s impact has been on the wane as age has slowed him.Rooney | Forum

                                      NEW YORK -- The New York Islanders have spent the last week proving they can play with the best teams in the Eastern Conference. Balenciaga Sandals Discount . On Thursday night, the Islanders will get a chance to see how they stack up against the red-hot St. Louis Blues, who are the second-best team in the Western Conference.The Islanders will host the Blues for the only time this season when the two teams square off at Barclays Center. Both clubs won Tuesday, when New York extended its point streak to five games with a 4-2 win over the New York Rangers while St. Louis kept rolling with a 3-2 overtime win over the East-leading Montreal Canadiens.The Islanders (10-10-5) have gone 4-0-1 in their last five games -- a stretch in which theyve beaten the Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals, all of whom currently occupy a playoff spot -- to climb out of the NHL basement and move to the fringe of the East playoff race.It gives our guys a little bit of confidence that we can play with some of the top teams, record-wise, in the East, Islanders head coach Jack Capuano said.Despite the recent surge, the Islanders still have a long road ahead if they want to reach the playoffs for the third straight season. New York is eight points behind the Capitals and Philadelphia Flyers, who are tied for the two wild card berths.Means weve got a lot of work still to do, Islanders center and captain John Tavares said. Weve had some ups and downs and some frustration to start the year, some results we didnt get and some things maybe not go our way. Certainly playing a lot better hockey and we know we can still be a lot better.Results-wise, its hard to fare much better than the Blues (15-7-4) have lately. St. Louis is 8-1-1 in its last 10 games dating back to Nov. 15 to move within three points of the Chicago Blackhawks, who lead both the Central Division and the Western Conference.Much like the Islanders, the Blues are looking to see if their recent play is sustainable. The game Thursday begins a four-game road trip for St. Louis, which is just 3-6-1 away from Scottrade Center. Six of its final nine games before the Christmas break will be on the road.Its going to be a real test for us, Blues goalie Jake Allen said. Obviously, things havent gone great for us on the road this year. Its a great opportunity to keep this thing going we had on our homestand.The Blues would like to keep it going without the drama that accompanied the 4-0-1 homestand that concluded Tuesday. Four of the five games went to overtime.My biggest fear is weve had to put a lot of energy into these games. a lot of overtimes, a lot of 3-on-3 stuff, a lot of anxiety, a lot of close games, Blues head coach Ken Hitchcock said. Well see where our energy is. Weve got to be really careful with ourselves right now. Balenciaga Triple S White Sale . P.A. Parenteau scored early in the third period to help the Avs edge Toronto 2-1 on Tuesday night. Cory Sarich also scored for Colorado (3-0-0), which is off to its best ever start. Balenciaga Speed Trainer Sale . World champions Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov of Russia won the gold medal with 237.71 points, Moore-Towers and Moscovitch followed at 208.45 and Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov of Russia were third at 187. http://www.balenciagacheapshoes.com/balenciaga-sock-shoes-sale.html .Y. -- Marcell Dareus and the Buffalo Bills defence made life miserable for Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco. LONDON -- Handed the captaincy of England and Manchester United, Wayne Rooney curbed his once wild behavior that landed him in trouble.But at 31, and as a father-of-three, Rooneys conduct is under scrutiny again.Once again, he has been forced to issue an apology just as he is struggling to hold a place in United and England starting lineups.The statement of contrition to the England management and fans came after Rooney dropped into a wedding taking place at the England team hotel on Saturday night. Pictures of the bleary-eyed striker were published with guests.Rooney, who played in Fridays World Cup qualifying win over Scotland, was off duty at the time but the behavior of Englands all-time top scorer is still troubling the team management.Rooney acknowledged the Football Associations concerns.Naturally Wayne is sorry that pictures taken with fans have been published today, Rooneys management team said in response to a front-page story in The Sun newspaper. Although it was a day off for the whole squad and staff, he fully recognizes that the images are inappropriate for someone in his position.Earlier today Wayne spoke privately to both (interim manager) Gareth Southgate and (technical director) Dan Ashworth to unreservedly apologize. He would like to further extend that apology to any young fans who have seen these pictures.When asked about the pictures after Tuesdays draw with Spain, Southgate insisted Rooneys absence from the friendly was due to an injury sustained in Fridays win over Scotland rather than being the result of The Suns story. Balenciaga Shoes Discount. But the FA said on Wednesday: All England personnel have a responsibility to behave appropriately at all times. We will be reviewing our policy around free time whilst on international duty.Rooney has endured a checkered career. Once the golden boy of English soccer who burst onto the international scene with four goals at Euro 2004, Rooneys impact has been on the wane as age has slowed him.Rooney has also struggled to shake off his bad-boy image.Rooneys stock fell so low that an English town burned a 30-foot effigy of him in 2010 after he was accused of cheating on his wife with a prostitute and publicly threatened to quit United. In the same year, then-England manager Fabio Capello warned Rooney about his off-field conduct after he was pictured urinating and smoking in the street at the end of a night out.His temper has caused problems on the field. He was sent off for stamping on a Portugal player at the 2010 World Cup and vented to pitch-side cameras at the 2010 World Cup and while playing for United in 2011 which earned him a two-match ban.---Rob Harris is at www.twitter.com/RobHarris and www.facebook.com/RobHarrisReports ' ' '