ST. PAUL Jake Guentzel Jersey Kids , Minn. (AP) — Tom Wilson returned early from his player-safety suspension and scored a first-period goal, helping the Washington Capitals cool off Minnesota with a 5-2 victory on Tuesday night for the Wild’s first regulation loss at home.Dmitry Orlov had his first two goals of the season and an assist, Andre Burakovsky and T.J. Oshie also scored and Pheonix Copley made 26 saves for the Capitals, whose four-game trip was jump-started in the morning by an arbitrator’s reduction of Wilson’s 20-game ban by six games to make him immediately eligible.Mikko Koivu and Matt Dumba had goals for the Wild, who played at home for the first time in 17 days after a 5-2 finish on their franchise-record seven-game road swing. They fell to 5-1-2 at Xcel Energy Center, becoming the last team in the NHL to lose at home in regulation this season.Wilson played right wing on the first line with captain Alex Ovechkin and center Evgeny Kuznetsov. He just finished serving his fourth suspension in a little more than a year, this for a blind-side hit to the head of an opponent during a preseason game.SABRES 2, LIGHTNING 1BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Carter Hutton stopped 29 shots and the Buffalo Sabres won their third straight game by beating Eastern Conference-leading Tampa Bay.Jeff Skinner scored his team-leading 13th goal and Kyle Okposo also scored for Buffalo. Defenseman Nathan Beaulieu had two assists, and the Sabres improved to 10-6-2 for their best start since opening 11-7 in 2011-12.Anthony Cirelli scored for the Lightning, who lost consecutive games for the first time since an 0-3 skid from March 24-29 last season.RED WINGS 6, COYOTES 1DETROIT (AP) — Defenseman Mike Green had a goal and two assists, and Detroit extended its winning streak to four games.Andreas Athanasiou added a goal and an assist for the third straight game, and Anthony Mantha, defenseman Dennis Cholowski, Michael Rasmussen and Luke Glendening also scored for Detroit http://www.officialpenguinsproshop.com/authentic-adidas-justin-schultz-jersey , which has won seven of its last eight to get back to .500 (8-8-2) after a 1-7-2 start. Jimmy Howard made 24 saves.Lawson Crouse scored for Arizona. Darcy Kuemper stopped 12 shots and rookie Hunter Miska made eight saves in his NHL debut.PANTHERS 2, FLYERS 1PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Aaron Ekblad and Evgenii Dadonov scored goals, Roberto Luongo made 29 saves and Florida beat Philadelphia for its fifth straight win.Jakub Voracek had the lone goal for the Flyers, who had won three straight and five of six.Both teams have rebounded nicely after struggling early in the season. The Panthers are 7-5-3, while the Flyers are 9-8-1.Just eight seconds after Voracek tied the game, Luongo stoned him on a breakaway after Nolan Patrick won the face-off. Oskar Lindblom hit a post on a shot a few minutes later for Philadelphia.ISLANDERS 5, CANUCKS 2NEW YORK (AP) — Tom Kuhnhackl scored two goals to lead New York past Vancouver.Jordan Eberle had a goal and an assist and Josh Bailey also scored to help the Islanders end a three-game skid. Mathew Barzal and Brock Nelson each had two assists and Thomas Greiss stopped 22 shots as New York improved to 5-0-2 in the last seven meetings against Vancouver.Brendan Leipsic had a goal and an assist, and Jake Virtanen also scored for the Canucks, who have lost two straight after a 4-0-2 stretch. Jacob Markstrom, starting for the ninth straight game with Anders Nilsson injured, finished with 29 saves.DEVILS 4, PENGUINS 2NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Taylor Hall scored the game-winning goal on a breakaway at 8:07 of the third period and added an empty-net tally to lead New Jersey past struggling Pittsburgh.Hall also had two assists, and Travis Zajac and Damon Severson each had a goal and an assist as the Devils snapped a three-game losing streak by beating the Penguins for the second time in just over a week. Keith Kinkaid had 29 saves for New Jersey, which was returning home after a 1-6 trip.Phil Kessel and Jake Guentzel scored for the Penguins, who have one win in seven games (1-5-1). Casey DeSmith had 31 saves in his third straight start.MAPLE LEAFS 5 Kris Letang Jersey , KINGS 1LOS ANGELES (AP) — Nazem Kadri scored two power-play goals and John Tavares had a goal and two assists for Toronto.Morgan Rielly and Andreas Johnsson also scored in Toronto’s fourth win in five games overall and its seventh win in eight road games this season. Frederik Andersen made 22 saves as the powerful Leafs swept their two-game season series with NHL-worst Los Angeles by a combined 9-2.Adrian Kempe scored for the Kings, who have lost three straight while scoring just two combined goals since winning their debut under interim coach Willie Desjardins last week. The NHL’s lowest-scoring team went 3-4-0 on a seven-game homestand.OILERS 6, CANADIENS 2EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Leon Draisaitl had a goal and two assists, Connor McDavid added three assists and Edmonton snapped a four-game losing streak that marked its longest of the season.Matt Benning, Drake Caggiula, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Darnell Nurse and Kris Russell also scored for the Oilers, who inched back over .500 at 9-8-1. Mikko Koskinen made 27 saves.Max Domi and Andrew Shaw had the goals for the Canadiens (9-6-3), who have lost three of four.SHARKS 5, PREDATORS 4SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Joe Thornton broke a third-period tie with his 400th goal, Joe Pavelski scored twice and San Jose defeated Nashville after squandering a three-goal lead.Marcus Sorensen and Antti Suomela also scored to help San Jose win its second straight and fourth in six games.Filip Forsberg had two goals and an assist for the Predators, who dropped to 8-1-1 on the road this season. They lead the NHL with 27 points. Craig Smith added a goal and an assist for Nashville, which scored four straight times after trailing 3-0. Rocco Grimaldi added a breakaway goal at 2:43 of the third. WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) Not many people Mario Lemieux Jersey , if any, expected the Winnipeg Jets to have one of the NHL’s best teams this season.Vegas Golden Knights assistant general manager Kelly McCrimmon was one of the few.The former owner, general manager and coach of the Western Hockey League’s Brandon Wheat Kings said he watched Winnipeg play 20 times last season, giving him a peek at what was to come.”It was pretty easy to see that it was going to happen,” McCrimmon said. ”This year, certainly it has.”The Jets earned 114 points during the regular season, trailing only Nashville.Winnipeg advanced in the playoffs for the first time since moving from Atlanta in 2011. The Jets lost only once to Minnesota in the first round, and eliminated the top-seeded Predators on the road in Game 7 of the second round.The Jets clearly looked like the better team in a 4-2 win Saturday night in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals against Vegas, the darling of the NHL in its expansion season.Suddenly, Winnipeg might have the best chance of winning the Stanley Cup, especially if it wins Game 2 at home on Monday night.The Jets have a pair of fantastic lines up front along with two solid ones and a strong group of defenseman led by Dustin Byfuglien , and 24-year-old Connor Hellebuyck has been one of the best goaltenders this postseason.How has a franchise, which has largely been an afterthought in the league, gone from finishing fifth or worse in its division the previous three seasons to having one of the world’s best hockey teams?”They put on a clinic in drafting and developing,” McCrimmon said. ”Along with that, great patience and leadership from Mark Chipman as an owner.”What they did takes time.”Unlike other NHL teams Matt Murray Jersey , which fire general managers and coaches if they don’t quickly have success, the Jets have allowed general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff to build a championship contender since hiring him in 2011 when they left Atlanta. He was just 20 games above .500 in his first five seasons as Winnipeg’s GM, and its only previous postseason appearance in 2015 lasted just four games against Anaheim.Coach Paul Maurice, likewise, was afforded the opportunity to lead the team for fourth-plus season this year. He made the most of it by helping the Jets go 52-20-10 during the regular season.But ultimately, it comes down to having talented, unselfish players, and the Jets have plenty.When Winnipeg had high draft picks, as it often did as a struggling team, it didn’t miss.Patrik Laine, a 20-year-old winger, was drafted second overall two years ago and is one of the league’s best young players. He had 70 points in the regular season and scored his fourth goal of the playoffs in Game 1.Mark Scheifele, selected No. 7 overall in 2011, leads all postseason scorers with 12 goals and has averaged more than a point per game the past two seasons. On the back end, defenseman Jacob Trouba has been exceptional in the playoffs as the franchise hoped he would be eventually after taking him No. 9 overall in 2012.The Jets have also hit on some late-round picks, including Hellebuyck http://www.officialpenguinsproshop.com/authentic-adidas-olli-maatta-jersey , whom they took No. 130 overall six years ago.”Hit home run after home run in the draft,” captain Blake Wheeler said . ”A lot of our marquee players are guys we drafted and have taken huge steps in the last year or two to be impact players.”Winnipeg didn’t draft its best player, Wheeler, but the franchise acquired him from Boston in a trade while it was in Atlanta in 2011 and has built around him. That same year, the Thrashers took advantage of Chicago’s need to get rid of salaries by dealing for Byfuglien.And like the front office and coaching staff, it seems the players were patient about the process of slowly building a winner when the team moved to Canada.”We weren’t coming here expecting to blow the doors off right away,” Byfuglien said. ”We knew it was going to be a process of building and finding the right group of guys.”But when it looked like the Jets had a shot to contend this season, they were willing to give up a first-round pick to St. Louis just before the trade deadline to add veteran center Paul Stastny to chase the Stanley Cup. And now, they might just be the team to beat.”The story of Winnipeg and the Jets, for far too long, has been about being underdogs and underrated,” Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman said. ”But not anymore.”—Follow Larry Lage at https://twitter.com/larrylage—
