Joey Porter Jr. is talking about how things may look in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ retooled secondary. Paul Skenes is back on the mound for the Pirates.

The NHL Stanley Cup Final is underway. And the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins are hoping to draw even in their Eastern Conference playoff series against Toronto.

All that in Wednesday’s “First Call.”

Traveling shoes

As TribLive Steelers writer Chris Adamski described, it appears Steelers cornerback Joey Porter Jr. is using a holding-in tactic to get a second contract with the franchise.

However, when asked about the defense he’ll eventually be playing under new coordinator Patrick Graham, Porter seemed optimistic, noting he’ll get to travel with opposing receivers.

“Nothing too crazy from what we’re used to,” Porter said after minicamp practice Tuesday when asked about Graham’s defense. “They’re gonna let us travel. They’re gonna let us do what we do as corners, and the biggest part is just to let us play our game and not put us in a box. So that’s what we’re happy about.”

Porter didn’t say that he’s always going to get the opposition’s best pass catcher. After signing a three-year, $36 million contract to come to Pittsburgh, Jamel Dean may get his shot too. The same for veteran Jalen Ramsey.

Porter went through 2025 without allowing a touchdown.

Time for a turnaround

After a 10-6 win in Houston on Tuesday night, the Pirates face the Astros again at 8:10 p.m. Wednesday.

The Pirates have won four in a row. Meanwhile, Paul Skenes (6-5, 2.89 ERA) is looking to snap a personal three-game losing streak. He’s on the mound for the first time since the Pirates dropped a 7-2 contest on Thursday against the Chicago Cubs.

That’s when Skenes logged 10 strikeouts but still suffered the defeat, giving up three runs (one earned). The most recent victory for Skenes was May 12 against the Colorado Rockies, when he tossed eight scoreless innings en route to a 2-1 win.

From Skenes’ point of view, hopefully, run support won’t be an issue. The Pirates have scored 35 runs in their last four games.

The reigning Cy Young winner only has two starts under his belt against Houston. He is 0-1 with an ERA of 1.29, allowing two earned runs in 14 innings pitched.

Spencer Arrighetti is the opposing starter for Houston. He is 7-1 with a 1.34 ERA.

Staal scores

Things couldn’t have gotten off to a better start for the Carolina Hurricanes in the Stanley Cup Final against Las Vegas. They scored 25 seconds into Tuesday night’s Game 1 and held a 2-1 lead after the first period.

But Vegas came back to seize a 3-2 advantage, only to see former Penguin Jordan Staal score a goal.

For Staal, that was his first goal in a Stanley Cup Final since he was a Penguin in 2009.

Unfortunately for Staal and company, with the game tied 4-4, Tomas Hertl scored the game-winner as the Golden Knights claimed Game 1 by a score of 5-4.

Game 2 is Thursday in Raleigh at 8 p.m.

Getting back to even

After dropping the first two games of their Eastern Conference playoff series to the Toronto Marlies, the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins are attempting to even things up at 2-2 with a win on Wednesday night.

That’s because the Pens took Game 3 in Toronto 5-3 on Monday. Ville Koivunen broke a 2-2 tie in the third period with his fourth goal of the playoffs.

The home team has yet to win a game in the series. Pens Goalie Sergei Murashov stopped 36 of 39 Toronto shots in that third game.

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Game 5 is slated for Friday. If there is a Game 6 back in Wilkes-Barre, it’ll be Sunday.

The winner gets either the Colorado Eagles or the Chicago Wolves out of the Western Conference Final. The Eagles took Game 3 there Tuesday, 3-2. The Eagles are up 2-1 in that series.

Listen: Tim Benz and Brian Metzer talk about the AHL and NHL playoffs in this week’s hockey podcast