NFL: Friday’s Injury Report
Steelers ‚Äì Chargers Injury Report Pittsburgh is very healthy heading into Sunday’s game. The Steelers are confident that they will be able to run on the San Diego Chargers and their No. 25th-ranked defense. Willie Parker seems to have a new wave of confidence since the regular season finale. Ben Roethlisberger has been throwing the ball very well in practice. He has been making quick precise throws and appears to be fine after suffering a concussion in week 17. LaMarr Woodley has gone four games without a sack. He has been bothered by a calf injury since week 10 which has limited his mobility. The extra week off will pay dividends for Woodley. Woodley had two sacks in his playoff
NFL: Pitt’s McCoy expected to turn pro today
Barring a last minute change of heart, University of Pittsburgh running back LeSean McCoy is expected to turn pro today. According to reports, McCoy will meet with Panthers head coach Dave Wannstedt Friday. McCoy is projected to be a late first round/early second round selection. McCoy rushed for 1,488 yards and 21 touchdowns on 308 carries this past season Running back Chris Burns who was impressive in training camp goes into the spring drills as the favorite to replace McCoy as Pitt’s featured running back next season.
Penguins woes continue, fall to Predators 5-3
The Nashville Predators scored five unanswered goals as the Predators beat the Penguins 5-3 Thursday night. The Penguins lost for the sixth time in seven games and dropped to 20-18-4 on the season. The Penguins jumped out to a early 3-0 lead behind goals from Petr Sykora, Jordan Staal and Max Talbot but the Predators scored three goals in the second period to tie the game at 3-3 and added two more in the third to hand the Penguins another loss. Martin Erat, David Legwand, Jerred Smithson, Ryan Suter and Greg Zanon scored for the Predators. Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Marc Andre Fleury made 30 saves. The Penguins were outshot 35-25 and didn’t get their first shot of the game until
Staal gets the $4 million a year that he was seeking
During the summer when the Penguins and Jordan Staal began contract negotiations Staal was seeking a R.J. Umberger (4yrs Р$15 million) type of deal. Staal and his agent Paul Krepelka won out today as the Penguins signed Staal to a 4 year Р$16 million deal. During the summer the Penguins initial offer was 4 years Р$13.5 which was declined and the two sides began working off of that deal. Recently talks centered around a 2-3 year deal with the Penguins offer in the $3.3 million range and it appeared Staal would sign a short term deal but Staal’s camp countered with a four year deal. Krepelka who represents Ryan Whitney and Jordan Staal used the same ploy
NHL: Source: Quinn‚Äôs reps’ leaking Quinn to Pit rumors to put the pressure on Ottawa
Is there any truth to the rumors that Pat Quinn could become the Penguins next coach? Read more for the latest
Morning Buzz
The Penguins snapped their five game losing streak on Tuesday and travel to Nashville today to face off against the Predators Thursday night. The Predators 17 – 19 – 3 are currently 14th in the Western Conference with 37 points. The Predators are struggling to score goals as forward J.P. Dumont leads the Preds in scoring with 32 points. The Penguins end the half way point at 20-17-4 and are currently 9th in the Eastern Conference with 44 points. Eastern Conference Standings 1. Boston – 62 points 2. Washington – 57 points 3. Philadelphia – 51 points 4. New York Rangers 51 points 5. Montreal – 50 points 6. New Jersey – 49 points 7. Carolina – 47 points 8.
Penguins snap five game losing streak
Petr Sykora ended the Penguins 0-33 slump on the power play at 17:10 in the first period and Evgeni Malkin added three assists as the Penguins snapped their five game losing streak Tuesday night beating the Atlanta Thrashers 3-1 at Mellon arena. Sykora had two goals on the night and Sidney Crosby scored his 16th goal of the season at 15:41 of the second period to put the Penguins up 3-0. Goaltender Marc Andre Fleury made 27 saves to record the win. The Atlanta Thrashers have lost six out of their last seven games. The Penguins are 20-17-4 at the halfway point. Ruslan Fedotenko is believed to have a broken bone in his right hand following a first period fight
The Latest Steelers Buzz
The Steelers have a off today. Ben Roethlisberger returned to practice on Monday. Roethlisberger was moving around very well and was throwing a good deep ball His passes were precise and on target. He will be good to go for Sunday’s game. Running back Willie Parker is not 100% but he will not wear a shoulder harness this week. Even though a 100 yard game against Cleveland isn’t that big of a deal, it seems to have given Parker a new brand of confidence. Parker had one of his rare 100 yard games this season against San Diego. It was speculated that Ryan Clark would be out for another week but no worries Clark returned to practice on Monday and
Penguins/ Rangers lineups
Penguins lineup (19-16-4-42) Dupuis – Crosby – Kennedy Fedotenko – Malkin – Sykora Cooke – Staal – Talbot Satan – Jeffrey – Godard Marc Andre Fleury will start in goal D-Pairs Orpik – Whitney Scuderi – Letang Eaton – Boucher Expected Scratches: Hal Gill, Tim Wallace, Alex Goligoski Lineup news: Miroslav Satan has been demoted to the fourth line and it was just a matter of time before Therrien removed him off of the top two lines. The Penguins have eight healthy defensemen tonight. Based on the rotation in the morning skate, Hal Gill and Alex Goligoski will be healthy scratches. Rangers Lineup (23-14-3-49) Naslund РGomez – Callahan Prucha РDrury and Dawes Korpikoski -, Dubinsky РZherdev; Sjostrom
What others are saying
The National media is sounding off on the Penguins struggles. King Drowning Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal writes, “The Pittsburgh Penguins are reeling after losing 10 of their last 14 games. When you get blown out 6-1 by the Florida Panthers for a fifth straight loss at home, there are serious problems. Sidney Crosby is obviously starting to feel the heat of being captain of a ship taking on water. He blew his stack and jumped Brett McLean, of all people, as he bent over in the faceoff circle for his second NHL fight (Andrew Ference was the first). Sources say Crosby misses Ryan Malone and Jarkko Ruuttu to look after the talking in the Pittsburgh room while he