First Call: Steelers stole draft pick from Ravens; ‘Honey Badger’ finds a team; ex-Penguin has playoff hat trick
Share this post:
Tuesday’s “First Call” features the Pittsburgh Steelers getting one over on the Baltimore Ravens during the NFL Draft.
We now know the destination of the Honey Badger, and it’s no surprise.
Plus, highlights from the first night of the 2022 NHL playoffs are dotted with big moments from ex-Penguins and Pittsburgh-born players.
Beating the Birds
The Baltimore Ravens are taking some heat from their fans for not selecting a wide receiver at any point during this weekend’s NFL Draft despite having 11 picks.
After all, they just traded top receiver Marquise “Hollywood” Brown on Thursday.
Apparently, they were going to take one in the fourth round, Calvin Austin III of Memphis.
According to Peter King of “Football Morning in America,” who was in the Ravens draft room over the weekend, Baltimore was all set to take Austin until the Steelers did so one pick before them at No. 138.
King says someone from the Ravens staff could be heard grumbling, “Gotta be kidding me,” when the Steelers pick of Austin came through.
Baltimore ended up with Coastal Carolina tight end Isaiah Likely instead, their second tight end of the round (Charlie Kolar, Iowa State).
Honey Badger finds sweet spot
After weeks of speculation that free agent safety Tyrann Mathieu might join the Steelers, the franchise decided to bring back Terrell Edmunds instead.
So the “Honey Badger” needed to find a different home. And it’s a familiar one to Mathieu. He signed with the New Orleans Saints.
That’s Mathieu’s hometown team. He grew up in New Orleans and then attended Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.
The story is according to Mike Triplett of ESPN.com. He says Mathieu’s contract is for $33 million over three years with $18 million guaranteed.
Edmunds is coming back to Pittsburgh for a one-year contract worth $2.5 million.
Perron power
Things got off to a good start Monday for Marc-Andre Fleury and the Minnesota Wild against the St. Louis Blue in Game 1 of their Western Conference playoff series.
The Flower stoned an Ivan Barbashev penalty shot in the first period.
#mnwild pic.twitter.com/Z2JqhYzOmJ
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) May 3, 2022
From there, though, it was the David Perron show. Perron, a former Penguin and Vegas Golden Knight teammate of Fleury’s, pumped three goals past Fleury for a hat trick.
David Perron (@DP_57) with the Game 1 #StanleyCup Playoffs @Enterprise hat trick! pic.twitter.com/JqlSRv75In
— NHL (@NHL) May 3, 2022
That was Gibsonia’s Brandon Saad getting the assist on Perron’s third goal.
Via NHL public relations, Perron became the 14th player in Blues franchise history to record a playoff hat trick and the first to do so in the club’s opening game of a postseason.
St. Louis went on to win 4-0.
Trocheck on target
Speaking of local hockey players, Pittsburgh-born Vincent Trocheck got a goal for Carolina in the Hurricanes’ 5-1 win over the Boston Bruins in their playoff opener.
This goal from Troch was ridiculous pic.twitter.com/kRYm84zBQW
— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) May 3, 2022
Trocheck also had an assist on a Teuvo Teravainen goal.
A few former Penguins helped Carolina’s cause, too. Jordan Staal went 16-6 in the faceoff circle, and defenseman Ian Cole had an assist.