Plots » came in and got Jhonny Peralta to hit a hard gr

An optimist could say the New York Islanders are challenging for the best record in the Eastern Conference, while a pessimist can point toward a disturbing trend of blown big leads in recent weeks. Whatever the viewpoint, the Islanders will face another challenge with their longest road trip in over five years starting Wednesday night against the Winnipeg Jets. You can catch all of the action LIVE on TSN3 at 3:30ct or listen LIVE on TSN Radio 1290 with coverage beginning at 3pm ct. After missing the playoffs for the sixth time in seven years, the Islanders are experiencing a resurgence in their final season on Long Island before moving to Brooklyn. They are tied with Pittsburgh atop the Metropolitan Division - the first time theyve had a share of first place this late in the season since Feb. 20, 1990. New Yorks 49 points through 36 games is tied for the fourth most in franchise history, trailing 1978-79 (57), 80-81 (52) and 83-84 (50). While the Islanders (24-11-1) are proving to be a legitimate contender, the team has blown three-goal leads in back-to-back games, and remarkably, four times this month alone. They lost on the first three occasions before recovering to beat Washington 4-3 on Johnny Boychuks power-play goal in overtime Monday. We had a three-goal lead the last game and a three-goal lead today, and you cant be blowing those kind of leads, Boychuk said. But we found a way to get a win when they did have that comeback, and its another two points. Anders Lee, Lubomir Visnovsky and Calvin de Haan also scored for the Islanders, who ended an 0-for-13 drought on the power play by converting twice in seven opportunities. Maybe this is a game we dont win last year, coach Jack Capuano said. But we kept with it and found a way. Our goaltender played really well to give us a chance to win. That goaltender was Jaroslav Halak, who made 23 saves after missing two games with a lower-body injury. Halak is 16-2-0 with a 1.84 goals-against average in his last 18 starts, while New Yorks other goalies - Chad Johnson and Kevin Poulin - have lost five of six starts with a 3.91 GAA since mid-November. Only Tampa Bay has more home wins than the Islanders, but it will be a while before they can add to that total with the next seven games away from Nassau Coliseum. The seven-game trek is the Islanders longest since another seven-game trip Nov. 11-23, 2009. The first stop will be Winnipeg (19-11-7), where New York has gone 4-0-1 since the Jets relocated there for the 2011-12 season. The Islanders have some firepower up front, Jets center Mark Scheifele told the teams official website. Were going to stick to our game. We dont want to get into a track meet with them. Scheifeles team suffered a rare regulation loss Monday, falling 3-2 to visiting Minnesota to drop the Jets to 9-2-4 in their last 15 games. Power-play goals by Michael Frolik and Mathieu Perreault staked the home team to a 2-0 lead, but the Wild scored three unanswered in the second period. The Jets remain without their top four defensemen - Toby Enstrom, Zach Bogosian, Jacob Trouba and Mark Stuart - and forward Evander Kane is out until February with a lower-body injury. Michael Hutchinson had his three-game win streak snapped Monday. He could give way to Ondrej Pavelec, who is 3-0-3 in his last six starts and was in net for the Jets 4-3 victory on Long Island on Oct. 28. Captain Andrew Ladd scored twice in that win, giving him five goals and seven points in his last four games against the Islanders. Cory Schneider Jersey . The Spanish champions decision not to sign a defender during the January transfer window may have backfired after Valencia took advantage of a lethargic, uninspired effort by its hosts at the Camp Nou, where former Spain coach Luis Aragones -- who previously coached the Catalan side -- was honoured after his death on Saturday. Ryan Suter Team USA Hockey Jersey . A groundswell for raising the number of playoff qualifiers to seven in each conference figures to get plenty of support from the 32 owners. Most notably, Arizonas Bill Bidwill, who saw his Cardinals go 10-6 and not get in, while Green Bay (8-7-1) qualified by winning the NFC North. http://www.hockeyauthenticusaonline.us/Dustin-Byfuglien-Jersey/ . This weeks topics include his take on the Kevin Pillar incident, All-Star snubs, the firing of Padres general manager Josh Byrnes and more. Blake Wheeler Team USA Hockey Jersey . -- Kyrie Irvings last-minute 3-pointer helped seal another victory for Cleveland -- and the Cavaliers longest winning streak since LeBron James left. Max Pacioretty Team USA Hockey Jersey .com) - Chris Kreider tallied a goal and an assist as the New York Rangers capped a successful California road trip with a 3-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Saturday.BOSTON -- When Shane Victorino signed with the Boston Red Sox as a free agent in the off-season, they were coming off a last-place finish that was their worst in almost half a century. They had fired their manager for the second year in a row. He believed they could turn it around. And quickly. Victorino brought the Red Sox one big step closer to completing their comeback, sending them to the World Series with a seventh-inning grand slam that gave Boston a 5-2 victory over the Detroit Tigers in Game 6 of the AL championship series Saturday night. The Red Sox will open the Series on Wednesday night against the St. Louis Cardinals, the team they swept in 2004 to end their 86-year title drought. The Cardinals won the NL pennant on Friday night by eliminating the Los Angeles Dodgers in six games. "Its one of those moments you live for," Victorino said as he wandered around the Fenway Park infield while Red Sox fans serenaded him with his theme song, Bob Marleys "Three Little Birds," and its chorus, "Dont worry about a thing, Cause every little thing is gonna be all right." "Just listen to the crowd," Victorino said, referring then to the Boston Marathon bombings that left the city reeling during the first month of his first season in town. "The one thing I came here to do is to be a part of this city. With all we went through as a city, theres definitely a bond." Detroit took a 2-1 lead in the sixth and 21-game winner Max Scherzer protected it until the seventh, when Boston loaded the bases on a double, a walk and an error by rookie shortstop Jose Iglesias, traded by the Red Sox in July. Victorino fell behind Jose Veras 0-2 but lofted a hanging curveball over the Green Monster to set off a celebration in the Red Sox dugout and in the Fenway Park stands. "Its been a special ride, and were still going," second baseman Dustin Pedroia said. "Were not going to stop. We know what our goal is. We want to win the World Series." Junichi Tazawa got one out for the win, Craig Breslow pitched a scoreless eighth and series MVP Koji Uehara got the last three outs before the Red Sox poured out of the dugout to begin their now-familiar celebration on the mound. "The way I would sum it up is that I thought their starters were good," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "I thought their bullpen was great." Uehara, who inherited the closer job after the teams first two choices were injured, posted three saves and a win in the series. Then he joked about pitching so well under pressure. "To tell you the truth, I almost threw up," Uehara kidded through a translator. Its the 13th AL pennant for the Red Sox and their first since 2007, when they swept the Colorado Rockies to win it all for the second time in four seasons. Boston swept the Cardinals in 04, winning Game 4 in St. Louis to clinch the title that put an end to generations of disappointment. The latest trip comes one year after a 69-win season that prompted the team to jettison its high-priced stars, rebuild the roster and bring in manager John Farrell to replace Bobby Valentine. Victorino was one of the biggest additions, and he delivered on Saturday as he did for much of the season. "Since the first day of spring training, there wasnt one person more important than the next," said outfielder Jonny Gomes, another newcomer, who doubled to lead off the seventh, missing a homer over the Green Monster by no more than a foot. "Were all pulling in the same direction." Scherzer got one out in tthe seventh but left after walking rookie Xander Bogaerts to put runners on first and second.dddddddddddd Drew Smyly got Jacoby Ellsbury to hit a grounder up the middle, but it popped out of Iglesias glove behind second base and everyone was safe. Veras came in and quickly got ahead of Victorino. But he hung a curveball and Victorino sent it toward the 37-foot left-field wall, which had already knocked down two Red Sox line drives. This one left no doubt. It was the second career post-season slam for Victorino, who also had a record-setting hit-by-pitch in the sixth but failed to get a bunt down in the third. "Hes come up big a number of times this season, none bigger," Farrell said. "Probably the last thing were thinking of, that hes going to hit a ball out of the ballpark, and thankfully the curveball stayed (up)." Scherzer and Clay Buchholz also matched up in Game 2, when the Tigers right-hander took a no-hitter and a 5-0 lead into the sixth. The Red Sox rallied against the Detroit bullpen, tying it on David Ortizs eighth-inning grand slam and winning it in the ninth on Jarrod Saltalamacchias walk-off single through a drawn-in infield. Both starters gave up hits in the first inning in the rematch, but it remained scoreless until Bogaerts doubled off the Green Monster with two outs in the fifth and scored on Ellsburys single. But the Tigers took the lead in the bottom half, chasing Buchholz with a walk and Miguel Cabreras single before Franklin Morales walked Prince Fielder on four pitches to load the bases with nobody out. Victor Martinez lined one high off the Green Monster to make it 2-1, holding at first with a two-run single. Brandon Workman came in and got Jhonny Peralta to hit a hard grounder to Pedroia, who chased down Martinez in the basepath for one out and then threw home to get Fielder in a rundown. Saltalamacchia ran him back to third and dove, somersaulting over him while making the tag. Workman struck out Alex Avila looking to end the inning. Scherzer worked out of a jam in the bottom half after putting runners on second and third with one out. He allowed three runs on four hits and five walks, striking out seven in 6 1-3 innings. Buchholz gave up two runs on four hits and two walks, striking out four in five-plus innings. Scherzer walked the first two batters in the third, but Victorino popped up a bunt and Scherzer made a sliding catch for the first out. Pedroia hit a high drive that was just foul of the Carlton Fisk pole above the Green Monster. After it was confirmed by replay, he hit a hard grounder down the line that Cabrera fielded, easily stepping on third base before throwing to first for the double play. NOTES: It will be the first World Series between the teams with the best record in each league since 1999. ... Detroit C Alex Avila, who absorbed a body shot and a foul ball off the mask in Game 5, took another ball off the mask in the fourth but remained in the game. ... The Dropkick Murphys sang the national anthem before the game, followed by "Shipping up to Boston," wearing Red Sox jerseys that said "Boston Strong" and the number 617. ... The Red Sox are 6-0 in Game 6 of the ALCS. ... Ellsbury had successfully stolen 18 bases in a row in the regular season and playoffs before being thrown out in the fifth. ... Victorino was hit by a pitch leading off the sixth, his sixth of the playoffs, extending his record and setting a major league record with the 10th post-season HBP of his career. 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