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Beitrag 188764 von 198086 (95%)

Autor	huangjian123
Datum	31.01.19, 06:27
Betreff	Jacob Markstrom Jersey

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DETROIT (AP) The Vegas Golden Knights turned their expansion season into a special one by making a lot of good decisions.Like the addition of goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury.”He makes an expansion team not be an expansion team Jacob Markstrom Jersey ,” Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said.No one outside the organization expected the Pacific Division-leading Golden Knights to be this good so fast. With less than a month left in the regular season, they easily have the largest divisional lead and are chasing Nashville for the most points in the Western Conference.The odds are not long that Vegas could hoist the Stanley Cup.”The expectations weren’t high, but we all thought we could be better and we showed it,” Fleury said after his 47th career shutout, a 4-0 win in Detroit. ”Sometimes earlier in the season, I would wonder, `Wow. Are we really still in that position?’ And, we kept winning and holding strong in the standings.”Fleury has a lot to do the startling success.Pittsburgh left him unprotected in the expansion draft after he waived his no-movement clause, allowing the Penguins to keep 23-year-old Matt Murray after he led the franchise to its second straight Stanley Cup championship.”I had a good idea it was going to happen, but you’re never sure until your name is called,” Fleury said. ”I was still in a shock for me and my family. But the organization in Vegas from the staff, the coaches, the GM, the owner, was very welcoming and helped us with the transition.”The Penguins even gave Vegas a second-round pick in 2020 to take Fleury, who had two years and more than $11 million left on his contract. He has provided a return on the investment.”The fit has been perfect,” Golden Knights general manager George McPhee said. ”His leadership was something we wanted for our locker room.”Fleury ranks among the league leaders with career bests in goals-against average (2.15) and save percentage (.930). He also became a three-time All-Star this season.”I feel pretty good, but my teammates have been good in front of me,” he said. ”By blocking shots and clearing rebounds away Markus Granlund Jersey , that makes me look better.”Fleury has won 25 of 37 starts in a season stunted only by a concussion that kept him out of the lineup for two months. Earlier this week, he became the 13th goaltender in NHL history to win 400 games , trailing just Roberto Luongo and Henrik Lundqvist among active players.”At the start of the year, he was our best player,” Vegas forward David Perron said. ”When he got hurt, we found out we had a really good team because we kept winning. Then, we got him back and we took another step and we haven’t stopped.”GAME OF THE WEEKBoston at Tampa Bay on Saturday night, the second of their four scheduled games. The winner of the season series increasing their chance at securing the Presidents’ Trophy for having the most points in the NHL and earning home-ice advantage through the playoffs. In the first matchup on Nov. 29, Brad Marchand had two assists in the first period and the Bruins scored the first three goals in a 3-2 win at home over the Lightning.LEADERSThrough Tuesday’s games:Goals: Alex Ovechkin (Washington), 42; Assists: Jakub Voracek (Philadelphia) and Blake Wheeler (Winnipeg), 59; Points: Nikita Kucherov (Tampa Bay), 91; Wins: Andrei Vasilevskiy (Tampa Bay), 40; Goals-against average: Carter Hutton (St. Louis), 2.02; Save percentage: Hutton, .934.— WASHINGTON (AP) Jon Cooper’s Tampa Bay Lightning won Game 4 of the Eastern Conference final despite going the equivalent of more than a period without a shot on goal.They won despite falling behind about 4 1/2 minutes into the game.They won despite being called for three penalties – one right after the other – late in the first period, allowing Alex Ovechkin and the rest of the Washington Capitals’ prolific power play to get all that time to operate.And they did it, mainly, thanks to Andrei Vasilevskiy, who made 36 saves and kept things close until Alex Killorn scored the tiebreaker with about 8 minutes left Michael Del Zotto Jersey , lifting Tampa Bay to a 4-2 victory over Washington on Thursday night, evening the series at two games apiece.”When you don’t have your `A’ game, you need your goalie to have his `A’ game,” Cooper said. ”And he sure did.”Now the Lightning will host Game 5 on Saturday night, with Game 6 back in Washington on Monday.The road team has won every game in the series so far.”It’s pretty bizarre,” said Steven Stamkos, who took a puck of the face during the morning skate, then went out and scored a power-play goal that gave Tampa Bay a 2-1 lead after the first period. ”We’ve got to find a way to win one at home.”The Capitals might be thinking the very same thing. After all, they fell to 3-5 in the nation’s capital this postseason, while they are 7-1 in away games.On Thursday, they even got booed – yes, a smattering of jeers rang out in the team’s first conference final in 20 years – late in the first period after failing to convert any of the trio of man-advantage chances.That stretch was part of a chunk of nearly 21 full minutes of game time – the last 10:41 of the first period, followed by the initial 10:11 of the second – during which Tampa Bay never putt a single official shot on net.”Our guys were gassed. That’s a lot of stress. Mental stress. The same guys are on the ice the whole time. Other guys aren’t playing,” Cooper said. ”You kind of lose your whole rhythm.”And so it was vital that Vasilevskiy played just like the Vezina Trophy finalist he is.He was spectacular at times, including stops against Chandler Stephenson on a breakaway and Nicklas Backstrom – who returned after missing four games with an injured right hand – from the doorstep in the second period. In the third, Vasilevskiy used his left glove to swat away a try from Brett Connolly.Following one flubbed chance, Ovechkin threw his head back and looked up, the very picture of disappointment.After allowing 10 goals in Games 1 and 2, Vasilevskiy has given up a total of four in Games 3 and 4.”He didn’t play great in the first two. He played well in the second two. It’s our job to make him look like the goalie from the first two games Sam Gagner Jersey ,” Washington forward Tom Wilson said. ”We’ll make it hard on him.”Capitals goalie Braden Holtby didn’t get a chance to make nearly as many saves, given the shot discrepancy: Washington ended up with 38 to Tampa Bay’s 20. And Holtby allowed goals on two of the first five shots he faced, to Brayden Point and to Stamkos. Anthony Cirelli added an empty-netter with a second left.The go-ahead goal came thanks to a defensive breakdown, when Killorn was left pretty much alone and scored 6 seconds after a Tampa Bay power play expired, putting in a pass from Ondrej Palat.”Tonight was so important,” Killorn said. ”Going down 3-1 in a series is tremendously different from 2-2.”After his score, Killorn said, ”We played our best hockey.”That’s true.Washington’s goals had come from Evgeny Kuznetsov – off an assist by Ovechkin – in the second period, and defenseman Dmitry Orlov in the early going. But late, the Capitals could not get the tying goal in, even after pulling Holtby with a little more than 2 minutes to go so they could play 6-on-5.”Of course,” Ovechkin said, ”it’s a missed opportunity.”NOTES: Stamkos has one power-play goal in each game of the series. … The Lightning have produced 11 power-play goals over their last nine games, with at least one in each. … Lars Eller was whistled for both of Washington’s penalties and has five in the past two games. ”That was way too many,” Capitals coach Barry Trotz said. … Kuznetsov’s 21 points equaled Ovechkin (2009) for the most by a Capitals player in one postseason.—

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