BRIAN BOYLE

Danton Heinen’s first playoff goal in three years just past the midway point of the third period helped the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 7-4 victory over the New York Rangers.

Jake Guentzel scored twice, Sidney Crosby also had a goal and the Pittsburgh Penguins earned a playoff berth for the 16th straight season with a 6-3 victory over the New York Islanders on Thursday night. Guentzel scored his 36th and 37th goals and Crosby his 29th as the Penguins extended the longest active postseason streak among teams in major North American professional sports. Danton Heinen equaled a career high with his 16th goal, while Kris Letang and Brock McGinn also scored for Pittsburgh, which tied Calgary for the seventh-longest playoff streak in the NHL since 1967.

Sidney Crosby scored the second of his two goals at 2:21 of overtime for his 1,400th career point, helping the Pittsburgh Penguins snap a four-game losing streak with a 3-2 victory over the Nashville Predators.

The Pittsburgh Penguins won their 10th straight game with a 6-2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers.

The final three Pittsburgh goals were into an empty net. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman was in attendance as Tampa Bay unveiled its 2020-21 Stanley Cup banner during a pregame ceremony. Lightning coach Jon Cooper pulled Vasilevskiy with 6 minutes left and it paid off when Cirelli scored at 14:23. Bowman (Detroit 1997-98), Lightning coach Jon Cooper and Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan (2016-17) are the last three NHL coaches to win back to back Stanley Cups. RECORD-TYING WINSullivan tied Dan Bylsma for the most regular-season wins by a Pittsburgh coach with 252.

Tristan Jarry had 26 saves, Danton Heinen and Brian Boyle scored early second-period goals, and the short-handed Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning 6-2 in the regular-season opener.

RIGA, Latvia — (AP) — Trevor Moore and 18-year-old Matty Beniers scored in a 1:47 span midway through the second period to help the United States beat Latvia 4-2 on Thursday in the world hockey championship. “We’ve tried to get better each game. We’ve tried to earn our offense, and it’s paid off for us.”Miks Indrasis and Renard Krastenbergs had first-period goals for Latvia. The U.S. will face Norway on Saturday, Germany on Monday and complete group play Tuesday against Italy. In Group A, Switzerland routed Slovakia 8-1, and the Czech Republic beat Sweden 4-2.

As coronavirus cases are surging around the U.S., some colleges and universities are rethinking some of their plans for next semester. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)COLCHESTER, Vt. – St. Michael’s College managed to keep coronavirus cases at bay for almost two months this fall with students tested upon arrival and once every three weeks. By November, a total of 76 of the roughly 1,400 students on campus had tested positive, the school said. When students come back for the spring semester, St. Michael’s will begin testing them weekly. In the spring semester, Colby College in Maine wants to add some rapid antigen tests to twice-weekly tests for students, faculty and staff.