Walker’s walk-off homer lifts Pirates to Opening Day win

PITTSBURGH 1 – CHICAGO 0  Win: Bryan Morris (1-0) L: Carlos Villanueva (0-1) — Neil Walker homered off Carlos Villanueva in the bottom of the 10th, lifting the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 1-0 walk off win over the Chicago Cubs on opening day. On a 3-2 count, Walker took the 8th pitch of the at-bat he saw deep and over the Clemente Wall for the Pirates first opening day walkoff homer since Bob Bailey in 1965. The walkoff homer was Walker’s first of his career. — Francisco Liriano had electric stuff, throwing six scoreless innings, striking out 10 and walking 3. He allowed 4 hits. Liriano, Mark Melancon, Tony Watson, Jason Grilli and Bryan Morris combined for 10 scoreless innings

Paul Martin could return to lineup by the weekend

Defenseman Paul Martin is getting closer to returning to the lineup. Martin who broke in his hand during the Olympics went through a full practice today and could return as early as the weekend. X-Rays on Sunday showed no setbacks for Martin. “It’s nice to know I’ll be back and hopefully playing soon,” Martin said. Martin won’t play Tuesday night vs Carolina and Martin playing Thursday @ Winnipeg is a long shot. The Penguins have back to back games this weekend in Minnesota and Colorado. The Penguins have seven games remaining in the regular season. 2013-2014 Stats: 33 GP – 2 Goals – 10 Assists – 12 Pts – -1

Goaltending, Quick Strike Ability, physical play among key takeaway’s in Pens 4-1 win

KEY TAKEAWAY’S FROM PENGUINS – BLACKHAWKS The Penguins had three winning ingredients in Sunday’s 4-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks: 1. Strong goaltending – Marc Andre Fleury, 25 saves on 26 shots 2. Quick Strike Ability – 2 goals in 21 seconds in first period 3. Physical Play – Pittsburgh Outhit Chicago 39-21 The game wasn’t lopsided in Pittsburgh’s favor by any means like the final score may indicate but those three key areas fueled them to the 4-1 win. Lee Stempniak and James Neal scored 21 seconds apart as the Penguins jumped on the Hawks in the first period but Chicago controlled the play in the second period and in the first 10 minutes or so in the third

Pirates Opening Day lineup vs Cubs

OPENING DAY CUBS @ PIRATES PIRATES LINEUP 1. Starling Marte, LF 2. Travis Snider, RF 3. Andrew McCutchen, CF 4. Pedro Alvarez, 3B 5. Russell Martin, C 6. Neil Walker, 2B 7. Travis Ishikawa, 1B 8. Jordy Mercer, SS 9. Francisco Liriano, P

Sharks, Blackhawks would be tougher Cup Final matchup for Penguins than other top West contenders

PRE-GAME BUZZ BLACKHAWKS 42-18-15, 99 pts) @ PENGUINS (47-22-5, 99 pts) Dan Bylsma last Sunday called the St. Louis Blues the best team in the NHL multiple times. He didn’t go that far with the defending Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks this morning but feels they are much different than the other top contenders in the West when it comes to style of play. “Resemble more our team, skill they have, how they play, how they execute with that skill,” Bylsma said of the Blackhawks. “Missing Kane today in their lineup, {but} topline with Hossa in there, certainly have that not only with skill but how they attack, with how they come at you with their speed and through the neutral

Bennett’s skill set makes it hard not to play him in the top-6 when Pens are fully healthy

From a skill standpoint Beau Bennett screams top-6 forward. Everyone got a glimpse of that Friday night when Bennett was the best player on the ice in the Penguins 2-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. “I was really impressed with Beau’s game,” Bylsma said Sunday of Bennett’s performance vs CBJ. “How well he skated, how strong he was on pucks. Skill was evident…. but he attacked, attacked with speed, looked to get his shot off through traffic sometimes, made some great plays. He was physical, second on our team in hits as a forward. Went to the hard areas, was hard on the wall. He was really good.” Expecting him to play at that level consistently might be a

Bennett has a knack for scoring game winning goals

In limited NHL time, Beau Bennett has a knack for scoring game winning goals. In 45 career NHL games (including playoffs), Bennett has scored 6 goals. Four of those six goals have been game winning goals. The Penguins will hope that trend continues from here on out. VS CBJ | 1 Goal, +1, 3 SOG, 4 Hits, 14:51 TOI 2013-2014 Stats: 13 GP – 2 Goals – 2 Assists – 4 Pts – +1

Bennett, Fleury, Orpik/Bortuzzo among key performers in 2-1 win over CBJ

POST-GAME BUZZ The Penguins snapped a three game losing streak Friday night with a 2-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. The win improved the Penguins to 5-0 against the Blue Jackets this season. Chris Kunitz (34) and Beau Bennett (2) scored third period goals and Marc Andre Fleury was very strong in goal, making 35 saves on 36 shots for his first win since March 11th. Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma again  talked afterwards how it was important for the Penguins to have played a playoff type game. “That was a playoff type game and to a man, we stepped up and played that game,” Bylsma said. The Penguins were plagued with some undisciplined play, taking three first period

Pens – CBJ Pre Game Buzz: Bennett, Goc, Despres, Maatta, Fleury

PRE-GAME BUZZ PENGUINS (46-22-5, 97 pts) @ BLUE JACKETS (37-29-6, 80 pts) — The Penguins will see some lineup changes tonight: — Beau Bennett returns to the lineup after being sidelined due to wrist surgery since Nov 22. Bennett will skate on the second line with Jussi Jokinen and James Neal, head coach Dan Bylsma told reporters moments ago. — Olli Maatta has looked like a young player who needs some nights off and that will be the case. Maatta will be a healthy scratch with Simon Despres drawing into the lineup. — Forward Marcel Goc will be sidelined for 3 weeks due to a foot injury. The injury looked potentially worse than the diagnosis. A three week timetable should

Steelers sign RB LeGarrette Blount

BLOUNT TO SIGN WITH STEELERS The Pittsburgh have found a No. 2 running back behind Le’Veon Bell, agreeing to a two year deal with running back LeGarrette Blount. The deal was first reported by Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun. Blount a hard nosed runner, rushed for 772 yards and scored seven touchdowns last season for New England, averaging 5 yards per carry. He rushed for 172 yards on 29 attempts in the post-season, including a 166 yard performance against Indianapolis in the Division Round. In four NFL seasons, Blount has averaged 4.7 yards per carry, rushing for 2,711 yards and 20 touchdowns.