DENVER (AP) The third-string goalie nicknamed ”Hamburglar” stole a game for Colorado in Nashville.No time for Andrew Hammond to revel in
his thievery
Womens Brayden Point Jersey , though. Game 6 awaits Sunday at the Pepsi Center. Once again, the Avalanche and their surprise goalie with the catchy
moniker – he used to have a mask with the McDonald’s “Hamburglar” character on
the side – will try to ward off elimination trailing Nashville 3-2 in the
first-round series.”Backs against the wall in an elimination game seem to bring
out the best in us,” Hammond said Saturday after the team arrived home.In
Philadelphia, Flyers goalie Michal Neuvirth faces the same kind of pressure
Sunday with his team down 3-2 heading home against Pittsburgh. He stopped 30
shots in Game 5 to help the Flyers extend that series.”I’ve been practicing well
and feeling good about my game,” said Neuvirth, who’s been banged up this
season. ”I believe in myself that I can bring my `A’ game on the big
stage.”Hammond certainly brought out his best in what Colorado coach Jared
Bednar called ”one of the biggest games he’s had in his career.”The 30-year-old
Hammond turned back 44 shots from the top-seeded Predators in Game 5. This after
he was thrust into action for the third period of Game 4 when Jonathan Bernier
went down with a lower-body injury. Bernier was filling in with starter Semyon
Varlamov sidelined by a knee injury.To think, Hammond was essentially a throw-in
player during the three-team deal that sent Matt Duchene to Ottawa in November.
The Avalanche already had a surplus of goalies, so Hammond spent time in the
American Hockey League. Eventually, Hammond was called up, but before making an
appearance with Colorado he suffered a concussion. And once he recovered, he was
briefly sent back to the AHL.Hammond’s only NHL game of the season came on March
28 against Philadelphia, stopping 31 shots in a 2-1 loss.On Friday, Hammond made
his first playoff start since April 17, 2015, with Ottawa.”I won’t lie. There
are days you wonder if it would happen again for you,” Hammond said. ”As cliche
as it is, you stick to the process and try to get better. Fortunately, it all
worked out last night. We’re not satisfied, though. We want to keep going and
win tomorrow night, and extend the series, and go back to Nashville and play
another meaningful hockey game.”The Predators now find themselves trying to
avoid becoming the fifth Presidents’ Trophy winners to be eliminated in the
first round since 2005-06.”There’s a lot of confidence in the room and belief in
the room that we can go to Colorado and win a game,” Predators coach Peter
Laviolette said.ABOUT THAT NICKNAMEHammond is ambivalent about being called the
”Hamburglar,” a nickname that’s followed him since his college days at Bowling
Green.”To be honest, I don’t know if anyone actually calls me that to my face
outside of maybe fans,” said Hammond, who had the “Hamburglar” character on his
mask while in Ottawa. ”I have no problem with it. I think the side story it’s
taken on has been pretty funny. It adds to it.”Does his family call him
that?”No,” he laughed. ”No.”ROAD SCHOLARSThe road team is 4-1 in the
Penguins-Flyers series as it shifts back to Philadelphia. Even more, the
Penguins are 4-0 in Philly this year, winning by a combined score of 20-4,
including 10-1 in Games 3 and 4.”I’m not a huge believer you carry momentum over
from one game to the next
Braydon Coburn Jersey ,” Flyers coach Dave Hakstol said. ”You have to re-generate it. We played some really good hockey games at home down the
stretch. We didn’t do it the last two.”ON THE MENDThe Penguins could have
forward Patric Hornqvist back in the lineup after he skated with the team
Saturday. He’s missed the last two games with an upper-body injury.Hornqvist has
20 career playoff goals, including one in this series.READY TO GOVegas coach
Gerard Gallant plans to pick up the intensity at practice, maybe with some
3-on-3 scrimmages featuring a little contact. He doesn’t want his team to become
too rusty given the layoff in between series. The expansion Golden Knights could
go more than a week between finishing the sweep of Los Angeles on Tuesday and
starting their second-round series against San Jose.”In a perfect world, I’d
soon have three or four days off and get back at it,” Gallant said. ”I’m sure
San Jose is the same way. Any coach would say the same thing.”—AP Sports Writers
Teresa M. Walker and Will Graves contributed to this report.— PITTSBURGH (AP)
The New Jersey Devils and their roster stuffed with speed and youth haven’t made
the playoffs in six years. The drought for Taylor Hall is even longer. Eight
years after being taken with the top pick in the draft, the Devils forward is
still waiting for his first taste of the NHL postseason.It may almost be
over.Hall raced in alone and beat Matt Murray on a breakaway 27 seconds into
overtime to lift the Devils to a 4-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on
Friday night and give their push for the last wild-card spot in the Eastern
Conference a boost. New Jersey is now three points clear of ninth-place Florida
with just over two weeks to go in the regular season.Pittsburgh’s Brian Dumoulin
and Phil Kessel scored in the third to erase a two-goal deficit and force
overtime but Hall handed the Penguins just their second loss in their last 17
home games when he loitered near the Penguins’ blue line, waited for an outlet
pass from 19-year-old Nico Hischier then slipped a shot between Murray’s legs
for his 33rd goal of the season.”I saw a chance to take off a little bit and get
behind them,” Hall said. ”I was just hoping Nico was going to win his battle
and, sure enough, he did.”Hall added two assists for New Jersey. Hischier
finished with a goal and an assist, and Blake Coleman and Will Butcher also
scored for the Devils. Keith Kincaid made 40 stops for the Devils, including 14
in the third period as Pittsburgh dominated.”It’s difficult to beat a team like
Pittsburgh if you don’t get excellent goaltending because they’re so dynamic,
they have so many weapons in their lineup that you know they’re going to get
looks at certain times regardless of what you do and Keith came up with some
big, big saves, particularly in the third period late,” Devils coach John Hynes
said.Sidney Crosby scored his 25th of the season for Pittsburgh. Murray finished
with 30 saves as the Penguins pulled within three points of Washington for the
top spot in the Metropolitan Division. Pittsburgh, however, missed an
opportunity during a lethargic second period in which the Devils scored three
times. Though they managed to get to the extra period, the Penguins understand
they let a chance to beat New Jersey for the first time in three meetings this
season slip away.As good as they were early and late, they were messy in the
middle.”We have mental lapses for short periods of time and it’s costing us and
you can’t have that this time of year,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said.New
Jersey’s drive to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2012 has been
bumpy of late. A lopsided loss in San Jose dropped the Devils to just 13-12
since Jan. 30 and skated onto the ice at PPG Paints Arena with a tenuous grasp
on a playoff spot.Yet whatever issues the Devils have seem to disappear when
they play the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions. New Jersey is unbeaten
against the Penguins this season, often beating Pittsburgh at its own game by
relying heavily on speed to create mismatches.Crosby’s goal 2:29 into the game
put Pittsburgh in front Butcher’s sizzling wrist shot from above the left circle
5:15 into the second tied it. When the Penguins failed to convert a 3-on-1,
Coleman countered by holding off Pittsburgh’s forward Derick Brassard with his
left hand and flicking a backhand by Murray with his right just over 2 minutes
later to put New Jersey in front. Just over 90 seconds later, the Devils pushed
their lead to 3-1 when Hischier flipped a centering pass into an open net.Though
Pittsburgh stormed back, the Penguins couldn’t quite win for the sixth time this
season when trailing after two periods.”We’re aware of (their quickness), but if
we play in their end it’s hard for them to sue their speed,” Crosby said. ”We
had success in the first and third period and that’s how we have to play.”NOTES:
New Jersey F Miles Wood missed his second straight game with an upper-body
injury. … Penguins D Justin Schultz’s 400th NHL game included a trip to the
trainer’s room when he slammed into the boards in the third period, though
Sullivan said afterward Schultz was fine. … Hall (81 points) is the first New
Jersey player to reach the 80-point plateau since Ilya Kovalchuk in 2011-12. …
Pittsburgh F Dominik Simon played 5:39 in his return after sitting out six games
with a lower-body injury. … Linesman Tony Sericolo left early in the first
period with an injury, but returned at the start of the second.UP NEXTDevils:
Host Tampa Bay on Saturday.Penguins: Go for the season sweep of cross-state
rival Philadelphia when the Flyers visit Sunday. The Penguins won the first
three meetings by a combined score of 15-7.
