I think no matter what you do

**elaine95** 06 ноя 2018, 08:32

LAS VEGAS (AP) Marc-Andre Fleury has been the foundation for the Vegas Golden Knights‘ run to the Stanley Cup Final.Yet while he has a 1.68 goals-against average and .947 save percentage Authentic Aaron Donald Jersey , he’ll be the first one in the locker room to credit the defensemen in front of him.”It’s a team game – win as a team, lose as a team,” said Fleury, who looks to become the 11th goaltender in NHL history to have his name on the Cup at least four times – and the fourth of that group to win with multiple teams.”These guys are a big part of our success. We’re well balanced, we got some veteran guys, some younger guys, got some offensive guys, some defensive guys playing together. Those guys have been rallying all playoffs, trying to help me out, blocking shots and letting me see the puck, so it’s been a lot of fun.”The pairings of Nate Schmidt and Brayden McNabb, Shea Theodore and Deryk Engelland, and Colin Miller with Luca Sbisa or Jon Merrill, have helped the Golden Knights become a very tight defensive team during the playoffs, something that will have to carry into Game 1 at T-Mobile Arena, on Monday against the Washington Capitals.Schmidt has developed into the team’s top defenseman after struggling to find consistent ice time in Washington last season, when he averaged 15:29 on the ice. The fifth-year pro leads the Golden Knights with an average 22:14 on the ice and brings a familiarity to the Final, having played with Washington’s top scorers Evgeny Kuznetsov (24 points) and Alex Ovechkin (22), who rank first and second, respectively, in overall playoff scoring.”I know a lot of those guys, I know what they like to do,” said Schmidt, who has six points (2 goals, 4 assists) in the postseason. ”For what I want to do on the ice, it helps me and I think it helps our group as well that we’ve had success against them. But it’s a whole other type of animal this time of year.”The Golden Knights swept the regular-season series against Washington, winning 3-0 on Dec. 23 in Vegas and 4-3 on Feb. 4 in D.C.With five more Capitals have double-digit points – Nicklas Backstrom (16), John Carlson (16), T.J. Oshie (15), Lars Eller (13) and Tom Wilson (11) – Vegas will need one last big effort from a defensive group that has helped allow the second-least number of goals among playoff teams that have played 10 games.Washington coach Barry Trotz said he knows the Golden Knights have three dynamic duos that each feature one offensive guy who can skate and move the puck – that being Miller, Theodore, and Schmidt – paired with more of a traditional stay-at-home defenseman who isn’t afraid to get physical, block shots and slow the opposing team’s pace – such as Sbisa, Engelland, Merrill and McNabb.”But they still bring some offense, too,” Trotz said. ”They play 5-5-5 all three zones just as we talk about with the Capitals. Watch the TV, you see five guys in the picture, then you’re doing good.”Schmidt said using speed against them worked during the regular season, by moving their feet more than Washington did, and helping to develop plays in transition. But again, this is the Stanley Cup Final, and Schmidt said he knows Washington can skate well and will be a challenge.”I think another thing is just making sure you’re really disciplined against this team,” Schmidt said. ”You’ve got to make sure you stay out of the penalty box, keep Ovechkin off the power play and keep that unit off the power play.”To Vegas’ credit, however, it does have the fourth-best penalty kill in the playoffs, stopping 82.5 percent of the power plays it has seen. And, as Sbisa said, that circles back to Fleury and the chemistry that’s been built with the defensive pairings.”That bond is definitely there,” Sbisa said. ”You don’t have to worry about anything else, play it loose, play to your strengths and that’s what we’ve been doing as a group. The six Ds that are playing that night, they’re tight; we play as a three-man group (with Fleury). Flower’s a guy that doesn’t take too much credit for himself, even though he should Aaron Donald Jersey Elite , because he’s been that good and it’s obviously nice to hear stuff like that coming out of his mouth. But he definitely deserves all the credit here.”As a D-man, knowing that you have the best goalie in the world behind you, saving you when something happens, it makes a huge difference because it allows you to play your game. Praise has to go both ways.” BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) This wasn’t the first time Devante Smith-Pelly has had racial taunts directed at him during a hockey game.And the Washington Capitals forward knew immediately what the intent of the message was when a few fans began chanting ”basketball, basketball, basketball,” while Smith-Pelly sat in the penalty box during a 7-1 loss at Chicago on Saturday night. Smith-Pelly, a black player in a sport dominated by white athletes, heard a similar taunt years before while playing in a tournament in British Columbia.”It’s pretty obvious what that means. It’s not really a secret,” Smith-Pelly said after the Capitals practiced in Buffalo on Sunday. ”Whether it’s that word or any other word, I got the idea. And I’m sure they got the idea, too. Just one word, and that’s really all it takes.”Article continues below ...What stunned the 25-year-old is how incidents such as these keep happening.”It’s disgusting,” Smith-Pelly said. ”You’d think there would be some sort of change or progression, but we’re still working toward it, I guess, and we’re going to keep working toward it.”The Blackhawks and United Center officials reacted swiftly by ejecting four fans shortly after an off-ice official sitting next to Smith-Pelly – serving a fighting major for a scrap with Chicago’s Connor Murphy – notified building security.NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman released a statement Sunday, saying the league condemns the fans’ behavior as being ”unacceptable and reprehensible.””While this was isolated in nature, no player, coach, official or fan should ever have to endure such abuse at one of our games,” Bettman said.The Capitals released a statement saying they are ”extremely disappointed by the intolerant behavior” by a select group of fans in Chicago.In thanking the Blackhawks and arena security, the Capitals said: ”It is crucial to confront such appalling conduct.”The Blackhawks issued a statement apologizing to Smith-Pelly and the Capitals following the game, and said they ”are committed to providing an inclusive environment.”Video shows Smith-Pelly seated in the penalty box while looking and pointing to his left. He then gets up with his stick and gets into a verbal exchange with a male fan on other side of the glass.Smith-Pelly said he stepped forward publicly to call out the fans for what they said because he didn’t want to ”brush it under the rug.””I guess I’m trying to get the conversation started and show whoever these people were their true colors,” he said.Joining the Capitals on their road trip, which concludes at Buffalo on Monday, are players’ fathers, allowing Smith-Pelly an opportunity to discuss what happened with his dad.”We’ve had this conversation before,” said Smith-Pelly, who is from Toronto. ”So he said, `It’s just a few idiots being ignorant.”’Smith-Pelly has seven goals and nine assists in 54 games is in his first season with the Capitals. He has 40 goals and 53 assists in 320 regular-season games with in seven seasons with Anaheim, Montreal, New Jersey and the Capitals.Capitals rookie defenseman Madison Bowey said what happened in Chicago made him ”sick to my stomach.”Assistant captain Brooks Orpik said: ”I wish I could say it’s surprising but it’s probably not all that surprising.””I think no matter what you do, you’re going to find pockets of ignorance anywhere you go,” Orpik said. ”Devo is as well liked as anyone in this room. I think it’s important for him to know that, and to know that everyone respects him a ton in this room.”Capitals coach Barry Trotz reiterated his post-game comments by saying there’s no place for racism in hockey or the country.”For the 22,000 people in Chicago at the game last night, there were a lot, a lot, a lot of good people,” Trotz said. ”And a few individuals keep bringing the ugly part of society out, and that was unfortunate.”The fans’ taunts occurred during the NHL’s monthlong ”Hockey is for Everyone ” campaign to promote the game as being inclusive for all players regardless of race, color, religion, national origin or gender. February is also Black History Month in the United States.The NHL has had to previously deal with racial insults.During the 2014 playoffs, the Boston Bruins denounced fans who posted racial comments on social media targeting then-Montreal Canadiens defenseman P.K. Subban, who is black, after he scored in double overtime.In 2011, a fan was fined $200 after pleading guilty to engaging in a prohibited activity for throwing a banana on the ice at Philadelphia Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds, who is black, during an exhibition game at London, Ontario.—AP freelance reporter Matt Carlson in Chicago contributed to this report.—