a 96-82 decision

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COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Pittsburgh Penguins are on a record pace halfway through the season. Imagine what they might do if they get healthy. James Neal scored three times and had two assists, and Sidney Crosby added the go-ahead goal and set up two other tallies to lead the Penguins past the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-3 on Sunday night. "With the injuries weve had, the guys have come in, and the job theyve done is a big reason why weve had a decent first half," Crosby said after the Penguins improved to 29-11-1. "We were at a point where we started to lose guys and it could have gone either way. But weve found a way to survive." Not only survive, but flourish. Their 29 wins eclipsed the previous franchise record for victories through 41 games, snapping a tie with the 1992-93 team which won a franchise-record 56 games and the Stanley Cup. The Penguins 59 points are just one behind that team that was led by Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr. The Penguins are on pace for 58-22-2 record -- again just a point behind the club mark of 119 put up by the 92-93 team. The Penguins have done it despite losing defencemen Rob Scuderi, Brooks Orpik, Kris Letang and Paul Martin for extended stretches, along with forwards Pascal Dupuis, Chuck Kobasew and superstar Evgeni Malkin, along with backup goalie Tomas Vokoun. "The one thing about our team, especially over the last 25 games, weve won as a team," coach Dan Bylsma said. "Weve found ways to win. Different guys have been stepping up." Chris Kunitz added his 21st goal and two assists, and Jeff Zatkoff made 25 saves for the Penguins, who have won all four meetings with Columbus this season. Crosbys shot, which broke a 2-2 tie midway through the third period, was initially stopped by Curtis McElhinney. But Columbus defenceman Fedor Tyutin plowed into McElhinney, and the puck ended up over the goal line. It was Crosbys 22nd goal of the season off a feed from Kunitz on a 2-on-2 rush. "I saw it when (McElhinney) fell on it and it was sort of tucked under his armpit, and ended up falling into the net," Crosby said. Neal scored twice on the power play -- the Penguins were 3 for 6 with the advantage -- including his third goal of the night and 14th of the season with 2:27 left which gave him a career-high five points. He credited Crosby and Kunitz for making his job easy. "Theres only one puck out there, and those guys are so skilled," he said. "On any given night, one of them is going to step up. Thats just the way it is. Its fun to be able to be around guys like that. Theyre unbelievable." Brandon Dubinsky, Corey Tropp and Nikita Nikitin scored for the Blue Jackets before a season-high home crowd of 18,871. Nikitin also had an assist. Moments after Crosby scored, he sent a cross-ice pass to Kunitz for a one-timed shot that pushed Pittsburghs lead to two. Neals final goal sealed the win. Zatkoff, who earned his first career shutout in Columbus on Nov. 2, had 25 saves. The Blue Jackets more than held their own when the teams were at even strength. For large portions of the first and second periods, they controlled the puck and pressured the Penguins in their zone. But eventually they blinked, and that was all the Penguins needed. "For me, it was about cracking and we cracked first," Columbus coach Todd Richards said. "It was a 2-2 game, and I liked the way we started the third period. But we were the team that broke first." NOTES: Scuderi, who had missed 29 games with a broken ankle, returned. ... Blue Jackets LW Blake Comeau played in his 400th NHL game. ... Columbus recalled C Ryan Craig from AHL Springfield on Sunday and then sent him back when fourth-line C Derek MacKenzie was able to play after taking a puck off the shin on Friday. ... Pittsburgh was without Malkin, Dupuis, Martin and Letang. Columbus was missing Nathan Horton, Marian Gaborik, Matt Calvert, and goalie Sergei Bobrovsky. Rueben Mayes Jersey . Shot outdoors against the stunning backdrop of Banff, Alta., the networks 30-minute original production airs Friday at 8 p.m. ET on TSN2. The four All-Star teams will play for $100,000 in prize money during TSNs annual skins game, airing live this weekend on TSN from The Fenlands Banff Recreation Centre. Carl Nicks Jersey . Having won the first leg 1-0 in Barcelona, Madrid entered the match at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium already in control and quickly sealed its place in the semifinals when Jese Rodriguez scored in the seventh minute. http://www.customsaintsjersey.com/custo ... -182e.html. -- Clayton Kershaw and Hyun-Jin Ryu will be the Dodgers starting pitchers in their two-game season-opening series in Australia against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Trey Hendrickson Jersey . If one fighter gases, he usually gets beat up pretty bad from that point on. Stephone Anthony Jersey . -- Aaron Rodgers isnt out for revenge in Green Bays season opener.(SportsNetwork.com) - Is it too late for the Detroit Pistons to throw a going away party for Josh Smith, who was surprisingly released by the team on Dec. 22. The Pistons were 5-23 at the time, but they have been one of the hottest teams in the league since they cut the 10-year veteran, winning nine of their next 10 games, including a seven-game winning streak following Smiths departure. Highlighting the run were road wins against the Cleveland Cavaliers, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks and Toronto Raptors, with the victories over the Spurs and Mavericks coming in back-to-back games. Since the Pistons made that somewhat shocking move of dumping Smith, theyve seen massive jumps in the games of Brandon Jennings, Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond. Heres a detailed look at how each of them fared while playing with Smith and since he was given his walking papers: BRANDON JENNINGS With Josh Smith / Without Josh Smith Games - 25 / 10 Minutes Per Game - 28.8 / 27.9 Points Per Game - 12.6 / 20.3 Field Goal Pct. - 36.8 / 46.9 3-PT FG Pct. - 32.7 / 42.1 Assists - 6.4 / 7.0 Turnovers - 2.3 / 1.7 Rebounds - 1.1 / 2.9 Steals - 0.96 / 1.4 GREG MONROE With Josh Smith / Without Josh Smith Games - 26 / 10 Minutes Per Game - 28.9 / 30.3 Points Per Game - 14.6 / 16.1 Field Goal Pct. - 48.1 / 50.4 Rebounds - 8.8 / 11.9 Assists - 1.6 / 2.3 Steals - 0.61 / 1.3 ANDRE DRUMMOND With Josh Smith / Without Josh Smith Games - 28 / 10 Minutes Per Game - 29.8 / 29.3 Points Per Game - 12.9 / 12.3 Field Goal Pct. - 48.2 / 54.5 Rebounds - 12.5 / 14.3 Steals / 0.92 / 1.6 During his tenure with the Pistons, Smith handled the ball a lot and often initiated the offense. As it turns out, that probably stunted the growth of Jennings as a point guard, as he now relishes the responsibility given to him by coach Stan Van Gundy to be the leader and to be held accountable. And the coach is obviously thrilled with the early results. Hes really been terrific here lately, Van Gundy said. He plays with great aggressiveness and great confidence, and sometimes youre (wincing) about some of his shots. Im not trying to put a leash on him, because hes playing great. Youve got to let those guys play. And hes playing as well as Ive seen him play since he came into the league. In a matter of three weeks, the Pistons have gone from a sure-fire lottery team to one that should be able to compete for a playoff spot with so many subpar teams in the Eastern Conference fighting for the lower seeds. And while the Pistons are on a roll, the two marquee teams in their ddivision are struggling.dddddddddddd LeBron James was back in the lineup on Tuesday night after missing eight games with back and knee injuries, but that didnt stop the Cavaliers from dropping their sixth straight game as they lost at the Phoenix Suns, 107-100. The Cavs were 1-7 during James absence and have lost nine of 10 overall to fall to 19-20. For those who dont check the standings on a daily basis, you might be shocked to find out that Cleveland is one game back of a Milwaukee Bucks team that won just 15 games last season and lost its standout rookie Jabari Parker for the season with a torn ACL on Dec. 15. With more than half the season still left, the clock hasnt run out on the Cavs righting the ship. But if we dont see a significant improvement over the next month, it would be hard to imagine theyll come close to living up to the preseason expectations. Keep in mind in James first season in Miami, the Heat stumbled to a 9-8 start, but quickly turned things around in a big way, and were 30-9 after their first 39 games. As for the division-leading Chicago Bulls, they dont have quite as many as concerns as the Cavs, but there have been some troubling signs lately. Over the past two weeks, Tom Thibodeaus team has suffered three embarrassing home losses. The Bulls dropped a 96-82 decision to the Brooklyn Nets on Dec. 30. The Utah Jazz won 97-77 on Jan. 7, and the Orlando Magic, minus Tobias Harris and Evan Fournier, went into Chicago on Monday and beat the Bulls, 121-114. You can make an excuse every night in this league if thats what you choose to do, whether its new players, the schedule, the start, whos out, whos in, an angry Thibodeau said after the loss to the Magic. Theres an excuse every night. You cant do that. We have to make good. Either youre in the circle or youre out of the circle. You want to be in? Lets go. You dont want to be in? Thats fine, too. Lets go. Thibodeau also should be concerned with the play of Derrick Rose, who hasnt come close to resembling the player he was prior to all his injuries. The Bulls point guard is averaging 17 points, 4.9 assists and 3.3 turnovers this season, and is shooting 40.2 percent from the floor and hitting 25.4 percent from 3-point range. Those numbers are a far cry from his MVP season in 2010-11, when he averaged 25 points, 7.7 assists and 3.4 turnovers, and shot 44.5 percent from the field and hit 33.2 percent of his 3s. Rose recently said the Bulls are good enough to win a championship this season, but I dont see that happening unless his play increases dramatically. ' ' '