Ohio (AP) Three straight overtime finishes to start the post

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COLUMBUS Gordie Howe Jersey , Ohio (AP) Three straight overtime finishes to start the postseason? No problem.That’s what the Columbus Blue Jackets and Washington Capitals were saying after Tuesday night’s double- OT game, one that finally ended when the puck pinballed around the front of the net, hitting Columbus defenseman Zach Werenski and the Capitals’ Lars Eller before squirting past goalie Sergei Bobrovsky.”Real ugly” was how Eller put it afterward.But it was a win, one that Washington badly needed after losing two straight overtime games at home. The Capitals needed 89 minutes to win Game 3, the longest game in Blue Jackets history and one played in front of the largest hockey crowd ever at Nationwide Arena.Of the first 26 games of the NHL playoffs, there have been four overtime games in all, with three of them in this series (Vegas and Los Angeles also had a double OT game during the Golden Knights‘ sweep). It is the sixth time in playoff history that the first three games of a series went to OT.Care to make it four?The two teams go at it again on Thursday night (7:30 p.m. EDT, USA) with Columbus looking to take a 3-1 lead. Despite the extra hockey and nail-biting drama, nobody is feeling the burn. At least not that they’re saying.”I didn’t see any guys dying out there,” Columbus captain Nick Foligno said. ”I think we’re in really good condition for this time of year. I don’t think any guys worried about that.”Washington coach Barry Trotz said his team is accustomed to managing overtime games and then coming back. It all builds character, he said.”The playoffs are a test of will, even if it’s not overtime Authentic Gustav Nyquist Jersey ,” he said. ”What I think overtime makes you do is concentrate when you’re tired. You have to be in that moment. You can’t cut that corners, you can’t do that fly-by when you’re really tired, you can’t cheat because those are the times the puck ends up in the back of your net.”Columbus coach John Tortorella said he thinks his guys are fine.”I’ll tell you right now, if we’re fatigued three games in, holy crap,” he said. ”We’re just starting. It was a long game last night and we’ve had some overtime games, but that’s all part of it. You just can’t be tired. I don’t even think you can start talking about fatigue until you’re in a couple of rounds from now.”POWER LINEAfter recording 20 points in the first two games against the Maple Leafs, the Boston line of David Pastrnak, Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron was held scoreless in Game 3. The Bruins are counting on their production to return for Game 4 in Toronto on Thursday night.”I thought our top line was fine for the most part, they just didn’t finish,” coach Bruce Cassidy said after the 4-2 loss that cut Boston’s lead in the series to 2-1. ”They (the Maple Leafs) were determined to keep them off the score sheet, and they did.”While the Leafs had bad luck in the first two games – though that wasn’t their only problem Womens Henrik Zetterberg Jersey , as the combined 12-4 score could attest – in Game 3 it was Pastrnak who hit the post on one shot and then Toronto’s Frederik Andersen made great saves on two others, first with his glove and then with his stick.After two games, four Bruins led the NHL in postseason scoring – Pastrnak (4 goals, 5 assists), Marchand (1, 5), Bergeron (0, 5), plus defenseman Torey Krug (0, 5). Pastrnak’s nine points still led the league heading into Wednesday night’s games.ABOUT THAT CALLCassidy took issue with a penalty call he says NHL officials made on a hunch in a 4-2 loss to Toronto in Game 3.Bruins forward Riley Nash was handed a delay of game penalty for clearing the puck over the glass on Monday. But the puck touched the glass before entering the crowd, which would negate the minor penalty, and officials missed it. Nash was sent to the box at 16:58 of the first period.Seven seconds later http://www.redwingsshoponline.com/authentic-jimmy-howard-jersey , James van Riemsdyk scored to put Toronto ahead 1-0. It was the first time in the series the Leafs scored first.Cassidy, whose team leads the series 2-1, spoke to the officials at the beginning of the second period and wanted to know who of the four (two referees, two linesmen) decided to give Nash the two-minute penalty.”My question was: who made the call? There’s no call immediately,” he said. ”When a referee makes a call you kind of live with it because it’s decisive. So now they get together and I assume they want to make the right call, that’s the idea, but to me they got together and clearly they guessed because it hit the glass and we saw that. I think you’re kind of innocent until proven guilty.”Game 4 is Thursday at Air Canada Centre (7 p.m. EDT, NBCSN).—AP Sports Writer Jimmy Golen in Boston contributed to this report.— When the Toronto Maple Leafs visit the Florida Panthers on Saturday neither team will be entering the game in a particularly good mood.The Leafs were routed 4-1 on Thursday by the host Tampa Bay Lightning, and the Panthers were thrashed that same night 5-1 by the host Minnesota Wild.The Panthers (11-13-6) seemed particularly upset with their performance on Thursday as well as their overall play this season.Article continues below ...“We were a few mistakes from being in the game,” said Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad, whose team is in last place in the Atlantic Division with 28 points. “I don’t know what needs to change. But we will figure it out at some point — we need to.”Panthers coach Bob Boughner called out his best player, Aleksander Barkov Jonathan Ericsson Jersey , who centers Florida’s top line and is the team captain.“I thought Barkov’s line looked slow all game,” Boughner said. “They looked like they had heavy legs. Sometimes you want them to play through it and figure it out — but they never did.”Meanwhile, the Leafs, who are 1-2-0 on this road trip, seemed more frustrated than disappointed by their play on Thursday. They were stymied by Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy — who made 48 saves — but they were pleased with their play overall.The Leafs (21-10-1) went 0-for-6 on the power play, for example, despite creating some good chances.“Close doesn’t cut it in this league,” said Leafs center John Tavares, whose team is second in the Atlantic Division with 43 points. “We did a lot of good things, but we have to find a way to put more than one puck into the back of the net.”Perhaps the Leafs will get a lift on Saturday when left winger Zach Hyman is expected to return to face the Panthers after he served a two-game NHL suspension for his hit on Boston Bruins defenseman Charles McAvoy.“The play is out there (on video), and everybody can interpret it the way they want,” Hyman told The Toronto Sun. “It’s the first time I’ve gone through that (league suspension). Hopefully Womens Justin Abdelkader Jersey , I never have to go through it again.“I play hard. I play the way I play. I’m doing my job. … I’m just getting ready for Saturday.”The Panthers, after losing with backup goalie James Reimer on Thursday, are expected to go back to starter Roberto Luongo on Saturday. Reimer is 5-7-3 with a 3.47 goals-against average (GAA) and an .889 save percentage. Luongo is 5-5-1 with a 3.04 GAA and a .904 save percentage. Toronto will likely go with starting goalie Frederik Andersen (17-9-0, 2.50 GAA, .925 save percentage). The backup goalie is Garret Sparks (4-1-1, 2.84 GAA, .913 save percentage).Tavares leads the Leafs with 19 goals and is second with 33 points. Right winger Mitch Marner leads Toronto with 35 assists and with 41 points. Center Auston Matthews has 16 goals and 11 assists in just 18 games and leads Toronto with six power-play scores.Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly leads the power play in assists with 11 and is the team’s third-leading scorer overall with 33 points. Toronto’s top defensive defenseman is Nikita Zaitsev, who has a team-high 73 blocks and is second on the team with 53 hits.For the Panthers, winger Jonathan Huberdeau leads the team in assists and points 36. Winger Mike Hoffman leads Florida with 15 goals.Florida’s power-play quarterback is Keith Yandle, who leads the team with 15 power-play assists. He has 28 points, tops among Panthers defensemen.