First Call: Antonio Brown makes onstage return to Pittsburgh; Marc-Andre Fleury bounces back in playoffs
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Former Steeler Antonio Brown will soon return to Pittsburgh to show off his musical talents. Marc-Andre Fleury is back on the winning track in Minnesota. A pair of former Penguins are looking for new coaching jobs. We look at the other Eastern Conference playoff series besides Penguins-Rangers.
And the Pirates should have a chance for a few wins in a row.
All that in Thursday’s “First Call.”
Back in the ’Burgh
Antonio Brown is coming back to Pittsburgh.
Don’t worry. Not as a football player. He’ll be performing on stage and hosting at The Enclave on East Carson Street on May 20.
The GOAT @AB84 makes his return to the Burgh! Come party with us pic.twitter.com/S11vMZG46A
— Matt Light (@MattLight) May 4, 2022
Last month, A.B. released a rap album called “Paradigm.” And, boy, has he been packing ‘em in and making ‘em jump around at his live shows so far.
Antonio Brown’s music career is REALLY taking off!
The crowd is going WILD pic.twitter.com/ihARPFvBOk
— MyBookie – Bet With The Best (@MyBookie) April 23, 2022
Can’t you tell?
Flower is coming up roses
Marc-Andre Fleury had a strong rebound outing for the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night.
The former Penguins goaltender was between the pipes for a 6-2 Wild win in Game 2 of the team’s Western Conference first-round playoff series against the St. Louis Blues. Fleury and company lost Game 1 on Monday night, 4-0.
Fleury made 32 saves on 34 shots en route to the win.
OUR OWN MAY FLOWER pic.twitter.com/fCajoCgSDT
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) May 5, 2022
Kirill Kaprizov had a hat trick. Joel Eriksson Ek scored twice. Ex-Penguin Frederick Gaudreau had the other goal.
Bolts bounce back
As the Penguins wait until Thursday night to resume their best-of-seven series against the New York Rangers, two other series in the Eastern Conference have advanced to Game 3.
The Tampa Bay Lightning managed to even their series against the Toronto Maple Leafs at a game apiece during Game 2 on Wednesday night. The defending Stanley Cup champions scored a 5-3 victory in Toronto. Victor Hedman had a goal and three assists for the Lightning.
VICTOR HEDMAN, EVERYBODY pic.twitter.com/jMGp1ncaJr
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) May 5, 2022
Game 3 is in Tampa on Friday night.
So is Game 3 in the Carolina-Boston series. The Metropolitan Division champion Hurricanes are in total control so far. After winning 5-1 in Game 1 Monday, the Canes waltzed through Game 2 by a final score of 5-2.
Like the Penguins with Louis Domingue, Carolina got down to their third goalie — Pyotr Kochetkov. With about 12 minutes left in the first period, Carolina starter Antti Raanta got hurt in a collision with Boston’s David Pastrnak.
Antti Raanta leaves the game early after this collision: pic.twitter.com/vksicLbuLg
— ESPN (@espn) May 4, 2022
Kochetkov stopped 30 of 32 shots en route to the victory. And he made Brad Marchand mad.
Brad Marchand doing things pic.twitter.com/c1RombD4Ol
— The Hockey News (@TheHockeyNews) May 5, 2022
So, we like this kid already.
On the outs
A pair of former Penguins are out as assistant coaches with the New Jersey Devils.
Mark Recchi was fired, while the contract of Alain Nasreddine was not renewed.
General manager Tom Fitzgerald — a former Penguins executive — announced the decisions Wednesday, less than a week after New Jersey missed the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season and the ninth time in 10 years.
Lindy Ruff was named the head coach two years ago. That’s when Recchi was hired. Nasreddine has been with the Devils since 2015. He was an assistant and had been interim head coach after John Hynes was fired.
Ruff retained Nasreddine on his staff after taking over.
Oh, they really are that bad
Rarely are the Pirates going to be heavy favorites.
But for the next four games they might be. After all, they are playing the Cincinnati Reds. And, man, are they dreadful. They lost 18-4 to the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday night. Former Pirate Andrew McCutchen had four hits and four RBIs on the night.
The Reds are 3-21, by far the worst record in Major League Baseball. Every other team has at least eight victories so far.
Losers of eight in a row, Cincinnati has scored only 74 runs. With 89, the Pirates are the only other team with less than 90 in the National League.
The Reds’ run differential of minus-82 is easily the worst in the major leagues. Second-worst is the Kansas City Royals (minus-39).
Manager David Bell’s club has allowed 156 runs. The Washington Nationals (135) are the only other team to hit 130.
So, aside from all that, they’ve been great.
The Pirates (10-14) have an off-day Thursday. Then they face the Reds on Friday night, twice for a double header Saturday and again Sunday afternoon.