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MONTREAL — Sidney Crosby climbed the NHL career scoring list and Jansen Harkins scored the deciding goal in the 12th round of the shootout to give the Pittsburgh Penguins a 4-3 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday night.

The 12-round shootout is the longest in the NHL since Nov. 22, 2016, when the New York Islanders defeated the Anaheim Ducks. It’s the 11th shootout in NHL history to go at least 12 rounds.

Crosby had two goals and an assist to move past Paul Coffey and into a tie with former teammate Mark Recchi for 13th place on the NHL points list with 1,533.

“It goes by really quick,” Crosby, who had Recchi as a mentor when he entered the NHL 18 years ago, said about his career. “To be in company with Recchs, having played with him, having watched him here (in Montreal), I know the type of career he had and how good he was, how consistent he was.

“Definitely a compliment to be in company with him.”

Jake Guentzel also scored in regulation for the Penguins, who won their second straight after a four-game skid. Erik Karlsson had two assists and Alex Nedeljkovic finished with 39 saves.

“It’s always fun once it starts going, guys on the bench are starting to panic a little bit and hoping for a goal so they don’t get picked,” Karlsson said. “But at the same time it’s one of those things that guys get opportunities to take a penalty shot that otherwise they might have not, and Harks scored a goal for us.”

David Savard, Jayden Struble and Sean Monahan scored for Montreal, which has lost eight of its past nine at home. Sam Montembeault had 27 saves.

Montreal’s Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield and Pittsburgh’s Kris Letang and Crosby scored on the first four attempts of the shootout. The next eight skaters couldn’t convert until Monahan scored for the Canadiens and Lars Eller for the Penguins in the seventh round. Another nine skaters went before Harkins, who got only 4:24 of ice time, ended it.

“I don’t know if he’s taken a penalty shot before, let alone scored a goal,” Karlsson said. “So it’s a big moment for him.”

It was the longest shootout in Penguins history, with the previous record being nine rounds, and also the longest in Canadiens history (previous was 10). The shootout was first implemented by the NHL in 2005-06.

Montreal failed to score after spending almost an entire 4-on-3 overtime power play in Pittsburgh’s zone following Evgeni Malkin‘s tripping penalty.

Montreal built leads of 2-0 and 3-1 in the first period, before Pittsburgh scored twice in the second to tie the score.

“We had so many great moments,” Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said. “And then we shoot ourselves in the foot.”

With the Penguins on a power play, Guetzel got a pass from Crosby at the high slot and fired a shot past Montembeault to make it 3-2 at 5:36 of the middle period. It was Guentzel’s 13th goal of the season.

Crosby got his second of the night to tie it nearly 5½ minutes later with Pittsburgh’s second power-play tally. Crosby got a pass in the high slot from Karlsson and scored past Montembeault for his 17th with just under 9 minutes left in the second. That pulled him into a tie with Recchi.

Savard, playing in just his seventh game of the season, got the Canadiens on the scoreboard at 6:24 of the first period with his first.

Struble made it 2-0 with 7:39 left in the opening period as he beat Nedelkjovic from the right side for his second.

Crosby got the Penguins on the scoreboard 1:27 later as he backhanded a loose puck during a scramble on the left side. It tied him with Coffey (1,531) for 14th place.

Crosby is tied for the league lead with 14 even-strength goals this season.

“I understand how hard you have to work to play at this level,” Crosby said. “Each and every year I mean, the guys that are coming in are so skilled and so fast. It’s not easy, so a lot of work goes into it.”

The Canadiens retook a two-goal lead with a power-play goal with 4:40 left in the first. Mike Matheson‘s wrist shot from the post trickled through Nedeljkovic and landed on the goal line, where Monahan was on hand to tap it in.

ESPN Stats & Information and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Sale, Crochet named comeback players of year

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Sale, Crochet named comeback players of year

LAS VEGAS — Left-handers Chris Sale of the Atlanta Braves and Garrett Crochet of the Chicago White Sox won Major League Baseball’s Comeback Player of the Year awards on Thursday.

Cleveland right-hander Emmanuel Clase won his second AL Reliever of the Year award and St. Louis righty Ryan Helsley won the NL honor.

Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani joined David Ortiz as the only players to win four straight Outstanding Designated Hitter awards. Ohtani and the New York YankeesAaron Judge won Hank Aaron Awards as the outstanding offensive performers in their leagues.

Major League Baseball made the announcements at its All-MLB Awards Show.

Sale, 35, was 18-3 with a 2.38 ERA and 225 strikeouts in 177⅔ innings for the NL’s first pitching triple crown since the Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw in 2011. He earned his eighth All-Star selection and first since 2018.

Sale helped Boston to the 2018 World Series title but made just 56 starts from 2020-23, going 17-18 with a 4.86 ERA, 400 strikeouts and 79 walks over 298⅓ innings. He was acquired by Boston from the White Sox in December 2016 and made nine trips to the injured list with the Red Sox, mostly with shoulder and elbow ailments. He had Tommy John surgery on March 30, 2020, and returned to a big league mound on Aug. 14, 2021.

Sale fractured a rib while pitching in batting practice in February 2022 during the management lockout. On July 17, in his second start back, he broke his left pinkie finger when he was hit by a line drive off the bat of the Yankees’ Aaron Hicks. Sale broke his right wrist while riding a bicycle en route to lunch on Aug. 6, ending his season.

Crochet, 25, was 6-12 with a 3.58 ERA over 32 starts for a White Sox team that set a post-1900 record of 121 losses, becoming a first-time All-Star. He struck out 209 and walked 33 in 146 innings.

He had Tommy John surgery on April 5, 2022, and returned to the major leagues on May 18, 2023. Crochet had a 3.55 ERA in 13 relief appearances in 2023, and then joined the rotation this year.

Sale and Crochet were chosen in voting by MLB.com beat writers.

Clase and Helsley were unanimous picks by a panel that included Hall of Famers Trevor Hoffman, Mariano Rivera, Dennis Eckersley and Rollie Fingers, along with John Franco and Billy Wagner. The AL award is named after Rivera and the NL honor after Hoffman.

A three-time All-Star, Clase was 4-2 with a 0.61 ERA, 66 strikeouts and 10 walks in 74⅓ innings, holding batters to a .154 average. The 26-year-old converted 47 of 50 save chances, including his last 47.

Voting was based on the regular season. Clase was 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA in the playoffs, allowing three home runs, one more than his regular-season total.

Helsley, a two-time All-Star, was 7-4 with a 2.04 ERA and 49 saves in 53 chances. He struck out 79 and walked 23 in 66⅓ innings.

Ohtani became the first player with 50 or more homers and 50 or more stolen bases in a season. A two-way star limited to hitting following elbow surgery, Ohtani batted .310 and led the NL with 54 homers and 130 RBIs while stealing 59 bases.

Ortiz won the DH award five years in a row from 2003-07.

The DH award, named after Edgar Martinez, is picked in voting by team beat writers, broadcasters and public relations departments. MLB.com writers determined the finalists for the Aaron awards, and a fan vote was combined with picks from a panel of Hall of Famers and former winners to determine the selections.

Judge led the major leagues with 58 homers and 144 RBIs while hitting .322.

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QB Castellanos exits after losing BC starting job

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QB Castellanos exits after losing BC starting job

Boston College quarterback Thomas Castellanos, who lost his starting job earlier this week, will not be returning to the team, he announced Thursday night.

Castellanos, who started 12 games last season and retained the top job under new coach Bill O’Brien, wrote on X that “unfortunately, all good things come to an end, even though it’s sooner than I would like.” He did not mention the transfer portal in his departing message and has not officially entered it. The junior from Waycross, Georgia, started his career at UCF and appeared in five games in 2022.

O’Brien said Tuesday that Grayson James, who replaced Castellanos in last week’s win against Syracuse, will start Saturday when Boston College visits No. 14 SMU. Castellanos “wasn’t real thrilled” with the decision, O’Brien said, adding that the quarterback decided to step away from the team for several days.

Castellanos had 2,248 passing yards and 1,113 rushing yards last season under coach Jeff Hafley, passing for 15 touchdowns and adding 13 on the ground. He had 18 touchdown passes and only five interceptions this season, but his accuracy dipped in recent weeks, and he completed only 2 of 7 passes against Syracuse before being replaced.

In his statement, Castellanos thanked both coaching staffs he played for at Boston College and wrote that he had “some of the best experiences of my life in the Eagles Nest and I will truly cherish these memories forever.”

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Gators’ Lagway ‘ready to play,’ will start vs. LSU

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Gators' Lagway 'ready to play,' will start vs. LSU

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida quarterback DJ Lagway is “ready to play,” coach Billy Napier said Thursday on his weekly radio show.

Napier removed Lagway from the team’s injury report and penciled him in to start against No. 21 LSU in the Swamp on Saturday.

Lagway practiced every day this week while progressing from a strained left hamstring. The highly touted freshman was carted off the field against Georgia on Nov. 2. Tests revealed a “less significant” injury than initially feared, and now he’s back in time to face the Tigers.

The Gators (4-5, 2-4 Southeastern Conference) need him. They have to win two of their final three regular-season games to become bowl eligible.

LSU (6-3, 3-2) has struggled mightily against dual-threat QBs, including Alabama’s Jalen Milroe, who ran for 185 yards and four touchdowns last week.

Lagway returns after walk-on and Yale transfer Aidan Warner started in his place against Texas. Warner threw two interceptions and was 12-of-25 passing for 132 yards in a 49-17 loss.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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