It’s a lot of disappointment in this room

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On the eve of free agency Custom Buffalo Sabres Jerseys , John Tavares is leaving the NHL guessing about his destination.With less than 12 hours until the market opens, the elite center had not chosen between six suitors, with the San Jose Sharks, hometown Toronto Maple Leafs and incumbent New York Islanders considered the most likely options. Returning to the Islanders looks less likely now after the midnight deadline passed for Tavares to get an eight-year contract from his current team.The Tavares sweepstakes dragging on into Sunday seems to favor San Jose and Toronto, either of which could sign the 27-year-old to a seven-year deal worth $70 million or more. He met this week with the Sharks, Maple Leafs, Islanders, Boston Bruins, Dallas Stars and Tampa Bay Lightning, and his decision could drastically affect the plans of those teams and others.”I think other teams have admitted, we would have to make moves (to clear salary-cap space),” Bruins general manager Don Sweeny told reporters in Boston on Friday. ”Pretty confident we’d be able to do that.”As hockey waited for the Tavares watch to end www.flamesshoponline.com , several teams made moves Saturday ahead of the frenzy.The Sharks agreed to a $64 million, eight-year extension with forward Logan Couture, according to a person familiar with the contract who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the deal hasn’t been announced. It can’t become official until after noon Sunday because it doesn’t begin until the 2019-20 season – the same as long-term deals the Los Angeles Kings have with Drew Doughty and Arizona Coyotes have with Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Niklas Hjalmarsson.Detroit got its own defenseman under contract for the next two seasons by agreeing to deal with Mike Green that pays him $5,375,000 annually. Signing Green could be just the start of the action for the Red Wings, who have been linked to unrestricted free agent goaltender Jonathan Bernier and winger Thomas Vanek.New Jersey also shored up its goaltending situation by re-signing Eddie Lack to a $650,000, one-year deal. The Devils also have Cory Schneider and Keith Kinkaid, who split time last season and in the playoffs.A person with direct knowledge of discussions said the Buffalo Sabres are expected to sign goalie Carter Hutton, who had been the St. Louis Blues’ backup to Jake Allen. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because agreements cannot be announced until the signing period begins.Hutton and others seem to already be ticketed for certain places, but many big-name players are still up for grabs.Maple Leafs winger James van Riemsdyk, who tied Tavares with 36 goals last season Calgary Flames T-Shirts Womens , has been drawing significant interest and, at 29, could easily command a seven-year contract at a substantial raise over his previous $4.25 million salary. The Western Conference champion Vegas Golden Knights have cap space but might lose wingers David Perron and James Neal, who combined for 110 points last season.The Winnipeg Jets are doing their best to try to bring back center Paul Stastny after he was so instrumental in their playoff run. They cleared about $5.5 million in cap space by trading goaltender Steve Mason and Finnish forward Joel Armia to Montreal on Saturday but may still need more room to bring back the 32-year-old.The Canadiens are set to buy out Mason, putting him on unconditional waivers as the Minnesota Wild did with forward Tyler Ennis to clear cap space.Stastny fit in seamlessly after Winnipeg acquired him from St. Louis at the trade deadline but also might be better served waiting to see what Tavares does. Teams looking for a center who don’t land Tavares will look to Stastny and Toronto’s Tyler Bozak and could look into a trade for Buffalo’s Ryan O’Reilly, who is signed for the next five years and owed a $7.5 million bonus Sunday.—AP Sports Writer Josh Dubow in San Jose, California, contributed to this report. LOS ANGELES (AP) The Golden Knights want a Stanley Cup title to conclude their already amazing inaugural season in the NHL.Vegas is on its way, beating the Los Angeles Kings 1-0 on Tuesday night and becoming the first expansion team in league history to sweep its first playoff series.”All season long, I didn’t know any records about expansion teams,” goalie Marc-Andre Fleury said. ”We just do what a regular team would, we just play the game and try to win. That’s it.”Brayden McNabb scored against his former team in the second period and Fleury stopped 31 shots as the Knights finished off their fourth one-goal victory of the series. It was the goalie’s second shutout of the playoffs.”I didn’t picture this happening Calgary Flames Hoodies Womens , me scoring a goal against the Kings,” McNabb said, ”but it feels real good to get this win and finish this series.”The Knights poured into the net to hug Fleury at the final horn. Vegas fans in the crowd chanted the goalie’s name in celebration.”We knew we were getting a superstar when we got him,” Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said. ”He has playoff experience and he’s been a part of three Cups and he makes us better. LA put on the pressure on him but he was huge for us.”The Knights became the second team to win their first four playoff games, joining the 1970 Pittsburgh Penguins.McNabb scored from the right circle, beating Jonathan Quick’s glove, at 4:04 of the second for his first career playoff goal. The Kings left the defenseman exposed in last year’s expansion draft and the Knights snapped him up.The Kings pulled Quick in the closing seconds, when Dustin Brown skated straight toward the net and just missed.”That’s what the playoffs are all about. It’s so close,” Kings center Anze Kopitar said. ”It’s not like we were blown out of the water.”Brown also hit the left post with 10 minutes to go in the third, typical of the close calls that failed to generate goals for the Kings in the series. They outshot the Knights 31-21 in the game.”It was crazy in the final minute of the game. They were buzzing around,” Fleury said. ”We had to keep pushing to the very end.”Facing elimination, the Kings came out aggressively and outshot the Knights 14-8 in the opening period. Quick stopped two shots on goal during the only power play in the period when Adrian Kempe was sent off for hooking.”I thought our hockey team got better through the series Calgary Flames Hats Womens ,” first-year Kings coach John Stevens said. ”Tonight was our best game and created the most quality chances, just didn’t finish off.”Quick made 20 saves and allowed seven goals in the series, but he and the Kings couldn’t duplicate the rally they pulled off in 2014. Los Angeles lost its first three games to the Sharks in the first round that year and went on to win the series and eventually the Stanley Cup.”We just got knocked out of the playoffs. I don’t care what the score was,” defenseman Alec Martinez said. ”It’s a lot of disappointment in this room. We can’t forget how this feels.”Vegas, the third expansion team since 1968-69 to clinch a playoff berth, awaits the winner of the series between Anaheim and San Jose, which the Sharks lead 3-0.The Kings managed just three goals in the series and lacked offensive punch from Kopitar (one goal) and wingers Brown and Tyler Toffoli (no goals).Brown fired a team-high six shots in the game, while Toffoli had three and Brown two.Toffoli took a puck to the face, drawing blood from his nose to his mouth. He got stitches and returned 10 minutes later.NOTES: Quick had a 1.55 goals-against average and a .947 save percentage. … Fleury earned his 66th playoff victory, breaking a tie with Dominik Hasek for 11th on the NHL’s all-time list among goaltenders. … The Kings fell to 12-31 all-time in Game 4s. … Retired Hall of Fame Kings announcer Bob Miller attended the game.—
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