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PITTSBURGH (AP) The Pittsburgh Penguins don’t expect the sting from their second-round playoff exit to fade anytime soon.They also don’t expect it to compel general manager Jim Rutherford to give the roster a thorough makeover after the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions’ bid for a three-peat ended at the hands of Washington.If anything http://www.officialoilers.com/authentic-adidas-ryan-nugent-hopkins-jersey , the setback has given Sidney Crosby and company a chance to put their remarkable run atop the league in perspective.No team in a generation had won consecutive Cups until Pittsburgh did it last spring and the Penguins went as far as the 1999 Detroit Red Wings and Mario Lemieux-led 1993 Penguins in their own respective quest for a three-peat.”I think it definitely allows you to appreciate how difficult that was, but also to know we were that close to moving on too, that’s the difficult part,” Crosby said Wednesday as Pittsburgh packed up for the summer.”I think it definitely gives you a greater appreciation how many times it could have went the other way on a pretty good run.”The margin is always razor thin in the playoffs. And the Penguins somehow found a way to land on the right side of things through nine playoff series across three springs.Against the Capitals, however, the bounces – and often the energy – went the other way.Twice Pittsburgh blew a third-period lead in regulation – something that never happened during the regular season.Goaltender Matt Murray was usually crisp but not dominant. The scoring depth that made the Penguins an impossibly tough out vanished this time around. Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel did not register a point at even strength against Washington.Derick Brassard – brought in at the trade deadline to be the third-line center role Nick Bonino filled so capably in 2016 and 2017 – was a nonfactor.So were Bryan Rust and Conor Sheary, who played beyond their years and scored pivotal goals in the process while ending their first two seasons in the league with a parade through downtown Pittsburgh with the Cup in hand.Not this time.The Penguins downplayed the notion they simply ran out of gas after playing more hockey than any other club over the past 32 months.Maybe, but there’s ample proof the NHL has caught up with the team that built itself on lightning quick aggression when Mike Sullivan took over as head coach in December 2015.Now it’s time for Pittsburgh to spend the offseason trying to get that extra gear back.”We’re a good team Ryan Strome Jersey ,” Rutherford said. ”And we will be a good team going forward. We’ll have a chance to win again. We have the nucleus to do that.”How? Let’s take a look back and a look ahead while the Penguins spent the rest of the playoffs watching the pursuit of the Cup on TV, if they bother watching it at all.DINGED UP: Pittsburgh, as is hockey tradition, had several players make a go of it in the playoffs despite undisclosed or non-characterized injuries that limited their effectiveness. The group includes Kessel, Malkin and Brassard. Kessel picked up a career-high 92 points while playing in every single game for the eighth straight season, but had just one goal in 12 playoff games. Sullivan allowed Kessel was dealing with a health issue but added ”it was nothing significant, I can tell you that.”Penguins rookie Zach Aston-Reese, who broke his jaw and suffered a concussion following an illegal hit by Washington’s Tom Wilson in Game 2 of the second round Womens Wayne Gretzky Jersey , is currently eating lots of ice cream, sidestepped when asked if the three-game suspension Wilson received was enough but does feel it was a positive step.”It’s something I guess they’re trying to get rid of and I think moving forward guys need to be a little more aware and have more control of their body when they go in and have hits like that,” Aston-Reese said.HOT STOVE: Rutherford, who is as aggressive as they come in terms of trying to upgrade the roster, admitted there’s a chance the Penguins could move an established player or two if necessary.”It is fair to say that this will be a different looking team by the time we open next season,” Rutherford said. ”It doesn’t mean there will be drastic changes … but they’ll be changes that are necessary.”SPRING SPRONG?: Pittsburgh kept forward Daniel Sprong in the minors for most of the year and he responded by scoring a club-rookie record 32 goals for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. It didn’t earn him a promotion during the postseason. That likely won’t be the case next season, when the 21-year-old will be given every chance to make the team out of camp.”He will be a regular on our team,” Rutherford said.So will Rutherford. The 69-year-old famously said he might only be around a handful of seasons when he took over in the spring of 2014. Now it appears he’s not headed anywhere.”I think the best answer is I may be around longer than you guys Aaron Ekblad Jersey ,” he said with a laugh.— BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Claude Giroux was nervous about centering the Philadelphia Flyers‘ top line for the first time in two seasons.Once he settled in, Giroux guided the Flyers to their most goals in a game in nearly two months. Philadelphia’s captain had a goal and three assists Saturdayin a 6-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres.“I’d like to tell you it’s like riding a bike, but it’s not,” Giroux said. “But it turned out great tonight.”With Sean Couturier out because of a lower-body injury, Giroux moved from right wing to center in Philadelphia’s lead group of forwards. He had four points in a game for the first time since an Oct. 14, 2017 win over Washington.“It’s not easy but he’s a natural centerman,” Flyers coach Dave Hakstol said. “He’s our captain and stepped up in a lot of different fashions tonight.”James van Riemsdyk also moved up to the top line and had a goal and an assist for the Flyers Aleksander Barkov Jersey , who opened a five-game road trip with their third win in 10 games.Ivan Provorov, Wayne Simmonds, Dale Weise and Travis Konecny also scored. Michael Raffl had two assists and Anthony Stolarz made 28 saves.After scoring twice in the third period to force overtime and earn a point in a 4-3 loss to Columbus on Thursday, the Flyers scored six straight after the Sabres took a 2-0 lead.Giroux’s shorthanded goal gave the Flyers a 3-2 lead early in the third period. Simmonds, Weise and Konecny each scored from close range in a span of less than three minutes to put the game out of reach.Provorov scored the tying goal midway through the second period. Scott Laughton dug the puck out of the corner to set up the scoring chance.The six regulation goals were the most the Flyers have scored since a 7-5 win at Ottawa on Oct. 10. Entering the game 15th out of 16 teams in the Eastern Conference with 25 points, this was Philadelphia’s first win since hiring general manager Chuck Fletcher on Monday to replace Ron Hextall, who was fired one week earlier.“There have been a lot of off-ice things that have been happening,” Giroux said. “And I think because we have such a tight group in here that we’re able to keep playing hockey and keep doing the things we’re doing Evgenii Dadonov Jersey Kids ,”Jack Eichel scored twice for the Sabres, who have lost five straight following a 10-game winning streak. Linus Ullmark stopped 35 shots.“The streak we were on, that’s over. It means nothing now,” Eichel said. “Now I think we are losing sight of what made us successful.”After scoring once in his previous 16 games, Eichel had two goals in the third period of Buffalo’s 4-3 overtime loss to Toronto on Tuesday. He followed that with two first-period goals against the Flyers.The Sabres captain banked a rising shot off the far post for the first goal 4:04 into the game. Eichel then deflected Lawrence Pilut’s shot from the point to give the Sabres a 2-0 lead with a little under eight minutes remaining in the period.Sam Rinehart had an assist on Eichel’s first goal, extending his career-best point streak to six games. Pilut’s assist was the first NHL point in four games for the rookie defenseman.The Flyers got on the board 50 seconds later when Giroux won a faceoff and set up van Riemdsdyk’s quick wrist shot from the high slot.NOTES: Sabres G Carter Hutton is day to day with an upper-body injury. Buffalo called up Scott Wedgewood from the minors to back up Ullmark. … Sabres D Matt Tennyson made his season debut after being called up on Friday. … Sabres RW Jason Pominville returned after missing two games with an upper-body injury. … Sabres RW Kyle Okposo played in his 700th NHL game.UP NEXTFlyers: Conclude back-to-back at Winnipeg on Sunday.Sabres: Host Los Angeles on Tuesday.