12-05-2019, 01:55 AM
PITTSBURGH, Pa. Replica Soccer Jerseys . - The Pittsburgh Penguins are ready for the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Ottawa Senators arent headed to the post-season, but captain Jason Spezza wanted to make sure his team finished the season strong. Spezza scored in the shootout to help the Senators beat the Penguins 3-2 on Sunday night and stretch their season-ending winning streak to five games. "We wanted to play for each other," said Spezza, who finished his first season as captain. "We talked about it a lot down the stretch, how it would be easy to let up, and I thought the group showed good character by finishing hard and winning these games." The teams were tied 2-2 after two periods and didnt score in the third or overtime. Spezza, who scored the lone goal in Ottawas win Saturday against Toronto, stopped at the circle during his shootout attempt, stickhandled around goalie Jeff Zatkoff, and scored. Kyle Turris added a goal in the shootout for the Senators. Ottawa goalie Robin Lehner stopped Beau Bennett and Jussi Jokinen to seal the win. Turris scored his 26th goal in regulation, and Mark Stone had his fourth for Ottawa, which will miss the playoffs for the second time in six years and first since 2011. "We believe in this group, that its a good group and very close to being a good team," Senators coach Paul MacLean said. "We have work to do and we have to come to training camp in September prepared to do the work and make changes to our game thats going to make us successful." Jokinen scored on the power play in regulation, his 21st of the season, and Lee Stempniak added his 12th for the Penguins, who rested captain Sidney Crosby and several others for their final game before the playoffs. No. 1 goalie Marc-Andre Fleury also sat out along with Brandon Sutter, Matt Niskanen, Robert Bortuzzo and Deryk Engelland. "I think weve gone through quite a bit with this group in terms of different lineups, different injury situations," Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said of his team, which led the NHL with 521 man-games lost. "I think weve done a better job of being able to shut teams down and limit opportunities, but now we have to do that in the playoffs." The Penguins will face Columbus in the first round of the playoffs. The series begins Wednesday in Pittsburgh. It will be the first post-season meeting between the teams, separated by a four-hour drive. The perennial-contending Penguins have lots of star power and three Stanley Cup titles. Columbus, during its first season in the Eastern Conference, secured its second playoff berth and first since the 2009 season. "Theyre skilled, they have great goaltending and they played fast," Penguins forward James Neal said. "We had a good year against them. Theyre going to come hard. Its the playoffs and everyone has a chance now." Despite missing the finale, Crosby won his second scoring title — topping Anaheims Ryan Getzlaf. Crosby, who finished with 36 goals and 104 points, outscored Getzlaf by 17 points to win the Art Ross Trophy for the first time since the 2006-07 season, his second in the NHL. The seven-year gap is the second-longest span between scoring titles. "Sid, I think, to get over 100 points ... to have the lead as he does over Getzlaf by that many points is pretty amazing to see," Bylsma said. Pittsburgh hopes to have former NHL MVP and two-time scoring champion Evgeni Malkin back for the playoffs after he missed the final 11 games of the regular season because of a foot injury. Malkin skated with teammates Chris Conner (foot) and Joe Vitale (upper body) on Sunday, but Bylsma didnt say whether they would be ready for Wednesdays playoff opener. "I like the way were getting healthy and I like the way were playing," Neal said. "This year is a little different than others. Were playing good hockey at the right time and thats big for us." Jokinen opened the scoring Sunday with a power-play goal with 5:14 left in the first period. His centring pass deflected off Eric Grybas skate and trickled between Lehners pads. Turris tied it later in the period, scoring in the final seconds of a power play when he sent a shot past Zatkoff from the left faceoff dot. Stempniak put the Penguins ahead 2-1 when he tipped Bennetts shot behind Lehner at 5:16 of the second. Stone tied it with Ottawas second power-play goal at 17:14 from the top of the crease, whacking in a rebound of Patrick Wierciochs point shot. NOTES: The Penguins played their fourth straight overtime game. ... Pittsburgh finished the season with 109 points, the second-highest total in team history. A Penguins player has won the scoring title in 15 of the last 26 seasons. ... Crosby and Malkin are the fourth set of teammates to win multiple scoring titles while playing together and the first since Bostons Phil Esposito and Bobby Orr between 1969-75. ... Ottawa scratched Jared Cowen, Matt Kassian and Mika Zibanejad. Authentic Soccer Jerseys . It was just business as usual for the Thunder at home. Durant scored 32 points and the Thunder beat the Bulls 107-95 on Thursday night for their eighth straight win. Soccer Jerseys 2020 . The Ravens werent about to let it happen again. Carleton picked up its fourth straight national mens basketball title, and 10th in the last 12 years, with a 79-67 victory over its crosstown rival on Sunday. https://www.cheapsoccerjerseysjustwholesale.com/ . This weeks topics include his take on the Kevin Pillar incident, All-Star snubs, the firing of Padres general manager Josh Byrnes and more.This is a very good team. I know they didnt rise to the challenge of playoff urgency last year but their statistical success was extreme. And yes, there is a degree of truth that statistics dont always convey the whole picture, but they are accurate indicators of what has improved and what the priority is to improve. For the Stampeders, there is little to find a discouraging word about. Here are the categories of pure football efficiency that the Stampeders finished first in compared to the other eight teams in the league last year: points scored, 30 per game; net offense, 383 per game; rushing yards, 141 per game; fewest quarterback sacks allowed; best second to first conversion rate; most quarterback sacks on defence; fewest giveaways, only 27 over 18 games; and tied with the Roughriders with the best takeaway/giveaway ratio at +19. Really, the only two areas of concern are punt and kick returns and red zone defence in which Calgary finished seventh best. This is a very good team. Quarterback will be an interesting battle. It should be a battle between the youth and arm skill of Bo Levi Mitchell and the intensity with determination of Drew Tate. Mitchell has youth on his side, Tate has the experience; and for Tate a surprising amount of experience. This is now his eighth year in the league and now is the time, but I said that at this time last year too. They are different types of quarterbacks and personalities. Tate is kind of confrontational and aggressive while Mitchell is more smooth and mellow, I would say. Both do work well under pressure and both have excellent futures. Still, it will be very interesting to see who wins the job and if they can keep it for 18 games. Its a nice problem to have but a difficult decision to make between the two. With quarterback depth a unique luxury and in some ways taken care of, the next strength is kicking. YYou can make an easy argument that no CFL team has a better combo punter/kicker than Rob Maver and Rene Parades. Soccer Jerseys. Especially in the field goal kicking, the streak they had last season was both entertaining and game-changing. There will come a day where some field goal kicker makes every kick, does not miss one over the course of the season. The art of kicking has developed into a science more than ever before and a calm concentrated demeanor is more significant than ever before. Yes, its a lofty goal but obtainable also attainable. Maybe in Calgary. Also interesting outside of the priority of a great quarterback and the critical importance of good kickers is depth at running back. With Jon Cornish, Martell Mallett and Jock Sanders there are now three good ones. Of the three, the best may be Sanders, especially if he returns punts and kicks replacing Larry Taylor. Calgary finished fifth best in both punt and kick returns so there is room for improvement. By no means was Taylor the sole issue as a returner is as good as his blocking, especially initially. Still, with Sanders you have acceleration in the excess and a quality running back who can start. The Roughriders will miss Kory Sheets, Keith Shologon, and Craig Butler, but losing Sanders to their most direct competition is a double issue. Evaluating personnel is subjective in that how one person may see the present ability of one player or their potential is always different than another. But right now the combination of 24 starters and key depth contributors in Calgary has no clear superior. It may not be of obvious significance right now, but wait until October and November. And that player that in June you never thought would be a starter responds as one when he has to, it can change everything. I know for the third time, the Calgary Stampeders are a very good team. ' ' '