Salem X-Tra Mile Club

SALEM — The Salem X-Tra Mile Club will meet at 7 p.m. Monday in the high school cafeteria.

Good morning for Phantoms

YOUNGSTOWN – The Youngstown Phantoms used two goals from Cooper Simpson, a record-setting goal from Ryan Rucinski, and 22 stops from Tobias Trejbal to down the Muskegon Lumberjacks, 5-1, Wednesday morning in from of more than 5,300 area children at the annual School Day game at the Covelli Centre.

“Maybe we should play all of our games at 10:30,” Phantoms coach Ryan Ward said.

Rucinski scored a power play goal in the second period to give the Phantoms a 3-0 lead. Rucinski’s goal was his 16th of the season on the power play, setting a team record.

Youngstown will travel to Green Bay to play the Gamblers on Friday and Saturday.

Hero’s welcome for USA star

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — U.S. Olympic hero Jack Hughes was honored by the New Jersey Devils before their loss to Buffalo on Wednesday night as NHL play resumed following a three-week break.

Buffalo won for the seventh time in 10 games, 2-1, on goals from fellow U.S. Olympian Tage Thompson and Peyton Krebs.

The Devils showed video of Hughes’ overtime goal in the United States’ 2-1 victory over Canada on Sunday in the gold medal game in Milan. The 24-year-old center lost a few teeth in the third period of that game when he was high-sticked by Sam Bennett.

“I’m so proud and so happy that the men’s and women’s hockey teams brought the gold medal back to America,” Hughes told the crowd. “And I’m so proud to represent the New Jersey Devils organization and to represent the great state of New Jersey.”

“I get goosebumps when I watch it back,” Hughes said after the game.

Hughes joked about his missing teeth.

“I’d have to look in the mirror and add it up,” he said. “I have a couple of half-teeth.”

Hughes assisted on Timo Meier’s goal late in the third. Hughes also had a turnover that led to the second Buffalo goal.

“Obviously, this was a tough one for Jack,” Devils coach Sheldon Keefe said. “It’s been a whirlwind for him. He had a lot of short shifts early and Jack’s not a short shift guy. If he’s giving you short shifts, you know he’s not quite feeling it early. All things considered, he gave us a lot.”

Hughes was not at the morning skate Wednesday. He arrived in New Jersey late Tuesday night after being recognized with his U.S. teammates by President Donald Trump at the State of the Union address.

Earlier in the week, a popular deli near the Prudential Center named a sandwich after Hughes. The sandwich is advertised as being ‘so tender, you don’t need teeth.

Hughes and the Devils will play in Pittsburgh tonight against the Penguins.

Ratings hit

(AP) — Jack Hughes’ overtime goal, which gave the United States its first Olympic gold medal in men’s hockey since 1980, drew an average audience of 26 million viewers on NBC and Peacock in the U.S., according to Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel ratings and Adobe Analytics digital data.

Team USA’s 2-1 overtime victory over Canada on Sunday averaged 18.6 million live viewers (8:15-11 a.m. EST) on NBC and Peacock. The total rose to 20.7 million with encores on USA Network on Sunday afternoon and NBC late Sunday night.

According to Nielsen, it is the most-watched sporting event on record in U.S. history with a start time before 9 a.m. Eastern time.

It is NBC’s second-most-watched hockey game. Canada’s OT win over the U.S. in the gold medal game at the 2010 Vancouver Games when Sidney Crosby scored the game-winning goal averaged 27.6 million. That game had a 3:15 p.m. EST puck drop.

The North American audience when Hughes scored the golden goal was nearly 35 million. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation said on Monday that 8.7 million were watching in Canada during overtime.

The Milan-Cortina Olympics averaged 23.5 million viewers in the United States, making them the most-watched Winter Games since 2014 and drawing a 96% larger audience than the 2022 Beijing Games.

NBCUniversal said the average includes combined audiences on NBC, Peacock, CNBC, USA Network and other digital platforms. It covered the live afternoon (2-5 p.m. EST) and prime-time (8-11 p.m. EST/PST) windows.

The gold medal game in women’s hockey on Feb. 19 — when Team USA beat Canada 2-1 in overtime — averaged 5.3 million on USA Network and Peacock. The audience peaked at 7.7 million during Megan Keller’s golden goal.

Cavaliers are a buck short

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Kevin Porter Jr. had 20 points, Ryan Rollins added 18 and the Milwaukee Bucks held off the short-handed Cleveland Cavaliers 118-116 on Wednesday night for their fifth victory in six games.

The Cavaliers appeared to tie it on Jarrett Allen’s basket underneath at the buzzer, but it was ruled that time had expired. Allen had 27 points and 11 rebounds.

leveland was without James Harden after he broke his right thumb Tuesday night in a home victory over New York. Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley also sat out, with Mitchell nursing a strained right groin. Giannis Antetokounmpo missed his 13th consecutive game for the Bucks because of a strained right calf.

Jaylon Tyson pulled the Cavaliers to 116-114 with two free throws. After Milwaukee’s Kyle Kuzma missed a 3-pointer, Dennis Schroder scored from the right side of the lane to tie it 116 with 35.6 seconds left. Porter hit a free-throw line jumper to put the Bucks up 118-116 with 20.2 seconds remaining.

Schroder, acquired from Sacramento on Feb. 1, had 26 points, his most in nine games with the Cavaliers.

The Cavaliers will play at Detroit on Friday night.

Okorie, Stanford beat Pitt

STANFORD, Calif. (AP) — Ebuka Okorie scored 34 points, his sixth 30-point game of the season, and Stanford rallied in the second half to defeat Pittsburgh 75-67 on Wednesday. The Cardinal (17-11, 6-9 ACC) shot 50% from the field and overcame a 34-32 halftime deficit behind a 28-point second half from Okorie. He added six rebounds, six assists and three steals while going 9 for 9 from the free-throw line.

Pitt (10-18, 3-12) was led by Cameron Corhen’s 22 points and eight rebounds.