WPIAL First Round Playoff Basketball: February 15, 2019

The Aliquippa girls face off against Ellis School on Beaver County Radio tonight at 6:30 from Fox Chapel. Pregame on the air and on TribLive is at 6:00. Local area teams below are listed in boldface.

GIRLS (All games in Class 2A)

6:30pm
Aliquippa vs. Ellis School [at Fox Chapel]
South Side Beaver vs. Riverview [at Hampton]
Sto-Rox vs. Serra Catholic [at Peters Twp.]
Winchester-Thurston vs. Frazier [at Charleroi]
Laurel vs. Chartiers-Houston [at Mt. Lebanon]

8:00pm
OLSH vs. Burgettstown [at Peters Twp.]

BOYS (All games in Class 1A)

8:00pm
Leechburg vs. Bishop Canevin [at Fox Chapel]
Union vs. Clairton [at Hampton]
Geibel Catholic vs. Greensburg Central Catholic [at Charleroi]
St. Joseph vs. West Greene [at Mt. Lebanon]

Pens Beat Oilers at Home 3-1!!

Crosby, Penguins trip up McDavid, Oilers 3-1
By WILL GRAVES, AP Sports Writer
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The NHL’s most electric playmaker swooping in on him and his team’s one-goal lead very much in doubt, Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Matt Murray did something that’s kind of tough when Edmonton’s Connor McDavid has the puck dangling on his stick and the game in the balance.
Murray waited. He figures he didn’t really have a choice.
“He’s got 100 different moves in his arsenal,” Murray said.
This time, though, McDavid could have used 101. Murray made an acrobatic stop with his glove hand on McDavid’s penalty shot late in the second period to keep Pittsburgh in front and the Penguins beat the reeling Oilers 3-1 on Wednesday night.
McDavid earned the chance after getting pulled down by Pittsburgh’s Jake Guentzel on a breakaway. McDavid walked in on Murray slowly from the left before making his way across the crease. The delayed wrist shot from the player Murray called “the best in the world” ended up not in the net but in Murray’s awaiting glove.
“I think maybe he knew I was going to do it,” McDavid said. “So, got to find something new.”
The stop was the flashiest of Murray’s 38 saves, and the one most critical to helping the Pittsburgh win consecutive games for just the second time in five weeks as it tries to stay in the middle of the crowded Eastern Conference playoff chase.
“That’s a big turning point,” Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said. “If that goes in late in the period like that, it’s a big shift in momentum.”
Instead, the Penguins remained unbeaten (6-0) against the Oilers when both Crosby and McDavid are on the ice. Bryan Rust, Teddy Blueger and Jared McCann all scored as Pittsburgh picked up two vital points despite playing without suspended center Evgeni Malkin, forced to sit while serving a one-game suspension for an illegal high stick. Crosby finished with one assist and spent large portions of the night going head to head with the 22-year-old McDavid.
“It’s a great challenge,” the 31-year-old Crosby said. “He’s pretty tough to defend. A lot of times you can be in good spots and good positionally but with his speed if you’re even you’re probably in trouble.”
McDavid picked up an assist on Leon Draisaitl’s first-period goal but was otherwise held in check. Mikko Koskinen stopped 31 shots for the Oilers but couldn’t stop Edmonton from falling for the eighth time in nine games.
“We had a bunch of chances to tie it,” McDavid said. “I have to bear down on a couple. Credit to them. They had that four-minute stretch where they scored two and held on.”
The second meeting of the season between two of the game’s generational talents the electricity of the first — when McDavid and Crosby both scored, with Crosby getting the winner in overtime back on Oct. 23 — but with considerably higher stakes, at least for Pittsburgh.
The Penguins entered play with a tenuous one-point lead over Carolina for the second wild card in the East. Though Pittsburgh rode a career-high 50 saves from Murray in a one-sided road victory in Philadelphia on Monday, it also continued a pattern of one step forward, one step back.
Defenseman Olli Maatta went down in the first period with an upper-body injury that will sideline him indefinitely and the NHL ordered Malkin to sit out as penance after Malkin flung his stick wildly at Philadelphia’s Michael Raffl late in the third period, forcing Pittsburgh head coach Mike Sullivan to get creative in an effort keep his team’s fragile surge going. He moved Nick Bjugstad to center the second line and reshuffled the defensive pairings, including giving Chad Ruhwedel his first appearance since Nov. 19.
It led to a bit of a sluggish start, and McDavid wasted little time taking advantage as the Penguins tried to find their footing. He got a pass in front of the Pittsburgh bench from Oscar Klefbom to spark a 2-on-1 and slid a pass over to Draisaitl that beat Murray 4:45 into the game for his 33rd of the season.
Rust gave the Penguins a needed spark early in the second period when he put together a dazzling short-handed shift with Matt Cullen that ended with Rust creeping out from behind the Edmonton net and stuffing a puck past Koskinen at 2:35.
Blueger put Pittsburgh in front at 6:10 when Kris Letang banked a pass off the side of the Edmonton net that landed on the rookie’s stick. Blueger ripped it by Koskinen for his third goal in seven career games.
McDavid used his speed to split Letang and Guentzel, earning a penalty shot for his efforts with 2:35 left in the second.
NOTES: Edmonton went 0 for 2 on the power play. The Penguins were 0 for 1. … Rust’s goal gave the Penguins nine this season with a man down.
UP NEXT
Oilers: At Carolina on Friday night.
Penguins: Host Calgary on Saturday.
___
More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

3rd Period Goals:

Pit:

Jared McCann (19:00)

End of 2nd: Pens 2 Oilers 1 on WBVP and WMBA!!

Pit:

Bryan Rust (2:30)

Teddy Blueger (6:10)

End of 1st: Oilers 1 Pens 0 on WBVP and WMBA!!

1st Period Goals:

EDM:

Leon Draisaitl (4:45)

High School Basketball: February 12, 2019

BOYS

Monday’s Scores
Freedom 62, Western Beaver 45
OLSH 85, New Brighton 53
Erie 63, Lincoln Park 53
Quaker Valley 75, Summit Academy 42
Highlands 66, Beaver 50
Peters Township 60, Central Valley 31
Riverside 67, Union 51
Pine-Richland 93, Sewickley Academy 60

7:30pm
Hopewell at Ellwood City

GIRLS

Monday’s Scores
Lincoln Park 62, Freedom 58
Moon 52, South Side Beaver 45
Riverside 68, Union 42
Neshannock 64, Blackhawk 59
Central Valley 61, Mohawk 33
Mars 76, Rochester 44
Quaker Valley 50, Shady Side Academy 48
Peters Township 83, West Allegheny 49
Quigley Catholic 33, Fort Cherry 28
Avonworth 40, Sewickley Academy 39

Murray, Crosby lead Penguins past Flyers 4-1


 

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Matt Murray made 50 saves and Sidney Crosby had a goal and an assist to lead the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 4-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday night.

Jake Guentzel and Nick Bjugstad also scored and Kris Letang had an empty-netter for the Penguins, who snapped a four-game losing streak while winning for just the fourth time in the last 12. Pittsburgh entered holding the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.

Jakub Voracek scored for Philadelphia, which lost for just the second time in 11 games. The Flyers could’ve pulled within four points of Pittsburgh with a victory, but now stand eight points behind the Penguins.

Flyers rookie goalie Carter Hart had his eight-game win streak halted, falling one game shy of setting an NHL record for consecutive victories prior to turning 21 years old. The 20-year-old also finished a game short of tying Pelle Lindbergh for the Flyers’ rookie record for wins in a row. Hart had 24 saves.

Murray was a wall for the Penguins, withstanding an offensive flurry by Philadelphia that included a franchise-record 28 shots in the second period.

Crosby put the Penguins up 1-0 with a fluky goal with 11:41 left in the first period. Hart lost sight of the puck behind the net and it caromed off the glass to Crosby to the right of the crease. With Hart still looking the other way, Crosby shot into the empty half of the net for his 24th of the season and 40th goal in 65 career games against Philadelphia. The Penguins’ star has scored against the Flyers more than any other team.

Bjugstad made it 2-0 7:04 into the second with a wrist shot from a sharp angle, an uncharacteristically soft goal for Hart. It was the sixth of the season for Bjustad and his first with the Penguins since being acquired from Florida on Feb. 1.

The Flyers appeared to score with 7:07 left in the second when Nolan Patrick’s rebound crossed the goal line, but the referee whistled the play dead when he thought Murray had gloved Travis Konecny’s initial shot.

Guentzel scored on a wraparound with 5:14 remaining in the third to make it 3-0. It was the team-leading 27th goal for Guentzel.

Voracek finally got Philadelphia on the board 40 seconds later on the power play, when he lifted the puck over Murray from close range.

The Flyers gained the man-advantage when Pittsburgh center Evgeni Malkin received a match penalty with 4:54 left for hitting Michael Raffl in the head with his stick. Malkin returned after missing five straight games due to an upper body injury and had an assist.

NOTES: Pittsburgh D Olli Maatta didn’t return after being checked into the boards by Phil Varone with six minutes left in the first. . The teams will next play each other on Feb. 23 in an outdoor game at Lincoln Financial Field, the home of the Philadelphia Eagles. The season series is tied 1-1, as the Flyers won 4-2 ON Dec. 1 in Pittsburgh. . Hart was the seventh different Flyers goalie, including six starters, to appear in the last seven meetings against Pittsburgh. … Letang passed Paul Coffee for most goals by a Penguins defenseman.

UP NEXT

Pittsburgh: Play the first of three straight at home against Edmonton on Wednesday.

Philadelphia: At Minnesota on Tuesday.