Messi scored in the fifth and 40th minutes, moving into sole possession of second on the Champions League career scoring list with 58 goals. David Villa put Barcelona ahead in the aggregate series in the 55th minute, and left back Jordi Alba sealed the win when he scored in the second minute of stoppage time.

AC Milan, a seven-time winner of Europe’s top club tournament, won the first leg in Italy on Feb. 20 and nearly got a valuable away goal in the 38th minute, but 18-year-old forward M’baye Niang hit a post with an open shot on a counterattack. If he had tied the game 1-1, Barcelona would have needed at least three more goals at that point to advance because away goals are a tiebreaker.

Messi, the four-time FIFA Player of the Year, passed Ruud van Nistelrooy (56) on the Champions League scoring list and trails only Raul Gonzalez (71). With his 18th multigoal game of the season, Messi increased his season goals total to 53.

In the other match, Galatasaray won 3-2 at Schalke to advance on 4-3 aggregate and reach the quarterfinals for the first time since 2001.

Real Madrid, Juventus, Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain also are in Friday’s draw. In the final second-round matches Wednesday, Arsenal tries to overturn a 3-1 deficit at Bayern Munich and Porto goes to Malaga with a 1-0 lead.

The post Messi nets 2 in Barca’s historic comeback appeared first on IdealCapper.

Now, it’s Crosby’s turn to return the favor.

Crosby had two goals and an assist to lead Pittsburgh past the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-3 on Sunday night in the Penguins’ first game since reigning MVP Malkin was injured.

“They’re a dangerous team, so we wanted to make sure we played in their end as much as we could,” Crosby said. “They don’t need much room in order to create chances.”

Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said Malkin was diagnosed with a concussion after slamming back-first into the end boards during Friday night’s win over Florida.

Bylsma said Malkin, whose head snapped back when he hit the boards, initially suffered short-term memory loss, but he is improving. Still, Malkin will not join the team when it begins a three-game road swing Tuesday.

“He’s feeling fine and his memory is returning,” Bylsma said.

James Neal, Malkin’s regular linemate, played alongside Crosby and Chris Kunitz against the Lightning. Neal is tied for second in the league in goals.

Beau Bennett scored his first career goal on the power play to help Pittsburgh take over sole possession of first place in the Atlantic Division. Matt Cooke and defenseman Paul Martin each had a goal and an assist for the Penguins, who have won five of six to tie Montreal for the top spot in the Eastern Conference.

Steven Stamkos had a three-point night for Tampa Bay, with his 13th goal and two assists. Stamkos and John Tavares of the New York Islanders are tied for the NHL lead in goals.

Cory Conacher, the NHL’s leading scorer among rookies, and defenseman Eric Brewer also scored for the Lightning, who are tied with Carolina for first place in the Southeast Division.

Stamkos, with 29 points, is one ahead of Crosby for the NHL scoring lead.

“You can’t give a team like that a three-goal lead in the first,” Stamkos said. “We made a game of it, we did a lot of positive things, but we’re shooting ourselves in the foot.”

Marc-Andre Fleury, tied for first in the league with 10 wins, won his fifth straight game.

Anders Lindback started in goal for the Lightning and allowed three first-period goals on 10 shots before he was replaced at the start of the second by Mathieu Garon.

Tampa Bay, which outshot Pittsburgh 30-22, nearly crawled out of the 3-0 first-period hole with two goals early in the second period. The Lightning scored another in the third after the Penguins’ second-period power-play goal, cutting the deficit to 4-3, but Tampa Bay, which scored four goals in the third period during a 5-2 win one night earlier at Carolina, couldn’t complete the comeback.

“We’re the No. 1 team in the league for comebacks after two periods the last three years and we proved again why,” Lightning coach Guy Boucher said. “It’s just we can’t dig ourselves that big of a hole early, especially in a back-to-back.”

Crosby faced the Lightning for the first time since absorbing a check into the glass from Tampa Bay defenseman Victor Hedman two years ago. It was a hit that contributed to the concussion problems that plagued the Penguins’ captain, forcing him to miss the final 41 games of the that regular season, the Stanley Cup playoffs, and most of last season as symptoms lingered.

Those days appear behind Crosby, who has 21 points in his last 12 games. The Penguins’ captain put his team ahead early with two goals less than 8 minutes into the game.

The first one came just 1:16 in. Crosby took a pass from Kunitz, skated alone down the left side and roofed a short-side wrist shot over Lindback’s shoulder from the faceoff dot.

Crosby’s second goal came 6 minutes later. Lindback had trouble trying to glove Martin’s shot from the point. Crosby got a stick on the puck, which bounced between Lindback’s legs and into the net after the Lightning goalie kicked it in.

Martin scored with 33 seconds left in the first period, tapping the rebound from Cooke’s initial shot into a partially empty net to give the Penguins a 3-0 lead.

The Lightning, after a dismal opening period, needed just 3:14 to score twice in the second.

Brewer got the first one 1:37 into the period on a tip-in from Stamkos, who followed it up by scoring the second — his fifth straight game with a goal — just 20 seconds into a two-man advantage.

Stamkos, with Pittsburgh’s Simon Despres and Craig Adams in the penalty box, wasted little time scoring on the power play, ripping a one-timer from the left side past Fleury to make it 3-2.

“They got right back into it and our three-goal lead evaporated,” Bylsma said. “I like how we stabilized the ship.”

The Penguins regained a two-goal lead, scoring on their own two-man advantage. It was the 11th straight game in which they scored a power-play goal, and the first time in five games Tampa Bay allowed a goal with the man advantage.

Kris Letang rushed to keep the puck in the zone at the blue line, sending a spinning pass to Crosby, who set up Bennett’s first NHL goal, a one-timer past Garon.

“Beau was in a good spot there,” Crosby said. “He’s a pretty gifted player, he has a lot of talent and he found the open lane.”

Conacher scored 3:15 into the third period, one-touching Hedman’s pass past Fleury to make it 4-3. But the Lightning, whose 32 third-period goals rank No. 1 in the NHL, couldn’t forge a tie despite Hedman’s near miss in the final minute.

“They’re a good team that has great offense and it’s going to bite you if you give them the puck, and that’s what happened tonight,” Boucher said.

Game notes

Crosby moved into third all-time in team history with 637 points, behind Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr. … Cooke got his 200th career assist on Martin’s goal. … Both teams play again Tuesday. Tampa Bay returns home to host Buffalo, while Pittsburgh opens a three-game road trip at Florida. In an odd scheduling quirk, the Penguins’ next home game is March 4 against Tampa Bay.

The post Sidney Crosby lifts Penguins in 1st game since Evgeni Malkin injury appeared first on IdealCapper.

Matt Barnes added 19 points off the bench, and Blake Griffin had 15 points and 13 rebounds for the Clippers (29-8), who took sole possession of the NBA’s best record from Oklahoma City with their third straight win overall.

Darren Collison scored 22 points for Dallas. O.J. Mayo added 17 and Dirk Nowitzki had 15. At 13-23, the Mavs fell 10 games below .500 for the first time since March 30, 2000, two months after Mark Cuban bought the team. They’ve lost four in a row overall and three straight on the road, where they are 5-16.

The Clippers led the entire first half, fell behind by 10 points in third quarter and then regained the lead for the first time in the fourth on Paul’s steal and layup that made it 82-80.

They took the lead for good on Barnes’ 3-pointer that keyed an 8-0 run. Los Angeles forced former Clipper Chris Kaman into two misses, while Collison airballed another shot in that stretch as the Clippers went ahead 90-83.

Nowitzki’s jumper pulled Dallas to 95-93. Griffin hit a turnaround jumper to give the Clippers a four-point lead before Collison missed a 3-pointer in the right corner.

Caron Butler came up with two big offensive rebounds off consecutive misses by Griffin and Paul with 39 seconds left. After taking two timeouts, Paul missed an 18-footer with 24 seconds left and Dallas called timeout. Collison scrambled looking for a shot before he passed to Vince Carter, who missed.

Paul got fouled and made both shots for a 99-93 lead while fans chanted, “MVP!”

Los Angeles played flatly in the third, when the Mavs used a 22-8 run to take a 75-65 lead. Shawn Marion’s 3-pointer early in the spurt gave Dallas its first lead of the game and snapped the Clippers’ streak of leading for 10 straight quarters. The Clippers rallied at the end of the period, scoring seven in a row, punctuated by Barnes’ 3-pointer that beat the buzzer to trail, 75-72.

The Clippers led the entire first half, sparked by Barnes’ 11 points, including three 3-pointers. The Mavs scored seven straight points to tie the game at 50-all on Collison’s hook before Paul got around Mayo to hit a running jumper at the buzzer, keeping the Clippers ahead 52-50 at the break.

Game notes

Clippers G Jamal Crawford returned after missing the past two games because of a sore left foot. … Clippers F Grant Hill did not make his expected return after missing all season with a right knee bone bruise. Coach Vinny Del Negro said Hill has not had any setbacks and would practice a couple more days before being evaluated for Saturday’s game against Orlando. … The Mavs signed free-agent guard Mike James to a 10-day contract on Wednesday. The 10-year NBA veteran had played two games with the Texas Legends of the NBA D-League.

The post Clippers hang on vs. Mavericks to hit record home winning streak appeared first on IdealCapper.

BC fans had to wait a little longer than expected, but the Eagles hockey team came through on Saturday, tagging a 5-2 loss on Alabama-Huntsville in Minneapolis.

In a 41-year career spanning three schools — Clarkson, Bowling Green and Boston College — the 67-year-old York needed an extra five seasons to eclipse Ron Mason, who won 924 in 36 seasons at Lake Superior State, Bowling Green and Michigan State, for a .696 winning percentage. But most hockey observers acknowledge the parity in today’s game makes York’s record equally remarkable.

“He deserves all the accolades,” said Boston University coach Jack Parker in early December. “He’s a very good coach who’s run great programs at three different places, and has done an unbelievable job making this program the best it’s ever been.

“This is a place where they’ve had two other coaches who’ve won 500 games,” said Parker, referring to BC legends John “Snooks” Kelley and Len Ceglarski. “It’s had a lot of good hockey for a long, long time. And he’s the best they’ve ever had.”

The Eagles got York a share of the record on Dec. 1 at home with a 5-2 win over archrival Boston University, but they couldn’t deliver the record a week later, settling for a last-second tie against Hockey East rival Providence, 3-3.

On Saturday, No. 1 BC (12-2-1) left little doubt. The Eagles showcased their depth, getting scoring from five different players — Cam Spiro, Bill Arnold, Danny Linell, Brendan Silk, and Steven Whitney — to dispatch Alabama-Huntsville (3-15-0) in the opening leg of the Mariucci Classic in Minneapolis. Senior goaltender Parker Milner had 26 saves to preserve the win.

The Eagles will shoot for win No. 13 on the season, and 926 for York, on Sunday against No. 4 Minnesota.

York won 125 games in seven years at Clarkson (1972-79), earned 342 victories in 15 years at Bowling Green (1979-94), and has won 458 games in 19 seasons behind the bench at his alma mater.

He is 32-9 in NCAA tournament games as the head coach at Boston College, and his 37 wins in the NCAA tournament are the highest in Division I history. He has led five teams to 30 or more wins, including the 2000-01 and 2011-12 Eagles squads, which each collected a school-record 33 wins. He is also only one of three coaches in NCAA history to lead two different schools — Bowling Green (1984) and Boston College (2001, 2008, 2010 and 2012) — to NCAA titles.

The post Jerry York sets hockey wins record appeared first on IdealCapper.