Weekday Morning Sports – 11/5/14

sportsreport

Sports Radio 1400 WSJM     @wsjmsports     wsjmsports.com     Wednesday, November 05, 2014

NHL – National Hockey League
Last Night
Ottawa Senators 3, Detroit Red Wings 1
Chicago Blackhawks 5, Montreal Canadiens 0

Senators 3, Red Wings 1 – Karlsson has goal, assist in Sens’ win over Wings
Erik Karlsson had a goal and an assist in the Ottawa Senators’ 3-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night. Patrick Wiercioch’s first goal of the season was the game winner. He moved in from the point and beat goalie Jimmy Howard with a wrist shot with less than six minutes to play.  Niklas Kronwall hit a post with a drive that could have tied the game just seconds later, but as the Red Wings pressed to get even, Clarke MacArthur scored into an empty net at 19:02 to give the Senators (6-3-2) the win. Henrik Zetterberg scored the lone goal for the Red Wings (6-3-3), putting a backhander past Craig Anderson at 3:34 of the third to make it 1-1.  Both teams had 32 shots.

Blackhawks 5, Canadiens 0 – Blackhawks’ Crawford blanks Canadiens 5-0
Kris Versteeg scored twice, and Corey Crawford made 28 saves in his 11th NHL shutout as the Chicago Blackhawks ended a two-game losing streak with a 5-0 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night. Jonathan Toews, netted his 200th NHL goal, and Brad Richards and Patrick Kane also scored for Chicago (7-5-1), which came off a 1-0 home loss to Winnipeg on Sunday. It was the first shutout of the season for Crawford, a Montreal native. The Canadiens (8-4-1), winless in three games and 1-3-1 in their last five, absorbed a second straight lopsided defeat at home, following a 6-2 loss to Calgary on Sunday. Carey Price made 27 saves. Montreal’s P.A. Parenteau, David Desharnais and Brendan Gallagher all missed early chances before Toews put Chicago ahead with a power-play goal at 11:19. The Blackhawks captain deflected in Duncan Keith’s point shot.

Tonight
Detroit Red Wings at New York Rangers, 8:00 p.m.

NHL – Hall of Famer improving
Gordie Howe’s family says the 86-year-old hockey Hall of Famer who had a stroke last month has been “recovering at a remarkable rate” over the past week. The family released a statement through the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night. The family cited improvements in Howe’s speech and his ability to walk with the assistance of a walker, and thanked “friends and fans worldwide for their prayers and incredible outpouring of support.”

NBA – National Basketball Association
Last Night
Chicago Bulls 98, Orlando Magic 90

Bulls 98, Magic 90 – Bulls beat Magic 98-90 without Rose, Noah
Pau Gasol had 16 points and 13 rebounds, and the Chicago Bulls beat the winless Orlando Magic 98-90 on Tuesday night despite playing without Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah. Jimmy Butler led the Bulls with 21 points and Taj Gibson added 16 for Chicago, which finally pulled away in the final minutes of a game that was tied after three quarters. Rose missed his second straight game after injuring both ankles Friday against Cleveland. He took part in the morning shootaround and was listed as probable to play, but was taken out of the starting lineup about a half hour before the game after going through warmups.  Noah was ill. Tobias Harris scored 21 points and Nikola Vucevic had 19 points and 13 rebounds for Orlando, which is 0-4 for the first time since dropping its first six in 1990-91.

Tonight
New York Knicks at Detroit Pistons, 7:30 p.m.
Chicago Bulls at Milwaukee Bucks, 8:00 p.m

NCAA Football – Spartans, Buckeyes can put up points
Solid defense, conservative offense _ and punts aplenty. Fair or not, that’s still the stereotype of Big Ten football _ but Michigan State and Ohio State aren’t playing along. The seventh-ranked Spartans host the 13th-ranked Buckeyes this weekend in what may be the conference’s most anticipated game all year. The winner has the inside track to the East Division title, would be the lone Big Ten team without a league loss and will remain very much in the mix for college football’s four-team playoff. And stylistically, the way these teams reached this point is noteworthy. Ohio State is fourth in the nation in scoring average at 45.6 points. Michigan State is fifth at 45.5.

NCAA Football – Notre Dame looks to replace linebacker Schmidt
Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly says the eighth-ranked Fighting Irish are experimenting with ways to replace the leadership of middle linebacker Joe Schmidt. The senior fractured and dislocated left ankle in a 49-39 victory over Navy on Saturday. He had been in charge making sure the Irish were in the right defense and lined up correctly.  Kelly says he isn’t sure who will be taking over those duties with freshman Nyles Morgan taking Schmidt’s spot and two sophomores filling the other two linebacker slots. The loss of Schmidt couldn’t come at a more inopportune time. The Irish (7-1) have given up 30 or more points for three straight games and are facing No. 11 Arizona State (7-1), which is averaging 483 yards a game in total offense.

NFL – Ex-NFL/Notre Dame player charged with sexual assault
Former New York Giants and Tampa Bay Buccaneers player Luke Petitgout has been charged with assault and sexual assault in New Jersey. Petitgout’s attorney, Patrick J. Jennings, said Tuesday the allegations are baseless and he intends to vigorously defend the former offensive lineman. Petitgout was being held on $50,000 bail in the Bergen County jail. Jennings says he expects him to be released soon. The charges were filed in Pascack Joint Municipal Court on Tuesday. Prosecutors didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking details of the alleged crimes. Petitgout had a misdemeanor harassment case against him dropped in New York last year after his wife accused him of hitting her.  Petitgout played college football at Notre Dame and spent eight seasons with the Giants and one with the Buccaneers.

NCAA Women’s Basketball – Exhibition
Tonight
Ferris State at (3) Notre Dame, 7:00 p.m.   –Ferris State’s Katie Mavis (Jr./Guard)  St. Joseph High School Alum.

NFL – Vikings’ Peterson avoids jail in plea agreement
Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson avoided jail time with a plea agreement reached with prosecutors to resolve his child abuse case. Peterson was indicted in September on a felony charge of injury to a child for using a wooden switch to discipline his 4-year-old son earlier this year. His chances of playing again in the NFL this season are unclear.

NASCAR – NASCAR penalizes 6 Hendrick crew members for fight
Brad Keselowski and Jeff Gordon have avoided any penalty from NASCAR for their post-race altercation at Texas, but two crew chiefs and four crew members from Hendrick Motorsports have been punished for their roles in the brawl. NASCAR suspended three Hendrick crew members for six races on Tuesday and fined them each $25,000. A fourth Hendrick crew member was fined $10,000 and suspended for three races. Gordon crew chief Alan Gustafson and Kasey Kahne crew chief Kenny Francis were each fined $50,000 and placed on probation for six races.  Hendrick Motorsports said it would not appeal, and the punished team members would not face further sanctions from the organization.  The fight began when Gordon confronted Keselowski on pit road after the race.

Derek Jeter, Tom Izzo join Michigan Hall of Fame
Derek Jeter and Tom Izzo are among the eight new inductees to the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame announced the 2015 class Tuesday on the campus at Michigan State, where Izzo is entering his 20th season as the Spartans’ basketball coach. Jeter went to high school in Kalamazoo before becoming a star for the New York Yankees. The rest of the new class includes hockey stars Sergei Fedorov and Mike Modano, baseball Hall of Famer Barry Larkin, Olympic gold medalist Sheila Taormina, bowler Aleta Sill and former Detroit Lions defensive tackle Doug English.

MLB – Cubs agree to $4M, 1-year deal with LHP Wada
The Chicago Cubs agreed to a $4 million, one-year contract with left-hander Tsuyoshi Wada (WAH’-duh). He made his major league debut in July and went 4-4 with a 3.25 ERA in 13 starts with the Cubs. Wada played nine years in the Japan Pacific League before signing an $8.15 million, two-year contract with Baltimore before the 2012 season. He developed elbow soreness that spring and had elbow-ligament reconstruction surgery after a tear was discovered following a rehabilitation outing for Triple-A Norfolk.

MLB – Feds: A-Rod paid off cousin
The U.S. government says the Yankees Alex Rodriguez gave his cousin nearly $1 million last year to keep secret Rodriguez’s use of performance enhancing drugs.  In court documents filed last week in Miami, federal prosecutors said Rodriguez made four wire payments totaling $900,000 between June 2013 and September 2013 to settle a threatened lawsuit by Yuri Sucart, who had worked as Rodriguez’s personal assistant.

AHL – American Hockey League
Today
Chicago Wolves at Grand Rapids Griffins, 11:00 a.m.

ECHL – East Coast Hockey League
Tonight
Toledo Walleye 4, South Carolina Stingrays 3 – Shootout

MHSAA – High School Sports
Last Night
Girls Volleyball – Districts
Class A at Portage Central (round 1 at local sites)
Mattawan 3, St. Joseph 0
Niles 3, Portage Northern 1
Portage Central 3, Kalamazoo Central 1

Tonight
Girls Volleyball – Districts – District Semifinals
Class B at Dowagiac
Buchanan vs. Berrien Springs, 5:00 p.m.
Dowagiac vs. Coloma, 7:00 p.m.

Class B at Allegan
South Haven vs. Otsego, 5:00 p.m.
Paw Paw vs. Plainwell, 7:00 p.m.

Class B at Sturgis
Vicksburg vs. Coldwater, 6:00 p.m.
Edwardsburg vs. Sturgis, 7:30 p.m.

Class C at Gobles
Bangor vs. Kalamazoo Hackett, 5:30 p.m.
Gobles vs. Bloomingdale, 7:00 p.m.

Class C at Cassopolis
Watervliet vs. New Buffalo, 5:00 p.m.
Brandywine vs. Bridgman, 7:00 p.m.

Class C at Lawton
Decatur vs. Constantine, 5:00 p.m.
White Pigeon vs. Schoolcraft, 6:30 p.m.

Class C at Grand Rapids Northpointe Christian
Saugatuck vs. G.R. Calvin Chr., 5:30 p.m.
Fennville vs. G.R. Northpointe Chr., 7:00 p.m.

Class D at River Valley
Mich. Lutheran vs. Lake Mich. Catholic, 6 p.m.
River Valley vs. Lawrence, 7:30 p.m.

Class D at Athens
Howardsville Chr. vs. Mendon, 5:30 p.m.
Athens vs. Burr Oak, 7:00 p.m.