Plauderecke » helping the Penguins win their season-high seventh

PITTSBURGH -- The injury-ravaged Pittsburgh Penguins keep winning. Sidney Crosby scored his 20th goal of the season Saturday, helping the Penguins win their season-high seventh straight game, 4-3 over the Calgary Flames. "Winning always makes things better," Crosby said. "Theres no secret there. It doesnt matter what team you play on, winning solves everything." The Penguins, who lead the Eastern Conference with 55 points, played without star centre Evgeni Malkin and five of their top six defencemen for the fourth straight game, but that didnt stop them from winning their 10th straight at home and picking up their 12th victory in 13 games. "We do our best to chip in and get through this," Crosby said. "Its not common, youre not used to being in this situation, but just having the mindset of going out there to outwork the other team has done us well." Crosby, who had a goal and two assists, extended his season-high points streak to 10 games. He leads the league with 54 points. Pascal Dupuis added his seventh goal of the season, Harry Zolnierczyk scored his first with the team and James Neal added a goal. Mike Cammalleri scored his first goal in nine games for the Flames. Jiri Hudler netted his 10th, and Paul Byron had the other goal. The Flames have lost four straight and six of their last nine. "We never quit," Flames coach Bob Hartley said. "We kept going at the net. With a little luck, maybe we could have gotten the tying goal. Its a tough loss to swallow." Pittsburgh jumped to a two-goal lead and went up 4-1 on goals from Crosby and Neal. But Calgary scored twice -- Cammalleri with 45 seconds left in the second period and Hudler 1:03 into the third period to make it 4-3. The Flames came up empty on an ensuing power play and continued to press for the tying goal. Their best chance came with 6:25 remaining when Joe Colborne hit the post to the right of goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, who won his 21st game of the season. "They had more than one good opportunity around our net, and certainly the one that went off the post," Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said. Despite all their injuries, the Penguins have been better than any other team in the league since Nov. 18, registering the most wins and points during that span. Theyve done it playing from ahead too as Pittsburgh has trailed for just 3:12 in its past nine games. Dupuis and Zolnierczyk scored 1:19 apart midway through the first period, staking the Penguins to another early two-goal lead. The Penguins are an NHL-best 17-3 at home and 22-2 when scoring first. Malkin, who injured his left leg last Saturday at Detroit, skated the past two days and could return after Christmas. Penguins defenceman Rob Scuderi (broken ankle) and forward Tanner Glass (broken hand) also could return soon during an upcoming stretch in which Pittsburgh plays seven of its next nine on the road. Additionally, Penguins defenceman Brooks Orpik passed a concussion test Friday and practiced for the first time since Dec. 7 when he was pushed to the ice by Bruins forward Shawn Thornton. Thornton, who punched Orpik while he was down, was suspended by the NHL for 15 games. The Flames, who just finished a five-game road trip, could be without two key players when they return to Canada for a five-game homestand that starts Monday against St. Louis. Assistant captain Curtis Glencross left early in the first period, injuring his left knee after an awkward fall into the boards. Glencross, who needed assistance to the dressing room, remained on the ice until the whistle, but couldnt put weight on his leg. Flames defenceman Kris Russell, playing in his 400th career game, also left in the third period with a leg injury. Hartley did not have an injury update after the game, noting both will be evaluated on Sunday. "The fact that they didnt come back is not good news," Hartley said. "Theyre two great leaders, but at the same time there is nothing we can do about injuries." NOTES: The Penguins signed backup goalie Jeff Zatkoff to a two-year contract extension. ... The Flames scratched Blair Jones, T.J. Galiardi and Christopher Breen; Brian Gibbons sat for Pittsburgh. ... Pittsburgh travels to Ottawa on Monday. Taven Bryan Jaguars Jersey . And thats about it. After the Salukis 73-65 loss at Murray State on Tuesday night, Hinson called his players "uncoachable," "a bunch of mamas boys" and compared the disciplining of his young team to housebreaking a puppy. Jawaan Taylor Jersey . Calgary finished atop the CFL standings with a 14-4 record and earned the right to host the West Division final at McMahon Stadium on Nov. http://www.officialjacksonvillejaguarspro.com/Josh-allen-jaguars-jersey/ . Darren Collison and Blake Griffin scored 23 points apiece and the Clippers beat the Suns 112-108 Wednesday night, their fourth win in a row and 17th in the last 19 games. Josh Oliver Jersey . While the pair of Spain internationals return, midfielder Xavi Hernandez will not be included in the squad after failing to recover from a muscle strain to his left leg. Marqise Lee Jersey .C. -- Duke sophomore Rodney Hood is entering the NBA draft.FALL RIVER, Mass. - Aaron Hernandez was once one of the New England Patriots biggest stars. A tight end who caught passes from Tom Brady and helped land his team a spot in the Super Bowl, he had a $40 million contract and fans willing to shell out $100 apiece for jerseys bearing his name and team number: 81.On Friday, he goes on trial for murder. Those jerseys — indeed anything with a Patriots or NFL logo or even football-related insignia — have been banned from the courthouse by the judge overseeing the trial, a reflection of the sensitivity of the case and the intense interest in it.Hernandez is accused of killing Odin Lloyd, a 27-year-old semiprofessional football player from Boston who was dating the sister of Hernandezs fiancee. Lloyd was found shot to death June 17, 2013, in an industrial park near Hernandezs home in North Attleborough. Also charged with murder are two Hernandez friends: Carlos Ortiz and Ernest Wallace. Prosecutors havent said who pulled the trigger but said Hernandez orchestrated the killing. Ortiz and Wallace will be tried separately.More than 1,000 potential jurors are expected to fill out questionnaires Friday, Monday and Tuesday. Those answers will be read by prosecutors and Hernandezs defence team, who will tell the judge which jurors they hope to excuse. Those who remain in the pool will be questioned by the judge individually and out of the hearing of the media.Each side has 18 peremptory challenges, which allows them to exclude a juror for any reason. Otherwise, lawyers will need to give a valid reason for asking a judge to exclude a juror. The questioning will continue until 18 jurors have been chosen.Cameras arent allowed in the courthouse during jury selection but will be allowed once opening statements begin.J.W. Carney Jr., a Boston defence lawyer who represented crime boss James Whitey Bulger during his 2013 federal trial, says during jury selection, lawyers on both sides will want to listen to what a potential juror says and watcch their body language carefully.ddddddddddddIt can reflect whether the potential juror is being candid about difficult issues, he said. Most people would prefer to avoid jury duty. Others want to be selected when its a high-profile case. In both instances, they may give misleading answers to the court in order to accomplish their goals.Christopher Dearborn, an associate professor at Suffolk University Law School and former defence lawyer, says extensive news coverage of the case will make it more challenging to assemble an unbiased jury.If anybody says they have not heard about this case during the jury selection, they are lying, he said. If anybody says they havent formed an opinion about this case, they are lying.One of the defences goals during jury selection, Dearborn says, should be finding jurors who can still be objective, even if theyve heard about the case and perhaps have already formed an opinion about it. He said the same problems popped up in the Bulger trial and are happening now in the trial of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Jury selection in the bombing case is underway in federal court in Boston.High-profile cases are the one area where its challenging to have a completely fair trial in our judicial system, he said. The reality is that not everybody is completely honest about what theyve read and what opinions theyve formed when theyre interviewed during the jury selection process.Of the 18 people selected as jurors, six will be alternates. Jurors will learn whos an alternate before they begin deliberations; that process is done through a random lottery by selecting numbers from a wooden basket.The trial, expected to last six to 10 weeks, will not be the end of Hernandezs legal troubles. He faces separate murder charges in Boston, where he is accused of killing two men after one of them accidentally spilled a drink on Hernandez at a nightclub. The trial date has not yet been set.___Marcelo contributed from Boston. ' ' '