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DENVER (AP) Gabriel Landeskog sat at his locker stall Adidas Dennis Cholowski Jersey , his skates still laced and most of his gear still on.The only thing missing was his jersey, which was given to a lucky fan.Quick, get the captain a new one – the Colorado Avalanche are going to need it where they’re going.Nathan MacKinnon scored his first goal in 10 games, Jonathan Bernier stopped 32 shots and the Avalanche earned the final playoff spot in the Western Conference with a 5-2 win over the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night.Defensemen Samuel Girard and Tyson Barrie scored, while Landeskog and Matt Nieto added empty-netters for the Avalanche, who won the West’s second wild card and head to the postseason for the first time since 2013-14. They will face top-seeded Nashville in the opening round a season after recording a league-low 48 points.”It’s an unbelievable accomplishment,” MacKinnon said. ”It’s got to be one of the best accomplishments in modern sports history.”Landeskog already has a start on his playoff beard.Game No. 82 for these two boiled down to a winner-take-all scenario. Although, there was one caveat – the Avalanche couldn’t allow the game to go to overtime since the Blues held the tiebreaker. St. Louis pulled out all the stops late in the third: Taking out goalie Jake Allen with around 4:35 remaining. Landeskog and Nieto sealed the win with empty-net tallies that sent the raucous crowd into full celebration mode.”Credit to Colorado they’ve improved immensely over the last couple of years,” Allen said. ”They played well again tonight.”Colorado finished with 95 points to become first NHL team to post a 40-point gain over an 82-game season since the Pittsburgh Penguins jumped 47 from 2005-06 (58) to 2006-07 (105).Next up, rest. That’s Landeskog’s plan anyway – lay on the couch with his dog and watch the Masters on Sunday. Then Adidas Wade Megan Jersey , get ready for Nashville.”If we play the way we played tonight, we have a good chance,” Bernier said.Jaden Schwartz had a power-play goal and Brayden Schenn scored with 38.4 seconds remaining for the Blues, who saw their playoff appearance streak halted at six straight seasons.The Blues arrived in town late following a 4-1 win in Chicago on Friday night. They sent Allen to the Mile High City early so he would be better rested for the big game. Allen made one diving save after another to keep things close. He even played through a tweaked hamstring he suffered in the game.”Any other game I probably would have went out but this a game we needed to win,” Allen said.St. Louis was dealt a blow midway through the first period when leading goal-scorer Vladimir Tarasenko left with an upper-body injury. He didn’t return.”He was very disappointed,” Blues coach Mike Yeo said.Leading 2-1 late in the third, MacKinnon beat Allen with a shot over the goaltender’s shoulder. MacKinnon had been held without a goal since March 18 when he had two against Detroit. He finished with 97 points – the most by an Avalanche player since Joe Sakic had 100 in 2006-07.Barrie gave Colorado a 2-0 lead in the second on a goal from the blue line that led to a challenge by St. Louis, which felt the puck left the zone. The officials took a long look before ruling it a good goal and determined ”there were no definitive replays which showed that the puck left the attacking zone,” according to NHL situation room.”I’m not going to blame the season on a bad call,” Yeo said.Girard scored his first goal since Feb. 22 on a slap shot through traffic with 46 seconds left in the first period to give the Avs a 1-0 advantage. He was acquired by Colorado from Nashville in the three-team deal that sent Matt Duchene to Ottawa in November.The last time two teams met in their final game of the season while contending for the last available playoff spot in the conference was 2010. In that contest Adidas Evgeny Svechnikov Jersey , Philadelphia beat the New York Rangers in a shootout.”What a night,” Landeskog said.NOTES: Blues D Alex Pietrangelo played in his 617th career NHL game. He surpassed Bob Plager for second on the team’s all-time list for defensemen. … Colorado was without D Erik Johnson and G Semyon Varlamov, who are both sidelined by knee injuries. Varlamov won’t have a chance to play in the first round, coach Jared Bednar said. … Colorado had 28 home wins, matching a franchise record for wins that was set in 2000-01, when the team hoisted the Stanley Cup.UP NEXTBlues: Offseason.Avalanche: Face Nashville in the first round of the playoffs. The Avs were 0-3-1 against the Predators this season.— ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) Something seems to click for Brad Marchand in overtime.The Bruins forward entered Sunday night’s game with four overtime goals this season. He added to that total to lift his team yet again.Marchand scored 28 seconds into overtime for his league-leading fifth overtime goal and a 2-1 victory over the Minnesota Wild.”Overtime specifically, especially this month, he’s sure come through for us,” Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. ”But he’s an elite player so we expect him to get his looks every night because he’s hard on the puck and a heck of a competitor Adidas Jonathan Bernier Jersey , so it doesn’t surprise me.”Tuukka Rask made 24 saves and David Pastrnak also scored for the Bruins, who improved to 47-17-10.Marchand’s winner came after a pass off the boards by Torey Krug gave Marchand a shot at the net from the left faceoff circle. Wild defenseman Matt Dumba got turned around on the play and couldn’t catch up with Marchand.”You need a lot of things to go right but sometimes you benefit from plays, sometimes you don’t,” Marchand said. ”I think this year I’ve been playing with a lot of guys who are making good plays and I’m benefiting from that.”Marchand got his second goal in two games and his third in a four-game span. His 33rd of the season was his eighth game-winner, tying a career high. Marchand also assisted on the Bruins’ first goal.Boston appeared to score first when Noel Acciari found the back of the net early in the second period. However, the goal was waved off after officials reviewed it and ruled that Boston’s Riley Nash ran into goalie Alex Stalock.Just over a minute later, the Bruins beat Stalock on one that counted. Pastrnak notched his 30th of the season – and second in two games – when his one-timer on a feed from Patrice Bergeron sailed past Stalock.Bergeron’s assist came in his first game back after missing a month with a fractured foot. The center last played on Feb. 25. He also assisted on Marchand’s goal.”It’s always getting the legs and the timing and the execution back,” Bergeron said. ”I felt like it was getting better as the game went on.”Minnesota thought it had the tying goal later in the second, but a whistle sounded before Jason Zucker poked the puck past Rask. A replay also showed the puck under Rask’s pad may have crossed the goal line, but a review determined the play was blown dead before the goal.”You knew the puck was over the line Adidas Tobias Rieder Jersey ,” Wild coach Bruce Boudreau said. ”It’s just a question when did it go over the line.”Rask had a number of key saves in the first two periods, including a stop of Zach Parise on a short-handed chance and on a backhand shot by Marcus Foligno to preserve the one-goal lead.The Wild broke through midway through the third. Captain Mikko Koivu scored his 14th goal when he collected a rebound from Matt Dumba’s shot off the end boards and tucked it between Rask and the post.It was Koivu’s second goal in a 10-game stretch.Minnesota has earned a point in five straight games.Stalock got the start in net after Devan Dubnyk started Saturday’s win against Nashville. Stalock made 26 saves and fell to 10-11-2.”It was a playoff team again tonight so I think we see how tight games are going to be,” Stalock said. ”It’s a bounce here or there. That’s the difference.”NOTES: Members of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School hockey team from Parkland, Florida, were in attendance and did the ”Let’s Play Hockey” introduction. They were in town for the USA Hockey National Championship High School tournament. … Several players from the gold medal-winning U.S. women’s hockey team took part in a ceremonial puck drop.UP NEXTBruins: At Winnipeg on Tuesday night.Wild: At Nashville on Tuesday night.—

BALTIMORE — The Boston Red Sox will try to complete a three-game sweep of the slumping Baltimore Orioles when the two teams meet for a Wednesday matinee at Oriole Park.

Boston (46-22) won the first two games of this series Lerentee McCray Jersey , including Tuesday’s 6-4 victory. Chris Sale (5-4, 2.83 ERA) will pitch for Boston on Wednesday against Yefry Ramirez, who will make his major-league debut.

Sale has lost his last three starts. He pitched well against the White Sox on Friday in his last start, allowing one run on six hits in eight innings — with 10 strikeouts — but still took the loss as Chicago scored a 1-0 victory.

He has pitched effectively against the Orioles in his career, going 5-2 with a 2.79 ERA in 15 games DJ Chark Jersey , including nine starts, and will try to give the Red Sox their ninth win in 10 games versus Baltimore this season.

The Orioles are struggling on offense right now, a big reason the team has lost six in a row and 13 of their last 15 games.

Ramirez will be called up from Triple-A Norfolk as the Orioles placed Andrew Cashner on the disabled list Tuesday due to a lower back strain. They also brought up relief pitcher Donnie Hart from Norfolk.

Cashner had been scheduled to start Wednesday’s game but Ramirez instead will get his first chance to pitch in the majors.

The Red Sox also will have Mookie Betts in the lineup. Betts had been out since May 26 with a left abdominal strain before being surprisingly activated before Monday’s 2-0 victory.

He went 1-for-5 and manager Alex Cora took him out after the top of the 11th inning so Betts would not be pushed too much on his first day back.

Betts did not play in Tuesday’s win, but he and Cora said it was more just to ease him back in slowly.

“He was going to play two out of three anyway,” Cora said before Tuesday’s game. “Yesterday we extended him a little bit. He’ll start tomorrow.”

Betts also leads the major league All-Star Game voting as the Red Sox likely will have a few players on the American League team.

The Orioles’ best chance for that game will be Manny Machado Corey Grant Jersey , who returned to the Baltimore lineup Tuesday after missing a game due to an illness.

Baltimore ran into the same problems Tuesday that have plagued its lineup all season – an inability to score without homers and not being able to get the big hit at the right time.

The Orioles went just 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position and stranded 13 baserunners overall. There were just too many missed chances once again.

Baltimore has just a .227 team batting average after the Tuesday loss — and it won’t get any easier in the series finale with Sale starting and the solid bullpen waiting behind him.

“You’ve got a guy like Sale starting tomorrow,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter told the media afterward. “They feel pretty confident about their bullpen. They’ve got eight of them down there.”

Speaking to reporters Friday for the first time since he tore his left ACL and LCL on Dec. 10, Wentz expressed confidence he won’t miss the start of 2018.

”So after we went in there and everything, it was actually the ACL and the LCL,” Wentz said. ”I’m still feeling confident with it. The rehab is the same type of progression and everything. It’s gone great so far.”

Nick Foles is leading the Eagles (15-3) against the New England Patriots (15-3) in the Super Bowl next Sunday.

”It’s hard to talk timetables because these are always fluid injuries and timetables always adjust depending upon where you’re at Ronnie Harrison Jersey , Wentz said.

”But I feel very confident. I truly believe my goal is to be ready for Week 1. I’m going to push and do everything I can to be ready. I’m very confident in that.”

Wentz had an MVP-caliber season before he was injured in Philadelphia’s division-clinching win at the Los Angeles Rams. He tossed a touchdown pass a few plays after he was injured before leaving the game.

”I 100 percent believe I’ll be back better than ever, stronger ever, and with no looking back,” Wentz said.

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AP NFL website:

Aaron Nola will get to pitch in front of his home fans in Philadelphia a final time Wednesday before he likely gets the chance to pitch in the All-Star Game later this month.

Nola will be on the mound as the Phillies close out a brief Customized Detroit Lions Jerseys , two-game set with the Baltimore Orioles at Citizens Bank Park. The game, which is Philadelphia’s final home contest before the All-Star break, will start at 4:05 p.m. on the holiday.

Nola (10-2, 2.48 ERA) has been dominant all season for the Phillies, but he has been especially good at home. The 25-year-old is 7-0 with a 1.77 ERA and 0.911 WHIP in eight starts at Citizens Bank Park this season.

Nola, who has never pitched against Baltimore, has not surrendered more than three earned runs in any of those home starts. Last Thursday, he gave up one run on five hits and two walks and struck out eight in 7 2/3 innings against the Washington Nationals. Nola got the win in the Phillies’ 4-3 victory.

“I actually thought he got stronger as he inched towards the end of the game,” Phillies manager Gabe Kapler told MLB.com regarding Nola. “Even there in the last inning, somewhere around that 105-pitch mark Customized Green Bay Packers Jerseys , it almost seemed like he was getting sharper.”

The Phillies are 29-16 at home after Tuesday night’s 3-2 win against the Orioles. Philadelphia has more home wins than any team in the National League, but after Wednesday the club won’t play at Citizens Bank Park again until July 20.

The Phillies will try to get their 30th home win of the season against Orioles rookie Yefry Ramirez.

A right-hander, Ramirez (0-1, 2.89) will be making just the second start of his major league career. The 24-year-old went 4 1/3 innings against the Boston Red Sox on June 13, giving up three runs on four hits while striking out six in his first start.

Ramirez threw five scoreless innings of relief against the Seattle Mariners last Thursday in his only other big league appearance. He had a 3.88 ERA and averaged 9.0 strikeouts per nine innings in 14 starts with Triple-A Norfolk this season.

“I don’t want to broadcast it for the other team, but the changeup,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter told the Baltimore Sun when speaking about Ramirez’s strong points. “Hitters are so much more in swing mode, so to speak, up here. It’s because they’re good hitters. That’s why they’re in the big leagues. … He’s having a good year down there.”

The Orioles have lost eight of their last nine games and are 0-2 against the Phillies this season. At 24-60 they have the worst record in baseball. Baltimore did not lose its 60th game of the 2017 season until Aug. 13.

Philadelphia, meanwhile http://www.officialmapleleafsproshop.com/authentic-adidas-james-van-riemsdyk-jersey , has won three games in a row and five of its last six. At 46-37, the Phillies have a chance to go 10 games over .500 for the first time this season with another win.

Wednesday marks the third straight season the Phillies have played a home game on the Fourth of July. They lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates on the holiday last year.

The post from Martin, who has struggled with mental health issues after a 2013 bullying scandal that shook the NFL, showed a shotgun and referred by name to the private Harvard-Westlake prep school in Los Angeles that he once attended. It also mentioned the Instagram names of two former Dolphins teammates who harassed him, Richie Incognito and Mike Pouncey. The post said suicide and revenge were the only options for a victim of bullying.

School officials at Harvard-Westlake sent an emergency alert to students and staff early Friday evacuating campus and canceling school.

Los Angeles police would say only that they have an individual who they believe is responsible for the incident. They say he was detained, but is not in LAPD custody.

Several media outlets, however, including the Los Angeles Times and KABC-TV, were told by law enforcement sources that the person questioned was Martin.

Martin left the Miami Dolphins midseason in 2013 after accusing teammates of bullying. An NFL investigation found that Incognito Tomas Tatar Jersey , Pouncey and teammate John Jerry engaged in persistent harassment directed at Martin.

Incognito was suspended for the final eight games and sat out the 2014 season before joining the Buffalo Bills.

The NFL’s investigation also found that teammates threatened to rape Martin’s sister, called him a long list of slurs and bullied him for not being ”black enough.” Martin is black and Incognito is white.

Martin, who underwent counseling for emotional issues after the bullying scandal, posted on Facebook in 2015 that difficulties in football led him to attempt suicide multiple times.

Martin, the son of two Harvard graduates, attended Stanford University. After he left the Dolphins, Martin played for the San Francisco 49ers and Carolina Panthers. He left the NFL in 2015.

Representatives for the Miami Dolphins and the NFL declined to comment.

Senzatela worked out of a first-inning jam en route to throwing seven scoreless innings in his first start of the season Authentic Fred Warner Jersey , Nolan Arenado hit his National League-leading 22nd home run and the Colorado Rockies beat the San Francisco Giants 8-1 on Tuesday night.

Colorado’s Charlie Blackmon had three hits, including his first homer since June 20. Trevor Story had an RBI triple for the Rockies, who have won five of their last six games.

D.J. LeMahieu added a run-scoring double for Colorado, which has beaten the Giants in 14 of the past 16 games at Coors Field dating to Sept. 7, 2016.

Senzatela, recalled earlier in the day from Triple-A Albuquerque, struck out four and walked none while limiting the Giants to three hits but two of them came in the first inning. He got out of the two-on, two-out jam by retiring Pablo Sandoval, getting him to pop-out on a 2-0 changeup.

”To get out of that inning with a zero, stranding those runners, was huge,” Senzatela said through a translator. ”I settled down pretty nicely and I’m glad I gave the team a chance to win.”

Arenado said Senzatela’s ability to work out of first inning trouble helped set the tone for the rest of the game.

”Getting out of that first inning with no runs was huge,” Arenado said. ”I feel like sometimes we always give up a run in the first and lately they haven’t. He was just great, pounding the zone, throwing strikes getting ahead of guys. It was awesome. Our pitching in general lately has been huge for us and I think that’s why lately we have been playing better.”

Senzatela started in the spot vacated by struggling Jon Gray, who started for the Rockies in their season opener but was optioned to Albuquerque last weekend.

Senzatela (3-1) made the team out of spring training and began the season in the Rockies’ bullpen before being optioned on May 2 to Albuquerque, where he went 3-1 with a 2.15 ERA in eight starts prior to his recall. As a rookie last season, Senzatela had most of his success as a starter, going 10-5 with a 5.03 ERA in 20 starts.

Chris Stratton (8-6) went 5 2/3 innings and allowed eight runs on 11 hits, including Blackmon’s solo shot in the first inning as well as Arenado’s three-run drive.

”His fastball command wasn’t real sharp tonight,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. ”Fastballs missed their spots there. That’s usually his forte Authentic Tarvarius Moore Jersey , he commands it so well. He threw some good fastballs to Arenado and the changeup stayed in the middle. He wasn’t real sharp with his command. He threw strikes but he needed to work the edges.”

The Giants broke through for a run on Alec Hanson’s RBI single in the eighth off reliever MikeDunn.

The Giants were trailing 3-0 when Arenado broke the game open in the fifth with a three-run homer. Stratton walked LeMahieu to start the inning and Blackmon singled before Arenado drove a 3-2 offering over the left-center field wall.

GIANTS NEMESIS

Arenado has driven in 90 runs in 100 career games against the Giants, the second most among active players. Matt Kemp leads with 93 career RBIs against the Giants. Said Arenado: ”I think they bring out the best in all of us. They bring out the best in me – three World Series rings and they’ve always been one of the top tier teams in our division. It’s always a tough place to play and I always want to beat them because I always feel like they’ve beaten us in the past, a lot.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Giants: The team’s starting rotation is nearing full strength again. Manager Bruce Bochy said that RHP Johnny Cueto is slated to be reinstated from the 60-day disabled list on Thursday, when he’s scheduled to start against the St. Louis Cardinals. Cueto was placed on the DL, retroactive to April 29, because of a right elbow sprain. RHP Jeff Samardzija is slated to start Saturday’s game against St. Louis after being reinstated from the 10-day DL. Samardzija went on the DL after leaving a May 30 start against Colorado following one inning due to tightness in his pitching shoulder.

Rockies: RHP Chad Bettis has gone on the 10-day disabled list with a blister on his right middle finger. Bettis left his last start on Sunday against the Los Angeles Dodgers after three innings because of the finger injury. Senzatela was recalled from Albuquerque to fill Bettis’ roster spot and started Tuesday against the Giants in the place of RHP Jon Gray, who was optioned Saturday to Albuquerque.

UP NEXT

Giants: LHP Andrew Suarez (3-4, 4.18 ERA) is coming off a strong outing in which he allowed one run on seven hits over six innings in a 2-1 win against Arizona.

Rockies: LHP Tyler Anderson (5-3, 4.23 ERA) has gone 1-3 with a 5.26 ERA in eight previous starts at Coors Field this season.

The Jaguars (10-6) have allowed nine scoring plays of 25 or more yards – and several more that led to points – in the last six games. It’s a negligible but noticeable nuance for a unit that is among the NFL leaders in nearly every defensive category.

”We’re really good in the red zone, so we try to give up the long ones,” defensive coordinator Todd Wash joked Thursday. ”We’re excelling at that.”

Wash actually sounded more concerned than his players, pointing the finger at himself for trying to get the defense in the ”perfect call” and giving his players too much to think about before and after the snap.

”There are some things we’ve got to get cleaned up,” Wash said. ”We’ve got to just let them play. I think the other team gets paid, too. I know we’re not the only team in the league that gets paid. You’ve got to give credit to them also, but we need to eliminate the long plays and just get them down.

”If there’s a blade of grass, we have to do a good job of defending it.”

Jacksonville’s recent defensive trend has been problematic. The Jags limp into Sunday’s wild-card game against Buffalo (9-7) having dropped consecutive games for the first time all season and three of their last six.

In all three losses, explosive plays against Jacksonville’s defense proved costly:

– Tennessee’s lone touchdown in a 15-10 victory last week came on a 66-yard screen pass from Marcus Mariota to Derrick Henry in the second quarter.

– San Francisco scored on a 30-yard run in a 44-33 victory the previous week.

– Arizona connected on TD passes of 29 and 52 yards in a 27-24 victory in late November.

”When we do it right, when we have everybody doing the right thing, nobody gets big plays,” defensive end Calais Campbell said. ”When we make mistakes, a big play happens here of there. We just know we have to be more disciplined and everybody has to be accountable for their assignment. If we do that Authentic Kentavius Street Jersey , we’ll be successful.”

Even in Jacksonville’s last three victories, the defense has been lax at times:

– Houston’s DeAndre Hopkins had catches of 45 and 25 yards in a span of four plays against Pro Bowl cornerback Jalen Ramsey in mid-December, the second one going for a touchdown .

– Seattle’s Russell Wilson torched the Jaguars with TD passes to Doug Baldwin (26 yards), Paul Richardson (61) and Tyler Lockett (74) in the second half the previous week.

– And Indianapolis’ lone touchdown in two games against Jacksonville this season came on a fourth-and-2 play in the third quarter in early December when T.Y. Hilton got behind the defense for a 40-yard score.

”Luckily we not letting them bite us in the (butt) too hard,” defensive tackle Malik Jackson said. ”But from a defensive standpoint, if that’s the only thing that’s keeping us from being in that No. 1 spot, then it matters. Then again, if we’re not losing, then we can live with that. But it’s not a good thing.”

It’s definitely a concern for a team built to play stout defense and take some pressure off an inconsistent offense.

It might even be nitpicking considering the Jaguars rank second in the NFL in points allowed (16.8 a game), yards allowed (286.1 a game), sacks (55), takeaways (33) and interceptions (21).

Regardless, it’s a tendency the Jaguars hope to end to open the postseason.

”We want to somehow get to the perfect game,” Wash said. ”I don’t think it’s ever happened in the 24 years I’ve been coaching. But that’s what our expectations are, so when we do give up some chunk plays and we don’t play well, not only is the staff upset, the players are upset. We want to play the perfect game, and that’s the expectations that we have each time that we go out.”

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BOSTON (AP) Brad Marchand waited patiently along the boards Womens Jared McCann Jersey , sizing up the situation before swooping around the net and finding his spot to shoot.Marchand scored 2:06 into overtime to lift the Boston Bruins to a 2-1 comeback win over the Canadiens on Saturday.”You’re just looking for an opening, that’s kind of how it was,” he said. ”You could tell they were a little tired. You’re kind of just waiting for that opening to show itself and luckily it did.”It was the Bruins’ third straight victory and completed their four-game sweep of the season series with their archrivals for the first time since 1994-95.”To have the puck that long and score – heck of a goal,” Boston coach Bruce Cassidy said.Marchand’s score came on the Bruins’ 50th shot on goal.Boston defenseman Charlie McAvoy suffered what the club called ”a lower-body injury” on the game’s opening shift. It only took a few minutes for the team to announce that he was ”not likely” to return, and it gave no further information.”All I did, was see it real quick on the bench,” Cassidy said. ”Did he get his foot caught up with the other guy? Or is that something before that? I don’t have a good answer for that to be honest. … Hopefully it’s not serious. It didn’t look serious at the time.”Boston was coming off an eight-goal game – its highest total since 2012 – in a win over Pittsburgh on Thursday. The Bruins didn’t score Saturday until Jake DeBrusk’s tying goal with 2:45 left in regulation.With Boston in danger of being shut out for the second time this season, DeBrusk tipped Nick Holden’s shot past Antti Niemi after center Jonathan Drouin was sent off for a delay-of-game penalty.”When you take six penalties whether deserved or whatever the case may be, eventually it catches up to you,” Montreal coach Claude Julien said.Boston scored the tying goal on its sixth power play.”We’ve been through it so many times this year and different guys have stepped up numerous times,” Marchand said. ”We know we have a lot of character and can rely on different guys every night.”Anton Khudobin made 27 saves for Boston.Brendan Gallagher scored and Niemi made 48 saves for the Canadiens.”He definitely did his job and gave us a chance to win,” defenseman Jeff Petry said of Niemi.Gallagher gave Montreal the lead when he stole a puck from defenseman Kevan Miller near the blue Jonathan Huberdeau Jersey , skated into the slot and beat Khudobin with a wrist shot inside the left post 9:16 into the game.The Bruins tied their season high for a period with 19 shots on goal in the second – and even had a two-man power play for 41 seconds – but Niemi had solid positioning and controlled the rebounds.Khudobin had the better highlight saves, though. His best was a sprawling right-pad stop with his legs completely split on Logan Shaw’s shot from the edge of the crease.Boston forward David Pastrnak missed an excellent opportunity when he hit the left post at the end of a 3-on-1 break six minutes into the game.NOTES: The Canadiens entered with the NHL’s worst road record with only 20 points. … It was Cassidy’s 200th game as coach of the Bruins. … In a brief token of peace between rival fans: The crowd booed when an adult male dressed in a red Canadiens jersey climbed onto the boards to get a puck stuck in the net, but he got a cheer when he turned around and gave it to a young boy in a Bruins jersey.UP NEXTCanadiens: Play the third of a six-game trip at the Devils on Tuesday.Bruins: Host the Red Wings on Tuesday in the fourth of a six-game homestand.— Los Angeles Kings goalie Jonathan Quick was placed on injured reserve Sunday after sustaining a lower-body injury in practice the previous day.Jack Campbell will start against the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday night. Campbell went 2-0-2 with a 2.48 goals-against average and .924 save percentage in four starts for Los Angeles last season.“He came in last year in some tough situations and was probably the reason we got a point at Winnipeg late in the year on the road trip,” Kings coach John Stevens said. “He works hard, reads the game well, good communicator, so we’re confident he can step in and do the job.”Stevens said Quick would undergo further evaluation to determine the extent of the injury.The Kings recalled NHL veteran Peter Budaj from their American Hockey League affiliate prior to Sunday’s game.Quick, the 2012 Conn Smythe Trophy winner during the Kings’ first Stanley Cup-winning season and two-time Jennings Trophy winner for fewest goals allowed during the regular season, saved 30 of 33 shots in a 3-2 overtime loss to San Jose in the season opener on Friday.Quick has won at least 33 games in six of 12 seasons in the NHL, including three of the past four seasons.

SAN JOSE http://www.officialcanadiensprostore.com/authentic-adidas-antti-niemi-jersey , Calif. (AP) Brent Burns makes things difficult when he’s only playing one position in a game. Switching positions during the game makes it even harder.Burns and Chris Tierney each had a goal and an assist, and the San Jose Sharks beat the Vancouver Canucks 4-1 on Thursday night for their third win in four games.Mikkel Boedker and Marcus Sorensen also scored for the Sharks, who improved to 3-0-1 against the Canucks this season. Martin Jones stopped 43 shots.Article continues below ...Burns lined up as a wing during the first period but was a defenseman when he scored in the second period.”It’s fun to play hockey in the NHL. It doesn’t matter where,” Burns said. ”I don’t mind switching back and forth. It’s all chemistry and the way you mesh together.”Burns said he learned about playing forward from Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski and that he constantly works on his game to fine-tune things.”He’s a heck of a player,” Canucks coach Travis Green said. ”To be able to throw him all over the place … there’s a reason he’s one of the best players in the league. He’s the whole package. He’s got good vision. He’s got a hammer of a shot. He doesn’t just shoot the puck; he gets it through. And he’s hard to forecheck. He’s just a really good player.”Daniel Sedin scored for the Canucks, who have lost six of seven. Anders Nilsson made 26 stops.”We have to try and be more consistent with our game no matter what the score is or how things are bouncing,” the Canucks’ Bo Horvat said. ”We have to stick with the process and I thought we did a good job of that tonight. A couple of breakdowns and it cost us.”Boedker scored at 8:41 of the first period, picking up a soft rebound from Tierney’s shot.Burns scored his 10th goal, tops among NHL defensemen, taking a pass from Joakim Ryan and sending a laser shot into the net just under five minutes into the second.”He’s got the best shot in the league by any defenseman,” Ryan said. ”He has an unbelievable shot and he’s responsible defensively.”Sorensen scored his first goal since Dec. 23, punching it in with an assist from Justin Braun at 3:06 into the third. Marc-Edouard Vlasic had an assist in his third straight game, getting the second assist on Sorensen’s goal.Sedin scored at 6:43, taking a nice pass from Thomas Vanek that gave him clear shot into the net. It was Sedin’s 14th goal, one shy of his total last season.”I thought we generated a lot of good opportunities, a lot of shots, a lot of chances,” Horvat said. ”We didn’t spend a lot of time in our own end.”Tierney made it 4-1 after taking a nice pass from Burns with 7 1/2 minutes remaining.NOTES: D Tim Heed was recalled from the AHL and joined a makeshift Sharks lineup, allowing Burns to play up front at times. … Sharks C Logan Couture has points in four of his last five games. … Sedin has five points against the Sharks this season and 45 in 69 games. He’s recorded points in three straight. … The Canucks recorded a season high in shots.UP NEXTCanucks: Host Boston on Saturday.Sharks: Host Dallas on Sunday. CHICAGO (AP) Jonathan Toews and the Chicago Blackhawks finally broke out of a frustrating tailspin, and they did it convincingly against one of the NHL’s top teams.Toews had a goal and two assists and the Blackhawks ripped the Washington Capitals 7-1 on Saturday night to end an eight-game losing streak.Patrick Kane, Brandon Saad and Ryan Hartman each added a goal and an assist in a 44-shot attack that took advantage of Washington breakdowns and powered Chicago to its first win since Jan. 30 at Nashville. Nick Schmaltz, Artem Anisimov and rookie Alex DeBrincat also scored to help the Blackhawks snap a seven-game slide at home before season-high crowd of 22,066 at the United Center.Article continues below ...”A nice way to get over the hump,” Toews said. ”You might just win a 2-1 game or grind it out, but nice for us to fill the net the way we did tonight.”Breakdowns, bad bounces and an inability to hold leads doomed the Blackhawks during their slide, their longest since a nine-game skid in early 2012. But in this one, Washington made the mistakes, and Chicago capitalized to pull away with goals from seven different players.”We put our foot on the gas and got some insurance goals Authentic Artturi Lehkonen Jersey ,” said Kane, whose assist was his 500th. ”Nice to get a little bit of a breakout with a lot of different goal scorers and everyone chipping in. A big game for us against a good team.”Tom Wilson scored for the Capitals, whose first-place lead in the Metropolitan Division over Pittsburgh slipped to one point.Even more sour for Washington: The Capitals said a group of fans directed racial taunts toward forward Devante Smith-Pelly in the penalty box in the third period as he served a fighting major.A Capitals spokesman said the group of four yelled ”basketball, basketball, basketball” toward Smith-Pelly, who is black. The Blackhawks confirmed in a statement the fans were ”immediately removed.”Smith-Pelly was not available for comment, but coach Barry Trotz said the player was ”a little upset,” even though Trotz hadn’t yet talked to him in detail.”There’s absolutely no place in the game of hockey or our country for racism,” Trotz said. ”I think it’s disgusting.”Trotz coached his 1,500th NHL game. He joined four others in reaching that mark, including Chicago’s Joel Queneville.Chicago’s Anton Forsberg stopped 19 shots. Washington’s Braden Holtby allowed six goals on 33 shots through two periods. Philipp Grubauer took over in goal to start the third and gave up a goal on 11 shots.Trotz made the switch after he had seen enough.”We weren’t very good,” he said. ”We got beat in every aspect of the game tonight. It’s a tough game, it’s a humbling game and we got humbled tonight.”Kane’s goal was his first in five games and just his second in 12.The Blackhawks took a 3-1 lead in the first period, outshooting Washington 21-6.Toews opened the scoring 6:19 in, connecting on a sharp-angle shot from the left boards that hit Holtby’s left pad and deflected in between his legs.Wilson tied it at 1 just under 4 minutes later when he was left open in front and connected on a nifty, waist-high deflection of Matt Niskanen’s shot from the point.Saad put Chicago back in front at 12:47, firing in a loose puck after Holtby had foiled Vinnie Hinostroza point-blank by poking the puck off Hinostroza’s stick.With 30 seconds left in the period and Holtby out of position, Washington defenseman Dmitry Orlov slipped behind his goalie and blocked Tommy Wingels‘ shot.But Schmaltz scored with 0.8 seconds left in the first from the right side of the net to make it 3-1 after taking Carl Dahlstrom’s cross-ice feed.Kane, Hartman and Anisomov scored 2:07 apart on consecutive shots late in the second to extend Chicago’s lead to 6-1.Kane buried a rebound of Toews’ shot with 3:38 left in the period to make it 4-1 after Toews picked off Brooks Orpik’s pass, and both he and Kane broke in alone.Hartman weaved down the slot – and past three Washington defenders – then scored on a backhander 1:10 later. Anisimov’s power-play goal from the left circle with 1:31 left in the second capped the outburst.Set up by Hartman, DeBrincat’s tap-in midway through the third made it 7-1.NOTES: Besides Trotz and Quenneville, others to coach 1,500 games in the NHL are Scotty Bowman, Al Arbour and Ken Hitchcock. … DeBrincat’s 22nd goal gave him three in his last four games. … Dahlstrom, a recent call-up, assisted on Schmaltz’s goal for his first NHL point. … The Blackhawks’ longest overall losing streak in one season is 12 games, set at the end of the 1950-51. The skid extended to 13 games when Chicago lost its opener to start 1951-52.

NEW YORK (AP) — The NHL is criticizing an arbitrator’s decision to reduce the suspension of Nashville Predators forward Austin Watson http://www.officialpredators.com/authentic-adidas-ryan-hartman-jersey , who pleaded no contest in July to a domestic assault charge. Watson received a 27-game suspension from NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman last month. The NHL and NHL Players’ Association announced Thursday that arbitrator Shyam Das had reduced it to 18 games .The NHL issued a statement Friday saying that “we are disappointed with the Arbitrator’s decision.”“We firmly believe that the right of appeal to an arbitrator of League discipline was never intended to substitute the arbitrator’s judgment for that of the Commissioner, particularly on matters of important League policy and the articulation of acceptable standards of conduct for individuals involved in the National Hockey League,” the NHL said in its statement.The NHL added that “we will not hesitate to adhere to and enforce — through firm discipline as necessary — the standards of personal conduct we feel are appropriate for our league.”The NHL doesn’t have a written domestic violence policy and takes each situation on a case by case basis.The NHLPA also released a statement Friday, saying: “The NHLPA takes domestic violence seriously and continues to work together with the NHL to ensure that players are educated on this important societal issue. “As part of those efforts, the NHL/NHLPA conduct domestic violence awareness training at our Rookie Orientation Program and during the season for all NHL players.“The CBA provides players with the right to appeal discipline imposed by the NHL for off-ice conduct to an impartial arbitrator. This essential right is intended to encourage the fair and consistent application of discipline. The arbitrator’s independence helps ensure that the process and decision are fair. That is a principle to which we should always strive to adhere, even in cases where the subject matter is as difficult as domestic violence.” Watson was arrested June 16 after a witness flagged down a police officer to a gas station in Franklin, Tennessee. Watson told police he and his girlfriend were arguing and that he pushed her. Officers said they found red marks on her chest, and she said Watson caused them. Watson pleaded no contest to domestic assault on July 24. He can have the misdemeanor charge dismissed by fulfilling terms of his judicial diversion program. Watson must serve three months of probation and complete both an in-patient treatment program and a batterer’s intervention program.Watson is a former first-round draft pick who scored a career-high 14 goals and had five assists in 76 games during the 2017-18 regular season. He had five goals and three assists in 13 playoff games.The 26-year-old Watson has 23 goals and 24 assists in 216 career regular-season games, all with the Predators. LAS VEGAS (AP) Los Angeles Kings defenseman Drew Doughty was suspended for one game Thursday for an illegal check to the head of Vegas Golden Knights forward William Carrier during Game 1 of the first-round playoff series.”I thought it was a bad hit Ryan Johansen Jersey , but it’s not for me to decide,” Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said after Vegas’ 1-0 victory Wednesday night. ”The referee didn’t think it was a penalty but I’m sure people will look at that hit and make a decision on it.”Doughty will miss Game 2 on Friday night in Las Vegas. He delivered the blow at 9:58 of the third period, sending Carrier to the locker room for the remainder of the game.”I thought you had two teams that played a real good hard, honest game,” Los Angeles coach John Stevens said following his team’s practice on Thursday. ”That was my interpretation. I think both teams upped their intensity and both teams understand the importance of the battle on the puck and there’s usually some kind of physical confrontation that comes from that.”Golden Knights enforcer Ryan Reaves, who was a healthy scratch for Game 1, didn’t agree with the hit.”Obviously, it’s a hit to the head, it was pretty blatant Viktor Arvidsson Jersey ,” Reaves said. ”I don’t know if the ref maybe had a bad angle on it, but I’m sure the league will deal with it the way they need to. You never need to hit a guy in the jaw. … If I’m in that game I’d probably try and go do something about it. Maybe I can calm that situation down.”Vegas wing James Neal, who played with defending Western Conference champion Nashville last season, said the Golden Knights knew things could get heated against the Kings.”When you play teams like L.A., a heavy team, it’s going to be a physical game,” Neal said. ”We knew what to expect, especially being Game 1 of the playoffs. Everything’s ramped up a little bit extra, guys are out there going a little quicker Brian Gibbons Jersey , it was definitely physical.”And while the Kings outhit Vegas, 68-59, Stevens scoffed at the notion Game 1 was an overly physical game.”I think the teams played hard, I’m not sure where that number comes from, but I don’t think anybody would be playing tomorrow if those numbers were accurate,” Stevens said. ”I don’t want to sound disrespectful when I say this, but sometimes I don’t even know where they’re situated when they are marking those stats. There’s such a variety in the way those are gauged building to building that we usually go and look at our own stats.”Said Kings wing Dustin Brown: ”It was a physical game, (but) I don’t think there was nearly as many hits as the stats credited. Some buildings you can kill a guy and not get credit for a hit.”

NEW YORK (AP) Although they will likely miss the playoffs for the first time since 2010 Tyson Barrie Jersey , the New York Rangers are still scrapping for wins.Mika Zibanejad scored the tying goal late in the third period and then got the winner 2:53 into overtime to rally the Rangers to a 4-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday night.On the winner, Zibanejad took a nice pass from Kreider and snuck a wrist shot past Penguins goalie Casey DeSmith for his career-best 22nd goal and 100th of his career. The Ranges won after overcoming deficits of 2-0 and 3-2 in the third period.”It was a fun game,” Zibanejad. ”A lot of chances, good battle out there. It’s always nice when you get away with a win from a game like this.”Chris Kreider had a goal and three assists for his first career four-point night, and Jesper Fast also scored to help the Rangers get their second straight win after a three-game skid. Neal Pionk had three assists and Alexandar Georgiev, making his second consecutive start, finished with 37 saves.”It’s a group of professional athletes,” Kreider said of the Rangers’ attitude after trading off several key pieces at the trade deadline. ”Guys aren’t going to quit.”Bryan Rust, Riley Sheahan and Carl Hagelin scored for the Penguins, who lost for just the fifth time in their last 15 games (10-4-1). DeSmith, filling in for injured starter Matt Murray, stopped 29 shots in his ninth career start. Murray has missed eight straight games after a concussion during practice Feb. 26.”They found another gear,” Penguins defenseman Justin Schultz said. ”They really took it to us in the third. We paid for it.”Evgeni Malkin had a chance to win the game in the final 11 seconds when the referees awarded the Penguins a penalty shot because Georgiev knocked the net off the moorings with under two minutes remaining but the rookie goalie stopped Malkin with his right pad to force overtime.”There was certainly a lot going around in that last period,” Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. ”Momentum is a funny thing sometimes. . Take the two points and go from there.”The Rangers are 2-0-1 in their last three games, and 5-2-2 in their last nine. New York is seven points out of the last postseason spot in the Eastern Conference with 11 games remaining.The Rangers erased two deficits in the third period with three goals to earn a point. Kreider got a power-play goal at 8:42 of the third, before Fast tied it 2-2 with less than seven minutes remaining.”Guys made a concerted effort to get pucks in deep and make their defense turn,” Kreider said. I think when we were able to start doing that as a team we were able to tilt the ice a little bit.”However, Pittsburgh regained the lead when Hagelin finished a wraparound with 4:19 to go.Rust opened the scoring with his 11th of the season at 1:53 of the second period when his wrist shot sailed past the Georgiev’s glove to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead. Rust, 25, returned to the lineup after missing the previous two games with a concussion. Former Blueshirt Derick Brassard assisted on the play.Just 55 seconds later, Sheahan made it 2-0 with his 10th as he crashed the net and redirected Kris Letang’s shot. Carter Rowney also assisted on the play, registering his first point since Dec. 18, ending a 21-game pointless streak.NOTES: Susan Sarandon served as celebrity guest `Inside the Glass’ analyst alongside Pierre McGuire during the first period on the NBCSN telecast. … Murray joined his teammates during the morning skate but a timetable for his return is still unclear. … Pittsburgh reassigned forward Josh Jooris to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey League to make room for Rust. . Kevin Hayes skated in his 299th career NHL game Womens Niklas Hjalmarsson Jersey , while Mika Zibanejad participated in his 398th NHL game. … Prior to the game, Rangers announced defenseman Tony DeAngelo suffered a sprained ankle and will miss the next three-four weeks essentially ending his season.UP NEXTPenguins: At Montreal on Thursday night.Rangers: At St. Louis on Saturday. WASHINGTON (AP) The good news for Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals is they still lead their Eastern Conference final against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The bad news for the Capitals, counterintuitive as it may be: They host Game 4.So far, Washington is 7-1 in away games this postseason, closing out each of its first two series on the road.Heading into Thursday night, the Capitals are only 3-4 in their arena. The latest setback was a 4-2 loss to the Lightning on Tuesday, after victories at Tampa Bay by a combined score of 10-4 in the final’s opening two games.Ovechkin simply shrugged when asked about that discrepancy.”We don’t think about it,” the three-time NHL MVP said. ”We just play our game.”Others were less dismissive.”We can take a few things that we’ve done on the road and put it into our home game,” goalie Braden Holtby said. ”Just a little simpler. Simpler play. Just a kind of, like, more gritty style.”Asked what his club could do to fare better at home, Capitals coach Barry Trotz said: ”Just play the way we do on the road. We’re invested there. We’re playing with real good focus. I didn’t think we were as focused as we have been normally on the road. So just pretend you’re on the road. All the buildings are pretty well the same these days.”Trotz notices a difference in his players’ attitude on home ice, saying: ”It’s `us against the world’ when were on the road.”There is a league-wide trend here: Road teams are 38-34 in these playoffs.So much for any supposed home-ice advantage, right?”For whatever reason, at this time of the year there are more distractions than in the regular season, for sure. A lot of people have friends and family coming down and ticket requests. Sometimes there’s that little added pressure of playing at home and wanting to obviously do good things in front of your fans,” Lightning forward Steven Stamkos said. ”There’s something to be said, too, (for) winning games on the road, when you can just kind of hear a pin drop in the crowd, sometimes, which is always a good thing.”Holtby agreed.”It’s easier to play on the road. It’s always that way on the road. Any team would say that,” he said. ”Because you’re not focused on the excitement of your fans and all that. They bring you energy in good ways http://www.officialsabres.com/authentic-adidas-jack-eichel-jersey , but at the same time, you need to stay realistic and play your game.”During the regular season, Washington was a strong home team, playing in front of loud, red-wearing sellout crowds in every game.Only five teams in the 31-club NHL had more victories at home than Washington’s 28 – and that total represents seven more wins than the Capitals managed on the road.So what is going on in the playoffs?”I don’t really have an explanation for it, to be honest with you,” defenseman Brooks Orpik said. ”I know when we go on the road, I think maybe we feel a bit more relaxed, and when we do make mistakes, maybe we don’t let the groaning affect us or whatnot. I mean, that being said, I think we should be probably mentally stronger to not let that affect us. Just got to try to find a way to win the next one at home, for sure.”NOTES: Injured Capitals C Nicklas Backstrom, who has missed the last four games with an injured right hand, took part in the team’s optional skate Wednesday. But Trotz wouldn’t give any hint as to when Backstrom might return. ”When Nicky’s ready to go, he’s ready to go,” Trotz said. ”You miss him in every way shape or form.” … Washington re-signed D Aaron Ness to a one-year, two-way contract worth $650,000 if he’s in the NHL, $425,000 in the minors. Ness had one assist in eight games for the Capitals this season.—AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno contributed to this report.—

Ed Olczyk takes one look at the white-out-wearing crowds of Jets fans packing Winnipeg’s arena and surrounding streets and is reassured about what he always knew of the Canadian prairie city Youth Kevin Labanc Jersey , even during its bleakest days.Winnipeg was a hockey-mad town deserving of an NHL team some 22 years ago, when Olczyk played in what became the franchise’s final game before relocating to Arizona. Very little has changed with ”Jets 2.0,” launched when the Thrashers left Atlanta for the Manitoba capital in 2011.”It made me nauseous to know what was going to happen,” the NHLer-turned-broadcaster said, recalling the uncertainty after the Jets were eliminated following a 4-1 loss to Detroit in Game 6 of their first-round playoff series on April 26, 1996. Jets players and fans lingered long after the final horn sounded in the former Winnipeg Arena, where the oversized portrait of Queen Elizabeth II hung prominently from the rafters.”But I always knew that Winnipeg was an NHL city even though they didn’t have a team there,” Olczyk added. ”It’s just incredible to see. The white outs bring back a lot of memories. And I couldn’t be happier.”The NHL is, indeed, back in ”The `Peg.” And the Jets are better than ever in preparing for Game 7 of their second-round playoff series at Nashville on Thursday night.No matter the outcome, the Jets are already enjoying the deepest playoff run of any Winnipeg-based NHL team. This marks just the third time Winnipeg has advanced to the second round in 13 postseason appearances. The previous two times, the Jets were swept in four games by Edmonton in both 1985 and `87.As for the current franchise’s 18-year history, the team was swept in its two previous playoff appearances before opening this postseason with its first victory, a 3-2 decision over Minnesota.The only real hockey success Winnipeg enjoyed was when the Jets won three Avco Cups as members of the defunct World Hockey Association before joining the NHL after the league folded in 1979.Suddenly, these Jets have captured the imaginations of all Manitobans, and many Canadians as well. They stand as nation’s last team with a shot to end Canada’s Stanley Cup drought dating to 1993, when Montreal won the title.The Jets are wowed by their fans’ support.”I don’t know if they can yell any louder,” coach Paul Maurice said.Even Edmonton Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins took notice from Denmark, where he’s representing Canada at the world championships.”It looks like a crazy atmosphere,” Nugent-Hopkins said. ”Even during the regular season it’s pretty fun and loud and intense. So I can only imagine that right now in the playoffs.”The white out in Winnipeg first became a playoff staple in 1987, and has reached new levels this spring, with estimated crowds of 20,000 gathering to watch games outside the arena.”I’ve never experienced this level of excitement for our team or confidence in our city,” Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman said. ”My 10-year-old son is sleeping with his hockey stick.”The excitement is evident in Bowman’s Twitter account, which features the mayor wearing a Jets jersey, and pictures and videos of fans in makeup, putting on makeup and dancing in the streets.This is as far removed as anyone expected after the Jets left in 1996 at a time when the Winnipeg’s economy and population base were also dropping.”It was a kick in the gut,” Bowman said. ”It was demoralizing and a lot of people were questioning the city’s future because we were losing people to other cities.”The Jets’ on-ice success mirrors the city’s rebound. With a population of 750,000, Winnipeg now ranks as Canada’s seventh-largest city and features one of the nation’s fastest growing economies.”I think that’s one of the really nice parts about this playoff run. It’s allowing Winnipeggers to take stock in where we were in the `90s and compare it to where we are now,” Bowman said. ”People are feeling good about the city, and their confidence and swagger is growing.”Despite the city’s size and 145-year history, Winnipeg is often overlooked in the national media because of how far it’s removed from major centers such as Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.To some, Winnipeg is best known for its black flies and mosquitoes in the spring and summer, and frigid winters, made notable in the Neil Young and Randy Bachman song, ”Prairie Town,” which includes the lyric ”Portage and Main, 50 below,” in reference to the city’s main intersection.Perhaps the Jets’ success can begin changing perceptions.”It’s an opportunity for us to show North Americans what’s going on in Winnipeg,” Bowman said.Even former Thrashers fans in Atlanta are on board. Bud Ellis overcame the frustration of losing the Thrashers by continuing to root for the Jets in Winnipeg. He couldn’t begrudge Jets fans in knowing they once lost their team.”I am so happy for the people there, the way they embrace that team,” Ellis said. ”In a way, they’ve kind of taken care of my team and they’ve let me stay along for the ride and welcomed me in.”He’s even getting some nods of approval in Atlanta for wearing a combination of Thrashers and Jets gear.”If you’re tied to Atlanta and you somehow find some success http://www.sanjosesharksteamshop.com/authentic-logan-couture-jersey , people will at least start paying attention,” Ellis said. ”Even if they’re 1,850 miles away.”—AP Sports Writers Charles Odum in Atlanta, Teresa M. Walker in Nashville, Tenn., and Associated Press writer Karel Janicek in Herning, Denmark, contributed to this report.— TAMPA, Fla. (AP) Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals overcame a major hurdle by reaching the Eastern Conference final.Just like that, they’re in a full-on sprint toward the finish.The Capitals scored in the opening minute of the game and twice in the last 1:02 of the second period Sunday night to pull away to a 6-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning and a 2-0 lead in the East final.”It’s huge but it’s not over yet,” Ovechkin said. ”We played hard and played smart. You can see all four lines doing their job.”Evgeny Kuznetsov and Lars Eller each had a goal and two assists. Ovechkin and Tom Wilson had a goal and an assist apiece for the Caps, who took the first two games of the best-of-seven matchup on the road. Since 1974-75, teams that take a 2-0 lead in the conference final or semifinal have a series record of 39-2 (95.1 percent).”We didn’t panic. Just stayed to the system and played the right way,” Ovechkin said. ”We stayed calm and waited for our opportunities.”Devante Smith-Pelly and Brett Connolly also scored, helping Washington improve to 7-1 on the road this postseason. It’s their first visit to the conference final during Ovechkin’s 13-season career.”You’re on the road and it’s us against them, and this group has really bonded,” coach Barry Trotz said. ”They’ve got a lot of resiliency, and they’re having fun.”Game 3 is Tuesday night in Washington.The Lightning had the best record in the Eastern Conference this season and breezed through the first rounds of the playoffs against New Jersey and Boston.Little has gone right against the Capitals.”For a team that’s been used to being able to make some plays, we sure haven’t made them in these two games. It’s very uncharacteristic of us. That’s the difference. They’ve made plays, we haven’t. And it’s cost us,” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said.”We’ve just played tentative and a little bit slow. We didn’t get 113 points by playing that way. We didn’t win the first two rounds by playing that way,” Cooper added. ”For some reason for two games, that’s the way we’ve played.”Brayden Point and Steven Stamkos had early power-play goals for Tampa Bay, which rebounded after falling behind on Wilson’s goal 28 seconds into the game.Smith-Pelly’s one-timer finished an odd-man rush and made it 2-2 at 2:30 of the second period. The Caps took control when Eller scored with 1:02 remaining and Kuznetsov – with assists from Ovechkin and Eller – delivered on a power play less than a minute later.Tampa Bay goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy was called for tripping Andre Burakovsky with 10 seconds left in the period. Kuznetsov scored seven seconds later to make it 4-2, the second time in the series the Caps stunned the Lightning with a power-play goal in the closing seconds of a period.Ovechkin and Connolly finished the rout with third-period goals. Braden Holtby stopped 33 of 35 shots to improve to 10-3 this postseason.”We’ve defended this entire playoffs up until these last couple of games, and that’s why we’ve had success,” Stamkos said. ”We haven’t defended with the same urgency. We’re leaving our goalie out to dry.”Ovechkin also had a goal and an assist in Washington’s 4-2 victory in Game 1.Vasilevskiy was pulled from the opener after facing 25 shots in two periods, but the Lightning didn’t pin the loss on him. Instead, they vowed to play harder in front of the young goaltender, who finished with 31 saves in Game 2.Tampa Bay benefited early from a couple of questionable penalties – Wilson for goaltender interference and T.J. Oshie for high-sticking Victor Hedman, when the Tampa Bay defenseman actually was struck by the puck – to score twice in just over three minutes on the power play for a 2-1 lead.Stamkos and Hedman assisted on Point’s goal at 7:08 of the first. Stamkos’ fourth goal in five games gave Tampa Bay its first lead of the series.The Lightning will have to turn the series around on the road to return to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2015.”We’ll prepare for the toughest game that we’ve played all season,” Stamkos said. ”It’s gut-check time. Let’s see who we really are.”NOTES: Washington’s John Carlson had two assists, giving him 14 points (three goals, 11 assists) this postseason. That’s a club record by a defenseman in one playoff year. He had been tied for the most with Kevin Hatcher (5-7-12, 1988), Scott Stevens (1-11-12, 1988) and himself (5-7-12, 2016). … Before Sunday night, the Lightning had won Game 2 of a series five consecutive times after losing Game 1. They’re 4-2 in six previous series in which they lost Game 1, with those series losses coming in the first round in 2014 against Montreal and the 2015 Stanley Cup Final against Chicago. … Capitals C Nicklas Backstrom, who took a shot from Justin Schultz off his right hand in Game 5 of Washington’s second-round series against the Penguins, missed his third straight game. He took part in the morning skate on a limited basis and remains day-to-day. … Hedman has a franchise-record, seven-game point streak (eight assists). Martin St. Louis had a six-game streak in 2004.—

WASHINGTON (AP) All it took was a failed clear Womens Colton Sissons Jersey , a few passes and a one-timer for the Washington Capitals to earn a big win and hand the Dallas Stars a devastating loss.John Carlson’s winner with five minutes remaining gave Washington a 4-3 victory on Tuesday night to extend its lead atop the tight Metropolitan Division to four points. As important as it was for the Capitals, the stinging regulation defeat was a dagger to the Stars’ fading playoff hopes.Dallas finished its hellacious road trip 0-4-2 and sits outside the final playoff position in the Western Conference. It could need 14 of a possible 16 points before the end of the season to get in.”It’s a tough one, and we know that there’s nothing you can do about it,” Stars winger Alexander Radulov said. ”We’re still in the battle. We’re still believing, and there’s still lots of hockey left.”There isn’t that much hockey left, and the Capitals are atop the Metropolitan, four points up on the Pittsburgh Penguins and Columbus Blue Jackets thanks to Carlson’s goal that tied him with the Stars’ John Klingberg at 61 points, the most among NHL defensemen. Carlson scored after Dallas goaltender Kari Lehtonen gave the puck away when he tried to clear the zone and came on a shot his team needed him to stop with the season almost on the line.Lehtonen allowed four goals on 32 shots on a night in which top players Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn and Radulov scored and Dallas didn’t get much else from its supporting cast.”We have to have more people join the fight,” coach Ken Hitchcock said. ”I know you win and lose as a team, but we have to get more people contributing either from a work standpoint or from a contribution standpoint because we can’t have these same guys do it every night, night-in, night-out and not have more people fall in place here.”Things seem to be falling into place for Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby, who stopped 24 of 27 shots in his second consecutive victory after a month of struggles and a chance to reset his game. Unlike the Stars, Washington got offense from many places: T.J. Oshie, Matt Niskanen, Alex Ovechkin’s NHL-leading 44th of the season and then Carlson when it mattered most.Radek Faksa, who took one of the penalties that made it 4-on-4 before Carlson’s goal, stared at the score sheet in the locker room with his gear still on. Not keeping pace in the Western Conference race hurt the Stars, and it was painfully obvious.”We just needed to get to overtime,” Seguin said. ”We needed to at least get one point. We didn’t do it.”The Capitals did one better. With the Blue Jackets on a nine-game winning streak and the Penguins always a threat, losing in regulation would’ve significantly damaged the Capitals’ chances at a third consecutive division title.”These are big points now,” said Carlson, who’s goal with 4:59 left was his 15th of the year. ”Everyone can see how tight the race is and everybody kind of jockeying for position. You’ve got to collect them when you can and I think we had a good game tonight, so that’s the most positive.”The Stars can only grasp at positives. They’ve lost 12 of their past 16 games and are crumbling with goalie Ben Bishop and others injured. As much as Hitchcock believes his team should take a ”Who cares?” approach to injuries, they’re taking a toll along with some shoddy play all over the ice.”There’s injuries; we have guys banged up,” Seguin said. ”So does every other team. I don’t think that’s an excuse. I don’t think being tired is an excuse. Right now that’s more of a mindset than anything. It’s playoff hockey right now for us. It has been for a little while. We’ve got to go home and salvage some points.”NOTES: Capitals C Lars Eller was benched for more than eight minutes after his giveaway that led to Benn’s goal. … Capitals D Brooks Orpik returned after missing one game with a lower-body injury. C Evgeny Kuznetsov missed his second consecutive game with an upper-body injury. … Stars D Marc Methot missed his fourth game in a row with a hand injury, while RW Brett Ritchie (lower body) and C Jason Spezza (back) were also out. … Bishop is expected to miss at least two weeks with a left knee injury Craig Smith Jersey , and Lehtonen could be counted on to start the remaining eight games.UP NEXTStars: Return home to face the Boston Bruins on Friday.Capitals: Visit the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday.— CALGARY, Alberta (AP) It took Evander Kane until his 565th game to get his first NHL hat trick.Then he added another goal for good measure.Kane scored four times to lead the San Jose Sharks past the Calgary Flames 7-4 on Friday night, a huge performance by a player who was acquired at the Feb. 26 trade deadline.”It’s nice to get that monkey off my back,” said Kane, sent from Buffalo to San Jose for forward Danny O’Regan and draft picks. ”It’s been a long time since I’ve scored a hat trick. That was great. It made it even better, obviously, in a big game, an important game.”Tomas Hertl had a goal and an assist for the Sharks, who have won three straight and four of five. Kevin Lebanc and Eric Fehr also scored, and Martin Jones made 30 saves.San Jose is second in the Pacific Division, three points in front of Los Angeles and Anaheim.Joe Pavelski, who set up Kane’s fourth goal 62 seconds into the third period, was happy to see his new teammate come through in the clutch.”It’s always a special night when someone can score three, and for him to get that fourth is pretty cool to see,” Pavelski said. ”He’s definitely made a huge impact on us as a team and on his teammates. He’s been one of the guys driving the bus here for the last week or two. He came through big for us tonight.”Micheal Ferland had a goal and an assist for the Flames, who are four points out of a playoff spot. Troy Brouwer, Mark Jankowski and Johnny Gaudreau also scored for Calgary.”We had a few leads in the second and those are times when you want to put your foot on the pedal and get the next one,” forward Mark Stajan said. ”We weren’t able to do that.”Three nights after stopping all 28 shots he faced against the Oilers, Calgary goalie Mike Smith had a rough outing as he made just 14 saves before being replaced by David Rittich early in the third period. Rittich went on to stop all seven shots he faced in a relief appearance.”Terrible,” Smith said when asked to describe his performance. ”It was one of those nights where pucks were hitting things, going in. A couple bad breaks there. It was definitely an off night and a tough one to swallow right now.”The Sharks opened the scoring six minutes into the first period when Kane’s wrist shot beat Smith to the glove side.The Flames pulled even at 16:42 when Brouwer chipped a pass from Curtis Lazar into the top corner behind Jones.Jankowski took a pass from linemate Garnet Hathaway and wired a shot to the top corner, glove side behind Jones to put Calgary up 2-1 at 2:10 of the second.Kane then redirected Brenden Dillon’s point shot past Smith at 6:29 before Gaudreau cut into the slot and snapped a shot past Jones at 10:16 to put Calgary back up by a goal.That lead lasted just 1:26 as Lebanc fired a shot from a sharp angle into the top corner past Smith to pull the Sharks into a 3-all tie.Kane completed his hat trick at 16:32 when he swatted in his own rebound. Hertl poked the puck through Smith’s legs with 1:58 remaining before the second intermission.”I thought we had some good energy, especially after Johnny scored there,” said Calgary captain Mark Giordano, who was disappointed the Flames weren’t able to hold the lead. ”We didn’t do a good job of stopping them. They came in pretty easy there and got the puck in our net.”The Sharks added an insurance goal when Kane redirected a pass from Pavelski past Smith.Ferland backhanded a shot past Jones to pull Calgary within two goals with 5:35 left in regulation and Rittich on the bench for an extra attacker. Fehr rounded out the scoring with an empty-net goal 1:37 later.NOTES: Jankowski suited up for the Flames after sitting out Tuesday’s 1-0 win over Edmonton. Fellow forward Kris Versteeg returned to Calgary’s lineup after missing the past 49 games with a hip injury. … Gaudreau extended his point streak to six games (three goals, five assists).UP NEXTSharks: At the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night.Flames: At the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday.—