after 21 minutes of slow and sometimes sloppy hockey, the Met

TORONTO -- Ken Hitchcock has a theory on how to deal with his team not scoring a lot of goals. "Just not talk about it," he said. "Talk about something else." Thats the approach the Stanley Cup-winning coach is taking with his St. Louis Blues, who have gone through a mini scoring slump. Of course they still lead the Western Conference, which is based on large part on being one of the NHLs stingiest defensive teams. "Ive always believed, like a lot of coaches, if youre not scoring, talk about checking. If you check better, youre going to get more chances," Hitchcock said Monday at Air Canada Centre. "The structure of our game, were just going to weather the storm. The structure of our game has got to stay solid like it is right now, and then well weather it and well come out on the other side fine." An 82-game regular season is a totally different animal than the Olympics, but a similar philosophy guided Team Canada to gold. Worries about a lack of offence from star forwards -- at least externally -- lasted well into the playoff round, but those were quieted by dominant play on the puck. "Its about controlling the hockey game. And you dont control the hockey game with offence, you control it with checking," said Hitchcock, who was one of Mike Babcocks assistants in Sochi. "We were tied or leading by one goal -- we werent concerned with the way we were playing that we werent scoring. It doesnt matter if youre leading 5-4 going into the third period or 1-0 as long as you have the lead youre in good shape." Like with Canada, Hitchcock said he feels comfortable seeing the Blues checking well because it means theyre "committed to the right things." One of those things hes proud of is that for a couple of games in a row St. Louis has displayed a high work standard. To Hitchcock, thats a bigger deal -- the way the Blues play -- than having an offence thats always rolling or a power play thats constantly clicking at a high rate. As far as special teams go, hes more concerned about the penalty kill and what that could mean come playoff time. "Ive seen a lot of (teams) who have had bad power plays do really well in the playoffs, but Ive never seen any team play worth a damn if you cant kill penalties," Hitchcock said. "Its more on can you kill the penalty at the right time because you can live with poor power plays and still win hockey games. But you cant survive if you cant kill penalties because your whole game falls apart, youre nervous, youre uptight, you panic and weve got to be great killing penalties." That would also follow Canadas blueprint. The gold-medal-winning Canadians converted on just 16.67 per cent of their power plays in six games, middle of the pack in the tournament, yet led the Olympics with a 93.75 per cent penalty-killing rate, giving up one goal on 16 chances. Hitchcock, though, must guide the Blues through choppier waters than Canada endured at the Olympics. Sixteen playoff victories are required to win the Stanley Cup, and most of those wont be by large margins. Perhaps thats one way the Blues balance plays in their favour. The have no one player in the top 35 in the league in scoring, but 10 with at least 30 points, led by Alex Steen and T.J. Oshies 54. St. Louis isnt built on scoring, which means they could be built to withstand droughts like this. "Youre going to go through stages where youre not scoring, and youre still going to have to win hockey games," Hitchcock said. "If youve got to win for a week or 10 days, youve got to win 1-0, 2-1, youve got to do it until you get back engaged where youre going to score again." Until then, the Blues are happy to talk about -- and execute on -- checking well and frustrating opponents in the process. Claude Giroux Jersey .S. military base for UFC: Fight for the Troops 3. This fight card, which takes place in Fort Campbell, Kentucky, has had a number of changes, including headliner Lyoto Machida replaced by fellow Brazilian Rafael Natal. Dave Schultz Jersey .com) - New England Patriots starting center Bryan Stork will not play in Sundays AFC Championship against Indianapolis due to a knee injury the rookie sustained last week. http://www.nhlflyersproauthentic.com/nolan-patrick-hockey-jersey/ . Englands only win in the four most recent trips north had been tight, and Scotland was expected after losing 28-6 to Ireland six days ago to show some venom against its archrival. Custom Philadelphia Flyers Jerseys . MacIntyre stopped 49 shots and the Marlies defeated the Texas Stars 5-1 in Game 1 of the American Hockey Leagues Western Conference final. "I felt in control, so that was nice," MacIntyre said. Jaromir Jagr Jersey .Y. - Major League Soccers independent review panel has taken back the fine and one-game suspension it placed on Toronto FC forward Luke Moore earlier this week.PITTSBURGH -- Columbus coach Todd Richards insists his upstart team isnt in the playoffs "just to go to school." Maybe, but the Pittsburgh Penguins provided a pretty valuable lesson in perseverance during a 4-3 victory in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals on Wednesday night. Down two after 21 minutes of slow and sometimes sloppy hockey, the Metropolitan Division champions responded by scoring the final three goals, including Brandon Sutters go-ahead wrist shot 8:18 into the third period. "I think we expected a tight game," Sutter said after the third playoff goal of his career. "They got up and we stuck with it. It was a good win." One that came with more than a few tense moments. Beau Bennett and Matt Niskanen scored power-play goals 45 seconds apart in the second period, erasing Pittsburghs two-goal deficit. Jussi Jokinen also scored for the Penguins and Marc-Andre Fleury overcame some shaky defence in front of him to stop 31 shots. Game 2 is Saturday night. "We have to learn from it but we found a way to win," Pittsburgh forward Sidney Crosby said. "Obviously we didnt start the way we wanted, getting down two goals. I think we have to clean up some things." If not, a series expected to be a romp could turn into something else entirely. Jack Johnson, Mark Letestu and Derek Mackenzie scored for the Blue Jackets, who remain in search of their first-ever playoff win. Sergei Bobrovsky finished with 28 saves but was handcuffed by Sutters knuckler at the end of a 2-on-1 break. "Ive seen Bob make that save a thousand times," Richards said. "It just got by him." The Blue Jackets insisted they wouldnt be intimidated despite Pittsburghs overwhelming edge in playoff experience and star power. The Penguins swept the five regular-season meetings between the teams, but Columbus surged after the Olympic break, rising to the seventh seed in the East while the injury-riddled Penguins coasted to a division title. If the NHLs youngest team was scared by the stage, it hardly showed. Johnson gave the Blue Jackets their first-ever post-season lead 6:20 into the game. He charged to the front of the nnet, got a feed from Brandon Dubinsky and beat Fleury with a beautiful deke from forehand to backhand.dddddddddddd The Penguins answered with 2:51 left in the first when Evgeni Malkin -- returning after missing three weeks with a foot injury -- took advantage of a turnover by Fedor Tyutin and hit Jokinen in the slot. The knuckling wrist shot sailed over Bobrovskys right shoulder and Pittsburgh exhaled. But only briefly. With Pittsburgh defenceman Rob Scuderi off for interference, the Blue Jackets went back in front 2-1 when Letestu jammed home a rebound and sent Columbus soaring into the dressing room. "People were wondering how we would start the game with our inexperience, but we were pretty comfortable after the first period with a 2-1 lead and maybe let off the gas," Columbus centre Ryan Johansen said. Mackenzie got loose for a breakaway short-handed goal, pushing the advantage to 3-1 just 43 seconds into the second. But Columbus momentum then vanished against the leagues top power play. Bennett tipped in a Niskanen slap shot 51 seconds after Mackenzie scored. Johnson was quickly whistled for interference and Niskanen needed only 10 seconds to even the game with a snap shot from the left circle. Things settled down after the five goals in 5 minutes flurry, though Columbus didnt exactly fold. The Blue Jackets carried play at times in the first two periods. The Penguins righted themselves in the third. The miscues that plagued them for the first 40 minutes disappeared, replaced by the kind of responsible play they know theyll need to make a serious run at the franchises fourth Stanley Cup. "Nobody panicked," Fleury said. "The power play was huge for us like it has been all season. It got us back in the game and from then we were in good shape." NOTES: Pittsburgh is 10-3 in its last 13 Game 1s played on home ice. ... The Blue Jackets scratched forwards R.J. Umberger (upper body) and Nick Foligno (lower body), though coach Todd Richards said both players could be available for Game 2. ... Crosby assisted on Niskanens goal to give him 106 career points in the post-season, tied with Kevin Stevens for third on the franchise list. Stitched College Jerseys Cheap UCLA Jerseys NCAA Louisville Cardinals Jerseys North Carolina Jerseys Stitched Kentucky Wildcats Jerseys Stitched Alabama Crimson Tide Jerseys Cheap Basketball Wisconsin Badgers Jerseys Authentic NCAA Jerseys Store Wholesale Basketball NCAA Jerseys Cheap Duke Gear Stitched Alabama Jerseys Stitched Georgia Jerseys Cheap Clemson Jerseys Authentic Authentic Texas Jerseys Wholesale USC Jerseys Stitched Oklahoma Jerseys Stitched Ohio State Jerseys Cheap Notre Dame Gear UCLA Jerseys From China Cheap Louisville Jerseys Free Shipping Cheap North Carolina Jerseys Authentic Cheap Kentucky Jerseys Authentic Wisconsin Jerseys From China Cheap Michigan Gear Cheap Florida Gear Wholesale Arizona State Jerseys Cheap LSU Gear Cheap Auburn Gear Cheap California Jerseys Free Shipping Cheap Miami Jerseys Authentic Cheap Michigan State Gear Cheap Tennessee Jerseys Authentic Texas A&M Jerseys From China Authentic Wake Forest Jerseys West Virginia Jerseys From China ' ' '