CHICAGO (AP) — Justin Brazeau recorded first NHL hat trick, Bryan Rust scored twice and the Pittsburgh Penguins rolled past the sliding Chicago Blackhawks 7-3 on Sunday night.
Anthony Mantha had a goal and assist and Noel Acciari scored as the Penguins won their second game in three, but just their second in the last 11 (2-5-4). Ryan Shea had three assists, and Arturs Silovs made 21 saves.
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Chicago Blackhawks left wing Nick Foligno (17) battles for the puck against Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Arturs Silovs, left, and defenseman Jack St. Ivany, right, during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Chicago, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Arvid Soderblom (40) saves a shot by Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby (87) during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Chicago, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Pittsburgh Penguins right wing Justin Brazeau (16) celebrates with right wing Anthony Mantha (39) after scoring during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Chicago Blackhawks in Chicago, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Chicago Blackhawks left wing Nick Foligno, left, scores against Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Arturs Silovs during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Chicago, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby, top, passes the puck during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Chicago Blackhawks in Chicago, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Blackhawks captain Nick Foligno scored in his return after missing 19 games with a hand injury, and Wyatt Kaiser and Tyler Bertuzzi each had a goal. Last-place Chicago came out flat a night after snapping a six-game losing streak in Dallas with a shootout win and lost for the ninth time in its last 11 (2-9-0).
Blackhawks goalie Spencer Knight stopped only three of the first seven shots he faced before being relieved by Arvid Soderblom 12:03 into the game. Knight returned for the third period and stopped both shots he faced in the frame.
Soderblom stopped 12 of 15 shots, including Sidney Crosby’s breakaway in the second period.
The Penguins led 4-0 midway through the first period.
Mantha opened the scoring 1:38 in, swatting in a loose rebound. Rust made it 2-0 at 7:19, beating Knight on the glove side from the left circle. Brazeau upped it to 3-0 just 61 seconds later, knocking in Mantha’s feed from behind the net and prompting Chicago coach Jeff Blashill to take a timeout.
Rust fired in a screened shot from the right circle at 12:03 for his 15th goal to chase Knight.
Foligno cut it to 4-1 midway through the second, tucking in a loose puck from the crease.
Brazeau added goals 57 second apart to complete his hat trick. Alone in front, he slid in a power-play score at 12:20, then deflected in Connor Dewar’s high shot for his 11th goal of the season.
Kaiser made it 6-2 with 6:30 left in the second, then Acciari scored with 1:12 to go in the period. Bertuzzi scored with one second left in the third.
Penguins: Host Carolina on Tuesday.
Blackhawks: Host the New York Islanders on Tuesday.
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Chicago Blackhawks left wing Nick Foligno (17) battles for the puck against Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Arturs Silovs, left, and defenseman Jack St. Ivany, right, during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Chicago, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Arvid Soderblom (40) saves a shot by Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby (87) during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Chicago, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Pittsburgh Penguins right wing Justin Brazeau (16) celebrates with right wing Anthony Mantha (39) after scoring during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Chicago Blackhawks in Chicago, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Chicago Blackhawks left wing Nick Foligno, left, scores against Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Arturs Silovs during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Chicago, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby, top, passes the puck during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Chicago Blackhawks in Chicago, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — As Jalen Carter and his Philadelphia teammates celebrated in the end zone after making one last crucial stop, Buffalo’s Josh Allen removed his helmet and yelled out in frustration.
In a game decided by a 2-point conversion attempt, Allen came up short — a foot wide, actually — when he sailed his pass out of the reach of Khalil Shakir in the back of the end zone with 5 seconds remaining. That was the difference as the Eagles beat the Bills 13-12 on Sunday in a late-season matchup of Super Bowl contenders.
“Winning’s hard in this league, and I’m always going to enjoy a win,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said after his team nearly squandered a 13-0 fourth-quarter lead.
“If you come out of this and you’re just thinking about all the negative things that happened, then it’s just a miserable existence,” Sirianni added.
The NFC East champion Eagles (11-5) are assured of at least the conference’s No. 3 seed in the playoffs. They improved to 7-3 in one-score games and became the NFL's first team since the Patriots in 1987 to win multiple games in which they failed to complete a pass in the second half.
Buffalo (11-5), which clinched a playoff berth last week, dropped to the No. 7 seed in the AFC. New England won its first AFC East title since 2019 with the Bills’ loss.
Allen had a far different take on the outcome than Sirianni.
“Yeah, it means a lot. We can learn a lot from this experience,” Allen said, looking ahead to the playoffs in two weeks. “I’d rather have won and learn from that too, but again, I got to make a play.”
After being shut out for nearly 55 minutes, Allen rallied the Bills by rushing for two touchdowns in the final 5:11. His second TD came on a 1-yard tush push on fourth-and-goal — one play after a replay review determined that tight end Dawson Knox’s elbow came down just short of the goal line.
Rather than playing for overtime, coach Sean McDermott opted to go for 2. Allen dropped back and was being pressured by linebacker Jalyx Hunt when he let loose a pass that sailed wide of Shakir. The Bills then tried an onside kick that Goedert recovered.
“Yeah I just missed. Rolling left, got to get him a better ball,” Allen said.
Dallas Goedert caught a 1-yard touchdown pass and Jake Elliott accounted for the rest of Philadelphia's offense by hitting field goals of 28 and 47 yards.
Hunt had two of Philadelphia’s four sacks and a team-leading three quarterback hits.
And Carter made a major contribution in his return after missing three games with injuries to both shoulders. Carter got his hand up to block Michael Badgley’s extra-point attempt after Allen’s 2-yard touchdown run with 5:11 left.
“Just a big-time player who makes big plays,” Sirianni said of Carter, who also had a sack. “Relentless in everything that he does. Relentless effort.”
The Eagles needed their defense to preserve the win after their offense evaporated in the second half. Not including its game-closing kneel-down, Philadelphia combined for one first down and 17 yards of offense on five second-half possessions — all ending with punts.
“It’s a big-time win,” Hurts said. “Hell of a performance by the defense and how they played and how they were able to find a way to gut that out and make plays when we needed it the most.”
Hurts went 0 for 7 in the second half and finished 13 of 27 for 110 yards with a touchdown. Goedert’s TD was his team-leading 11th of the season and set the single-season team record for tight ends — one more than Pete Retzlaff had in 1965.
Allen went 16 of 25 for 172 yards in the second half and finished 23 of 35 for 262 yards. With his two rushing scores, the 29-year-old Allen increased his career total to 301 (passing, rushing, receiving) and became the first player to reach 300 before turning 30.
Allen, who was limited in practice this week with a sore right foot, got X-rays after the game. McDermott said the tests were negative, and Allen said he felt good and the foot injury had zero impact on his performance.
What hurt was coming one completion short.
“It just comes down to us executing, making one more play than they did. And obviously we saw that we didn’t make that last play,” Allen said, before correcting himself. “I didn’t make that last play.”
Eagles: LB Nakobe Dean (hamstring) did not play.
Bills: LB Terrel Bernard did not return after hurting his calf in the first half. ... Defensive tackles DaQuan Jones (calf) and Jordan Phillips (ankle) and safety Jordan Poyer (hamstring) did not play. TE Dalton Kincaid missed his fourth of seven games with a nagging knee injury.
Eagles: Host Washington next weekend.
Bills: Host the New York Jets next weekend.
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni reacts after the Eagles blocked an extra point attempt during the second half of an NFL football game against the Buffalo Bills, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, in Buffalo, N.Y. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Philadelphia Eagles' Saquon Barkley, left, is tackled by Buffalo Bills' Cam Lewis, center, and Cole Bishop during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, in Buffalo, N.Y. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)
Philadelphia Eagles' Jalen Hurts, right, scrambles past Buffalo Bills' Greg Rousseau during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, in Buffalo, N.Y. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Philadelphia Eagles' Saquon Barkley, left, is tackled by Buffalo Bills' Cam Lewis, center, and Cole Bishop during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, in Buffalo, N.Y. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)
Buffalo Bills' Josh Allen (17) is sacked by Philadelphia Eagles' Jalyx Hunt (58) during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, in Buffalo, N.Y. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Philadelphia Eagles' Dallas Goedert (88) and Fred Johnson (74) celebrate after a touchdown during the first half of an NFL football game against the Buffalo Bills, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, in Buffalo, N.Y. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)
Buffalo Bills' Josh Allen (17) scores a touchdown during the second half of an NFL football game against the Philadelphia Eagles, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, in Buffalo, N.Y. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
