r other guys, and guys will follow.”He’s had a solid season with 25 goals and 37 assists. Then again, it doesn’t hurt to play on a line that includes MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen.”He leads the way on th

WASHINGTON (AP) The good news for Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals is they still lead their Eastern Conference final against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The bad news for the Capitals Womens Esa Lindell Jersey , counterintuitive as it may be: They host Game 4.So far, Washington is 7-1 in away games this postseason, closing out each of its first two series on the road.Heading into Thursday night, the Capitals are only 3-4 in their arena. The latest setback was a 4-2 loss to the Lightning on Tuesday, after victories at Tampa Bay by a combined score of 10-4 in the final’s opening two games.Ovechkin simply shrugged when asked about that discrepancy.”We don’t think about it,” the three-time NHL MVP said. ”We just play our game.”Others were less dismissive.”We can take a few things that we’ve done on the road and put it into our home game,” goalie Braden Holtby said. ”Just a little simpler. Simpler play. Just a kind of, like, more gritty style.”Asked what his club could do to fare better at home, Capitals coach Barry Trotz said: ”Just play the way we do on the road. We’re invested there. We’re playing with real good focus. I didn’t think we were as focused as we have been normally on the road. So just pretend you’re on the road. All the buildings are pretty well the same these days.”Trotz notices a difference in his players’ attitude on home ice, saying: ”It’s `us against the world’ when were on the road.”There is a league-wide trend here: Road teams are 38-34 in these playoffs.So much for any supposed home-ice advantage, right?”For whatever reason, at this time of the year there are more distractions than in the regular season, for sure. A lot of people have friends and family coming down and ticket requests. Sometimes there’s that little added pressure of playing at home and wanting to obviously do good things in front of your fans,” Lightning forward Steven Stamkos said. ”There’s something to be said, too, (for) winning games on the road, when you can just kind of hear a pin drop in the crowd, sometimes, which is always a good thing.”Holtby agreed.”It’s easier to play on the road. It’s always that way on the road. Any team would say that,” he said. ”Because you’re not focused on the excitement of your fans and all that. They bring you energy in good ways, but at the same time, you need to stay realistic and play your game.”During the regular season, Washington was a strong home team Jamie Benn Jersey , playing in front of loud, red-wearing sellout crowds in every game.Only five teams in the 31-club NHL had more victories at home than Washington’s 28 – and that total represents seven more wins than the Capitals managed on the road.So what is going on in the playoffs?”I don’t really have an explanation for it, to be honest with you,” defenseman Brooks Orpik said. ”I know when we go on the road, I think maybe we feel a bit more relaxed, and when we do make mistakes, maybe we don’t let the groaning affect us or whatnot. I mean, that being said, I think we should be probably mentally stronger to not let that affect us. Just got to try to find a way to win the next one at home, for sure.”NOTES: Injured Capitals C Nicklas Backstrom, who has missed the last four games with an injured right hand, took part in the team’s optional skate Wednesday. But Trotz wouldn’t give any hint as to when Backstrom might return. ”When Nicky’s ready to go, he’s ready to go,” Trotz said. ”You miss him in every way shape or form.” … Washington re-signed D Aaron Ness to a one-year, two-way contract worth $650,000 if he’s in the NHL, $425,000 in the minors. Ness had one assist in eight games for the Capitals this season.—AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno contributed to this report.— DENVER (AP) There were moments in such a sour season a year ago when Gabriel Landeskog doubted himself as a player. It just wore on him that much.Never once did he ever question this: His ability to lead the Colorado Avalanche.The longtime captain who’s still just 25 galvanized a youthful squad this season through dinners, pingpong games, stepping into the role of mentor, assisting on one of the best lines in hockey, getting feedback from fellow veterans and even being a tour guide. His teammates have followed Landeskog’s lead straight into the postseason.”Sometimes, you can doubt the things you’re doing as a captain or if you’re doing it right, but never if I wanted to be a captain http://www.officialstarsproonline.com/authentic-adidas-jason-spezza-jersey ,” explained Landeskog, whose team opens the first round Thursday night in Nashville against the top-seeded Predators. ”That’s an honor. That’s a privilege.”Naturally, there have been growing pains along the way for Landeskog, who was appointed captain on Sept. 4, 2012, at the tender age of 19 years, 286 days.But last season took a toll on him and everyone else. The team had a league-worst 48 points in 2016-17 – the lowest in a full season since 1999-2000, when the expansion Atlanta Thrashers had 39.”When it’s going that bad, when you’re that bad of a team, no doubt you start doubting yourself, as a player and as a person,” said Landeskog, a Swedish winger who was drafted by Colorado with the second overall pick in 2011. ”At the end of the day, you have to believe in yourself and find that inner confidence and believe that you can do it and you are good and that you are doing the right things and stick with it.”It set the stage for a major turnaround. Their 47-point improvement this season is the tied for the fourth-highest year-to-year improvement in NHL history for a full season.”I don’t think I’ve ever been a part of a group with such team chemistry,” said Landeskog, who helped seal the playoff appearance with a goal and two assists in a 5-2 win over St. Louis last weekend during a winner-take-all, regular-season finale.That chemistry began in training camp. It escalated even more nearly 5,000 miles away in Stockholm, Landeskog’s hometown. Colorado took a trip there in November to play two games against Ottawa. Right before that, the Avs made a three-team trade that sent Matt Duchene to the Senators and got them such players as defenseman Samuel Girard from Nashville in return.While in Sweden, Landeskog became a tour guide. He set up museum excursions and organized dinners at his favorite spots. Although the Avalanche dropped both games, they found something greater – cohesion.”We really came together as a team,” Landeskog said. ”There’s something about spending five or six days with the team and nobody has family or friends or other obligations. It’s just team, team John Klingberg Jersey , team and that’s it.”Team dinners on the road have been frequent. Pingpong games began happening (Landeskog keeps a paddle with a picture of himself taped on it in his locker). And lines of communication that have always been open are even more open.”He’s very selfless. He doesn’t care about his own personal numbers,” standout Nathan MacKinnon said. ”He’s definitely the perfect captain for this team.”He’s just trying to be his even-keeled self.”I have a support staff – my fiance, my dad and my family and things like that to support me and try to bring me up when I’m down,” Landeskog said. ”It’s just something that’s always been engrained, to keep working and keep doing the right things, keep being a good teammate, to be a good example for other guys, and guys will follow.”He’s had a solid season with 25 goals and 37 assists. Then again, it doesn’t hurt to play on a line that includes MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen.”He leads the way on the ice and rarely does any mistakes,” Rantanen said. ”The way he speaks to the team is so calm. He’s a role model for young guys.”Landeskog already is in full playoff mode with his beard game. He started growing it months ago, with the Avalanche trying to claw their way into the postseason. It’s a contrast to, say, defenseman Nikita Zadorov, who hardly even has a whisker.”Zadorov brought me over close to him before practice and was like, `Look I got some (whiskers). I got some,”’ Landeskog recounted. ”I walked up there close to him, and there wasn’t a whole lot to brag about.”A light-hearted mood – that’s where the team is at heading into a playoff series as a decided underdog.”Standing here after a season like this, I think you can look around the room and say everybody had a bounce-back season,” Landeskog said. ”Ultimately, everybody in this room helped this team get to the playoffs.”—