Unsere Gaeste - Ecke » Make those high-pressure

WASHINGTON — Washington Capitals winger Jakub Vrana is playing in just his first playoff series against the rival Pittsburgh Penguins Blake Bortles Jersey Black , yet he has a pretty good grasp of things.

“Everybody knows it’s a big rivalry. We kind of hate each other,” the 22-year-old Vrana told reporters Friday. “We go at it and we’re really pumped for the next game.”

The Penguins and Capitals meet Saturday in Washington for Game 5 of their series, which is tied 2-2 after the Penguins’ 3-1 win Thursday night at PPG Paints Arena.

“We knew we needed to have a good response game here,” center Sidney Crosby told the Post-Gazette. “We did that. We need to carry this momentum into Washington.”

Washington, looking to avenge second-round losses to Pittsburgh in each of the last two seasons, has won five straight Game 5s when the series is tied. Pittsburgh, meanwhile, is 4-1 on the road in these playoffs after going 17-20-4 away from home in the regular season.

In their last two playoffs meetings, the Capitals trailed the Penguins 3-1 before falling in six games in 2015-16 and seven games last season.

“One game at a time. Now this game isn’t going to shake us at all,” Capitals goalie Braden Holtby told NHL.com after Thursday’s loss. “Our biggest asset has been bouncing back, either after a win or a loss. Just focus on playing our game, and that’s what we’re going to do. I don’t think anyone in here believes any different.”

Bouncing back will require Washington to get its top line going. With Tom Wilson suspended for Games 4-6, coach Barry Trotz moved Devante Smith-Pelly up with Alex Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov. They managed just five shots on goal Thursday Luke Schenn Jersey Kids , none by Ovechkin.

“That whole line has to be better,” Trotz told the Washington Post on Friday. “I think that whole line has to be better for us. They’re going to need to be productive for us.”

Trotz could make a change to the top line for Saturday’s game. Forward Andre Burakovsky, who has been out with an upper-body injury since the Columbus series, skated Friday but is unlikely to return Saturday. Vrana played with Ovechkin and Kuznetsov early in the season.

Pittsburgh evened the series Thursday after losing two in a row as Jake Guentzel scored twice, Crosby had two assists and Matt Murray made 20 saves.

Evgeny Malkin scored the tiebreaker in the second period on a goal that survived a replay review and a challenge for goaltender interference.

Guentzel leads the NHL with 10 goals and 21 points in the playoffs.

“Just kind of feel like the bounces are going in right now,” Guentzel told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “You’re just getting lucky on some plays in front of the net. The puck’s finding me. Just have to try and be around it. Hopefully, they keep coming. It’s definitely a good feeling.”

The Capitals managed just three shots on goal in the third period.

“I think we cut down their odd-man rushes there last game, and that’s going to be a big key in this series,” Pittsburgh’s Patric Hornqvist told the Post Gazette. “They have a lot of firepower up front and we just have to make sure they can’t get those quality chances.”

Penguins forward Carl Hagelin returned for Game 4 after missing three games with an upper-body injury.

Daniel Carlson's career-best field goal at Auburn was 56 yards. His confidence range indoors reaches 65. During pre-draft training in the high altitude of his home state Colorado, he said, even a 75-yard kick was makeable.

The Minnesota Vikings were so enamored with that strong leg they used a fifth-round pick on the 6-foot-5, 213-pound Carlson, a bold enough move to suggest he'll be the place kicker this season and not incumbent Kai Forbath.

No matter how big of a boom Carlson delivers on the ball Youth Dustin Byfuglien Jersey , though, what matters the most is how accurate he can be from those less-impressive and more-critical distances. The shorter kicks that the Vikings have seen missed too many times over the past five years.

"I'm a 6-foot-5 kicker, which is pretty rare. That does help having those long levers to hopefully get a couple touchbacks and some longer kicks here and there," Carlson said. "But at the end of the day it's the kicks inside of 50 that really are going to make or break a season or make or break you."

The Vikings re-signed Forbath in March. In 25 games since he replaced the struggling Blair Walsh, Forbath has missed eight extra points. He also pulled a couple of 39-yard field goals wide in 2017. Though he came through down the stretch with several important makes, including three field goals in the playoff game win over New Orleans, Forbath clearly didn't gain the full trust of the coaching staff and front office.

"The whole objective right now at this point is to create the most competitive 90-man roster that you can, regardless of position," general manager Rick Spielman said last weekend after making Carlson the 167th overall selection.

When the Vikings drafted Walsh in the sixth round in 2012, they released reliable incumbent Ryan Longwell the day after the rookie minicamp was complete. The same scenario played out in 2013 with punter Jeff Locke, a fifth-round pick, and his outspoken predecessor, Chris Kluwe. For now http://www.officialstarsproonline.com/authentic-adidas-brett-ritchie-jersey , the Vikings have said they'll keep the competition open. Still, a fifth-rounder is a high price for a specialist.

"Kai's done really good this spring," coach Mike Zimmer said. "So we're just going to let them go out there and kick."

Carlson made all 198 extra points he attempted in college, albeit from 20 yards and not 33 yards, to set an SEC record. He went 92 for 114 on field goals. Factor in a strong performance at the Senior Bowl in January, and the Vikings were interested. They sent special teams coordinator Mike Priefer to Auburn for one of five private workouts Carlson conducted after the scouting combine, and Carlson and Priefer immediately hit it off.

Carlson was one of the eight draftees among 66 players assembled by the Vikings for workouts this weekend, including 31 players invited on a tryout basis.

The 17 college free agents signed earlier this week included cornerback Holton Hill from Texas and linebacker Hercules Mata'afa of Washington State, considered two of the top undrafted players. Among the unsigned prospects aiming to follow the lead of Marcus Sherels in 2010 and Adam Thielen in 2013, as tryout players who earned a contract after the rookie minicamp and eventually made the team, are safety Mackenro Alexander of Iowa State, the twin brother of Vikings cornerback Mackensie Alexander; Northern Illinois wide receiver Chad Beebe, the son of former Buffalo Bills standout Don Beebe; and quarterback Matt Linehan from Idaho Danton Heinen Jersey Kids , the son of former Vikings and current Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator Scott Linehan.

None of these players, even first-round cornerback Mike Hughes, carry the potential to impact the Vikings in 2018 as much as Carlson.

"I knew what I was coming into, and I'm excited to get to work," said Carlson, a three-time Lou Groza Award finalist and the SEC special teams player of the year for the last two seasons. "Hopefully, I'll prove to these coaches and the rest of this team that I deserve to be here."

Make those high-pressure kicks, and they'll quickly develop that respect.

"You kind of figure it out with a little maturity and handling those big moments," Carlson said, "but I think as a kicker that's what we're supposed to live for."

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