Franchise

UNIONDALE, N.Y. - Ilya Bryzgalov may not view the universe the same as everyone else, but he is a realist. He knew his gleaming shutout streak would come to an end at some point. Like hitting in baseball, goaltending is - after all - usually nothing more than a thankless exercise in futility. "If you thought they weren't going to score another goal on me," Bryzgalov said, "you were mistaken. " Last night, Bryzgalov's flawless run in the Flyers' net finally came to a close.

In the NFL, success doesn't transfer easily. Joe Banner, the longtime Eagles president who stepped down this week, said he hopes to put together an investment group that can buy a struggling franchise, with partners who will allow him to run the team and attempt to turn it around, much as he helped do in Philadelphia. There is a long list of NFL coaches and executives, though, who have struggled to duplicate their initial success at a new location. Carmen Policy, a salary-cap wizard who helped power the 49ers to a championship, moved to Cleveland after being forced out of San Francisco.

In the past, there have been accusations that the Eagles have been so insanely jealous of the goodwill and publicity the Phillies get from the fans that the football team intentionally creates news to take the baseball team off the front pages. But it's a good thing for the Phillies that the Eagles on Thursday decided to push Joe Banner out the door, because the Phils, right now, look like a junior varsity team. They can't hit with any impunity. They kick the ball around.

MATTHEW STAFFORD took the final snap, dropped to a knee and tucked the ball under his jersey for safekeeping. He wanted a souvenir to remind him of his first NFL game in his hometown - not that he, or anyone else involved, is likely to forget this one. A week after turning a 20-point halftime deficit into an overtime win, the Lions provided further proof they're a legitimate contender by turning a 24-point, third-quarter deficit into a...

BETWEEN THE LINES Pat Gillick responded to rumors that the Cubs could be courting him to be their next team president by saying he's never spoken to owner Tom Ricketts. What he didn't say was whether he'd been contacted by anybody representing the team. This should be a no-brainer for the Cubs. Whether it would be the right situation for Gillick is a different issue, but there's a reason to think it might be. Which is: Is there a bigger challenge in baseball than being the guy who helps that franchise win its first World Series since 1908?

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Joel Ward scored two goals less than five minutes apart early in the third period and the Nashville Predators stayed alive against the Vancouver Canucks with a 4-3 win on Saturday night in Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinal series. David Legwand also scored twice, Pekka Rinne made 29 saves, and Ward had three points for the Predators, who still trail three games to two in the best-of-seven series but will return home for Game 6 on Monday night.

For the love of the game The man believed to be the oldest living professional ballplayer, former Negro Leagues star Emilio "Millito" Navarro , at left, died Saturday in Ponce, Puerto Rico. He was 105. Because of the times he lived in, the closest Navarro got to the majors was throwing out the first pitch at Yankee Stadium in 2009. The 5-foot-5 infielder, known for his baserunning skills, was the first Puerto Rican to play in the Negro leagues. He was the leadoff hitter for the New York-based Cuban Stars of the Eastern Colored League and hit .337 in 1929.

PITTSBURGH - Sidney Crosby knows the Pittsburgh Penguins will be considered Stanley Cup contenders so long as his familiar No. 87 hangs in the dressing room. "We're always in the conversation as far as favorites," Crosby said. At the moment, a case could be made the Penguins are the only ones in it. Already riding a 13-game winning streak behind the typically sublime Crosby and a suddenly responsible defense, Pittsburgh's quest for the franchise's fourth Cup received a rocket-fueled boost late Wednesday night when general manager Ray Shero acquired six-time All-Star forward Jarome Iginla from Calgary.

Every time I write off Matthew McConaughey as a set of abs best suited to play a shirtless cad (see: Ghosts of Girlfriends Past , How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days ), he reminds me of how resourceful an actor he is. When the drawling Texan leaves that pigeonhole, he soars. As the bottom-feeder attorney in The Lincoln Lawyer, a twisty, cleverly plotted thriller based on the crime novel by Michael Connelly, McConaughey acts with his head and body. His legal eagle is a predator, all right, but one who retracts the talons in favor of mind games.

TRUTH BE TOLD, the Sixers always have been a discretionary purchase. Remember this franchise came to town in 1963, a year after Philadelphia's original NBA franchise - the Warriors - moved for greener pastures in San Francisco. During the glory era of Julius Erving, when the Sixers won an NBA title and went to four NBA Finals, the attendance peaked at 15,775 (1982-83) in the 18,000-plus seat Spectrum. The Sixers are not the Eagles, who will have 20,000 people on their waiting list for season tickets to Lincoln Financial Field no matter how they perform.