Trending
Islanders stop Penguins
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Adam Pelech beat Alex Nedeljkovic 57 seconds into overtime to lift the New York Islanders past the skidding Pittsburgh Penguins 5-4 on Tuesday night.
Pelech's winner was his first goal since last April as the Islanders recovered in the extra period after squandering a late lead.
Brock Nelson scored his 24th goal of the season for New York. Mathew Barzal, Simon Holmstrom and Mike Reilly also scored for the Islanders. Ilya Sorokin, beaten soundly in his first two games against Pittsburgh this season, stopped 37 shots for the Islanders.
New York improved to (4-3-3) since Patrick Roy replaced Lane Lambert as head coach a month ago.
Valtteri Puustinen and Drew O'Connor scored 54 seconds apart in the third period as the Penguins erased a two-goal deficit. Marcus Pettersson scored his third goal of the season for Pittsburgh. Lars Eller added his 10th for the Penguins. Nedeljkovic made 28 saves but couldn't get a handle on Pelech's winner.
Erik Karlsson became the 19th defenseman in NHL history to reach 800 career points when he recorded the secondary assist on Pettersson's one-timer from the right circle late in the first period.
The Penguins are 1-4-1 in their last six and are struggling to stay on the fringe of the playoff picture in the Eastern Conference thanks in large part to a power play that for all of its star power can't seem to generate much offense.
Pittsburgh is 30th in the league with the man advantage, and the sequence that set up Barzal's go-ahead goal in the second period served as a microcosm of their season. The Penguins passed the puck around the perimeter for almost the entirety of the two minutes rather than putting it on the net. New York managed to clear the puck just as Barzal emerged from the box and the winger raced in and beat Nedeljkovic over his glove to put the Islanders in front.
Holmstrom pushed the lead to 3-1 later in the period when he jammed a wraparound by Nedeljkovic 13:15 into the second. Eller's goal pulled the Penguins within one but when Reilly beat Nedeljkovic 10:42 into the third, it appeared Pittsburgh -- which had scored four goals just once since Jan. 11 -- was in trouble.
The Penguins, playing without second-leading scorer Jake Guentzel, out a month with an upper-body injury, responded in a way they rarely have of late.
Puustinen jabbed a loose puck by Sorokin 12:06 into the third and O'Connor received the kind of fortunate bounce that's been hard to come for Pittsburgh when his crossing pass intended for Pettersson at the far post redirected off New York's Anders Lee and by Sorokin to tie it and help Pittsburgh salvage a point in the standings.
Kent State falls to Ohio
ATHENS (AP) -- Jaylin Hunter had 13 points in Ohio's 63-57 victory against Kent State on Tuesday night.
Hunter shot 5 for 11 (0 for 4 from 3-point range) and 3 of 5 from the free-throw line for the Bobcats (14-12, 8-5 Mid-American Conference). Miles Brown finished 3 of 4 from the field to add 10 points. Aidan Hadaway and AJ Clayton added nine points apiece.
Jalen Sullinger and VonCameron Davis each scored 14 points to lead the Golden Flashes (13-13, 6-7). Chris Payton had nine points and six rebounds.
Toledo knocks off Akron
TOLEDO (AP) -- Sonny Wilson had 18 points in Toledo's 72-64 win against Akron on Tuesday night.
Wilson shot 7 of 11 from the field and 4 for 5 from the line for the Rockets (17-9, 11-2 Mid-American Conference). Tyler Cochran added 17 points while shooting 7 for 15, including 2 for 8 from beyond the arc, and he also had five rebounds and three steals. Ra'Heim Moss was 4 of 11 shooting, including 3 for 4 from 3-point range, and went 1 for 3 from the line to finish with 12 points.
The Zips (19-7, 11-2) were led in scoring by Greg Tribble, who finished with 19 points. Enrique Freeman added 14 points and 15 rebounds, and Ali Ali also had 14 points and seven rebounds.
Women's conference races heat up
The conference races are coming down the homestretch and while No. 1 South Carolina basically has run away with the Southeastern Conference, many of the other Power Five leagues are still up for grabs.
The Gamecocks have a three-game lead over LSU with four contests left for coach Dawn Staley's squad. LSU had been the preseason pick to win after South Carolina lost all five of its starters from last season. South Carolina can seal its fourth conference title in five years with two wins this week, over Alabama on Thursday and Kentucky on Sunday.
No. 3 Stanford also is in a good spot to win its 27th regular-season Pac-12 championship, holding a two-game lead over USC, Oregon State and Colorado. The Cardinal, who are playing their final season in the Pac-12 before joining the Atlantic Coast Conference next season, have a relatively easy schedule left, with home games against Arizona and Arizona State before traveling to face Oregon and Oregon State.
While South Carolina and Stanford both have cushions in their conferences, Virginia Tech, Ohio State and Oklahoma each have one-game leads in the ACC, Big Ten and Big 12, respectively.
The Hokies lead Syracuse by a game and North Carolina State by 1 1/2 games. Virginia Tech has three games left, facing North Carolina, Notre Dame and Virginia. The Orange play Duke, Pitt and N.C. State.
Oklahoma might be in the toughest race, and has a one-game advantage over Texas, West Virginia and Kansas State. The Sooner saw their nine-game winning streak end Saturday with a loss to the Mountaineers.
Kansas State and West Virginia play on Wednesday and Oklahoma hosts Texas on Feb. 28. Those two games could go a long way toward figuring out who will win the title.
Few teams have been hotter than Ohio State lately, as the Buckeyes have won 12 straight. They hold a one-game lead over Iowa for the lead in the Big Ten. Those two teams play again in Iowa City on March 3. Before that rematch, the Hawkeyes visit third-place Indiana on Thursday. The Hoosiers were tied for second until they lost to Illinois on Monday.
It's not just the major conferences that are tight. Here are a few mid-major conference that have a big week ahead.
MAC ATTACK
First place in the Mid-American Conference could be on the line Saturday when Ball State visits Toledo. The two teams are tied atop the standings at 11-1. Ball State took the first meeting by 14 points last month. Both teams have games on Wednesday before the weekend showdown.
BIG SKY SHOWDOWN
Northern Arizona and Eastern Washington are tied atop the Big Sky Conference at 11-2. They'll face off Thursday in Washington. The Lumberjacks won the first meeting in overtime at home.
IVY LEAGUE RACE
No. 25 Princeton has won 15 straight games and sits a game in front of Columba in the Ivy League standings. The Tigers won the first meeting last month, and the two teams play in New York on Saturday with first place in the conference on the line. They shared the regular-season title last year, the first in Columbia's history.
___
Get poll alerts and updates on AP Top 25 basketball throughout the season. Sign up here. AP women's college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball