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NHL: Bruins Face LA Kings Tonight

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Boston at Los Angeles
When: 10:30 PM ET, Thursday, February 23, 2017
Where: Staples Center, Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES – The Boston Bruins aim to reclaim a postseason position Thursday as they continue their four-game road trip against the Los Angeles Kings. Boston fell to 1-1-0 on its trek and had its four-game overall winning streak snapped with a 5-3 setback in Anaheim on Wednesday, falling out of the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference in the process.

Frank Vatrano continued his hot play against the Ducks, scoring a goal and setting up another to give him three tallies and three assists over his last four contests. Los Angeles looks to begin a winning streak after halting a three-game slide with a 2-1 triumph at Colorado on Tuesday. Trevor Lewis snapped a 1-1 tie in the second period to end his nine-game goal-scoring drought as the Kings remained two points behind Calgary for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference. Boston is hoping to complete a sweep of the two-game season series after posting a 1-0 home victory Dec. 18 behind Jimmy Hayes’ goal and Tuukka Rask’s 18 saves.

TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, Sportsnet, NESN (Boston), FSN West (Los Angeles)

ABOUT THE BRUINS (30-24-6): Brad Marchand, who leads the team with 59 points, was kept off the scoresheet Wednesday for just the second time in his last 10 contests. The 28-year-old left wing, has collected eight goals and six assists in that span. Marchand and David Pastrnak are tied for the team lead with 25 goals apiece, making Boston one of three teams (Pittsburgh, Winnipeg) with two players who have reached the plateau.

ABOUT THE KINGS (29-26-4): Tyler Toffoli scored his 10th goal of 2016-17 on Tuesday, joining Jeff Carter (29) and Tanner Pearson (19) as the only members of the team in double digits. Darryl Sutter can become the winningest coach in franchise history Thursday as he enters the contest tied with Andy Murray for first place with 215 victories. Sutter will be coaching his 1,263rd NHL game, which will move him past Jacques Lemaire for sole possession of 13th place on the all-time list.

OVERTIME

1. The Kings placed G Jeff Zatkoff, who is 2-7-1 with an .879 save percentage in 13 games this season, on waivers Wednesday.

2. Boston C Dominic Moore, who is mired in a 26-game drought, needs three goals to reach 100 in the NHL.

3. Los Angeles RW Dustin Brown is three points shy of 500 for his career.

Big East: DePaul Upsets Georgetown

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DePaul 67, Georgetown 65
When: 7:00 PM ET, Wednesday, February 22, 2017
Where: Verizon Center, Washington, DC
Attendance: 7,896

WASH DC – (Special to Digital Sports Desk by The Sports Xchange) – Billy Garrett made two free throws with 0.2 seconds remaining to lift visiting DePaul to a 67-65 Big East victory over Georgetown on Wednesday night, snapping the Blue Demons’ 10-game losing streak. Garrett took the inbounds pass with 4.9 seconds left and drove the length of the floor before drawing contact from the Hoyas’ Akoy Agau on his layup attempt a split second before the buzzer sounded.

Garrett led DePaul (9-19, 2-13 in Big East) with 15 points, but the winning free throws were his only tallies in the second half. Tre’Darius McCallum scored all 13 of his points after halftime, including consecutive layups to tied it at 65 with 29.7 seconds left.

R.J. Curington added a season-high 14 points as DePaul snapped a 16-game losing streak when playing on the road or neutral courts.

Georgetown (14-14, 5-10) was paced by Jessie Govan’s 18 points. Rodney Pryor contributed 14 points and Marcus Derrickson added 11.

The Hoyas bolted to an 11-3 lead in the opening three minutes and built it all the way to 14 points midway through the first half.

Instead of folding, the Blue Demons kept pushing and reeled off a 17-2 run to close the first half. Levi Cook’s put back and free throw with 1:47 left pulled DePaul into a 36-36 tie.

Then came the most dramatic sequence of the half: The 6-foot-5 Curington soared to reject the 6-10 Govan’s dunk attempt, got up off the floor, hustled to the other end and buried a 3-pointer to give DePaul a 39-36 lead at the break. Curington scored 8 points in the first half despite entering the night with just 10 points in Big East play.

DePaul’s Eli Cain opened the second half with two driving. Govan’s putback at the 18:04 mark snapped DePaul’s 15-0 run and a 5:11 scoreless streak.

Shortly thereafter, the Hoyas went on a quick 8-0 spree that regained the lead for the hosts. Neither team could make more than a brief run, which ensured a dramatic finish.

Big East: Friars Earns Big Road Win

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Providence 68, Creighton 66
When: 9:00 PM ET, Wednesday, February 22, 2017
Where: CenturyLink Center Omaha
Attendance: 17,382

OMAHA – (Special to Digital Sports Desk by The Sports Xchange) – Unable to maintain a lead throughout the second half, Providence pulled ahead when it counted most Wednesday as the Friars scored a 68-66 Big East Conference upset over No. 23 Creighton.

A 23-foot 3-pointer from the right wing by Kyron Cartwright with three seconds remaining was the shot that gave the Friars (17-11, 7-8 Big East) the winning points before an announced crowd of 17,382 at CenturyLink Center.

The loss was a blow to the Bluejays (22-7, 9-7 Big East) hope of securing a first-round bye in the March 8-11 Big East Conference tournament with three games remaining in the regular season.

Creighton didn’t make a field goal in the final 3:32 of the game while Providence had just one field goal in the final 5:44, and that was Cartwright’s game winner. The two teams combined to score just four points in the final 3:12.

“Thirty points on our home floor in the second half, we have to score more than that,” Creighton coach Greg McDermott said. “They shot the daylights out of the basketball from the 3-point line.”

Providence won the game at the free throw line, making 11 of 13 in the second half. The Friars also were 12-of-24 from 3-point range, one of their highest totals of the season from beyond the arc.

However they got it, Friars coach Ed Cooley said it was an important victory.

“I would say it’s the biggest win of the season so far given the circumstances which we’re in,” Cooley said. “Battling in our league with Seton Hall, and Marquette playing as well as they are. We’re right there in the middle of the pack. We’re just trying to continue to improve, and hopefully at the end we’re one of the schools invited to the big dance.”

Providence opened the second half by scoring the first eight points to erase Creighton’s seven-point halftime advantage and take a 37-36 lead, their first in nearly 12 minutes.

Over the next six minutes, the lead changed hands three times and was tied at three other junctures before the Bluejays created some space with five straight points for a 50-45 lead.

Creighton’s lead got to seven before the Friars once again battled back, getting within 56-55 on a 3-pointer by Emmitt Holt.

It was Holt that the Jays had the most trouble stopping in the second half. After going scoreless in the first period, the 6-foot-7 junior from Webster, N.Y., finished with a team-high 18 points.

Points were tough to come by for both teams in the final five minutes. Creighton’s lead didn’t grow more than five points, but the Friars continued to battle and found ways to scratch out baskets until Cartwright’s game winner.

Cartwright added 13 points and Rodney Bullock scored 10 to go with Holt’s 18 points. Marcus Foster led three Creighton players in double figures with 18. Justin Patton added 17 points and Khyri Thomas finished with 12 points and a team-high nine rebounds.

The Bluejays got off to a rough start from the field while Providence was better early from 3-point range than inside the arc while building a 20-12 lead.

Providence was 6-of-8 from 3-point range in the first nine minutes; Cartwright led the way with two of those 3-pointers. Meanwhile, the Bluejays were struggling from all spots on the floor and were just 5-of-13 overall during that same stretch.

Fortunes of the two teams quickly changed when Creighton went on a 21-1 run over the next 7:24, turning an eight-point deficit into a 33-21 lead. The Bluejays were 9-of-14 from the field while the Friars missed 10 of their next 11 shots.

Isaiah Jackson ended the field-goal drought for Providence with 3:18 remaining before halftime on a layup that cut Creighton’s lead to 33-23.

Zach Hanson had five of his seven first-half points during that stretch. Foster also accounted for five points during that run before Providence whittled its halftime deficit to 36-29.

NOTES: Creighton G Maurice Watson, Jr. was suspended from all the school’s athletic-related activities, the school announced Wednesday in a press release. The senior from Philadelphia was not with the team on the bench during Sunday’s victory over Georgetown. Watson hasn’t played for the Jays since suffering a torn ACL during the Bluejays’ Jan. 16 victory at Xavier. The announcement also said Watson won’t participate in Senior Day festivities that are a part of Creighton’s Feb. 28 game against St. John’s. … More NBA scouts were on hand for the Providence game after six were courtside for Sunday’s victory over Georgetown. Teams represented Wednesday night were Utah, Indiana, Philadelphia and Miami.

Baseball Beanpot at Fenway Park

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BOSTON – (Staff Report from Official News Release) – Fenway Park will host this year’s Baseball Beanpot on Wednesday, April 19. The college baseball doubleheader will feature teams from Boston College, Harvard University, Northeastern University, and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
The day will begin with the consolation game at 3 p.m. followed by the Beanpot Championship game approximately 45 minutes after the conclusion of Game 1. Ballpark gates will open at 2 p.m.

Tickets go on sale today, Wednesday, February 22, at noon online at redsox.com/beanpot or by phone at (877) REDSOX-9. Fans with disabilities may call (877) REDSOX-9 to purchase accessible seating (while supplies last). The Red Sox TTY number for hearing-impaired fans is (617) 226-6644.

Tickets are general admission and priced at $10 each. Net proceeds will benefit the Pete Frates #3 Fund, named after the former Division 1 college athlete who was Captain of the Boston College Baseball team and diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Frates is also the creator of the popular ice bucket challenge in 2014, which raised millions for ALS research.

Big East: Key Games Dot Schedule

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VILLANOVA – (Staff Report from Official News Release) – Eight of the 10 BIG EAST teams are in action Wednesday and each matchup holds critical meaning for postseason tournament seeding and NCAA Tournament aspirations.

No. 2/2 Villanova will try to avenge one of its two losses when it hosts No. 22/22 Butler at The Pavilion at 9 p.m. on FS1. The Wildcats lost to the Bulldogs 66-58 on Jan. 4 at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Butler ended that game with a 15-6 run. The Bulldogs (21-6, 10-5) have had a balanced scoring attack with eight players averaging between 12.8 and 5.9 points per game in league play. Villanova leads the series 7-1 and has won 48 straight games at The Pavilion. A win gives the Wildcats a record fourth-straight outright league title.

Xavier plays at Seton Hall at 7 p.m. ET on FS1 with both teams looking to bounce back from Saturday losses. The Musketeers (18-9, 8-6 BIG EAST) have lost their two games since Trevon Bluiett has been sidelined with an ankle injury. The Pirates (16-10, 6-8) lost to Villanova on Saturday. Xavier won the first meeting 72-70 at Cintas Center on Feb. 1 when Bluiett scored the winning basket with 4.4 seconds left. In the series, Seton Hall is 6-0 at home against Xavier.

Georgetown’s aim is to stay closer to the middle of the standings when it hosts DePaul at 7 p.m. on CBS Sports Network. The Hoyas are 14-13 overall and 5-9 in the BIG EAST. DePaul is 8-19 and 1-13. The first meeting went down to the final shot as Georgetown took a 76-73 decision at Allstate Arena on Jan. 31. GU’s Rodney Pryor scored a game-high 26 points, while DePaul’s Billy Garrett Jr. had 25 points.

No. 23/23 Creighton, a half-game behind Butler in the standings at 9-5, hosts Providence (16-11, 6-8) on FSN at 8 p.m. The Bluejays’ Marcus Foster is coming off a 35-point game in Sunday’s 87-70 win against Georgetown. Creighton ranks second nationally in field goal shooting, making 52.2 percent. The Friars are led by Rodney Bullock in scoring (16.7) and rebounding (6.1). Providence has won six of the last eight meetings since the two teams have played as BIG EAST members.

In Tuesday’s lone contest, Marquette (17-10, 8-7) defeated visiting St. John’s 93-71 on the strength of 12-of-24 shooting from 3-point range. The Golden Eagles set the school record for 3-pointers made in a season with 275. Freshman Sam Hauser led MU with 19 points and Matt Heldt posted his first career double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. For St. John’s (12-16, 6-9), Bashir Ahmed scored a game-high 21 points.

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