Category: Sports

Colorado overcome’s Crosby’s natural hat trick, beat Penguins 6-3


Avs overcome Crosby’s natural hat trick, beat Penguins 6-3
By MICHAEL KELLY, Associated Press
DENVER (AP) — Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon put on a show that made Cole Harbour proud, and it was MacKinnon who walked away with bragging rights for the Nova Scotia town.
MacKinnon had a goal and three assists, including one on Gabe Landeskog’s tiebreaking score midway through the third period, and the surging Colorado Avalanche overcame Crosby’s natural hat trick to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-3 on Wednesday night.
MacKinnon’s team won the matchup of hometown stars, but Crosby nearly stole it with his 11th career hat trick.
“It’s not easy when Sid gets going,” MacKinnon said. “He starts kind of galloping out there.”
Colorado won its sixth straight game and is 8-0-1 in its last nine.
MacKinnon, 23, and Crosby, 31, are both former No. 1 overall draft picks. They have become offseason training partners and have made TV commercials together. Those things are put aside when they face each other twice a season, but Wednesday’s game might get a second viewing when they get together.
“I’m sure this is a game we will talk about for a while,” MacKinnon said. “We don’t play each other much, so for a regular-season game this is one of the fun ones I’ve been a part of. By Sid getting a hat trick and obviously us getting a big one.”
MacKinnon had an empty-net goal with 29 seconds left, his 18th goal of the season. Samuel Girard, Erik Johnson, Colin Wilson and Carl Soderberg also scored for Colorado, and Mikko Rantanen had two assists.
The Avalanche’s top line of MacKinnon, Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen, who leads the NHL in scoring with 42 points, had eight points and continues to dominate. Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan didn’t hesitate when asked if the trio is the best he’s seen this season.
“Yes,” he said. “They’re not easy to contain. They’re three elite players that are all on the same line.”
Sullivan has a two-time Hart Trophy winner in Crosby, and he put on an MVP-worthy performance for the Penguins by erasing a 3-0 deficit by himself.
He struck twice in the final minute of the second period. His first goal came off his own rebound on a breakaway with 52 seconds to go, and he scored again with 10 seconds left with Colorado defenseman Patrik Nemeth off for holding. Crosby tied it at 4:43 of the third to complete his first hat trick of the season. He has 13 goals.
“Sid tried to will us a win with his effort,” Sullivan said. “I thought he was terrific. He was terrific all night long.”
Landeskog broke the tie with his 15th goal at 10:05. The Penguins pulled Tristan Jarry for an extra skater, but MacKinnon and Soderberg scored to seal it.
“We didn’t give up, so that’s a good thing,” Crosby said. “Still, when you put yourself in that position to get back in the game after coming back from three you want to at least get a point out of it.”
Girard gave Colorado a 1-0 lead with his second goal at 11:19 of the first period. Johnson scored at 5:13 of the second and Wilson made it 3-0 at 7:52.
The Penguins challenged Johnson’s goal for goaltender interference but it was upheld upon review.
NOTES: Colorado D Tyson Barrie missed his second straight game with a lower-body injury. … Pittsburgh D Kris Letang, who set a franchise record for games played in Winnipeg on Tuesday, had his four-game point streak snapped. … Colorado is 1-1-1 in the second game of back-to-back sets this season. It is 3-1-0 in the first game. … The first penalty wasn’t called until Crosby drew a holding-the-stick minor 49 seconds into the second period. Colorado’s Alexander Kerfoot got a high-sticking minor 19 seconds later.
UP NEXT
Penguins: Host Philadelphia on Saturday night.
Avalanche: Host St. Louis on Friday night.
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Hines leads Duquesne to 31-10 win in FCS playoffs

Hines leads Duquesne to 31-10 win in FCS playoffs
TOWSON, Md. (AP) — A.J. Hines turned a screen pass into a 71-yard touchdown for the lead, rushed for 175 yards and another score and Duquesne defeated Towson 31-10 in a relentless downpour on Saturday to advance to the second round of the FCS playoffs.
The Dukes (9-3), who lost to William & Mary in 2015 in their only other FCS playoff appearance, will travel again next Saturday, taking on No. 5 seed South Dakota State (8-2).
In the first two quarters, Duquesne managed only a Mitch Maczura 32-yard field goal to end the second half, trailing 10-3.
But Daquan Worley scored up the middle on a 48-yard run early in the third quarter to tie the game before Hines took Daniel Parr’s pass to the end zone. Parr capped a 10-play drive with a 3-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter before Hines went in from 3 yards out for the final points.
The Tigers, making their first playoff appearance since 2013 and third overall, scored on Tom Flacco’s 34-yard pass to Jabari Allen in the first quarter and Aidan O’Neill’s field goal in the second quarter.
The passing games suffered in the harsh conditions with Flacco completing only 10 of 33 passes for 127 yards with Parr 6 of 19 for 144. Duquesne outrushed the Tigers 282-230.

Miami tops No. 24 Pitt 24-3

Miami wins regular-season finale, tops No. 24 Pitt 24-3
By TIM REYNOLDS, AP Sports Writer
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — The biggest contribution that a Miami player made on the Hurricanes’ regular-season finale against Pittsburgh apparently came a night before kickoff, when Jaquan Johnson addressed his teammates.
He likened adversity to quicksand, and talked about how to escape.
“It really hit us hard, in the heart,” running back Travis Homer said.
Homer was apparently listening, as were plenty of other Hurricanes. Homer needed only eight carries to rush for 168 yards, DeeJay Dallas ran back a punt for one of his two scores and Miami knocked off No. 24 Pittsburgh 24-3 on Saturday.
“I think our guys rose to the occasion,” Miami coach Mark Richt said. “It was very obvious that it was a dominating defensive performance, and I thought it was a dominating special-teams performance as well.”
The Hurricanes (7-5, 4-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) yielded only 200 yards, held Pitt to a 1-for-15 effort on third-down conversion tries and forced 12 punts in a game where they yielded only 11 first downs. Miami also had six sacks and 14 tackles for loss.
“We’re 7-5,” cornerback Michael Jackson Sr. said, “but we’re not a 7-5 defense.”
Dallas also had a rushing touchdown for the Hurricanes, saying afterward he’s gotten valuable help in recent days from a sports psychologist. And Homer is up to 969 yards this season, and would have a chance to become the 10th runner in Miami history with a 1,000-yard season if he gets 31 in the bowl game. His career rushing total is now 1,979 yards, which moved him four yards past Frank Gore for 12th on the Hurricanes’ list.
“Travis was the spark tonight,” Dallas said.
Kenny Pickett completed 14 of 22 passes for 130 yards for Pitt (7-5, 6-2), which had already locked up the ACC’s Coastal Division and a berth in next weekend’s conference title game against Clemson. It was a reversal of last season, when Miami had the Coastal clinched and lost to Pitt in the regular-season finale for both clubs.
“That’s the most talented defense we’ve faced by far,” Pickett said.
Homer’s 64-yard touchdown in the third quarter put Miami up 17-3, and matched the longest scoring run of his Miami career. It also continued his knack for breaking big plays for scores; he has 12 rushing TDs for the Hurricanes, the average length of them being 27 yards.
Dallas scored on a 65-yard punt return in the second quarter, giving Miami one of those for the second straight week. The one last week came from Jeff Thomas, who left the Hurricanes on Wednesday — team officials said he was dismissed, while Thomas claimed that his departure was by mutual decision.
Either way, it didn’t derail Miami on its Senior Day, even with the passing game struggling again. N’Kosi Perry completed only six of 24 passes for 52 yards, though was hurt by no fewer than seven dropped passes. It was the lowest passing total Miami posted in an ACC game, four yards shy of the 56 the Hurricanes managed against Georgia Tech in 2007.
Alex Kessman’s 40-yard field goal for Pitt late in the third quarter allowed the Panthers to avoid the shutout. This was the first ACC season since 2009 that there were no shutouts in conference games.
“Ran into a buzzsaw today,” Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi said.
THE TAKEAWAY
Pittsburgh: The Panthers had won four straight before Saturday, averaging 40.8 points in those games. It was Pitt’s lowest point total since 2010 — a 31-3 loss to Miami.
Miami: The Hurricanes’ bowl game gives Richt a chance at winning at least eight games for the 17th time in his 18 seasons as a head coach. Miami still has not had a one-game streak of anything under Richt, whose Hurricane tenure has gone thusly — four wins, then four losses, then 15 wins, then four losses, then five wins, then four losses and, now, two wins.
POLL IMPLICATIONS
The Panthers will almost certainly fall out of the AP Top 25 after one week. The last time Pitt lasted more than two consecutive weeks in the poll was 2009. This current appearance was only the fifth for Pitt in the last 142 editions of the AP Top 25.
WILD COASTAL
The Coastal this year featured Pitt losing to North Carolina, North Carolina going 0-7 in all other ACC games, Miami rolling past Virginia Tech, Virginia Tech beating Virginia and Virginia beating Miami. In other words, the Coastal made minimal sense.
UP NEXT
Pittsburgh: Faces Clemson in ACC title game at Charlotte, North Carolina on Dec. 1.
Miami: Awaits bowl-destination announcement on Dec. 2.
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