RALEIGH
TJ Brodie Jersey , N.C. (AP) — William Nylander can’t make up for lost time with the Toronto Maple Leafs. That’s not going to stop the right wing from
trying.He had a pair of assists and was active all over the ice Tuesday night in
Toronto’s 4-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes.“I’m just trying to get back as
fast as possible,” Nylander said.The assists were the first two points of the
season for the fourth-year forward. He missed training camp, the preseason and
the first 28 regular-season games while holding out for a new contract. He
signed a six-year deal worth $41.7 million on Dec. 1, and Tuesday marked his
third game back with Toronto.Tyler Ennis, Morgan Rielly, Patrick Marleau and
John Tavares scored for the Maple Leafs, who won for the third time in four road
games. Frederik Andersen made 29 saves.Justin Williams scored for the
injury-depleted Hurricanes, who lost for the fourth time in five games.The Maple
Leafs (21-9-1) started the night with the second-most points in the Eastern
Conference. They made do without Nylander, who scored at least 20 goals in each
of the previous two seasons.Nylander didn’t have a point in his first two games
back, both losses for Toronto. But he helped set up Rielly’s go-ahead goal in
the second period and then fed Marleau for a pretty 2-on-1 finish in the
third.“Every game is getting better and better,” Nylander said.A little rust and
learning curve was expected by his teammates.“He played no preseason games and
he’s playing against guys who are in midseason form,” Rielly said. “It’s a tough
situation to come into
Womens Travis Hamonic Jersey , but he has done a great job. He has worked very hard. He’s happy to be back and we’re happy to have him back.”With their
top-end talent, the Maple Leafs overwhelmed Carolina. They had a 13-3 advantage
in shots through the first half of the first period and dominated the opening
stanza. Ennis flipped in a loose rebound for a 1-0 lead at 8:35.A double-minor
penalty for high-sticking on Nylander in the first slowed some of Toronto’s
momentum. The Maple Leafs were able to kill off the penalty but couldn’t build
on their early lead.Williams was able to beat Andersen for a power-play goal at
12:44 in the second period to tie it at 1.The Hurricanes played without center
Jordan Staal (concussion) for the second straight game. Top scorer Michael
Ferland, who missed the previous four games with a concussion, didn’t make it
out of the first period. He missed the final two periods with what the team
called an upper-body injury.“We were playing one of the best offensive teams in
the league and we needed everyone on board,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour
said.Rielly broke the tie at 13:51 of the second, only 67 seconds after
Williams’ goal, with a pass that went past Carolina goalie Petr Mrazek (25
saves) and off the stick of one of his own defensemen.Rielly was trying to feed
Andreas Johnsson but Carolina’s Dougie Hamilton got his stick on the puck and
pushed it past Mrazek.Nylander stretched Toronto’s lead in the third period. He
set up Marleau for an easy finish of a 2-on-1 break at 5:49.Tavares added a goal
at 8:29 in the third, his team-best 19th of the season.Toronto coach Mike
Babcock said the team will be patient with Nylander as he tries to get up to
full speed.“It’s going to take him time,” Babcock said.Nylander, however, is
already finding a way to help.NOTES: The Hurricanes were just happy to be home
safely after a three-game road trip. Their charter plane had to make an
emergency landing in Tulsa, Oklahoma
Florida Panthers Hoodies Womens , early Saturday morning on the way back from a 4-1 win at Anaheim. The team and flight personnel could smell smoke in the cabin.
The plane eventually returned safely to Raleigh. “I’ve never been through
anything quite like that,” Hurricanes forward Jordan Martinook told the Raleigh
News & Observer. “Whenever you smell smoke you get a little worried. We went
down pretty quick from whatever, 35,000 feet, and landed pretty fast. Check that
one off the bucket list, I guess.”UP NEXTMaple Leafs: Play at Tampa Bay on
Thursday.Hurricanes: Play at Montreal on Thursday. The road back to the Stanley
Cup Final took two very different turns for the Penguins and Predators at the
start of the second round.Back-to-back defending champion Pittsburgh roared back
from a two-goal, third-period deficit to beat the Washington Capitals, while the
Winnipeg Jets chased Nashville goaltender Pekka Rinne in a convincing 4-1
victory in Game 1. As each team prepares for Game 2, two key pieces could be
ready to help.Penguins center Evgeni Malkin practiced Saturday and is on the
verge of returning to the lineup after missing the past two games with an
apparent leg injury. Coach Mike Sullivan called Malkin a game-time decision,
though signs are pointing to the Russian star playing Sunday at Washington (3
p.m. EDT, NBC).”If I’m playing, I’m ready to play
http://www.officialhurricanes.com/authentic-adidas-andrei-svechnikov-jersey ,” Malkin said. ”If you play, you need to show you can, you show you’re 100
percent. It’s not like the regular season. You can’t play slow the first period
and be better in third. If I play, if I’m ready, I’m ready first
shift.”Predators winger Auston Watson skated just seven first-period shifts
Friday night before leaving with an undisclosed injury. His teammates outshot
the Jets 48-19 and still lost, though a healthy Watson for Game 2 back in Music
City (7 p.m., NBCSN) could make a difference as the defending Western Conference
champions try to even the series between the NHL’s top two teams.”Getting this
squared up before we go to Winnipeg is definitely important,” said Watson, who
felt great and called it a good practice. ”We’ll do our best to take care of
business.”The Penguins and Predators each took care of business in six games in
the first round. Malkin had three goals and two assists in five games before
being injured against Philadelphia, and the line of Colton Sissons, former
Pittsburgh center Nick Bonino and Watson combined for 19 points in beating
Colorado.It’s impossible to overstate Malkin’s value to the Penguins. Top-line
winger Jake Guentzel called Malkin’s potential return a ”game-changer,”
restoring one of their most dangerous options on the power play and at even
strength after a season in which the 31-year-old forward put up 98 points.Malkin
skated on the fourth line between rookie Zack Aston-Reese and Tom Kuhnhackl at
practice and on the first power-play unit. If he plays
Brock McGinn Jersey Kids , it wouldn’t be in a limited role.”Putting Geno on the fourth line? Probably not,” Sullivan said. ”We’ll try to put him in a
position where he can play to his strengths, be successful as an individual and
help our team win.”Just as the Penguins drew on two long playoff runs to come
back against the Capitals, the Predators need only look up at their Western
Conference champions banner in the rafters as they try to rebound.”We just have
to keep having that bounce-back mentality we’ve had since I’ve been here for two
and a half years,” center Ryan Johansen said. ”We’re looking forward to tomorrow
night’s game because we know we’re going to get a great response from everybody
in here.”A FOR DISCIPLINEReferees combined to call three penalties each in Game
1 of Penguins-Capitals and Jets-Predators. Nashville was the most-penalized team
in the league during the regular season but hasn’t taken one its past two
games.”We’re trying to get better in a lot of different areas,” coach Peter
Laviolette said. ”And you hope that through the course of fixing some things,
continuing to do things right that you like, fixing some things, staying out of
the penalty box, whatever it may be that at the end of the night you’ll be able
to move forward from that. There are some things that I guess are going in the
right direction.”The strength of the Washington and Pittsburgh power plays has
those teams watching themselves and trying to avoid time in the sin bin.”I think
both teams go into the series trying to be disciplined for that reason,”
Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said. ”You don’t want to give the power plays an
opportunity to have an impact in the game.HELLEBUYCK SHINESConnor Hellebuyck, a
Vezina Trophy finalist as the NHL’s top goaltender
Florida Panthers Hats Womens , starred for the Jets in making 47 saves in Game 1. In a breakout year for the 24-year-old, it was the kind of game that showed
Winnipeg it has someone ready to take on the best in the West.”There’s great
difficulty in a lot of the saves and finding the puck in those scrums, but he’s
built for that,” coach Paul Maurice said. ”He’s a big man that moves well and
tracks well in traffic – especially close traffic. So he’s capable of that kind
of game in that kind of environment.”—AP Sports Writer Teresa M. Walker in
Nashville, Tennessee, contributed.—
