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Chris Jastrzembski

By Chris Jastrzembski

Published:

Photo credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

The Flyers fired off 28 shots. The Predators fired off 24. But the Predators came up with the only goal in the game, midway through the third period to get the 1-0 win:

https://twitter.com/CFJastrzembski/status/921180013055102976

The Flyers’ offense couldn’t get anything past Pekka Rinne, whose 44th career shutout tied Miikka Kiprusoff for the most by a Finnish-born goaltender. They had multiple chances, but to no avail. Michal Neuvirth had a great night of his own as well, but you can’t stop all the shots.

Jordan Weal suffered an upper-body injury and is considered day-to-day. Jori Lehtera made his Flyers debut, and the team recalled Matt Read from the Phantoms.

Prior to the game, the team unveiled an Ed Snider statue in honor of the late owner:

Up next is a home matinee game Saturday afternoon against Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers. He did this to the Chicago Blackhawks last night:

The Roundup:

The Eagles continue to get ready for their Monday Night Football matchup against the Washington Redskins. Good news: Ronald Darby returned to practice and may play on Monday night.

Bad news: The team placed safety Chris Maragos on IR and he is done for the year. They promoted linebacker Nate Gerry to the active roster and signed wide receiver Rashard Davis to the practice squad:

Lane Johnson and Wendell Smallwood also returned to practice.

NFL Referee Association executive director Scott Green doesn’t like Eagles fans attacking Pete Morelli’s crew:

“Claims like these demonstrate a fundamental lack of knowledge about NFL officiating,” Green said. “NFL officials are graded on every call made in every game. Missing a single one can hurt his or her ranking and may be the difference between working in the postseason or not. These recent attempts to sensationalize statistics and create click-bait headlines lack important context. Without the proper perspective, the information being pushed is completely misguided. The passion of NFL fans and teams are a big part of what makes the game so great. However, it’s no excuse for the irresponsible and baseless claims we’ve seen lately. NFL officials are committed to upholding the integrity of the game and do so every week.”

Kicker does really good, gets drug tested by NFL. Hmmmmmm…

Trading Jordan Matthews was a good move, opines Jeff McLane of the Inquirer:

The addition of Jeffery and Smith has certainly played a role in Agholor and Ertz’s success in between the numbers. Ertz leads the team in catches (34), receiving yards (405) and is tied with Agholor in touchdown receptions. The tight end, too, is on pace to shatter his previous career highs.

But Ertz and Matthews, while different in ways, shared similarities as inside possession receivers who could act as quarterback Carson Wentz’s safety valve. Losing one made sense. And Agholor gives the Eagles an explosiveness they lacked with Matthews. With the speedy Smith on the outside, defenses are sometimes forced to pick their poison over the top.

“It keeps them honest,” Agholor said. “You’re looking at two verticals  —  one coming right at the safety and if the corner needs help and the safety’s occupied with the slot receiver’s vertical route, then you win outside. If the safety wants to cheat, then the slot just gashes through the middle.”

Agholor has done a lot gashing after the catch. In fact, he’s fourth in the NFL in yards after the  catch among receivers. Matthews, surprisingly, is first (8.4), although he has only 10 catches and has played in only four games.

Redskins running back Chris Thompson won’t bring his family to the Linc because we have mean fans. Boo hoo.

Finally, have you seen this video recently?

Jeff Garcia has, and he loves it. He also misses the Philly fans. He truly is our baby.

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At Sixers practice, Kevin Kinkead discusses Joel Embiid’s minutes-restriction:

During last night’s game, Brown said he was keeping an eye out for visuals that might indicate that Embiid was running out of steam.

“There’s a gut feel that I don’t need any piece of paper to tell me,” Brown said. “I get it. It happened in the third period last night; there was something that went on that made him gravitate to the perimeter more. I think that’s one of the things I noticed, when it’s sort of a three-point line to three-point line world, instead of rim to rim, and him getting deep catches and really wanting the ball in the block. It’s hard. For an NBA big, you start going rim to rim, versus a perimeter guy, it’s a difference of several feet. You accumulate that over the course of the game and that’s a hard life. I think that’s one of the signs I see in my judgment that fatigue might be creeping in.”

Embiid said Thursday that he felt great following the season opener. He didn’t expect to play that many minutes, but admitted that his game isn’t quite there just yet.

“There was a couple of stretches where I was a little bit tired, Embiid said. “But it’s all about pacing myself, which can be bad because I didn’t think I was as active as I usually am, especially defensively. It was kind of frustrating a little bit.”

Embiid also feels like he’s ready to play in back-to-backs.

Kinkead and Kyle recapped Wednesday night’s season opener, and Kevin also has some observations from the loss.

The team also announced a new partnership:

I need this shirt:

Celtics-Sixers tips off around 7 pm tonight on NBCSP.

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In other sports news, the Raiders beat the Chiefs on an unbelievable end to the game 31-30. Here’s the game-winning score:

https://twitter.com/barstooltweetss/status/921222741012889601

Prior to that, here’s what happened:

  • Raiders tight end Jared Cook caught a touchdown, but was overturned after review and was down at the 1/2 yard line.
  • Raiders wide receiver Michael Crabtree caught a touchdown but was called for offensive pass interference.
  • Chiefs force an incomplete pass, but Ron Parker was called for defensive holding.
  • Chiefs force another incompletion, but Eric Murray was called for defensive holding as well.
  • Derek Carr finds Michael Crabtree for the touchdown and the eventual extra point.

Marshawn Lynch also got ejected for shoving a ref.

Enrique Hernandez (who?) hit three home runs and helped the Dodgers reach their first World Series since 1988 with an 11-1 win over the Chicago Cubs. Chase Utley is also four games away of another ring.

Lonzo Ball had a bad debut, going 1 of 6 for three points, four assists, and nine rebounds. The Lakers also lost 108-92:

And it’s not a Lonzo Ball story without LaVar Ball chiming in:

Who is Patrick Beverley? He played all last year and nobody said nothing about him. Now we are looking at your first game. Why? Because Lonzo’s name is attached to it.

Patrick Beverley was an NBA All-Defensive First Team selection last year.

The NFL will investigate why Cam Newton skipped his mandatory media press conference yesterday.

Jeremy Lin is done for the year after suffering a ruptured patellar tendon Wednesday night.

Check out highlights from Marvin Harrison’s son, Marvin Harrison Jr., in his freshman season at La Salle College High School. The younger Harrison and his Explorers take on archrival St. Joe’s Prep tonight at Widener University in a battle of two of the top Philadelphia high school football teams.

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In the news, a deer carcass was found inside Central Bucks High School West’s football stadium. CB West, nicknamed the Bucks, play archrival CB East on Saturday.

Former Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams has been disbarred.

The Syrian city of Raqqa has been totally liberated from ISIS.

Director Quentin Tarantino knew about Harvey Weinstein’s alleged misconduct toward women for years.

Chris Jastrzembski
Chris Jastrzembski

Chris is the Morning Roundup writer on Crossing Broad. He recently graduated from Syracuse University and was the video coordinator for the men's lacrosse team. He's previously covered the Philadelphia Eagles for Philadelphia Magazine’s Birds 24/7 and KYW Newsradio 1060. Chris is also a Production Assistant at ESPN and the Managing Editor for the college lacrosse website College Crosse.

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