49ers sign 2 former first-rounders to practice squad amid injuries
Although the San Francisco 49ers are 5-3, it is hard for fans to feel too optimistic about the team's chances this season following yet another avalanche of injuries. Star players are sidelined and there is little depth to be found right now, putting Kyle Shanahan in a difficult spot. The respected head coach can only hope that his squad takes advantage of a favorable November slate and builds a reasonable cushion for the final stretch of the campaign. He needs some reinforcements, though.
Niners general manager John Lynch has been busy on Tuesday. After acquiring pass-rusher Keion White in a trade with the New England Patriots, San Francisco is expected to sign defensive end and 2019 top-five draft pick Clelin Ferrell to its practice squad, per Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports. Management is staying focused on the trenches and is also making a move on the offensive line.
The 49ers are adding veteran tackle Andre Dillard to their practice squad, another 2019 first-round selection, per ESPN's Adam Schefter. They are releasing Brandon Parker to make room for him.
Can the injury-ravaged 49ers find a way forward?
These are obviously just minor moves, but neither Lynch nor Shanahan can afford to be picky right now. The team needs bodies, and these two boasted a ton of promise coming out of college. Ferrell helped Clemson win two national championships and entered the NFL Draft as the ACC Defensive Player of the Year and a consensus All-American. The Las Vegas Raiders were enamored with the 6-foot-4 edge rusher, using the No. 4 overall pick on him.
Ferrell recorded only 10 sacks in 58 games with the Silver and Black and has bounced around over the last few years. He spent the 2023-24 campaign with the 49ers, tallying three and a half sacks, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and six tackles for loss. He may not fill a starting role during his second stint with the team, but perhaps the 28-year-old could still be of some assistance during these desperate times.
Dillard has also been unable to fulfill his potential, flaming out with the Philadelphia Eagles and making stops at the Tennessee Titans and Green Bay Packers. If necessary, he should have enough experience to occasionally fill in on the O-Line.
The Niners are in survival mode, as per usual, and these signings reflect as much. They battle the New York Giants (2-6) in MetLife Stadium this Sunday afternoon.
Flyers beat Penguins in a shootout after two goals get overturned in a wild overtime
The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Penguins, 3-2, in a shootout at Xfinity Mobile Arena. But the story Tuesday night was what happened in overtime.
Both teams appeared to score walk-off winners in a wild 3-on-3 session. The Flyers actually started heading to their dressing room before they were summoned back.
Then, as they are wont to do, a few players from the Penguins and Flyers wrestled on the ice, giving rookie Penguins coach Dan Muse his first taste of the bitter rivalry.
Throw in a power play for each side and, well, Erik Karlsson can take it from here...
“Yeah, it was crazy,” the defenseman said of the heart-pumping overtime period.
The Penguins on Tuesday were trying to do something they have never done in this longstanding rivalry, winning here in Philadelphia when trailing after two periods. Sidney Crosby scored midway through the third to extend the game into overtime.
Evgeni Malkin beat Flyers goalie Samuel Ersson early in overtime, but that goal was quickly waved off because Malkin left the bench too soon as the Penguins tried to pull their goalie on a delayed penalty. Muse said officials made the right call there.
The Flyers thought they had won in overtime when Tyson Foerster scored with 24.4 seconds left, but an official video review showed the Flyers clearly skated in offside.
The game somehow got even more chaotic as the buzzer sounded at the end of OT.
Parker Wotherspoon, Ryan Shea and Noel Acciari threw down with Trevor Zegras and a couple other Flyers as overtime concluded. The shootout was delayed so the officials could pry them apart and sort out the penalties. For some reason, Crosby was assessed a game misconduct, which made Crosby ineligible for the shootout.
ESPN’s cameras appeared to show Muse telling the officials, “You’re wrong. You’re wrong.” He was mum after the game when asked what explanation he was given.
“I’ll just leave that between me and the refs. I’ll keep quiet on that one,” he replied.
The game went to a shootout, where Bobby Brink scored the winner for the Flyers.
Despite that result, Pittsburgh earned three of four points in its first back-to-back.
For the fourth straight game, the Penguins got the first goal. Justin Brazeau scored off the rush. The Flyers tied it later in the first period with a Brink power-play tally.
The home team took the lead 2:46 into the second on a goal from Travis Konecny.
The Flyers had the Penguins on their heels for a while after that, but despite them peppering Arturs Silovs, they could not pad their lead. The Penguins started to push back in the third period and tied the score, 2-2, with Crosby’s latest goal in Philly.
It was over when...
Ersson stopped Ville Koivunen on the Penguins’ final shootout attempt. The Flyers won the shootout, 2-1. It was the second straight one Silovs and the Penguins lost.
Stat of the game
3 — straight losses for the Penguins here in Philly with four losses in their last five.
Around the boards
• The Penguins recalled Owen Pickering before the game and had the 21-year-old defenseman in their lineup against the Flyers. He skated on the third pair alongside Matt Dumba. That duo spent much of the game spinning around in their own zone. Pickering had a 38.7 expected goals percentage at 5-on-5, per Natural Stat Trick.
• Pittsburgh scratched young defenseman Harrison Brunicke for the third time in the last four games. The other scratches were Philip Tomasino and Connor Clifton.
• Silovs got the start as the Penguins continue to alternate their two goalies in the season’s first month. He likely laments that Konecny goal, but he made a few tough saves the rest of the way to keep the visitors in it. He stopped 34 shots in the loss.
• Crosby has now scored 57 goals against the Flyers, his most against any one team.
• Prior to his goal, it was a rough night for Crosby and the top line in Philadelphia. Per usual, Crosby was booed nearly every time he touched the puck. And the trio of Crosby, Bryan Rust and Filip Hallander fired only one shot through two periods.
• The Penguins entered the night with one of the NHL’s top power plays, but they struggled in Philadelphia. Not only did they generate next to no good looks on their four power plays, they gave up a few shorthanded chances to the Flyers. More than once, the Penguins’ failures woke up the fans and flipped momentum to the Flyers.
• Dumba got his first Penguins point with a secondary assist on Brazeau’s goal. He also took two bad penalties, one of which led to Brink’s power-play tally in the first.
