PITTSBURGH -- If the Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins meet in the first round of the NHL playoffs, things will be different than they were Wednesday night at Consol Energy Center. Jim Brown Jersey . The Red Wings will likely have Jimmy Howard in goal and are hopeful captain Henrik Zetterberg will return from an extended injury absence. The Penguins should get Evgeni Malkin back from a foot injury, too. But in outplaying Pittsburgh and tying the score late in the third period before losing 4-3 in a shootout, Detroit showed that it could present serious matchup problems for the Metropolitan Division champions. "I thought our team played real well tonight. I thought we were better than them," Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said after the shootout loss clinched a playoff spot. "We carried play, in my opinion, tonight, for sure. I thought we played well." By getting a point on the same night the Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Dallas Stars, the Red Wings fell to the Eastern Conferences second wild-card spot, even though each team has 91 points. As Babcock pointed out, the Blue Jackets have the tiebreaker that could give them Pittsburgh, while the Red Wings get the Bruins. "Im not spending a whole lot of time awake worrying about this stuff," he said. "Were just in and whoever we get, were going to be a tough out." Babcock said his Red Wings didnt score as many goals as they should have, partially a product of a strong game from Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury. But they also put 37 shots on net to the Penguins 24, giving up two of three goals on the power play and another when Jonas Gustavsson couldnt hang on to a puck and Jussi Jokinen poked it in. "Weve matched up well against them," said forward Riley Sheahan, whose goal with 1:15 left got Detroit the point it needed. "Theyre a really skilled team and weve got some skill as well. "If were matched up against them or whoever else, its going to be a lot of fun." Fleury likewise said it would be a "fun matchup," though one that could see him tested a year after another disappointing playoff showing. This is the same team Fleury beat to win the Stanley Cup in 2009, though only a handful of players remain. "I think theres no easy team that will make the playoffs," Fleury said. "Detroits a good team, they play hard, they got some skills. ... Its going to be a good challenge for us." Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said after his teams morning skate that aspects of the game could affect a potential playoff series, like if one team scored three times on the power play or one player won all his faceoff attempts. Pittsburgh went 2-for-4 on the power play, so that was good enough. "I dont think we were going to analyze the score of the game and project forward if it is a possible playoff matchup," Bylsma said. "We wanted to do certain things in areas of the game and maybe have that be a statement for how we played. Tonight we did that with the power play, for sure." Any statements made in the shootout can be overlooked, whether it was Fleury channelling Dominik Hasek for a diving save or Jussi Jokinen scoring the winner off the shaft of Gustavssons stick. If this were a playoff game, the Red Wings and Penguins wouldve kept playing. Thats not necessary yet, as Jokinen thinks these teams know each other well enough. "I think maybe it helps both teams. I think both teams are pretty familiar," Jokinen said. "They are in-your-face all the time. They play that man-to-man, very aggressive all over the ice. At times we did a good job of that, and at times we need to be better and do a better job making sure we get the pucks out and get pucks behind them." Johnny Manziel Brown Jersey . -- Reginas Mark McMorris is taking home a silver medal and a fractured rib from Saturdays slopestyle event at the Winter X Games. Andrew Hawkins Jersey . -- Look at London Fletchers career stats, particularly the column of numbers under the letter "G. CALGARY -- A five minute major was the turning point Saturday night for the Calgary Roughnecks, just not in the way youd normally expect. Scott Ranger scored three times including a short-handed goal early in the third quarter that put Calgary ahead for good as the Roughnecks defeated the Colorado Mammoth 15-10 in a National Lacrosse League West Division semifinal. After failing to score on a two minute power play early in the third quarter, Colorado got another opportunity to seize control, this time with a five-minute man advantage when Calgarys Curtis Dickson was assessed a major for high-sticking Mammoth defenceman Rory Smith. It backfired. Ranger made it 8-7 at 5:07 and on the same penalty kill, Jeff Shattler scored at 8:10, electrifying the raucous Scotiabank Saddledome crowd of 8,726. Calgary never looked back after that. "Were a team and were going to bail each other out when we make mistakes," said Ranger. "Dickson is a guy who has worked his butt off all year for us. Seeing him sitting over there for five minutes, we just knew we had to rally behind him." Calgary was second in the NLL with 12 short-handed goals during the regular season but Dickson had scored half of them. No problem, his teammates stepped up. "Probably the most nerve-wracking five minutes of my life. When you put your team down like that and youve got to sit in the box and theres nothing you can do," said Dickson. "Seeing the team play like that, my team bailed me out big time. They shut those guys down and that was a huge turning point in the game." Colorado has only given up five short 1/8handed goals all season. "When we look back at it tomorrow, it will be that five minute penalty," said Colorado coach Bob Hamley. :They rallied around it and we didnt. They got two shorties on us and it snowballed from there." Calgary built a 13-7 lead before Colorado finally scored its first goal of the second half, nearly three minutes into the fourth quarter. "Phenomenal job," said Ranger, describing the penalty kill. "We got two goals on them and that never happens in lacrosse. That was a huge swing for us and we kept the momentum going and kept it going from there and never looked back." Shattler and NLL-leading regular season scorer Shawn Evans also had three goals for Calgary. Also scoring was Joe Resetarits, Curtis Dickson, Travis Cornwalll, Darryl Veltman, Peter McFetridge and Nolan Heavenor. Terrance West Orange Jersey. Adam Jones led the attack for Colorado with four goals. Casey Powell scored three, John Grant Jr. had a pair and Mat MacLeod had the other. Calgary will host the West Final next Saturday against the Washington Stealth, who earlier Saturday overcame a 7-2 halftime deficit to win 12-11 over the Edmonton Rush. "Theyve got a world class goaltender and theyve got really big guys on the back end and they have a very dynamic offence," Calgary coach Curt Malawsky said about the match-up. "Well enjoy this one then well go to work tomorrow morning and well have a game plan ready for them." In the very competitive West division, Calgary finished the season 9-7 and in a three-way tie for first with Washington and Edmonton. The Roughnecks emerged as the top seed based on the tiebreaker. Colorado was not far behind, ending up even with Minnesota at 7-9, but getting the benefit of the tiebreaker to take fourth. The two teams looked even through the first half too, with the game back and forth and both teams taking turns with the lead. The goal that would typify the sudden turn of events in what was a very even game through two quarters was Veltmans goal that made it 10-7, just 22 seconds after Dicksons penalty expired. Two Mammoth defenders collided with each other, both going down and leaving a lane for Veltman, who buried a shot behind Tye Belanger. "We didnt score in the third quarter. You cant go through a quarter without scoring at least one goal," said Hamley. "We just couldnt get that goal and then were just chasing and chasing in the fourth quarter. They kept coming, they had momentum and we couldnt get the momentum." Notes: During the regular season, Colorado was tied for first in fewest short-handed goals against with five. Calgary was second in the league with 12 short-handed goals scored a Roughnecks captain Andrew McBride played in his 17th playoff game, which moves him ahead of Kaleb Toth for most playoff games in team history a In their 12 years, the Roughnecks have played Colorado more than any other team. Colorado holds a 15-14 lead in the regular season while the Calgary has won five of six playoff meetings. Both years Calgary won the Champions Cup (2004, 2009), they beat the Mammoth along the way a Colorado captain Gavin Prout (coachs decision) did not play. cheap nfl jerseys ' ' '
