Bob Cupp

The Pittsburgh Penguins gave up a 3-1 third period lead and lost 4-3 in a shootout to the Columbus Blue Jackets last night. Rickard Rakell scored twice in the third period to give the Pens a two-goal lead. But, Columbus scored their second goal two minutes later and netted the game-tying goal on a late power play. The Blue Jackets outscored the Penguins 2-0 in the shootout.

The Slippery Rock University men’s basketball team had their seven-game winning streak snapped following a 94-63 loss on the road to California last night. The Rock shot 30% from the field and went just 4-for-23 on three-point shot attempts. Their record fell to 9-7 overall and 6-3 in the PSAC.

The College Football Playoff semifinal games begin tonight with Penn State and Notre Dame meeting in the Orange Bowl in Florida. Kick-off is 7:30pm. The game will be televised on ESPN.

The Pittsburgh Penguins host the Edmonton Oilers tonight at PPG Paints Arena. Face-off is 7pm. Pre-game on WISR is 6:30pm.

Wrestling: –Butler-58 Seneca Valley-12. Santino Sloboda and Kase Chopp were among the Butler winners. Sloboda improved to 12-0 this season. The Golden Tornado mat-men improved to 4-0 on the year. Butler will compete in the Mid-Winter Mayhem tournament featuring 64 teams Friday and Saturday at IUP.

Girls Basketball: –Seneca Valley-48 Woodland Hills-21. –Mars-62 New Castle-31. –North Catholic-65 Knoch-22. –Karns City-45 Moniteau-23. –Highlands-63 Freeport-53. –Hickory-38 Grove City-37.

Notre Dame won a College Football Playoff semifinal thriller 27-24 over Penn State last night in the Orange Bowl played in Florida. The Nittany Lions scored the first ten points of the game before the Fighting Irish hit a field goal at the end of the first half. Notre Dame would score 17 unanswered points, taking a 17-10 lead in the fourth quarter. But, Penn State came back with two touchdowns of their own. Notre Dame tied with game with just under five minutes remaining in the game, and hit a game-winning field goal with seven seconds remaining after picking off a Drew Allar pass in the final minute.

The Pittsburgh Steelers visit the Baltimore Ravens in the Wild Card Round of the NFL Playoffs which begin this weekend. It will be the third meeting of the season between the two AFC North Division rivals. They have split the first two games. Kick-off Saturday night is 8pm. Pre-game on WISR begins at 6pm.

A double-header of basketball on WBUT this evening when the Butler boys and girls meet Pine-Richland. Hear the girls game beginning at 5:50pm.

The Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Edmonton Oilers 5-3 last night at PPG Paints Arena. The Penguins scored the first three goals of the game in the opening period, and took a 5-1 lead early in the second period on a Sidney Crosby power play goal. Crosby ended with a three-point night. The Penguins captain as now passed Hall of Famer Joe Sakic for ninth place on the NHL’s all-time scoring list.