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Coach’s decision who plays

Coach’s decision who plays

Six years after meeting in the Stanley Cup Finals Womens Eric Staal Jersey , the last-place teams in both conferences will get together Thursday night when the Los Angeles Kings host the New Jersey Devils at Staples Center.The Kings (10-17-1) have already fired John Stevens as head coach and replaced him with Willie Desjardins, but he hasn’t turned things around either. Stevens was let go on Nov. 4 after the Kings went 4-8-1 to start the season. They’ve gone 6-9-0 under Desjardins and have yet to win three in a row under either coach.The Devils (9-12-5) are 0-3-3 over the past six games to fall to the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings.Article continues below ...New Jersey coach John Hynes resorted to benching leading scorer Taylor Hall for nearly eight minutes late in the second period of a 5-1 loss to the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday night after Hall’s turnover in his own zone led to the fourth goal by the Lightning.“Sometimes, you’ve got to take your lumps and try and come back and play better,” Hall told reporters afterward.Hynes wouldn’t commit to a starting goalie against the Kings.Keith Kinkaid allowed four goals on 20 shots against Tampa Bay before he was replaced by Cory Schneider to start the third period.Kincaid is still second in the NHL with three shutouts, but has allowed four goals in each of his past five outings for an .872 save percentage. He posted his only shutout last season against the Kings at Staples Center on March 17.Schneider, who the Kings got to know well when he played for the Vancouver Canucks from 2008-13, is 0-5-0 in five starts this season with a 4.19 goals-against average and .862 save percentage.The Devils are expected to have winger Jesper Bratt back in the lineup after he missed the Tampa Bay game with an illness. Bratt, who missed the first 13 games with a broken jaw, has nine points (two goals, seven assists) in 12 games.New Jersey entered Wednesday ninth in the NHL with an 82 percent penalty-kill rate, and the Devils will be up against a Los Angeles team that’s 4-for-37 on the power play over its past 14 games.The Kings have struggled on the penalty kill during that stretch as well http://www.minnesotawildteamshops.com/authentic-jared-spurgeon-jersey , owning a 65.1 percent success rate. They didn’t allow any goals during 5-on-5 play against the visiting Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday, but gave up a power-play goal and a short-handed one in the 2-1 loss.“That’s not the area that’s hurting us,” Desjardins said of 5-on-5 play. “It’s the special teams that are hurting us.”The Kings showed some life in the final minutes against the Coyotes, getting a goal from defenseman Alec Martinez to spoil the shutout, but it was too little too late as they dropped to 0-13-0 this season when trailing at the start of the second period.“We just got to play a lot more minutes like we did the last five to seven minutes (against Arizona),” Kings leading scorer Anze Kopitar said. “You can tell there was desperation there. You know you’ve just got to play like that for 60 minutes.” ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) Philipp Grubauer will start Washington’s playoff opener against Columbus, the first Capitals goaltender not named Braden Holtby to start a postseason series since 2011.The 26-year-old German started 10 of the final 16 games of the regular season, going 7-3-0 with a 2.32 goals-against average and .925 save percentage. Grubauer’s 2.06 GAA and .933 save percentage are the best among NHL goalies since Oct. 27.”I just think that Grubi deserves the opportunity,” coach Barry Trotz said Tuesday, a day after telling Grubauer of his decision. ”It sort of evolved all year. There wasn’t a date or anything like that. It just evolved and Grubi got more games and a bigger body of work.”Grubauer called it a privilege to start after spending the past three full seasons as the backup to Holtby Jason Zucker Jersey , who won the 2016 Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s best goaltender. It could be a short-lived privilege if he struggles because Trotz said his decision is only for Game 1 on Thursday night and the Capitals are going ”game by game.”The opener will be Grubauer’s second career start in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Grubauer started a game against the New York Islanders in the first round in 2015 when Holtby was sick and entered in relief once in 2017.”It doesn’t change how we go about our business,” Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella said. ”We’re just concerned about our game.”Grubauer led Windsor to the Ontario Hockey League title and won the Memorial Cup in 2010. He also helped Germany qualify for the 2018 Olympics. But it’s this recent stretch that gives him the most confidence going into the playoffs.”It helps playing more and more,” Grubauer said. ”The more you get on the ice, the more experience you get. You see different situations and different teams. If you sit on the bench, you can get good from watching, but you’ve got to get the experience.”He will likely see a lot of Columbus captain Nick Foligno, who is back after missing the final six games of the regular season with a lower-body injury. Foligno gives the Blue Jackets some net-crashing presence and will be in and around the crease often.”I honestly feel great,” Foligno said after centering Oliver Bjorkstrand and Josh Anderson in practice on what is now the deep Blue Jackets’ third line. ”I’ve played this game long enough to know how you have to prepare during an injury to make sure you’re feeling good mentally and physically when you get back.”Holtby has never sat on the bench for a Stanley Cup playoff game. Michal Neuvirth started all nine games for Washington in 2011 before injuries to him and Tomas Vokoun pressed Holtby into duty in 2012.The 28-year-old has started 59 of the past 60 Capitals playoff games. But his struggles down the stretch – a 3.75 GAA and .886 save percentage in his final 17 appearances – cost him the ability to go into another postseason as the guy even after showing improvements following his four-game ”reset.”Trotz said Holtby was a pro and told him: ”If you put me in the net, my job is to stop the puck. If I get that opportunity, I’ll stop the puck.” He was similarly gracious after practice about the demotion.”My job is just to focus on my game, getting it the best it can get to Joel Eriksson Ek Jersey ,” said Holtby, who closed the season 5-1-0 with a 2.67 GAA and .911 save percentage . ”Coach’s decision who plays or not doesn’t have anything to do with me. I’ll just focus one practice at a time, trying to be a positive influence around the team and go from there.”Holtby said in March it was good to ”clear the team’s head with that kind of stigma that’s kind of going on with me in net.” With Holtby and Grubauer splitting time down the stretch, the Capitals won 12 of their 15 final games.”I think we have two good goalies who can play,” defenseman Dmitry Orlov said. ”Grubi was good for us all season. It’s not easy to be second goalie and not play some games. You need to always be prepared in practice. I think he did a good job like a professional player, and I think he’s got confidence right now.”NOTES: Capitals C Jay Beagle, who missed the final three games of the regular season with an upper-body injury, did not practice Tuesday but skated afterward. Trotz is calling Beagle day-to-day. … Capitals RW T.J. Oshie said he feels great after resting a nagging lower-body injury and expects to be in the lineup for Game 1.—AP Sports Writer Mitch Stacy in Columbus, Ohio, contributed.—
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