Seguin nets hat trick, Bruins romp 7-0 (AP)
TORONTO (AP)—Tyler Seguin(notes) scored his first-career hat trick and Tim Thomas(notes) made 24 saves for his first shutout of the season as the Boston Bruins beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 7-0 Saturday night. Milan Lucic(notes) added two goals and an assist for Boston, while David Krejci(notes) had a goal and two assists. Shawn Thornton(notes) also scored and Patrice Bergeron(notes) added three assists for the defending Stanley Cup champions, who seem be finding their game after a sluggish start to the season. With starting goalie James Reimer(notes) still out with concussion-like symptoms, Ben Scrivens(notes) was unable to repeat his stellar NHL debut Thursday when he stopped 38-of-39 shots in Toronto’s 4-1 win at Columbus. The Leafs rookie allowed five goals on 14 shots against the Bruins, who have won two in a row for the first time this season. Scrivens was replaced by Jonas Gustavsson(notes) after the fifth Boston goal. He finished with four saves and was jeered by the crowd in the third period after the seventh Boston goal. The Bruins took control early in the second when Seguin and Lucic scored 8 seconds apart. Seguin gave the Bruins a 2-0 lead just 34 seconds into the middle period with a great display of hand-eye coordination. The 19-year-old batted a deflected pass from Bergeron past a helpless Scrivens. Lucic stretched the Boston lead to three moments later off a great feed from Zdeno Chara(notes). The Bruins captain found Lucic with a tap-to-tap pass up the middle off the faceoff at center and the hulking winger split the Toronto defense before wiring a shot over Scrivens’ shoulder. Toronto coach Ron Wilson used his timeout after the goal, but it did little to stem the Boston tide as the Bruins continued to dominate play. Seguin, who took a big hit from Joey Crabb(notes) earlier in the period, completed his hat trick at 15:01 when he beat Scrivens with a snapshot shortside and Krejci made it 5-0 nothing just 14 seconds later off a feed from Lucic. That was the end of a disappointing night for Scrivens, who flew in family and friends from Alberta to see his first home game with Toronto. Lucic made it 6-0 off a pass from Krejci at 5:44 of the third and Thornton banged home his first of the season for Boston’s seventh 28 seconds later as boos rained down from the Air Canada Centre crowd. Seguin, drafted second overall by the Bruins with one of the picks acquired in the Phil Kessel(notes) trade, showed Maple Leafs fans his talent on a big stage. Kessel, meanwhile, continued to struggle against his former team, registering just two shots. Kessel has 10 goals and 11 assists on the season. He’s been held pointless just three times, including twice against Boston. The Bruins started the season 3-7-0 but beat Ottawa on Tuesday after back-to-back losses to Montreal and defeated another Northeast Division opponent in Toronto to get out of last place in the Eastern Conference. Boston took the lead on the power play at 6:23 of the first. With Crabb off in the box for holding, the Bruins worked it around nicely to Seguin, who wired a one-timer past Scrivens from the right faceoff dot. A sluggish opening period was a sign of things to come for the Leafs, who only got their legs moving as the period wore on. Jay Rosehill(notes) had a puck skip over his stick in front and Nikolai Kulemin(notes) couldn’t find the range off a scramble with Thomas out of position. Boston finished the night 1 for 2 on the power play, while Toronto was 0 for 3. NOTES: D Luke Schenn(notes), C Philippe Dupuis(notes) and RW Colton Orr(notes) were scratched by the Maple Leafs. … D Steven Kampfer and LW Benoit Pouliot(notes) sat out for Boston. … The Leafs wore their heritage jersey. … The Bruins spent Friday at the Hockey Hall of Fame signing autographs for fans. The team will also donate a Stanley Cup ring to the Hall. … Toronto C Tim Connolly(notes) needs one more point for 400 in his career.
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Browns’ Hillis out a third straight game (AP)
BEREA, Ohio (AP)—Browns starting running back Peyton Hillis(notes) was in sweats and not practicing with his teammates Wednesday. Earlier, Cleveland coach Pat Shurmur said he expected Hillis, who has missed the past two games with a hamstring injury, to take part in practice as the Browns (3-4) prepare for Sunday’s game at Houston. But as the team began its workout, Hillis walked back inside the team’s facility with injured teammates Mohamed Massaquoi(notes), Ray Ventrone(notes) and a trainer. Hillis did not return to the field during the portion of practice open to the media. Hillis, who rushed for nearly 1,200 yards last season, has sat out the past two games with a strained hamstring he injured on Oct. 16. He returned to practice for one day last week, but suffered a setback and missed Sunday’s 20-10 loss in San Francisco. Shurmur had anticipated Hillis doing some running. “He’s been running around, but the football stuff is different,” Shurmur said. “We’ll see how much he can do.” However, it didn’t appear Hillis was going to be doing anything in practice other than watch. He has been embroiled in controversies surrounding his contract and injuries all season, and right now the Browns need Hillis to get healthy. With backup Montario Hardesty(notes) out this week with a calf tear and possibly going to be miss several weeks, Chris Ogbonnaya(notes) is the only experienced back on Cleveland’s roster—and he has only been with the team since Oct. 18. On Tuesday, the team signed Thomas Clayton(notes) after a tryout. Shurmur was asked specifically if Hillis was letting down his teammates by not playing. His answer sidestepped that issue. “I think in terms of Hardesty being down, he competed hard. I feel bad for him because he battled,” Shurmur said. “In terms of guys coming back from injury, when you got a day-to-day situation, I’m hopeful every guy we have on the roster can be ready to go. But the reality is that’s not the case this time of year.” Massaquoi didn’t appear to be ready to practice after missing last week’s game with a concussion. He was also in sweats and did not have a helmet.
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Saints rout Colts 62-7 to set club marks (AP)
NEW ORLEANS (AP)—Drew Brees(notes) completed 31 of 35 passes for 325 yards and five touchdowns, and the New Orleans Saints set a franchise record for points and victory margin in a 62-7 demolition of the hapless Indianapolis Colts on Sunday night. For the first time as a head coach, Sean Payton spent the game up in the coaches’ booth, where he could sit comfortably with his broken left leg propped up. He called the plays from there and he had to like what he saw from his new vantage point. Brees had two touchdown passes to Marques Colston(notes) and one to Darren Sproles(notes) in the first quarter. His fourth and fifth touchdown tosses went to second-year tight end Jimmy Graham(notes) in the third quarter. It seemed the Saints could do whatever they wanted, also rushing for 236 yards. When the large video board in the Superdome showed Payton peering out from the booth, the crowd erupted. By the time the third quarter ended, there wasn’t much of a crowd left. Colston had seven catches for 98 yards. Brees wasn’t intercepted before he was replaced by Chase Daniel(notes) late in the third quarter, a move that prevented New Orleans’ starting quarterback from extending his NFL record of four straight games with at least 350 yards passing. Mark Ingram(notes) rushed for 91 yards on 18 carries but limped to the locker room early in the fourth quarter with an undisclosed injury. Sproles carried 12 times for 88 yards, including a 16-yard touchdown. The Saints had 557 yards and a team-record 36 first downs. Colts quarterback Curtis Painter(notes) was only 9 of 17 for 67 yards and had an interception returned 42 yards for a touchdown by Leigh Torrence(notes). For the seventh game this season, Colts star quarterback Peyton Manning(notes) was forced to watch because of a neck injury that has sidelined him all season. As hard as it had to be for Manning to be a spectator in his return to his native New Orleans, it had to be even harder to see his team’s mistake-prone performance. These Colts looked more like the bumbling Saints of old that his father, Archie, starred for three decades ago. Indianapolis fumbled twice in the opening quarter, giving the Saints a relatively short field both times. The first came on the opening drive on a botched snap that linebacker Jonathan Vilma(notes) recovered on the Colts 41-yard line. Brees then completed his first three passes, the last a 14-yard scoring strike to Colston, who made a leaping catch in front of defensive back Jerraud Powers(notes) to make it 7-0. The Saints then went 81 yards in six plays, including Pierre Thomas’s(notes) 57-yard gain on a screen pass, and took a 14-0 lead when Brees hit Colston again with a quick 4-yard throw over the middle. The Saints then took over on their 48 when defensive tackle Tom Johnson(notes) stripped rookie running back Delone Carter(notes), and Cam Jordan recovered. Sproles started the drive with a 16-yard run and finished it with a 6-yard touchdown catch. Brees’ 26-yard completion to Lance Moore(notes) ignited yet another touchdown drive, this one covering 69 yards in seven plays and ending with fullback Jed Collins’(notes) 1-yard score on a second-effort plunge through a pile of players. John Kasay(notes) added field goals of 23 and 47 yards. The second came as time expired in the half and was set up by Colston’s 39-yard reception. Indianapolis trailed 31-0 before scoring on Carter’s 2-yard run, capping a seven-play, 80-yard drive that was highlighted by Carter’s 42-yard scamper on the opening play.
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Bruins sign Peverley to 3-year extension (AP)
BOSTON (AP)—The Boston Bruins have signed center Rich Peverley(notes), a key member of last season’s Stanley Cup championship team, to a three-year contract extension. The team announced the deal on Tuesday that will keep Peverley under contract through the 2014-15 season. The 29-year-old forward was acquired by the Bruins from the former Atlanta Thrashers on Feb. 18. Peverley had four goals and three assists in 23 regular-season games, and added four goals and eight assists in the playoffs last season. Overall, he had 18 goals and 23 assists in 82 regular-season games with Atlanta and Boston. He has played in 276 career NHL regular-season games with Boston, Atlanta and Nashville and has 60 goals and 91 assists. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.
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