Offtopic » Colorado has had its share of bumps

PITTSBURGH (AP) Tom Wilson’s aggression helped propel him from fourth-line grinder into a difference-maker who skates alongside Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom.His teammates feed off the edginess of his play. His coach loves his tenacity.”There are very few Tom Wilsons in the league Womens Victor Rask Jersey ,” Barry Trotz said.And in Game 4 of Washington’s increasingly prickly Eastern Conference semifinal against Pittsburgh, there won’t be any at all.The league suspended Wilson three games for his run-in with Penguins forward Zach Aston-Reese that left the rookie with a concussion and a broken jaw.Aston-Reese was skating in front of the Washington bench when Wilson’s left shoulder hit some combination of Aston Reese’s shoulder and jaw in the middle of the second period.Following a brief conference among the on-ice officials, Wilson was not penalized on the play and the Capitals used it as a rallying point on their way to a dramatic 4-3 victory that gave them a 2-1 series lead.The league, however, suspended Wilson following a hearing on Wednesday, ruling the hit was illegal. The league considered Aston-Reese’s head the initial point of contact and called the incident avoidable.The decision means the Capitals are now forced to push the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions to the brink of elimination without one of their most physical players.Trotz defended Wilson, who has now been disciplined by the department of player safety three times this season.”It was a collision,” Trotz said Wednesday before the suspension was announced. ”They hit and to me it looked like body on body. We’ve stopped it, we’ve looked at it, there’s pictures all over the Internet that you can see. He doesn’t leave his feet. It’s body-on-body. … I’m surprised the player has the injury that he has.”The incident overshadowed the kind of taut and electric play that’s come to symbolize one of the NHL’s top rivalries.Sidney Crosby gave the Penguins the lead with a goal late in the second period only to have Washington – in a historically un-Washingtonlike move whenever the Capitals face Pittsburgh – beat Matt Murray twice in the third to win, the last coming on Ovechkin bunting in a rebound of his own shot with just 1:07 to play.”I really believe this year has felt a little bit different Alex DeBrincat Jersey ,” Washington forward Jay Beagle said. ”Even in season when we would get down a couple goals we could fight back. It seems like we’re never out of it.”Then again, it’s been 36 months since the Penguins have exited the postseason without the Cup on the team plane.Pittsburgh has ripped off nine consecutive series victories during its run at the top, and has only trailed after three games once, in last year’s Eastern Conference final against Ottawa.The Penguins rebounded to win in seven games and there’s hardly any panic. It’s not what Pittsburgh does.The other thing the Penguins try not to do? Get so caught up in trying to retaliate against Wilson that they forget why they’re out there in the first place.Defenseman Kris Letang pointed to his team’s antagonist – and entirely legal – response to Wilson in Game 3 as proof.Jake Guentzel delivered a shot into the end boards. Defenseman Jamie Oleksiak basically begged Wilson to fight, but didn’t take it too far when Wilson failed to engage.”After the whistle we walked away,” Letang said. ”There’s not much business to do. I liked our answer.”The Penguins will need another one if they want to keep their hopes of becoming the first team in 35 years to three-peat alive. They’ve only dropped consecutive games in the playoffs five times in two-plus years and have lost to Washington only once in 10 all-time postseason meetings.The Capitals have momentum on their side. Pittsburgh has history.”It’s hard to win in the playoffs and you’re going to go through ups and downs and emotional highs and emotional lows,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. ”And it’s all about how you handle those and respond. … Right now our eyes are on Game 4.”—UNDISCIPLINED OR PLAIN SLOPPY?The Nashville Predators won the Presidents’ Trophy despite leading the NHL in penalty minutes. They had played with much more discipline until melting down with three consecutive penalties helping turn a 3-0 lead after the first period into a 7-4 loss and a 2-1 deficit to the Winnipeg Jets.Now Nashville faces a challenge on Thursday night (9:30 p.m. ET NBCSN) in their Western Conference semifinal to avoid being pushed to the brink of elimination in the best-of-seven series.”We have a smart group,” Predators center Ryan Johansen said Wednesday. ”We understand what we did wrong and what needs to be done.”Not only did the Predators not help themselves with five penalties – three in the third after tying the Jets at 4-4 – they didn’t play well after grabbing a big lead.”We just sat back too much,” Predators forward Filip Forsberg said. ”Obviously they scored a goal early and after that we just became passive and, yeah, I don’t think it would have mattered which team we were playing. If we play like that Minnesota Wild Hats Womens , we’re going to get scored on.”—WHERE’S PHIL?Penguins forward Phil Kessel set a career high with 92 points during the regular season, but has just one secondary assist through three games of the series and – perhaps more troubling for a player with 330 goals – only four shots on net.Sullivan and the coaching staff met with Kessel before Game 3 in an attempt to provide insight into what Kessel could do to get it going. The main thing? Just becoming more active. Sullivan wants Kessel to get closer to traffic in front of the net instead of loitering at the half boards looking for an opening.—AP Sports Writer Teresa Walker contributed to this report.— DENVER (AP) The captain of the Colorado Avalanche has a pingpong paddle sitting in his locker that features a picture of him taped to one side.Merely a ploy, explained Gabriel Landeskog, the self-proclaimed table tennis champion of the dressing room.”Seeing my face, yeah, it’s distracting for them,” he said , grinning.It’s certainly been a lot of fun and games this season for the Avalanche – a stark contrast to a year ago when they were the worst team in the NHL. Behind a Hart Trophy candidate in Nathan Mackinnon , an even-keeled coach in Jared Bednar and a youthful, high-octane roster, the Avs have turned things around to the tune of a 45-point improvement so far. They are the first NHL team to post a 40-point gain over an 82-game season since the Pittsburgh Penguins jumped 47 from 2005-06 (58) to 2006-07 (105).There’s also this: Take care of business with a win at San Jose on Thursday and another in regulation against St. Louis in the season finale Saturday and they will earn their first postseason berth since 2013-14.”What our guys have done this year as a group http://www.blackhawksshoponline.com/authentic-artem-anisimov-jersey , first year of a rebuild, a lot of new faces, I don’t know there are too many people that would’ve put us in the situation we’re in right now,” said Bednar , whose team managed only 48 points during his first season in charge. ”Our guys have done an excellent job this year of being committed to what we’re doing and trying to turn this thing around and get to where we want to go.”Bednar and general manager Joe Sakic calmed some pretty turbulent waters after a forgettable 2016-17 season that began with Patrick Roy surprisingly announcing he would step down before camp.A year later, Bednar had a chance to implement more of his philosophies in camp. He got to know his players’ strengths better, too.Still, there were some early season obstacles to navigate, including moving on from Matt Duchene when the talented forward wanted out of town. He was traded to Ottawa in early November.Through it all, Bednar’s message was succinct: Just concentrate on hockey. The Avs won 10 straight earlier this season; they had 22 wins all of last year.”If you believe in each other and believe in the system, you can accomplish things that other people probably don’t think we could Brandon Saad Jersey ,” said defenseman Erik Johnson, who’s currently sidelined with a fractured kneecap. ”We took it upon ourselves to be the underdog.”Even through the lows of a 48-point season, Bednar didn’t lose the room. His players call him ”Bedsy,” a sign of respect for a coach who will hold them accountable but mostly helps them figure things out.”Looking back, it’s easier to realize that he could’ve been a lot harder on us, could’ve been a lot worse. He didn’t do that,” defenseman Tyson Barrie said. ”I have a lot of respect for him with what he’s done this year and how he’s handled the team and everything.”Any other season, Bednar might even be a runaway coach of the year winner. But there’s Gerard Gallant, who has expansion Vegas headed to the postseason as Pacific Division champions.”I tried to be as fair as I possibly can be with still doing my job to the best of my ability,” Bednar said. ”I have a lot of belief in our team.”Colorado features the youngest active roster in the league with an average age of 25.7. With Alexander Kerfoot leading the way, 11 different rookies have combined for more than 410 games and 121 points.Then again Brent Seabrook Jersey Kids , Bednar has plenty of experience dealing with youth from his days in the American Hockey League. Bednar joined the Avalanche from the Columbus Blue Jackets‘ affiliate Lake Erie after leading the Monsters to the 2016 Calder Cup trophy.”He definitely gets it,” said MacKinnon, who is among the league leaders with 94 points (38 goals, 56 assists). ”He communicates really well with the younger generation.”Colorado has had its share of bumps and bruises along the way, with MacKinnon sitting out eight games due to a shoulder injury. And now the team is missing top goaltender Semyon Varlamov (lower body injury) for the rest of the regular season. But they have veteran Jonathan Bernier to step in.”We got some of those injuries (last season), and didn’t have the depth that we needed,” Bednar said. ”When things took a turn, it was hard to stay motivated as a team when you fall out of the playoff race.”It’s not the best turnaround in franchise history: The then-Quebec Nordiques went from 52 points in 1991-92 to 104 the following season. But that was a different time.”It’s a turnaround, but we also thought we shouldn’t have been as bad as we were last year,” Landeskog said. ”We’ve still got a lot of work left. It doesn’t really count if we don’t go to the playoffs.”—