Bekanntmachungen » sit between games to check his shoulder and elbow

PITTSBURGH -- There were some difficult questions surrounding Sidney Crosby when he missed the start of the season because of a concussion, especially given his history with that type of injury.The answers have come swiftly and definitively. The Pittsburgh Penguins center is OK. More than OK.Going into Mondays game against the New York Rangers at PPG Paints Arena, Crosby has 12 goals in 12 games, putting him into a tie with Winnipeg rookie Patrik Laine for the NHL lead in that category. Laine has played eight more games.The anomaly in Crosbys game is his goals-to-assists ratio. He has three times as many goals as his four assists. He has never finished with more goals than assists in an NHL season.For whatever reason, thats just the way its worked out, he recently told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. I dont feel like Im looking to shoot any more. Thats one thing I have to constantly remind myself of, to have that shooting mentality. I would probably look to pass most times.Crosby is not shooting appreciably more -- 3.6 shots a game this season, 3.3 for his career.Since their team captain got into the lineup, the Penguins are 8-2-2.Overall, Pittsburgh is 11-4-3. That makes Mondays game a showdown for first place in the Metropolitan Division between the Penguins, with 25 points, and the Rangers (13-5-1, 27 points), who are coming off of a 3-2 shootout loss Sunday against Florida in their first game beyond regulation this season.This is the first meeting between the clubs since the Penguins knocked New York out of the playoffs in the opening round last spring.Sundays game -- one made worse by a broken left leg suffered by Mika Zibanejad in overtime -- was the Rangers second loss in a row, and their four combined goals in those games are uncharacteristic. They have thrived on offense. They have a league-best 76 goals and a plus-31 goal differential. They have 14 players with at least 10 points, and Michael Grabner sits just behind Crosby and Laine with 11 goals.But New York also has gotten strong goaltending. Henrik Lundqvist missed a shot at his 10th win Sunday. Antti Raanta, who seems likely to start Monday, hasnt played a lot, but he has been effective, going 4-0 with a 2.05 goals-against average and a .936 save percentage.Im not worried at all about Antti, Rangers coach Alain Vigneault told the New York Post recently about Raanta. We know hes always going to give us a chance to win.Raanta said its about finding a good New York backup state of mind.I just think about good things and what youre doing and what it takes, and just enjoy the moment, he told the Post. Its the best league in the world, and youre fortunate enough to be here. Just go there and do your best and, hopefully, you get the win.Pittsburgh, coming off of a 1-1-1 road trip, lags behind the Rangers in terms of offensive prowess despite returning nearly the same lineup from its Stanley Cup team last season and Crosbys goal production. The Penguins have five players with at least 10 points. It scored just five goals on the three-game road trip. It has outscored its opponents by just two goals, 52-50.Were going to keep moving forward. All we can do is control the process and whats in front of us. Were grabbing points here along the way and winning some games, Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said.The teams wont have to wait long for their second meeting. This is the first half of a home-and-home. They have a rematch Wednesday at Madison Square Garden. Cheap Custom Blazers Jersey . 1 position. The Mustangs (6-0), who beat Queens 50-31 last weekend, earned 17 first-place votes and 287 points in voting by the Football Reporters of Canada. Western was last ranked first in the country in October 2011. Custom Blazers Jersey China . PETERSBURG, Fla. http://www.customblazersjersey.com/ . The 26-year-old Ireland striker, who has four goals this season, has signed a three-and-a-half year contract with his new club. Terry Porter Jersey Large .ca look back at each of the Top 10 stories of 2013. Today, we look back at Boston Strong - a citys recovery from tragedy. Wholesale Custom Blazers Shirts . "I wrote 36 on my sheet at the beginning of the game," the Cincinnati coach said, referring the yard line the ball would need to be snapped from. OLYMPICSRIO DE JANEIRO -- Usain Bolt and Ryan Lochte commanded the Olympic spotlight for drastically different reasons.Bolt completed an unprecedented third consecutive sweep of the 100- and 200-meter sprints, an accomplishment that further elevated his status as the most decorated male sprinter in Olympic history. He won the 200-meter race with a time of 19.78 seconds to defeat Andre de Grasse of Canada. He already claimed gold in the 100 in Rio.For all of the Olympic fanfare surrounding Bolts win, Lochte and three of his American teammates attracted attention for all the wrong reasons. Lochte has been in the news all week over his ever-shifting claim that he and his teammates were robbed in a taxi at gunpoint by men carrying a badge during a night of partying Sunday. Police now say the story was made up, and that the intoxicated athletes vandalized a gas station bathroom and were questioned by guards about the incident before they paid about $50 for the damage and left.RIO DE JANEIRO -- Taekwondo fighter Ahmad Abughaush won gold and Jordans first-ever Olympic medal.The 20-year-old wrapped up a surprising day of upsets at the Rio Games by defeating Russias Alexey Denisenko in a 68-kilogram division final, during which Abughaush landed several jumping head shots that elicited gasps from the audience. Abughaush beat Denisenko 10-6.RIO DE JANEIRO -- Dalilah Muhammad of the United States went out hard and held on strong to win the womens 400-meter hurdles gold medal in 53.13 seconds.European champion Sara Slott Peterson of Denmark took silver in 53.55 and the United States picked up another bronze medal with Ashley Spencer storming home to finish third in personal-best 53.72.RIO DE JANEIRO -- Ashton Eaton defended his Olympic decathlon title, equaling the games record with a surge on the last lap of the 1,500 meters -- the last event in the two-day competition.The 28-year-old American finished with 8,893 points to match the Olympic mark set by Roman Sebrle of the Czech Republic in 2004.RIO DE JANEIRO -- Ryan Crouser won the shot put gold medal with an Olympic record 22.52 meters, leading world champion Joe Kovacs in a 1-2 finish for the United States.The 23-year-old Crouser recorded the three best throws of his career, starting with 22.22 on his second attempt to take an early lead and improving it to 22.26 before his biggest shot of the night on his fifth attempt.Kovacs, who had the season-leading mark heading into the final, took silver at 21.78.NFLPITTSBURGH -- Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison is willing to meet with the NFL to discuss an alleged link to performance-enhancing drugs -- but only five days after a deadline the league has imposed while threatening him and three other players with indefinite suspensions.NFL Players Association attorney Heather McPhee sent a letter to the NFL, accusing it of trying to bully and publicly shame Harrison without offering evidence beyond a brief mention in television interview last year that was recanted by the accuser.Green Bays Clay Matthews and Julius Peppers, and free-agent Mike Neal also were threatened with suspensions. It was not immediately known if a similar meetting was being proposed by the union.ddddddddddddCLEVELAND -- Robert Griffin III gave the Cleveland Browns some hope with a strong home debut.Griffin threw two touchdown passes in the first half in the Browns 24-13 exhibition loss to the Atlanta Falcons.Griffin found wide receiver Terrelle Pryor streaking down the right sideline on Clevelands second drive of the game for a 50-yard scoring strike. Griffin connected with tight end Gary Barnridge for a 22-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter.Griffin signed with the Browns after being released by Washington. He was 6 of 8 for 96 yards in four series, and ran for 36 yards on three carries -- including a 22-yarder.BASEBALLHOUSTON -- Limiting pitching changes, restricting defensive shifts, altering the strike zone and installing pitch clocks are among the ideas Major League Baseball may consider as it undertakes a multiyear review of the game that could include the sports most radical changes in decades.Baseball owners were given a lengthy presentation during their quarterly meeting of how the sport has changed in the past 40 to 50 years.If implemented, some of the changes could be the most revolutionary since the AL adopted the designated hitter in 1973 or perhaps even since the number of balls for a walk was reduced from five to four in 1889.GOLFGREENSBORO, N.C. -- Rested after the Rio Olympics, Rafa Cabrera Bello shot a 7-under 63 on in the Wyndham Championship for a share of the first-round lead with Kevin Na.Na had seven birdies in his bogey-free round in the PGA Tours final regular-season event. The American tied for eighth last week in the John Deere Classic.Luke Donald, Brandt Snedeker, Derek Fathauer, New Zealand Olympian Danny Lee and Peter Malnati shot 65. Donald made a hole-in-one on the 16th.Jim Furyk had a 66 in his first round since shooting the first 58 in PGA Tour history two weeks ago in the final round of the Travelers Championship. Patrick Reed also had a 66.TENNISMASON, Ohio -- Rafael Nadal showed the effects of his long layoff from a wrist injury, losing to Croatias Borna Coric 6-1, 6-3 at the Western & Southern Open.The 30-year-old Spaniard was sluggish and well off the mark on his shots and had a trainer visit between games to check his shoulder and elbow, which were feeling the effects of a lot of tennis at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and two days in Cincinnatis heat and humidity.The 19-year-old Coric reached the quarterfinals of a Masters tournament for the first time and ended his streak of 10 straight losses against top-10 opponents.Andy Murray beat Kevin Anderson 6-3, 6-2 to win his career-best 20th match in a row despite a head cold. Steve Johnson also advanced to the quarterfinals, beating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-3, 7-6 (6). Second-seeded Stan Wawrinka lost to Bulgarias Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 6-4.In the womens bracket, Karolina Pliskova became the first woman to reach the quarterfinals, defeating Misaki Doi 7-5, 6-3. Second-seeded Angelique Kerber moved into the quarterfinals with a 7-6 (3), 6-4 win over Barbora Strycova. ' ' '