Leonard Hamiltons offensive workhorse two seas

VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- The Washington Capitals have avoided long losing streaks the last 1 1/2 seasons, and did it again Saturday night.Marcus Johansson scored twice and the Capitals beat Vancouver 5-2 to avoid their first three-game skid since February 2015.Weve got good leadership, it shows all the time and I think they recognized what the message was and I thought we played really well, coach Barry Trotz said.T.J. Oshie, Tom Wilson and Karl Alzner also scored for Washington, coming off consecutive losses to the New York Rangers and Edmonton. Philip Grubauer made 23 saves in his second start this season.We had to bounce back from the last couple of games and tonight we executed in all the areas of the game -- penalty kill, power play -- and it was nice to get the win, Grubauer said.Bo Horvat and Jannik Hansen scored for the Canucks, who lost their fifth straight (0-4-1) since opening the season with four wins. Jacob Markstrom stopped 30 shots in his fifth start of the season.Vancouver had been shutout in the previous two games, but Hansen scored with 6 seconds left in the first period for their first goal since the third period against Anaheim last Sunday.To get a couple of goals at least should give us a little bit of confidence, said Horvat, who scored his fourth of the season in the second period.The Canucks came out aggressive in the first period, but it was the Caps who opened scoring with two quick goals. After a failed Vancouver clearing attempt, Johansson tipped in Matt Niskanens shot from the point with two minutes left. Fifteen seconds later, Evgeny Kuznetsov sent a pass from behind Vancouvers net to Wilson, who scored on wrist shot.Hansen, who replaced Loui Eriksson on the line with Henrik and Daniel Sedin, scored with Grubauer way out of position in the closing seconds for the Canucks first opening-period goal at home this season.I thought the (top) line was better tonight, Canucks coach Willie Desjardins said. They had a little bit more jump. Thats a good step for us.However, the question still remains what to do with Eriksson. The Swedish winger was Vancouvers big offseason acquisition and hes yet to find the back of the net this season.I think (Loui) is feeling pressure to perform, Desjardins said. I think he feels responsible lots of night where hes not creating stuff. I havent seemed to find a good match for him yet on a line. He hasnt seemed to be real comfortable in a spot yet. Well keep working that.Washington appeared to have scored an ugly one early in the second, but Vancouver successfully challenged on goalie interference. The Caps got their goal at 8:58 while on the power play, as the rebound of a shot by Oshie went to Johansson for a tap-in to make it 3-1.Vancouver cut into the lead when Sven Baertschis shot hit the post and ricocheted to Horvat for the easy tap-in at the doorstep with 2:43 left in the second..With Lars Eller off for hooking, the Canucks pressed for the tying goal in the third, but Grubauer made an incredible save on Brandon Sutters point-blank shot from the slot.Oshie put the game out of reach with just over two minutes left. His sharp wrist shot beat Markstrom high on the glove side. Alzner added some insurance with an empty-netter.Game notes Capitals star Alex Ovechkin had a four-game goal-scoring streak snapped. ... Canucks F Jayson Megna, who sustained an upper-body injury against Edmonton on Friday, is expected to miss at least 10 days. ... The Canucks and Capitals meet once more this season, on Dec. 11 in Washington.UP NEXTCapitals: At Calgary on Sunday night in the third game of a four-game trip to Canada.Canucks: At Montreal on Wednesday night in the opener of a six-game, nine-day trip. Shea Theodore Jersey . -- An ugly goal by Nick Bonino helped the Anaheim Ducks overcome the defensive-minded Phoenix Coyotes on a night when their ragged power play continued to struggle. Deryk Engelland Jersey . Ryan Garbutt had a goal and two assists as Dallas snapped a six-game losing streak with a 5-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night. https://www.cheapgoldenknights.com/ . LOUIS -- Attorneys for the St. Vegas Golden Knights Shirts . The scientists believe the small earthquake during a Marshawn Lynch touchdown was likely greater than Lynchs famous "beast quake" touchdown run three years ago, which also came against New Orleans during a playoff game. Nick Holden Jersey .C. -- When North Carolina freshman Ryan Switzer reported to training camp in August he was a little miffed to learn he was third on the depth chart at punt returner. Newcomers dont take long to impact college basketball -- not in this world of one-and-dones and transfers. Over a two-week span, we will look at the top five newcomers in each of the 10 biggest conferences. Next up is the ACC.A teeming ocean of talent is crashing the Atlantic Coast this summer. Ten of the top 28 players in the Class of 2016s ESPN 100 will play in the ACC in 2016-17. Six different programs are represented in that list. Some of them will need their talented youngsters to step up right away. Some can afford a slower, less pressurized development curve. One is the obvious national title favorite. (Guess who?)Any ACC-newcomers list requires more slots than we currently have at our disposal. Which, in turn, means these five dudes must be pretty good.Harry Giles, Duke Blue DevilsAs we covered in last weeks Big 12 rundown, there was no clear consensus about the top overall pick in Chad Fords first 2017 Big Board. For now, the closest thing Fords assorted scouts and sources have to offer is this: If Giles is healthy, hes the easy choice.Health is the only pertinent discussion worth having about the No. 1 player in the class of 2016. Giles eventual draft fortunes will directly proceed from how well he plays during his freshman season at Duke; his ability to do so will hinge on how well he has recovered from two separate ACL tears in high school. The latest of the two came in November 2015, and cost Giles basically all of his senior season. As recently as June, per the News & Observers Laura Keeley, Dukes staff was still bringing Giles along slowly, focusing mostly on rehabilitation and making no promises that hed be ready by the start of the season.All of which, in a roundabout way, is a good way of hammering home just how good Giles is: He tore two ACLs in three years and he was still the best player in a loaded class.Jayson Tatum, Duke Blue DevilsDuke can afford to bring its top prospect along as slowly as he needs, mostly because there are an embarrassing wealth of options around him. Its one thing to land the nations best freshman; its another to corral three of the best 10, and four of the best 16; its yet another to add those players to a group of veterans like this one. Senior Amile Jefferson, back by the grace of a medical redshirt, will be one of the sturdiest and most experienced frontcourt players in the country. Guard Matt Jones has huge minutes under his belt. Rising sophomore Luke Kennard is a gifted perimeter scorer -- nearly as gifted as Grayson Allen, who carried a massive load, and did so with remarkable efficiency, in his breakout sophomore season.Under relatively normal circumstances, a veteran team like this would have filled a need or two in recruitment, maybe landed an elite prospect, and been very, very good. These are not exactly normal circumstances.Thats because Duke is also bringing in the third-ranked overall player in the Class of 2016, small forward Tatum. He is a preternaturally polished attacker who just needs to add a perimeter shot to be unstoppable, and at 6-foot-8 he possesses the length and athleticism to be a dominant wing defender. A few months under coach Mike Krzyzewski should help in that regard.Austin Nichols, Virginia CavaliersFreshmen arent the only genus in the newcomer family. There are also transfers -- a taxonomic population still reproducing at a remarkable year-over-year rate. Whatever the systemic reasons for this increase (and thats a topic for a different day), the appeal is obvious. For players, a ttransfer is a hunt for more minutes or a better stylistic fit or an NCAA tournament appearance.dddddddddddd Sometimes, a year spent practicing but not playing is just what the doctor ordered. For coaches, a transfer is a chance to add a proven quantity -- a player whos ready to play from the moment he is eligible.All of the above are likely to apply in some form to Nichols, a 6-foot-8 forward who departed for Charlottesville last summer after two promising but occasionally listless years at Memphis. A year off is likely to have expanded Nichols game, particularly on offense (as it did for Malcolm Brogdon and Anthony Gill). What is certain is that the big mans natural defensive talents -- he swatted 12.5 percent of opponents attempts as a sophomore, the eighth-highest block rate in the country that season -- are going to pair extremely well with coach Tony Bennetts pack-line style. Freshmen, no matter how talented, are rarely this guaranteed.Jonathan Isaac, Florida State SeminolesIsaac debuted at No. 8 on Fords Big Board, drawing a minor comparison to 2016s No. 2 overall pick, Duke forward?Brandon Ingram. The biggest question is whether, like Ingram, Isaac is either a)?skilled enough to overcome his slight frame against daunting defense early on, or b) capable of adding enough mass and strength that by January it wont bother him. Ingram did both, but it isnt easy.Also tricky? Florida States roster. Its an impressive position-less menagerie: Rising sophomore?Dwayne Bacon was the schools highest-ranked recruit ever, before Isaac showed up. Junior Xavier Rathan-Mayes was coach Leonard Hamiltons offensive workhorse two seasons ago.?Malik Beasleys departure to the NBA, if not surprising, took the Seminole enthusiasm down a half-peg?or so ... but not enough to keep them out of the Way-Too-Early Top 25.The question is whether, and how, all of these pieces fit, and what Hamilton will do to fill in the gaps (mostly on defense) around them. Even so, Isaacs potential, on both ends of the floor, is limitless.Tyus Battle, Syracuse OrangeA handful of ACC newcomers claim loftier recruiting rankings than Syracuses star freshman, who sits at No. 35. Yet it feels to safe to say that none will be as important to their teams success, for better or worse, than Battle.Duke point guard?Frank Jackson, for instance, is doubtlessly talented, but he is joining a loaded veteran-led backcourt that can more than get by if he gets off to a rough nonconference start. Battle,?on the other hand, looks like a must-have piece for coach Jim Boeheim, even by default. This spring, Syracuse lost its best player, Michael Gbinije, a converted small forward-turned-point guard, as well as four-year stalwart Trevor Cooney. Meanwhile, after freshman?Malachi Richardsons draft stock soared into offer-you-cant-refuse territory, he did the?sensible thing and took the NBA up on it. Richardsons departure was a minor shock; suddenly?Franklin Howard, a little-used reserve freshman, was Boeheims most?experienced backcourt returner.The Orange have a chance to be pretty good next season, particularly if?Tyler Lydon?truly blossoms into the 3-and-D monster he advertised as last March. But if Syracuse is good, it will almost?certainly be because Battle is both better than expected on the offensive end and yet another of the Boeheim zones dominant disrupters on the other end. No pressure, kid. ' ' '