First Call: Odds to land Deebo Samuel have Steelers in top 10; Alex Ovechkin injured; MLB player explodes at ump

Monday’s “First Call” puts the Pittsburgh Steelers into the mix for Deebo Samuel. We also look at the NHL’s Eastern Conference standings and an injury to Alex Ovechkin.

Plus, one MLB player in Philadelphia has an all-time classic meltdown over balls and strikes.

In the hunt?

What are the odds of the Steelers acquiring disgruntled star wide receiver Deebo Samuel? The San Francisco 49ers Pro Bowler has already asked for a trade, and now a gambling outlet has the Steelers in the top 10 odds to get him.

According to BetOnline.ag, the Steelers are tied with the Atlanta Falcons and Detroit Lions as the eighth-best odds to nab the wideout at 12/1. The Indianapolis Colts lead the bunch with 9/2 odds, followed by the New York Jets (5/1), Kansas City Chiefs and New Orleans Saints (11/2), Green Bay Packers (6/1), Philadelphia Eagles (8/1) and Baltimore Ravens at 10/1.

Those odds are in line with what NFL.com’s Kevin Patra recently posted. Last week, he came up with a top 10 list of potential destinations for Samuel. He put the Steelers eighth.

“At the dawn of the post-Ben Roethlisberger era, what better way to bolster Mitchell Trubisky (or a rookie QB) than by adding a receiver who can get hidden yardage after the catch,” Patra said. “Pittsburgh doesn’t traditionally make splashes on offense, but as we get into a new era of Steelers football, snagging Deebo would immediately keep Mike Tomlin’s club a contender. Samuel and Diontae Johnson would be a dangerous duo for any defense, simultaneously buffering the next full-time signal-caller.”

All true. But the Steelers would have to meet San Francisco’s asking price in terms of talent-return. And they may need to meet Samuel’s asking price on a new contract as well. He is entering the final year of his first deal.

Also, if the Steelers are in love with how much Samuel moves around on the field, Samuel apparently isn’t. Part of Samuel’s unhappiness in San Francisco is how much he was asked to carry the ball in the ground game. Samuel carried the ball 59 times on top of 77 receptions.

Part of the reason San Francisco’s asking price could be huge is Samuel’s versatility. But now he is talking like a guy who just wants to be a wide receiver.

Ovechkin hurt

The Penguins lost to the Philadelphia Flyers 4-1 on Sunday afternoon. They also failed to maintain their separation from the Washington Capitals for third place in the Metropolitan Division.

The Caps fell 4-3 to the Toronto Maple Leafs but managed to grab a point because they took the game to a shootout before losing.

So the Penguins are in third with 101 points. The Caps are in fourth place with 100 points — currently the Eastern conference’s second wild card — with three games left. The Pens have two remaining.

A piece of bad news in Washington is that Alexander Ovechkin left the game with an upper-body injury after crashing hard into the end boards on a breakaway.

Alex Ovechkin is out for the remainder of the game after taking this hard fall in the third period. pic.twitter.com/UbCpA6MfDg

— ESPN (@espn) April 25, 2022

Ovechkin has 50 goals this season. His status for two remaining games against the New York Islanders and one more against the Rangers is unknown.

As for the Metro-leading Carolina Hurricanes (112 points), they won 5-2 over the Islanders. That’s their fourth consecutive win, extending their edge over the second-place New York Rangers (108 points) to four points. Carolina has two games left, including a visit to Madison Square Garden to face the Rangers on Tuesday night. New York has three games remaining.

Streak snapped

The Florida Panthers finally lost a hockey game. And they did so in grand style to an in-state rival.

The Tampa Bay Lightning drilled the Panthers 8-4, stopping Florida’s win streak at 13. Nick Paul, Steven Stamkos and Nakita Kucherov each had a pair of goals, including a beauty between-the-legs goal from Paul.

Would you look at that, Nick Paul takes it. @NewAmsterdam | #GoBolts pic.twitter.com/6efTF8DByH

— x - Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) April 25, 2022

The Panthers have already sewn up home ice advantage in the East with 120 points. The Maple Leafs are second in the Atlantic Division with 111, Tampa is third with 106 and the Boston Bruins have the top wild card with 103.

This is the second time in three games that the Lightning have scored eight goals. They have 36 in their last six games.

Make the most of it

The Philadelphia Phillies lost a 1-0 contest at home to the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday, and they were not happy with umpire Angel Hernandez.

Philadelphia’s Kyle Schwarber took a strike three off the plate in the ninth, and he lost his mind during an argument with Hernandez.

Kyle Schwarber was not happy with this called third strike. pic.twitter.com/WSjs5LyYDQ

— ESPN (@espn) April 25, 2022

Hernandez is renowned for being one of the most inconsistent umpires in MLB when it comes to managing a strike zone. And you could tell by the body language and lip-reading, Schwarber was suggesting Hernandez was missing all over the plate.