Author: Beaver County Radio

Guentzel scores 4 goals to lead Penguins to Game 6 win and a series victory over the Flyers 4-2!!!

Guentzel scores 4 goals to lead Penguins to Game 6 clinch
By DAN GELSTON, AP Sports Writer
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jake Guentzel scored four straight goals to help send the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins into the next round with an 8-5 win over the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 6 on Sunday.
The Penguins play the winner of the Washington-Columbus series in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Washington leads that series 3-2.
Sean Couturier also had a hat trick for the Flyers, who haven’t won a Stanley Cup since 1975.
Guentzel, not Sidney Crosby, Phil Kessel or the injured Evgeni Malkin, won the game for the Penguins with goals off costly Flyers turnovers, leading them to their ninth straight playoff series win.
He tied the game at 4 with 54 seconds left in the second period off a Flyers turnover. He scored 30 seconds into the third for the lead off another giveaway, and sealed one more lopsided win over the Flyers with two goals 10 seconds apart late in the period.
It was 2-2 after one period, 4-4 after two, and nothing was decided in the fiercest game of the series between the longstanding rivals until Guentzel took control.
The Flyers lost all three games at home and not even a solid start could help them get out of the first round for the first time since 2012.
Couturier had been the Flyers’ postseason savior, returning from a serious leg injury to score the Game 5 winner and then open Game 6 with his third goal of the series just 2:15 into the game.
The Penguins, who won Games 3 and 4 in Philly, took aim on the road sweep with two straight goals. Crosby, naturally, tied the game when he knocked in a rebound off Kris Letang’s point shot for his whopping sixth goal of the series. His goal was still being announced when Carl Hagelin made it 2-1 when he was left all alone in front of the net for the easy goal.
Philly’s defense was nonexistent and the Flyers had no bodies on Crosby and especially Hagelin on the gimme goals against Michal Neuvirth.
Andrew MacDonald tied it 2-all on a sizzling shot. The defenseman briefly gave his team the spark needed to go toe-to-toe with the Penguins. Couturier scored his second of the game on a beautiful breakaway to open the second period and Scott Laughton scored on a long wrister and nearly pulled off a Lambeau Leap over the boards in celebration.
Matt Murray should have stopped the goal — the kind of bad goal usually allowed by the Flyers — and the crowd derisively chanted his name.
Patric Hornqvist scored his second of the series to pull the Penguins to 4-3.
The series had been more cordial than confrontational but both teams cranked up the nastiness levels in Game 6. Penguins forward Carter Rowney cross-checked Travis Konency and roughed him up on the ice while the officials just watched. Konecny jumped up and — like a wrestling heel smacking his opponent with a steel chair — cracked Sheary in the back with his stick and was whistled for roughing. Flyers coach Dave Hakstol gave the refs an earful while the fans howled as the hits were shown on replay.
But that was about the last crowd-pleasing play by the Flyers. The Flyers failed to take a shot on goal until nearly 12 minutes into the third period and Couturier capped his three-goal game with 2:53 left to play.
Bryan Rust scored an empty-netter with 30 seconds left to ensure the Penguins got all four of their wins by at least three goals.
NOTES: Malkin was scratched with a leg injury. … The so-called home ice edge in Philly lost some shine with large pockets of empty seats for a must-win Game 6. … The Penguins scored five-plus goals against the Flyers eight times in 10 games this season. … It wasn’t all bad news for Philly in its rivalry with Pittsburgh: The Phillies completed a four-game sweep of the Pirates across the street.
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For more AP NHL coverage: https://apnews.com/tag/NHLhockey

Altherr’s RBI hit gives Phils 3-2 win and sweep over Pirates

  1. Altherr’s RBI hit gives Phils 3-2 win and sweep over Pirates
    By ROB MAADDI, AP Sports Writer
    PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Aaron Altherr had quite a game for a guy who sat on the bench the first six innings.
    Altherr’s RBI single in the bottom of the 11th inning lifted the Phillies to a 3-2 victory over Pittsburgh on Sunday, giving Philadelphia its first four-game sweep over the Pirates in 24 years.
    Andrew Knapp hit an opposite-field triple off the left-field wall with one out off Rich Rodriguez (0-1). With the infield in, Altherr pulled a 1-2 pitch to left for his third hit. He raised his hand in the air, ran to first and got mobbed by teammates.
    “Feels great to have my first walk-off in the big leagues,” Altherr said.
    Altherr finished 3 for 3 with a triple, raising his average from .104 to .157. He’s had to adjust to not being in the lineup every game because manager Gabe Kapler is rotating 10 players for eight starting spots.
    “It’s been really difficult as the days went on,” Altherr said. “I’m trying to stay positive and keep rolling.”
    Kapler raved about Altherr’s attitude.
    “Coming into the season, we felt he was one of our best offensive players,” Kapler said. “He’s had some bad luck. I’m sure he wanted to play more regularly but every day he comes in with a smile, he comes prepared and he works his tail off. Good things happen to good people. He deserves it. His teammate behavior has been unparalleled. It’s outstanding.”
    The Phillies have won 13 of 16 since a 1-4 start and are seven games over .500 for the first time since they were 24-17 on May 18, 2016. They finished 71-91 that season and lost 96 games last year.
    Philadelphia had not swept a four-game series from the Pirates since May 12-15, 1994. Pittsburgh has lost four in a row and six of seven after an 11-4 start.
    “We had opportunities throughout the game,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. “We had a rough week. We need a day off and figure things out and show up ready to play Tuesday.”
    Elias Diaz hit a two-run homer for Pittsburgh.
    Pirates starter Trevor Williams allowed two runs and only one hit — an RBI double to pitcher Nick Pivetta — in six innings. He had five walks and fanned seven.
    Pivetta gave up two runs and five hits, striking out seven in 6 1/3 innings.
    After Diaz went deep to give the Pirates a 2-0 lead in the top of the fifth, Pivetta helped himself. He lined a run-scoring double down the right-field line — his first career extra-base hit.
    Pivetta scurried to third base on a wild pitch and hustled home on Cesar Hernandez’s sacrifice fly that tied it at 2.
    “I was just trying to get the two runs I gave up back,” Pivetta said.
    Phillies reliever Victor Arano had retired all 25 batters he faced this season and 32 straight, dating to last season, before Starling Marte reached safely on third baseman Scott Kingery’s throwing error to start the ninth. Arano pitched out of a jam in the 10th after pinch-hitter Josh Bell hit a triple with one out.
    Yacksel Rios (3-0) tossed a scoreless inning, stranding two runners, to earn the win.
    STREAKING
    Philadelphia’s Odubel Herrera has reached base safely in a career-best 23 straight games.
    TRAINER’S ROOM
    Phillies: Reliever Tommy Hunter was activated from the disabled list. The righty had been sidelined all season with a strained right hamstring. He tossed a perfect eighth with one strikeout.
    UP NEXT
    Pirates: RHP Chad Kuhl (2-1, 4.57 ERA) opposes Tigers RHP Jordan Zimmermann (1-0, 7.71 ERA) Tuesday night in the start of a three-game set in Pittsburgh.
    Phillies: RHP Vince Velasquez (1-2, 3.80 ERA) starts Tuesday night vs. Diamondbacks LHP Robbie Ray (2-0, 4.98) in the opener of a three-game series.
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    More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball

Herrera’s triple in 8th lifts Phillies over Pirates 2-1!!!

Herrera’s triple in 8th lifts Phillies over Pirates 2-1
By AARON BRACY, Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Odubel Herrera hit a go-ahead triple in the eighth inning to lift the Philadelphia Phillies to a 2-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday night.
Herrera, Cesar Hernandez, Carlos Santana and Maikel Franco each had two hits for the Phillies, who have won nine of 11 overall while improving to 7-1 at home. It is Philadelphia’s best start at home since it won seven of eight to begin the 1981 season.
Luis Garcia (2-1) pitched a scoreless eighth inning, and Hector Neris blanked Pittsburgh in the ninth to earn his third save in four tries.
After Hernandez led off the eighth with a double and Santana grounded out, Herrera lined an 86-mph cutter from George Kontos (1-2) on a 1-2 count just inside the first-base bag to score Hernandez and give the Phillies a 2-1 lead.
Rhys Hoskins walked to put runners on first and third with one out before as bizarre a double play as you’ll see ended the inning. Kontos had Hoskins picked off, but first baseman Josh Bell threw home to get Herrera, who broke for the plate on the play. Hoskins then lost track of where he was and also was out on a caught stealing double play that was scored 1-3-4-2-5-8-7.
The Pirates threatened in the ninth when Jordy Mercer doubled with one out, but David Freese popped out in the infield and Adam Frazier grounded out.
After a promising 11-3 start, Pittsburgh has dropped four of five.
The Pirates took a 1-0 lead in the sixth. Francisco Cervelli was hit by a pitch, went to third on Colin Moran’s double and scored on Mercer’s sacrifice fly to right.
Philadelphia tied it in the bottom half when Santana scored on Hoskins’ fielder’s choice grounder to third. Santana reached third on Herrera’s single to right, and Herrera tied a career high on the hit by reaching base safely in 21 straight games.
Ben Lively had his best outing in his fourth start for Philadelphia, allowing a run on five hits with four strikeouts and three walks in six innings.
Pirates starter Ivan Nova had similar numbers, giving up a run on five hits in six innings. Nova struck out three and walked none, and has fanned 21 batters against one walk in his last four starts.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Pirates: RHP A.J. Schugel (right shoulder discomfort) will make his next start at Triple-A Indianapolis. Schugel threw a scoreless inning at Single-A Bradenton on Wednesday.
Phillies: Right-handed reliever Tommy Hunter pitched a scoreless inning, striking out two, at Double-A Reading on Friday night. Hunter, who has been sidelined all season with a strained right hamstring, made 20 pitches in his second rehab outing.
UP NEXT
Phillies RHP Aaron Nola (1-1, 2.22) opposes Pirates LHP Steven Brault (2-1, 4.74) in the third game of the four-game set Saturday.

Couturier scores late, Flyers edge Penguins to force Game 6

Couturier scores late, Flyers edge Penguins to force Game 6
By WILL GRAVES, AP Sports Writer
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Sean Couturier’s long shot from the point got past Matt Murray with 1:17 left and the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-2 on Friday night to force sixth game in the first-round series.
The Flyers cut the Penguins’ series lead to 3-2 going into Game 6 on Sunday in Philadelphia.
After missing Game 4 with a lower-body injury, Couturier extended his team’s season at least two more days by picking up his second goal of the series. Claude Giroux, Valtteri Filppula and Matt Read also scored for the Flyers. Michal Neuvirth stopped 30 shots, including a diving stop on the doorstep to deny Penguins star Sidney Crosby shortly after Couturier’s knuckler put Philadelphia in front.
Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust scored for the Penguins. Matt Murray made 21 saves but had no chance on Couturier’s winner as the puck found its way through a sea of players and into the net.
A series that figured to be taut instead started with four straight blowouts, most of them ending with the Flyers skating off the ice wondering what they needed to do to keep pace with cross-state rivals.
Philadelphia coach Dave Hakstol, perhaps fighting for his job, made his first significant change in an effort to keep his team’s season alive, giving Neuvirth his first playoff start in nearly two years and his first start of any variety in more than two months after Brian Elliott couldn’t shake out of a funk that saw him pulled in Game 1 and again in Game 4.
The Flyers also Couturier back to center the third line just three days removed from a scary practice collision with teammate Radko Judas that left Couturier with a lower-body injury that forced him to watch Pittsburgh’s clinical 5-0 Game 4 romp from the press box.
There was no need for change in Pittsburgh, which has developed a killer instinct under coach Mike Sullivan it lacked at times earlier in the Crosby/Malkin era. The Penguins came in 8-5 in potential close-out games since Sullivan took over in December, 2015, including a 5-2 mark at home.
Make it 5-3.
Giroux, a non-factor through much of the series, gave Philadelphia the lead 17:29 into the first when he found some space in the slot and took a pretty feed from behind the Pittsburgh ned by Jakub Voracek to pump a shot by Murray.
The Penguins replied with two goals in a 4:45 span in the second for the first lead change of the series. Bryan Rust beat Neuvirth with a wrap around 12 minutes into the second for his ninth career goal in a potential elimination game. Guentzel then took a feed from Crosby and slipped it between Neuvirth’s legs to put Pittsburgh in front.
The Flyers, for the first time since Game 2, responded. Some sloppy play by Pittsburgh’s top power-play unit led to a turnover and a rush the other way that ended with Filppula sneaking a bouncing puck through Murray’s five-hole to knot the score and two and produce actual late tension heading into the third, a rarity.
NOTES: Penguins F Patric Hornqvist missed his second straight game due to an upper-body injury. Hornqvist did skate earlier Friday and remains day-to-day. … Malkin missed the final 4 minutes of the first period after Philadelphia’s Jori Lehtera fell on it when the two got tangled in the corner. Malkin returned to start the second period. … The Penguins were 0 for 5 on the power play. The Flyers were 0 for 1.
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More AP NHL coverage: https://apnews.com/tag/NHLhockey

North Korea says it has suspended nuclear, missile testing!!!

North Korea says it has suspended nuclear, missile testing
By KIM TONG-HYUNG, Associated Press
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea said Saturday it has suspended nuclear and long-range missile tests and plans to close its nuclear test site ahead of a new round of negotiations with South Korea and the United States. There was no clear indication in the North’s announcement if it would be willing to deal away its arsenal.
The North rather expressed confidence about its nuclear force, which leader Kim Jong Un declared as complete in November after a slew of weapons tests that included the underground detonation of a purported thermonuclear warhead and flight tests of three intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Some analysts believe Kim is entering the negotiations from a position of strength and is unlikely to accept a significant cut of his arsenal or go significantly beyond freezing a nuclear program. South Korean and U.S. officials have said Kim is likely trying to save his broken economy from heavy sanctions.
After the announcement Saturday about testing, President Donald Trump tweeted, “This is very good news for North Korea and the World” and “big progress!”
He also said he’s looking forward to his upcoming summit with Kim.
South Korea’s presidential office welcomed North Korea’s announcement as “meaningful progress” toward the denuclearization of the peninsula. Presidential official Yoon Young-chan said in a statement that the North’s decision brightens the prospects for successful talks between Seoul, Pyongyang and Washington.
The North’s official Korean Central News Agency said the country is making the move to shift its national focus and improve its economy.
The North also vowed to actively engage with regional neighbors and the international community to secure peace on the peninsula and create an “optimal international environment” to build its economy.
The announcement came days before Kim is set to meet South Korean President Moon Jae-in in a border truce village for a rare summit aimed at resolving the nuclear standoff with Pyongyang.
A separate meeting between Kim and Trump is anticipated in May or June.
The North’s decisions were made in a meeting of the ruling party’s full Central Committee, which had convened to discuss a “new stage” of policies. The Korean Workers’ Party Central Committee declared a “great victory” in the country’s official “byungjin” policy of simultaneously pursuing economic and nuclear development.
The committee unanimously adopted a resolution that called for concentrating national efforts to achieve a strong socialist economy and “groundbreaking improvements in people’s lives.”
“To secure transparency on the suspension of nuclear tests, we will close the republic’s northern nuclear test site,” the party’s resolution said.
The official news agency quoted Kim as saying during the meeting: “Nuclear development has proceeded scientifically and in due order and the development of the delivery strike means also proceeded scientifically and verified the completion of nuclear weapons.
“We no longer need any nuclear test or test launches of intermediate and intercontinental range ballistic missiles and because of this, the northern nuclear test site has finished its mission.”
Seoul says Kim has expressed genuine interest in dealing away his nuclear weapons. But North Korea for decades has been pushing a concept of “denuclearization” that bears no resemblance to the American definition, vowing to pursue nuclear development unless Washington removes its troops from the peninsula.
South Korean scientists have questioned whether the North could continue conducting underground nuclear detonations at its mountainous test site in Kilju in the northeast due to a series of earthquakes that were likely triggered by the activity, suggesting it’s too unstable for further bomb tests.
At the height of Pyongyang’s standoff with Washington and Seoul last year, North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho told reporters the country could conduct an atmospheric hydrogen bomb test over the Pacific Ocean.

UPDATE On Fallston Landslide: Could Be Weeks Until Rt. 51 Re-Opens

WE HAVE AN UPDATE ON THAT LANDSLIDE SITUATION IN FALLSTON. BEAVER COUNTY COMMISSIONER SANDIE EGLY SPOKE WITH BEAVER COUNTY RADIO NEWSMAN PAT SEPTAK THIS MORNING AND SAID THAT ROUTE 51 REMAIN CLOSED IN BOTH DIRECTIONS BETWEEN THE VETERANS MEMORIAL BRIDGE AND WILDWOOD ROAD…A BIT LONGER THAN THEY HAD ANTICIPATED:

EGLEY SAYS THEY CAN’T GIVE AN EXACT DATE ON WHEN THAT ROADWAY WILL RE-OPEN:

EGLEY SAYS THAT THE VERY EARLIEST THE ROAD WILL RE-OPEN WOULD BE MONDAY…BUT THAT’S BEING VERY OPTIMISTIC:

EGLEY SAYS THAT DRIVERS WILL STILL HAVE ACCESS TO ALL THE LOCAL BUSINESSES IN THAT AREA: