Wilkommen bei den Schatten » Terrapins are poised for another big sea

Some clear trends have already emerged, and for fans of the?Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks, those trends -- in spite of a disappointing weekend for the latter -- are surprising in a good way. The season has been surprising for the?Calgary Flames?too, but for different reasons. Scoring is up, youngsters are creating an unprecedented vibe around the league and the?Toronto Maple Leafs?seem destined to blow a multiple-goal lead in dramatic fashion every single game.?1. (last week: 10)?Montreal Canadiens, 4-0-1The Habs have shown that they are much more than just goalie?Carey Price, who finally returned to the lineup following an early-season illness. The Canadiens are averaging four goals a game and have a league-best plus-11 goal differential and a three-game win streak to show for their efforts. Montreal is the only team in the NHL without a regulation loss.2. (12) Edmonton Oilers, 5-1-0Welcome to the near-top of the Power Rankings, Edmonton. The Oilers blitzed the?Winnipeg Jets?for three second-period goals on Sunday to win the Heritage Classic 3-0. Apart from a 6-2 loss last Sunday, theyve given up just 10 goals in their five other games. Is it too soon to say the Oilers are the real deal?3. (4)?Tampa Bay Lightning, 4-1-0Their slight hiccup against Colorado aside, the Bolts have been as expected -- deep, dangerous and built for the long haul. Tampas early schedule tilted toward home play, so well see if they can tighten things up defensively on the road as they begin a five-game trip within the conference.4. (2)?St. Louis Blues, 4-1-0The Blues have ridden solid special teams to an impressive record, even though the lineup has been juggled because of injury. St. Louis is 2-1-1 on the road and has allowed just one power-play goal on 20 attempts. Impressive.5. (29) Detroit Red Wings, 4-2-0The Wings have shaken off a sloppy start to win four in a row. Both Petr Mrazek and Jimmy Howard have been solid during the streak, in which Detroit has outscored opponents 15-5.6. (26) Washington Capitals, 3-1-1The Capitals are off to an impressive start, having allowed just 10 goals in five games.7. (5) Florida Panthers, 3-1-1The Panthers continue to impress in spite of injuries to top-six forwards Nick Bjugstad and Jonathan Huberdeau.?Jonathan Marchessault?has proved to be a crucial offseason addition, as he leads the team with seven points.8. (17) New York Rangers, 4-2-0The Rangers earned their fourth win with Sundays 3-2 win over lowly the?Arizona Coyotes?and have benefited from the quick integration of their new, young parts, including rookie Jimmy Vesey and Mika Zibanejad.9. (8) Vancouver Canucks, 4-1-1Who knows how long this will last, but credit general manager Jim Benning and coach Willie Desjardins for getting consistent efforts from a team widely expected to finish last in the conference. Gritty, tenacious and resilient were not exactly the adjectives expected to be associated with the Canucks this season, but theyre off to a strong start in spite of going winless in two games on the weekend.10. (1) Pittsburgh Penguins, 3-1-1Coach Mike Sullivans early deployment of goaltenders has been interesting, as Marc-Andre Fleury has played all but 20 minutes for the Penguins so far. Fellow goalie?Matt Murray should be back soon, but what about captain Sidney Crosby, who continues to recover from another concussion and has yet to suit up for the Pens this season?11. (16) Colorado Avalanche, 3-2-0Stinkers like a 5-2 loss in Florida on Saturday remind us that the Avs have a long way to go, but early returns are positive for rookie coach Jared Bednar. Colorado will play seven of its next 10 games at home.12. (23) Boston Bruins, 3-2-0The Bruins are happy to get Patrice Bergeron back but are still a work in progress, as they showed in a disappointing loss to the archrival?Montreal Canadiens?on Saturday. Goalie?Tuukka Rask battling general soreness early in the season isnt a particularly promising sign.13. (18) Chicago Blackhawks, 3-3-0This is not a misprint: the Blackhawks have allowed a whopping 12 goals on 21 power-play chances against. That will correct itself, but it goes a long way toward explaining the uneven start for the perennial Stanley Cup contenders.14. (6) Ottawa Senators, 3-2-0The Senators continue to leak defensively, having given up four goals per game.15. (11) Philadelphia Flyers, 2-2-1The young Flyers showed nice resiliency in bouncing back from disappointing losses to Chicago and Anaheim with a dominant performance against Carolina on Saturday.16. (3) San Jose Sharks, 3-3-0The Sharks ended their first lengthy road trip with a disappointing 2-3 record and now head home to play three in a row -- and five of their next six -- at SAP Center before hitting the road for another six-game Eastern Conference swing. Ah, life in the Western Conference.17. (30) Columbus Blue Jackets, 2-2-0Credit Columbus for turning in back-to-back impressive efforts in wins over Chicago and Dallas to reach .500. Rookie Zach Werenski?is having an immediate impact on the young Blue Jackets blueliners and leads the team with five points.18. (14) Dallas Stars, 2-2-1The Stars have had an uneven start, as they look solid defensively one night but come up empty offensively the next. Injuries and illness among the team are making life difficult for coach Lindy Ruff. Getting shut out by Columbus on Saturday was clearly a low point for the defending Central Division champs.19. (19) Minnesota Wild, 3-2-1A disappointing loss to the New York Islanders in Brooklyn on Sunday blunted some of the early optimism for the Wild. Minnesota has yielded just one power-play goal on 17 attempts.20. (13) Nashville Predators, 2-3-0The Predators were laid low by food poisoning, but they came up with huge effort against the defending Cup champs on Saturday. Nashvilles power play has been on fire, with nine goals on 19 opportunities, but -- needless to say -- must be better 5-on-5.21. (25) New Jersey Devils, 2-2-1Five games into the season, this is the line for the Devils -- eight goals for (fewest in the NHL), nine goals against (tied for fewest in the NHL). Its amazing that New Jersey has cobbled together a respectable record, given its paucity of offense.22. (21) Buffalo Sabres, 1-2-1No Jack Eichel, no Evander Kane?-- and still the Sabres are doing a decent job of staying afloat. Along with Columbus, Buffalo is the only squad with fewer than five games played to its credit.23. (24) New York Islanders, 3-3-0The Islanders are off to an up-and-down start. They whipped Minnesota on Sunday, but news about still-wretched ice at Barclays Center continues to cast a shadow over the team and its new home. This situation isnt likely to get any better any time soon.24. (26) Anaheim Ducks, 2-3-1The Ducks finally got their first win of the season under their belts against Philadelphia and then followed that up with a big victory on Sunday against red-hot Vancouver in Anaheims home opener. The team needs to resolve Hampus Lindholms contract situation, but salary-cap jail will make life very difficult for GM Bob Murray moving forward.25. (20) Winnipeg Jets, 2-3-0The Jets, who were shut out 3-0 by Edmonton outdoors at home in the Heritage Classic, cant seem to find any early rhythm. Edmonton has three early Central Division tests -- two games against Dallas and one against Colorado -- this week. The Jets have to stop chasing games or theyre going to chase the season.26. (28) Los Angeles Kings, 2-3-0The Kings have won two in a row after starting the season with three consecutive losses, but goaltending issues still remain a concern. They have given up 18 goals in five games and faces a long stretch without Jonathan Quick, who is out with core body injury. And the Kings are now without Jeff Zatkoff, who injured a groin during practice on Saturday morning.27. (9) Toronto Maple Leafs, 1-1-3Boy, oh boy, are the Maple Leafs fun to watch. Boy, oh boy, are they going to lose a lot of games this season unless they can learn how to protect a lead -- and get decent goaltending.28. (22) Carolina Hurricanes, 1-2-2Some people liked the Canes to finish third in the Metropolitan Division (OK, one person). So far that looks like a stretch, as Carolina is off to its annual grisly start. Its goaltending is not nearly good enough thus far to make it a playoff team; the Hurricanes have allowed four goals against per game.29. (15)?Arizona Coyotes, 1-4-0After their opening-night win, the Coyotes were winless in their next four following Saturdays 3-2 loss at Madison Square Garden to the Rangers. Youngsters Max Domi and Anthony Duclair?-- who have two assists, combined -- need to get going or Arizona is going to get buried early in the Pacific. The loss of goalie?Mike Smith?was a big blow.30. (27) Calgary Flames, 1-4-1You can preach patience, but things are quickly turning into a disaster in Calgary, where the Flames are a general mess with a league-worst minus-9 goal differential. Their power play stinks and, at 1-for-25, is the worst in the league. I still dont get why Brian Elliott wasnt in goal for Saturdays loss to St. Louis; it seemed to send the wrong message about who the team believes it can count on. China Jerseys Stitched . - Oakland Raiders running back Rashad Jennings was speaking to a group of local high school students earlier this week when the conversation turned to the importance of being prepared when opportunities in life arise. China Jerseys Wholesale . Once again Jordan Cieciwa (@FitCityJordan) and I (@LynchOnSports) go head to head in our picks. Last weekend at UFC Fight Night 32 my #TeamLynch got the best of #TeamJC by a score of 9-6. Let us know which side youre on for UFC 167 use the hashtag #TeamLynch or #TeamJC on Twitter. https://www.chinajerseyscheap.us/ . PAUL, Minn. China Jerseys Cheap .C. -- After a listless first half, the Washington Wizards used a big third quarter run to beat the Charlotte Bobcats Bradley Beal scored 21 points and the Wizards used a 17-0 run in the third quarter to take control of what had been a close game and beat the Bobcats 97-83 on Tuesday night. Cheap Jerseys From China . -- An ugly goal by Nick Bonino helped the Anaheim Ducks overcome the defensive-minded Phoenix Coyotes on a night when their ragged power play continued to struggle. COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Moments after raising the banner for their second consecutive Big Ten championship, the No. 6 Maryland Terrapins flexed their muscles as the favorites for another title.Freshman Destiny Slocum scored 15 points, Shatori Walker-Kimbrough had 14 points and Maryland breezed by UMass-Lowell 100-44 in its opener Sunday.The Terrapins entered the season with the nations top recruiting class, a group that shined in its debut. Freshman Kaila Charles started alongside Slocum and finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds in 21 minutes.We talked about in pregame what kind of work had to go into unveiling that banner, Maryland coach Brenda Frese said. I know in our locker room we have even bigger goals of how we want to finish this season.Brianna Fraser had 14 points and Ieshia Small scored 12 for Maryland, which outrebounded UMass-Lowell 52-30. The Terrapins scored 48 points off 34 UMass-Lowell turnovers.Maryland, which finished 31-4 last season, was in sync from the opening tip and started the game on a 17-3 run. Walker-Kimbrough led the way with six points over that stretch.We wanted to come out and set the tone early, Walker-Kimbrough said. One of goals today was just to play Maryland basketball: defend, rebound and run. I thought we did a good job early speeding them up, but we have to make sure we sustain that for 40 minutes.The Terrapins remained dominant at both ends of the court and continued to pull away from the outmatched River Hawks. The Terps had 11 steals over an 11-minute span in the first half.Maryland was 23 of 38 (60.5 percent) from the field and led 57-16 at the break. The Terrapins were just as dominant in the second half, and a jumper by Small increased the margin to 89-32 with 7:45 left in the game.Itss a good test, River Hawks coach Jenerrie Harris said about playing Maryland.ddddddddddddIts nice to be able to go against one of the best teams in the country. Maybe where we cant make each other pay in practice, that can make us pay in a situation like this so that we can make the improvement for later in the season.Nicole Hayner led UMass-Lowell (0-2) with 17 points.BIG PICTUREUMass-Lowell: The River Hawks are looking to improve from last season, when they went 4-24 overall and 1-15 in the America East. UMass-Lowell is expected to get a boost from freshmen Megan Hendrick and Tyshay Britten, both of whom are pushing for spots in the starting lineup.Maryland: The Terrapins are poised for another big season, with one of the best front courts in the nation and a deep bench. Maryland is expected to contend for a second national championship under Frese.DEEP BENCHMaryland has talent up and down its roster and got points from 12 players in the opener. The Terrapins bench outscored UMass-Lowell 50-15. No player on Maryland played more than 25 minutes. We have a lot more speed this year and depth, Frese said. We definitely want to be able to change up and give a lot of different looks on the defensive end.BETTER PROTECTIONAfter committing 34 turnovers in the first half, UMass-Lowell did a much better job protecting the ball after the break. The River Hawks turned the ball over just four times in the third quarter.UP NEXTUMass-Lowell: The River Hawks open at home against Fairfield on Thursday.Maryland: The Terrapins play their second of three consecutive home games against Maryland-Eastern Shore on Wednesday. ' ' '