Pirate Galaxy » So does having Olympic gold medallists (Morrow), 30-goal

PITTSBURGH -- There were some difficult questions surrounding Sidney Crosby when he missed the start of the season because of a concussion, especially given his history with that type of injury.The answers have come swiftly and definitively. The Pittsburgh Penguins center is OK. More than OK.Going into Mondays game against the New York Rangers at PPG Paints Arena, Crosby has 12 goals in 12 games, putting him into a tie with Winnipeg rookie Patrik Laine for the NHL lead in that category. Laine has played eight more games.The anomaly in Crosbys game is his goals-to-assists ratio. He has three times as many goals as his four assists. He has never finished with more goals than assists in an NHL season.For whatever reason, thats just the way its worked out, he recently told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. I dont feel like Im looking to shoot any more. Thats one thing I have to constantly remind myself of, to have that shooting mentality. I would probably look to pass most times.Crosby is not shooting appreciably more -- 3.6 shots a game this season, 3.3 for his career.Since their team captain got into the lineup, the Penguins are 8-2-2.Overall, Pittsburgh is 11-4-3. That makes Mondays game a showdown for first place in the Metropolitan Division between the Penguins, with 25 points, and the Rangers (13-5-1, 27 points), who are coming off of a 3-2 shootout loss Sunday against Florida in their first game beyond regulation this season.This is the first meeting between the clubs since the Penguins knocked New York out of the playoffs in the opening round last spring.Sundays game -- one made worse by a broken left leg suffered by Mika Zibanejad in overtime -- was the Rangers second loss in a row, and their four combined goals in those games are uncharacteristic. They have thrived on offense. They have a league-best 76 goals and a plus-31 goal differential. They have 14 players with at least 10 points, and Michael Grabner sits just behind Crosby and Laine with 11 goals.But New York also has gotten strong goaltending. Henrik Lundqvist missed a shot at his 10th win Sunday. Antti Raanta, who seems likely to start Monday, hasnt played a lot, but he has been effective, going 4-0 with a 2.05 goals-against average and a .936 save percentage.Im not worried at all about Antti, Rangers coach Alain Vigneault told the New York Post recently about Raanta. We know hes always going to give us a chance to win.Raanta said its about finding a good New York backup state of mind.I just think about good things and what youre doing and what it takes, and just enjoy the moment, he told the Post. Its the best league in the world, and youre fortunate enough to be here. Just go there and do your best and, hopefully, you get the win.Pittsburgh, coming off of a 1-1-1 road trip, lags behind the Rangers in terms of offensive prowess despite returning nearly the same lineup from its Stanley Cup team last season and Crosbys goal production. The Penguins have five players with at least 10 points. It scored just five goals on the three-game road trip. It has outscored its opponents by just two goals, 52-50.Were going to keep moving forward. All we can do is control the process and whats in front of us. Were grabbing points here along the way and winning some games, Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said.The teams wont have to wait long for their second meeting. This is the first half of a home-and-home. They have a rematch Wednesday at Madison Square Garden.Kentavious Caldwell-Pope Lakers Jersey . The Vancouver coach and an announced sellout crowd of 18,910 watched in dismay as the Canucks lost 7-4 to the New York Islanders on Monday night by squandering a 3-0 lead in the third period. Tyson Chandler Lakers Jersey . Brandon Morrow allowed five runs on six hits over three innings. He struck out two, walked one and hit a batter. Edwin Encarnacion had a two-out, bases loaded two-RBI double in the third inning. http://www.lakersteamofficial.com/Kareem-Abdul-Jabbar-Lakers-Jersey/ . Murray beat Sam Querrey 7-6 (5), 6-7 (3), 6-1, 6-3 to clinch Britains opening-round victory against the United States on Sunday at Petco Park. "Im proud of the way Im playing just now, because I had to do a lot of work to get back to where I want to be," Murray said after celebrating with his teammates on the red clay court in a temporary stadium in left field of the downtown home of baseballs San Diego Padres. Rajon Rondo Lakers Jersey . U.S. District Judge Lorna G. Schofield in Manhattan agreed that lawyers on both sides could make their formal requests by Nov. 8. A hearing is scheduled for a day earlier. Jordan Siev, a lawyer for Rodriguez, wrote in a joint letter to the judge from lawyers on both sides that MLB lawyers planned to ask that the lawsuit be dismissed. Vlade Divac Jersey . Brett Kulak and Jackson Houck of the Vancouver Giants were each charged with assault causing bodily harm on Aug. 18, according to the B.C. court services. PITTSBURGH -- Tanner Glass started every game for the Pittsburgh Penguins in the regular season, his grit providing the fourth line with a rugged presence to take some of the heat off superstars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Playing time has proven more difficult in the post-season. Glass has watched six of Pittsburghs last seven games from the press box. Its an ego-testing vantage point for a player who helped the Vancouver Canucks to the Stanley Cup Final two years ago. Glass is healthy. Hes just not a part of coach Dan Bylsmas plan at the moment. Such is both the blessing and the curse of playing for the leagues most talent-laden roster. "You look at the lineup, you cant say, I should be in ahead of this guy or that guy," Glass said. "On this team, weve got such a deep team and such a great group of players, youve just got to stay ready." Hardly an issue these days for the Penguins, who have roared into the Eastern Conference finals against Boston on the strength of their stars and a supporting cast that is showing Pittsburgh is hardly just "The Crosby Show." The Penguins currently have eight players in the top 20 in post-season scoring through the first two rounds. Sure, Malkin and Crosby are doing their thing -- combining for 31 points through 11 games -- but Pittsburgh is also receiving instant offence from the plug-and-play guys toward the bottom of the depth chart. Forwards Tyler Kennedy, Joe Vitale, Beau Bennett, Jussi Jokinen and Brenden Morrow have joined Glass as healthy scratches. All five have found ways to respond when they see their number written on the dry erase board following a game-day skate. Kennedy came off the bench to spark a win in Game 5 of the first-round series with the New York Islanders and hasnt missed a game since. Vitale missed the first four games of the New York series but produced an assist for his first NHL playoff point in Game 5. Morrow didnt dress for a playoff game for the first time in his 13-year career in Game 4 against Ottawa, then responded with the opening goal in the series clincher two nights later. Bylsma downplays the suggestion that he has a sixth sense for when a role player is "due." Whenever he shakes things up, its more based on scouting and matchups than gut instinct. Of course, theres also the simple luxury of having guys battling for time on the fourth line who would be top-six forwards elsewhere. "We have good players that are not in the lineup," Bylsma said. "When we inserted (Vitale) into the first-round series, his skill set ... his speed was something we thought we needed, and he made an immediiate impact when he came into that series.dddddddddddd" Still, it did little to ensure more playing time for Vitale. He sat out the final three games of the Ottawa series while Bylsma went with the likes of Jokinen, a better two-way player and an experienced faceoff man. Vitale didnt let the benching bother him. Maybe because it didnt feel like a benching. He understands Bylsmas job is to win the Stanley Cup, not to make Vitale feel better. Some games, that means Vitale will be in the lineup. Others, it means hell wear a nice suit and watch from the top of the arena. "Its just a different atmosphere," Vitale said. "Youre just pulling for the guy next to you. If Jussi goes in for me, Im sitting up above and I really want him to be at the very best he can be. When you win and youre in the locker room and youre not sweating, youre just as happy as the guys who are. Thats just the kind of environment it is right now." Jokinen and Morrow both came over in trade deadline deals meant to bolster the Penguins for a Cup run. Jokinen recorded 11 points in 10 games while filling in on the top line for Crosby at the end of the regular season as Crosby recovered from a broken jaw. Even that didnt stop Jokinen from sitting out five playoff games. While he may have been slowed by an injury, he also lost out to a hot hand in Vitale. When Vitale went cold, Jokinen found himself right back on the ice without so much as a word from Bylsma. "If you want to win Cups, thats how it has to be," Jokinen said. "We have 16 forwards and nine really good NHL defencemen on this team. Not everybody can play every night." The ones that do, however, have fueled a team that is 8-3 in the post-season while averaging 4.27 goals per game, a full goal ahead of everybody else. Sure, a potent power play helps. So does having Olympic gold medallists (Morrow), 30-goal scorers (Jokinen) and Cup winners (Kennedy) fighting for playing time. Dont expect Bylsma to change his methods anytime soon. While Kennedy and Morrow will likely be fixtures against the Bruins, the same cant be said for Jokinen, Vitale or Bennett. Bylsma will pick and choose as he goes along, trying to decipher what his team needs in a given moment. His touch has been golden so far. And the players say they can deal with the uncertainty if it leads to a championship. "Weve got a great group of extras who have gone in and out," Vitale said. "Theyve made plays when theyre in, and theyve kept guys up when theyre out. ... Weve really just removed all selfishness. This isnt an individual thing. This is a group thing." ' ' '