A five-minute implosion made the Capitals look like the same old team in the playoffs.
They blew a two-goal lead for the fourth time in seven games to ruin an otherwise solid performance in a Game 1 loss to the back-to-back Stanley Cup-champion Penguins. That Pittsburgh stormed back to win 3-2 seemed to suggest this would be yet another chapter in the long Tarell Basham Jersey , miserable history for the Capitals against their nemesis; the Penguins have won nine of 10 postseason meetings between the two teams.
But with fresh memories of digging out of a 2-0 series hole against Columbus in the first round, Washington doesn’t sound like a team thinking, ”Here we go again.”
Players were quick to say they played a well and almost glossed over that ugly span of 4:49.
”We played a pretty good game,” defenseman Matt Niskanen said. ”They scored on (Sidney) Crosby’s three shifts in a row in the third period to win the game. Otherwise we played pretty good, so I don’t think you need to overanalyze that.”
Overanalyzing is exactly what will happen given the Capitals’ recent and franchise-long playoff history. But maybe the Capitals are better off focusing on the positives, and coach Barry Trotz expects things to click back into place for Game 2 on Sunday.
”It was a little bit of a kick in the stomach,” Trotz said Friday. ”We had a couple kicks in the stomach in the first round with Columbus and you saw the response that we had. I know our group, I know the strength of our group, I know the resiliency. This group will battle back.”
It’s not so easy to guarantee the Capitals will go shift-for-shift with the Penguins like they did most of Game 1, especially with the potential return of Pittsburgh star Evgeni Malkin. Washington did get as many quality scoring chances, if not more, than Pittsburgh Robert Newhouse Jersey , but those third-period goals by the top line of Patric Hornqvist , Crosby and Jake Guentzel tipped the balance.
Ideally, Trotz wants the Capitals to play with the lead the same way they do to get it: Move the puck quickly, make good decisions, defend hard and maintain solid positioning. Those things didn’t happen on the three shifts against Crosby and Co., including mistakes like Dmitry Orlov not tying up Hornqvist’s stick, Alex Ovechkin tipping the puck right to Crosby, and Braden Holtby giving the puck away behind his own net.
”One mistake, one bad bounce and they’re back in the game,” Ovechkin said. ”It hit my stick and goes right to Crosby’s stick. Move forward.”
Moving forward for the Capitals means cleaning up the little plays that can make a big difference this time of year. Trotz acknowledged the Penguins’ comeback ”happened very quickly,” and it was enough to overshadow two competitive periods where his team arguably out-chanced and out-played its opponent.
”That’s the tough part of this game is that those inches and those swings of momentum are so huge and you try to get them back,” Trotz said. ”You have some control of it Troy Apke Jersey , and you just want to make sure that you execute at the highest level.”
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A Turkish court has accepted an indictment charging the father of NBA player Enes Kanter with ”membership in a terror group,” the country’s official news agency reported.
The indictment followed an investigation of Mehmet Kanter, and prosecutors planned to seek his conviction and a prison term of five to 10 years at trial, Anadolu Agency said.
It’s unclear when the trial in western Tekirdag province would begin.
Enes Kanter, who plays for the New York Knicks, is a follower of a U.S.-based Turkish cleric who the government accuses of masterminding a failed military coup in 2016. Cleric Fethullah Gulen has denied the allegation, but tens of thousands of people suspected of ties to his network have been arrested or fired.
The elder Kanter, a professor, was purged from public service after the coup attempt and detained for five days last summer.
BASEBALL
WASHINGTON (AP) – Getting a jump on the trade deadline to add talent to the back of their bullpen, the Washington Nationals picked up right-hander Kelvin Herrera from the Kansas City Royals for three minor leaguers.
The Nationals sent infielder Kelvin Gutierrez, outfielder Blake Perkins and 17-year-old pitcher Yohanse Morel to Kansas City in the deal announced during Washington’s doubleheader against the New York Yankees.
Herrera has 14 saves and a 1.05 ERA this season. He’s allowed three earned runs in 25 2/3 innings while striking out 22 batters and walking two.
The 28-year-old is a two-time AL All-Star who helped Kansas City win the 2015 World Series – and is among the last players left from that title team. He is 23-27 with 57 saves and a 2.75 ERA across 442 games in relief over eight seasons in the majors.
SOCCER
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) – Mohamed Salah showed signs of discomfort with his injured left shoulder while taking part in Egypt’s final training session before the team’s World Cup match against Russia on Tuesday.
Salah didn’t appear to be moving his shoulder fully during upper-body exercises on Monday. Moments earlier Nate Hairston Jersey , Salah took part in light jogging around the St. Petersburg Stadium field and ran at the back of the group, with one coach gently nudging his left shoulder as the striker dribbled with a ball.
Salah, the Premier League’s player of the season, is recovering from injuring his shoulder while playing for Liverpool in last month’s Champions League final. He was an unused substitute in Egypt’s first group game at the World Cup – a 1-0 loss against Uruguay on Friday.
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) – FIFA has opened disciplinary proceedings against Mexico after its fans used an anti-gay slur during the team’s 1-0 win over Germany.
Some Mexican supporters chanted the slur when Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer prepared to take a goal kick in the 24th minute of Sunday’s game at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.
Fans in Mexico use the chant to insult opposing goalkeepers as they take a goal kick. Widely considered a slur, some argue there is no discriminatory intent.
FIFA did not elaborate on the nature of the disciplinary proceedings and didn’t say when a hearing would take place.
TRACK AND FIELD
LONDON (AP) – Caster Semenya, the world and Olympic 800 meters champion, will go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to fight ”unfair” regulations that hinder certain female athletes.
The IAAF brought in controversial new rules in April that mean some women with high natural testosterone levels could be excluded from middle-distance races.
Semenya, a two-time Olympic and three-time world champion, is the highest-profile athlete expected to be impacted by the rules that divide medical opinion.
The South African’s lawyers, Norton Rose Fulbright, which has offices in London Andre Holmes Jersey , issued a statement on Monday saying the athlete would ”file the legal challenge to ensure, safeguard and protect the rights of all women on the basis the regulations are irrational, unjustifiable, and in violation of the IAAF Constitution (based in Monaco), the Olympic Charter, the laws of Monaco, the laws of jurisdiction in which international competitions are held, and of universally recognized human rights.
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