Dein erstes Forum » Carl Hagelin watched helplessly

WASHINGTON (AP) —from the penalty box as the short-handed unit he helped transform got to work.Seconds after stepping out following another successful kill Zack Smith Jersey , Hagelin scored the go-ahead goal on a breakaway to help the Washington Capitals beat the Winnipeg Jets 3-1 on Sunday night for their seventh consecutive victory. With players blocking shots and Pheonix Copley stopping the puck, the defending Stanley Cup champions killed off all five minor penalties they took to keep their winning streak alive.“Obviously I don’t want to be in the box for four minutes like I was, but it turned out OK,” said Hagelin, who took back-to-back penalties in the second period. “It was great to see the guys bail me out.”Hagelin deserved that payback. Since he and defenseman Nick Jensen joined Washington at the trade deadline, the penalty kill is 19 for 21 and has killed off 16 in a row. For much of the season, a porous penalty kill looked like the Capitals’ biggest obstacle to repeating, and suddenly it has become a strength.“We’re tweaking things as we go, and we’re getting better, I think, at figuring out what works for us Ryan O'Reilly Jersey Womens ,” said defenseman Matt Niskanen, who returned after taking a one-timer from Patrik Laine off his left hand during one penalty kill. “It’s taken us some time to figure out what we’re good at and how we want to approach it with our tactics. I think as we’re getting to this time of year, we’re starting to play with a little bit more desperation.”The desperation was there against the Central Division-leading Jets who put up eight goals on Carolina two days earlier. Washington won despite being outshot 34-17, thanks to the goals by Hagelin and Nicklas Backstrom and an empty-netter from Lars Eller to go along with 33 saves from Copley.Despite not playing in two weeks, Copley made the most of a somewhat surprising decision to give him the nod over Braden Holtby.“He was kicking the puck out all night,” Jets captain Blake Wheeler said. “The rebounds were there. We just couldn’t get to them.”Mathieu Perreault scored Winnipeg’s only goal on a shot Copley had little chance of stopping. The Jets thought they’d tied the score midway through the third period, but officials ruled Bryan Little pushed Copley’s right pad into the net and upheld a coach’s challenge.Connor Hellebuyck made 15 saves as the Central Division-leading Jets lost the finale of a four-game road trip.“We played a heck of a road game here,” coach Paul Maurice said. “You don’t like losing when you play well. Their guy made some good saves, they got some good breaks around the net, but our compete was good. You know what? We had five opportunities to score on the power play. That doesn’t go. That hurts you.”The Capitals’ penalty kill has hurt plenty of opponents during this winning streak and allowed them to look again like a championship contender.“That’s something we’ve got to keep doing,” Backstrom said. “Things didn’t go our way like the first 50 Brian Elliott Jersey , 60 games, but I feel like everyone is more committed now and we’re blocking shots and we’re working for each other.”NOTES: Capitals D John Carlson became the third player in franchise history with consecutive 50-assist seasons, joining Hall of Famers Scott Stevens and Larry Murphy. … The Jets continued to be without injured top-four defensemen Dustin Byfuglien and Josh Morrissey. … Alex Ovechkin remains one point away from 1,200 in his career.UP NEXTJets: Return home to face the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday.Capitals: Open a road trip Tuesday at the Pittsburgh Penguins. LOS ANGELES (AP) A strong power play and penalty kill can carry a team deep into the Stanley Cup playoffs. Right now, the Los Angeles Kings hope their special teams can do what it takes just to reach the postseason.Anze Kopitar scored one of his team’s three power-play goals, Jonathan Quick made 23 saves and the Kings moved back into playoff position with a 3-0 win over the Calgary Flames on Monday night.”Obviously, scoring three power-play goals goes a long way,” Kopitar said. ”I guess this time of year it doesn’t really matter how you do it but you’ve got to figure out ways to win, and we did that tonight.”Jeff Carter also scored and Dion Phaneuf had a goal and an assist for the Kings, who tied Anaheim for third place in the Pacific Division at 91 points. They also passed Colorado (90 points) and St. Louis (89) in the Western Conference wild-card race.Phaneuf gave the Kings a 1-0 lead 4:04 into the second period, scoring on a long shot from the blue line five seconds into a power play. All four of Phaneuf’s goals since being acquired from Ottawa in a Feb. 13 trade have come on the man advantage.Adrian Kempe got the lone assist for winning the faceoff against Troy Brouwer http://www.officialflyersproshop.com/authentic-adidas-claude-giroux-jersey , and Tyler Toffoli set a screen that kept goalie Mike Smith from seeing Phaneuf’s shot.”The key on power play, if you get people to the net and you get opportunities for lanes to the net and you shoot the puck early, it really forces the penalty killers to turn and face their net,” Kings coach John Stevens said. ”Once Dion shot the first one there, it really had a ripple effect where guys were looking to move the puck quick and get it to the net.”Kopitar made it 2-0 at 11:55 with his seventh power-play goal of the season. Scoring on a wrist shot from the left circle, Kopitar matched his career high of 34 goals during the 2009-10 season. The Kings captain has five goals in his last three games.Flames forward Sam Bennett committed three penalties in the opening 30:21, with his infractions for high-sticking and tripping leading to the Kings’ first two power-play goals.Carter put Los Angeles in front 3-0 by following up his own rebound from close range at 8:24 of the third. He has 10 goals in 16 games since returning from surgery to repair a cut tendon in his ankle.Los Angeles scored three power-play goals in a game for the third time.Smith stopped 26 shots for the Flames, who were eliminated from playoff contention. Calgary has been outscored 28-7 during a six-game losing streak.”It’s tough to create against LA at the best of times, but I thought we limited them. Again, 5-on-5, there weren’t many chances out there. Just the specialty teams came into play Ivan Provorov Jersey ,” Flames coach Glen Gulutzan said.Already without forwards Sean Monahan and Matthew Tkachuk because of injury, the depleted Flames had to play without top scorer Johnny Gaudreau, who was not with the team after his father had a cardiac event on Monday.The lack of scoring punch beyond those three, who have combined to score 78 of Calgary’s 203 goals, is something the Flames will have to address to get back into the playoff chase next season, Gulutzan said.”You can see that we’re a little bit dependent on some of our top guys to create most of our offense, and that’s an issue that is coming to light a little bit,” Gulutzan said.NOTES: Kings D Jake Muzzin did not return after sustaining an upper-body injury in the second period. Muzzin fell awkwardly into the boards following a hit by Micheal Ferland. … Dustin Brown had two assists.UP NEXTFlames: Host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday night.Kings: Host the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday night.—