didn’t think it went in initially.“I thought it hit the post becau

SAN JOSE Womens Connor Hellebuyck Jersey , Calif. (AP) Eric Fehr and Marcus Sorensen spent most of the season toiling in the AHL, just waiting for their chance.That opportunity has arrived in the playoffs for San Jose and those two fourth-line forwards are a major reason why the Sharks swept Anaheim to advance to a second-round series against Vegas.Fehr scored one goal while anchoring the fourth line and Sorensen had three as San Jose’s bottom group of forwards that also includes Melker Karlsson matched the scoring output of the entire Anaheim team in the series.”It’s awesome to see,” top-line forward Evander Kane said. ”It really gives a big spark to our group when you see those guys go out there and play in the offensive zone, create scoring chances and score goals. That really adds to our group. It takes pressure off us as top players to know all four lines can score.”The deadline addition of Kane provided the Sharks a major spark down the stretch but a lower-profile deal a week earlier for Fehr was also key to San Jose’s success.Fehr stepped right in as San Jose’s fourth-line center, giving coach Peter DeBoer the confidence to roll four lines and keep his top players fresh. It was a surprising development since Fehr’s career looked to be nearing its end after 12 seasons when he cleared waivers for Toronto back in November and got loaned to Anaheim’s AHL affiliate in San Diego.He remained there hoping to return to the playoffs where he helped Pittsburgh win the Stanley Cup against the Sharks two years ago. His opportunity came when the Sharks dealt a 2020 seventh-round pick for him.”That’s what kept me playing, the chance to come in here and play some playoff hockey,” he said. ”That’s the best time of the year. This is what you play for.”While Fehr is on the back end of his career, Sorensen should be ascending. He was expected to make the team out of training camp after playing well in the postseason last year against Edmonton.But Sorensen was beaten out by Barclay Goodrow and spent most of the season in the minors or as a healthy scratch before playing the final five games of the regular season after Goodrow broke a finger.Sorensen showed enough there for DeBoer to have confidence to use him in the playoffs and the move paid off with him scoring goals in the final three games of the sweep.”I think he’s a player who enjoys playing at this time of the year,” teammate Logan Couture said. ”He plays a hard game but this is probably the best hockey I’ve seen him play, at least the NHL level because he’s making a difference every shift.”The Sharks aren’t alone in getting key contributions from fourth liners, whether it’s two goals from Colorado’s Gabriel Bourque, a key empty-net goal from Nashville’s Ryan Hartman, strong overall play from Washington fourth-line center Jay Beagle Dmitry Kulikov Jersey , or Boston’s Sean Kuraly chipping in with a goal and two assists.After missing the opener with an upper-body injury, Beagle scored a goal in Game 2 against Columbus and has won 71 percent of his faceoffs in his three games in the series after Washington lost nine of 10 defensive-zone draws late in a Game 1 loss.”Especially this time of year, Beags is an all-in guy, a true pro, a buy that will give up his body to make a difference,” coach Barry Trotz said. ”For me, it’s a mentality. There’s other guys that can probably kill (penalties) as well as Jay, but he pulls people in the fight. And when it comes to the penalty kill unit, he has a lot of pride, and he’ll pull the other guys in.”The Wild got no goals or assists from some of their most skilled forwards, Jason Zucker, Nino Niederreiter and Charlie Coyle, one reason they lost to Winnipeg in five games.. But their fourth line was a valuable asset Youth Dustin Byfuglien Jersey , providing more than just a couple of token checks before retreating to the bench. Daniel Winnik (one assist), Joel Eriksson Ek (one assist) and Marcus Foligno (one goal) gave the Wild plenty of productive shifts against the Jets.”It’s a really tough job for a big man to sit on the bench and come out with a lot of energy,” coach Bruce Boudreau said. ”Every big guy that I’ve had has always said, `I’ve got to get into it. I’ve got to get into it. I can’t sit.”’—AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno and AP Sports Writers Dave Campbell and Teresa Walker contributed to this report.— ST. LOUIS (AP) — In the beginning of the season, the St. Louis Blues were finding ways to lose games. Now, they’re managing to pull out wins.Ryan O’Reilly scored 34 seconds into overtime and the St. Louis Blues beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 on Tuesday night for their franchise-record 11th straight victory.“It’s fun hockey,” O’Reilly said. “We’re really enjoying it. You see from the start of the year how frustrating it was and how we kept working and working and not getting the result. Now, you see the way we’ve come together and everybody’s invested in each other. Everyone’s trying to make it easier for the next guy. Again, that wasn’t a perfect game.”O’Reilly started the game-winning sequence with a stellar defensive play to break up a Maple Leafs chance. The effort created a 2-on-1 break with Vladimir Tarasenko, but O’Reilly took the shot himself.“He (Mitch Marner) was winding up there, I kind of saw that he had me beat already so just went flying — just a desperate play, trying to get back,” O’Reilly said. “Saw (Blues goalie Jordan Binnington) went down and he was going to try and throw it in front http://www.jetsshoppro.com/authentic-jacob-trouba-jersey , got my stick down and luckily it turned into a 2-on-1 for us.”Jaden Schwartz and Colton Parayko also scored and Tyler Bozak had two assists for the Blues. Binnington made 29 saves to win his ninth straight, extending the longest winning streak in franchise history for a rookie goaltender.Zach Hyman and Auston Matthews scored third-period goals as the Maple Leafs erased a 2-0 deficit. Frederik Andersen made 38 saves as Toronto wrapped up a six-game road trip with a 3-2-1 mark.Hyman scored at 6:34 of the third, snapping the Blues’ shutout streak at 233:50.Matthews followed just 31 seconds later as the puck deflected off his skate past Binnington. It was Matthews’ first career point in six games against the Blues, who were the only team he didn’t have a point against.“I would have liked to seen us crawl our way back and win the game, but I thought we did a lot of good things today in the latter half of the game to set us up for success and I was impressed with a lot of our play,” Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said.Schwartz gave the Blues a 1-0 lead midway through the first, scoring off a backhand feed from Bozak. Alexander Steen started the play, forcing a turnover in the Maple Leafs’ zone.Parayko made it 2-0 with a power-play goal with 2:18 left in the first. Parayko’s shot was initially ruled off the post. Once play was stopped nearly 20 seconds later, a review showed the puck hit the bar and went in.Parayko didn’t think it went in initially.“I thought it hit the post because I didn’t see anybody react,” Parayko said.Toronto center Nazem Kadri left the game with a concussion after the first period. Kadri took a big hit from Vince Dunn early in the game.NOTES: Blues F Vladimir Tarasenko had his NHL-high 12 game points streak snapped. Tarasenko was named the NHL’s second star of the Week on Monday. He had four goals and six assists and was plus-7 for the week ending Feb. 1. … Maple Leafs LW Andreas Johnsson returned to the lineup after missing one game with a leg injury. … The Blues scratched C Robby Fabbri and D Chris Butler. … The Maple Leafs scratched D Justin Holl, C Tyler Ennis and D Igor Ozhiganov.UP NEXTMaple Leafs: Host Washington on Thursday night.Blues: At Dallas on Thursday night.