When Jim Rutherford took over as Penguins general manager, his main focus should've been rebuilding the team's third and fourth lines while using whatever cap space he could swing.That seems to have been the case.MORE: |Pittsburgh on Wednesday signed winger Steve Downie, who split last season between Colorado and Philadelphia, to a one-year, one-million contract. Part of the reason Downie came on the cheap was out of his control he dealt with a concu sion last season (4G, 20A in 62 games) and tore his ACL in the second game of 2013. That has to
Jabari Parker Jersey be a consideration.At the end of it all, though, Downie is worth more than the deal he signed and certainly worth more to a team that played fourth-liners on the third line and AHL players on the fourth line for most of last season. Even if he, at 26, has lost something because of those injuries, he still put up 14 goals and 27 a sists during his last full season (2011-12), which he split between Tampa Bay and Colorado.He positively impacted po se sion along the way, too percent of all shot attempts while he was on the ice at even-strength, and he
Matthew Dellavedova Jersey made his teammates better in that area, too.Maybe he's not a 2.00-plus-points per 60 minutes guy, as he was in Tampa while playing for Penguins a sistant Rick Tocchet. There's no reason to think, though, that he won't bring some sort of point production and the right puck-po se sion approach to Pittsburgh's third line. They lacked that last year Pittsburgh's third tier of forwards controlled of all shot attempts. Players like Craig Adams (40.8 percent) and Tanner Gla s (39.3 percent) saw regular shifts, usually, on the fourth line, and the rotating cast of call-ups and waiver-wire pickups weren't much better.They didn't produce points, either; Brandon Sutter led the bottom six in five-on-five scoring with six goals and nine a sists.At the trade deadline, Ray Shero tried to course-correct, adding Lee Stempniak and Marcel Goc to the mix, but that alone wasn't enough, particularly after Goc was injured Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin ran into a rough patch during the playoffs, and the supporting cast wasn't good enough to help. With Ju si Jokinen moving on, and the ineffectivene s of the rest of Pittsburgh'sdepth forwards,Rutherford needed to figure something out. Through the NHL draft and two days of free agency, he may have managed it.We talked about Downie's effectivene s; Sutter's an open book, but hedeserves to play with some actual
Thon Maker Jersey third-liners; Nick Spaling, acquired as part of the James Neal-Patric Hornqvist trade, is going to be a little expensive (he's an RFA coming off a 13-goal season), but is still a decent-enough option; Goc, a defensively solidplay-driver with Nashville and Florida, is back to center the fourth line;
Milwaukee Bucks Jersey Blake Comeau, signed as a fourth-line winger, also drove play with the Blue Jackets overall (53 percent Corsi For) and relative to his teammates (plus 4.7 percent Corsi Rel).If you're a more visual person, here's ausage chart ()for Pittsburgh's most regular bottom-six forwards last season with Goc, Spaling, Downie and Comeau added in.The bluer a bubble, the more positively a player impacted shot attempts and, thus, puck po se sion. The redder a bubble, the more negative theimpact. The larger the bubble, the more minutes he played. The higher the bubble, the tougher competition he faced. The farther the bubble moves right, the more offensive-zone starts he sees, which leads to more shots.In short, you want blue bubbles. Gue s which guys on this chart have blue bubbles.Beau Bennett is blue, but he's likely to spend more of his time with Malkin or Crosby in the fall. Other than that, it's the new guys, with Spaling as the outlier. The only other player on the chart who will start the season with aregular shift is Sutter. That's an upgrade.A suming Crosby, Malkin, Chris Kunitz, Pascal Dupuis, Hornqvist and Bennett make up the top six, Pittsburgh has one spot open on the fourth line. That
Chris Copeland Jersey said,Spaling-Sutter-Downie as a third line and Comeau-Goc-TBD as a fourth isgood enough to help, if nothing else and that's more than Pittsburgh could say last year.
T.J. Oshie is better than Troy Brouwer. Given that they are the only two NHL players to change hands in Thursday's Capitals-Blues trade, its a win for Washington.Acquiring Oshie, along with , means that the Capitals overhauled their top six forwards and really, their top nine. Oshie, like several other Caps forwards, can play center or wing. Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, Oshie, Williams, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Marcus Johan son, Andrei Burakovsky those are seven skilled players. Fitting them in
Ondrej Pavelec Jersey with Jason Chimera, Brooks Laich and others should sound pretty good if youre a Caps fan.MORE: | | The Capitals were among the Eastern Conference's best teams last season, and now they've addre sed their biggest i sue in a big way.Oshie, 28, had 19 goals and 36 a sists last season, one season after setting career highs with 21 goals, 39 a sists and 60 points.Given Oshies ability to make plays his 0.96 first a sists/60 minutes at 5-on-5, 34th in the NHL among players with at least 50 games played (via ) hed look good playing with Backstrom and Ovechkin. That could leave
Connor Hellebuyck Jersey Williams, one of the NHL's best play-drivers, on Kuznetsovs right wing.Well see how the match game goes, though. Caps GM Brian MacLellan needed to add right wing-capable players Wilson, youth and entertainment value aside, isnt ready to be Backstrom and Ovechkins most frequent running mate, as was the case last season. Oshie and Williams are both much better suited in that role.Throw in that two other Metropolitan Division rivals and added big-time wingers, and the past 24 hours were probably nece sary for MacLellan. He did well. Pittsburgh, for what its worth, had been in on a potential Oshie deal before acquiring Ke sel on Wednesday. The Caps reportedly had also inquired about Chicagos Patrick Sharp, but Oshie, at a $4.175 million cap hit through 2016-17 to Sharps $5.9 million, was cheaper.Oshie improves Washington at 5-on-5; his overall scoring rate there (2.27 points/60) was also 34th in the league and wouldve been the best on the Caps handily Ovechkin was first at 2.00.(Oshie, its got to be said, is among the NHL's best shootout guys, though thats going to be le s of
Logan Stanley Jersey a factor in the past, given the move to 3-on-3 overtimes.)Theres an element of weve got to do something to the Blues end of the deal. They underachieved in the playoffs for years, and Oshie was a big part of the core. Me sing with a good team for reasons like that doesnt always pay off; look at the Sharks.Still, if it ends here for St. Louis, things should be OK. Brouwer has at least 20 goals in each of the past two seasons, including eightand 12 on the power play. Part of that is a function of playing the leagues best units, but it shouldnt go unnoticed. St. Louis was fourth in the NHL on the power play at 22.3 percent, though, so how much improvement can be made remains to be seen.Brouwer, overall, is best suited physical third-liner, both in his effects on puck po se sion and his teammates production, with plus goal-scoring ability and power-play contributions. Theres value there; its just not what the Caps needed.With Brouwer, the Blues have a more defined top-six/bottom-six structure, something
Tobias Enstrom Jersey GM Doug Armstrong alluded to after the deal. There was duplication with Oshie, David Backes, Jaden Schwartz, Paul Stastny, Alex Steen, Vladimir Tarasenko and Joni Lehtera. Now, six of them are left."That size is something you can't teach, Armstrong said; Brouwer is 6-3, 213 pounds, Oshie is 5
Dustin Byfuglien Jersey -11, 189. In the Western Conference "you have to play with size and you have to play with weight."Armstrong shouldnt fetishize physicality for physicalitys sake here, and Brouwers space-creating ability doesnt manifest itself in production for his linemates, but again, as a third-line winger, hes fine. Hes just not Oshie, and thats not a great starting block.The futures St. Louis reeled in are worth noting, too; a third-round pick in 2016 and goalie Pheonix Copley. At 23, Copley would have begun the season as the starter for the Caps' AHL Hershey after having a .925 save percentage in 25 appearances there last season. He gives St. Louis an option moving forward behind Jake Allen. The fact that Copley was used as an a set at all is a compliment to former GM George McPhee and his staff; Copley signed with Washington in 2013 as an undrafted college free agent.
Philadelphia has made a roster move.The Flyers traded a fifth-round pick in this year's NHL draft to the Jets in exchange for Kevin Hayes, the team announced Monday.Hayes,
Jamaal Wilkes Jersey 27, will become an unrestricted free agent in Julyand Philadelphia already has plans to work on a new contract with him
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Jersey .BREAKING: We have acquired forward from Winnipeg in exchange for a fifth-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft. Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) "By gaining the rights to Kevin at this time, it provides us with an opportunity to negotiate with him prior to July 1 when he is due to become an unrestricted free agent," Flyers general manager Chuck
Wilt Chamberlain Jersey Fletcher said in a statement.Hayes was acquired by Winnipegin a trade with the Rangers in February for a 2019 first-round pick and
Jordan Clarkson Jersey a conditional 2022 fourth-round pick. He signed a one-year deal worth a little more than$5 million in July 2018 and went on to play in 20regular season games for the Jets.Winnipeg was eliminated by the Blues in six games in the first round of the NHL playoffs.Hayes posted a career-high 55 points in 71 appearances in 2018-19. Heplayed for currentFlyers head coach Alain
Los Angeles Lakers Jersey Vigneault during the first four years of his career in New York. Related Articles
It looks as though Derick Bra sard could be on the move again, just
Adam Larsson Jersey 22 days after The 31-year-old center will not take the ice on Saturday against the Kings in the Panthers' final game before the Feb.
Jean-Francois Jacques Jersey 25 trade deadline, The Athletic's George Richards first reported. coach Bob Boughner on sitting Bra sard before - its fair to him, fair to us. dale isnt going to give him away; if a deal doesnt come through, he will be here Monday (at ) George Richards (@GeorgeRichards) Bra sard,who will be
Edmonton Oilers Jersey an unrestricted free agent after this season, has 15 points on the season with one goal and three a sists in his 10 games since joining Florida. He could add a strong veteran presence to a team with deep playoff aspirations as
Laurent Brossoit Jersey he has 59 points in
Jari Kurri Jersey 90 postseason appearances.Selected by Columbus with the sixth pick in the 2006draft, the Hull, Que., native joins Mike Hoffman on the Panthers' trade block with the deadline approaching. on Thursday.
July 1 was always supposed to be dumbest day on the NHL's calendar. It didn't deliver this year.The longest and largest deal overall: six years and $33.5 million, Andrej Sekera with the Oilers. The largest cap
Marcus Morris Jersey hit: $6 million, Mike Green with the Red Wings. For forwards, Matt Beleskey (Bruins) and Michael Frolik (Flames) signed for the most years, with five. Frolik also had the largest cap hit ($4.3 million) and most money committed ($21.5 million).MORE: | | All the guys in that paragraph are good players, too. : Matt Niskanen signed for seven years with the Capitals. Five other players signed for five. Seven more signed for four. Paul Stastny (Blues) pulled in a $7 million hit on his own. Thomas Vanek (Wild) netted $6.5 million. Dave Bolland (Panthers, and !!!) got five years and $25.5 million from Florida. On and on."Sometimes, this day, you make some of the poorest decisions you can make," Flyers GM Ron Hextall said last year.So . . .what happened? What led to such relative austerity? Here are a few things to consider.Weaker crop of playersAll due respect to Beleskey and Sekera they'regood players, but they're not first-tier in quality or name recognition. Take last season: Stastny was sold as a first-line center during a Western Conference arms race at the position. Niskanen was coming off a huge offensive season. Vanek still had that pure-goal-scorer luster. Beleskey can play anywhere along a top nine, and Sekera is a steady, play-driving defenseman who best fits on a second pair.More analyticsNot everyone can get smart at once, but plenty of teams did their part over the last year. Look at the Maple Leafs as a team could have, , Kyle Dubas and Mark Hunter went, at least in terms of the players they brought in, cheap and analytically favorable. A P.A. Parenteau here. A Matt Hunwick there. Hey, it's Mark Arcobello! Look, Daniel Winnik.All are potentially valuable pieces. None signed for more than two years or $2.25 million, both of which went to Winnik. There's more value on undervalued a sets, developing your draft picks and using your money to retain them.Toronto was an ATM for a generation; now, it has nearly $15 million in space, per . It's
Grant Hill Jersey done spending money just to spend it."Obviously we've also created a lot of cap space for us to give us some flexibility going forward," Shanahan said. "Some of the players we've picked up are young guys obviously just starting their careers and it's our job to help them develop, it's our job to turn the picks into prospects and it's our job to turn those prospects into productive Leafs."It's not just the Leafs, either. Most teams have employees dedicated to finding economic advantagesnow, and didn't before. It'
Mateen Cleaves Jersey s that simple; it's not just the Kings and Blackhawks. It's the Panthers and the Devils and the Oilers and the Hurricanes and, yes, the Leafs, and a whole bunch of other teams. One of the basic tenets of an analytical decision-making proce s, as it relates to sports, is sniffing out undervalued resources and avoiding potentially disastrous bidding wars on the open market. Develop your players to fill your roster, set your valuations on the guys you need to fill the gaps, make the offer, then step away from the telephones.Negotiating windowIf you arm front offices with smarter people, better data and more time to avoid mistakes, things are going to change. For the third straight year, general managers were able to spend a couple days talking to UFAs ahead of July 1, and it continued to result in le s gigantic overspends. It's sort of like that old bit of advice: If you write an angry letter (or email, or whatever) to somebody, put it in a drawer for a day before you send it. It could stop you from saying something stupid out of anger
Grant Long Jersey . Substitute "saying something stupid out of anger" with "financially crippling your hockey club."The state of the capLast season, the league went from a $64.3 million upper limit to to$69 million. This season, largely because of the drop of the Canadian dollar, it went from $69.0million to $71.4 million. That's $2.3 million more, potentially, to spend than last summer. Factor in bigger-market teams spending their money wisely (again, we're glancing toward Ontario). Teams like Chicago, Boston, the Rangers, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, cap teams all, had work to do just to add anyone.The death of back-diving dealsWe still need to get used to salaries that aren't artificially driven down by fugazi years at the contract's end. No player as good as Marian Ho sa is ever going to sign for $5.275 million. No team is ever going to haul in players as dually desired as Zach Parise and Ryan Suter, as Minnesota did in 2012. It takes time for everyone to alter their mindsets with stuff like this; look at the outcry that happens whenever a defenseman signs for$5 million a year. That's a second-pairing guy now. Under a $55 million cap, that wasn't so.Big-ticket items off the boardDefensemanDougie Hamilton (RFA, traded from Boston to Calgary and ) and goalie Devan Dubnyk (six years, $26
Dennis Rodman Jersey million with Minnesota)were gone. So was Carl Soderberg, who signed a five-year, $23.75 million contract with the Avalanche after Boston traded his negotiation rights. All three of those contracts, had they come on the open market, would've been the biggest at their positions. Soderberg , who's working on an extension with the Blue Jackets after they pulled him away from Chicago.Some of these mitigating factors are here to stay; the game won't get dumber, and back-diving deals aren't coming back.Others will be back in play the big teams are going to have space; somedaythe cap will rise more quickly; the crop of available won't get weaker. For one day, though, everything came together, and no teams got hurt.
The Philadelphia Flyers unveiled their new mascot, "Gritty,"on Monday.The 7-foot tall fuzzy orange creature has googly eyes and a squeaky belly button.Meet Gritty. Christina Betz (@StinaBetz) Gritty will make hisgame debut on Monday night when the Flyers take on the Boston Bruins at the Wells Fargo Center.
Mikko Koivu Jersey Join us in welcoming the newest member of the Family, !!Learn more about Gritty: Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) MORE: TheFlyersdebuted a short-lived skatingmascotnamed .His tenure lasted le s than
Minnesota Wild Jersey one year. Hopefully Gritty's will last a bit longer.Here's how the internet reacted to the new mascot:I think I know how this is going to end. Neil Greenberg (@ngreenberg) He may be called Gritty, but I think a more apt name would be My Creamsicle Nightmare. The good news is that I have found my Halloween costume this year though, so thank you for that, ! Cara Spilsbury (@CaraSpils)
Darcy Kuemper Jersey This is what happens when you shave Gritty. Antoine Bugle Boy (@MrButterChicken) Chris McNulty (@Vaphilly624) Brendan Page (@BrendanDrPepper) Brian Standen (@kyansdad1) promoted tweet (@AintYourRyan) gritty is youppi's cousin who has fallen into some hard times & everyone is trying to help him get better Mononc coeurant (@MononcEcouerant)
Erik Haula Jersey You can't unsee the new Flyers mascot, Gritty... FanSided (@FanSided) Philly bringing in The Great Kabuki and repackaged him as Gritty? Justin Tironi (@thejustintironi) Ryan Rothstein (@RyanRothstein
Jonas Brodin Jersey ) Also gonna leave this edit here. Brendan Page (@BrendanDrPepper) amirite? Broad&Montgomery (@HRIV2) Are you related to the Honey Monster? Reno Says So! (@RenoXcore) G B R (@GiantBlueRing)
SOCHI, Ru sia Goalie Carey Price will start Canada's Olympic opener against Norway on Thursday, and Roberto Luongo will start Friday against Austria.Canada coach Mike Babcock announced his
Joel Ward Jersey rotation Wednesday after practice in
Patrick Marleau Jersey Sochi.PHOTOS: Best pics of NHL players in Sochi | Beautiful images of the Bolshoy Ice DomeBabcock and both goalies attributed no significance to the order. The coach had previously said both goalies likely would start at least once in
Brent Burns Jersey the preliminary round.Price is a three-time All-Star with the Montreal Canadiens. The British Columbia native will make his
San Jose Sharks Jersey Olympic debut against Norway.The 34-year-old Luongo is a three-time Olympian who already earned a gold medal in 2010. He won four straight elimination games in Vancouver, making 34
Martin Jones Jersey saves in the overtime final against the United States.Canada is expected to dominate its weak preliminary-round group, which includes Norway, Austria and Finland.
The age-old debate when it comes to any sport, any league, any team:who arethe best of the best?With the NHL's preseason on the horizon, let's takes a look at the top 25 players at each position right now: forward, defenseand goalie. This list takes into account both recent NHL performance and what is expected from the playerin the year to come.MORE:|
Kevin Pillar Jersey Here are the top 25 NHL defensemen for the 2019-20season:Honorable mentions: Ryan Ellis (Nashville Predators); Charlie McAvoy(Boston Bruins); Dustin Byfuglien (Winnipeg Jets); Shayne Gostisbehere(Philadelphia Flyers). 25. Miro Heiskanen, Dallas Stars Stars fans fell inlove with Heiskanen after just oneseasonand for good reason just take a look at his first-ever NHL shift from last October.Miro Heiskanen's first NHL shift was pretty, pretty, pretttttttty good. (via r/hockey) Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) Heiskanen chargeddown the ice with the puck the second he felt it on his stick and immediately createdscoring chances for Dallas. When the puck cameback into his zone, the then 19-year-oldcalmly puthis body between his man and the puck, shiftedthe puck back to his partnerand createdanother zone entry for the Stars. Reminder:that was his first shift in the league.Heiskanen rode those kinds of shifts to the tune of 33 points in his rookie season, enough to place him directly behind Buffalo's Rasmus Dahlin for fourth inCalder Trophyvoting.NHL farm system rankings: 24. Rasmus Dahlin, Buffalo Sabres Speaking of Dahlin, he scored 44 points on a Sabres team that can't seem tofind its way out of the league's basement. While his time on ice numbers place him as the teams'fourth-best defenseman last season, theSwede consistently showed skill on both ends and a keen ability to play in his own zone wellahead of his years.Rasmus Dahlin tracking his man, causing a turnover and leading the rush the other way. Buffalo Hockey moments (@SabresPlays) In his second NHL season, Dahlin will likely be given more difficult matchups to continue his
Toronto Blue Jays Jersey development. He could fall victim to the sophomore slump, but if his rookie year was any indication, it's only the beginning of the Dahlin era of hockey in Buffalo.23. Dougie Hamilton, Carolina Hurricanes Call Hamilton a risky pick for No. 23, but among defensemen,only Brent Burns has scored more goals than Hamilton over the last three seasons. The 26-year-oldwas initially pegged as the next-big-thing in Boston, and although he has not quite reached a "dominant" level at the position, he is one of the more effective point producers from the blue line in the NHL.Dougie Hamilton notched his 15th goal of the season last night in DC. Carolina Hurricanes (@CanesNHL) A native of Toronto, Hamiltonjoined his third NHLteam lastseason andcontributed 39 points to the Hurricanes' succe sful year, helping them reach the Eastern Conference finals. More must be seen from himthis season if he is to climb up this list, but for now, the goal-scoring makes him a valuable a set. 22.Kris Letang, Pittsburgh Penguins Letang finished sixth in Norris Trophy voting last season after tying a career-high in goals (16
J.A. Happ Jersey ) and setting a new high in points (56). He did all of this inonly 65 games giving the Penguins' top defenseman one of the best points per game (0.86) marks among all players in his position last year.GOAL! Kris Letang fires home the OT winner for the Penguins. Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) The 32-year-oldregularly puts in the work in all facets of Pittsburgh's game whether offensively or defensively. He faces a challengekeeping the Penguinscompetitive as he and the team's other stars age into their 30s, but it's a safe bet to a sume Letang will continue producing for a few more years to come.MORE:21. Zach Werenski, Columbus Blue Jackets Werenski, 22,has excelled at the NHL level since he entered the league with Columbusat age 19. He isyounger than teammate and fellow defenseman Seth Jones by two yearsbutalready has three35-plus point campaigns under his belt.Werenski plays a simple, opportunistic game in the offensive zone many of his goals come when he jumps into the play in his opponent'send and receives the puck in the slot. Once it's on his stick, Werenski is hard to stopbut it's even more difficult to stop him from getting to an optimal shooting spot in the first place
Toronto Blue Jays Hats .NHL free agency: 20. Ivan Provorov, Philadelphia Flyers Another 22-year-old, Provorov has logged more than 20 minutes per game since his very first oneat age 19. By the 2018-19 season,he was playing upto 25 minutes a night, leading all Philadelphiaskaters. He can score with a powerful slapshotand has a physical edge to his game, too.Ivan Provorov DESTROYS Matt Barzal then checks to see if hes alright ... Bar South N Celly (@BarSouthNCelly) Provorov's goal-scoring dipped back to single-digits (7)last season but he plays harder minutes than most defensemen his age are given.His stats may not reflect it on paper, but the 2015 first-round pick is on the cusp of becoming a household name for fans around the league.19. Thomas Chabot, Ottawa Senators Chabot, 22,is another youngsterwho hasquickly developed into a top-notch,point-scoring defenseman a skill the Senators needed after the Erik Karl son era ended. As a rookie in 2017-18,he saw le s than 18 minutes of ice time per game on average and still netted 25 points. In his secondseason, those minutes went up as he a sumed first-pairing duties he played nearly seven more minutes per game on average and the 2015 first-round pick ultimately scored 55 points.Thomas Chabot turns the defensive stop at one end of the ice into a goal at the other. Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) Considering the Senators' top scorers last season were both traded at the deadline, Chabot emerged as the team's scoring leader by the end of the year. Knowing that Ottawa will be hard-pre sed to score goalsthis coming season, Chabot's skill at both ends of the ice will be tested frequently.MORE: 18. Jacob Trouba, New York Rangers Trouba found a new home in New York whenthe Jets traded him to the Rangers in June, . Fans still mi sing what former captain Ryan McDonagh offered the team, will find Trouba a more than suitablereplacement.Jacob Trouba's playing quarterback on Super Bowl weekend. Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) The American defenseman broke out for 50 points for the first time in 2018-19 and has been playing second-pairing minutes or more in Winnipeg since his rookie season. Atjust 25, and the Rangers' rebuild nearing completion, he should grow into a fan favorite at Madison Square Garden.17. PK Subban, New Jersey
Dalton Pompey Jersey Devils It's rare to see such a top-tier player be traded twice in the first 10 years of his career; Subban moves to Ne
LOS ANGELES Whether the Stanley Cup Final ends tonight here, or Sunday in New York, or Tuesday back here, it's going to end. And The
Darryl Strawberry Jersey Los Angeles Kings are probably going to win.Related: There's a whole lot of merchandise at the Kings' Staples Center team store that's about to turn obsolete. People who celebrate first-round wins by buying commemorative crap are fascinating. And all of it is going to look particularly dumb if the New York Rangers manage a comeback.In any case, here's some of that stuff. Buy it now, or soon at thrift
Jeff McNeil Jersey stores acro s Southern California.We'll start with the best piece: A Western Conference champions shirt. Luckily, they went with a Blackhawk bird mascot.This one is pretty good, too; three Game 7 wins out of three is pretty cool. "Fourfection," if we get
Travis D'Arnaud Jersey to that point, doesn't work.This is where stuff starts to get murky. Kings-Ducks in the second round was a big enough deal for California hockey, but there are about a half-dozen different merchandise pieces celebrating that. Like here ...... and here ....... and here.Jeff Carter, Tyler Toffoli and Tanner Pearson could play together for a while, so this
Mookie Wilson Jersey isn't obsolete yet, but Darryl Sutter could kill that group at some point during Game 5, too. Deduction for the copyright-evading "The," rather than "That."The Anze Kopitar-Dustin Brown-Jonathan Quick stuffed dolls were too funny to pa s up. So Quick gets stuck with a mole on his face, but Kopitar goes
Lenny Dykstra Jersey eye-bag free? Unfair.
The Stars knew the much larger Blues would come out and be physical against them in Game 1of the teams'second-round Western Conference playoff series.The Stars did not shrink from the challenge. They shut out the Blues for more than 2 1/2 periods before prevailing in anincredibly physical final 10 minutes and winning 2-1 to go up 1-0 in the best-of-
Houston Astros Custom Jersey sevenseries.MORE: "We played them as hard as we could on the physical front," Dallascoach Lindy Ruff told reporters afterward.CenterRadek Faksa a sisted on the first Stars goal, then stuck in the game-winner with 4:44to play in the third period.
Dallas Keuchel Jersey Dallas goalie Kari Lehtonen notched 31 saves for the win. Battlingfor playing time withAntti Niemi, Lehtonen's performance had to give him and Ruff confidence in his ability to get the job done against St Louis.MORE: Kudos also to Blues netminder Brian Elliott, who had 40 saves in a losing cause.In Friday'slate game, the Sharks exploded for five goals in the third period for a 5-2 win over the Predators in the opener of the other West series.The Predators led 1-0 after two periods, but the Sharkstied the score five minutes into the third on a power-play goal by Tomas Hertl, and Joel Ward added another goal midway through the period for a 2-1 lead. After the teams traded goals a
Justin Verlander Jersey few minutes later, the Sharks picked up a couple of empty-net goals in the last couple of minutes to make the final score look like an easy win.GENTILLE: The teams briefly skirmished after the final horn,the Predators no doubt frustrated by what happened in the final 20 minutes. Nashville will be looking for payback when the teams meet for Game 2 on Sunday in San Jose.Three stars3. Kari Lehtonen, Stars Lehtonen collected 31 saves, many on close-in shots, to preserve the Stars' 2-1 victory.2. Radek Faksa, Stars The 22-year-old center picked up an a sist on the Stars first goal then punched home the game winner in
Brian McCann Jersey the third period.1.Logan Couture, Sharks The center scored two goals in the third period, one on a power play, the other an empty netter, to help San Jose hold off the Predators. Right wing Joel Ward also had a fine night with a goal and an a sist.HighlightElliott makes an initial save on Faksa's shot, butAntoine Rou sel grabs the carom and sticks it home to give the Stars a 1-0 lead.Saturday's game to watchPenguins at Capitals, Game 2, 8p.m. ET, NBC(Capitals lead1-0): Capitals right winger T.J. Oshie likely won't score a hat trick again with the game-winner comingin overtime, as he did Thursday. And it's unlikely the Capitals will hold Penguins captain Sidney Crosby to
Evan Gattis Jersey a single shot on goal and a minus-3 performance again.The Penguins desperately need to steal one on the Caps' home ice to avoid falling into a 2-0 hole.In the other game, the Lightning host the Islanders(3 p.m., NBC), with the Islanders up 1-0 in the series.
