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PITTSBURGH, Pa. - The Pittsburgh Penguins and captain Sidney Crosby hope that a recent bout with the mumps is a thing of the past.Blake Comeau scored 2:24 into overtime to give the Penguins a 1-0 victory against the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night.Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 29 shots, registering his career-best sixth shutout of the season just hours after the Penguins thought their starting goaltender had the mumps.It wasnt the mumps, Fleury said. Everybody goes through life with a cold here and there. Its no big deal. I felt good.Fleury, who recorded the 34th shutout of his career, was tested after missing Wednesdays practice with an illness, but the results came back negative and he was cleared for Thursdays game.Crosby did have the mumps and the Penguins captain returned Thursday after missing three games. The Penguins, who managed two wins and five of a possible six points without their captain, now have six wins in their last nine games.I think, as a hockey player, you crave that routine and competing, Crosby said. Its much better talking about hockey than that other stuff.Comeaus goal was his 11th of the season. He tapped his third game-winner of the year past goaltender Calvin Pickard after Evgeni Malkin deflected Rob Scuderis shot from the point in front. Malkin has points in six straight games.There are going to be times when goals are tough to come by, Comeau said. (Malkin) did a good job of tipping (the shot), it popped out to me and I was at the right spot at the right time.Pickard stopped 47 shots for the Avalanche, who lost for the sixth time in seven games and have one win in December.He played a really strong game for us and allowed us to be in that game, Avalanche coach Patrick Roy said. Obviously, he was our star player.Both teams were scoreless through two periods and Pickard, a rookie recalled from Lake Erie earlier this month, kept it that way with Pittsburgh pressing for the go-ahead goal. Pickard started the last four games and seven of the last 10 with Semyon Varlamov nursing a groin injury.We got pucks to the crease and we had guys in the crease looking for second-shot opportunities, Penguins coach Mike Johnston said. We scored the last one, but we probably had six or seven opportunities around the net where there was a loose puck in the crease and we just missed.The Penguins spent most of the third in the Colorado zone, registering 19 of the first 24 shots of the period.Crosby returned to practice Wednesday, skating for the first time since his diagnosis. Though Crosby missed a practice last week because of illness, the Penguins believed their captain wasnt at risk for the mumps after he received a booster shot prior to travelling to Russia for the Winter Olympics in February.But the Penguins announced Sunday that Crosby had contracted the mumps — two days after pronounced swelling in his face forced him to sit out last Fridays home game against Calgary.It took a period to get used to the speed, but once youre in the game you start feeling more comfortable, said Crosby, who logged 20:19 of ice time. I might be a little more tired than typically, but thats to be expected. You just kind of monitor it as you go along.Forward Beau Bennett also was diagnosed with mumps, which has affected at least five other NHL teams, while backup goaltender Thomas Greiss and defencemen Robert Bortuzzo and Olli Maatta — both sidelined because of injury —are all being tested.NOTES: Penguins D Christian Ehrhoff left after the first period with an undisclosed injury. Avalanche D Brad Stuart became the 293rd player in league history and 100th defenceman to appear in 1,000 career games.Penguins D Scott Harrington made his NHL debut on Thursday. The Penguins, for the fifth time, wore their third jersey -- a throwback to the black and yellow-gold colour scheme from when they won their first two Stanley Cups.Colorado continues a three-game road trip Saturday at Buffalo, while Pittsburgh hosts Florida. Travis dArnaud Mets Jersey .com) - James Harden had 32 points, including a tying layup late in regulation, and the Houston Rockets scored eight of their 13 points in overtime at the foul line to beat the Memphis Grizzlies 117-111 on Friday night. Gary Carter Jersey . Scrivens stopped 48 shots and captain Andrew Ference scored in overtime as the Oilers pulled off a 4-3 upset of the Anaheim Ducks on Friday. http://www.metssale.com/mets-jed-lowrie-jersey/. -- Maple Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf has been suspended two games for his hit from behind on Kevan Miller of the Bruins. Jeurys Familia Mets Jersey . At times during a solid but not spectacular season, they looked all three. Still the defending AFC champions persevered, riding their top-ranked defence and key contributions from younger players to a 12-4 record and their eighth playoff appearance since 2000, remarkable consistency in a league where change is the only constant. Yoenis Cespedes Jersey . The Canadian tennis players first full season on the WTA Tour was a strong one. She has risen to No. 32 in the world rankings and will likely be seeded at the first Grand Slam event of the 2014 season.Got a question on rule clarification, comments on rule enforcements or some memorable NHL stories? Kerry wants to answer your emails at cmonref@tsn.ca. Hi Kerry, In the second period of the Senators/Devils game, Damien Brunner slashed the stick out of Jared Cowens hands and flipped it away, giving himself a clear break on the net. No call. And it resulted in a goal! This should be painfully obvious to call! Is there anything to suggest why this wasnt called? Thanks,Alex WilliamsOttawa, ON Alex: As Rule 61 (Slashing) suggests; any forceful or powerful chop with the stick on or near the opponents hands that, in the judgment of the Referee, is not an attempt to play the puck, shall be penalized as slashing. More specifically to the play you question, Rule 56.2 (Interference) clearly states that a minor penalty shall be imposed on a player who knocks a stick out of an opponents hand! It is an infraction that is routinely called by the refs and always expected by the players. As you suggest Alex, this should be a painfully obvious call; but only perhaps if its viewed from the open side or a correct angle. While Ottawa Senators coach Paul MacLean had a clear sightline and perfect angle from the bench to see Damien Brunner chop the stick out of Jared Cowens hand, referee Dennis LaRue was positioned on the opposite side of the ice and practically parallel to the play. From this disadvantaged position, one the referee was stuck in by not backpedaling quickly enough once the play developed, he was forced to look through the bodies of both Brunner and Cowen with no angle on the infraction. A lack of detection and reaction most likely resulted from this poor sightline. Perhaps the fact that Jared Cowen only had one hand on his stick and did not appear to maintain a position of strength in advance of a puck battle with Brunner gave LaRue the impression (from his perspective) that a penalty was unwarranted on the play.dddddddddddd Whatever the reason, LaRues perception of the play became a reality when he did not raise his arm and assess an interference penalty to Damien Brunner. Paul MacLean also had a better sightline on another undetected infraction earlier in the game that resulted in Reid Boucher scoring his first NHL goal to give the Devils a 2-0 lead at 12:08 of the opening period. On a Devils breakout from deep inside their end zone, Michael Ryder tripped Joe Corvo from behind just inside the Devils blue line eliminating the Senator forward from the back-check. If you freeze the wide camera shot the instant Ryder took down Corvo, you will see young referee Trent Knorr standing in the corner and staring back behind the goal line. All five Devils skaters were in motion ahead of the referees fixed sightline back toward an area where no visual coverage was required. The perfectly executed trip by Michael Ryder went undetected by the rookie referee allowing Ryder to set up Bouchers first goal with an additional assist to Eric Gelinas. On these two missed infractions that resulted in goals, neither Referee adjusted their position, sightline or focus of attention quickly enough as the play develop. A referee must read the play in advance with his head on a swivel and utilize rapid eye movement to set the up chess board in anticipation of future moves. There is no doubt the great players develop an uncanny field of vision in spite of the speed of the game. The same skill can and must be developed by the refs. I often felt that a complaining coach had the absolute worst perspective on a play gained from standing behind his players bench. Coach Paul MacLean disproved my theory in last nights Sens loss to the Devils in what he would probably also describe as two painfully obvious missed calls! ' ' '