with 3:10 remaining with a flurry of stops.
Couture, Brenden Dillon and Mikkel Boedker scored for the Sharks. San Jose snapped its nine-game point streak.
KINGS 4, COYOTES 2
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Jeff Carter completed a hat trick by scoring with 4:25 left and Los Angeles beat Arizona.
Carter scored for the third consecutive game, helping the Kings open up a two-point lead over the Anaheim Ducks for third place in the Pacific Division
before the Freeway Faceoff rivals meet Friday night in Anaheim.
Jack Campbell made 20 saves for his second career win
Larry Ogunjobi Jersey , and the Kings won consecutive games for the first time since winning three in a row Feb. 17-20. Anze Kopitar added an empty-net
goal with 1.7 seconds remaining, and Tyler Toffoli had two assists.
Kevin Connauton scored for the second straight game and Max Domi had a goal and an assist for the Coyotes, who had won two straight over the Kings. Darcy
Kuemper made 31 saves.
SENATORS 3, PANTHERS 2, OT
OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) – Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored on a penalty shot in overtime to lift Ottawa over Florida.
The Panthers dropped three points behind New Jersey with a game in hand for the final wild card in the Eastern Conference. The Devils lost to Pittsburgh 4-3
in overtime Thursday.
Pageau and Magnus Paajarvi also scored in regulation for the Senators, and Craig Anderson stopped 24 shots.
Aaron Ekblad and Evgeni Dadonov scored for the Panthers, and James Reimer made 27 saves.
BLUE JACKETS 5, FLAMES 1
CALGARY, Alberta (AP) – Pierre-Luc Dubois had his first career hat trick and Columbus Blue Jackets stayed hot with a win over Calgary.
Columbus earned its sixth straight road victory and 12th win in its past 13 games, and moved past the Philadelphia Flyers and into third place in the
Metropolitan Division. The Blue Jackets are one point back of the second place
Pittsburgh Penguins.
Markus Aaron Rodgers' eventful offseason included a trip to India to see the spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, and a pit stop to watch his girlfriend, race
car driver Danica Patrick, at Daytona.
He also purchased a minority stake in the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks.
This week, it's back to the practice field for the two-time NFL MVP.
On-field offseason workouts have started for the Green Bay Packers. They are especially important for a team that has had a lot of change since the end of a
7-9 season.
New general manager Brian Gutekunst cut longtime receiver Jordy Nelson; signed veteran tight end Jimmy Graham; and drafted three receivers all 6-foot-3
or taller. Former Packers assistant Joe Philbin is back as offensive
coordinator. The playbook got a thorough review.
"Change can be really good ... any time you're in a situation where you've had the same type of things going on for a number of years, it's nice to change
it up in some positions
Jarvis Landry Jersey , yeah," Rodgers said at Lambeau Field after practice.
Not to say that the loss of Nelson, a salary cap casualty, didn't hurt. Nelson was a team leader. He was especially close to Rodgers, and fellow
receivers Randall Cobb and Davante Adams.
"Honestly, it has nothing to do with this football team. He's a good dude, and we built up a really good relationship over these last four years," said
Adams, who has assumed the role of the Packers' No. 1 receiver.
As for the playbook, Adams calls the changes more a fine-tuning of what's worked in the past.
"It's kind of more of a mentality of how we're attacking people. I love it," Adams said. "As long as we keep to it, keep working at things and clean
everything up, it's going to be more dangerous (than) it's been in the
past."
At the very least, the Packers hope they are in much better shape than 2017, when the offense struggled with Rodgers sidelined much of the season by a broken
collarbone. After several weeks of classroom work, they were eager to take what
they've learned out on the field.
"There's a little bit of an 'It's-about-time feel to it,'" Packers coach Mike McCarthy said before practice.
In Philbin
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Philbin was offensive coordinator from 2007-11 before leaving to take the Miami Dolphins head coaching job. He was the coordinator when Rodgers took over
the starting job in 2008, and when the Packers won the Super Bowl two seasons
later.
Rodgers calls Philbin a "fantastic teacher" who commands a room. Philbin said Rodgers is processing the game in his mind even faster now compared to when he
last coached him in 2011.
Rodgers also remains a master at preparation. There is no better role model for backups Brett Hundley and DeShone Kizer.
"From a preparation standpoint, he's been excellent, both in the quarterback room and the unit room. He's obviously got an outstanding command of what we're
doing, what we want to do," Philbin said.
Off the field, he'll get back to cheering on his girlfriend this weekend. Patrick is driving her final race at the Indy 500 on Sunday.
Rodgers said he watched from pit road for a while when Patrick was at Daytona in February. He's hoping that Patrick can take the checkered flag at the
Brickyard.
"She's had a lot of success at Indy over the years," Rodgers said. "I think several top 10s, hoping she goes out with a bang."
NOTES: Asked about the possibility of the Packers adding receiver Dez Bryant, who was cut by the Cowboys, Rodgers said, "Well, we like young receivers. So I'm
assuming that's the way they're going to keep going. I don't know why you'd cut
Jordy and bring in Dez, but he's a talented player." Besides taking three
receivers in the draft, the Packers also have returnees Geronimo Allison and
Trevor Davis competing for more targets. "He's going to end up somewhere"
Rodgers said about Bryant. "If he ends up here, we'd obviously welcome him with
open arms and get him up to speed as quick as possible."
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