WASHINGTON (AP) All it took was a failed clear
Womens Justin Faulk 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
Minnesota Wild T-Shirts Womens ,” 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
Chris Terry Jersey Womens , 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
Nick Foligno Jersey , 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, 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.— DENVER (AP) Second night of a back-to-back on the road – at elevation no less. Losing their goaltender midway through the game. Blocking 33 shots.No wonder Philadelphia coach Dave Hakstol was so complimentary.”Just a gutsy effort,” he said.Ivan Provorov had a goal and an assist, Petr Mrazek stopped all 17 shots he faced in relief of starter Michal Neuvirth and the Flyers held off the Colorado Avalanche 2-1 on Wednesday night.Claude Giroux also scored as the Flyers climbed into third place in the Metropolitan Division. They’re tied in points (92) with second-place Pittsburgh, with the Penguins currently holding the tiebreaker.”Every point matters right now,” Mrazek said.Philadelphia looked crisp early – scoring both goals in the first period – despite losing in overtime at Dallas a night earlier. Neuvirth turned back 10 shots in his first game since suffering a lower-body injury on Feb. 18, but he exited the game midway through the second period for an undisclosed reason. Hakstol had no update after the game.Mrazek took over and was exceptional, especially in the last five minutes when the Avalanche turned up the pressure. He withstood a flurry of shots in the last few seconds, including one from Gabriel Landeskog where the red light briefly came on after the puck flew by the net.”Those five minutes felt like 15. So long
Authentic Oliver Bjorkstrand Jersey ,” Mrazek said. ”Lots of blocked shots in front of me, a couple of lucky bounces today. Didn’t see, I think, one or two pucks get to my pad. Big thanks to these guys in front the last five minutes.”Matt Nieto scored for an Avalanche team that’s on the outside of the playoff picture with five games remaining. They’ve lost three of four, including two of those at home where they’ve been stellar all season. The Avs are 16-4-1 at the Pepsi Center over their last 21 games.What’s more, Colorado’s offense has suddenly gone silent with five goals now in the last four games.”When our line goes cold we lose games,” star forward Nathan MacKinnon said. ”If we have some chances it’s up to us to bury them.”Andrew Hammond had 31 saves during an emergency start for Semyon Varlamov, who was sidelined by an illness. Varlamov had appeared in 21 straight games for the Avalanche.Hammond was called up from San Antonio of the American Hockey League earlier in the day as an insurance policy. It was his first appearance for Colorado after splitting time between the minors and a backup role. He also dealt with what the team called a head injury. Hammond was acquired as part of a three-team trade that sent Matt Duchene to Ottawa in November.”I think it took me a period to get my legs under me,” said Hammond
Ryan Murray Jersey , who played in his first NHL game in more than a year. ”The unfortunate part is I guess the game-winning goal ended up being scored in that period. But as the game went on I settled in and started to feel better.”Nieto cut it to 2-1 by poking the puck past Neuvirth at 5:36 of the second period.Colorado pulled Hammond with around 90 seconds left but couldn’t score the equalizer despite turning up the pressure.Giroux put the Flyers up 1-0 in the first with his 27th goal, and Provorov added another nearly eight minutes later with a blast from the blue line.With Provorov’s score, the Flyers have 48 goals from their defensemen – the team’s most in a season since the group accounted for 52 in 1992-93.”This is how the game is played right now,” Provorov said. ”You can’t create offense with just three forwards. You have to move and have mobile `D.’ I think that’s what we have on our team.”NOTES: Flyers D Shayne Gostisbehere set up Giroux’s goal. Gostisbehere has five assists over his last three games. … D Andrew MacDonald had seven blocked shots. … Avs RW Sven Andrighetto missed a third straight game with a lower-body injury. … Backup G Jonathan Bernier remains sidelined as he deals with a cut on his hand that became infected. He faced some shots during a morning skate Wednesday, but didn’t have his stick.UP NEXTFlyers: Host Boston on Sunday.Avalanche: Face Chicago on Friday before a three-game trip.—
WASHINGTON (AP) All it took was a failed clear Womens Justin Faulk 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 Minnesota Wild T-Shirts Womens ,” 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 Chris Terry Jersey Womens , 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 Nick Foligno Jersey , 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, 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.— DENVER (AP) Second night of a back-to-back on the road – at elevation no less. Losing their goaltender midway through the game. Blocking 33 shots.No wonder Philadelphia coach Dave Hakstol was so complimentary.”Just a gutsy effort,” he said.Ivan Provorov had a goal and an assist, Petr Mrazek stopped all 17 shots he faced in relief of starter Michal Neuvirth and the Flyers held off the Colorado Avalanche 2-1 on Wednesday night.Claude Giroux also scored as the Flyers climbed into third place in the Metropolitan Division. They’re tied in points (92) with second-place Pittsburgh, with the Penguins currently holding the tiebreaker.”Every point matters right now,” Mrazek said.Philadelphia looked crisp early – scoring both goals in the first period – despite losing in overtime at Dallas a night earlier. Neuvirth turned back 10 shots in his first game since suffering a lower-body injury on Feb. 18, but he exited the game midway through the second period for an undisclosed reason. Hakstol had no update after the game.Mrazek took over and was exceptional, especially in the last five minutes when the Avalanche turned up the pressure. He withstood a flurry of shots in the last few seconds, including one from Gabriel Landeskog where the red light briefly came on after the puck flew by the net.”Those five minutes felt like 15. So long Authentic Oliver Bjorkstrand Jersey ,” Mrazek said. ”Lots of blocked shots in front of me, a couple of lucky bounces today. Didn’t see, I think, one or two pucks get to my pad. Big thanks to these guys in front the last five minutes.”Matt Nieto scored for an Avalanche team that’s on the outside of the playoff picture with five games remaining. They’ve lost three of four, including two of those at home where they’ve been stellar all season. The Avs are 16-4-1 at the Pepsi Center over their last 21 games.What’s more, Colorado’s offense has suddenly gone silent with five goals now in the last four games.”When our line goes cold we lose games,” star forward Nathan MacKinnon said. ”If we have some chances it’s up to us to bury them.”Andrew Hammond had 31 saves during an emergency start for Semyon Varlamov, who was sidelined by an illness. Varlamov had appeared in 21 straight games for the Avalanche.Hammond was called up from San Antonio of the American Hockey League earlier in the day as an insurance policy. It was his first appearance for Colorado after splitting time between the minors and a backup role. He also dealt with what the team called a head injury. Hammond was acquired as part of a three-team trade that sent Matt Duchene to Ottawa in November.”I think it took me a period to get my legs under me,” said Hammond Ryan Murray Jersey , who played in his first NHL game in more than a year. ”The unfortunate part is I guess the game-winning goal ended up being scored in that period. But as the game went on I settled in and started to feel better.”Nieto cut it to 2-1 by poking the puck past Neuvirth at 5:36 of the second period.Colorado pulled Hammond with around 90 seconds left but couldn’t score the equalizer despite turning up the pressure.Giroux put the Flyers up 1-0 in the first with his 27th goal, and Provorov added another nearly eight minutes later with a blast from the blue line.With Provorov’s score, the Flyers have 48 goals from their defensemen – the team’s most in a season since the group accounted for 52 in 1992-93.”This is how the game is played right now,” Provorov said. ”You can’t create offense with just three forwards. You have to move and have mobile `D.’ I think that’s what we have on our team.”NOTES: Flyers D Shayne Gostisbehere set up Giroux’s goal. Gostisbehere has five assists over his last three games. … D Andrew MacDonald had seven blocked shots. … Avs RW Sven Andrighetto missed a third straight game with a lower-body injury. … Backup G Jonathan Bernier remains sidelined as he deals with a cut on his hand that became infected. He faced some shots during a morning skate Wednesday, but didn’t have his stick.UP NEXTFlyers: Host Boston on Sunday.Avalanche: Face Chicago on Friday before a three-game trip.—