ning defeated the New York Rangers in 2015, advancing to the Stanley Cup Final, where they lost to Chicago in six games. They lost the 2016

COLUMBUS http://www.officialsharks.com/authentic-adidas-brent-burns-jersey , Ohio (AP) The Columbus Blue Jackets backing into a playoff spot with an overtime loss to Pittsburgh on Thursday somehow seemed fitting, considering the weird season it’s been.The road to a second-straight postseason appearance – the first time in franchise history that’s happened – was pocked with potholes for the Blue Jackets. Major injuries, slumping stars and an NHL-worst power play seemed to doom them as the grinding days of midwinter wore on.Not like last year, when the surprising young team had juice, momentum, healthy players having career years and a stunning 16-game winning streak that was the talk of the league. The Blue Jackets cruised to the playoffs with 11 games left in the schedule.By the time February rolled around this time, Columbus looked like an average team at best. The Blue Jackets lost eight of their first 11 games in the month and were slipping down the table in the rugged Metropolitan Division. A series of significant injuries to top players had coach John Tortorella piecing together lines from what was left and call-ups from the AHL team in Cleveland.The Feb. 26 trade deadline brought veteran forwards Thomas Vanek and Mark Letestu, as well as scrappy defenseman Ian Cole. After a pair of West Coast losses at the beginning of March, the Blue Jackets ripped off a 10-game winning streak on the way to winning 13 of 15 games.Still, it took three straight games of overcoming a three-goal deficit to get at least a point, and the overtime loss to Pittsburgh in the season’s penultimate game Thursday to earn a needed point and lock up a playoff spot. New Jersey and Philadelphia were always within a point or two, creating urgency every time the Blue Jackets stepped onto the ice in the past week.”There was a point that we stayed in it when we were playing lousy, we were banged up with injuries and we weren’t playing that well at certain times Julien Gauthier Jersey Womens , even when some (injured) guys came back,” Tortorella said. ”We stayed in because (other teams) were losing. We’re just fortunate that we kept on winning when everybody else started winning. It’s crazy.”Crazy, indeed, considering key contributors Boone Jenner, Cam Atkinson, Alexander Wennberg, Seth Jones, Brandon Dubinsky and captain Nick Foligno all missed significant chunks of the schedule with injuries.The Blue Jackets wouldn’t be preparing for the postseason without Artemi Panarin, brought to Columbus in an offseason trade with Chicago, and 19-year rookie sensation Pierre-Luc Dubois, who got his 48th point of the season Thursday night, breaking the franchise rookie record set by Zach Werenski last season.The 26-year-old Panarin has become the dangerous puck distributor and sniper the Blue Jackets had been seeking, getting 27 goals and 55 assists for a Columbus franchise record of 82 points. He’s put up 13 points in the last five games Womens Evander Kane Jersey , including a pair of assists against Pittsburgh.Columbus is playing its grittiest hockey at just the right time.”I am absolutely thrilled,” Tortorella said. ”The amount of work they put in; we were dead and gone there a couple of months ago. I’m thrilled we get to experience what we’re going to experience here.”If they can beat Nashville in the regular-season finale Saturday, they have a chance to secure home-ice advantage for the first round of the postseason. That’s never happened in Columbus, either.”We’ve been playing our best stretch of hockey and coming together as a group, so obviously it’s a good time of year,” Jenner said. ”We have to keep going.”— TAMPA, Fla. (AP) The Tampa Bay Lightning know the grind.Back in the Eastern Conference final for the third time in four years, the Atlantic Division winners led the NHL in scoring this season but have been even more impressive defensively through the first two rounds of the playoffs.”I think if people looked at our team in the regular season … we had the most goals scored in the league or close to it. So, we’re kind of looked at as that team, the high-flying Bolts that can score and defense isn’t really important to them,” coach Jon Cooper said.”To us, all along it has been (important). To win in the playoffs, you have to have that Authentic Joe Pavelski Jersey ,” Cooper added. ”Probably the one thing that’s gone under the radar is how physical we’ve been in both series. I think that’s really helped the cause to where we were. It’s difficult in an 82-game season to bring that kind of intensity every single night. In the playoffs guys are more dialed in.”Sunday’s 3-1 victory closed out the team’s second-round matchup against the Boston Bruins in five games.Coming off a week’s rest, the Lightning allowed six goals in losing Game 1.Over the last three games of the series, including a pair of wins in Boston, Tampa Bay neutralized the Bruins’ high-scoring line of Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak while not allowing an even-strength goal.Much of the credit goes to the line of Brayden Point, Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat, which rebounded from yielding 11 points to the Bergeron line in the series opener to move than hold their own against the Boston trio the rest of the way.”It’s a four-line effort. You have to have depth. You have to have it. It’s the way everybody bought into their rolls and contributed,” Cooper said.The Lightning’s depth also showed offensively, with 12 players combining to score 17 goals in the second round.Point, J.T. Miller and Anton Stralman scored in Sunday’s clincher against Boston.”For sure, you don’t expect to come in and beat a team like that in four straight games after dropping the first one. We expected a long series,” Lightning captain Steven Stamkos said. ”I don’t think any team goes in thinking you are going to clean out a team in the second round in five, but it happened. When you play the right way Joe Thornton Jersey , you get rewarded for it.”Tampa Bay is the eighth team since 1998 to reach a conference final three times in a four-year span.The Lightning defeated the New York Rangers in 2015, advancing to the Stanley Cup Final, where they lost to Chicago in six games. They lost the 2016 East final to the Pittsburgh Penguins in seven games.”It’s good, but it will be gratifying if we win two more series,” forward Ryan Callahan said. ”We’ve been here before, so the shock and awe of really getting this far really isn’t there. We are happy with our first two series, but there is so much more work to do and we realize that.”The Lightning will face either Washington or defending champion Pittsburgh. The Capitals lead that semifinal series 3-2 heading into Game 6 on Monday night.”We’ll watch it for sure, but I think the most important thing at the end of the day is just getting our rest,” Point said, looking ahead. ”We’re going to be ready when our time comes, hopefully prepare well, and play some good games.”—