Pro Women's Hockey League unveils 90-game schedule that will open Nov. 30

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Pro Women's Hockey League unveils 90-game schedule that will open Nov. 30

2024-10-16 00:00 Last Updated At：00:31

The Professional Women’s Hockey League’s second season is opening a month earlier — on Saturday, Nov. 30 — than last year and features an expanded schedule, the league announced Tuesday.

Each of the league’s six teams will play 30 games, up from 24 in the inaugural season. The season will begin with the Boston Fleet playing at the Toronto Sceptres, followed by the Ottawa Charge traveling to play the Montreal Victoire. The New York Sirens travel to play the Minnesota Frost to open their respective schedules the following day.

The regular season runs through May 3, with three extended international breaks worked in to account for players’ national team commitments. There are weeklong breaks in December and March, and a 22-day break in April, coinciding with the world championships being held in the Czech Republic.

The PWHL included 14 matchups with the venue not listed, and to be announced in the coming weeks. These games will be played at either neutral site locations or at larger venues in the teams’ home markets.

The PWHL previously announced a plan to add more neutral site games into its schedule after playing games at Detroit and Pittsburgh last season. The league also partnered with NHL teams to have games played at the Toronto Maple Leafs’ home and the Montreal Canadiens’ Bell Centre, where a game between Toronto and Montreal attracted a pro women’s hockey record crowd of 21,105.

The Frost already play out of the Minnesota Wild’s home, while the Sirens are now based at the New Jersey Devils’ arena after splitting games between three venues last season.

“Our teams and players are so eager to bring their new identities to life, and the schedule announcement elevates that sense of anticipation,” PWHL senior VP of hockey operations Jayna Hefford said, referring to the league unveiling team names and logos last month.

Highlights on the schedule include:

__ The Frost traveling to play the Fleet on Dec. 4 in their first meeting since Minnesota won the inaugural Walter Cup in a decisive Game 5 in May.

__ The Sirens have the latest home-opening date, on Dec. 18, after beginning the season with three road games.

__ All six teams will be in action on April 26.

The 90-game schedule is balanced with teams meeting six times: three at home and three on the road.

AP Women’s Hockey: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-hockey

Falcons turn to rookie QB Michael Penix Jr. for key game vs Giants

2024-12-21 22:47 Last Updated At：23:00

New York Giants (2-12) at Atlanta (7-7)

Sunday, 1 p.m. EST, Fox

BetMGM NFL Odds: Falcons by 8 1/2.

Against the spread: Giants 4-10; Falcons 6-8.

Series record: Falcons lead 14-12.

Last meeting: Falcons beat the Giants 17-14 on Sept. 26, 2021, in East Rutherford, N.J.

Last week: Giants lost to the Ravens 35-14; Falcons beat the Raiders 15-9.

Giants offense: overall (29), rush (18), pass (30), scoring (32)

Giants defense: overall (T21), rush (31), pass (7), scoring (20)

Falcons: overall (9), rush (12), pass (6), scoring (20)

Falcons defense: overall (20), rush (13), pass (24), scoring (20)

Turnover differential: Giants minus-8; Falcons minus-7.

WR Malik Nabers had his third double-digit catch game of the season against the Ravens and joined Odell Beckham Jr., Jaylen Waddle and Brock Bowers as the only rookies in NFL history with three games of 10-or-more receptions. The No. 6 overall pick in the draft, Nabers has 90 catches for 901 yards and is two shy of breaking the Giants rookie record of 91 held by Beckham (2014) and Saquon Barkley (2018).

QB Michael Penix Jr. will make his first career start after the Falcons benched 13-year veteran Kirk Cousins. Penix, the Heisman Trophy runner-up at Washington in 2023, was the No. 8 pick in this year's draft but wasn't expected to land the starting job so soon. The timetable ramped up dramatically when Cousins threw nine interceptions and just one touchdown over the past five games. After pulling out an ugly 15-9 win at Las Vegas, where it became clear that the Falcons had lost confidence in their passing game, the decision was made to switch to Penix.

Atlanta's defensive front vs. Giants offensive line. After managing a league-low 10 sacks through their first 11 games, the Falcons have turned up the pressure with 13 sacks in three games since their bye week. Eight players have notched sacks during that span, led by OLB Kaden Elliss and DE Arnold Ebiketie with three apiece. With Drew Lock set to return as New York's quarterback after missing last week with a heel injury, the Falcons will be looking to bring the heat against a team that has allowed 45 sacks, tied for seventh most in the NFL.

Giants: QB Tommy DeVito, who started last week in place of Lock, is out of concussion protocol and should be the backup. … G Aaron Stinnie (concussion), LB Patrick Johnson (knee) and LB Bobby Okereke (back) are out. ... CB Greg Stroman (shoulder/shin) is doubtful. .. New York is hopeful CB Deonte Banks (ribs) can return after sitting out the last three games.

Falcons: K Younghoe Koo was placed on injured reserve with an undisclosed issue, knocking him out for the rest of the regular season and putting his future with the team in doubt. Koo had been one of the league's most reliable kickers, but he has missed a career-high nine field-goal attempts this season. ... The Falcons brought in Riley Patterson to take Koo's spot. WR Casey Washington (concussion) is out.

The Falcons have won three straight in the series. ... New York's most recent win over the Falcons was a 30-20 triumph in 2014. ... The Giants' most recent win in Atlanta was a 31-10 blowout in 2007. ... The teams have met once in the playoffs, with New York rolling to a 24-2 wild-card win during the 2008 season. ... The first win in Falcons' history was a 27-16 victory over the Giants at Yankee Stadium during Atlanta's inaugural season in 1966.

The Giants tied their franchise record for consecutive losses at nine last weekend. They have done it three times in their 100-year history, the most recent time in 2019. … Lock passed for 313 yards, threw two TDs and ran for one for Denver in 2020 in his only career start against the Falcons. … RB Tyrone Tracy ranks second among rookies with 695 yards rushing. He has scored a TD in his past three road games. … WR Wan’Dale Robinson has a career-high 71 receptions. .. Burns has his eighth sack of the season last week and became the sixth player since 2000 with at least 7 1/2 sacks in each of his first six seasons. He had two sacks in his most recent game against the Falcons, playing for the Panthers in 2023. … ILB Micah McFadden has a career-high 102 tackles. … Penix was among a record-tying six QBs taken in the first round of the 2024 draft. He is the fifth member of that group to earn a start, ahead of only Minnesota's J.J. McCarthy, who won't play until 2025 because of a knee injury. ... Falcons RB Bijan Robinson rushed for a career-high 125 yards on 22 carries against Las Vegas. That gave the second-year back the first 1,000-yard season of his young career, pushing him to 1,102 yards. ... Robinson has topped 100 yards in three of the past five games, and he has at least 20 carries in four of the past five games as the Falcons turned away from their passing game amid Cousins' struggles. ... Elliss has a career-high 124 tackles after making 11 stops at Las Vegas. ... OLB DeAngelo Malone has his first two sacks of the season against the Raiders. ... P Bradley Pinion had four punts downed inside the 10, including two inside the 5, in the Monday night win.

Robinson is a good bet to keep getting plenty of carries and rushing yards, especially with the Falcons breaking in a new quarterback. He's also an option in the passing game, providing a safe outlet for short-to-medium passes that would further lessen the burden on Penix.

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