Pens beat Isles, extend playoff streak to 16 yrs.
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 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.
Zach Parise, Anders Lee and Zdeno Chara scored for the Islanders, who have lost three of their last five following a four-game winning streak.
AVERAGE MLB SALARY RISES
The average salary in the major leagues rebounded to $4.4 million on Opening Day, boosted by a frenzy of free agent signings before and after the 99-day lockout, according to a study of baseball contracts by The Associated Press.
The average of $4,414,184 was up 5.9% from the $4,167,164 at the start of last season and just below the record of $4,451,508 set in 2017, before the salary slide that angered players during the labor contract that expired last December.
Major League Baseball projects opening-day payrolls at about $4.5 billion, up almost 10% from the previous high of approximately $4.1 billion.
This year’s average would have been higher had active rosters not been expanded from 26 to 28 through May 1 following the shortened spring training.
The Los Angeles Dodgers top the major leagues at nearly $285 million, up from $241 million at the start of last season.
The Mets are second at $266 million in their second season under owner Steven Cohen, up from $186 million last year and $154 million in 2019, the last full season under the Wilpon and
Katz families.
The Yankees are third at just under $237 million, followed by Philadelphia ($224 million) and San Diego and Boston ($212 million each).
WATKINS TO PACKERS
Sammy Watkins is heading to Green Bay as the Packers attempt to rebuild their receiving corps after trading All-Pro Davante Adams.
The Packers have needed to upgrade at receiver since trading Adams to the Las Vegas Raiders for a first-round pick and a second-round selection in the draft at the end of the month.
Watkins has 348 career catches for 5,059 yards and 34 touchdowns, but much of that production came early in his career before he was hampered by injuries.