Dein erstes Forum » ago, Tampa Bay has made strides on de

PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Penguins have tweaked their approach in hopes of taking some of the pressure off goalie Marc-Andre Fleury. While Fleury appreciates his teammates effort to play a little more responsibly on defence, he doesnt mind showing he can still handle himself when things get busy in front of him. Fleury stopped a season-high 37 shots Friday night in a 4-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets, earning his NHL-high 10th victory by shutting down the Blue Jackets early and buying Pittsburghs offence enough time to chase reigning Vezina Trophy winner Sergei Bobrovsky. "We gave them way too many chances to play in our end," Pittsburgh centre Brandon Sutter said. "Youve got to look at Flower and how he played. He did a great job for us." The Blue Jackets certainly werent arguing. After Chris Kunitzs seventh goal of the season gave the Penguins the lead 7:01 into the game, Fleury made it stand up by keeping Columbus at bay. He made a series of sprawling saves on a Blue Jackets power play near the end of the first period, including a point-black stop on Ryan Johansen in which he slid all the way across the crease to get in front of a rebound. "It was a big (penalty kill) for us," Fleury said. "You want to keep it 1-0 there and not give them a chance to come back." Pittsburgh responded by taking control early in the second period. Sutter and Kris Letang scored 1:51 apart to give the Penguins a 3-0 lead and send Bobrovsky to the bench after allowing three goals on 13 shots in just 23 minutes. "The start of (the second) periods havent been our best," Johansen said. "Weve got to find ways to win 60-minute games." Thats hardly a problem at the moment for Pittsburgh, which improved to 10-4 and leads the newly formed Metropolitan division by eight points not even a month into the season. Jason Megna scored his second NHL goal for the Penguins, and Sidney Crosby recorded an assist to push his point total to an NHL-leading 22. Johansen and Derek MacKenzie scored for Columbus, but the Blue Jackets couldnt match Pittsburghs firepower or goaltending. Bobrovsky entered the game 5-1-1 in his last seven games against the Penguins, all while playing for Philadelphia. He struggled from the opening faceoff, never looking comfortable in a building in which he has been dominant. The meeting was the first between the clubs as division rivals. Columbus switched from the Western Conference to the Metropolitan in the East as part of realignment, and the quickly improving Blue Jackets are hoping to create a rivalry based on more than geography. Not quite yet. Though Columbus is the closest NHL city to Pittsburgh, the gulf remains significant even if it didnt look that way in the opening minutes. Columbus controlled most of the first period, sending 15 shots at Fleury. It was one of the rare times the Penguins have been on their heels at home. It didnt last. Pittsburgh gathered itself during the first intermission and then took over. Sutter, who had a 17-game goal drought end in a victory over Boston on Wednesday, collected a pass off the boards from Tanner Glass and worked around Columbus defenceman Jack Johnson before slipping the puck under Bobrovskys pads to make it 2-0 just 1:10 into the second. "I dont really pay too much attention to trying to score goals all the time," Sutter said. "It feels better to get a couple and get the monkey off the back. Hopefully Ill try to stay hot." The Penguins needed less than 2 minutes to push their advantage to 3-0. Letang fired a shot from outside the left circle that Bobrovsky mishandled. The puck slipped between his arm and his chest, and seconds later he was pulled in favour of backup Curtis Mclhinney. McElhinney wasnt even warmed up when Megna tapped in a beautiful backhand pass from Jussi Jokinen to put Pittsburgh up 5:34 into the second period. That was more than enough for Fleury, who improved to 21-2 in his last 23 regular-season starts at home. NOTES: The teams will meet again in Columbus on Saturday. ... The Penguins are 8-1 when scoring first. ... Crosby has at least one point in 12 of Pittsburghs 14 games. ... Pittsburgh centre Evgeni Malkin recorded two assists but had a second-period goal overturned when replay showed the puck didnt entirely cross the goal line. ... The Blue Jackets scratched D Nikita Nikitin and F Boone Jenner. ... The Penguins scratched D Rob Scuderi (ankle), F Chuck Kobasew (lower body) and F Matt DAgostini (lower body). Fikayo Tomori Jersey . Both moves were announced Tuesday. The Titans had waived Matthews on Saturday when they promoted wide receiver Michael Preston from the practice squad. Cesc Fabregas Jersey . - Kevin Labanc and Joseph Blandisi were a potent combination for the Barrie Colts on Friday night. http://www.chelseafcproshop.com/Kids-Willy-Caballero-Jersey/. The 25-year-old native of Milford, Conn., has 18 points in 41 games this season. The five-foot-eight 166-pound centre also has 28 points (10-18) in 15 games with AHL Oklahoma City. David Luiz Jersey . -- Steven Stamkos scored his first goal since returning from a major injury, Ryan Callahan had his first goal with Tampa Bay, and the Lightning beat the Florida Panthers 5-4 on Thursday night. Ross Barkley Jersey .The Canadian teenage golf sensation announced Thursday shell join the LPGA Tour in 2015 instead of attending the University of Florida.TAMPA, Fla. - Go ahead and snicker.While it may seem laughable that Sundays game between Tampa Bay (2-9) and Cincinnati (7-3-1) is just as important to the playoff aspirations of the struggling Buccaneers as those of the AFC North-leading Bengals, its also true.The surging Bengals, whove won four of five, clearly are in a position to control their own fate in the NFLs tightest division race.Our guys, they know the urgency, Cincinnati coach Marvin Lewis said.The Bengals, whove won the past two weeks on the road, are one of a record 16 teams with at least seven victories through 11 games.Division rivals Baltimore, Cleveland and Pittsburgh are all 7-4 — a half game behind the Bengals — making the AFC North the first division in league history to have every team at least three games above .500 at any point in a season.We know every week is important, so you dont want to have any slip-ups because if you do . you can go from first to last really easily, Cincinnati quarterback Andy Dalton said. We know every week is so important, so it just brings that extra focus to the game.Despite being seven games under .500, the Bucs still have a chance to salvage their season in the under-performing NFC South. Amazingly, theyre only two games out of first place while also remaining in contention for the No. 1 overall pick in next years draft.Its crazy . but the reality of our division right now is its still up for grabs, Tampa Bay quarterback Josh McCown said. Were not in a favourable position, but were not out of it.Atlanta and New Orleans lead the NFC South at 4-7, with defending champion Carolina just behind them at 3-7-1.The Bucs face even longer odds of winning the division because theyve lost twice to the Falcons and once to both the Saints and Panthers, who theyll face again down the stretch.You dont want it to come like this, with this kind of record, but at the same you want to be playing meaningful games in late November and December, McCown said. Hopefully we can continue to put ourselves in position to do that, and it starts by beating Cincinnati.Things to watch while the Bengals try to hang on to firstt in the AFC North and the Bucs try to climb back in the NFC South race:KINGS OF THE ROAD: The Bengals are trying to win three straight road games for the first time in franchise history.dddddddddddd. Its the ninth time theyve played at least three consecutive road games, the first since 2003. Theyve moved ahead of the NFLs tightest division by winning in New Orleans and Houston.Honestly if we can go into Tampa and take care of business, then the month of December will be exactly what we expected the month of December to be for us, left tackle Andrew Whitworth said.RISING STAR: Bucs WR Mike Evans leads NFL in November with 505 yards receiving and six touchdowns through the air. He leads all rookies with 841 yards receiving overall and eight TD catches.MORE OF AJ: Receiver A.J. Green missed three games and most of another because of an injured right big toe, and was a nonfactor in his first two games back. Hes been back in form during the last two games, getting six catches for 127 yards in New Orleans and a career-high 12 catches for 121 yards in Houston.Well try to get him 13, 14, 15 — however many we can, Dalton said, jokingly. But you know, it was a big point of emphasis getting A.J. involved. We got a lot of good looks for him to make plays and he made the plays. So when youve got a guy like that, youve got to give him his chances.BETTER D: Since returning from its bye week five games ago, Tampa Bay has made strides on defence, allowing 302 yards per game (fourth lowest in the NFL over the stretch) and 19.2 points per game (11th).STOPPING MJ: Defensive end Michael Johnson left Cincinnati as a free agent and signed with Tampa Bay. His former teammates are looking forward to their reunion Sunday. Bengals end Carlos Dunlap talks with Johnson every week to keep up on their personal lives and their careers.Its going to be fun to go out there and compete against him, Dunlap said. Were going to have our little friendly dispute going on who gets the first sack or who gets the most sacks like we always did when we were here.___AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL ' ' '