DENVER (AP) — Charlie Blackmon and his teammates walked around the field tossing T-shirts http://www.raysfanproshop.com/authentic-brad-miller-jersey , replica jerseys, lunch bags and backpacks into the sellout crowd.A more precious gift, though, remains up for grabs — an NL West title.The playoff-bound Colorado Rockies are headed to Los Angeles for a tiebreaking game to decide the division crown after routing the Washington Nationals 12-0 on Sunday behind Blackmon’s cycle.“Not many times in our past have we had a chance to play for a divisional title this late in the season,” Trevor Story said.As in, never — Colorado (91-71) is trying for its first division title.Tied atop the division with the Dodgers entering the last day, the Rockies won for the ninth time in 10 games, while Los Angeles routed San Francisco 15-0 to send the season to game 163.The one-game tiebreaker will be Monday at Dodger Stadium, and the loser goes to the Chicago Cubs or Milwaukee for Tuesday’s wild-card game.Walker Buehler will start for the Dodgers as the defending NL champions try for a sixth straight West title. The Rockies will counter with German Marquez, who struck out eight straight to begin his last start.“It’s two of the best young starting pitchers in the big leagues pitching in this type of game,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “It’s great.”Nolan Arenado hit two of the Rockies’ five homers and took over the National League lead with 37, one more than teammate Trevor Story — who also went deep. David Dahl homered for the sixth time in seven games.Blackmon finished his first career cycle and the ninth in Rockies history with a double in the eighth. He tripled in the first Joey Wendle Jersey , homered in the third, singled in the fifth and struck out in the sixth.“Charlie is a really hard worker and we understand how much work he puts in,” Carlos Gonzalez said. “When he does something special on the field, we all feel really proud.”Tyler Anderson (7-9) didn’t look the least bit bothered by a sore shoulder that sidelined him for about a week. He scattered four hits over 7 2/3 innings for his first win since July 4, combining with Seunghwan Oh and Chris Rusin on a five-hitter.“He was efficient. He was throwing strikes in good spots. That’s the type of game when he’s on that he can throw,” Black said.Arenado got the Rockies rolling in the first, with a two-run shot off Erick Fedde (2-4), who was starting after the Nationals elected to skip NL Cy Young Award candidate Max Scherzer. Blackmon added a two-run drive in the third.Fedde lasted four innings and gave up four runs in place of Scherzer, who wound up with a big league-best 300 strikeouts.Colorado went 19-9 in September, one shy of the team record set in 2007, when the Rockies made a late surge, beat San Diego in a wild-card tiebreaker and reached the World Series for the only time http://www.raysfanproshop.com/authentic-christian-arroyo-jersey , only to be swept by Boston.Before the game, Story said he planned to do sneak peeks at the large scoreboard in right field to see how the Dodgers were faring. It wasn’t pretty, as Los Angeles scored early and often.Late in the game, the fans chanted “Beat LA! Beat LA! Beat LA!” The only cheer louder was the one Anderson received when he was taken out.“It was good to hear,” Anderson said.Anderson appeared iffy for this start after complaining of shoulder soreness that led him to be bumped from his outing last Monday. He steadily progressed throughout the week.The left-hander was 0-6 with a 6.08 ERA over his past 13 starts. But he found his command and worked out of trouble courtesy of three double plays.Arenado and Story hit back-to-back homers in the seventh to help the Rockies earn their 91st win of the season, which is the second-most in team history. The record is 92 turned in by the 2009 team.Washington (82-80) finished with a winning record for a seventh straight season.“The last two months have been fun. I enjoyed it,” said Dave Martinez, who replaced Dusty Baker as manager last offseason. “Unfortunately my first year as manager is over and I’m looking forward to seeing my family.”HARPER’S FINAL NATS AT-BAT?Soon-to-be free agent Bryce Harper doubled in perhaps his final Nationals at-bat. He was 2 for 4 with two doubles.“Nobody knows if I’m going to be back or nobody knows if I am going to be in a different uniform,” said the 2015 NL MVP, who turns 26 next month. “If something happens, I am not afraid of change.”Asked whether the outfielder remains in the team’s plans, general manager Mike Rizzo said: “Of course he is in our plans. He’s a guy that we would love to have.”UP NEXTNationals: Open the 2019 season on March 28 against the New York Mets at Nationals Park. The Cleveland Indians are still without center fielder Leonys Martin as he reportedly battles a "life-threatening bacterial infection."Zack Meisel of The Athletic reported the news Monday http://www.raysfanproshop.com/authentic-nathan-eovaldi-jersey , adding the infection "attacked his internal organs." Per Meisel, Martin is in stable condition and "improving."The Indians acquired Martin from the Detroit Tigers via trade prior to the July 31 non-waiver deadline, but he has not appeared in a game since an Aug. 7 loss to the Minnesota Twins."We have to respect what the family wishes, so we are," Indians manager Terry Francona previously told reporters, via Jeff Schudel of the News-Herald. "We talked to the team a little bit. We just need to respect their privacy right now."What I would say: If you believe in saying prayers and things like that, keep him in your thoughts. But he's in a good place. He's at the Clinic, and he's getting good care."Martin, who has been hospitalized since Friday, has played six games for Cleveland but made an immediate impact with two home runs. He is slashing .255/.323/.425 with 11 long balls and 33 RBI in 84 games between the Tigers and Indians.Schudel noted part of the reason Cleveland traded for him was to address its limited outfield depth with Tyler Naquin out with a hip injury, Lonnie Chisenhall sidelined with a calf injury and Bradley Zimmer potentially out until midway through next season after shoulder surgery.The Indians are 12 games ahead of the Twins in the American League Central.

ST. PETERSBURG Allen Craig Jersey , Fla. (AP) — Leury Garcia’s risky play in the ninth inning turned into a costly mistake by Matt Duffy.Tim Anderson scored when Duffy committed a throwing error on Garcia’s two-strike bunt, and the Chicago White Sox beat the Tampa Bay Rays 2-1 on Saturday night for their third straight win.Anderson led off the ninth with a double off Yonny Chirinos (0-4). Garcia then bunted a 0-2 pitch toward third, and Duffy threw wildly toward first.“He was looking at the defense, hoping to split them probably a little more,” White Sox manager Rick Renteria said. “But if you hustle, if you put more pressure on the defense, you give yourself a chance. It worked out. A pretty good defender threw wild to first.”Duffy said he air-mailed his throw a little bit.“Just a physical mistake,” he said.Xavier Cedeno (2-0) got the last out of the eighth for the win, and Thyago Vieira pitched the ninth for his first major league save.Jose Abreu hit his 19th homer in the fourth for Chicago, tying it at 1. It was Abreu’s third homer in three games, and his ninth in 29 games against Tampa Bay.Tampa Bay left-hander Blake Snell allowed three hits in four innings in his first start for the Rays since July 12. After pitching in the All-Star Game on July 17, the 12-game winner missed a start due to left shoulder fatigue.“Overall I’m happy with the way I felt,” he said. “It was more draining than I expected but I could have gone out again. It’s something to build on.”Snell became the first pitcher with 12 consecutive home starts of giving up one or fewer earned runs since Max Lanier of the St. Louis Cardinals in 1943-44. He has an earned run average of 0.97 in nine home starts this year.Carlos Rodon pitched six effective innings for the White Sox. He yielded an unearned run and three hits with four strikeouts and five walks.Carlos Gomez scored Tampa Bay’s only run after a double in in the second inning. Gomez moved up on a passed ball and scored on Willy Adames‘ infield single.It was the 25th one-run loss of the season for the Rays, who had only three hits.Renteria was ejected by umpire Jerry Meals during the fifth inning after a replay confirmed a disputed forceout of Yolmer Sanchez at second base.“You’re not allowed to expose yourself to conversation with the umpire once the replay is called,” said Renteria. “To their credit, they kept trying to stop me but I just wanted to make sure my sentiments were understood.”ACTING AWARDGomez went down to the ground following a step toward first base after getting hit for his AL-leading 17th time in the sixth. He then got back up smiling and pointing toward the Tampa Bay dugout.It turned out to be a staged comedy performance.“We were playing around the other day. I said as a joke to (manager Kevin) Cash and the training staff, ‘I’m the only one to get hit that you never come out to check on me,'” Gomez said. “So I said, ‘Hey next time I’m going to look like I’m going to die.'”Gomez and Rodon shared a laugh along the third-base line after the inning.“He thought like something happened,” Gomez said. “I apologized to him. Nothing happened. Just trying to make it fun.”10 YEARS AFTERTwenty members of the Rays’ 2008 AL championship team were honored in a pregame ceremony http://www.padresfanproshop.com/authentic-tony-gwynn-jersey , along with three coaches and Soot Zimmer, widow of former Rays senior adviser Don Zimmer.TRAINER’S ROOMWhite Sox: Anderson has been playing with a tender left knee. He said he intends to play through it.Rays: INF Daniel Robertson was placed on the 10-day DL with a sprained left thumb and might miss the rest of the season. He is scheduled to see a hand specialist Sunday.UP NEXTRight-hander James Shields (4-13) is scheduled to start Sunday’s series finale for the White Sox, who are trying to win four straight for the first time this season. Tampa Bay’s career leader in wins (87), Shields is 3-0 in four careers starts against his former team. Hunter Wood or Ryne Stanek will start for the Rays. CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — For 10 years, ever since they bonded over baseball at work, Franlet Bencomo and Elbert Albarran haven’t missed an opening day game together.This year, however, they left their kids behind and ate a big breakfast before heading out to watch their beloved Caracas Lions because a hot dog inside the stadium costs more than 10 percent of the roughly $30 each makes a month at their minimum-wage jobs.“Now we have to eat beforehand, watch the game and go straight home” said Bencomo, in line for tickets six hours before the start of Friday’s season opener. “There’s no other way.”Throughout Venezuela, as winter league play gets under way, fans are having to make similar sacrifices to feed their passion for “pelota,” — the word for ball that’s used to describe the national pastime.Hyperinflation has pulverized incomes while putting ticket prices out of reach for many. Others are avoiding the ballpark for fear of getting mugged or because they don’t know how they’ll get home amid a nationwide transportation crisis. In response, more daytime games are being played.Venezuela’s eight professional teams are struggling. For the second straight year, state-run oil company PDVSA had to step in with a $12 million lifeline to pay for everything from imported baseballs to the salaries of the seven foreign-born players — most of them minor league prospects from the U.S. — on each team’s roster.During the offseason, vandals picked through stadiums, stripping bathrooms of metal faucets. Groundskeepers have been battling water shortages in several cities. Meanwhile, ticket prices remain a mystery, with some clubs changing them by the week to keep pace with inflation forecast by the International Monetary Fund to soon reach 10 million percent.In Maracaibo http://www.padresfanproshop.com/authentic-dave-winfield-jersey , Venezuela’s second-largest city, the situation is so dire that the Aguilas (Eagles) team canceled its opener and five other home games this month after an inspector hired by Major League Baseball ruled their diamond didn’t meet minimal safety standards. The club said several of its light towers had the copper wiring stolen and the state government, which owns the facility, hasn’t come up with the relatively modest sum of $39,000 needed to repair the lighting. Still, the Eagles will be playing on the road.Venezuela’s once highly competitive winter league has been in decline for years.While many of the 70-plus Venezuelan players on big league rosters return home for a few games each season, most arriving this year, such as Los Angeles Angels pitcher Eduardo Paredes or Detroit infielder Harold Castro, are little known and don’t reflect the nation’s powerhouse talent. Meanwhile, major league organizations have shut down all their academies in the country.Venezuela is scheduled to host the Caribbean Series in February at Barquisimeto, one of the city’s hardest hit by power outages that have roiled much of the country. Last year’s tournament, which brings together the champions of five Caribbean winter leagues, was moved from Barquisimeto to Guadalajara, Mexico, following deadly protests against Venezuela’s socialist government.Ramon Guillermo Aveledo, a former Venezuela league president and prominent opposition leader, said he remembers going to the stadium with his father during the 1960s oil boom and watching future Hall of Famer Earl Weaver manage the Cardinals in Barquisimeto. Pete Rose, after winning rookie of the year honors, and Barry Bonds are among other major leaguers who played in Venezuela during its golden era.“Back then there wasn’t such a big difference between salaries in the major leagues and what Venezuelan teams could pay,” he said.In something of a departure from his normally fierce criticism of President Nicolas Maduro Rollie Fingers Jersey , Aveledo applauds the government’s decision to spend part of its dwindling supply of dollars on baseball — even if he acknowledges that there are more pressing needs.From field crews to ticket scalpers to hot dog vendors, thousands of families depend on baseball to make a living, and Aveledo says the stadiums have long served as a sporting sanctuary where fans of all classes and political backgrounds can set aside their differences and mounting hardships.“It is one of the few things that unites us,” he said. “For the three months the season lasts, there’s a different vibe in the country.”Indeed, last year stadium attendance rose 5 percent amid the political and economic crisis, although it remains down by a third from a peak in the 2013-2014 season.It’s not just the fans who have to endure sacrifices.Former All-Star shortstop Ozzie Guillen said he was tempted to skip returning home to manage the La Guaira Tiburones (Sharks) for the third straight season.In addition to cross-country bus rides on dangerous roads, players coming from the U.S. run the risk of getting food poisoning at neglected restaurants. And they have to deal with frequent power blackouts, like the one that postponed Monday’s game between the Bravos (Braves) and Magallanes in Valencia.“But I’m not here to cry,” said Guillen, who for the first time since growing up in poverty near Caracas said he has been without running water at his home in a well-to-do district of the capital.Guillen, the first Latino to manage a World Series winner with the 2005 Chicago White Sox, said Venezuelans’ passion for the game shows no sign of fading despite the country’s problems. While ticket and beer prices are rising fast, he insists the ballpark is still the “cheapest bar in all of Venezuela.”“I know things are difficult for the fans,” said Guillen, whose reputation for speaking freely about politics has sometimes gotten him in trouble. “But the game still brings more happiness and joy than sadness.”

SEATTLE (AP) Jerry Dipoto thought he was done making deals a day before the non-waiver trade deadline after remodeling the Seattle Mariners bullpen.The Mariners’ ever-active baseball boss just couldn’t help himself when an outfield upgrade became available.Seattle acquired outfielder Cameron Maybin from the Miami Marlins on Tuesday Fernando Rodney Jersey , giving the Mariners a boost going into the final two months of the regular season. Seattle landed Maybin in exchange for minor league infielder Bryson Brigman and international bonus pool allotment.Dipoto said he first had discussions with the Marlins about Maybin about two weeks ago, but it took the non-waiver trade deadline to get a deal finalized.”He fits into the theme of what we’re doing and adds better balance to our club. And the experience of a guy who has been through it as long as Cam has doesn’t hurt,” Dipoto said.Center field was the one obvious position where Seattle could use an upgrade. Since moving Dee Gordon to second base, Guillermo Heredia has seen the majority of the time in center. And while Heredia is outstanding defensively, his bat hasn’t provided much to Seattle’s lineup. Heredia is hitting .229 with a .314 on-base percentage and 22 runs scored. Heredia was batting .302 on May 29, but his average has taken a nosedive. In the past 51 games played http://www.twinsfanproshop.com/authentic-addison-reed-jersey , Heredia is hitting just .184.Maybin has been the opposite offensively. Maybin is batting .251 with three homers and 20 RBIs in 99 games this season, but he’s batting .329 with a .912 OPS since June 29. The Mariners are the seventh team for the 12-year veteran, who has a $3.25 million, one-year contract. Maybin also has postseason experience, playing in the World Series last year with Houston. Seattle entered the day two games ahead of Oakland for the second wild-card in the American League and three games behind the Astros in the AL West.Seattle is hopeful Maybin will be able to join the club Wednesday, and he was the last of Seattle’s four trades in the days leading up to the deadline. Seattle also acquired relief pitchers Sam Tuivailala http://www.twinsfanproshop.com/authentic-joe-mauer-jersey , Adam Warren and Zach Duke in a trio of deals.”I think we’ve helped the team a lot,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said. ”Every manager out there wants more pieces in the bullpen, certainly. As you get going into games in August and September and workloads start to mount up on pitchers you tend to go to the bullpen a little earlier and you want guys who have experience or have stuff or a combination. I think we’ve done some nice things.”The acquisition of Maybin will likely put to rest any thought of moving Gordon back to center late in the season following the return of Robinson Cano from his 80-game suspension for violating baseball’s joint drug agreement. Dipoto said the intent was to leave Gordon at second base, but that he may see occasional time in the outfield. Getting Maybin means Cano will be moving around to positions other than second base once he returns.Brigman is batting .304 this year for Class A Modesto. He was a third-round pick in 2016 but hasn’t played above Class A.— PHILADELPHIA (AP) — When Aaron Nola can’t stop Philadelphia’s skid, the Phillies are in trouble.Stephen Strasburg threw seven impressive innings, Bryce Harper Glen Perkins Jersey , Ryan Zimmerman and Juan Soto homered and the Washington Nationals beat the freefalling Phillies 5-1 on Wednesday night to complete a three-game sweep.“We haven’t played good baseball due to a ton of variables,” Phillies manager Gabe Kapler said.Nola, a Cy Young Award contender worthy of MVP consideration, had a rough first inning as the Phillies lost their fifth in a row to drop 7 1/2 games behind first-place Atlanta in the NL East with 17 to play. They’re 11-23 since Aug. 5, when they had the NL’s second-best record.“I made mistakes and they didn’t miss them,” Nola said. “We still have a chance. We have some games left.”The Phillies trailed the Mets by seven games with 17 to play in 2007 and rallied to win the NL East to begin a stretch of five straight division titles. They were swept by Colorado in the division series that season but won the World Series in 2008 and the NL pennant in 2009.“It can change real fast Harmon Killebrew Jersey ,” Nola said. “We can go from three (games back) to seven and seven to three just as fast.”Philadelphia has seven games remaining against the Braves.Nola allowed four runs and six hits in five innings. His ERA rose to 2.42. He’s given up four runs twice in September after only doing it twice in his first 27 starts.“Their lineup is exceptional,” Kapler said. “They throw challenging at-bats at you and they can all take you deep.”Nola, Mets ace Jacob deGrom and Washington’s Max Scherzer are the front-runners in the NL Cy Young race. Scherzer has won the past two and previously won the award in the American League with Detroit in 2013.Strasburg (8-7) allowed one run and struck out nine in his best start since April. He improved to 12-2 against the Phillies.Harper crushed his 33rd homer, a two-run shot into Philadelphia’s bullpen in the first to give the Nationals a 2-0 lead. Anthony Rendon followed with a double and scored on Zimmerman’s single.Zimmerman connected in the fourth, sending a drive into the bushes in straightaway center. Odubel Herrera made a leaping attempt at the fence and nearly caught it.Soto drove one into the second deck in right field in the sixth off Austin Davis to make it 5-1. The 19-year-old rookie has 19 homers. Harper hit 22 homers as a teenager for the Nationals in 2012.“It’s reminiscent of watching Tony Gwynn growing up,” Strasburg said of Soto.J.P. Crawford hit a solo shot in the fifth for Philadelphia’s only run.TOUCH ‘EM ALLStrasburg threw a pitch that hit Philadelphia’s Jorge Alfaro Paul Molitor Jersey , bounced off his arm, hit catcher Matt Wieters on the side of his helmet and then glanced off the plate umpire’s mask.MILESTONE MANNola became the first Phillies pitcher to reach 200 strikeouts in a season since Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels in 2013.CATCHING UPThe Nationals closed within a half-game of the Phillies for second place behind the Braves.UP NEXTNationals: RHP Joe Ross makes his first start of the season Thursday in a makeup game against the Cubs.Phillies: RHP Zach Eflin (9-7, 4.42 ERA) pitches Friday night against Miami in the opener of a three-game series. Eflin is 1-0 with a 2.57 ERA in two starts vs. the Marlins this season.

ARLINGTON http://www.athleticsfanproshop.com/authentic-jose-canseco-jersey , Texas (AP) — Albert Pujols keeps climbing up the career hits list and hurting the Texas Rangers in their home park.Pujols drove in a season-high four runs, Shohei Ohtani hit a three-run homer and the Los Angeles Angels beat Texas 11-7 on a rainy Saturday night.Pujols went 3 for 4 to tie 19th-century star Cap Anson for 23rd with 3,081 hits. His 633rd homer was his 16th in 59 games in Arlington.“This is a tremendous offensive ballpark,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. “Albert swings the bat pretty well wherever he goes.”Pujols hit a solo home run in the second inning and a two-run single in the third against Rangers starter Martin Perez.“I threw a bad pitch to Pujols, and he hit a home run off me,” Perez said.Pujols singled home another run in the seventh against losing pitcher Eddie Butler (2-3) for a 7-6 lead.Ohtani, a left-handed batter, then came on as a pinch hitter and homered to center field before Taylor Ward hit his first major league homer to complete the five-run inning against right-hander Butler.“Shohei coming off the bench was a huge hit,” Scioscia said.Winning pitcher Cam Bedrosian (5-2), the second of five Angels pitchers, got two outs in the sixth.Los Angeles took a 6-2 lead with two outs in the fourth on a three-run double by David Fletcher.Texas came back with four runs with two outs in the bottom of the inning to tie the game against Angels starter Andrew Heaney. Odor singled home a run and the second scored as Andrus struck out but reached base on a wild pitch. Adrian Beltre drove in two runs with a bloop single.“I was frustrated http://www.athleticsfanproshop.com/authentic-jed-lowrie-jersey ,” Heaney said. “In the fourth inning, a walk to the 9-hole hitter and let it snowball from there.”Odor, Elvis Andrus and Joey Gallo each had three hits for the Rangers.With two outs and first base open, Pujols struck again in the third with his two-run single for a 3-2 lead.“The two-out RBIs, the double down the line and then the slider to Pujols in that situation where he gave up the runs,” Texas manager Jeff Banister said, “it just seemed to be a lot of pitches mid-across and tight.TRAINER’S ROOMAngels: Before the game, manager Mike Scioscia said he hadn’t seen information about RHP/DH Ohtani’s bullpen session Saturday. He’s scheduled for another bullpen. “His workout in Arizona will probably be more aggressive,” Scioscia said.Rangers: LHP Mike Minor (stiff back) was scratched from Friday’s start, but has played catch and said, “I’ll pitch in a couple days.” . RHP Chi Chi Gonzalez Tony Phillips Jersey , who underwent Tommy John surgery in July 2017, made his first appearance since 2016 on Friday night in the rookie Class Arizona League. He retired all six batters he faced, striking out two, and is expected to continue pitching in Arizona.RAIN, RAIN GO AWAYThe game and the ceremony honoring Rangers RHP Bartolo Colon were delayed 2 hours, 26 minutes because of a downpour that began just minutes before the scheduled 7:05 CDT start. Rain fell again in the first through sixth innings. The game ended at 12:59 a.m.“It was sloppy out there,” Scioscia said. “We were a little afraid at times.”EL PRESIDENTE HONORS BIG SEXYIn a pregame ceremony, Dennis “El Presidente” Martinez recognized Colon for breaking his career record for wins by a Latin American player with Colon’s 246th victory on Aug. 7.Martinez helped Vernon Wells Sr. unveil Wells’ original artwork with images of Colon in a Rangers uniform and portraits of Martinez and Juan Marichal, whose record Martinez broke in 1998. Martinez then raised Colon’s hand to recognize that he was the champion.ANDRUS TIES, SETS RECORDSElvis Andrus’s first-inning single extended his hitting streak at Globe Life Park to 37 games, every game he has played this season http://www.athleticsfanproshop.com/authentic-walt-weiss-jersey , to tie Rafael Palmeiro (2003) and Michael Young (2009) for the stadium record. With a streak of 44 consecutive games since last September, Andrus broke Julio Franco’s 1993 record for the longest home-game streak in franchise history.UP NEXTAngels: RHP Jaime Barria (8-7, 3.50) will try to help Los Angeles gain a split of the four-game series. He’s 2-0 against Texas this season with a 0.82 ERA in 11 innings.Rangers: RHP Yovani Gallardo (7-2, 5.33) will start with RHP Bartolo Colon (7-10, 5.19) bothered by what manager Jeff Banister called “a little stiffness.” ST. LOUIS — The Los Angeles Dodgers‘ hopes of payback plus interest against the St. Louis Cardinals is alive and well, and can come to fruition with a victory Sunday night on national television.After the Cardinals swept a three-game series in Los Angeles three weeks ago, the Dodgers have come into St. Louis and have won three straight themselves, doing it in impressive fashion by a combined 29-11.On Saturday, the Dodgers also snatched away the second National League wild-card spot from the Cardinals.Article continues below ...In the series finale, the Dodgers will send right-hander Ross Stripling (8-3, 2.61 ERA) to the mound. The Cardinals will counter with right-hander Adam Wainwright (1-3 Marcus Semien Jersey , 4.70).It has been a roller-coaster season for Stripling, who started the year in the Dodgers’ bullpen, moved to the starting rotation because of injuries and then secured a spot on his first NL All-Star team. But the second half saw him go on the disabled list twice and getting moved back into the bullpen.Stripling’s latest chance to start has come after a solid spot start Wednesday at Cincinnati. He will be taking the rotation spot of Alex Wood, who has been moved to the bullpen because of recent inconsistencies.The change will give the Dodgers two right-handers in the starting rotation as Stripling now can pair with rookie Walker Buehler.“It is good,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, according to mlb.com. “Ross actually gets lefties out a little bit better, but he is a guy who throws from the right side and is a different look.”Breaking down Stripling’s assets isn’t likely to be necessary if the Dodgers continue to hit the way they have been of late. Yasiel Puig has five home runs in two days, including his first career three-homer game Saturday. On their current four-game win streak, the Dodgers have scored 37 runs.Wainwright will be tasked with making the Dodgers’ offense look like it did in an Aug. 20-22 series against the Cardinals. Los Angeles scored a combined six runs in those games or 11 fewer than they scored Saturday.Wainwright will make only his second start since spending 121 days on the disabled list because of right elbow inflammation. In his return Monday against the Pirates, the right-hander gave up four runs and seven hits in five innings while throwing 81 pitches.“It’s cool to be back, man http://www.athleticsfanproshop.com/authentic-joe-morgan-jersey ,” Wainwright said, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “Now I have to go out and execute a lot better than I did (Monday). It’s good to be back competing. I love being out there, I had such a great time pitching and now I have to pitch better.”Perhaps Wainwright can gain confidence from some of his past success against the Dodgers. He has posted a 2.69 ERA against them in 15 games (12 starts). He has a lifetime 5-5 record against Los Angeles.Stripling has faced the Cardinals four times in his career, but only one of those is a start. He is 1-1 with a 4.09 ERA against St. Louis. In that one start against the Cardinals in 2016, he gave up four runs and eight hits in five innings, picking up the victory in an 8-4 Dodgers win.

SUNRISE Adidas Brian Gibbons Jersey , Fla. (AP) — Ask Florida forward Vincent Trocheck who the best three players in the NHL are right now, and the first two names he offers wouldn’t surprise anyone.The third might.Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby would almost certainly be on everybody’s list, so he was an easy pick by Trocheck. Same goes for Edmonton’s Connor McDavid, the NHL’s two-time reigning scoring champion and brightest young star. But that third name is of somebody that the casual hockey fan still might not know, and that’s something the Panthers are determined to change this season.Yes, Florida thinks Aleksander Barkov is elite. The Panthers’ hopes rest on being right.“He’s been that good,” Trocheck said. “It’s just a matter of people starting to realize it now.”Barkov led the Panthers with 78 points last season, three more than Trocheck. He went to the All-Star Game Star for the first time, led the league with five shorthanded goals, tied for fourth in the NHL with eight gamewinning goals. And he showed the Panthers enough growth that the team decided it was time to make the 23-year-old Finnish center their captain starting this season.It’s his team now, without question.“I tell you what, man, he’s probably the most complete player I’ve ever played with,” Florida goalie Roberto Luongo said. “Both ends of the rink, he’s so smart Adidas Carter Rowney Jersey , so strong, always in great position. I’ve played with some great players, but the fact that he’s so good offensively and responsible defensively in his own zone, it’s hard to find guys like that.”Consider the magnitude of Luongo’s statement — “the most complete player” — for a second.Luongo has played with some serious greats: Pavel Bure, Joe Nieuwendyk, Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin, Mats Sundin, Ryan Kesler and Jaromir Jagr among them in the NHL, say nothing of the absurdly loaded teams he’s been part of representing Canada at the Olympics.He insists it’s not just current-teammate favoritism. Barkov is that good, fueled in large part by the lessons he learned by playing with Jagr.“Jags was a big part of that,” Luongo said. “When Jags was here he kind of took him under his wing a little bit, with workouts, coming to skate with him at night, all that kind of stuff. I think it plays a huge role in his taking the next step as far as dominating and being the player he is today.”So Barkov is Florida’s star.He’s not a reluctant star. He’s just reluctant to talk about being said star.Florida doesn’t get on national television often Adidas Jaycob Megna Jersey , has been to the playoffs only once in Barkov’s five seasons and hasn’t won a playoff series since he was 9 months old. That creates an ironic situation — the Panthers want more people to know who Barkov is, and Barkov wants minimal if any part of getting additional attention.“All I want to think about is going on the ice, help the team to win, score goals and play defense and not to get scored on,” said Barkov, who should contend for the Selke Trophy — presented to the NHL’s best defensive forward. “I don’t really want to think about where I stand in the Selke ratings or whatever. Of course, that would be nice to win that one day, but all I want is to make the playoffs and win a Stanley Cup.”When told about how effusive Luongo was in his praise, Barkov shrugged.“Lu can joke sometimes,” Barkov said.It was then made clear to Barkov that Luongo was serious, as was Trocheck. Finally, almost grudgingly, Barkov accepted their sentiments.“I’m happy to hear that from them,” Barkov said. “All I want to do is help Lu and help Troch. I’m really happy to be with them on this team.”Florida missed the playoffs by a point last season, and a team that has touted itself as young and building knows it’s at the point where it’s time to take the next step.The Panthers are certain that Barkov can get them there.“Honestly Adidas Max Jones Jersey , I think he has another level,” Luongo said. “It’s kind of scary to think about that.” WASHINGTON (AP) The Latest on Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final between the Vegas Golden Knights and the Washington Capitals (all times local):11:03 p.m.The Washington Capitals have beaten the Vegas Golden Knights 3-1 and taken a 2-1 lead in the Stanley Cup Final.Alex Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov scored second-period goals and Devante Smith-Pelly added another late in the third period to put the Golden Knights in a hole. The lone Vegas goal came from Tomas Nosek, who cashed in a mistake by Washington goaltender Braden Holtby at 3:29 of the third period.Vegas pulled goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury for the final two and half minutes of the game but couldn’t break through.It was the first Stanley Cup Final held in the nation’s capital since 1998.—10:50 p.m.Devante Smith-Pelly has given the Washington Capitals a 3-1 lead on Vegas late in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final.Vegas defenseman Shea Theodore had trouble clearing the puck and Capitals centerman Jay Beagle took the puck away and found Smith-Pelly skating in all alone on Golden Knights goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury.Smith-Pelly ripped it past the goalie at 13:53 of the third period.The series is tied 1-1.—10:35 p.m.The Vegas Golden Knights have taken advantage of a huge mistake by Washington Capitals goalie Braden Holtby to get back into Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final.Holtby did a poor job of clearing the puck from behind the Capitals net, and Tomas Nosek easily scored to slice Washington’s lead to 2-1 at 3:29 of the third period.The goal deflated the mood of the sellout crowd, many of them wearing red and cheering for the Capitals in the first Stanley Cup Final held in D.C. since 1998.The series is tied 1-1.—10:10 p.m.The Washington Capitals are 20 minutes away from taking a 2-1 lead in the Stanley Cup Final against the Vegas Golden Knights.Second-period goals by Alex Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov put Washington up 2-0 in Game 3. Washington holds a 21-13 advantage in shots on goal after two periods.Washington lost the opener 6-4 in Vegas before rebounding to win 3-2 on Wednesday. The series shifted to the nation’s capital for Game 3, marking the first time 20 years the Capitals hosted the Stanley Cup Final.When the Final has been tied 1-1, the winner of Game 3 has gone on to win the Stanley Cup 21 of 27 chances (78 percent) since the series went to the best-of-seven format in 1939—9:45 p.m.Evgeny Kuznetsov has given the Washington Capitals a 2-0 lead in Game 3 of their Stanley Cup Final against the Vegas Golden Knights.Kuznetsov came down the right side in a 2-on-1 with Jay Beagle and pushed a shot into the left side of the net past goalie Marc-Andre Fleury at 12:50 of the second period. Kuznetsov missed most of Game 2 with what appeared to be a left arm injury.The goal came after Washington defenseman Brooks Orpik looked dazed following a hit from Golden Knights forward James Neal. He was not pulled from the game to go through concussion protocol.Orpik went to the bench following the check in the corner but did not go down the tunnel for evaluation. The NHL’s concussion protocol states that a player exhibiting any possible concussion symptoms must be evaluated, and the league has spotters in place to pull players if that’s suspected.—9:25 p.m.Alex Ovechkin has given the Washington Capitals a 1-0 lead over the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final.Ovechkin scored on a shot from the left side at 1:10 of the second period as he was falling over Vegas defenseman Brayden McNabb to end a flurry that saw goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury make three saves before Ovechkin connected.It was Ovechkin’s 14th goal of the playoffs, tying the franchise mark set by John Druce in 1990.The series is tied at one game apiece. This is the first Stanley Cup Final held in the nation’s capital since 1998.—9:05 p.m.The Washington Capitals and Vegas Golden Knights have skated through a scoreless first period, though both teams had chances to get on the board first in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final.Vegas goalie Marc-Andre Fleury swatted away a close shot by Alex Ovechkin, and the Capitals had an apparent goal taken away when winger Devante Smith-Pelly was called for goalie interference.Golden Knights’ leading scorer, Jonathan Marchessault, hit the right post with a shot at the 14-minute mark.Washington finished with 7-5 advantage in shots. There were 15 goals total in the first two games, the most in a Final since 1982.Toward the end of the period, Capitals defenseman Michal Kempny left the ice. He took a spill in pregame warmups after crashing into the boards.There’s plenty of star power in the stands Adidas Andrej Sustr Jersey , including a few people you never knew were Capitals fans.Keenan Thompson, a longtime cast member of ”Saturday Night Live,” spent this Saturday night watching hockey. He waved to the crowd and tipped his red hat, which said, ”ALL CAPS.”Actress Lynda Carter showed off her red Capitals jersey. Former Redskins coach Joe Gibbs yelled ”Let’s Go Caps!” over the public address system and game show host Pat Sajak introduced the starting lineups.The series is tied 1-1. It is the first Final game in Washington in 20 years.—8:40 p.m.Plenty of action between Vegas and Washington in the opening minutes of Game 3, even if the game remained scoreless as the first period approached its midpoint. The fast pace of the first two games has continued.The Capitals missed an early chance to score when Vegas goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury dived to stop a close-in shot by Alex Ovechkin.With around five minutes elapsed, Washington had an apparent goal wiped out when Capitals winger Devante Smith-Pelly was called for goaltender interference when he collided with Fleury as a shot found the net.Washington subsequently killed the penalty.There were 15 goals total in the first two games, the most in a Final since 1982.The series is tied 1-1. It is the first Final game in Washington in 20 years.—8:25 p.m.Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final is under way with Evgeny Kuznetsov and Michal Kempny in the Capitals’ lineup.Kuznetsov was a game-time decision with an apparent left arm injury resulting from a hit from Vegas defenseman Brayden McNabb that caused him to leave Game 2. Kempny stepped on a puck and crashed into the boards during pregame warmups but returned.The pregame festivities moved from a Sting and Shaggy concert outside to a red-rocking party inside Capital One Arena, where fans shook red glow sticks as three-time Redskins Super Bowl-winning coach did the ”Let’s Go Caps!” chant as fan of the game.After Vegas put on a show in the first two games of the series with Michael Buffer introducing players and a Knight vanquishing Capitals invaders, Washington had ”Wheel of Fortune” host and longtime season-ticket holder Pat Sajak reading off the starting lineups. Fans drowned out the Golden Knights introductions with boos – except for former Capitals defenseman Nate Schmidt.—7 p.m.Almost 100-degree heat wreaked havoc on ice conditions in the first two games of the Stanley Cup Final in Las Vegas, and humidity threatens to affect it in Game 3 in Washington.Humid weather outside – typical for the nation’s capital in June – has Capitals coach Barry Trotz wondering just how the ice will be at Capital One Arena.”We don’t know how the ice conditions are going to be in our rink,” Trotz said after the morning skate at the Capitals’ suburban practice facility. ”Humidity is not kind to ice. One thing I’ve learned over my years is it’s not necessarily the heat but the humidity. If you get the combination of both, you could have a tough night. We’ll just see how it is.”Vegas players reported decent conditions after their morning skate at Capital One Arena, or at least better than Game 1 in the desert. Pre-game warmups will be important for the Capitals, who haven’t skated on their home ice surface since Game 6 of the Eastern Conference final on May 21.”You gauge it right away Adidas Alex Galchenyuk Jersey ,” Trotz said. ”Guys have to manage that. We’ll see right away. I think in warmup, even as a coach standing on the bench, you have a feel right away on how the ice is. I think we’ll have to keep it simple. We’ll have to keep our emotions in check, have good energy, and we will.”—6:20 p.m.Vegas had Imagine Dragons inside the arena before Game 2. Washington has Sting and Shaggy playing outside before Game 3.Sting and Shaggy collaborated on a new reggae lite album, ”44/876,” and are performing at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery steps away from Capital One Arena. After the concert, fans not attending the first Stanley Cup Final game in Washington since 1998 can watch on video boards stationed outside.Fall Out Boy is scheduled to play before Game 4 on Monday.—6:05 p.m.It’s wet outside, and it’s sure to be red inside the Washington Capitals’ home arena for Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Vegas Golden Knights.After splitting a pair of games in Las Vegas, the Capitals are preparing to host the final round of the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time in 20 years.The expansion Golden Knights have gone 6-2 on the road during their surprising run to the Finals, numbers that take the sting out of losing home-ice advantage with a 3-2 loss on Wednesday.Washington is 4-5 at home, but captured a must-win 3-0 decision over Tampa Bay before capturing the Eastern Conference title with a victory in Game 7 on the road.The Capitals were hoping to have Evgeny Kuznetsov, who skated Saturday morning after missing most of Game 2 with an upper-body injury.—More Stanley Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/tag/StanleyCupFinals

LAS VEGAS (AP) For the second consecutive game Womens Victor Rask Jersey , the Vegas Golden Knights looked like the same team that was so dominant for much of the season.Jonathan Marchessault scored his 23rd goal and the Pacific Division leaders defeated Vancouver 4-1 on Tuesday night to hand the slumping Canucks their seventh straight loss.But while 12 players had points for expansion Vegas, mystery surrounded the status of starting goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, who exited after one period. Fleury took a shot from Brandon Sutter off the mask midway through the first, but finished the period.Fleury, credited with the victory after making seven saves to improve to 27-11-3, took over sole possession of 12th place on the NHL’s career wins list with 402. The 14-year veteran missed 25 games this season after suffering a concussion four games in.”I haven’t heard (anything) yet. The trainers told me he’s not coming back tonight,” said Vegas coach Gerard Gallant, who confirmed it was not the plan to rest the three-time Stanley Cup champion netminder after one period of play.Malcolm Subban took over in net at the start of the second, making his first appearance since Feb. 2, when he lost in Minnesota. Subban made 22 saves.”I’m not too sure what happened (with Fleury) Alex DeBrincat Jersey , they just told me I was going in,” said Subban, who found out he would replace Fleury midway through the first intermission. ”I felt pretty good, I guess. The game felt pretty fast. It’s been a long time since I played a game. When you’re out for that long you can’t wait to get back in the net.”Cody Eakin, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Tomas Tatar also scored for Vegas, which ranks second in the league with 245 goals.Vancouver got a goal from Sutter, and Jacob Markstrom stopped 24 shots. Markstrom dropped to 18-26-6 after losing his fifth straight start. He has allowed 14 goals during that skid.Vancouver fell to 6-17-1 against Pacific Division teams. It came into the game with the league’s fifth-best road power play at 21.9 percent but was 0 for 1 on Tuesday.The Canucks have dropped seven straight since losing 21-year-old rookie star Brock Boeser to a potential season-ending back injury. Boeser leads Vancouver with 29 goals and 55 points. The Canucks have scored just seven goals in the seven games since his injury, and were shut out in three consecutive games.”Their team came ready to play tonight. That’s a good hockey team,” Vancouver coach Travis Green said. ”When you get down 2-0 early and 3-0 after one, you’re not going to come back against a team like that – or Cam Atkinson Jersey Kids , we’re not. It’s frustrating to lose. The players are frustrated. I don’t blame them. I think it’s a combination of not scoring … and losing.”Vegas earned its 26th win at home, one more victory than Vancouver has overall this season.Now the Golden Knights prepare for a two-game road trip with Fleury’s status uncertain, beginning at red-hot San Jose, which defeated New Jersey 6-2 on Tuesday. The second-place Sharks are eight points behind the Golden Knights in the Pacific Division.Marchessault, who ended a personal drought when he scored four minutes into the game, said removing Fleury was a precautionary move and he didn’t believe it was anything serious.”It was a smart decision,” Marchessault said. ”We’re winning 3-0, there’s 10 games left. It’s the way it goes sometimes. It’s something that happened, and Sooby did good. He came back and was really in shape. He looked really good out there. It’s something (where) we’re lucky in that group. We’re confident with either goalie that’s going to be in.”Eakin scored less than a minute after Marchessault, and Bellemare added his goal just before the end of the period.”As soon as we realized that Soob was going in www.kingsproshop.com , the only thing we were thinking was, we talked to each other in the locker room saying let’s make sure we’re strong for him,” Bellemare said. ”Soob hasn’t played in a while, he needed us to play a strong defensive game in front of him. We managed pretty well.”After blocking six shots in the first period, the Golden Knights finished with 17.Tatar smacked home his own rebound to extend the lead to 4-0 with 5:39 left in the second. Sutter got his seventh of the season when he used a wrist shot to sneak the puck through Subban’s legs midway through the third.NOTES: Gallant is one win from 200 in his career. … The teams meet one more time, on April 3. Vegas has won the first three meetings by a combined score of 15-6. … Former Golden Knights forward Brendan Leipsic has six points (two goals, four assists) over the past 10 games with the Canucks. … Former baseball slugger and Las Vegas resident Frank Thomas was among the 18,214 in attendance.UP NEXTVancouver: Plays at Chicago on Thursday.Vegas: Plays at San Jose on Thursday.— OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Torey Krug felt like the Boston Bruins were “still in their pre-game nap” during their game against the Ottawa Senators.Tuukka Rask helped the Bruins stick around, and Krug gave Boston the jolt it needed for a road victory.Krug took a cross-crease pass from David Krejci and beat Mike McKenna with a one-timer 3:07 into overtime to lift the Bruins over the Ottawa Senators 2-1 on Sunday night.“It was a tough game for us Womens Josh Anderson Jersey ,” Krug said. “It took us a while to wake up there.”Krug deferred credit to Krejci on the winner.“It’s a highly, highly skilled player making a great pass,” Krug said. “He sees things that other guys can’t see, even from up in the press box. He made a great play and I was lucky enough to be on the receiving end of it.”Brad Marchand had the regulation goal for the Bruins (16-10-4), and Rask made 27 saves.Mark Stone scored in regulation for the Senators (13-14-4), who got a career-best 42-save performance from McKenna, including a diving two-pad stack save against Sean Kuraly in overtime.The third period finished with a frantic seven minutes, starting with a game-saving glove save by Rask against Stone on a 2-on-1 when the Senators were short-handed and a delayed penalty was coming to the Bruins.McKenna stopped Marchand in close before turning aside David Pastrnak on a breakaway. McKenna stopped 14 shots in the third period as the Bruins outshot Ottawa 14-4.“I felt like myself and I felt like I’ve had a lot of good work leading up to this to be ready for it,” McKenna said. “Credit to our goalie coaching, credit to my teammates and all that Adam Henrique Jersey , but I felt like myself out there. It might have been the most (saves) in the NHL, but I’ve had games like that in other places before.”Stone put Ottawa on the board 12:51 into the first who he one-timed a circle-to-circle pass from Colin White.The Senators failed to capitalize on a 5-on-3 advantage for one minute, including the final 50 seconds of the first period.Marchand tied it at 1, beating McKenna at 7:49 of the second period as the Senators played a man short following an instigator penalty to Ben Harpur.NOTES: Dylan DeMelo and Christian Jaros were scratches for the Senators while Noel Acciari, Jake Debrusk and Jeremy Lauzon were scratches for the Bruins. … After sweeping the season-series against the Bruins two years ago, the Senators have lost seven straight against Boston, including their two previous meetings this season.UP NEXTBruins: Host Arizona on Tuesday night.Senators: Open a three-game trip Tuesday night at Nashville.

NEW YORK (AP) — After a lackluster first two periods Adrian Peterson Jersey Elite , the New York Rangers came out with more intensity in the third and got a needed win.Kevin Hayes scored on a short-handed breakaway with 40 seconds remaining and the Rangers rallied with three goals in the third period to beat the Anaheim Ducks 3-1 Tuesday night.“Hopefully this win can kind of springboard us into some Ws,” said Hayes, who extended his point streak to five games. “We’re trying to get better every day and I thought tonight was pretty flat the whole game from both teams, and then it was an exciting third.”Vladislav Namestnikov had a goal and two assists, and Filip Chytil added an empty-netter for New York. Alexandar Georgiev, called up on Sunday after a stint in the minors, stopped 14 shots to help the Rangers win for the second time in eight games (2-3-3).“We haven’t felt great about ourselves for a while,” New York coach David Quinn said. “Tonight was a feel-good moment for us. …. To be able to overcome the first two periods and play with the purpose and the pace that we did and a little bit of an edge to our game, it’s a testament to our guys.”Trailing 1-0 after two periods, the Rangers came out aggressive in the third period and outshot the Ducks 14-1 over the final 20 minutes. After falling short on several chances in the first half of the period, the Rangers broke through near the midpoint.Brett Howden brought the puck along the boards on the left side, skated toward the corner and sent a centering pass to Namestnikov http://www.washingtonredskinsteamonline.com/adrian-peterson-jersey , who cut between two Anaheim players and beat Johnson from the left side for his fourth at 9:52.With Chytil in the penalty box for interference on Johnson — a call Quinn disagreed with — Hayes skated up the left side in the final minute of regulation, cut in and fired a shot that the goalie got a piece of, but the puck got through and across the goal line for his ninth. It gave Hayes four goals and 10 points in the last five games.“I thought it was justice that we got a short-handed goal and I’ll leave it at that,” Quinn said.Chytil then came out of the box and scored into an empty net with 19 seconds remaining to seal the win and help the Rangers avoid their fifth overtime game in the last six.Pontus Aberg scored on a deflection for the Ducks, who had won nine of their previous 10 games. Chad Johnson, claimed off waivers from St. Louis on Dec. 11, finished with 21 saves in his Anaheim debut.“We stopped playing in the third, and they came with a push,” Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said. “We get kind of a break to get a power play and they score the goal. We set something up and didn’t execute it and next thing we know the puck’s in our net.”The Rangers finished 0 for 3 on the power play, and the Ducks were 0 for 5.Georgiev was sharp after his two-week stint with Hartford of the AHL to get more playing time.“I felt pretty good,” he said. “It’s a bit easier to play when you’re in that rhythm. I got five games there in the two weeks, so it was easier to come back and be sharp.”Neither team could muster many chances through the first two periods Authentic D.J. Swearinger SR Jersey , with Anaheim holding a 14-10 edge on shots on goal.Anaheim got on the scoreboard with 5:51 left in the middle period as Aberg’s centering pass from behind goal line went off Rangers forward Mika Zibanejad’s skate and past Georgiev for his 11th of the season.The Ducks had a chance to double the lead as Getzlaf passed the puck off his skate to Ondrej Kase cutting to the net, but Georgiev made a nice glove save to his left with just under four minutes remaining in the middle period.Keifer Sherwood hit a goalpost for the Ducks 3:13 into the game, and Nieves did the same a little more than seven minutes in.NOTES: Johnson was 2-6-0 with 3.54 GAA in 10 games for the Blues this season. … Getzlaf had an assist on Aberg’s goal, giving him six assists and seven points in the last five games. … Anaheim snapped a six-game road winning streak, falling one short of matching the franchise record set Nov 28 to Dec. 13, 2006. … The Rangers won for the eighth time in the teams’ last 10 meetings, including 3-2 in a shootout at Anaheim on Nov. 1. … Georgiev was making his first appearance for the Rangers since finishing with 36 saves in a 5-2 loss at Montreal on Dec. 1.UP NEXTDucks: At Boston on Thursday night in the fourth of a five-game eastern trip.Rangers: At Toronto on Saturday night. GLENDALE, Ariz. — There wasn’t much open ice for the Calgary Flames, not many shooting lanes, not much room to get the puck past an on-his-game goaltender.A team with multiple high-quality scorers hasn’t experienced much of that recently while winning three of four and eight of 12, but the Flames did during a 2-0 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights and goaltender Marc Andre-Fleury on Friday night.“These are the games you’ve got to get used to,” Calgary defenseman Mark Giordano said. “That’s what the league’s going to be about D.J. Swearinger SR Jersey Elite , especially as the year goes on. That’s desperate (Vegas) team over there. They’re battling to get in the race.”Article continues below ...The Arizona Coyotes know all about that. Only a few weeks ago, they were the team that was beating opponents with speed and a defensive system that was creating plenty of offense with its ability to turn the puck over. They also were scoring more short-handed goals (10) than many teams were on the power play.But the Coyotes have lost three in a row and eight of 10 after winning five straight, and they may be reaching the point that determines whether they’ll trend upward or downward the rest of the season.Just as the Flames will be looking to get back on their recent hot streak, the Coyotes will be trying for a turnaround win when they close out a five-game homestand against he Flames on Sunday at Gila River Arena. The Coyotes are 1-2-1 on the homestand so far, and they’re not winning mostly because they’re not scoring. They’ve generated two goals or fewer in six of their last seven games.“As coaches, you’ve got to be careful when you’re not scoring because you magnify everything,” Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet said Saturday. “You want to loosen guys up, but at the same time there’s got to be urgency by some players. We don’t have the type of team that can only have 13, 14 people going.”At about the same time the Flames weren’t generating any offense a few hundred miles away in Las Vegas on Friday, the Coyotes never got much going during a 5-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche that represented one of their worst efforts of the season.J.T. Compher, injured and out of the Colorado lineup for six weeks, returned to score twice short-handed on the same shift in the first period http://www.washingtonredskinsteamonline.com/d.j.-swearinger-jersey , and Mikko Rantanen scored moments later to finish a three-goal sequence in 2:11 that effectively ended it.“I thought we were going good and then, all of a sudden, the rails came off,” Tocchet said. “That’s what we can’t do, duplicate mistakes. That’s kind of the microcosm of the team right now.”The Coyotes are aware that the Flames can turn on the offense in a hurry, too, as Calgary averages 3.26 goals per game to Arizona’s 2.43. Flames left winger Matthew Tkachuk has five goals in five games and center Sean Monahan has three goals in four games.“They’ve got some high-skill guys, they play an offensive game and we’re aware of that,” Arizona defenseman Alex Goligoski said. “For us, it’s getting back to our game and being real stingy defensively and getting to their net and throwing a ton of pucks at them.”It would help if forward Clayton Keller would rev up his game. After scoring five goals in five games, Keller doesn’t have a goal in 11 games, or since Oct. 27.Similarly Carolina Hurricanes Hoodies Womens , Calgary right winger James Neal doesn’t have a goal in nine games, but coach Bill Peters likes that Neal took seven shots — four of which were blocked — against Vegas.Arizona goaltender Antti Raanta returned from an eight-game layoff with a lower-body injury to start Friday and allow all five Colorado goals, and he’ll be back in net Sunday, according to Tocchet.Former Coyotes goalie Mike Smith held down the starter’s net during the Flames’ practice on Saturday, but starter David Rittich is 8-2 with a 2.04 goals-against average and, until Friday, hadn’t lost since Oct. 23. Peters declined Saturday to name a starter.

COLUMBUS Gabriel Landeskog Jersey Kids , Ohio (AP) The Blue Jackets only had Seth Jones for two periods. It turned out to be more than enough.Jones was the driving force behind two first-period power-play goals, and Columbus won its fifth straight, 5-2 over the Montreal Canadiens on Monday night.”We’re taking it game by game even with this winning streak,” said Alexander Wennberg, who tied a career high with four points on a goal and three assists. ”We’re playing good, we don’t get too far ahead of ourselves. You just face the challenge.”Nick Foligno, Boone Jenner and Ian Cole also scored for Columbus.Behind a run of eight wins in 11 games overall and a season-high six straight at home – including a just-completed four-game homestand – the Blue Jackets moved past idle New Jersey into the first wild-card position in the Eastern Conference. Columbus also edged within two points of third-place Philadelphia, its next opponent, in the Metropolitan Division.”We’ve got a huge one coming up in Philly,” Foligno said.Jones sat out the third period with an upper-body injury, and Montreal suddenly put Sergei Bobrovsky to the test. The two-time Vezina Trophy winner stopped all 24 shots the suddenly energetic Canadiens threw his way. He had 38 saves overall.”We lose Jonsey, which is a big part of or tempo and our transition,” coach John Tortorella said. ”You know it’s going that way when we don’t score our goals. We have a number of great chances to make it five. You know what the third period is going to be. They are going to take every chance they possibly can. But I still thought we were on our heels too much.”Tortorella said Jones pleaded his case to play in the third.Brendan Gallagher and Jonathan Drouin scored for banged-up Montreal, which has lost five straight and has three wins in its past 16 games.The Canadiens have been playing without Carey Price, Max Pacioretty and Shea Weber. Charlie Lindgren was weak on his glove side http://www.avalancheshoponline.com/authentic-j.t.-compher-jersey , finishing with 20 stops while battling traffic in front.A bright spot for Montreal came early. Gallagher scored the fastest goal against Columbus this season to start a game, only 34 seconds in. He redirected a high shot alone at the crease for his team-leading 25th.”The first shift, a turnover and they score it,” Tortorella said. ”It didn’t affect us. We just kept on playing.”Columbus tallied the next three to close out the period.Foligno countered four minutes later on a steal in the Canadiens’ zone. His backdoor pass to Oliver Bjorkstrand ping-ponged off two Montreal players and skidded into the net.Jones then helped add two more for the Blue Jackets, giving him four goals – three of them game-winners – and three assists in his last three games. He set up Wennberg’s tip-in goal at 7:51 and scored his own at 14:03, his 14th this season. Jones’ 48 points are three short of the franchise record for a blueliner, set in 2013-14 by James Wisniewski.”I’d like to see our guys do a much better job when it comes to fronting pucks,” Montreal coach Claude Julien said. ”Lindy had a bit of a tough night, and your best penalty killer can also be your goaltender.”Early in the second period, not long after Zach Werenski saved a goal by swiping away the puck before it could cross the goal line, Jenner stuffed home his own rebound, the entire play nicely set up by Wennberg.Drouin scored on a breakaway – spurned by a blocked shot – at 15:46 of the second with a backhander to pull the Canadiens within two.Cole capped the scoring with a floating wrister with 2:19 left in the game.”We just feel good about ourselves and the way we’re playing hockey,” Jenner said. ”You can see tonight if we play the way we can, we can kind of dominate teams.”NOTES: Columbus scored its three first-period goals on its first seven shots. … Jones has a goal in three straight games. He scored twice Friday against Detroit. … The Canadiens dropped to 9-22-4 on the road. … Montreal wrapped up its six-game trip with a 1-4-1 mark and allowed nine power-play goals.UP NEXTColumbus: At Philadelphia on Thursday.Montreal: Hosts Dallas on Tuesday.— CHICAGO (AP) Nick Schmaltz and the Chicago Blackhawks weren’t looking for anything fancy, and the direct approach eventually got them a much-needed win.Schmaltz scored the deciding goal in the seventh round of the shootout to lift Chicago over the Ottawa Senators 3-2 on Wednesday night Youth Matt Nieto Jersey , just the Blackhawks’ second victory in 11 games.Schmaltz fired a wrist shot between the legs of Mike Condon after Patrick Kane and rookie Alex DeBrincat connected earlier in the tiebreaker. Matt Duchene and Mike Hoffman scored in the shootout for the Senators, who lost their second straight.Schmaltz said he had a sense of where to shoot against Condon after six rounds in only Chicago’s second shootout this season. It was Schmaltz’s first score in the shootout on just his second career attempt.”You kind of just go with your go-to moves, trust them,” Schmaltz said. ”I got a little bit of a lucky bounce there, but it’s good to see one go in.”Obviously a big win for us.”Kane scored his team-leading 23rd goal and set up Artem Anisimov’s 16th in regulation for the last-place Blackhawks.”We need every point we can get at this point,” Kane said. ”There’s still belief in this locker room. Obviously we need to go on quite a run, have a big record down the stretch, but take it a game at a time.”Chicago won for the second time in three games following an eight-game losing streak.Anton Forsberg stopped 32 shots through overtime and five of seven in the shootout, including final stop on Mark Stone.”(Forsberg) made some big saves for us particularly as the game got deeper,” said Chicago coach Joel Quenneville, who coached his 1,600th NHL game. Only Scotty Bowman and Al Arbour have coached more.Duchene and Zack Smith scored for the Senators in regulation, Stone had two assists, and Condon finished with 36 saves through overtime.The Senators came back twice from one-goal deficits to tie it, then played their best late in the game.”We adjusted well after the first (period) Mikko Rantanen Jersey ,” Ottawa coach Guy Boucher said. ”I thought our second period was really good and our third period was outstanding, and the overtime too.”We’ve just got to keep that up.”The Senators and Blackhawks, two teams well out of playoff contention heading into the NHL’s trade deadline on Monday, both played their first of three games in four nights.Kane opened the scoring at 14:19 of the first after taking a drop pass from Vinnie Hinostroza and firing from the slot. The puck slithered under Condon was crossing the goal line before Kane followed through and slammed it in.Smith tied it at 1-all 1:37 later on a tip-in from the left side of the crease. Derick Brassard set him up with a slick cross-ice pass from the right circle.Anisimov slipped to the net, tipped in Kane’s feed from the right side and put Chicago back ahead, 2-1, at 5:52 of the second.Duchene replied 6:09 later on a rising shot from slot that ticked off defenseman Jordan Oesterle and landed in the upper right corner of the net.Neither team generated sustained pressure in the scoreless third, although both had a handful of chances in the final minutes. The Blackhawks failed to convert a power play – one of only three man advantages for both teams combined – late in the period.The Senators had the better chances in overtime. Erik Karlsson and Ryan Dzingel missed on close-in attempts, and Forsberg got a glove on a shot by Thomas Chabot that then ticked off the post.NOTES: Ottawa LW Ryan Dzingel, who has 15 goals in his second full NHL season, returned after missing two games due to a family matter in his hometown of suburban Wheaton, Illinois. … The Senators’ bus was involved in a minor accident en route to the United Center for the game. No one was injured. … Blackhawks F Anthony Duclair was back in the lineup after sitting out two games. Chicago F Patrick Sharp and F Lance Bouma were scratches. … F Alexandre Burrows and D Ben Harpur sat out for Ottawa.UP NEXTSenators: Host Tampa Bay on Thursday night.Blackhawks: Host San Jose on Friday night.

A new voice will be behind the Edmonton Oilers‘ bench starting Tuesday night. Ken Hitchcock will debut as the team’s 15th head coach when the Oilers meet the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center.Hitchcock Youth Matt Nieto Jersey , who ranks third on the all-time wins list with 823, takes over for Todd McLellan, who was fired Tuesday morning. Edmonton will be the fifth different stop for the 66-year-old Hitchcock after he coached the Dallas Stars twice as well as the Philadelphia Flyers, Columbus Blue Jackets and St. Louis Blues.Article continues below ...A native of Edmonton, Hitchcock guided the Stars to their only Stanley Cup championship in 1999.Oilers general manager Peter Chiarelli said in an interview Tuesday that he worked with Hitchcock at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, and brings solid structure.“He’s a very good tactician. What I saw was a high level of input in a short period of time,” Chiarelli said. “He can instill something in short order and institute and direct it.”Chiarelli said Hitchcock would coach through the season.While there’s still more than 60 games left, the Oilers decided that a new voice was needed. Edmonton (9-10-1) has dropped six of its last seven after Sunday’s 6-3 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights in what was McLellan’s finale after three-plus seasons.Cam Talbot allowed three goals in a 2:12 span of the second period — including one while short-handed and one on the power play. The Oilers failed to bounce back after squandering a two-goal lead in the third period of Saturday’s road loss to the rival Calgary Flames.Though it’s not yet known who will start against the Sharks Mikko Rantanen Jersey , Talbot has lost five straight starts overall, posting a 4.63 goals-against average with an .845 save percentage. Backup Mikko Koskinen is 4-2-0 with a 2.60 GAA, a .917 save percentage and one shutout so far.Offense is not an issue if captain Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl is putting the puck in the net. The linemates have accounted for more than 42 percent of the team’s goals and are tied for the team lead with 12 each.Draisaitl has three goals and an assist in a four-game points streak on the road, and McDavid has points in 10 of 11 games outside Edmonton in 2018-19. McDavid, a two-time scoring champion, also needs one goal for 100 in his career and has four in his last five visits to SAP Center.Darrell Nurse said it’s not time to push the panic button on the season just yet.“The season is not getting away at all,” the defenseman told the Edmonton Journal. “But we know we have to string some wins together here.”After taking the season series-opener in 2017-18, Edmonton has surrendered 15 goals while losing three straight to San Jose (11-7-3), which is looking for its fourth win in five games. Aaron Dell made 30 saves and Joe Pavelski stayed red-hot with two goals in a 4-0 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Saturday.“Tonight was kind of classic Shark hockey Nathan MacKinnon Jersey ,” said Pavelski, who was named the NHL’s Third Star of the Week on Monday after collecting five goals and an assist in three games.San Jose’s captain already has a team-best 13 goals after registering 22 in 82 games last season. The 33-year-old Pavelski scored four times with six assists against Edmonton last season while none of his teammates logged more than five points.“The age is irrelevant when you have a hockey IQ like that,” coach Peter DeBoer said of the 13-year veteran. “He knows where to go, combines it with a competitiveness and he’s willing to go to the tough areas of the ice and compete without thinking of it.”Unlike the Oilers, the Sharks have a solid No. 1 option in net and he’s expected to get the nod Tuesday. Martin Jones is 8-2-1 in his last 11 starts in spite of a 2.91 GAA and .899 save percentage. He’s also 3-2-1 with a 2.35 GAA in five career starts against Edmonton in Northern California.San Jose’s Joe Thornton has been held without a point in each of his last two games and still needs one assist to tie Mario Lemieux for 11th all-time with 1,033. WASHINGTON (AP) Victor Hedman figured all the Tampa Bay Lightning needed to get back on track was a shift in momentum.The big defenseman took it upon himself to provide it.Hedman scored his first goal of the playoffs and added two assists, and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 36 of 38 shots to help the Lightning beat the Washington Capitals 4-2 in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference final Tuesday night and cut their series deficit to 2-1. Hedman had the primary assist on power-play goals by Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov and was a key part of three big penalty kills for Tampa Bay.”I’m put in a position to produce, and I put that pressure on myself to do it,” said Hedman Authentic Alexander Wennberg Jersey , who has a goal and 10 assists during an eight-game point streak. ”For me, it’s about being effective at all ends of the ice and trying to be a difference-maker every time I step on it.”Hedman was dominant all over the ice as Tampa Bay looked like an entirely different team than the one that lost the first two games of the series at home and now has a chance to tie it in Game 4 on Thursday. The Norris Trophy finalist who played a team-high 25:08 was most proud of successful penalty kills.”He’s a perennial Norris guy,” Stamkos said of Hedman. ”We can’t describe how good he is out there. We rely on him a ton, he’s a horse and most nights if he’s going well, we’re going well as a team. Another big effort for him tonight, and you could see we all followed suit.”It wasn’t perfect, but it was a more complete effort from Tampa Bay, which jumped out to a 3-0 lead before Brett Connolly answered for Washington in the second. Brayden Point’s goal less than five minutes later allowed the Atlantic Division champions to play with a comfortable lead that survived Evgeny Kuznetsov’s 6-on-5 goal with 3:02 remaining.Vasilevskiy was a big part of holding on to the lead as he made seven saves on the penalty kill as part of a bounce-back performance after being criticized for his play earlier in the series. It wasn’t perfect, but the Lightning began to make it up to Vasilevskiy for hanging him out to dry on so many odd-man rushes in Games 1 and 2 by improving their defensive-zone play.”We always feel like we owe him Los Angeles Kings T-Shirts Womens ,” defenseman Anton Stralman said. ”He’s our best player. He’s always there, he’s always there for us and tonight we did a good job in front of him. I think that gives him some confidence, too, that he knows we’re on and that’s the way it should be.”The Capitals outshot the Lightning 38-23 but didn’t help goaltender Braden Holtby with six minor penalties. Holtby allowed four goals but was helpless on the one-timers on the power play by Stamkos and Kucherov – the 10th and 11th Tampa Bay power-play goals over a streak of seven games with at least one.”We know both teams have pretty good special teams, and if we’re going to play like that, they’re going to use it,” said Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin, who combined with Kuznetsov to put 21 shots on net. ”Obviously, you can see we didn’t score Sam Reinhart Jersey , they scored.”Tampa Bay got two injury scares in the third period when Stamkos hobbled off after taking a slap shot from teammate Braydon Coburn in the right knee and Tyler Johnson was cross-checked by Michal Kempny. Each returned minutes later.Sporting an ice pack on his right knee, Stamkos said it was just a stinger and that he was fine. He wants the Lightning to be feeling better but not too good still down 2-1.”We haven’t done anything yet,” Stamkos said. ”The goal is to win a championship, but you can’t look too far ahead. We’ve made it a series.”NOTES: C Lars Eller took three of Washington’s six penalties. … With his 10th career power-play goal, Stamkos tied Martin St. Louis for Tampa Bay’s playoff record. … Injured C Nicklas Backstrom (right hand) took part in the Capitals’ morning skate but missed his fourth consecutive game. Coach Barry Trotz continues to call Backstrom day-to-day. … Trotz set a franchise record by coaching his 54th playoff game with Washington.—

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The kid has lived up to the hype so far.Carter Hart made 31 saves for his second straight win in his second NHL start Milan Lucic Jersey Kids , and the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Nashville Predators 2-1 on Thursday night.Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek scored for the Flyers, who won their second straight since interim coach Scott Gordon replaced Dave Hakstol after he was fired on Monday.The 20-year-old Hart made 20 saves in his debut in Tuesday’s 3-2 win over Detroit. He was even better against Nashville.“He’s the main reason we won the last two games,” Voracek said.Hart, a touted prospect who was selected in the second round of the 2016 draft, made two big saves to help kill off the Predators’ lengthy 5-on-3 power play late in the second period. He stopped each of the 13 shots he faced in the third.“I’m competing and having fun,” Hart said.Hart made his best stop early in the third when he denied Roman Josi from close range with a strong glove save. The Flyers also caught a break when Ryan Johansen’s wrist shot hit the post just before time expired.While he is facing players he idolized just a few years ago, Hart isn’t intimidated.“They’re the same as you and me,” Hart said. “They bleed when you cut them.”Nick Bonino scored for Nashville, which lost its ninth straight game on the road. The Predators, who began the day in a tie for first in the Central Division Oscar Klefbom Jersey , last won away from Nashville on Nov. 10 in Dallas.“We had some good looks, (but) the young kid in net made some good saves,” Johansen said. “We competed hard. … We just couldn’t find a way.”The Predators tied it at 1 4:04 into the second when Bonino scored from in front after a deflection.Philadelphia regained the lead when Giroux got his 12th of the season on a wrist shot from the right circle that beat Pekka Rinne on the blocker side.The Flyers preserved the lead by killing off a 5-on-3 in the final two minutes of the second. Hart denied Ryan Ellis and Kevin Fiala during the stretch, and defenseman Robert Hagg blocked two shots. Philadelphia also got lucky when Josi’s shot clanked off the post.“It gave the whole building a lift,” Gordon said of the penalty kill. “You could feel the emotion in the crowd and that carries over to the bench.”Voracek opened the scoring 5:10 into the first by finishing a great pass from Sean Couturier, who found a wide-open Voracek at the side of the crease.NOTES: The teams will meet once more in the regular season, Jan. 1 in Nashville. … Predators C Colton Sissons was held out after injuring his right ankle in the third period of Tuesday’s 2-1 loss at Chicago. . Nashville suffered its first regulation loss to an Eastern Conference opponent, dropping to 10-1-1.UP NEXTPredators: Finish a four-game trip at Boston on Saturday.Flyers: Host Columbus on Saturday. Peter Chiarelli didn’t feel like he could wait another day.The Edmonton general manager didn’t sleep well after another tough loss, put the wheels in motion to replace coach Todd McLellan with Ken Hitchcock and made the move on Tuesday — a game day. After no in-season coaching changes around the NHL last season, there have now been four in less than three weeks.The standings are still so close and volatile that it’s almost never too soon to decide to fire an NHL coach.“Unfortunately as it is http://www.officialoilers.com/authentic-adidas-ryan-nugent-hopkins-jersey , that’s the way it’s trending,” Chiarelli said. “The margins are thin and you look for edges and that’s one of them.”Los Angeles fired John Stevens on Nov. 4, Chicago fired three-time Stanley Cup winner Joel Quenneville two days later, St. Louis dismissed Mike Yeo late Monday and Edmonton followed suit with McLellan on Tuesday morning. The Kings had played 13 games, the Blackhawks 15, the Blues 19 and the Oilers 20, but it is no longer surprising to see such a drastic move before the quarter mark of the season.Hall of Fame defenseman Scott Stevens, now an NHL Network analyst, won the Stanley Cup as a player after a late-season coaching change and took over as co-head coach with New Jersey during the 2014-15 season. He said he was only caught off-guard by Quenneville’s firing and understands why so many GMs are pulling the trigger so early.“I think a lot of times the GM has the pulse of everything that’s going on and knows when the time’s right to make that move,” Stevens said. “I believe every team thinks they have a chance to win the Stanley Cup. … Everyone feels they have a chance to win Ryan Strome Jersey , and sometimes you just need a little luck.”Or at least a big change.“You can’t trade every player, so they fire the coach to try to get everybody’s attention,” NBC Sports analyst Pierre McGuire said.The calendar got Chiarelli’s attention because Thanksgiving typically serves as a barometer of which teams will make the playoffs. It’s an uphill climb for Hitchcock, the Kings’ Willie Desjardins , Blackhawks’ Jeremy Colliton and Blues’ Craig Berube to try to lift their teams out of rough starts and make it.Sometimes, interim or replacement coaches are wildly successful after arriving during the season. The Penguins in 2009 with Dan Bylsma and 2016 with Mike Sullivan and the Kings in 2012 with Darryl Sutter won the Cup. The Flyers in 2010 with Peter Laviolette reached the final.McGuire, himself a midseason replacement with the Hartford Whalers in the 1990s, said he believes this recent run of firings has something to do with the Vegas Golden Knights reaching the final last season as an expansion team, causing frustration around the league about quick results. Still, early-season coach firings are a time-tested part of the NHL.“Coaching changes right around this time made huge differences Womens Wayne Gretzky Jersey ,” McGuire said. “People look at this over history and they say this can happen. Pittsburgh and L.A. are good examples of that.”UPPER HAND SHORTHANDEDThe Arizona Coyotes have killed off a league-best 91.7 percent of power plays, and their 10 short-handed goals are six more than the next-closest team. Michael Grabner has four, Brad Richardson three and Arizona has only allowed five power-play goals through its first 19 games.Coach Rick Tocchet said Grabner, Richardson and his other penalty killers have done an excellent job of applying pressure with three players and the fourth making smart reads to take it the other way.“Especially for PK guys, they really have a good hockey IQ on knowing when to attack pressure,” Tocchet said. “The guys have done a nice job, like Richardson and Grabner especially, of making really good reads on when there’s a time to pressure and where that read is going to be. Sometimes you guess wrong but I think this year we’ve done a nice job guessing right.”GAME OF THE WEEKThe defending Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals on Saturday visit the New York Rangers, who have been among the league’s biggest surprises under first-year coach David Quinn.LEADERSGoals: David Pastrnak (Boston), 17; Assists: Mikko Rantanen (Colorado) Aaron Ekblad Jersey , 24; Points: Rantanen, 32; Ice time: Drew Doughty (Los Angeles), 26:53; Save percentage: Pekka Rinne (Nashville), .942; Goals-against average: Rinne, 1.69.