Board-News » CHICAGO (AP) What was left of the United Center

CHICAGO (AP) What was left of the United Center crowd was mostly quiet while the final seconds of an era ticked off Tuesday night. There was no big rally for the Chicago Blackhawks. No final charge.It’s over.The NHL playoffs will go on without Chicago for the first time in a decade after the Blackhawks were eliminated from contention with a 5-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche. Injuries Authentic Phillip Lindsay Jersey , aging stars and inexperience combined to sink Chicago after a wildly successful run that included three Stanley Cup titles.”It’s been a tough, tough stretch here,” coach Joel Quenneville said.Quenneville was coaching Colorado the last time Chicago missed the playoffs. The former NHL defenseman and the Avalanche decided to part ways after the team was swept by Detroit in the second round of the 2008 postseason, and he replaced Denis Savard after the Blackhawks fired the Hall of Famer four games into the following season.What followed was the most successful decade in franchise history. Led by a core group of stars that included Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Duncan Keith, Chicago won three Stanley Cups and reached the conference finals two more times while appearing in the playoffs for nine straight seasons.But it looks as if age and an annual dance with the salary cap might have finally caught up to the Blackhawks (30-35-9), who are last in the Central Division with eight games left on their schedule.”We’ve had some terrific players and some really good teams, real good depth,” Quenneville said. ”We didn’t always have good starts to the season, but had a lot of options to work with as a staff. The building was rocking and we’re good at home http://www.denverbroncosteamonline.com/phillip-lindsay-jersey , and we’re successful on the road, real consistent.”This has been the one year we’ve been unpredictable in our game, and our possession game has been the one area that we’ve nailed. This year, we didn’t get to that level we needed to get to.”An injury to two-time All-Star goaltender Corey Crawford also contributed to Chicago’s rapid decline. The 33-year-old Crawford hasn’t played since Dec. 23 due to an upper-body injury, and it has been a steep drop-off to backups Anton Forsberg, Jean-Francois Berube and Jeff Glass.The Blackhawks also have been without top forward Marian Hossa all season due to severe side effects from medication to treat a progressive skin disorder. It’s unclear if he will ever play again.”You’re always going to have key injuries,” Quenneville said. ”Always going to have significant injuries, have some things go against you. But we’ve always been able to overcome them and find ways rectify some tough situations and get back on track. This year we’ve been unable to do it.”Chicago still might have been able to make a playoff run if not for its other issues. Toews, Keith and key defenseman Brent Seabrook are showing signs of age after years of long playoff runs and international play. The Blackhawks’ young defensemen have experienced some growing pains, and Brandon Saad has struggled in his return to Chicago after an offseason trade with Columbus.But the Blackhawks just got a closer look at a possible roadmap for a return to contention.The Avalanche are in prime position to return to the playoffs after going 22-56-4 last season. Top goaltender Semyon Varlamov is healthy again after playing in just 24 games a year ago. Mikko Rantanen has developed into an offensive presence at age 21 Womens Phillip Lindsay Jersey , and rookie Alexander Kerfoot scored twice against Chicago to get to 17 goals on the season.”There’s a great example in the team we played today, and in how far out you can be, and how quickly you can recapture that winning attitude and that feeling and get right back in the race,” Quenneville said after the Blackhawks’ sixth loss in seven games.”The playoff picture’s probably completely different than a lot of people anticipated. That’s how close teams are when they begin a year, and things can go right from goaltending to special teams to top players. There’s a number of ways where you can make a difference and new young players are certainly a part of that equation.”—Jay Cohen can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jcohenap— NEW YORK (AP) — Tom Wilson had extra time to work on his skills while serving a suspension during the first 16 games of the season. It’s paid off in a big way for the Washington Capitals since his return.Wilson scored twice, Braden Holtby stopped 32 shots and the Capitals beat the New York Islanders and former coach Barry Trotz 4-1 Monday night for their season-high sixth straight win.Wilson has six goals and five assists in eight games since joining the lineup, including goals in four straight games.“I had lots of time, worked on a little bit of everything,” he said. “I just tried to make sure I could pick up where we left off last year. We were playing some pretty good hockey at the end of last year, some pretty good chemistry going. I just wanted to make sure I jumped in and do whatever I can to get up to speed.”Capitals coach Todd Rierden has noticed the difference in Wilson’s play.“His overall puck handling is at a different level than it’s been in the past Cheap Kerryon Johnson Jersey ,” Rierden said. “It comes back to him maximizing his opportunity and he’s been outstanding for us.”Nic Dowd and Alex Ovechkin also scored for Washington, which won after giving up the first goal for the fifth time during its win streak that has catapulted the defending champions to first place in the Metropolitan Division.“We’ve had some slow starts recently,” Rierden said. “It seems to help engage our group right away and raise the desperation and urgency. That’s not a real recipe for success but it seems to be working right now.”Valtteri Filppula scored and Thomas Greiss finished with 20 saves for the Islanders, who were playing for the fourth time in six days and snapped a two-game win streak.“I didn’t feel we had as much juice as we did against Carolina (on Saturday) and the other games,” Trotz said. “We just didn’t. … We didn’t have the legs under us that we usually have when we’re fresh.”Trotz was facing the Capitals for first time since leading them to the franchise’s first Stanley Cup title in June. Trotz also guided Washington to the Presidents’ Trophy for the league’s best record in 2015-16 and 2016-17 and then resigned in a contract dispute and subsequently signed with Islanders.Trotz, Islanders assistant coach Lane Lambert and goalie coach Mitch Korn, received their championship rings in the Capitals’ dressing room before the game and addressed their former players.Holtby stopped 15 shots in the third to improve to 15-4-3 in 22 career games against the Islanders.“It’s one of those games we had to grind out,” Holtby said. “Got some big plays, big shots at important times. … (The Islanders) had a lot of traffic in front. They were doing stuff that Barry preaches.”Leading 2-1, Washington had a two-man advantage for 1½ minutes. After several attempts were stopped during the 5-on-3 http://www.lionscheapshop.com/cheap-authentic-kerryon-johnson-jersey , Wilson beat Greiss in front about 15 seconds after the Islanders’ first penalty expired for a power-play goal to push the Capitals’ lead to 3-1 with 5:39 left.Ovechkin added an empty-netter with 22 seconds remaining for his 18th of the season, tying him with Buffalo’s Jeff Skinner for second in the league.Tied 1-1 after one period, New York nearly regained the lead early in the second as Washington defenseman Matt Niskanen almost stuffed the rebound of Pulock’s shot off Holtby and across the goal line. After a review the no-goal call stood as officials confirmed the puck didn’t cross the line.Dowd then put the Capitals ahead 2-1 at 7:58 of the middle period as he took a drop pass from Dmitrij Jaskin in the right circle and beat Greiss on the glove side for his third. It came on Washington’s second shot on goal of the period.Filppula opened the scoring just 36 seconds into the game with a backhander past Holtby’s glove side for his seventh.Wilson tied it at 2:50 as his shot from the right faceoff dot beat Greiss through the legs.NOTES: Nicklas Backstrom had assists on both of Wilson’s goals, pushing him past Peter Bondra for second place on the Capitals’ career points list with 826. … John Carlson had an assist on Dowd’s goal, tying him with Kevin Hatcher for third on the Capitals’ career list for assists by a defenseman with 277. … The Capitals improved to 12-4-3 in their last 19 games vs. the Islanders. … Filppula, who has scored in two straight games, has eight points in the last seven games. … F Leo Komarov had an assist on Filppula’s goal, giving him six points the last seven games.UP NEXTCapitals: Host New Jersey on Friday night.Islanders: At Boston on Thursday night.