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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.—
It’s a game that might have been circled by many far in advance because of one particular matchup — Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury against his former club and his former teammate Michael Del Zotto Jersey , Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Matt Murray.Now, neither is expected to start Thursday when the teams play at PPG Paints Arena.Fleury, the one-time Pittsburgh franchise goalie who made an emotional return in February in a 5-4 Penguins win after the Golden Knights plucked him in the 2017 expansion draft, instead started Wednesday at Washington.Article continues below ...In a rematch of the Stanley Cup final in June, the Golden Knights (1-3) lost to the Capitals 5-2.“I don’t think it was our best game, and I think there are a lot of things that we can tighten up, and awareness is something we can do a much better job (of),” Vegas’ Reilly Smith said.Fleury, who made 24 saves, is not expected to make back-to-back starts.Murray, meanwhile, sustained a concussion in practice Monday, his second concussion this calendar year and third of his NHL career. Because of the unpredictable nature of concussions, it is unknown how long he will be out. He has not practiced since getting hurt.So what was the big matchup instead will be Pittsburgh backup Casey DeSmith against Golden Knights backup Malcom Subban.Fleury’s return this time is a bit muted by his expected spot on the bench.“I think that probably plays into it, and the fact that he’s played here once already,” Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby, a longtime close friend of Fleury’s, said, adding that Vegas is still a challenging opponent.“They’re a team that had a great year last year, have a lot of confidence built because of that. For us Sam Gagner Jersey , not having played a lot of games so far this year, we’re just trying to find our game a bit and get some momentum.”The Penguins (1-1) have no trouble turning their attention instead to their performance. They have given up 11 goals in two games and were particularly dismayed with their performance in a 5-1 loss Saturday against Montreal.Since that loss, the team has had three practices to work on things, including one that lasted an hour that winger Jake Guentzel called “high intensity” with most players remaining on the ice at least another 30 minutes, and another not originally scheduled.“I hope we respond the right way,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. “My commitment to them is to be straightforward to them.“We certainly weren’t pleased with the effort that we had in the last game. We’re trying to identify areas where we need to improve, and we spent three days working on those areas.”Concentrating on one’s own team is fine with Vegas, a marked opponent this season as the defending Western Conference champion.“One thing that we have to (do is) stop talking about last year,” the Golden Knights’ Jonathan Marchessault told The Athletic. “It’s a new year now. Last year is over. It’s a new team.” BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Rasmus Dahlin nods his head acknowledging he’s familiar with the name when Scotty Bowman comes up in conversation. The 18-year-old is then taken aback upon hearing what the Hockey Hall of Fame coach had to say about the rookie defenseman for the Buffalo Sabres.For all the accolades the Swedish-born player received upon being drafted first overall in June, Dahlin paused briefly upon hearing the nine-time Stanley Cup-winner believes he has the potential to be the best defenseman in Sabres’ history.“Of course that’s fun to hear, but I’m just 18-years-old and I have many years in front of me,” Dahlin said. “I can’t think in that way. I just need to work as hard as I can to be as good as I can.”Moments later, Dahlin noted he still hasn’t even made the roster yet.“We’ll see,” he said.Perhaps someone in the Sabres’ front-office might want to break the good news by informing Dahlin his spot is secure for Buffalo’s opener against Boston on Thursday. Bowman had little doubt after watching Dahlin during a prospects tournament earlier this month; Dahlin wowed the 1,800 fans packing the Sabres practice facility by fearlessly jumping into the rush and showing off his play-making abilities with two goals and an assist against New Jersey.His first goal came after he danced around a defender and snapped a shot through a crowd. The second came on a two-on-one break, during which he raced into the left circle to convert a rebound.“He’ll have some growing pains, but he’s got a terrific shot,” Bowman told The Associated Press. “He’s got what they call a nose for the net. Bobby Orr did that.”Bowman, who spent six-plus seasons coaching in Buffalo Womens Devante Smith-Pelly Jersey , then ran down the list of Sabres’ defensive greats, such as current coach and Hall of Famer Phil Housley, Jim Schoenfeld, Jerry Korab and Mike Ramsey.“He’s only 18, but I think in about two to three seasons, if he continues at the same level that he has in Sweden, the Sabres could be looking at a career defenseman,” he said.The Sabres, who haven’t made the playoffs in seven seasons and finished last in the standings for the third time in five years, are certainly counting on it.“We see the potential, too,” general manager Jason Botterill said. “The bottom line is, it’s our job to develop him.”Dahlin will endure his growing pains, which were evident during preseason games in which he displayed some nerves while also getting accustomed to the smaller North American ice surface. There were occasions in which he was too cavalier with the puck, including being stripped by veteran Patrick Marleau of Toronto last week.More apparent is how the smooth-skating, no-look-passing youngster can provide a play-making element severely lacking among Buffalo’s defensemen a year ago.Sabres blue-liners combined for a league-worst 19 goals last season. Things were so anemic Buffalo didn’t get its first goal from a defenseman until 28 games in, when Jake McCabe scored on Dec. 5.Dahlin is decisive in breaking out of his own zone. He has an effortless stick-handling ability and he’s instinctive in knowing when to join the rush without being reckless.In the opening seconds of his first shift against New Jersey, Dahlin sped up the neutral zone to accept a pass and create a scoring chance after a Devils turnover.“He’s come in as advertised,” Devils GM Ray Shero said. “He has a confidence to his game. He’s got a flair to the way he plays.”Botterill went further in saying: “He seems to see everything. It’s something that’s very difficult to sort of explain, but he certainly has it.”At 6-foot-3 and 186 pounds http://www.officialcanucks.com/authentic-adidas-sven-baertschi-jersey , Dahlin was regarded as the most NHL-ready prospect in this year’s draft class, and drew comparisons to other elite Swedish defensemen, such as San Jose’s Erik Karlsson and former Detroit star Nicklas Lidstrom.Dahlin’s first taste of Buffalo came last winter, when the city hosted the World Junior championship. Dahlin helped Sweden win a silver medal and was named the tournament’s top defenseman with six assists in seven games. A month later, he represented Sweden at the Winter Olympics, where he had an assist in two games. Dahlin had seven goals and 13 assists in 41 games with Frolunda of the Swedish Hockey League, and earned junior player of the year honors.Dahlin is soft-spoken, in part because he’s still getting a grasp of the English language. As for hockey, he said, it’s a game he always wanted to play growing up in Trollhattan, not far from Sweden’s west coast.Though Dahlin makes the game look easy, he said that’s far from how it has been.“I always played with older guys, so it’s never been that easy,” said Dahlin, who was 16 upon making his Swedish Elite League debut. “It’s always been a challenge for me to make the team and stuff like that. I think the challenge makes me motivated.”Now he’s on the cusp of playing in the NHL.“This is my dream,” Dahlin said. “And I really want to make the team.”
NEW YORK — The season is just two games old Womens Samuel Girard Jersey , but it has already been a transitional one for the New York Islanders and their new head coach, Barry Trotz. The adaptation process will continue Monday afternoon, when Robin Lehner makes his first start for the Islanders in a Columbus Day matinee against the San Jose Sharks at Barclays Center.It will be the third game of the season for both teams. The Islanders dropped their home opener Saturday, when they fell to the Nashville Predators, 4-3. Article continues below ...The Sharks last played Friday, when they earned a 3-2 overtime win over the host Los Angeles Kings.The narrow defeat for the Islanders on Saturday left Trotz — who coached the Washington Capitals to the team’s first Stanley Cup last spring — in the unfamiliar position of trying to find positives in a loss. New York, which allowed the most goals in the NHL last season (296) and lost star John Tavares to the Toronto Maple Leafs as a free agent in July, followed up a 2-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday by keeping the Western Conference powerhouse Predators off the scoreboard in the third period.“I thought we had some pretty good stretches,” Trotz told reporters afterward. “Our overall game, I thought we were pretty good. I thought we handled their speed well. I thought we managed the puck a lot better than we did in Carolina.”The Sharks also felt good about themselves following the adjustments they made against the Kings, whom they limited to one goal over the final two periods and overtime while getting their first win when New York native Kevin Labanc scored 2:54 into the extra period.“I thought the third period we really pressed, and I thought we were the better team in the third,” said Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer, whose squad outshot the Kings 12-5 in the third period and overtime. “The guys played as if we needed to win this game and we found a way to do it.”Trotz said following practice Sunday that Lehner, who signed with the Islanders in July following three seasons with the Buffalo Sabres, would draw the start Monday. It will be the first regular season game for Lehner since he entered alcohol rehab and began receiving treatment for bipolar disorder last spring.“I feel I’m ready to play,” Lehner told reporters Sunday. “There are still a few things we’re working on. We’re changing a few things I’ve been doing my whole life. That’s not an overnight thing.”Lehner is 0-4-0 in four career appearances against the Sharks.Martin Jones is likely to draw his third straight start for the Sharks. Jones is 1-0-0 in two career games against the Islanders.The Sharks will be without veteran center Joe Thornton, who was placed on injured reserve with an undisclosed injury Sunday. To replace Thornton on the active roster, San Jose recalled center Dylan Gambrell from its AHL affiliate.The Islanders will be hosting a Western Conference foe on Columbus Day afternoon for the third time in four seasons since moving to Barclays Center. New York suffered a 3-2 shootout loss to the St. Louis Blues last season and beat the Winnipeg Jets, 4-2, in 2015. DETROIT (AP) The Detroit Red Wings are a team in transition, and that was evident Tuesday night.Veteran defenseman Niklas Kronwall scored a goal for his 400th point, while rookie defenseman Joe Hicketts, playing his second NHL game, grabbed a pair of assists for his first career points as the Red Wings beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-2.”It’s neat for sure Semyon Varlamov Jersey ,” Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said. ”It’s good. I thought a number of our young players played well.”Luke Glendening scored twice and Darren Helm matched his career high with three points. Helm had a goal and two assists, and Frans Nielsen and Niklas Kronwall also scored for Detroit. Jimmy Howard made 22 saves to help the Red Wings win in regulation for the first time since a 3-1 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Feb. 24.Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang scored for the Penguins. Matt Murray stopped 21 shots.It took Pittsburgh 38 seconds to gain the lead. Crosby took Jake Guentzel’s cross-ice feed and snapped a shot before Howard could get across.”(Dylan) Larkin, Helm and (Anthony) Mantha was the line that went up against Crosby,” Blashill said. ”They didn’t start great. The turnover early and then they go down and score. But that’s the learning process that you have to do and after that they were really good, so that’s a real positive.”The Red Wings pulled even 17:43 into opening period. Helm found Kronwall pinching down from the point, and Kronwall whipped a quick shot past Murray. It was his 80th goal, tying him for fourth among Wings defensemen with Hall of Famer Marcel Pronovost.”I try to keep them,” Kronwall said of his milestone pucks. ”I’m not sure exactly where I have them. I don’t have that many, let’s be honest. I think they’re around somewhere.”Detroit, mired in a 1-12-1 stretch, grabbed the lead on the power play at 14:28 of the second period. Martin Frk faked a shot, then zipped the puck across the ice to Nielsen, whose high shot eluded the sprawling Murray.Just 41 seconds later, Detroit made it 3-1 when Glendening deflected Nick Jensen’s point shot.”We let them have the momentum with those two quick goals in the second period,” Crosby said. ”You can’t let that happen. Once we fell behind there, we were chasing the game.”The Red Wings added another goal 6:21 into the third period when Helm converted Larkin’s feed for his 10th.Letang’s point shot found its way through traffic and behind Howard with 3:16 left in regulation.Glendening finished the scoring into an empty net with 1:28 to play.”I don’t think we were struggling tonight, we just weren’t playing with the kind of urgency it takes to win games,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. ”This is a hard league, and it is hard to win a game no matter who you are playing.”If you aren’t willing to make the commitment it takes to give that kind of effort, you are going to get beat.”NOTES: Red Wings GM Ken Holland would not confirm reports that he and Blashill would return next season, saying only that the question would be answered by the end of the season. … The Penguins are the first visiting team to lose twice at Little Caesars Arena. They also fell 4-1 in Detroit on Dec. 31. . Glendening recorded his second career multi-goal game and first since Jan. 27, 2015 at Florida, along with his fifth career multi-point game.UP NEXTPenguins: At New Jersey on Thursday night.Red Wings: At Buffalo on Thursday night.—
ANNAPOLIS Womens Melker Karlsson Jersey , Md. (AP) Less than a minute after each of his team’s goals, Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Frederik Andersen gave up a score to the Washington Capitals. Didn’t take long for him to get pulled from the Stadium Series outdoor game at the U.S. Naval Academy, either.Andersen turned in his latest shaky performance as the playoffs approach, allowing five goals on 25 shots in a little more than 1 1/2 periods Saturday night, and the Leafs lost to Alex Ovechkin’s Capitals 5-2.Toronto coach Mike Babcock seemed to finally lose patience with the Danish goalie that Toronto has been figuring it could count on to carry the team when the games matter the most. Andersen was given the hook because of poor play for the only time in 55 starts this season; he was taken out of a game on Feb. 5 after being hit on the head by another player’s skate.Why make the change?”Well, just, I mean, it was going in. And I didn’t want to leave him in there and (have) a bunch more go in,” Babcock said. ”He’s our guy. He’s our starter. We’ve got to look after him the best we can.”Rather than assign blame to Andersen, Babcock spoke more generally about mistakes his others players made against an opponent that eliminated the Maple Leafs in the first round of the playoffs last season.”They look at us,” he said about the Capitals, ”and they still think we’re kids. And it looked like we were kids here tonight. I thought they smacked us around.”This was the fourth game in a row – and eighth in his past nine appearances – that Andersen allowed at least three goals. And after streaking into strong position in the Eastern Conference by winning 13 of 15 games, Toronto has now lost three in a row on a road trip that will conclude on Monday at the Buffalo Sabres.Andersen was replaced by backup Curtis McElhinney 11 minutes, 10 seconds into the second period. That was 21 seconds after Washington winger Jakub Vrana’s breakaway goal – his first score in about 2 months – made it 5-2.Other goals against Andersen were scored by Ovechkin – for his 40th this season and the 598th of his career – Nicklas Backstrom, Evgeny Kuznetsov and John Carlson.Ovechkin’s made it 2-1 in the second period, and arrived only 59 seconds after Zach Hyman put the puck past Capitals goalie Braden Holtby to temporarily tie things. Carlson’s goal came just 43 seconds after Nazem Kadri spun around and zipped a shot in to get Toronto within 3-2.Andersen didn’t offer much by way of explanation for the way this game went http://www.sanjosesharksteamshop.com/authentic-mikkel-boedker-jersey , although he did mention that the outdoor conditions might have made finding the puck more of a challenge than usual. He was sitting on the bench with a white wool cap on by the time the artificial lights went out in the third period, causing about a 15-minute delay.”There were certain spots where the lights – the reflection off the ice – was a little different,” he said. ”But it’s something both goalies have to potentially face.”— PITTSBURGH (AP) Mike Sullivan knows his team is ”wired” for offense, as tends to happen when you have Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and – increasingly – Jake Guentzel on your roster.Yet the Pittsburgh Penguins have proven during their two-year run atop the NHL they know what they’re doing at the other end of the ice, too, playing with a discipline that’s more grit than glamour.Their hopes for a historic three-peat remain alive because of it.Guentzel scored twice and the Penguins held Washington star Alex Ovechkin without a shot on goal for just the third time in 107 career playoff games to grind out a 3-1 victory in Game 4 on Thursday night to even their typically taut Eastern Conference semifinal.Pittsburgh held Washington to three shots total in the third period.”It’s like we played Game 7 tonight,” said Malkin, who scored from his belly late in the second period to put Pittsburgh in front to stay. ”Unbelievable.”Well. Not exactly.This is what tends to happen when the two longtime rivals meet in the postseason. Washington edges ahead and the Penguins respond immediately, one of the main reasons Pittsburgh is 9-1 all-time against the Capitals in the playoffs.Plenty of work remains to be done for Washington to shrug off the weight of its ignominious history and for the Penguins to push their bid for a three-peat to the next round. Yet Pittsburgh laid down the blueprint over three periods that were decidedly tamer than the Game 3 chaos caused in large part by Washington forward Tom Wilson’s illegal high hit that left rookie Zach Aston-Reese with a broken jaw and led the league to suspend Wilson for three games.While Sullivan downplayed the impact of Wilson’s absence, the pushing and shoving was largely kept to a minimum save for a scrap between Pittsburgh’s Kris Letang and Washington’s T.J. Oshie as Guentzel skated down the ice to flip in an empty-net goal with 58 seconds to go.For the Penguins, the stakes – as they so often have during Sullivan’s tenure – far outweighed any search for retribution.”We understood it’s a huge game for us,” Malkin said.Instead the teams head to Washington for Game 5 on Saturday night all tied up, the ninth time in 11 postseason meetings the series will go at least six games. Same as it ever was.Oshie scored Washington’s lone goal – a shot from the slot on the power play 12:55 into the second that knotted the score at 1 – and Braden Holtby finished with 21 saves but the Capitals couldn’t sneak anything else by Murray, who stopped 20 shots just two days after putting together an admittedly ”shaky” performance in Game 3.The guys in front of Murray made his job relatively easy. The Penguins blocked 13 shots and rarely let Washington put together any sustained pressure.Devante Smith-Pelly replaced Wilson on the top line with Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov, but Pittsburgh kept the clamps on. Ovechkin failed to put a single puck on net Tim Heed Jersey , though Washington coach Barry Trotz downplayed Ovechkin’s ineffectiveness.”Trust me, Ovie will get his shots,” Trotz said.He’s going to have to if he wants to keep pace with Guentzel. A year after scoring a playoff-high 13 goals while helping the Penguins to a second consecutive Cup, the slender 23-year-old is once again thriving in May.Guentzel gave the Penguins the lead 9:21 into the second period when he stood on the doorstep and banged home a rebound of Dominik Simon’s shot for his ninth of the playoffs and his 20th point of the postseason. Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier in 1988 are the last two players to reach 20 points in 10 or fewer postseason games.”I just kind of feel like the (pucks) are going in right now,” Guentzel said.Guentzel has a league-leading 10 playoff goals, joining Mario Lemieux as the only NHL players to reach double digits in their first two career postseasons.The 23-year-old, however, is still learning. He committed a slashing penalty after putting the Penguins in front, and Oshie’s shot from the slot 12:55 into the second tied it.Malkin went to his belly to put Pittsburgh back in front with 2:33 to go in the second. The Russian star flung himself at the puck during a scrum in the crease, the puck just flitting over the goal line following a scramble. There was no initial goal call on the play, reminiscent of a sequence in Game 2 in which the red goal light remained unlit after Pittsburgh’s Patric Hornqvist jabbed at it from in front.Replays in Game 2 proved inconclusive and the Capitals held on. This time, the review was kinder to the Penguins. Video clearly showed the puck inching across the line, and it stood after the Capitals challenged claiming goalie interference.”It’s a good goal, we’re happy,” Malkin said. ”Sometimes it’s a bad call against us. Sometimes it’s a good call. But we’re looking at the next game. We understand it’s not over.”NOTES: Crosby also failed to get a shot on goal but had two assists. … Pittsburgh F Carl Hagelin played 16:11 while wearing a full face shield in his return from an upper-body injury that forced him to miss the first three games of the series. … The Capitals have scored a playoff goal in nine of 10 playoff games. … The loss was Washington’s first on the road in the playoffs (4-1). … The Capitals were 1 for 3 on the power play. The Penguins were 2 for 4.—
NEW YORK (AP) A change to the NHL’s protocol for goaltender interference reviews is happening quicker than expected.Beginning with games on Wednesday William Karlsson Jersey , all coach’s challenges for goaltender interference will be decided by the league’s situation room in Toronto instead of on-ice officials getting the final say. The NHL board of governors approved the change Tuesday that was recommended by general managers and approved by the competition committee.The original intent was to change the policy beginning for the playoffs. Instead, the final two-plus weeks of the regular season will include reviews being decided by a group that includes a former official.Commissioner Gary Bettman says the intent was to maintain consistency across the board on goalie interference. GMs, coaches Alex Ovechkin Jersey Kids , goalies and skaters had all voiced some displeasure about the system and the wide range of calls made on the ice and by referees after taking a look at the replay.— PHILADELPHIA (AP) Philadelphia Flyers goalie Brian Elliott had abdominal surgery on Tuesday and will be out 5 to 6 weeks, general manager Ron Hextall said.Elliott re-aggravated an abdominal injury that cost him four games earlier this month in Saturday’s 4-3 shootout victory over Arizona.In 41 games this season, Elliott has posted a 21-11-7 mark with a 2.72 goals-against average and .908 save percentage.Flyers backup goalie Michal Neuvirth started Tuesday night’s game against the New Jersey Devils Braden Holtby Jersey , two days after he made 38 saves in a 4-1 victory at Las Vegas.Philadelphia recalled Alex Lyon from Lehigh Valley of the AHL prior to Sunday’s game to serve as Neuvirth’s backup.Hextall was noncommittal as to whether he would pursue a replacement for Elliott before the Feb. 26 trade deadline.The Flyers began Tuesday in sixth place in a tightly bunched playoff race in the Eastern Conference.
NEW YORK (AP) A change to the NHL’s protocol for goaltender interference reviews is happening quicker than expected.Beginning with games on Wednesday William Karlsson Jersey , all coach’s challenges for goaltender interference will be decided by the league’s situation room in Toronto instead of on-ice officials getting the final say. The NHL board of governors approved the change Tuesday that was recommended by general managers and approved by the competition committee.The original intent was to change the policy beginning for the playoffs. Instead, the final two-plus weeks of the regular season will include reviews being decided by a group that includes a former official.Commissioner Gary Bettman says the intent was to maintain consistency across the board on goalie interference. GMs, coaches Alex Ovechkin Jersey Kids , goalies and skaters had all voiced some displeasure about the system and the wide range of calls made on the ice and by referees after taking a look at the replay.— PHILADELPHIA (AP) Philadelphia Flyers goalie Brian Elliott had abdominal surgery on Tuesday and will be out 5 to 6 weeks, general manager Ron Hextall said.Elliott re-aggravated an abdominal injury that cost him four games earlier this month in Saturday’s 4-3 shootout victory over Arizona.In 41 games this season, Elliott has posted a 21-11-7 mark with a 2.72 goals-against average and .908 save percentage.Flyers backup goalie Michal Neuvirth started Tuesday night’s game against the New Jersey Devils Braden Holtby Jersey , two days after he made 38 saves in a 4-1 victory at Las Vegas.Philadelphia recalled Alex Lyon from Lehigh Valley of the AHL prior to Sunday’s game to serve as Neuvirth’s backup.Hextall was noncommittal as to whether he would pursue a replacement for Elliott before the Feb. 26 trade deadline.The Flyers began Tuesday in sixth place in a tightly bunched playoff race in the Eastern Conference.