Termine » punch at Keselowski

The surprising Columbus Blue Jackets will try to grab their first lead of the Eastern Conference first round series when they visit the Pittsburgh Penguins for tonights Game 5 at CONSOL Energy Center. The Blue Jackets entered this series against the Metropolitan Division champions as heavy underdogs, but they sit tied with the Penguins at two wins apiece. Columbus has arrived at this point with a pair of overtime victories, including a 4-3 triumph in Wednesdays Game 4 clash at Nationwide Arena that gave the franchise its first home playoff win. Pittsburgh, meanwhile, hopes to rebound after coughing up an early 3-0 lead in Wednesdays game. Holding leads has been an issue for both clubs in this postseason encounter. According to Elias Sports Bureau, this series is the first in league history in which four consecutive games have been won by a team which has trailed by at least two goals. Marc-Andre Fleury made 42 saves in Game 4, but the Penguins goaltender is aiming for a bounce-back performance on Saturday. The veteran backstop made a stickhandling blunder to allow Columbus to tie the game in the final minute of regulation before yielding a weak goal to Nick Foligno in overtime. "He was our best player in the (Game 4) last night. Unfortunately a mistake, the bouncing puck behind the net, cost us in the last 30 seconds of the game," Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma said of Fleury. "He was our best player in the game. He has to rebound now from that, as does our team." Although he helped Pittsburgh win a Stanley Cup title in 2009, Fleurys postseason struggles for the Pens over the last few seasons have been well- documented. Last spring, he was benched in the middle of Pittsburghs first- round series win over the New York Islanders and replaced by Tomas Vokoun as the starter for the rest of the playoffs. Vokoun is still with the Pittsburgh organization, but hasnt played an NHL game since last spring due to ongoing issues with a blood clot. Fleurys current backup Jeff Zatkoff has never played in the postseason. Fleury isnt Pittsburghs only problem in this series, as the club is still waiting for superstar forwards Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin to record their first goals of the 2014 playoffs. Both players have four assists through four games. "(Crosby and Malkin) are our best players," Bylsma said. "We need more from our whole team. We need more from them." Foligno, who sat out the first two games of this series due to injury, tallied the game-winner 2:49 into OT on Wednesday. He carried the puck up the left wing through the neutral zone in a 1-on-1 with Pens defenseman Matt Niskanen, then released a long-distance shot from above the left circle. The puck fluttered toward Fleury and dipped below his glove hand before hitting the net and ending the game. "I didnt think it would actually work, but it ended up working, so Im thanking my lucky stars tonight," Foligno said. Fleury also was responsible for a miscue leading to the Blue Jackets tying goal with less than 24 seconds remaining in regulation. He headed behind his net to play a Jack Johnson dump-in, but the puck hopped over his stick and found Ryan Johansen, who dished into the slot for a successful shot by Brandon Dubinsky. In a performance that was the polar opposite of Fleury, Columbus goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky started the game slowly and finished strong. Last seasons Vezina Trophy winner clocked in with 22 stops after giving up the games first three scores in a span of just over five minutes in the first period. Johansen and Boone Jenner notched the other goals for the Blue Jackets, who had gone 0-3 in Ohios capital in the postseason before Wednesdays triumph. Craig Adams, Chris Kunitz and James Neal tallied for the Penguins, who will try to bounce back with a better effort tonight on home ice to regain a lead in this best-of-seven battle. "The work, compete and battle level has been the most troubling thing from our team," Bylsma said. "Thats been the thing throughout this series thats been the most troubling. Thats got to be raised up to a level that is necessary at this time of year, this type of hockey, playoff hockey. We have ourselves in a series now. Its 2-2, best-of-three. We have to have that in our game and in our team if we are going to win this series." Prior to Game 4, the Blue Jackets scratched defenseman Ryan Murray with a right foot injury suffered when he took a shot to the skate in practice. Murray is questionable for Game 5, as is fellow defenseman Fedor Tyutin, who could be back in the lineup Saturday after missing the past two outings with an upper-body issue. Pittsburgh was 28-9-4 in the Steel City during the regular season, while the Blue Jackets were 21-17-3 as the visiting team. Columbus road win in Game 2, a 4-3 double-overtime victory, marked just the third time the Jackets won in Pittsburgh over 11 all-time meetings. Game 6 of this series is scheduled for Monday in Columbus. If needed, a decisive seventh game is set for Wednesday at CONSOL Energy Center. Lee Smith Jersey . More importantly, he is trying to show his young teammates the Colorado are still post-season contenders. He hopes winning a series at home was a fresh start. Gregg Olson Jersey . Toronto (11-12) gave up leads in 10-8 and 11-4 losses to the Baltimore Orioles this week. It was never close Friday as the Boston Red Sox got to Mark Buehrle early en route to an 8-1 win. https://www.cheaporioles.com/978i-rio-ru...ey-orioles.html. Fans in the Jets viewing region can watch the game on TSN Jets at 5:30pm ct and listeners can tune in to TSN Radio 1290 Winnipeg. Fred Lynn Jersey . The club announced Friday that Mauro Biello will be kept on as an assistant to coach Jesse Marsch when the Impact join the MLS in 2012. John Means Jersey . -- The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have released veteran guard Davin Joseph, a mainstay on their offensive line over the past eight seasons.CHARLOTTE, N.C. - In the closing laps at Martinsville Speedway, Jeff Gordon could see Dale Earnhardt Jr. ahead of him with enough time to formulate a plan on how to handle his teammate if Gordon could catch him.Earnhardt had been eliminated from the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship field one week earlier and was racing only for a trophy. Gordon, still eligible to win the title, wanted to win last week to grab the automatic berth into the final round of NASCARs playoffs.So what would have happened?I would have moved him for sure. Theres no doubt in my mind, Gordon said after finishing second to Earnhardt at Martinsville. Everybody who is out there racing has to weigh risk versus reward. For me, to win this race, its worth taking a lot of risk, even if you upset your teammate.I think everybody out there thats not in the Chase understands that if that guy can win that race and put himself in Homestead for the championship, you can pretty much guarantee that youre going to get the bumper or get slammed or something.Well, Gordon got slammed on Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway and he didnt like it one bit. He confronted Brad Keselowski on pit road following the race, and an exchange of words escalated quickly — with an assist from Kevin Harvick — into a full-blown melee between the crews.Both champions were left bloodied — Gordons lip and Keselowski spitting blood after taking a shot to the cheek — even though neither driver appeared to throw a punch or get close enough to each other to actually fight.But for the second time in four races, Keselowski was attacked in a post-race fracas because his aggressive driving upset someone. It happened at Charlotte last month when Denny Hamlin had to be restrained from going after him, then Matt Kenseth jumped him from behind before he was quickly pulled away.This time, Gordon was primed for a smack-down. He called his shot on his team radio when he said he was going to beat up Keselowski, who on a restart during an overtime two-lap sprint to the finish tried to wedge his car in between Gordon and teammate Jimmie Johnson to grab the lead.There were two laps left at the time and Keselowski, in a hole in the Chase standings, needed that win to grab one of the four spots in the Nov. 16 championship finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. He saw a gap and went for it, just as any driver with his season on the line should have done. Gordon himself said just seven days earlier everyone should expect Chase drivers to be aggressive.The problem was that Keselowski and Gordon made contact, causing Gordon to spin after his tire went flat. Racing for a win and a spot at Homestead moments earlier, he wound up finishing 29th and is fourth in the eight-driver Chase field.Its understandable that Gordon was angry. But its unfair to hold Keselowski to a different standard, even if his body of work has drawn the ire of the majority of the garage.Keselowski had as much on the line as Gordon, and it was a go-for-broke, risk versus reward moment where Keselowski let it all hang out.Brad Keselowski is a champion who competes to win in every race, which is what I expect of him, team owner Roger Penske said in a statement Monday. While the actions by others following the racee in Texas were unfortunate, Brad has my 100 per cent support as we now move on to Phoenix for the next stage of the NASCAR championship.dddddddddddd.The late Formula One champion Ayrton Senna said repeatedly throughout his career that drivers always compete to win. If you no longer go for a gap that exists, you are no longer a racing driver because we are competing, we are competing to win, he said in 1990.Senna and so many other greats raced under those standards. Gordon himself said just a week ago that aggression is warranted at this stage of the season. Why is not OK for Keselowski to do the same?Some other elements of the Sunday night fight that should be addressed:HARVICK THE PUPPET MASTER: The pit road fight might never have happened had Harvick not rushed in from behind the scrum and shoved Keselowski in the back toward the tempest. Fists were flying seconds later, and Harvick backed his way out and returned to a bystander role.Harvick is the quintessential Machiavellian character in NASCAR. Hes always loved stirring the pot and pulling the strings from behind the curtain. Its part of his game, and climbing into the head of his competitors gives Harvick an edge.He knew exactly what he was doing with that shove: Also in a hole in the Chase, Harvick benefits from all the other title contenders being locked into a drama that disrupts their focus as they head this week to Phoenix.Harvick has won three of the last four races at Phoenix and should be the favourite Sunday. But Gordon was in another league when Hendrick Motorsports tested at Phoenix last month, and Keselowski has already proved once in this Chase (at Talladega) that he can produce in must-win races.Unless NASCAR takes issue with Harvicks role as instigator in this brawl, he walks away scot-free as two of his top rivals find themselves in an uncomfortable spotlight.___CREW MEMBERS: Harvick contends he was simply telling Keselowski to handle his business after the on-track incident with Gordon, and theres been fan backlash that Keselowski was hiding behind his crew members when Gordon approached.The reality is, Gordon and Keselowski were never getting close to each other to have a reasonable discussion or even a fight. Theres always a cavalry of adrenaline-fueled crew members who jump into these post-race confrontations, and Sunday nights was a Hendrick Motorsports schoolyard brawl. Punches were thrown from every direction and multiple video angles show Keselowski took at least one to the face and one to the back of the head.The most egregious action came from a member of Kasey Kahnes crew who rushed in from behind and threw haymakers in defence of Hendrick driver Gordon, who at one time grabbed at Keselowskis firesuit but was quickly pulled away.NASCAR is reviewing the entire matter, and Hendrick Motorsports said Monday it was also doing an internal review. Kenseth dodged a penalty after Charlotte because he didnt throw a punch at Keselowski, and NASCAR doesnt have much of a reason to punish Gordon or Keselowski.But the goonlike behaviour from the crews must sternly be addressed — and halted. The drivers started this on the track and had the right to end it off of it without the assistance of others. ' ' '