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(SportsNetwork. Freddie Freeman Braves Jersey .com) - The New York Islanders have lost ground in the NHL playoff race during a five-game slide and the club may have more bad news coming down the pike. But first, the struggling club hopes to avoid a sixth consecutive setback on Tuesday when it visits the Washington Capitals at Verizon Center. Watch the Islanders vs. Capitals live tonight on TSN2 at 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt. In addition to posting an 0-4-1 record during its current slide, the Isles are also having difficulty convincing winger Thomas Vanek to stay with the club and New York may wind up trading the Austrian winger. According to a report Monday in Newsday, Vanek, who is set to become an unrestricted free agent in July, has turned down a "substantial contract offer" from the Isles. The report also says New York general manager Garth Snow is fielding offers from teams looking to acquire the 30-year-old forward. Vanek was acquired from Buffalo in a trade on Oct. 27 and he has 15 goals and 38 points in 41 games with the Islanders after becoming part of a formidable top line with John Tavares and Kyle Okposo. If Vanek is dealt by the Isles, it will turn out to be a costly rental for the club. New York sent winger Matt Moulson to the Sabres along with a first-round pick in this summers draft as well as a second-rounder in 2015 to land Vanek. The NHL trade deadline for this season is March 5. The Islanders went 10-3-0 from Dec. 29-Jan. 21 before losing five in a row. The clubs last two losses came against the rival New York Rangers, who posted a 2-1 regulation win over the Isles in last Wednesdays outdoor game at Yankee Stadium before notching a 4-1 home win Friday night at Madison Square Garden. Derick Brassard and Brad Richards scored less than three minutes apart in the third period to support a strong effort from Henrik Lundqvist in the Rangers win over the Isles at MSG. Okposo had the lone score for the struggling Islanders, while Evgeni Nabokov stopped 33-of-36 chances in defeat. "We just looked like we ran out of gas," Tavares said. "We just didnt seem to have that extra gear when we needed it." With 50 points, the Isles are currently 13th out of 15 teams in the Eastern Conference and 12 points out of a playoff spot. Including tonights tilt, New York has three games left before the NHL breaks for the Winter Olympics. After visiting Washington on Tuesday, the Isles will host Calgary and Colorado on Thursday and Saturday, respectively. After losing seven in a row from Jan. 12-24, Washington has recorded three wins over its last five games and is 3-1-1 during that stretch. The Capitals split a home-and-home series with Detroit over the weekend, losing Fridays road portion against the Red Wings 4-3 in a shootout before taking Sundays wild 6-5 overtime decision at the Verizon Center. Alex Ovechkin scored a power-play goal 2:37 into overtime to lift the Capitals to Sundays entertaining matinee battle in D.C. Red Wings defenseman Brendan Smith was called for tripping at the 1:26 mark of the extra session. The Capitals moved the puck around and John Carlson fed Ovechkin for a one-timer from the left circle. Ovechkin has scored seven times over his last nine games and he is leading the NHL with 39 goals. His next goal will give Ovechkin 40 or more markers in a season for the sixth time in his career and for the first time since he posted 50 in 2009-10. Joel Ward registered two goals and one assist on Sunday and Jason Chimera added a goal and two helpers for the Capitals, who overcame blowing a trio of two-goal leads to win for the third time in their last 12 games. "We came out great and they never gave up; they are a really good hockey team," said Washington head coach Adam Oates. Michal Neuvirth picked up the win despite surrendering five goals on 30 shots. The Capitals expect to be without defenseman Mike Green for a third straight game after he suffered a concussion last week against Columbus. Green tried to practice on Monday, but he left for the dressing room after 10 minutes. Washington forwards Mikhail Grabovski (sprained left ankle), Brooks Laich (groin), Eric Fehr (lower body) and Aaron Volpatti (upper body) are also questionable for tonights contest. The Caps, who are three points out of a playoff spot in the East, are 2-0 against the Islanders this season and have won three straight and five of the past seven games in this series. Washington is 8-2-1 in the past 11 encounters in D.C.Atlanta Braves Jersey . Johnson spent the last five seasons with Pittsburgh after being taken in the seventh round of the 2009 draft. He played in 52 games with 26 starts, totalling 22 catches for 216 yards and a touchdown. Justin Upton Jersey . Bergmann, who came ninth in Bad Gastein a year ago for his only previous top-10 result, defeated Andreas Prommegger of Austria in the final of the single-run format. Aaron March of Italy finished third by beating Sebastian Kislinger of Austria. ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The Minnesota Wild are finding a way to win without injured stars Zach Parise and Mikko Koivu. Nate Prosser scored his third career goal at 2:42 of overtime, lifting the Wild over the Dallas Stars 3-2 on Saturday night. "When youre playing the right way, it is going to be a different guy every night," Minnesota coach Mike Yeo said. "You cant have the same person going out and doing it all the time. But if every guy is doing the right thing then their turn will come." Prosser netted the winning score for the second time in as many games. The 27-year-old defenceman sent Nino Niederreiters rebound past Kari Lehtonens glove for Minnesotas third victory in its last four games. Asked if it was the biggest goal of his career, Prosser responded: "Yeah, theres not many of them, so its pretty easy to say." Koivu is out after he had surgery to repair a broken ankle. Parise has been sidelined by a foot injury. But the Wild (27-19-5) have won seven of nine since a six-game losing streak in December. Erik Haula and Ryan Suter also scored for the Wild, and Darcy Kuemper stopped 33 shots in his fourth straight start. Kuemper is 4-1 in five starts since Jan. 7 in place of hurting Niklas Backstrom and Josh Harding, who is out due to complications with his multiple sclerosis. Ryan Garbutt and Alex Chiasson scored for the slumping Stars, who have only one win in their last nine games. Lehtonen made 16 saves. "Its disappointing," Chiasson said. "This was probably one of our best games defensively, as far as scoring chances given to the other team. Its just a little play there, and thats tough. We battled through and it wouldve been nice to get a win here." Haulas first career goal put Minnesota up 1-0 at 7:11 in the first. After knocking the puck away from Erik Cole along the boards, the former University of Minnesota standout skated ahead and beat Lehtonen on the stick side. &quuot;It took me a while to kind of get over it and chills to go away, but it was unbelievable," Haula said. Craig Kimbrel Jersey. But the Wild had only three shots in the opening period, with Dallas outworking the home team on offence. Minnesota failed to get a shot off during an extended power play late in the period when Shawn Horcoff received a double minor for high-sticking. But Kuempers solid play in net offset Dallas aggressive offensive play. "We were under siege a lot of the night but there was opportunities where he came out and made a play and relieved some of that pressure," Yeo said of Kuemper. "When you see that kind of confidence, for sure your team feeds off that." Dallas tied it at 11:57 of the second on Garbutts 10th goal of the season. Garbutt picked up a rebound off Vernon Fiddlers shot in front of the net and knocked it in past Kuemper. Yeo then called for a timeout to rally his team, and his players responded. Minnesota reclaimed the lead when Suter wristed a shot from the left circle through a crowd and past Lehtonen at 14:09. Chiassons power-play goal for Dallas tied it with just over 10 minutes to play. The game capped the eighth annual Hockey Day Minnesota that included three high school hockey games on an outdoor rink in the Minneapolis suburb of Elk River, and the University of Minnesota mens team against Ohio State. NOTES: Wild D Jonas Brodin left early in the third after taking a stick to the face from Dallas F Antoine Roussel. Play was halted while the arena crew scraped blood from the ice. Brodin returned to the bench in the third. ... Dallas RW Valeri Nichushkin was a healthy scratch for only the second time this season. ... The Wild reassigned D Jonathon Blum to Iowa of the AHL earlier in the day. ... Haulas goal marked a third straight Hockey Day Minnesota game in which a Wild player scored his first career NHL goal. ... The announced attendance of 19,192 was the largest of the season for Minnesota. cheap jerseys ' ' ' |
