Connect with us

Published

on

Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin put on a show in the regular-season finale Thursday night, showcasing their greatness in the Pittsburgh Penguins‘ 5-2 win over the Washington Capitals.

Ovechkin finished his record-breaking season by netting his 897th career goal in the second period. Crosby, meanwhile, finished his 20th season in the NHL with a goal and an assist to push him past the 90-point barrier for the ninth time.

“[Crosby and Ovechkin] are two of the greatest players of all time,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. “How fortunate are we that we get to see it up close and have for how many years now? The fact that they play in the same division is incredible because that rivalry between Washington and Pittsburgh, and between Ovi and Sid, has been so much fun just to witness up close.”

Pittsburgh saluted Ovechkin with a video congratulating him on becoming the NHL’s goal king. Ovechkin skated to center ice to acknowledge the crowd, which briefly broke out an “Ovi” chant, a sign of respect for one of the franchise’s biggest rivals.

The Penguins’ tributes to Ovechkin didn’t end there. After the game, Crosby and Evgeni Malkin caught up with Ovechkin outside Capitals’ locker room and gifted him with a Rolex.

The 73rd regular-season meeting between two of the game’s biggest stars was the rare one without stakes. The Capitals clinched the top seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs weeks ago. The rebuilding Penguins missed the postseason.

The Capitals will begin the quest for the franchise’s second Stanley Cup on Monday against the Montreal Canadiens.

“We’re just getting through the game, to be honest with you,” Washington coach Spencer Carbery said. “Moving forward and getting ready for Montreal.”

Bryan Rust scored twice to finish the season with a career-best 31 goals. His second goal came on an outstanding whip-around backhand feed from Crosby that gave Pittsburgh a 3-1 lead. Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 18 shots for the Penguins.

Ovechkin’s goal Thursday night moved him three clear of Wayne Gretzky, whose career record he smashed earlier this month.

Ovechkin, 39, scored 22 goals in the final 31 games, and his 44 goals this season tied Hall of Famer Gordie Howe for the most in a season by a player aged 39 or older.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Continue Reading

Sports

Pirates ball-crusher Cruz accepts HR Derby invite

Published

on

By

Pirates ball-crusher Cruz accepts HR Derby invite

Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder Oneil Cruz accepted an invitation on Tuesday to compete in Monday’s Home Run Derby in Atlanta.

Cruz is the fifth player to commit to the competition, held one day before the All-Star Game. The others are Ronald Acuna Jr. of the Atlanta Braves, Cal Raleigh of the Seattle Mariners, James Wood of the Washington Nationals and Byron Buxton of the Minnesota Twins.

Cruz, 26, is known for having a powerful bat and regularly delivers some of the hardest-hit homers in the sport. His home run May 25 at home against the Milwaukee Brewers had an exit velocity of 122.9 mph and was the hardest hit homer in the 10-year Statcast era.

But Cruz has never hit more than 21 in a season, and that was in 2024. He’s on track to set a new high this year and has 15 in 80 games.

Cruz has 55 career homers in 324 games with the Pirates.

Cruz will be the first Pittsburgh player to participate in the Derby since Josh Bell in 2019. Other Pirates to be part of the event were Bobby Bonilla (1990), Barry Bonds (1992), Jason Bay (2005), Andrew McCutchen (2012) and Pedro Alvarez (2013).

Overall, Cruz is batting just .203 this season but leads the National League with 28 steals.

Among the players to turn down an invite to the eight-player field are two-time champion Pete Alonso of the New York Mets, Kyle Schwarber of the Philadelphia Phillies and 2024 runner-up Bobby Witt Jr. of the Kansas City Royals.

Defending champion Teoscar Hernandez of the Los Angeles Dodgers recently turned down a spot as a consideration to nagging injuries.

Top power threats Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees and Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers also are expected to skip the event.

Continue Reading

Sports

Yanks moving Chisholm back to 2B after 3B stint

Published

on

By

Yanks moving Chisholm back to 2B after 3B stint

New York Yankees All-Star Jazz Chisholm Jr., after making 28 starts in a row at third base, is moving back to second base starting with Tuesday’s game against the Seattle Mariners, manager Aaron Boone said.

Boone confirmed the change on the “Talkin’ Yanks” podcast on Tuesday.

Chisholm, who is batting .245 with 15 home runs, 38 RBIs and 10 steals in 59 games, has recently been bothered by soreness in his right shoulder, which he said is an issue only on throws.

He said he prefers to play second base and prepared in the offseason to exclusively play in that spot before injuries played havoc with Boone’s lineup card, starting with Chisholm’s oblique injury in May.

Third baseman Oswaldo Cabrera went down with a season-ending ankle injury on May 12.

DJ LeMahieu manned second base while Chisholm was at third, but Boone has a better glove option in Oswald Peraza, a utility man with a stronger arm plus defensive skills across the infield.

LeMahieu, 36, is batting .266 with two home runs and 12 RBIs this season.

Continue Reading

Sports

White Sox reinstate OF Robert (hamstring) from IL

Published

on

By

White Sox reinstate OF Robert (hamstring) from IL

The Chicago White Sox reinstated outfielder Luis Robert Jr. (hamstring) from the 10-day injured list Tuesday.

Robert, 27, has struggled this season through career lows in batting average (.185), on-base percentage (.270) and slugging percentage (.313). Through 73 games, he has amassed just 16 extra-base hits (eight doubles, eight home runs) in 285 plate appearances.

He does have 22 stolen bases in 28 attempts and is just one shy of his career- high in steals.

In a corresponding move, the White Sox optioned infielder Tristan Gray to Triple-A Charlotte. Gray was just recalled before Monday night’s game but did not play.

Continue Reading

Trending