The Pittsburgh Penguins are ready for the Stanley Cup

PITTSBURGH, Pa. - The Pittsburgh Penguins are ready for the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Ottawa Senators arent headed to the post-season, but captain Jason Spezza wanted to make sure his team finished the season strong. Spezza scored in the shootout to help the Senators beat the Penguins 3-2 on Sunday night and stretch their season-ending winning streak to five games. "We wanted to play for each other," said Spezza, who finished his first season as captain. "We talked about it a lot down the stretch, how it would be easy to let up, and I thought the group showed good character by finishing hard and winning these games." The teams were tied 2-2 after two periods and didnt score in the third or overtime. Spezza, who scored the lone goal in Ottawas win Saturday against Toronto, stopped at the circle during his shootout attempt, stickhandled around goalie Jeff Zatkoff, and scored. Kyle Turris added a goal in the shootout for the Senators. Ottawa goalie Robin Lehner stopped Beau Bennett and Jussi Jokinen to seal the win. Turris scored his 26th goal in regulation, and Mark Stone had his fourth for Ottawa, which will miss the playoffs for the second time in six years and first since 2011. "We believe in this group, that its a good group and very close to being a good team," Senators coach Paul MacLean said. "We have work to do and we have to come to training camp in September prepared to do the work and make changes to our game thats going to make us successful." Jokinen scored on the power play in regulation, his 21st of the season, and Lee Stempniak added his 12th for the Penguins, who rested captain Sidney Crosby and several others for their final game before the playoffs. No. 1 goalie Marc-Andre Fleury also sat out along with Brandon Sutter, Matt Niskanen, Robert Bortuzzo and Deryk Engelland. "I think weve gone through quite a bit with this group in terms of different lineups, different injury situations," Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said of his team, which led the NHL with 521 man-games lost. "I think weve done a better job of being able to shut teams down and limit opportunities, but now we have to do that in the playoffs." The Penguins will face Columbus in the first round of the playoffs. The series begins Wednesday in Pittsburgh. It will be the first post-season meeting between the teams, separated by a four-hour drive. The perennial-contending Penguins have lots of star power and three Stanley Cup titles. Columbus, during its first season in the Eastern Conference, secured its second playoff berth and first since the 2009 season. "Theyre skilled, they have great goaltending and they played fast," Penguins forward James Neal said. "We had a good year against them. Theyre going to come hard. Its the playoffs and everyone has a chance now." Despite missing the finale, Crosby won his second scoring title — topping Anaheims Ryan Getzlaf. Crosby, who finished with 36 goals and 104 points, outscored Getzlaf by 17 points to win the Art Ross Trophy for the first time since the 2006-07 season, his second in the NHL. The seven-year gap is the second-longest span between scoring titles. "Sid, I think, to get over 100 points ... to have the lead as he does over Getzlaf by that many points is pretty amazing to see," Bylsma said. Pittsburgh hopes to have former NHL MVP and two-time scoring champion Evgeni Malkin back for the playoffs after he missed the final 11 games of the regular season because of a foot injury. Malkin skated with teammates Chris Conner (foot) and Joe Vitale (upper body) on Sunday, but Bylsma didnt say whether they would be ready for Wednesdays playoff opener. "I like the way were getting healthy and I like the way were playing," Neal said. "This year is a little different than others. Were playing good hockey at the right time and thats big for us." Jokinen opened the scoring Sunday with a power-play goal with 5:14 left in the first period. His centring pass deflected off Eric Grybas skate and trickled between Lehners pads. Turris tied it later in the period, scoring in the final seconds of a power play when he sent a shot past Zatkoff from the left faceoff dot. Stempniak put the Penguins ahead 2-1 when he tipped Bennetts shot behind Lehner at 5:16 of the second. Stone tied it with Ottawas second power-play goal at 17:14 from the top of the crease, whacking in a rebound of Patrick Wierciochs point shot. NOTES: The Penguins played their fourth straight overtime game. ... Pittsburgh finished the season with 109 points, the second-highest total in team history. A Penguins player has won the scoring title in 15 of the last 26 seasons. ... Crosby and Malkin are the fourth set of teammates to win multiple scoring titles while playing together and the first since Bostons Phil Esposito and Bobby Orr between 1969-75. ... Ottawa scratched Jared Cowen, Matt Kassian and Mika Zibanejad. Koke Jersey . The Twins announced Thursday the 28-year-old Albers cleared waivers. He will join the Hanwha Eagles of the Korea Baseball Organization. Andres Iniesta Spain Jersey . Murray, the defending champion and No. 3 seed, claimed his first match win at Queens in 2005 and went on to win the Wimbledon warmup three times. But he failed to take advantage of eight set points after leading the first-set tiebreaker 6-2, and Stepanek survived to convert with his second set point. http://www.soccerspainfansshop.com/Dani-...n-Spain-Jersey/. Now comes an off-season of questions about manager Matt Williams decisions and a handful of key roster choices, including what to do about Ryan Zimmerman, whether to sign Jordan Zimmermann and Ian Desmond to long-term deals, and how to upgrade an offence that fell flat in October. Rodrigo Moreno Spain Jersey . Irving played 10 minutes Sunday night before going to the locker room. He had two points and four assists, missing all five of his shots. The All-Star game MVP is the top scorer among Eastern Conference point guards with 21. David de Gea Spain Jersey . -- Ryan Millers debut for the St.ARLINGTON, Va. -- Alex Ovechkin apologized for Russias hockey performance at the Olympics, a sentiment put in perspective by the encouraging news that his father was on the way home after heart surgery. Far more upset was Nicklas Backstrom, who remains clearly miffed that an allergy medication hes taken for years cost him a chance to play for a gold medal. The Washington Capitals held their first post-Olympics practice Tuesday, a session overshadowed by residue from the Winter Games even as they tried to focus on the resumption of their NHL schedule. Ovechkin was one of the faces of Sochi, bent on winning the gold on home ice. Instead, the Russians were eliminated in the quarterfinals for the second consecutive Olympics. "First of all, I want to say sorry to the fans," Ovechkin said. "Because its once in a lifetime opportunity to represent your country in the Olympics, and you didnt get the results, you didnt get any medal. Of course the fans, the media and the people who support Russia, family, was upset, but life goes on." Ovechkin took the Olympic disappointment especially hard four years ago, but this time he had to immediately turn his attention to his family. His father, who has a history of heart problems, became ill following one of his sons games and required surgery. Ovechkin wasnt told until three days later, after Russia had been eliminated. "Soon as I found out that hes in hospital and hes feeling not that good and he could be dying, I just forget the game that we lose against Finland. ... Just go there and spend time with him and saw him," Ovechkin said. "It was great feelings to see whats happening and how hes feeling. Thats most important thing." Ovechkin said his father, mother and brother were flying home to Moscow on Tuesday. Ovechkin said he understands the criticism he received for his play during the Olympics -- "I didnt score lots of goals out there" -- but the 28-year-old three-time league MVP appears ready to refocus on the Capitals, who resume play Thursday at Florida. "This is a very tough loss for me and for Russia, but Im almost 30," Ovechkin said. "I have to handle it. I have to fight through it." The lingering Olympic sting was more evident on the face of Backstrom, who helped lead Sweden to the gold medal game but was pulled from the lineup shortly before faceoff because he had failed a doping test. Without one of its top players, Sweden lost 3-0 to Canadda.dddddddddddd "Ive had allergies for seven years, since I got here," Backstrom said. "Everyone that lives in the Washington area knows how bad it is here. Ive been taking Zyrtec-D for the last seven years and I havent been doing anything differently. Ive been playing internationally, in the world championships (and) Olympics before, and so I havent done anything differently." An ingredient in the allergy medicine is on the list of banned substances for Olympic competition, but Backstrom said he was told by the Sweden team doctor that he could take one pill a day without triggering a positive test. "Who do I blame?" Backstrom said. "Well, I followed the doctors recommendation." Backstrom said he expects a two-week wait to find out whether he will be awarded his silver medal, which is being held at the International Ice Hockey Federation offices in Zurich. "Obviously, its not fun to deal with," Backstrom said. "I dont wish no one to have to go through this, if Im going to be honest with you. Its not fun. But Ive got to look forward to play next game on Thursday. Ive got to focus on Washington right now." Backstroms teammates, much like the international hockey community in general, were shocked at how his situation was handled. "Its just ridiculous that it can happen at a big tournament like this," forward Martin Erat said, "at the Olympics just before the finals when everybody is ready to go and you just want to enjoy the sport. It just happened because of some stupidity, and its just unbelievable that this can happen in the Olympics." The Capitals sent five players to Sochi, and four of them have dealt with some sort of unexpected life event that has derailed an attempt to return to normalcy after the Olympics. Ovechkin had the health scare with his father, Backstrom has the fallout from the doping test, Swedish forward Marcus Johansson is stuck in Stockholm because of an visa issue -- the Capitals expect him to join them in Florida for Thursdays game -- and Erat returned to his family in Nashville, Tenn., as soon as he could after the Czech Republic was eliminated. "We just finished our quarterfinal game, and I went for my phone, and our friend had called me and said your baby girl, Victoria Bella, is born," Erat said. "First we lost in the quarterfinal, it was hard to swallow, and when I got the news, it brought back a smile on my face." China NFL Jerseys White Cheap NFL Gear Cheap Jerseys 2019 Youth NFL Jerseys China Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Youth NFL Jerseys China ' ' '