Pens G Murray nears return from injury

Pens G Murray nears return from injury

CHICAGO

Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Matt Murray is nearing a return from a lower-body injury that has sidelined him since mid-November.

The two-time Stanley Cup winner practiced with his teammates on Tuesday for the first time since going on injured reserve last month. The 24-year-old has struggled this season when able to play. He is 4-5-1 with a 4.08 goals-against average in 11 appearances but declined to use the injury as an excuse for his shaky performance.

“I was sore, but it was nothing to come out of play,” Murray said. “I was playing with it for a few weeks and it was fine. I just tweaked it one day. It didn’t hinder many parts of my game. It’s a specific place. Just giving it time to heal is the biggest thing.”

Murray said he’s uncertain when he’ll be cleared to play. The Penguins face the Blackhawks on Wednesday night, then return home on Friday to play Boston.

Casey DeSmith has played in place of Murray. DeSmith is 16-9-4 with a 2.35 goals-against average and a .925 save percentage. The Penguins have recovered from a poor start and are 6-2-2 in their last 10 games.

Cavaliers’ Thompson could miss month

CLEVELAND

Cavaliers forward Tristan Thompson could miss a month with a sprained left foot.

Thompson got hurt during Monday night’s 108-92 loss in Milwaukee. He made 6 of 7 shots and added six rebounds in 18 minutes before he twisted his foot in the third quarter.

The team says Thompson will be out for a minimum of two weeks, and his status will updated “as appropriate.”

He’s averaging 12 points and a career-high 11.6 rebounds in 27 games.

Thompson’s injury is the latest setback for the struggling Cavaliers, who are still without All-Star forward Kevin Love. He’s been out most of the season following toe surgery and is not expected back until sometime in January.

Cleveland is 6-21 heading into Wednesday night’s game against the New York Knicks.

Oakland sues NFL, Raiders over move

OAKLAND, Calif.

The city of Oakland has filed a federal antitrust lawsuit trying to recover damages for the Raiders’ upcoming move to Las Vegas.

The suit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California against the Raiders, the NFL and the other 31 clubs seeks lost revenue, money Oakland taxpayers invested in the Raiders and other costs. The suit does not ask the court to prevent the Raiders’ move to Las Vegas but asks for damages that will help pay off the approximately $80 million in debt remaining from renovations on the Coliseum.

The city says the defendants violated federal antitrust laws and the league violated its own relocation policies when the teams voted in March 2017 to approve the Raiders’ decision to move to Las Vegas.

ESPN expands Mendoza’s role

Jessica Mendoza will have more of a presence on various ESPN platforms starting next baseball season.

Mendoza signed a multiyear extension with ESPN to remain part of the “Sunday Night Baseball” announcer’s booth and make more studio appearances.

In 2015, Mendoza became the first female analyst for a nationally televised MLB game. She did her first Sunday Night game on Aug. 30, 2015.

“Being in New York for 10 days during the World Series and appearing on a bunch of shows, I felt like it was a trial run to have more of a studio presence,” Mendoza said in a phone interview with The Associated Press. “The more consistently I started to do it, the more I grew to love it. It allows me to push baseball ideas and content in a bunch of different places.”

Mendoza, who has been with the network since 2007, has already been a fixture on “Baseball Tonight” for many seasons but the new agreement means she will appear more regularly on “SportsCenter” and “Get Up!”

Staff/wire report