Blueshirts are just 3- for-37 with the man advantage

Each week, The Reporters put their thumbs out to the good and the bad in the world of sports. This week they discuss their best of the year. Bruce Arthur, National Post: My thumb is up to the end of the NHL lockout. After months of labour war, wed spent a week freezing on some of the finest sidewalks New York had to offer, staking out meetings that produced nothing much. And then on Jan. 5 the NHL walked to the players hotel for what was described as an informal meeting, starting at one in the afternoon. It didnt stop. Midnight arrived, and the meeting kept going. At 4am I closed my eyes for 15 seconds and Aaron Ward took a picture. And finally, at five in the morning the news broke: Labour peace was at hand, and a voice exiting the room bellowed out, this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship. For ending something thats the opposite of sports, thats my moment of the year. Steve Simmons, SUN Media: My thumb is up to the least natural sporting emotion of 2013 - caring about the Davis Cup. Most of us couldnt tell you when the Davis Cup begins, when it ends, how the schedule works or who plays who, but Milos Raonic and Canadian tennis changed all that this past year. Suddenly we were pulled in by possibility, by Raonics huge first serve, by the fortitude of Vasek Pospisil, by the stoic veteran Daniel Nestor, all of them coming together in red and white as a team. Our team. They didnt win the Davis Cup but did what no Canadians had ever done before. They made the semi-finals. In a way it was the perfect Canadian ending: We played hard, we played great, we inspired, we just didnt win. Michael Farber, Sports Illustrated: My thumb is up to the Iron Bowl, proof that one second can last for eternity. The improbable finish started with that single tick Alabama coach Nick Saban lobbied to have put back on the scoreboard. Rather than take his chances in overtime, Saban sent out a back-up kicker to attempt a quixotic 57-yard game-winning field goal. Auburns Chris Davis took the failed kick deep in the end zone and juked and then sprinted more than 100 yards - straight into the hard drive of memory. In-state rival Auburn deprived Alabama of a third straight national championship with Davis return while reminding us that sport is the grand unscripted drama of our lives. Dave Hodge, TSN: Well if that defied belief, my thumb is up to the current NFL season, which has done that… right from the start when Peyton Manning tossed seven touchdown passes, only to have Nick Foles of the Eagles do the same thing later on. Matt Prater broke a record with a 64-yard field goal at the end of the first half, but Justin Tuckers 61-yarder might have been more amazing, because it came at the end of the game. One week, the NFL set a record with 90 touchdowns. The next week, it set a record for one-day scoring with 763 points. Phillys LeSean McCoy rushed for 217 yards in the snow, and Kansas Citys Jamaal Charles, another running back, caught four passes for touchdowns. NFL stadiums have scoreboards, and the busier they are, the better the games tend to be - never truer than in 2013. Nolan Arenado Jersey . Each day, TSN.ca provides the latest rumours, reports and speculation from around the NHL beat. Keeping The Captain? Brian Giontas agent Steve Bartlett told La Presse on Tuesday that the Montreal Canadiens want to keep their captain - an unrestricted free agent on July 1 - in the fold, while sources tell the paper that the two sides will start talks this week. Wade Davis Jersey . Mike Babcock has turned to the Montreal Canadiens goalie over Roberto Luongo, who backed Canada to a gold medal in Vancouver in 2010, for Canadas final preliminary round game against the ailing Finns. http://www.rockiesgearproshop.com/Rockies-Tony-Wolters-Kids-Jersey/ . Nwaneri, who was born in Dallas and attended Naaman Forest High School in nearby Garland, Texas, tweeted, "Its official! Im coming home, Im coming home. Adam Ottavino Jersey . Noah finished with 13 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists in 34 minutes. He was headed for his fourth triple-double of the season, but sat down with about three minutes left because of the lopsided score. Kirk Hinrich scored 19 points for Chicago, going 5 for 6 on 3-pointers, Carlos Boozer added 18 points, D. Charlie Blackmon Jersey . Particularly when speaking in the stadium of Tuesdays opponent: Manchester City. "Maybe they dont fear us as before," Pique said on Monday, "because in the last two years we didnt win the Champions League.The Pittsburgh Penguins will try to grab their first lead of the second round on Monday when the series shifts to New York City for Game 3 at Madison Square Garden. This best-of-seven set is tied at one game apiece. The Rangers opened the series with Fridays 3-2 overtime win in Pittsburgh, but the Penguins rebounded with a 3-0 victory Sunday in the Steel City. New York went 20-17-4 at Madison Square Garden during the regular season and posted a 2-1 record on home ice against Philadelphia in the opening round. The Rangers, of course, eliminated the Flyers with a 2-1 Game 7 victory at MSG on Wednesday. Pittsburgh and the Rangers split a pair of meeting in New York this season, but the Pens have claimed five of the last seven regular-season encounters in the Big Apple. Marc-Andre Fleury anchored Sundays home win over the Rangers, making 22 saves to set a franchise record with his seventh career playoff shutout. Pittsburghs frequently criticized netminder also picked up his 50th career postseason win, becoming the 17th goalie in league history to reach the milestone. "He was very good tonight," Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma said of Fleury. "The calmness and how he made the saves ... It made it feel like it wasnt as many (chances). But the puck was in the crease a little bit and he played it really well. He deserved the shutout tonight." Kris Letang was credited with a goal and collected assists on third-period goals by Jussi Jokinen and Evgeni Malkin. Letangs goal was the 15th of his postseason career, tying Larry Murphy for the most by a defenseman in franchise history. Pittsburgh won despite giving the Rangers three power-play opportunities in the first 10 minutes of the game. The Pens killed off the three early penalties and New York finished the game 0-for-4 on the power play..dddddddddddd. "Maybe the penalty killers set the tone for us," said Bylsma. "Maybe it was them stepping over the boards in those situations. You are not happy about having to kill three in a row but they do a great job for us and I thought, to a man, our players were extremely good tonight." Sidney Crosby is still without a goal in eight playoff games this spring, but the Penguins star captain did register six shots on net in Game 2. Crosby, who has 40 career postseason goals, has gone 13 straight games in the playoffs without scoring. He has six assists in this postseason. Henrik Lundqvist stopped 32 shots for New York, which has now failed to score on 29 straight opportunities with the power play. The Blueshirts are just 3- for-37 with the man advantage in this postseason. "Power play had some looks," Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault said. "Could have given us momentum, we didnt finish. Power play ultimately is my responsibility, and Ive got to find the right trigger points here to make it work and spend the night trying to figure it out." New York is aiming for its first playoff series win against Pittsburgh, which has won all four previous postseason meetings. The Pens boast a 17-5 all-time record against the Rangers in the playoffs and a 7-2 mark at the Garden. Overall, the Rangers have won seven of nine and 12 of their last 17 home playoff games. Pittsburgh defenseman Brooks Orpik has missed three straight games for Pittsburgh with an undisclosed injury and expects to sit out again on Monday. Orpik has been sidelined since missing Game 6 against Columbus in the opening round and Robert Bortuzzo has filled in for him. The Rangers will also host Game 4 of this set on Wednesday before the series heads back to Pittsburgh for Fridays Game 5. ' ' '