The Buffalo Sabres begin a busy part of their schedule Tuesday night when they are home to the Calgary Flames.The Sabres Chris Tierney Jersey Womens , who lost 5-4 overtime to the Blue Jackets in Columbus on Saturday, will follow the game against the Flames with a home-and-home set Thursday and Saturday against the Ottawa Senators before visiting the New York Rangers.The Sabres (6-4-1) will be facing a team that will be playing its second game in two nights after defeating the Maple Leafs 3-1 in Toronto on Monday night with a well-structured, tight effort.Article continues below ...The Flames (6-5-1) were coming off a 4-3 overtime loss to the Washington Capitals at home on Saturday, a game that coach Bill Peters felt was encouraging after the humiliation of a 9-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday. Peters was not disappointed Monday.“We’re taking some steps,” coach Bill Peters said. “We’re learning how to play hard for each other, learning how to manage the puck and taking some risk out of our game. If we can continue to do that, we can have a good team by the time it’s all said and done. We’re going in the right direction, but there is still work to be done.”All the scoring took place in the third period Monday with the Flames breaking through with two goals 55 seconds apart by Sean Monahan and Elias Lindholm.Sabres coach Phil Housley took encouragement in the way his team overcame a two-goal deficit.“We can take forward here being on the road, being down two against a good hockey team, we found a way to earn a point Tyson Barrie Jersey ,” Housley said. “We’ll learn from the mistakes we made but we have to take credit where it’s due. We did a terrific job battling on the road to get a point.”On the other hand, Housley feels the Sabres must tighten their game. Backup goaltender Linus Ullmark faced 37 shots in the game against Columbus, his third start of the season, as well as some odd-man rushes.“Linus made some big saves during the game,” Housley said. “He saw too many Grade-A chances and situations we need to clean up. We were way too loose. We’re not going to win a lot of hockey games playing like that and we know that.”Ullmark is 2-0-1 with a 2.00 goals-against average and a .935 save percentage and he figures to see more action during the busy stretch. Starting goaltender Carter Hutton played all four games on a recent homestand. He is 4-4, 3.07 GAA and a .905 save percentage.“I feel good. I’m really happy every time I get the chance to go in there and play,” Ullmark said. “Whenever I get the chance, I want to seize the moment, do what I do best and just go out there and enjoy it.”“He’s been very square to the puck,” Housley said. “He’s not fighting things. He’s letting the puck hit him and he’s been really good challenging. When the moment is there Matt Martin Jersey Womens , he’ll get out and challenge the shooters. All of those things, and his puck-handling ability have helped our defense out.”Sabres defenseman Jake McCabe did not practice Monday and is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury, Housley said. He missed time in the second period Saturday but played in the third period.The Flames will be visiting Buffalo in a good frame of mind.“I thought we worked hard,” Monahan said. “We had a good start to the game, which we haven’t had in some of the past few. I think we stepped it up. Tonight, was a big win and we’ve got to keep it rolling.”Flames goaltender Mike Smith stopped 24 shots.“We just played together as a team,” Smith said. ” We have a standard now that we’ve set, and hopefully we can continue that.” PITTSBURGH (AP) The chase began nearly a year ago, when Pittsburgh Penguins coach Mike Sullivan addressed hundreds of thousands of fans following a second Stanley Cup championship parade through choked downtown streets in as many summers.Rather than run from the challenge of trying to become the first franchise in 35 years to win three consecutive Cups, Sullivan embraced it.”I wonder if we can repeat Seth Griffith Jersey Womens , or three-peat, should I say,” Sullivan said.Following an occasionally rocky regular season, the Penguins begin their pursuit in earnest Wednesday night when they host cross-state rival Philadelphia Flyers to open their first-round series. Asked Tuesday if he remembers openly talking about a three-peat – last accomplished by the New York Islanders in 1983 – Sullivan just shrugged. He wasn’t so much predicting another mid-June celebration as he was stating the obvious.”We believe that we have a group that’s capable,” Sullivan said. ”And we’ve shown an ability to have success in a high-stakes environment.”For proof, look no further than the most recent names etched on hockey’s most coveted chalice. The Penguins have won series in all kinds of ways over the last two years. They’ve dominated. They’ve rallied. Mostly, they’ve survived. And the Flyers have noticed.”They have all the pieces,” Philadelphia center Claude Giroux said. ”On paper they’re a really good team and in the playoffs they always find a way.”The Flyers, however, present a unique challenge. Philadelphia hasn’t won a playoff series since it beat the favored Penguins in six sometimes chaotic games in 2012. The Flyers pulled off the upset thanks in part to a meltdown by Pittsburgh. The Penguins lost their composure at times Jack Roslovic Jersey Womens , leading to a string of power plays that Philadelphia rode to victory.While the majority of the faces that will take the ice at PPG Paints Arena are different, the history of antagonism between the two clubs remains. Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby understands things are likely to get chippy. He’d prefer they not get out of hand.”I don’t think we’re looking to fight,” Crosby said. ”It will definitely be an intense series, we know that.”One in which the erratic Flyers, who endured a 10-game winless streak around Thanksgiving, know they are the underdogs. That’s fine. In some ways, they’ve been one all season.”In reality, when you have to earn your way and your margin of error is pretty short all the way along, it tests you,” Philadelphia coach Dave Haksol said. ”Sometimes you pass the test. Sometimes you fail the test. It tests you and pushes you to get better.”Some things to look for as Philadelphia tries to put an abrupt end to Pittsburgh’s bid at winning a fourth Cup during the Crosby Era.POWER HOUR: The Penguins and their star-laden power play led the league and set a franchise record by scoring 26.2 percent of the time with the man advantage. Their number this season was just a touch better than the 26.0 the 1995-96 club posted Scott Mayfield Jersey Womens , a group that included Hall of Famers Mario Lemieux and Ron Francis and future Hall of Famer Jaromir Jagr. The Flyers understand their best chance to pull off the upset will be by staying out of the penalty box.”They got special players that make special plays,” Giroux said. ”For us it’s to make sure we minimize those chances.”HOW SWEEP IT IS? The Penguins took all four meetings between the teams during the regular season, scoring five goals each time. Look closer, however, and things are tighter than they seem. Both games in Pittsburgh ended with the Penguins escaping 5-4 following goals during the three-on-three overtime. There are no extra-period gimmicks in the playoffs.”I don’t think we’ve played our best game or a full 60 minutes against Pittsburgh yet,” Flyers forward Sean Couturier said. ”But I like our chances if we play some good hockey for 60 minutes, maybe even more.”BRASSARD BONANZA: Pittsburgh’s big move at the trade deadline was to bring in Derick Brassard from Ottawa to center the third line. Brassard appeared to be hitting his stride in late March before suffering a lower-body injury. He should be good to go in Game 1, and his presence gives the Penguins perhaps the best depth down the middle of any team in the league.”I’m just going to try and keep it simple early and go from there,” Brassard said.—
