Unsere Gaeste - Ecke » 14:19 when Brown scored his 14th

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Stanley Cup championship banner rose to the rafters at the home of the Washington Capitals for the first time Calgary Flames Hats Authentic , and everyone in attendance Wednesday night got to relive the sheer excitement of it all.Alex Ovechkin and the other players, who craned their necks to see the video montages of last season on the overhead scoreboard — and couldn’t help but smile. Coaches, too, including new head man Todd Reirden. Not to mention the owner and the GM and the assistant equipment manager and anyone else on staff.And, importantly, the 18,506 fans, decked out in their jerseys — most of them in the team’s main color, red, so many with Ovechkin’s No. 8. They sang along to “We Are the Champions!” in full throat and shook their team-distributed glow sticks during a half-hour ceremony before Washington opened the regular season by beating the Boston Bruins 7-0 behind a pair of goals from Evgeny Kuznetsov and one apiece from Ovechkin, Oshie, Nic Dowd, John Carlson and Lars Eller.“Gave me chills. I was just looking up and I was hearing the crowd sing that song,” center Nicklas Backstrom said, then added with a laugh: “I want to experience that again.”Those fans roared at any mention of “champions.” Or any clip of Ovechkin. Or, especially, when there were glimpses of “The Save” by Braden Holtby in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Vegas Golden Knights Custom Calgary Flames Jerseys , and Eller’s Cup-winning goal in Game 5, and Ovechkin kissing the trophy for the first time back on June 7. One thing missing from the festivities: any mention or image of Barry Trotz, the coach who led the team to the trophy then left in a contract dispute, replaced by promoted assistant Reirden.Each burst of cheers sounded as if the games from months ago were being played all over again.“When you’re part of something like that,” said Oshie, who scored 24 seconds into the game, “how can you not be excited to get going and try to do it again?”The banner signifying the NHL championship was revealed toward the end of the festivities, slowly lifted to the ceiling, its rise paused long enough for the players to gather on the ice in front of it for photos, the Stanley Cup itself resting nearby on the ice.There already were five red banners hanging from the rafters to signify some sort of accomplishment by the Capitals: Three represent a total of 11 division titles, one marks the team’s pair of Eastern Conference titles, and the last celebrates a trio of Presidents’ Trophy triumphs.None, of course, is quite as significant as the piece of material hoisted on this night.“Kind of a historic moment for us. I’ve always said it’s nice to be a part of it; it’s nice to be in this organization,” Ovechkin said after the game. “Tonight, we had so many emotions, so much fun out there www.officialhurricanes.com , and you can see how we played.”Drafted No. 1 overall in 2004, Ovechkin has scored more than 600 goals and won three league MVP awards as one of hockey’s most prominent (gap-toothed) faces. He also became Washington’s captain along the way and, therefore, the first player in franchise history to get to grab the Stanley Cup.He carried it again Wednesday, bringing it onto the ice and taking a half-lap around the rink — serenaded by “Ovi! Ovi!” — as the last player introduced. The Capitals won their title on the road at Las Vegas, so this was chance for the Cup to be shown off at home.That famous silver chalice, etched for the first time with the Capitals’ names, made a trek around the nation’s capital throughout Wednesday. Not only did the Capitals put an end to their own futility, they also earned the first championship for any of the city’s teams in the four North American major professional sports leagues since the NFL’s Redskins won the Super Bowl in 1992.“They made it OK to believe,” said ceremony emcee John Walton, the Capitals’ radio voice.“Let’s go, Caps!” rang out in the stands as the banner’s rise concluded.That chant shifted to “Back-to-back!” when the ceremony ended with Ovechkin skating the Cup off the ice. After giving it a parting kiss, he placed it in its black carrying case, the celebration over, the title defense soon off to quite a start. TORONTO (AP) The Toronto Maple Leafs keep winning at home – even though they had to sweat a little in this one.Nazem Kadri scored with 7:26 left in regulation, helping the Maple Leafs extend their club-record home winning streak to 13 games with a 4-3 comeback victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday night.Kasperi Kapanen, Connor Brown and William Nylander had the other goals for Toronto Carolina Hurricanes T-Shirts Authentic , which also tied a franchise mark with its 45th win.”It was a fun game,” said Frederick Andersen, who made 38 saves and tied a career high with his 35th win of the season. ”A lot of different kinds of goals, but a fun game and obviously a good win for us. We stepped up a little bit in the third.”The Maple Leafs, who split a tough two-game road trip earlier this week against the Tampa Bay Lightning and Nashville Predators, trailed 3-2 early in the third period.”Detroit played really hard and made it hard on us,” Toronto coach Mike Babcock said. ”We told our team before they were going to make it hard on us.”Dylan Larkin, Tyler Bertuzzi and Frans Nielsen scored for Detroit and Jimmy Howard made 25 saves.We did tons of good stuff,” Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said. ”There were large moments in the game (where) we carried the play.”The Red Wings went ahead 3-2 at 4:58 of the third period when Nielsen snapped his 15th short-side over Andersen’s shoulder and off the camera inside the Toronto net from a tight angle. The play was initially waved off for a goalie interference charge against Detroit’s Justin Abdelkader, but was overturned after a coach’s challenge.Nylander came back and tied it 2:29 later when he stole the puck from Nick Jensen along the boards in the offensive zone and played a slick give-and-go with Auston Matthews for his 16th.With the game tied, Kadri took a pass from Patrick Marleau over the stick of sprawling Red Wings defenseman Luke Witkowski on a 2-on-1 rush before scoring his 29th goal of the season.”Unbelievable,” Kadri said of Marleau’s pass. ”I knew when he took it to his backhand there was a chance it was coming across. … Unexplainable. Obviously, he had the great vision to put it on my stick. I just tried to find a lane for him to create that pass, but it was all him.”Kadri, 27, also marveled at how the 38-year-old Marleau continues to excel at his age.”I don’t know how he does it,” Kadri said. ”I couldn’t imagine when I’m (almost) 40 years old how I’m going to feel. He always seems to contribute Carolina Hurricanes Hoodies Authentic , and he’s just got those great genetics.”After Kadri put Toronto ahead, Andersen had a nervous moment with 3:36 to go when Gustav Nyquist’s shot from outside the blue line went off his glove and landed in the crease before he covered up.Down 1-0 after the first, the Red Wings got even at 4:32 of the second when the speedy Larkin took a stretch pass from Anthony Mantha, who had knocked down Roman Polak’s point shot and raced in alone before beating Andersen between his arm and his body for his 12th.Detroit nearly went up 2-1 moments later when Martin Frk was awarded a penalty shot after getting slashed by Toronto’s Ron Hainsey on another breakaway, but Andersen closed his pads on Frk’s shot.Howard then robbed Andreas Johnsson with a desperation glove save off the rush before the Red Wings went in front when Bertuzzi tipped home his third at 9:37.Nielsen nearly made it 3-1 a couple minutes later, but Andersen was there to make the stop from in tight.Despite being outshot 17-4 in the period to that point, the Leafs tied it at 14:19 when Brown scored his 14th – and first in 15 games – on a tip off the post and in past Howard.Detroit survived a 36-second 5-on-3 power play by Toronto midway through the first, but the Leafs eventually took the lead with 5:30 remaining in the period. Tyler Bozak fished out a loose puck in front before firing a no-look pass to Kapanen, who scored his seventh, and third in the last seven games.”Resilient teams find a way,” Kadri said. ”That’s definitely what we did tonight.”NOTES: Toronto’s James van Riemsdyk assisted on Kapanen’s goal to give him 11 points in his last six games with eight goals and three assists. … Matthews, who returned to the lineup Thursday and was playing at home for the first time since suffering a shoulder injury Feb. 22, had a great chance in the opening minutes that Howard turned aside. … Matthews missed 10 games before scoring in Toronto’s 5-2 victory in Nashville on Thursday. … The Leafs’ last home loss was Jan. 22 against Colorado.UP NEXTRed Wings: at Montreal on Monday night.Maple Leafs: host Buffalo on Monday night.